Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

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homullus: Mar 27, 2009

FirstAidKite posted:

What's the worst board game name in your opinion

# ? Oct 24, 2017 19:04

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# ? May 26, 2024 08:15

Countblanc: Apr 20, 2005; _{Help a hero out!}

Actually I'm changing my answer to "Uncle Chestnut's Table Gype"

# ? Oct 24, 2017 19:05

silvergoose: Mar 18, 2006; IT IS SAID THE TEARS OF THE BWEENIX CAN HEAL ALL WOUNDS

homullus posted:

Go

Actually it's called baduk

At least, in the bgg database so it's actually loving searchable.

# ? Oct 24, 2017 19:07

golden bubble: Jun 3, 2011; yospos

silvergoose posted:

Actually it's called baduk

At least, in the bgg database so it's actually loving searchable.

Excuse me, you mean Weiqi, right?

# ? Oct 24, 2017 19:26

Viper915: Sep 18, 2005; Pokey Little Puppy

TheNakedJimbo posted:

I'm a teacher, and over the last year and a half I've been buying games for my students to play before school and at lunch. Currently I'm in need of a better way to transport them from my classroom to the lunch room. Here's the current setup:

It's a rigid plastic 8.5x11x6 box I got from Michaels for $3. In that picture it has six games in it. You'll note that they're all small filler games, because that gives my kids the most flexibility; if they happen to finish their current game five minutes before school starts, they can still squeeze in a round of Love Letter. That means we're talking about small boxes.

However, the group of gamers has been expanding (I've got about 15 who play daily), which means the collection of games has been expanding, which means I need a bigger box. My ideal setup is something like a briefcase with mesh webbing on the inside, so I can open it up and see the games without them all falling out. I'm not looking for something with dedicated compartments like a modified tackle box, because games get rotated in and out. I also don't want to throw them all in a backpack and have to ruffle through a disorganized mess to find what I'm looking for. Lastly, I'm on a budget, which means I would prefer "This thing might work for you" over "This thing is made specifically for transporting games and costs $50." As I said, this is just to keep them organized for a short walk from my classroom to the lunch room.

For anyone who's curious or wants to recommend games, the players in question range from 5th to 7th grade. As I said, filler-type games work best, but there are some outliers. Here's a partial list of all the stuff they've played since the group started:
Love Letter (still a favorite)
Lost Legacy (never really caught on since they liked Love Letter better)
Mille Bornes (popular when I supervised the after-school program, since we had a longer time to play)
Roll For It (still a favorite)
Three Wishes (they love it and I don't know why)
Tempurra (a fun little push-your-luck game)
Dino Hunt Dice (basically Zombie Dice with a more school-appropriate theme - they can't get enough of it)
Pass the Pigs (half of them love it; the other half don't want to do math first thing in the morning)
Tumble Tree (a hilarious dexterity game, also a favorite)

I'm planning on picking up No Thanks and For Sale soon as well.

My grocery store sells bags like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-Collapsible-Reusable-Shopping-Reinforced/dp/B01D3OONDE
for a few bucks and they've turned out to be great for bringing games around. They collapse to take up no room, and then when you open them up, a stiff flap folds down to reinforce the bottom fabric and keep the boxy shape of the bag. I don't know how they'll hold up to schoolkids, but we've used ours for years lugging games and other things around, tossing them in the back of cars, and not treating them gently and they've been great. Also they're so cheap that you can just get a replacement.

When I get home from work I'll take a picture of it loaded with some games so you can get an idea of what it will fit.

# ? Oct 24, 2017 19:57

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Starting a new Game of Thrones table if anyone's interested:
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3838469

# ? Oct 24, 2017 20:16

Mayveena: Dec 27, 2006; People keep vandalizing my ID photo; I've lodged a complaint with HR

In TGZ, don't have cheap goods and you'll do a lot better.

# ? Oct 24, 2017 20:41

FulsomFrank: Sep 11, 2005; Hard on for love

angel opportunity posted:

I played dozens of games and was OUT of my last 5-player game in less than 30 minutes. I did a recruiting girl opening, then once I had a trainer I did some training actions and got a discount manager, then the lady I didn't think was going to do anything to me cut me out of ALL sales. I analyzed the situation and realized that with everything I had I would simply be unable to make any sales for several turns, so I had to fire all the stuff I'd spent the last few turns training to give myself like a 3-turn window ($15 in bank) to keep one of my paid employees instead of losing all of them. Considering the guy and his wife were both very good, there was no way I was going to get back into that game. It took me another few hours to recover from that blunder, and by the time I'd started getting turns with like $100 income, the guy in the lead was pulling in $500+ and the game was near over.

The thing that cut me out of all sales was 100% avoidable. It required me to think through every single thing she could have done to me and seen that as an option. It's one thing I really like about the game; you have to read the board as best as you can and account for everything. It's rewarding when you do, and it's rewarding when you're the one that totally burns someone out of the game with a smart move.

In 2-4 players I can deal with it happening to me because it won't take so incredibly long to actually lose. If you are into Starcraft, it's kind of like how even a really good player can fail to block their ramp, then six speedlings get in, and they lost. One little slip up like that and it's gg. The difference in Starcraft is that the game ends almost immediately after that, in FCM you are stuck playing for hours after losing.

The idea of "Well if everyone knows what they are doing" is true to some degree, but it doesn't mean that someone who really knows what they are doing isn't going to overlook something or get totally burned. The more experienced you are the more you try to optimize your builds, doing stuff like "Okay well I'll have $10 exactly in two turns so I can hire x employee right now and I won't have to fire him," the more optimized you get and the further you try reading ahead the more vulnerable you are to an opponent interrupting that. I don't think everyone being experienced makes the game more resilient to people just getting knocked out entirely, but it at least makes it so when someone does get knocked out they know what they did wrong and can accept it as a learning experience. If you're with brand-new players used to more forgiving games, it can leave a super bad taste in everyone's mouth.

I agree with pretty much everything here. I think it's just the hazard of playing a game that can go on forever like FCM versus something quicker. The dead-man-walking scenario can affect any number of tight player driven strategy games but depending on what your playing the length of your march to oblivion can be longer and more painful. Hopefully among pros and friends even a long game that you're struggling in can still be enjoyable, but when you are trying to introduce newbies and end up showing them a Bad Time, kiss ever playing that one goodbye unless your victims experience what you described, a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from not just losing but knowing why they lost and how to avoid it next time.

# ? Oct 24, 2017 20:53

Bruceski: Aug 21, 2007; The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

CommonShore posted:

Oh poo poo last time I played Puerto Rico my friend positioned herself to the left of the newbie and was giving her all sorts of "helpful advice." Her husband and I called her on it and started poo poo talking her for the rest of the game and she tilted and lost. It was loving glorious. She was pissed off. Puerto Rico owns.

Wow, I didn't think anything could be worse for a newbie than the "let me do everything for you" quarterback.

# ? Oct 24, 2017 21:29

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

Bruceski posted:

Wow, I didn't think anything could be worse for a newbie than the "let me do everything for you" quarterback.

Yeah she pulls poo poo like this regularly enough which is why we start making fun of her. I think that for us the last straw was when she was giving her advice like "You'll get 6 points and wreck CommonShore's plan if you do this" while omitting that she was setting up a 9-point play for herself.

# ? Oct 24, 2017 22:43

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Looks like most of the people I was going to meet at Spiel have bailed. This could be a long, boring trip. :/

# ? Oct 24, 2017 23:33

PlaneGuy: Mar 28, 2001; g e r m a n
e n g i n e e r i n g; Yam Slacker

Chill la Chill posted:

I made a PNP version using Serenissima boats and tokens for my copy. TOOT TOOT

My printer ran out of ink while printing the player boards and I had to get a Chinese prisoner carve me boats out of soap for my pnp version of container

no wait, this is an actual retail version

# ? Oct 25, 2017 00:06

Kevin DuBrow: Apr 21, 2012; The uruk-hai defender has logged on.

Speaking of PnP, I made the PnP version of Secret Hitler (main difference is less artwork variety) and I'm sad that I haven't done so sooner. It helps that you can print everything you need off seven sheets of paper. I used a modified version of the version on their website, which sorts cards of the same type onto the same page so that you can color code them.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 00:20

ShaneB: Oct 22, 2002

Jedit posted:

Looks like most of the people I was going to meet at Spiel have bailed. This could be a long, boring trip. :/

Find like some podcast group and tag on. It'll be fine. I know heavy cardboard is there. Meet some new frans.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 00:48

Kiranamos: Sep 27, 2007; _{STATUS: SCOTT IS AN IDIOT}

The worst game name is Troyes, actually, because it's impossible to pronounce without getting douchechills

# ? Oct 25, 2017 00:48

djfooboo: Oct 16, 2004

Kiranamos posted:

The worst game name is Troyes, actually, because it's impossible to pronounce without getting douchechills

Truly the pho of boardgaming.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 01:03

Jordan7hm: Feb 17, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

PlaneGuy posted:

My printer ran out of ink while printing the player boards and I had to get a Chinese prisoner carve me boats out of soap for my pnp version of container

no wait, this is an actual retail version

I watched the Heavy cardboard playthrough of Container and man do I want it and man do I not want to pay that much for that level of production quality. It�s gotta be one of the most obvious print and play games out there.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 01:06

al-azad: May 28, 2009

Kiranamos posted:

The worst game name is Troyes, actually, because it's impossible to pronounce without getting douchechills

Same with Orleans.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 01:07

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Jordan7hm posted:

I watched the Heavy cardboard playthrough of Container and man do I want it and man do I not want to pay that much for that level of production quality. It�s gotta be one of the most obvious print and play games out there.

My PnP has pretty good production values; I had all the pieces 3D printed and got the boards printed on some decent card stock. The boards are fairly flimsy, but they work.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 01:24

Cosmic Web: Jan 11, 2005; "Stand and deliver, that my hamster might have a better look at you!"; Fun Shoe

Jedit posted:

Looks like most of the people I was going to meet at Spiel have bailed. This could be a long, boring trip. :/

Time for a goonmeet. Anyone else attending this year?

I'm considering buying Antiquity (never played a Splotter title before, but a merciless civ-style game sounds good. Also a contender for the worst title), Import/Export (apparently similar to Mottainai, which is one of my favourite games. Also a contender for the worst title), and The Expanse (love the show and someone mentioned it contains elements of COIN/Twilight Struggle).

Any recommendations for or against these games?

# ? Oct 25, 2017 01:25

Jordan7hm: Feb 17, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

Some Numbers posted:

My PnP has pretty good production values; I had all the pieces 3D printed and got the boards printed on some decent card stock. The boards are fairly flimsy, but they work.

Yeah this is what I was planning to do.

Just need to find a group for it.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 01:46

homullus: Mar 27, 2009

al-azad posted:

Same with Orleans.

I think That's Just French, cf. Le Havre.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:01

Azran: Sep 3, 2012; And what should one do to be remembered?

Just check the pronunciation of "denouement". Had to say it out loud today.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:04

Huxley: Oct 10, 2012; Grimey Drawer

Azran posted:

Just check the pronunciation of "denouement". Had to say it out loud today.

I've known the correct pronunciation of that word for 10 years and I still read it in my head as dee-NOW-ment every time.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:11

al-azad: May 28, 2009

English derived words that's fun when someone reads them aloud: blackguard, forecastle, and boatswain. I watched Oliver and Company every day as a kid and it wasn't until I was maybe a senior in high school that I saw savoir faire spelled out and I'm like "wtf is savior fairy?"

I have gotten into arguments with a theater nerd over "forte." He insists that it's "fort" and not "fortay." Both are correct but he will fist fight you over it.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:39

Jordan7hm: Feb 17, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

Second Colonist attempt with kid. He was once again really excited to play it - has been bugging me about it since Sunday in fact. We played through the first two eras, adding in the colonies this time (they're not in the intro game). It took like 2 hours, but it was a lot of fun. From my perspective it's almost like running a solo game where I occasionally have to worry about fees (until I get the Lord colony to level 2 at least), and from his perspective he gets to play this fun building game. Despite repeated warnings that maybe he should buy some production buildings he went for a very heavy focus on the colonies. His score sucks as a result but he's having a lot of fun. Rather than end it, we're going to keep it up on the table and try to close out eras 3 and 4 over the next two evenings. Good times.

As a solo game I think it's going to take a bunch of playthroughs to really assess its worth. Building the engine is fun, but I don't really have a sense of what I'm building towards, so I'm looking forward to seeing what those later eras offer. That implies a bit of a time commitment. When I bought it I asked the seller why he was getting rid of it and he said "it's fun, but I can never get it to the table". I can see why that would be an issue.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:46

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

Jordan7hm posted:

Second Colonist attempt with kid. He was once again really excited to play it - has been bugging me about it since Sunday in fact. We played through the first two eras, adding in the colonies this time (they're not in the intro game). It took like 2 hours, but it was a lot of fun. From my perspective it's almost like running a solo game where I occasionally have to worry about fees (until I get the Lord colony to level 2 at least), and from his perspective he gets to play this fun building game. Despite repeated warnings that maybe he should buy some production buildings he went for a very heavy focus on the colonies. His score sucks as a result but he's having a lot of fun. Rather than end it, we're going to keep it up on the table and try to close out eras 3 and 4 over the next two evenings. Good times.

As a solo game I think it's going to take a bunch of playthroughs to really assess its worth. Building the engine is fun, but I don't really have a sense of what I'm building towards, so I'm looking forward to seeing what those later eras offer. That implies a bit of a time commitment. When I bought it I asked the seller why he was getting rid of it and he said "it's fun, but I can never get it to the table". I can see why that would be an issue.

Keep updating, it's awesome to see a kid playing what many adults wouldn't be able to grasp.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:57

Countblanc: Apr 20, 2005; _{Help a hero out!}

Troyes is said like "twah", right?

# ? Oct 25, 2017 03:57

Jordan7hm: Feb 17, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

Bottom Liner posted:

Keep updating, it's awesome to see a kid playing what many adults wouldn't be able to grasp.

I was thinking about that as we were playing. The best part about playing with him, and I think something that might be common with lots of kids, is a total lack of AP. He just doesn't need to overthink his moves at all - he has a good idea of what he wants (to get all the embassies & to level them up) and makes moves that work towards that. His overall strategy might be weak, but once he decides what it's going to be, he doesn't sit there thinking about how to play a perfect turn.

When he does something clearly subobtimal I point it out to him, but it hasn't been that common.

This isn't the case for every game though. He APs a fair bit in tactical abstracts. Different kinds of games I guess.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 04:07

Fate Accomplice: Nov 30, 2006

Countblanc posted:

Troyes is said like "twah", right?

Technically correct. I�m gonna say �Troy-es� forever though

# ? Oct 25, 2017 04:13

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

Schisser posted:

Time for a goonmeet. Anyone else attending this year?

I'm considering buying Antiquity (never played a Splotter title before, but a merciless civ-style game sounds good. Also a contender for the worst title), Import/Export (apparently similar to Mottainai, which is one of my favourite games. Also a contender for the worst title), and The Expanse (love the show and someone mentioned it contains elements of COIN/Twilight Struggle).

Any recommendations for or against these games?

Wondering about these too. I/E also has a ridiculous ship captain tier at $90 and Mottainai+Container sounds wonderful. Also if anyone has any experience with both, I�m also wondering about Antiquity vs. Neuland (assume first edition version).

# ? Oct 25, 2017 04:33

The Eyes Have It: Feb 10, 2008; Third Eye Sees All
...snookums

If anyone thinks Food Chain Magnate lets you gently caress yourself up mercilessly then hoo nelly stay the gently caress away from Antiquity is all I can say.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 05:47

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

Nocturne lookin realllll good

# ? Oct 25, 2017 06:44

Barbelith: Oct 23, 2010; SMILE; Taco Defender

While we are at it, what's the correct pronunciation of Caylus?

# ? Oct 25, 2017 06:44

Skypie: Sep 28, 2008

Bottom Liner posted:

Nocturne lookin realllll good

Huh. I was just watching some old show about Celtic mythology, and they talked about the pooka.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 07:01

dishwasherlove: Nov 26, 2007; The ultimate fusion of man and machine.

ima let u finish in me posted:

While we are at it, what's the correct pronunciation of Caylus?

I'm not French but I think it's pronounced gently caress you if you move the provost again I'll cut you, little bitch.

# ? Oct 25, 2017 07:10

Orange DeviI: Nov 9, 2011; by Hand Knit

Pookas own

# ? Oct 25, 2017 07:12

Selecta84: Jan 29, 2015

So I'll be on Spiel on Thursday and I plan to be there when the gates open (if traffic allows it...)

I will visit 5-8 booths and get the games I really want which should take an hour or so.

So around 11 am I should be set to do other stuff like checking the rest of Spiel, try to get into a demo round or two, etc.

I'm hoping to get into a game of Founders of Gloomhaven.

Unfortunately I won't be able to stay much longer then 5 pm.

And a here are some plans for the different exhibition halls which also show which publisher will be at which booth

http://brettspielbox.de/?p=20657

Selecta84 fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Oct 25, 2017

# ? Oct 25, 2017 07:18