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Yeah, as someone who didn't like Five Tribes very much but was very interested in Via Nebula, I'm curious as well.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 03:18 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 16:21 |
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EBag posted:Sounds interesting, could you give sort of an overview of how the game works? I don't really have a good impression of the mechanics from the few threads on BGG. In what way is it like Five Tribes? This review is pretty good. The Five Tribes comparison is hard to describe, since 'board analysis' could apply to any game, but the analysis is similar to what you'd do in Five Tribes.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 03:47 |
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Lorini posted:This review is pretty good. The Five Tribes comparison is hard to describe, since 'board analysis' could apply to any game, but the analysis is similar to what you'd do in Five Tribes. To the point of not being able to plan anything ahead of your immediate turn? That's what I didn't like about Five Tribes, you could plan for a general strategy but really the turns changed the board so drastically that you couldn't ever plan ahead, making turns take a long time while people constantly reevaluate the board.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 03:58 |
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Bottom Liner posted:To the point of not being able to plan anything ahead of your immediate turn? That's what I didn't like about Five Tribes, you could plan for a general strategy but really the turns changed the board so drastically that you couldn't ever plan ahead, making turns take a long time while people constantly reevaluate the board. Yes, I would say like that. Never bothered me in Five Tribes and it doesn't bother me with this game either, but yes, that aspect is there.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 04:09 |
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What I don't like about Five Tribes is the game with five in the title only supports four players
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 04:27 |
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Big Ol Marsh Pussy posted:What I don't like about Five Tribes is the game with five in the title only supports four players Worse still, it comes with five player aids even. AND, if you get the expansion, it's a game called Five Tribes, which has six tribes in it, and still only plays four players.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 04:36 |
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Bottom Liner posted:To the point of not being able to plan anything ahead of your immediate turn? That's what I didn't like about Five Tribes, you could plan for a general strategy but really the turns changed the board so drastically that you couldn't ever plan ahead, making turns take a long time while people constantly reevaluate the board. You can definitely plan ahead of your current turn in Via Nebula. I can't explain in detail as I'm off to work, but scores are low enough and close enough that a big part of the game is not exploiting resources that will be left on the board at the end to count against you. You need to keep an eye on paths opening up to other sources of the same resource, particularly the neutral ones.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 08:41 |
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OK so games where you can plan ahead when it's not your turn suggests a lack of player interaction on the board, also known as multi-player solitaire. I avoid those games, I do play a couple, but really, I want the game to change in a way that affects my decisions on my turns.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 16:13 |
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Big Ol Marsh Pussy posted:What I don't like about Five Tribes is the game with five in the title only supports four players The theme really is a mess. A whole "tribe" of assassins? Elders? Viziers? I didn't enjoy Five Tribes because it felt like a themeless grab bag of mechanics. I sat down thinking, "Ooh, those djinni look interesting, although it will take some time to see how all those bonuses affect the game." And then 2 players (including the game winner) never even acquired one. It felt like the designer was more interested in adding extra fiddly bits than ironing out the core gameplay. Also, there's a whole lot of territory between "multiplayer solitaire" and "any planning before your turn will be pointless". For instance, Kemet strikes an excellent balance.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 16:32 |
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Lorini posted:OK so games where you can plan ahead when it's not your turn suggests a lack of player interaction on the board, also known as multi-player solitaire. I avoid those games, I do play a couple, but really, I want the game to change in a way that affects my decisions on my turns. By that definition chess is multiplayer solitaire because you can plan ahead, as is every other game where you don't have to plan from scratch with each new turn. To me a multiplayer solitaire game is one where you have no capacity to affect another player's actions. That certainly isn't the case in Via Nebula, where you have a great capacity to influence what your opponents do and you can plan around their plans.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 17:05 |
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Lorini posted:OK so games where you can plan ahead when it's not your turn suggests a lack of player interaction on the board, also known as multi-player solitaire. I avoid those games, I do play a couple, but really, I want the game to change in a way that affects my decisions on my turns. That's a pretty big simplification of things. It's a spectrum really, and I tend to avoid both extremes. Suburbia is a game that I think has a perfect mix, you're doing your own thing, building your own tableau, but you are dependent on what other players are building and what tiles you think will be available for your suburb while trying to capitalize on any city wide bonuses, etc. The "All the Games You Like Are Bad" guy has a new video on Secret Hitler. I like this guy and the depth he reviews games with, even if I don't agree with all of his points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgTtz6enVaM Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jul 8, 2016 |
# ? Jul 8, 2016 17:13 |
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Spyfall was a massive hit. A few personal notes, is that the game does sort of reward people who know all of the locations (none of us so far, but I can see it being an issue when I teach it in the future). I also noted that as people were learning the questions were sort of boring. It was also hard to get roles into the mix, but I think that they made the questions a lot richer and more interesting.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 17:26 |
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Bottom Liner posted:That's a pretty big simplification of things. It's a spectrum really, and I tend to avoid both extremes. Suburbia is a game that I think has a perfect mix, you're doing your own thing, building your own tableau, but you are dependent on what other players are building and what tiles you think will be available for your suburb while trying to capitalize on any city wide bonuses, etc. Ok then I apologize for over simplifying, but I do like my gamescapes to change from turn to turn...not in a random way of course, but in a way where you can kind of plan but also have to have a Plan B and even a Plan C. Also I have only played it twice only with two players, so Jedit is certainly more expert than me at the moment. We plan to play tomorrow and Sunday and then I'll have more to say about the three player game, as that's the number that we'll be playing with.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 17:31 |
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Lorini posted:Ok then I apologize for over simplifying, but I do like my gamescapes to change from turn to turn...not in a random way of course, but in a way where you can kind of plan but also have to have a Plan B and even a Plan C. I haven't played VN two-player, but I suspect it's a lot different with three and four because resources become depleted faster and you can share building sites with other players. Also make sure everyone knows that a building site is considered to touch all six edges of its hex whichever way round it is placed.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 17:41 |
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The "Collector's Edition" of Scythe comes with a bunch of extra cards and stuff - does that add gameplay mechanics or is it just chrome? Seems like they're extra decks of cards which seems like I'd be missing out on gameplay if I only bought the basic game? edit-- nevermind, just looks like additional cards to go in existing decks. Not so bad then
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 18:11 |
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sector_corrector posted:Spyfall was a massive hit. A few personal notes, is that the game does sort of reward people who know all of the locations (none of us so far, but I can see it being an issue when I teach it in the future). I also noted that as people were learning the questions were sort of boring. It was also hard to get roles into the mix, but I think that they made the questions a lot richer and more interesting. I think the advanced mode with Roles should only be used to make a more chaotic game, but not necessarily a more interesting one. In the same way that players can struggle as the Spy if you don't know the Location list well, not having a reference for what the various roles for each location could be puts that same level of uncertainty and confusion on ALL the players, instead of just the Spy. You are constantly hearing answers to questions which may not make any sense...UNLESS they're a particular role, which may or may not be a thing? Example, I once played as the "Alien" at the Space Station location, and was asked "How's the view here?". I met that question with indifference, something along the lines of "Just run of the mill!" (playing to my role), which of course immediately got my accused of being the Spy and we lost, because no one knew that being an Alien was an option.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 18:11 |
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Bottom Liner posted:The "All the Games You Like Are Bad" guy has a new video on Secret Hitler. I like this guy and the depth he reviews games with, even if I don't agree with all of his points. That dude is enthusiastic with his praise for Scythe! With just 2 reviews--both positive--the name of his series is misleading. My copy arrives today, so I'm getting pretty hyped.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 18:12 |
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Merauder posted:I think the advanced mode with Roles should only be used to make a more chaotic game, but not necessarily a more interesting one. In the same way that players can struggle as the Spy if you don't know the Location list well, not having a reference for what the various roles for each location could be puts that same level of uncertainty and confusion on ALL the players, instead of just the Spy. You are constantly hearing answers to questions which may not make any sense...UNLESS they're a particular role, which may or may not be a thing? Example, I once played as the "Alien" at the Space Station location, and was asked "How's the view here?". I met that question with indifference, something along the lines of "Just run of the mill!" (playing to my role), which of course immediately got my accused of being the Spy and we lost, because no one knew that being an Alien was an option. Hmm, that's a good point. I think having something like a DM screen for each player with all of that information on it would be a lot better. It would let players shield their card, let them discretely check important information, and would generally solve a lot of early knowledge problems the game has and allow higher level play sooner.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 18:34 |
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CaptainRightful posted:That dude is enthusiastic with his praise for Scythe! With just 2 reviews--both positive--the name of his series is misleading. My copy arrives today, so I'm getting pretty hyped. If you're going to be scathingly negative you first have to establish yourself as someone who is able to praise games, that way people can't claim you're just pretending to dislike games as a gimmick for your videos
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 19:15 |
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Bottom Liner posted:The "All the Games You Like Are Bad" guy has a new video on Secret Hitler. I like this guy and the depth he reviews games with, even if I don't agree with all of his points. Wow, his comic timing isn't very good. Still, he clearly has a script, and probably even used multiple takes when stumbled, automatically making this a superior Board Game reviewer on YouTube.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 19:15 |
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Yeah, he's goony as gently caress, but knows the material and concepts well enough to critique them in a better way than most. The fact that he clearly thought things out before hand and broke his thoughts up into segments puts him far ahead of most reviewers (looking at you Rahdo holy poo poo).
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 19:37 |
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Bottom Liner posted:Yeah, he's goony as gently caress, but knows the material and concepts well enough to critique them in a better way than most. The fact that he clearly thought things out before hand and broke his thoughts up into segments puts him far ahead of most reviewers (looking at you Rahdo holy poo poo). What do you mean? Rahdo's great! Oh... Oh! Oh that's interesting! If I undo every loving thing I just said and gently caress up half the rules, I can do this move! Yes! Yes I'll do that! I like Rahdo but god drat try practicing once in awhile, Richard.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 20:04 |
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Yeah, he's pretty much ADHD.mov.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 20:07 |
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Rahdo represents everything I hate about learning board games from friends. He is the embodiment of four people coming to the table, tearing the shrink off a 3 hour game, and going "Let's learn how to play this!"
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 20:22 |
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al-azad posted:Rahdo represents everything I hate about learning board games from friends. He is the embodiment of four people coming to the table, tearing the shrink off a 3 hour game, and going "Let's learn how to play this!" I'm amazed that people do this.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 20:46 |
cenotaph posted:I'm amazed that people do this. Many years ago, I once tried to do this with Twilight Imperium 3. Luckily, cutting all the figures out of their sprues was enough of a labor that we nixed the idea of learning how to actually play the game
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 20:57 |
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cenotaph posted:I'm amazed that people do this. Yeah smh if you haven't obsessively memorized the rulebook and read a half dozen articles on strategy before you buy the game
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 20:59 |
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COOL CORN posted:The "Collector's Edition" of Scythe comes with a bunch of extra cards and stuff - does that add gameplay mechanics or is it just chrome? Seems like they're extra decks of cards which seems like I'd be missing out on gameplay if I only bought the basic game? Collectors Edition just comes with the fancy resource tokens, Premium comes with metal coins Base kickstarter edition comes with the extra cards which just go into their respective decks. (You also get more power dials) The coins are fantastic though. I quite enjoy having them and the resource tokens. Glad I went for collectors.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:03 |
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StashAugustine posted:Yeah smh if you haven't obsessively memorized the rulebook and read a half dozen articles on strategy before you buy the game This but for real
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:14 |
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I have a rule to not buy a game unless I've played it at least once. I've broken it a couple of times, but I at least read the rulebook once or twice and practice my rules speech.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:18 |
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If I'm gonna shell out $60-100 for a game then I'm at least going to download and skim over the rulebook first.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:22 |
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COOL CORN posted:The "Collector's Edition" of Scythe comes with a bunch of extra cards and stuff - does that add gameplay mechanics or is it just chrome? Seems like they're extra decks of cards which seems like I'd be missing out on gameplay if I only bought the basic game? I see your edit but just to spell it out you wouldn't miss out on anything gameplay related by going standard edition vs collector's or special. The extra few cards don't change anything about the game. You'd lack the metal coins, which are very nice, but honestly the cardboard punchout ones are also nice. The realistic resources are super nice and excellent quality. Otherwise it's colored wood tokens. There is a board extension with 50% bigger hexes but it won't fit on my table so Each faction gets their own power dial, but you really only ever need two: one for attacker and one for defender and that's it. They have no other use. Pretty sure I read something about how you'll be able to buy the extra bits separately if you like, nothing is truly exclusive in that sense. I really love the realistic modeled resources but I'd dig the standard version of the game just fine.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:24 |
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Bottom Liner posted:This but for real I was only being a little ironic
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:27 |
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Bottom Liner posted:This but for real I would never buy a game unless I have already tough it to myself with YouTube tutorials. I mean, how can you know if its a good game if you don't know how to play it? Because if the picture on the box?
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:27 |
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al-azad posted:Rahdo represents everything I hate about learning board games from friends. He is the embodiment of four people coming to the table, tearing the shrink off a 3 hour game, and going "Let's learn how to play this!" I think you have encapsulated why he is successful.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:40 |
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Some Numbers posted:I have a rule to not buy a game unless I've played it at least once. You must have a lot of board game cafes near you, friends with great collections, or tickets to conventions because if I did this I wouldn't own anything except Dead of Winter and Betrayal. Before I get something to the table with friends I always do a run through with the GF first, but this is tricky for 3p minimum games so sometimes we conscript an unlucky third into the experience. Watching a video beforehand though usually helps.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 21:53 |
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FulsomFrank posted:You must have a lot of board game cafes near you, friends with great collections, or tickets to conventions because if I did this I wouldn't own anything except Dead of Winter and Betrayal. I do have a good board game cafe and I was the president of my college's board game club for three years. I have the best collection out of my friends at the moment. So yeah.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 22:01 |
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StashAugustine posted:Yeah smh if you haven't obsessively memorized the rulebook and read a half dozen articles on strategy before you buy the game I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a game without reading rules beforehand. It's just common sense.
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# ? Jul 8, 2016 22:45 |
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Mister Sinewave posted:
This is correct. Stonemaier did (I think) fancy resource tokens as a Kickstarter exclusive for Euphoria and after that experience promptly decided to never do exclusives again. They'll sell the KS extras on their webstore. I think you will also be able to get the fancier coins and resources and board extension that way also, although it's likely to cost more than as part of the Collector's Edition.
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# ? Jul 9, 2016 00:06 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 16:21 |
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What is Star Trek Frontiers? It says Vlaada on the cover so I almost bought it just for that.
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# ? Jul 9, 2016 00:31 |