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Gutter Owl posted:I've played it. It's pretty generic worker placement. Get orders, gather cubes, fulfill orders with cubes, sometimes pick up special abilities. Seconding the thanks for this post, Gutter Owl. I'm planning on getting Argent, but I decided to grab Ars Alchimia for the art and for the option of a lighter WP game. My Fair Princess sounds like a good time for all as well! Thanks also to Chill la Chill for posting the sale. EDIT: Tekopo posted:... I just don't know, could you say how it stacks up against say Argent: The Consortium? Agent Rush fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Jun 21, 2017 |
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Jun 21, 2017 23:12
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bucks on something pretty to have on the shelf, I can't blame you. It's probably more value for money than Lords of Waterdeep. But if you've already got like Argent: the Consortium or Dungeon Petz or anything meaty on the shelf, this ain't gonna do much for you.
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Agent Rush posted:Seconding the thanks for this post, Gutter Owl. I'm planning on getting Argent, but I decided to grab Ars Alchimia for the art and for the option of a lighter WP game. My Fair Princess sounds like a good time for all as well!
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Jun 21, 2017 23:33
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Not phone posting anymore. Here's the one I bought: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1Pc...2715381995.html It took a long time for them to show.
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Jun 21, 2017 23:39
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Tekopo posted:I'm confused. I was asking you about Kitchen Rush, I'm still on the fence about it and was wondering how it compared to other WP games. The stuff above that was about Ars Alchimia.
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Jun 22, 2017 01:08
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I finished up Exit: The Game: The Secret Lab with my fiancee and we had a lot of fun with it! There was one specific puzzle that we could not have possible solved on our own, but that is entirely our fault because we didn't want to damage the materials and the puzzle required tearing stuff up and if we had actually made copies of the pieces in question then we probably wouldn't have had any trouble with that particular puzzle. All in all, a very fun experience. 
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Jun 22, 2017 01:27
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Agent Rush posted:I was asking you about Kitchen Rush, I'm still on the fence about it and was wondering how it compared to other WP games. The stuff above that was about Ars Alchimia. You're asking how it compares to a wildly different game. They basically have nothing to do with each other. Kitchen Rush is a worker placement game, sure, but it's a co-operative game played in real-time. It would be more useful to ask how it compares to, say, Space Alert, or Escape: the Curse of the Temple.
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Jun 22, 2017 04:08
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CaptainRightful posted:They represent education about the virtues of the Socialist economic system. When they are placed in protest spaces, a certain number of protestors have changed their minds about the planned economy and become committed Socialists. If all of the cubes are placed on the board, that means the majority of the population is firmly committed to the GDR's economic policies. If all of the cubes are removed from the board, belief in the Socialist system has vanished to the point that the majority of the population calls for revolution, or at least significant reform, resulting in a Capitalist economic system like the one in the FRG. Yeah, I get that socialists are sent into a province to tamp down on unrest and protests, and why the East player would find this useful. That's a good explanation for how they're intended thematically, just seemed a little weird to me. edit: I figured out the backs of the factory chits are printed too! Vivian Darkbloom fucked around with this message at 10:39 on Jun 22, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 05:10
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FirstAidKite posted:I finished up Exit: The Game: The Secret Lab with my fiancee and we had a lot of fun with it! There was one specific puzzle that we could not have possible solved on our own, but that is entirely our fault because we didn't want to damage the materials and the puzzle required tearing stuff up and if we had actually made copies of the pieces in question then we probably wouldn't have had any trouble with that particular puzzle. All in all, a very fun experience. Haha, we finished The Abandoned Cabin next and that one had a couple of puzzles that made me go "Oh god dammit" except in like a good way, where I wasn't even mad about it, I was just happy and it was clever and silly and fun and it left me giggling and thinking "oh god dammit hahaha wow" I'm surprised with how much negativity towards those games I've seen from some people in this thread. They don't really seem deserving of it at all. Like, unless the third one (The Pharaoh's Tomb) is just a straight up garbage fire of typos, misprints, and impossible puzzles, I don't see how these games have garnered the bad reputation they had.
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Jun 22, 2017 05:33
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FirstAidKite posted:I'm surprised with how much negativity towards those games I've seen from some people in this thread. They don't really seem deserving of it at all. Like, unless the third one (The Pharaoh's Tomb) is just a straight up garbage fire of typos, misprints, and impossible puzzles, I don't see how these games have garnered the bad reputation they had. Like TIME STORIES, these games are actually fairly well acclaimed in general. A good percentage of the negativity here is from me I think. And my negativity is informed by having played a ton of escape rooms (boxed and real) and finding these Exit games to be the weakest by a whole bunch of measures. Maybe they're just well tailored for you... But I think it's also possible you'll see what I'm saying more if you try some of the other games in the genre. In any case I'm happy you had fun. I like the genre, and hope it thrives and finds success, even if personally I don't like every box.
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Jun 22, 2017 06:37
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El Fideo posted:You're asking how it compares to a wildly different game. They basically have nothing to do with each other. Kitchen Rush is a worker placement game, sure, but it's a co-operative game played in real-time. It would be more useful to ask how it compares to, say, Space Alert, or Escape: the Curse of the Temple. Oh, ok. Does anyone know how it compares to either of those games then?
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Jun 22, 2017 09:06
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Why is it people don't like time stories? It seems like a cool concept and wins so many awards.
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Jun 22, 2017 10:00
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Agent Rush posted:Oh, ok. Does anyone know how it compares to either of those games then? Space Alert, to me, is still the gold standard of real-time co-operative games.The genius of Space Alert is that there aren't many rules that you have to enforce during the real-time phase, and you only really need to worry about the rules during the resolution phase. Most of the rules that are present in the real-time phase are all part of the tape as well, so they are easy to reference (comms down means that everyone shuts up, you can only swap cards during a data transfer, you go on to the next phase when the tape tells you to etc.). Actually performing actions in Space Alert is completely unambiguous: you place a card and you do exactly what you placed down in the resolution phase. Kitchen Rush, on the other hand, has more rule-enforcement during the real-time segment, because the game isn't dissected as neatly into a real-time segment and resolution phase. The actions in Kitchen Rush are performed during the real-time segment, but are pretty easy to understand: you go to the market to buy ingredients, the ovens allow you to cook a plate etc. Kitchen Rush, as well, has a mini-resolution phase, where you check if your dishes are correct. I think that Space Alert still edges it over Kitchen Rush because the real-time segment is so much cleaner and the design actively prevents you from making rule blunders at the real-time segment (sure, you could have played the wrong action cards due to a rule misunderstanding, but there is never a time where you are like "Okay guys stop the clock, we hosed up how <ACTION> works"). Escape is a bit of a different beast: the basis of the game is that you need to collect crystals while exploring the temple in order to be able to get out. The resolution system in the game is a bit silly: you basically roll dice until you find what you want, although it has an interesting aside in that your dice can get locked. You can unlock them, but if ALL your dice get locked, then someone will have to come to rescue you. As well as that, some crystals are easier to get as part of a team. The system does encourage team-play, while allowing the players to have their own autonomy in how they reach the goals, which is an important factor in real time co-op games. Although I like Escape, it can feel random at times, and sometimes the layout of the temple or simply the fact that you keep locking your dice can make for a frustrating game. However, the game does manage to get the feel of having to rush everywhere before the temple collapses. What Kitchen Rush does that the other two games don't, however, is bring elements of resource management to the real-time co-op genre. Because you have to judge what to buy, how to spend money and how to cook as many dishes as possible as effectively as possible, Kitchen Rush makes it necessary for a player to make decisions that are normally present in a turn-based euro be present in a real-time game. I think that this is pretty interesting in of itself and really suits the kind of gamer that I am. Space Alert is all about threat management and being at the right place at the right time: Escape is about doing stuff as fast as humanly possible: Kitchen Rush is all about making sure that you use your limited number of resources (your workers, ingredients, money and even the actual dishes you decide to cook) as efficiently as possible.
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Jun 22, 2017 10:12
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Fusion Restaurant posted:Why is it people don't like time stories? It seems like a cool concept and wins so many awards. Because it's crap. Read my post history if you want to know more. Basically, it promises a lot and delivers hahaha nope.
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Jun 22, 2017 10:23
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This game of Concordia is reminding me why I hate asynchronous play.
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Jun 22, 2017 10:37
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Fusion Restaurant posted:Why is it people don't like time stories? It seems like a cool concept and wins so many awards. SUSD gave it a mixed review, for what it's worth.
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Jun 22, 2017 11:19
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"Mixed" here means they hated it, and have made a point of dumping on it whenever possible.
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Jun 22, 2017 11:54
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I've only played EXIT: Abandoned Cabin so far, but my wife decided to pick up the Escape The Room game (the one that comes with the funky looking "chrono decoder" gizmo that keeps time and you have to insert keys into) so after we get a chance to play one of the four scenarios in that one, I'll hopefully be able to contribute some kind of informed comparison. fake edit: actually, I also played the print and play demo of Unlock ("The elite") and thought that was rear end, so EXIT already isn't going to be the weakest in my book.
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Jun 22, 2017 12:00
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I haven't played TIME Stories myself, but from what I've heard, the game just isn't a very interesting puzzle. There are loads of dead-ends/red herrings, so the idea is that you are play the game over and over until you can optimize how you go through the scenario. And to be honest, I got bored of doing that in choose-your-own-adventure games in the 80s/90s. EDIT: Re-watching the SUSD review reminded me of the worst part of the game: the dice. Sometimes you just can't do an action because you didn't roll right. Or your run out of time because you rolled too high when moving. Tekopo fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Jun 22, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 12:00
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Mr. Squishy posted:"Mixed" here means they hated it, and have made a point of dumping on it whenever possible. There's bits they liked, but yeah, it was definitely one of the least positive reviews I've seen them do.
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Jun 22, 2017 12:08
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Fusion Restaurant posted:Why is it people don't like time stories? It seems like a cool concept and wins so many awards. It's a very attractive, very bad game. I am told that they figured out how to make it not so terrible in some of the expansions, but frankly I doubt it. It is a Choose Your Own Adventure book in game form. You are presented with a neat mechanic: each area you can go to is laid out as a tableau of cards, the front depicting what you see, the back depicting what you find if you investigate. Some of the places yield clues or items, some of them yield challenges for which you need to roll dice, some of them simply waste your time. Time is a game resource: you need to solve the mystery within a certain number of units of time, and every move you make uses up some of that time, on top of the cards you turn over that just use up a bunch more arbitrarily. If you run out of time, you need to start over, using what you know now to move through the content more efficiently. This time, you know to talk to this person and not that one, to visit the infirmary before the library, or whatever. But unlike a CYOA book, which moves at the speed you read, TIME Stories moves at the speed you game. So each time you run out of time, you need to start over from the beginning, going through the same exact actions in the same order, as a group. There are a few places where one playthrough might break differently than another, since you might decide "this time I'm going to talk to the cook and make that roll!" but overall the beginning is the same every. single. time. You just get a little further before a bad roll, or before a new card arbitrarily uses up 50% of the time you had left. How many times would you enjoy going through the motions to solve a mystery, if it took you half an hour to get to new content each time? And I know I've said arbitrary a few times, but at the end of the base set [after a long series of challenging rolls] there is a binary decision, one of which results in an instant loss -- not even a tough roll. Time to start a new hour+ play, and hope you make those challenging rolls leading up to that binary decision! How ironic that the game about not wasting time does its utmost to waste yours. And maybe this would be ok if, like, different characters were useful, and since you switch bodies and abilities and get to take on a little light roleplaying if you want, but no, some of the characters are absolutely worse than the others. You can absolutely enjoy parts of the game (the mystery itself is ok, and the tableaux and mini-map are neat mechanics) and can absolutely enjoy hanging out with your friends, so if you are just not a person who reflects on what you enjoy and why -- it's all just a fuzzy blob of "fun" when you think about your evening with TIME Stories -- then sure, Like and Share if you agree that TIME Stories is a great game!!!
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Jun 22, 2017 14:27
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My specific issue with TIME stories is it's a 5 dollar concept that costs 20 dollars, because it isn't replayable and you're really not getting much for you money
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Jun 22, 2017 14:29
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It's an overproduced CYOA with neither decent choices nor adventure.
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Jun 22, 2017 14:34
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Time Stories is great to play at conventions as you will play it in one night and there is zero reason to ever play it again. Hell the stories are 100% time worse if someone in your gaming group has play that module before as the game design is based on carrying knowledge through time loops.
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Jun 22, 2017 17:00
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Tormented posted:the game design is based on carrying knowledge through time loops. But...Tragedy Looper does that and has multiple modules in the box. Plus it lets you build more. 
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Jun 22, 2017 17:03
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Shut up and sit down's review of TIME stories mentioned that they have really lovely endings as well, not really explaining anything and just kind of stopping. Is that true? Could someone post an example in spoilers of how one of the scenarios ends?
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Jun 22, 2017 17:09
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My GF and I played through half of the marcy case with another couple and while it's a straight up bad game with bizarre random punishments intended to be avoided the next time through (and the next time, and the next time), I can say that I didn't totally hate the experience. The art is quite nice and the theme isn't horrible either. I'm just very happy I didn't buy it myself.
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Jun 22, 2017 17:27
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Steam has taught me that I am very, very bad at Twilight Struggle. From ages ago: Bottom Liner posted:What else do you like in this category? I'm always on the lookout for small form games as well. Have you tried Mint Works? We've been loving it and it's in my bag on a road trip right now. You honestly are almost certainly more well-versed here than I am, and I think my tolerance of bad game design is a lot higher than yours. Still - we usually have at least one version of Love Letter, Cheaty Mages, Star/Hero Realms, and Tak tossed in a bag in our car. My wife grabbed the Oregon Trail card game and despite acknowledging how godawful it is still insists on playing it whenever someone new asks about it, but hopefully that will pass soon.  Re: SHCD case #whatever goldfire Doctor Spaceman posted:We got a lead to see Bellamy, and in the directory there were two people with that surname (Maud and whatshisname), both living at the same address. I agree about the second point though, there isn't much that makes them the most convincing suspect. Holy crap. I keep forgetting how useful the directory can be. Rockman Reserve fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Jun 22, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 18:12
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Some play reports and a question: My wife and I played three games of Ticket to Ride: Europe. It was the first time either of us had played a Ticket to Ride game. I found it pretty enjoyable but she got mad at me when I staked a claim on a route near her on the right side of the map after mainly developing on the left. Since we played it three times we've experienced all of the long routes. Not sure how much I'll enjoy it going forward, but she still wants to play it. I won twice and she won the last time. I also found a cheap used copy of Jaipur at a bookstore a few days after being recommended it in this very thread. Talk about kismet! We played it two rounds of it last night. She won twice and I was mad cause I wanted to keep playing so I could taste victory at least once. She thought it was kind of boring and too simple. I liked it. I think I overvalued stocking up for the bonuses She won largely on the back of selling 2 of the expensive goods while I tried to get three, four, or five of the cheaper goods in order to get the bonuses. A fun little game. Nice and light. Don't think we'll play it much since she doesn't like it too well, though. And for my question, I would like to know if there is a recommended order to buy the Eldritch Horror expansions. It seems Forsaken Lore is basically out of stock everywhere, which is a shame. I'm not sure if we have enough table space for one of the big box expansions. Are any of them better than any of the others? It seems like they add tons of stuff to help keep the game fresh, which is what I'm looking for.
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Jun 22, 2017 19:14
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We played the second scenario for Gloomhaven last night, added a 4th person who normally hates RPGs because it's really stressful for her to remember which of the various values she's supposed to use for which spell/action and what things needed to be added to that etc. Gloomhaven's incredibly simple combat math really helped her out, and she had a good time, as we all did. We return to Gloomhaven triumphant over our first boss battle!
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Jun 22, 2017 19:36
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^^^ that sounds so cool! I'm hyped as hell to finally find a copy, hoping I can get my partner, who's kind of in a similar boat re: rpgs, interested. I was browsing at a boardgame store, and ran into a couple of card based/deck building "go on an adventure in a dungeon games", specifically Boss Monsters and Random Encounter. It looks like a fun concept, but it was hard to tell which was the most promising. The former seemed kind of like dungeon keeper as a card game, which seems great, and I liked that the latter was co-op, but I'm having trouble making a choice since neither was super well reviewed and no one I knew had played either. Are there any goon favorites among this type of game?
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Jun 22, 2017 19:38
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RIP ZEEZ
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foutre posted:^^^ that sounds so cool! I'm hyped as hell to finally find a copy, hoping I can get my partner, who's kind of in a similar boat re: rpgs, interested. Boss Monster is not good. When I first started playing board games I thought it was okay, but when I've seen what actual good games do, Boss Monster fails on so many fronts. no input on random encounter but jeez.
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Jun 22, 2017 19:41
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Boss Monster is to Dungeon Keeper as Munchkin is to Wizardry. That is, a slow, slogging, miserable random number generator with enough trappings of something you enjoy to make you feel betrayed by it. The closest game to Dungeon Keeper is Dungeon Lords, but it is not a game for beginners.
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Jun 22, 2017 19:48
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There are a few drafting rules that make Boss Monster a tolerable timewaster but you're never going to turn it into a "good" game. That said, I've had fun with it in the past, and unlike some cheesy inexplicably popular card games like Munchkin a game pretty much can't go on forever. E: the art is decent and has some nice in-jokes to people that know retro games of both the tabletop and video variety but 9 times out of 10 when I play Boss Monster it's because someone new to gaming thought the art looked cool and wanted to try something lighter. It's a good gateway game for a certain kind of nerd.
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Jun 22, 2017 19:55
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Gutter Owl posted:I've played it. It's pretty generic worker placement. Get orders, gather cubes, fulfill orders with cubes, sometimes pick up special abilities. Ah, Princess Maker the board game. Just what I need in my life but can't play with my friends for fear of being laughed at.
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Jun 22, 2017 19:59
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Agree with everything that's been said about TIME Stories, it's a mediocre game with poor writing and being forced to replay a scenario it multiple times to finish it sucks. If you want to play something like TIME Stories but also want to play a good game just get Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective instead. The stories are better, you have actual player agency and while the solutions can sometimes be pretty esoteric it's fun to investigate and try to come up with a theory, it really does a good job of making you feel like you're actually trying to solve a crime.
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Jun 22, 2017 20:07
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apophenium posted:And for my question, I would like to know if there is a recommended order to buy the Eldritch Horror expansions. It seems Forsaken Lore is basically out of stock everywhere, which is a shame. I'm not sure if we have enough table space for one of the big box expansions. Are any of them better than any of the others? It seems like they add tons of stuff to help keep the game fresh, which is what I'm looking for. Luckily Forsaken Lore is 'on the boat' so it should be on shelves soon. Really it just adds more general/location encounter cards and a few more mysteries to the core set's Old Ones. I would say any of the small box sets are good additions (I enjoyed Strange Remnants, and just picked up Signs of Carcossa but haven't played it yet). I've played Mountains of Madness and the Dreamlands so far for the big boxes, and would recommend Dreamlands before MoM. I've heard good things about Under the Pyramids too, but haven't had a chance to play it yet. I really like the focus mechanics, so perhaps one of those expansions would be a good start (I think Strange Remnants introduces this).
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Jun 22, 2017 20:14
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food court bailiff posted:It's a good gateway game for a certain kind of nerd. GrandpaPants posted:The closest game to Dungeon Keeper is Dungeon Lords, but it is not a game for beginners. Huh, probably won't try Boss Monsters then. I think it was more the theme than having it be particularly accessible that was appealing to me. Dungeon Lords seems like a good alternative take on it though and I've liked all the other Vlaada games I've played. I'll add it to the ever-growing list of games to try sooner or later. I kind of stopped keeping up with board games a while back and it's incredible what's been made in the last ~decade.
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Jun 22, 2017 20:22
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Speaking of "on the boat" does anyone know what's up with the Concordia reprint that was supposed to hit stores this month? does it actually exist or should I not hold my breath until later in the year?
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Jun 22, 2017 20:24
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Some Numbers posted:But...Tragedy Looper does that and has multiple modules in the box. Plus it lets you build more. That is why Tragedy Looper is a good game!
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Jun 22, 2017 20:27
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| # ? May 14, 2024 11:32 |
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apophenium posted:And for my question, I would like to know if there is a recommended order to buy the Eldritch Horror expansions. It seems Forsaken Lore is basically out of stock everywhere, which is a shame. I'm not sure if we have enough table space for one of the big box expansions. Are any of them better than any of the others? It seems like they add tons of stuff to help keep the game fresh, which is what I'm looking for. No suggested order beyond starting with forsaken lore. I'd consider mountains of madness first just for the focus token addition, although you can proxy that by just using a random token in place
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Jun 22, 2017 20:30
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