|
Rumda posted:Through the ages earns it's run time while terraforming mars definitely doesn't, I'll much rather play Race for the Galaxy which has the same base problems as TM but lasts a quarter of the time. It also “solved” (ie never had, because it came first) the problem that TMars has which is the inability to dig deeper than 4 cards. With a deck that huge, it’s insane. It takes most of a 4P game to even get through it so hurf durf if you don’t get your engine parts while others do.
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 15:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 22:09 |
|
|
The Narrator posted:I really like the app version but I don't think it's the game I want to sit down and play for 3+ hours. The (admittedly basic) accounting/cube pushing being automated in the app is a great feature. This. After the app was announced but before it was released, I watched the new TTA tutorial video, and all I kept thinking was "man this game looks really fiddly with all the accounting you have to do". While I haven't played the app yet, I fully intend to do so soon. I feel like the app should help automate a lot of the fiddly parts. I think if you're on the fence with the tabletop version of TTA, you should take the time to try out the app before you buy the game.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 16:10
|
|
|
The original version of TtA was fiddly as hell, but the new one isn't that bad, and really streamlines production.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 16:38
|
|
|
Started up Pandemic season 2 last night with my season 1 group. Game seems harder. Barely won the prologue, lost first Jan, and won second. Even though everything is closer/tighter, the frequent infections was really getting us. We had back to back epidemics once and the infections in the discard from the first were the same drat city.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 17:14
|
|
|
Ohthehugemanatee posted:I would not recommend Nations. It's superficially similar to TTA but it tosses the iterative complexity mostly out the window. It's tactical rather than strategic, and the gameplay is all about optimization. Without meaningful long term ramifications, each turn felt like a moderately complex but ultimately solvable algebra problem to me. The general reaction in my group was confusion over how someone could take the components of TTA and then remove everything that made it compelling. I disagree completely, as Al-Azad mentioned how "strategic" is the game really when you have to commit to a playstyle halfway through and gamble on the cards flipping at the right time? Nations is definitely tactical and I see that as a good thing.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 17:22
|
|
|
KingKapalone posted:Started up Pandemic season 2 last night with my season 1 group. Game seems harder. Barely won the prologue, lost first Jan, and won second. Even though everything is closer/tighter, the frequent infections was really getting us. We had back to back epidemics once and the infections in the discard from the first were the same drat city. I get the feeling using those "System-wide production" cards once (so you don't have to destroy them) is key to winning early on. We had the same experience as you difficulty-wise.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 17:27
|
|
|
KingKapalone posted:Started up Pandemic season 2 last night with my season 1 group. Game seems harder. Barely won the prologue, lost first Jan, and won second. Even though everything is closer/tighter, the frequent infections was really getting us. We had back to back epidemics once and the infections in the discard from the first were the same drat city. Don't forget you can still put resource cubes on cities after they get a plague cube to keep them from getting a second. You only take a wound for starting your turn there, so you can walk in, dump a bunch of cubes then walk back out. We had a tough time in the prologue before realizing that, and it got a LOT easier.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 17:37
|
|
|
Chill la Chill posted:It’s not Okanagan but have you played Days of Steam? It’s a tile laying pickup and deliver game. You play with greater control of your tiles (3 hand, towns always visible) and there’s a neat resource management aspect to it. Was on sale at MM for $7; I think $10 is their default. But, you absolutely need the $7 expansion because it removes the dumb derailment rule. Haven't heard of it but it looks neat, I'll check it out thanks.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 17:55
|
|
|
In TTA it's really important to keep pace with the inevitable arms race. You don't need to be ahead or within a few points but you DO need to be in the same league. Otherwise you become the cow everyone milks. A friend observed that the arms race is entirely player driven. There's nothing that really forces an arms race to escalate but it always happens. Something I always like to see in a game is a point at which your as the player need to shift gears. For example in TTA you need to shift away from production at some point, least you be stuck with excess production you can't spend. The type of cards in the different ages is different, so it's best to be mindful of the distribution in order to play at your best as well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 17:57
|
|
|
Gort posted:I get the feeling using those "System-wide production" cards once (so you don't have to destroy them) is key to winning early on. We had the same experience as you difficulty-wise. Yep did that once with one of the 3 box ones but still lost. Huxley posted:Don't forget you can still put resource cubes on cities after they get a plague cube to keep them from getting a second. You only take a wound for starting your turn there, so you can walk in, dump a bunch of cubes then walk back out. Were doing this a lot too. We think out ahead about a turn for each of us (4 players) and were squeaking by. Lots of short term changes to try and delay a predicted loss.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 18:01
|
|
|
Someone made a real good comment about the difference between Season 1 and 2 (paraphrased): Season 1 is a long campaign of putting out fires. Season 2 is a long campaign about establishing a fire suppression infrastructure so the fires put themselves out.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 18:06
|
|
|
SettingSun posted:Someone made a real good comment about the difference between Season 1 and 2 (paraphrased): Season 1 is a long campaign of putting out fires. Season 2 is a long campaign about establishing a fire suppression infrastructure so the fires put themselves out. We are skeptical about (Season 2 May spoiler) the new ability that lets you store player or infection cards in Box 6. It's a free action and just seems too good to be true. As a result, we didn't use it at all in our May game and have decided to try to avoid it going forward. We may be intentionally crippling ourselves, but we feel like there will be a reckoning someday where having put cards in that box will turn out to be a Very Bad Thing. I'm not looking for confirmation either way, just curious whether others had similar suspicions.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 19:57
|
|
|
Has anyone played sidereal confluence? I've head a few people mentioning it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 20:07
|
|
|
There’s a recently launched and pretty short Nemo’s War Kickstarter for a new expansion & a reprint. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/567823005/nemos-war-nautilus-upgrades-expansion-reprint?ref=hero_thanks
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 20:57
|
|
|
Rumda posted:Has anyone played sidereal confluence? I've head a few people mentioning it. I have, not a fan. Take Chinatown, where everyone can see at a glance what the board status is, and roughly know what things are or might be worth, and replace that with a sprawling engine where you turn cubes into more cubes. Its hard to keep track of what cubes you want, let alone the other guy, so you go around saying "who wants these cubes?" til you find a guy who does then you hammer out something fair according to the conversion guide printed on the player aid (3 small cubes for 2 big cubes for 1 cylinder for 3 ships) and then you return, never really feeling that you've fleeced an optimist or you've got a real steal. It's fixed that grim final round in Chinatown where the value of everything is known but their solution makes the whole game shaggy and unengaging. Its worth reading the fluff for a chuckle, there's so much stuff about how C3P0 invited space-wasps over to the party against the objections of the borg and a sapient cloud. It's the most generic rhubarb but the designer is so proud of it, and for a game that's dry as sawdust because of all the cubes. Mr. Squishy fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Dec 5, 2017 |
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 21:13
|
|
|
WhiteHowler posted:We had a rough time in January and February, just barely squeaking out wins, but since then (we're about to start June) the game has been a complete cakewalk. I want to hear how this goes. I had a similar suspicion but didn’t act on it. You should post in the PL thread. Mr. Squishy posted:I have, not a fan. This was my take on Sidereal as well. I think it might get better with repeat plays, but you’d need everyone to get to know the systems and I’m just not sure that the payoff is worth it. Prairie Bus fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Dec 5, 2017 |
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 21:14
|
|
|
Sidereal sounds like a cube pusher with a lesson in pareto optimality, which sounds like my kind of jam. The "tech" sounds like you're pushing a PPF - is that right? If it does need a few plays to really "get" it, that sounds even better.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 21:58
|
|
|
Crackbone posted:I disagree completely, as Al-Azad mentioned how "strategic" is the game really when you have to commit to a playstyle halfway through and gamble on the cards flipping at the right time? Nations is definitely tactical and I see that as a good thing. Have you actually played the game? Like there's a shitload of legitimate gripes about TTA (ugly, dry, unforgiving, loooooong) but "not strategic" is not one I've ever seen before and praying for card flips should have died as a strategy by the third time anyone plays it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 22:07
|
|
|
Chill la Chill posted:Sidereal sounds like a cube pusher with a lesson in pareto optimality, which sounds like my kind of jam. The "tech" sounds like you're pushing a PPF - is that right? If it does need a few plays to really "get" it, that sounds even better. Remind me what a ppf is and I'll tell you if tech's like one or not. You feed quite a lot of cubes to a research team (who have a different name from the tech they're researching, making reading cards fun) and get the sole use of that tech (a different cube pusher) til the next round, when you share it with everyone ans get points.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 22:14
|
|
|
Mr. Squishy posted:Remind me what a ppf is and I'll tell you if tech's like one or not. It’s a fancy term (production possibility frontier) for maximum projected output for two potential outputs given whatever input. I read about sidereal a while back and it seemed like an interesting aspect of simple economics lessons I can add to my mountain of economics games, half of which are about trains. The game just sounded neat because it was purely about efficiency increase compared to the outright financial gains in other games. My fellow economist and engineering friends are into them so I keep getting them 
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 22:23
|
|
|
The airship expansion for Scythe drops today. They also sent out an email confirming there will be exactly one more, and that this image (from expansion #2) teases it somehow: Some sort of light mech-infantry? They've said the box will be about the size of the first two expansions put together, so I'm assuming it has to include minis.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 23:37
|
|
|
I swear if everything doesn't fit into the Legendary Box I just received this weekend...
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 23:50
|
|
|
Gloomhaven is coming in Friday, someone posted a "things to know before playing" link for it. I want to avoid loving up the first play too badly.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 23:51
|
|
|
al-azad posted:Gloomhaven is coming in Friday, someone posted a "things to know before playing" link for it. I want to avoid loving up the first play too badly. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3840191&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 In the OP
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 23:57
|
|
|
Krazyface posted:The airship expansion for Scythe drops today. They also sent out an email confirming there will be exactly one more, and that this image (from expansion #2) teases it somehow: The light mech infantry is already a thing (There are factory cards depicting it), plus, I mean, cmon, the way you do "this" (where you show a tease) is that it's the tether wires coming off the ground that are teasing something. So like, what, there are gonna be big tops? Everyone gets a circus? Whatever. Anyway, SO STOKED! Me and my gaming pals are all into Scythe, we think its great. Expansions are great. This is great news! YAY!
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 00:01
|
|
|
Krazyface posted:The airship expansion for Scythe drops today. They also sent out an email confirming there will be exactly one more, and that this image (from expansion #2) teases it somehow: I would guess weather/seasonal conditions. Guess we'll see. I definitely want Wind Gambit, just need to see how my finances look after the Xmas blitz.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 00:38
|
|
|
I'm not sure Scythe needs any more moving parts, it feels thinky enough, but I guess more variance is OK.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 02:43
|
|
|
I have and like Sidereal Confluence a lot. It's Chinatown, but with cube conversion cards instead. They don't really mention in the book, but you should place the cubes you can use on the cards, place the cubes you don't need kind of near the front to show you want to trade them, and then you just kinda look around at what other people need, and if it matches what you have, offer a trade. You're never really trying to fleece people, though some desperate types might get you more than what your cubes are worth. You're basically trying to fully convert all of your cubes each round through your cards (which you can only run once each per round). Cubes that just sit in front of you don't get you anything, it's inefficient to just hold onto them, so you're trying to deal them all away for stuff you need. If you get people really good at trading and tracking, you can even trade a cube away you don't need now for a few cubes later. With trades being enforced, ie, if they don't pay up they lose victory points, you rarely have to worry about multiturn trades or getting cheated. I read that the designer had a guy in his group consistently run a 'bank' in the game. I guess people that had extra cubes would send them to him, and he might trade them out to others, or use them himself. They'd keep a tally of how many and what kind of cubes they gave him, and could withdraw with interest in later turns. Or somesuch. It's so open ended, if you love trading, economics and peak efficiency you'll like this game probably. That, plus it being up to nine players, and each race being rather different, it has a ton of replay value.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 03:23
|
|
|
Help I took Gloomhaven out of the box and it won't go back in
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 08:45
|
|
|
that's the opposite of a problem
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 08:47
|
|
|
Dr. Video Games 0069 posted:Help I took Gloomhaven out of the box and it won't go back in
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 08:57
|
|
God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
|
Dr. Video Games 0069 posted:Help I took Gloomhaven out of the box and it won't go back in I got the Broken Token insert (which makes set up tremendously faster) and can fit everything back into the box with the exception of the dungeon tiles, which I put in a file folder.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 13:40
|
|
|
CaptainRightful posted:I got the Broken Token insert (which makes set up tremendously faster) and can fit everything back into the box with the exception of the dungeon tiles, which I put in a file folder. I am going to get a wooden chest from somewhere and just use that. Bonus points if it has a clasp I can stick a good old padlock on. The sort you open with an oversized key (or a weak pull). Insert or not, travelling with this game is not going to happen for me but when people play here I can open a creaky old wooden box and get to my planos from there. Chill la Chill has inspired me. Burning in the class symbols on the box would look cool af and be easy and for a game with this longevity why not?
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 13:53
|
|
|
Listened to So Very Wrong About Games, the podcast by the guy who did All The Games You Like Are Bad, and he is indeed so very wrong about games (talks up Kingdom Death Monster and how people confuse poor rolls with poor performance). It's definitely a better format for that guy considering his reviews were just standing in front of a bookshelf.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 15:06
|
|
|
Ravendas posted:I have and like Sidereal Confluence a lot. It's Chinatown, but with cube conversion cards instead. Thanks for the thoughts. I think it does have a spot on my shelf, especially since Chinatown is long OOP. I haven't been able to watch the heavy cardboard playthrough yet, but do you get better tech that allows you to produce/convert cubes more efficiently? Sleekly posted:Chill la Chill has inspired me. Burning in the class symbols on the box would look cool af and be easy and for a game with this longevity why not? al-azad posted:how people confuse poor rolls with poor performance  But with the context of everything else...
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 15:27
|
|
|
Chill la Chill posted:especially since Chinatown is long OOP. Holy poo poo you’re right, time to flip my copy for 3-4x what I paid.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 15:31
|
|
|
al-azad posted:Listened to So Very Wrong About Games, the podcast by the guy who did All The Games You Like Are Bad, and he is indeed so very wrong about games (talks up Kingdom Death Monster and how people confuse poor rolls with poor performance). It's definitely a better format for that guy considering his reviews were just standing in front of a bookshelf. I just listened to it last night, I agree that his opinions aren't great but even the the format I like a lot less than his old youtube stuff. His videos were really deep dives into specific games that had a good number of genuine insights, even if I didn't always agree with his final verdict. With this podcast he and his co-host do a lot more meandering from topic to topic without many interesting things to say about them, overall I was pretty disappointed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 19:04
|
|
|
al-azad posted:Listened to So Very Wrong About Games, the podcast by the guy who did All The Games You Like Are Bad, and he is indeed so very wrong about games (talks up Kingdom Death Monster and how people confuse poor rolls with poor performance). It's definitely a better format for that guy considering his reviews were just standing in front of a bookshelf. He actually tears Kingdom Death Monster apart pretty well regarding mechanics, over sexualualized art, etc. he admits that it’s a bad game that he still likes for the discovery element and what he calls “fun paperwork”. Being able to criticize a game and call it bad even though you like it is a good quality in a reviewer and basically the approach of most people in this thread. EDIT: I have 3 games I've kept in my collection that I categorize as outright bad but keep because I enjoy them in specific groups or circumstances: Zombicide, King of New York, Terraforming Mars. Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Dec 6, 2017 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 21:10
|
|
|
Kingdom Death Monster just kinda makes me wish I was in a timeline where someone made a Monster Hunter game instead of that trainwreck.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 21:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 22:09 |
|
|
Glagha posted:Kingdom Death Monster just kinda makes me wish I was in a timeline where someone made a Monster Hunter game instead of that trainwreck. Same here. I would've loved simulating Monster Hunter mechanics without random bullshit thrown in, dice rolling, card drawing for parts, that stuff is dumb. Let me kill a monster and pick what I carve off of it (or have some way for my actions in the battle to influence what I get). Not this random stuff with a deadline thrown in.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 22:02
|
|
