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The End posted:Skull is better at the same thing. Is Skull a good game for a big-ish group of people who enjoy quick, bluffing/random games? I read the rules on BGG and it seems pretty decent as a filler game - unless there's something better 
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Jul 25, 2015 07:29
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Chomp8645 posted:Are people hearing stuff about board games being cool again and just opening cafes straight away with zero additional research and no personal interest in them? Because I don't know how else to explain something like that. I'm picturing someone hearing about the board game fad and smugly patting themselves on the back for investing in thirty copies of Monopoly over the years. Everything about that survey is terrible. They even write "ie", without periods, when "e.g." would be appropriate.
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Jul 25, 2015 07:29
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I see people paying $5 a person to play four player The Game of Life at GameHaus in Glendale, CA.  They have nearly all the hot games plus Uncle Wiggley et al.
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Jul 25, 2015 07:48
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So someone earlier asked about The Temple of Elemental Evil. This is based on the older DM-less kits like Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft. Those are fun if a bit simplistic, though I'll note my group never did much with the high-end dungeon material in those. What is the Temple of Elemental Evil like? "I sat down to play and I was kicked in the nuts." "Did they playtest this?" "Maybe if we weren't being poo poo ON every turn." Imagine a game where you have 6-10 health, and everyone takes 1 damage at the end of almost everyone's turn because of the constantly-dropping encounter cards, if they're lucky. If you're not lucky, you take 2 damage and you lose an item. Did you dodge the attack? You still take 1 damage and lose an item. Most of the powers your characters get are straight-up bad, or only good if you use them in the opposite way in which they were intended (as a fighter on our second run I was using crowd control to kick monsters towards other players so I could hurry and run away to find the dungeon exit faster). There is almost no way to heal and absolutely no way to efficiently heal, even with a cleric in the group. You get 2 surges (3 on "easy" mode) for the group to spend. Any XP you get will never be used on leveling up, it will be spent to negate the constant AOE from the dungeon. We tried twice to complete the opening scenario and were TPK'd both times, the second time at the exit to the dungeon because most of the group fell over on the same turn. Because of the constant damage triggered at the end of each turn, the scenario actually gets harder the more players you bring. This set includes a new feature, traps, which really do nothing but slow the game down, because you can see where they are and the only time you are actually going to trip one is if you are fleeing at all speed toward the exit without the rogue's help. This would probably be an OK set if you mixed in with other decks, which these box sets encourage you to do, because it would make cakewalk scenarios harder and add some monster variety. But as it is, it's very clear that they didn't playtest this set, since it's basically a dungeon-sized gas chamber.
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Jul 25, 2015 08:16
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Zombie #246 posted:There's expansions that were kickstarter exclusives (lol) that add basically more things, and the more things fit into the "wackier different story elements" type of gameplay that old games had. That being said, it's one of the few games that simulate (crudely) a family tree of sorts and feels sorta like Crusader Kings. They're not Kickstarter exclusive, but they are exclusive to their web store: https://academygames.com/games/fief/product/fief-expansion-pack Also the only one that's really "wackier different story elements" is the Politics one. Teutonic Knights and Military add more units, I forgot what Templars actually did, and Crusades adds another thing to worry about/get points from.
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Jul 25, 2015 08:23
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Azran posted:Is Skull a good game for a big-ish group of people who enjoy quick, bluffing/random games? I read the rules on BGG and it seems pretty decent as a filler game - unless there's something better
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Jul 25, 2015 08:39
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GrandpaPants posted:They're not Kickstarter exclusive, but they are exclusive to their web store: https://academygames.com/games/fief/product/fief-expansion-pack Ah ok, I was incorrect. I think I must have seen the politics one and my eyes glazed over.
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Jul 25, 2015 08:50
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:So someone earlier asked about The Temple of Elemental Evil. Yeesh. I impulse buyed it thinking they've had several of these now to refine the formula but guess not.
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Jul 25, 2015 09:10
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Copenhagen has an awesome board game cafe with all the good stuff like Twilight Struggle, Mysterium, Agricola and literally hundreds of other great games. But lots of people still come there and play trivia games, CAH and very often this childhood classic Anticipation. Some of these people will even go "holy poo poo that looks complicated" when my group is playing something like 7 Wonders. It's all good though, because we get to try out great games and the staff can actually help with rules, and the Munchkin/trivia crowd helps the place stay in business.
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Jul 25, 2015 09:14
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Ayn Randi posted:Well that is literally the victory condition so yeah I would expect so? Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. When the game ends, everyone is usually on their last cube.
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Jul 25, 2015 09:19
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Azran posted:Is Skull a good game for a big-ish group of people who enjoy quick, bluffing/random games? I read the rules on BGG and it seems pretty decent as a filler game - unless there's something better Skull is a good game but with 6 or more people it ain't short, especially if it turns into a game of attrition after one player gets their first point and the remaining players slowly bleed their cards away to prevent that player from winning. I think it's best with 4 or 5 personally.
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Jul 25, 2015 09:33
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Mister Sinewave posted:Yeesh. I impulse buyed it thinking they've had several of these now to refine the formula but guess not. The other ones are all perfectly playable, I suspect the same tummyfeels design that took over 5E hit this product line too. A bunch of cards let you give other players advantage or are dependent on other players being in the right position (on the same tile with you). These are nearly useless when the game encourages you not to be on the same tile with other players in numerous other ways. The item drops are almost all cash, which is boring and useless. The fighter's best weapon by far is the dagger (!?!) because it hits at +10 (almost everything else is +6 and hits for the same damage). Name Change fucked around with this message at 09:47 on Jul 25, 2015 |
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Jul 25, 2015 09:39
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bobvonunheil posted:Skull is a good game but with 6 or more people it ain't short, especially if it turns into a game of attrition after one player gets their first point and the remaining players slowly bleed their cards away to prevent that player from winning. Still better than Liar's Dice.
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Jul 25, 2015 09:47
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Jedit posted:Still better than Liar's Dice. A regular member of one of my groups loving loves playing that. We end up doing at least one game per session. For whatever reason, for me, it's just not a game, it's a tedious exercise in memorising things.
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Jul 25, 2015 09:56
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Mojo Jojo posted:A regular member of one of my groups loving loves playing that. We end up doing at least one game per session. For whatever reason, for me, it's just not a game, it's a tedious exercise in memorising things. Liar's Dice starts out as a fun push-your-luck game, then about halfway through turns into a shitfest where the winner is inevitable but you have to play it out.
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Jul 25, 2015 10:27
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two copies of cthulhu wars, this picture is a troll.
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Jul 25, 2015 11:30
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4outof5 posted:two copies of cthulhu wars, this picture is a troll. I actually ordered one, I didn't even back the kickstarter just preordered it from the publisher which included free shipping so was bound to be cheaper than paying the traditional Australia tax for boardgames. Two copies showed up for some inexplicable reason and I just never said anything. Really need to eBay it, which will cover the cost of my copy and a tidy profit besides since the handful of retail copies that made it here were going for $350 AUD
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Jul 25, 2015 12:09
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Also less notable but two copies of Paperback. Man, I love how Paperback sits on shelves.
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Jul 25, 2015 12:31
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BonHair posted:Copenhagen has an awesome board game cafe with all the good stuff like Twilight Struggle, Mysterium, Agricola and literally hundreds of other great games. But lots of people still come there and play trivia games, CAH and very often this childhood classic Anticipation. Some of these people will even go "holy poo poo that looks complicated" when my group is playing something like 7 Wonders. Bastard Café? I really should visit it sometime.
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Jul 25, 2015 12:38
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:So someone earlier asked about The Temple of Elemental Evil. This may be a stupid question, but did you mix in ALL the monster and encounter cards for your opening scenario? My understanding is that you're supposed to add them in as you advance through the campaign and upgrade your character.
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Jul 25, 2015 12:59
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My group of 3-4 people took down Elemental Evil pretty smoothly whereas we usually had trouble with the previous games. Leveling up not being a random chance helped a lot for us, and the treasure deck isn't filled with a bunch of one-shot items this time. Your mileage may vary, I guess. We did use a couple heroes from earlier games but that's the only non-Evil component we used. Edit: I'm phone posting at work ATM but later today I'll write some more about the game because I really did like this one way more than the other games with how it approached things. Baller Ina fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Jul 25, 2015 |
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Jul 25, 2015 13:23
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Robust Laser posted:Also less notable but two copies of Paperback. Man, I love how Paperback sits on shelves. Paperback looks lovely on the shelf but also a case of a double send that I can't explain. I backed the print and play level for $5 to get it early and then bought a full copy after the kickstarter ended and then got two copies sent to me a month apart. The only explanation is that I have some kind of kickstarter game magic
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Jul 25, 2015 13:28
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VlaadaCon time! Woooo!
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Jul 25, 2015 13:51
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Ayn Randi posted:Paperback looks lovely on the shelf but also a case of a double send that I can't explain. I backed the print and play level for $5 to get it early and then bought a full copy after the kickstarter ended and then got two copies sent to me a month apart. The only explanation is that I have some kind of kickstarter game magic Happens more often then you think. Got two copies of Xenoshyft when backed on kick starter.
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Jul 25, 2015 14:22
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Ojetor posted:It's mentioned in the rules reference, under Operations Phase and also under Event Cards. It might also be in the Learn to Play somewhere but I didn't check. Here: It can really be either for the second. I understand that they're telling you that you can move across voids whenever to stop ships getting trapped in their own little "ponds" of void, but it still doesn't really change how it is worded. I'd kind of like an FAQ about it. Especially since like I say it makes orbital bombardments a bit more worthwhile. In regards to the mage knight expansion - I still can't find it on Amazon and Wayland Games says 22 days before it's released.
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Jul 25, 2015 16:05
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After hearing about it for a long time, but never trying it I had a ton of fun with ONUW, probably more so than Avalon which has started to get a little stale at this point. I know these games are always getting big boxes of kickstarted so I wanted to ask before I buy it off amazon if there is any special deal I should be waiting for.
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Jul 25, 2015 17:16
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Megasabin posted:After hearing about it for a long time, but never trying it I had a ton of fun with ONUW, probably more so than Avalon which has started to get a little stale at this point. I know these games are always getting big boxes of kickstarted so I wanted to ask before I buy it off amazon if there is any special deal I should be waiting for. I doubt they're doing anything like that, but I don't know. I just got both on Amazon and picked up the Bonus Pack 1 from Bezier.
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Jul 25, 2015 17:40
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Ayn Randi posted:The only explanation is that I have some kind of kickstarter game magic It's the lord's mercy for living in Australia and being into games.
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Jul 25, 2015 17:48
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Bubble-T posted:The local board game cafe is literally called The Hungry Hippo but they have a solid library (they even got Mysterium and Tragedy Looper recently) and are so busy they can charge a $20 minimum spend to book ahead. You wouldn't happen to live in Adelaide, would you?
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Jul 25, 2015 18:43
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Echophonic posted:I doubt they're doing anything like that, but I don't know. I just got both on Amazon and picked up the Bonus Pack 1 from Bezier. Apparently they just announced a one night ultimate vampire kickstarter https://instagram.com/p/5FQgGHRZ0f/
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Jul 25, 2015 20:01
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Scyther posted:This may be a stupid question, but did you mix in ALL the monster and encounter cards for your opening scenario? My understanding is that you're supposed to add them in as you advance through the campaign and upgrade your character. Not 100% certain on encounter cards, but I am sure the monsters were correct.
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Jul 25, 2015 20:10
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Played a couple of solo games of mage knight now. My first proper solo conquest game went kinda well didn't manage to fully defeat the last city, thinking about it I maybe should have kept the horn of wrath rather than burning it to take the first city.
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Jul 25, 2015 20:38
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Would somebody like to play through the BIOS series of Phil Eklund games with me over VASSAL? (as in the full BIOS:Origins, High Frontier: Interstellar) I want to do an LP and know the rules fairly well, and it doesn't take that long to play. I'd post a solo playthrough first though.
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Jul 25, 2015 21:21
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What do you guys think of the Voyages of Marco Polo? Looks like a good game.
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Jul 25, 2015 22:28
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James The 1st posted:What do you guys think of the Voyages of Marco Polo? Looks like a good game. I've played it about five times now, and I really enjoy it (except when playing with AP-prone people). It's a very difficult game to play well with a fairly steep learning curve, but it is very satisfying when you "get it." It's very much like Tzolk'in in that regard. The dice randomness can screw you over, but it is mitigated by "compensation" if you roll less than 15 out of all your dice.
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Jul 25, 2015 22:37
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The Welfare Lobby posted:You wouldn't happen to live in Adelaide, would you? I do  Do you go to the German Club meetups?
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Jul 26, 2015 00:50
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fozzy fosbourne posted:Apparently they just announced a one night ultimate vampire kickstarter Cool. I'm in for that. Apparently it's compatible if you want to mix roles, based on something I read on BGG.
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Jul 26, 2015 01:19
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Taear posted:It can really be either for the second. I understand that they're telling you that you can move across voids whenever to stop ships getting trapped in their own little "ponds" of void, but it still doesn't really change how it is worded. IMO, you should ignore the casual wording on the Learn to Play. The Rules Reference is very clear on this: quote:To resolve an Advance Order, the active player follows these steps: Orbital bombardment is still quite worthwhile. You can eliminate units easily without ever risking yours. Sure an orbital with only a single crappy ship doesn't do anything, but once you get some upgraded orbital orders and the bigger ships you can really lay waste to entire planets. Hell, the Ultramarines have an Exterminatus event card that turns every dice in an Orbital Bombardment roll into a hit. It's brutal.
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Jul 26, 2015 02:34
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And the Eldar frigates are huge gunboats. Love those things.
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Jul 26, 2015 02:44
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:Any XP you get will never be used on leveling up, it will be spent to negate the constant AOE from the dungeon. You don't spend XP on leveling in Elemental Evil, you level up between missions. Also you get to keep any gold or treasures you find, even if you fail, so it acts as a somewhat cludgy difficulty slider, since you'll eventually have enough gold to get one or two people to level two, which helps both your combat and your survivability. The game says you can pool your money between the players, which is pretty much mandatory since otherwise you're all going to each be sitting on a chunk of gold you can't do anything with, since it takes 1,000 to level up. After you've leveled you can buy these treasure-like tokens that can be used once per dungeon to reroll a die, recharge a power, etc., so as you play through the campaign (which this game is pretty much built around, btw. The other games kinda just mention the option, but Elemental Evil is pretty clearly designed to be a campaign) you have those as a way to progress your character in lieu of the other games giving you treasures. I like the new trap system, too, since in the previous games drawing a trap off the Encounter deck without enough xp to veto meant someone was most likely going to burn a turn trying to disarm it, and if they happened to fail (which was all too likely, since a 10+ is no guarantee) you were going to be taking more and more damage from the stupid thing. In Evil, while the traps may be annoying, at least they are avoidable by just exploring in another direction or by having the rogue head over to wipe them out. Like I said in my other post, we did use heroes from Legend of Drizzt in our playthrough. One thing I think these games have always done wrong, and this one is no exception, is they try to set up a standard D&D style party makeup, which just doesn't work. In real D&D, the wizard made of paper can hide behind the other players and avoid damage fairly well, but the board games don't really give a poo poo about that when an Encounter card comes up and smacks him for damage no matter where the hell he was, and with only six hit points and the lowest AC they'll crumple quick. I think we've only finished a mission with a wizard playing once, though that one time was the first mission of Elemental Evil. Finally, all those bullshit status effects from the other games are gone. No more getting dazed or poisoned or poo poo like that, now the only negative status is a higher chance to miss your next attack, which I'll take over the old stuff any day. Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts on the game. I was always really frustrated with the previous games since they always felt so stacked against you, but Elemental Evil feels like the odds are tipped a little more in your favor for a change.
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Jul 26, 2015 02:51
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