Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

SuperKlaus: Oct 20, 2005; Fun Shoe

S.J. posted:

I really loving love Omega Protocol so I'm actually kind of excited about this.

Seconded, I think the adrenaline system is loads of fun and if they only could beef up the cover mechanics to give me the XCOM board game it already is in my imagination I'd be very happy!

Is anything at all known about what changes to 2e are planned yet?

Also no the FFG XCOM game does not count. I memory-holed that turd. I want an Omega Protocol that's XCOM's tactical battles.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 17:47

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# ? May 16, 2024 18:18

Fat Turkey: Aug 1, 2004; Gobble Gobble Gobble!

I vaguely recalled the original Brass review but wasn't aware it differed so much to Brum. That is pretty funny!

That said, I actually do like the time and effort they put into interesting shots of the game over their voiceovers. They are so much more visually simulating than a) static shot of overview of board and pieces; or b) static shot from the same centred angle of reviewer in ill-fitting clothes reading the rulebook at you. It's probably the only reason I keep checking in on them every so often. At least someone there is trying to be artistic with it (and I assume that's Matt).

Fat Turkey fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Oct 9, 2018

# ? Oct 9, 2018 17:49

admanb: Jun 18, 2014

Birmingham and Lancashire are two very different games and people should be expected to like one more than the other.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 18:01

Mojo Jojo: Sep 21, 2005

nonathlon posted:

Played the new blinged up version of Container the other night. A few observations:

* If there was ever a game that was over-produced, this is it. It weighs a tonne, and takes up more table space that it should. I mean, it looks lovely, but it would still be a great game with half-sized freighters.

* I've played it before, but the rules and boards are pretty decent and understandable.

* However, while we enjoyed the game, we ended up in a state where the game was never going to end. The economy sagged, due to lack of cash, lack of buyers, and stuffed warehouses. Eventually we decided to call it. Perhaps with more experience, we would have been to play our way out of the slump.

It's not good looking so much as large. The art is horrible

# ? Oct 9, 2018 18:07

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

admanb posted:

Birmingham and Lancashire are two very different games and people should be expected to like one more than the other.

At the high end of strategy sure, but they�re effectively 90% the same game and use the same rules with little difference.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 18:13

FulsomFrank: Sep 11, 2005; Hard on for love

Finally got Rising Sun to the table and I actually really enjoyed it. Played it 4p with the rest being totally new too and I came in last place as the yellow clan that always pays a dollar for things, so I should have been buying things like crazy but maybe I was too conservative with my purchases?

Either way, by the second season everyone was looking around at the board state and thinking about their decisions and the partnerships/alliances were more significant. The player that had the bird clan able to fly anywhere on the board ended up taking it, their power seemed super strong compared to the turtle fortresses, and fox clan.

Overall the game reminded me of a mix between CitOW, Inis, and Kemet. The figurine limit is strict and unless you're playing it fast and loose you have to really think about the relative strength of the forces competing for spaces and where you're deploying them (Inis). The seasonal cards add a bunch of variety to each person's faction kinda like power tiles and killing your own units to get points and give you flexibility with future recruitment actions (Kemet). And while the regions that are scored are randomised each round, the way it's handled was really reminiscent of CitOW.

My biggest complaint wasn't related to mechanics as much as putting these goddam figures away and repacking the box was a nightmare. I am most likely going to have to source an insert or something because between the base game and the three(!) extra boxes for expansion/extras it's like that Lovecraft story of the guy who gets trapped in the invisible alien maze.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 18:42

TorakFade: Oct 3, 2006; I strongly disapprove

food court bailiff posted:

If other players are screwing with you when you're not first or second player then the correct play is to take the first player token early in a round so that doesn't keep happening. Were you playing with a static first player or something?

No, I just didn't get that chance for the first couple of rounds, then it just didn't seem worth it. Probably just a beginner's mistake, will try to be more aggressive next time in taking first player

# ? Oct 9, 2018 18:54

Max: Nov 30, 2002

Azul is interesting in that regard. I find that the 4 player game becomes a lot less cuthroat and strategic, since it's hard to plan your next move with three other people going ahead of you. With two, the game can be really vicious since you can actually plan really far ahead. Three is a good number for the game as well.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:11

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

In Azul it's impossible to be doing everything all the time (ie with all colors and number thereof) and your intentions and needs are telegraphed, so there isn't normally a consistent succession of moves that are "good for me and bad for you".

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:14

Merauder: Apr 17, 2003; The North Remembers.

FulsomFrank posted:

Finally got Rising Sun to the table and I actually really enjoyed it. Played it 4p with the rest being totally new too and I came in last place as the yellow clan that always pays a dollar for things, so I should have been buying things like crazy but maybe I was too conservative with my purchases?

It's hard to say without knowing exactly what Shrines were available, and what Season deck(s) you played with, but generally speaking yes, Bonsai wants to capitalize on their perma-discount by ensuring that Training mandates happen as often as possible, and particularly when you get an early buy. Either stacking lots of Virtues, or picking up multiple Monsters for additional table presence and war significance is a big part of playing to their strengths. If Lotus clan is in the game as well (who can choose any Mandate like a wild card when it's their turn to select one), it's beneficial to try to ally with them and negotiate into them enacting a third (or even fourth, depending on turn order) Training mandate so you can buy buy buy. Similarly, favoring effects that generate additional money is still a good idea for Bonsai so that after ideally buying up a lot of things during the Political Phase, they still have money to be relevant during War Advantage bidding. That could mean using Shintos on the money shrine, favoring provinces that grant money as a Harvest bonus, or simply buying up War Upgrade cards during Training which grant income for the War Phase (though that feels a bit redundant, and I'd probably favor most other cards over those initially).

FulsomFrank posted:

Either way, by the second season everyone was looking around at the board state and thinking about their decisions and the partnerships/alliances were more significant. The player that had the bird clan able to fly anywhere on the board ended up taking it, their power seemed super strong compared to the turtle fortresses, and fox clan.

I'm 5 of 6 games deep on the game, which to be fair still isn't much at all, but I'd say that every faction has the potential to feel extremely powerful. Dragonfly (the birds) do have a very transparent strength of mobility; Fox is similarly powerful, but for slightly different reasons, and most people consider them to be the most powerful in the game (and some even go so far as to consider them broken). Turtles are strong because of the extra strength their Fortresses add to war; Koi is strong because it's so hard to pin down what their strength will be in a battle because of their flexibility with hiring Ronin; Lotus are strong because of their aforementioned ability to mandate whatever they want during the Political phases, and can be very strong allies to make because of this; Moon is perhaps my favorite faction, limited to 2 units per province at any time, but every figure is worth 2 strength at the start, which is significant; and finally Sun, whose tie-breaker bonus ability can be a huge, massive swing if played right. I'd say keep playing the game and you'll likely see a variety of factions come out on top, which is something I really appreciate about the game.

FulsomFrank posted:

My biggest complaint wasn't related to mechanics as much as putting these goddam figures away and repacking the box was a nightmare. I am most likely going to have to source an insert or something because between the base game and the three(!) extra boxes for expansion/extras it's like that Lovecraft story of the guy who gets trapped in the invisible alien maze.

100%. I picked up the Broken Token organizer, and while it took me a whole goddamn day to assemble, it makes setting up (and tearing down) and playing the game so much faster, which means the game is that much more likely to make it to the table. It still requires two boxes with their KS-based organizer, but overall it's still very worth the price of entry in my opinion.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:30

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

Rising sun is one of those games that would be greatly improved by turning soldiers into cubes, hexagons for priests, cones for leaders, and monsters into counters with stats. It�s funny that the game comes with rubber bases to denote type as if they knew readability issues would arise.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:38

Ceebees: Nov 2, 2011; I'm intentionally being as verbose as possible in negotiations for my own amusement.

TorakFade posted:

No, I just didn't get that chance for the first couple of rounds, then it just didn't seem worth it. Probably just a beginner's mistake, will try to be more aggressive next time in taking first player

With 2 players, Azul is one million percent about screwing over the other guy. If you're both above zero, taking three points away from them is better than gaining two yourself. With 4, it's a lot less vicious and more random and about trying to elbow out the best play you can with what's left and make a pretty pattern. But if 'screwing people over' and 'random' are turn offs for you, this is probably not going to be a game for you, because it is always both of those things, and changing the player count just moves the slider for which is the focus.

That said, taking first player as soon as possible can be valuable. Also, counting tiles, or just having a general sense of what could possibly be in the bag still. There's 20 of each pattern, and you can look at everyone else's board and the box lid at any time. If you can see that 18/20 reds have been taken, don't bet big on trying to build up your red spaces next round, etc.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:48

Jordan7hm: Feb 17, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

nonathlon posted:

Played the new blinged up version of Container the other night. A few observations:

* If there was ever a game that was over-produced, this is it. It weighs a tonne, and takes up more table space that it should. I mean, it looks lovely, but it would still be a great game with half-sized freighters.

* I've played it before, but the rules and boards are pretty decent and understandable.

* However, while we enjoyed the game, we ended up in a state where the game was never going to end. The economy sagged, due to lack of cash, lack of buyers, and stuffed warehouses. Eventually we decided to call it. Perhaps with more experience, we would have been to play our way out of the slump.

While experience will help avoid the economy crashing issue, I find the investment bank basically solves the problem. If you were avoiding it, add it. It doesn�t add much complexity but it creates a fail safe.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:49

admanb: Jun 18, 2014

Bottom Liner posted:

At the high end of strategy sure, but they�re effectively 90% the same game and use the same rules with little difference.

Yet every time I see an opinion from someone who's played both they have a strong preference for one over the other.

I also think it's ridiculous to talk about two reviews that were done two years apart as if they released them both in the same day. Shockingly, opinions change.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:50

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

Ceebees posted:

With 2 players, Azul is one million percent about screwing over the other guy.

Agreed. It's in the same vein as Patchwork where end game score meaningless and doesn't give any idea how well you played and player skill is only reflected in winning, not score.

admanb posted:

Yet every time I see an opinion from someone who's played both they have a strong preference for one over the other.

I also think it's ridiculous to talk about two reviews that were done two years apart as if they released them both in the same day. Shockingly, opinions change.

I don't like one more than the other actually. I like the first half of Birm and the second half of Lanc. I don't love either though.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:51

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

People have a strong preference for games that are very similar because there is absolutely no reason to have both. Games that are different enough will be described as such so there is no reason for people to be adamant about the differences. That said Gaia project, Caverna, and Steam are the better halves. :getin:

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:53

CaptainRightful: Jan 11, 2005

admanb posted:

I also think it's ridiculous to talk about two reviews that were done two years apart as if they released them both in the same day. Shockingly, opinions change.

Except that in the new review of Brum, Quinn said his opinion of Lancs hasn't changed. And all the others agreed with him that Lancs is bad and Brum is good. This was all part of the same video.

Personally, I love Brum, but have kept Lancs in shrink to sell because they seem so similar that I don't feel like I need both.

Bottom Liner posted:

I don't like one more than the other actually. I like the first half of Birm and the second half of Lanc. I don't love either though.

Once people have played Brum enough, I think strategies will develop that account for overall beer scarcity.

CaptainRightful fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Oct 9, 2018

# ? Oct 9, 2018 19:58

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

Chill la Chill posted:

Caverna

# ? Oct 9, 2018 20:17

OgreNoah: Nov 18, 2003

I played Caverna once, never again.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 20:20

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

I got rid of Caverna after Antiquity. Antiquity is quite possibly the best sandbox Tetris choose your own buildings game there is right now. But between the two I�d pick Caverna.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 20:29

FulsomFrank: Sep 11, 2005; Hard on for love

Merauder posted:

It's hard to say without knowing exactly what Shrines were available, and what Season deck(s) you played with, but generally speaking yes, Bonsai wants to capitalize on their perma-discount by ensuring that Training mandates happen as often as possible, and particularly when you get an early buy. Either stacking lots of Virtues, or picking up multiple Monsters for additional table presence and war significance is a big part of playing to their strengths. If Lotus clan is in the game as well (who can choose any Mandate like a wild card when it's their turn to select one), it's beneficial to try to ally with them and negotiate into them enacting a third (or even fourth, depending on turn order) Training mandate so you can buy buy buy. Similarly, favoring effects that generate additional money is still a good idea for Bonsai so that after ideally buying up a lot of things during the Political Phase, they still have money to be relevant during War Advantage bidding. That could mean using Shintos on the money shrine, favoring provinces that grant money as a Harvest bonus, or simply buying up War Upgrade cards during Training which grant income for the War Phase (though that feels a bit redundant, and I'd probably favor most other cards over those initially).

I'm 5 of 6 games deep on the game, which to be fair still isn't much at all, but I'd say that every faction has the potential to feel extremely powerful. Dragonfly (the birds) do have a very transparent strength of mobility; Fox is similarly powerful, but for slightly different reasons, and most people consider them to be the most powerful in the game (and some even go so far as to consider them broken). Turtles are strong because of the extra strength their Fortresses add to war; Koi is strong because it's so hard to pin down what their strength will be in a battle because of their flexibility with hiring Ronin; Lotus are strong because of their aforementioned ability to mandate whatever they want during the Political phases, and can be very strong allies to make because of this; Moon is perhaps my favorite faction, limited to 2 units per province at any time, but every figure is worth 2 strength at the start, which is significant; and finally Sun, whose tie-breaker bonus ability can be a huge, massive swing if played right. I'd say keep playing the game and you'll likely see a variety of factions come out on top, which is something I really appreciate about the game.

100%. I picked up the Broken Token organizer, and while it took me a whole goddamn day to assemble, it makes setting up (and tearing down) and playing the game so much faster, which means the game is that much more likely to make it to the table. It still requires two boxes with their KS-based organizer, but overall it's still very worth the price of entry in my opinion.

Nice write up, thanks. I think there is a lot in here that I look forward to exploring. We just had the recommended Kami for new players as per the manual (honour, two movement, two ronin, and two dollars). I really enjoyed the experience overall but my friend is a bit sour because he thinks some of the action tiles are lame unless you're the one getting an ally bonus off them. I saw it more as you should be thankful you're even getting anything from this and that you should be negotiating with your allies/enemies even to make sure the tiles you like are picked.

And thanks for making my eyes bulge, the Rising Sun broken token organiser is ~$169 CDN. Time for me to get creative!

FulsomFrank fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Oct 9, 2018

# ? Oct 9, 2018 20:30

al-azad: May 28, 2009

Azul is really strategic for the type of game that it is because you can guess what the best moves are for your opponent and try to play around them. I'm pretty aggressive about taking 1st player in general because I find what often happens is people hesitate to grab it, one color fills up in the center, then someone eats a poo poo sandwich. But if I'm going last I'll try to make my first play to grab 1st player and usually I fill 3-4 rows completely before the end of the round.

Azul reminds me of Five Tribes in that you're trying to pick out the best move out of a handful of average moves but unlike Five Tribes where there are 100 possible moves, Azul is just like 10 so you can plan out several moves ahead reasonably.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 20:31

Dr. Video Games 0069: Jan 1, 2006; nice dolphin, nigga

Caver nah

# ? Oct 9, 2018 21:25

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

Agree-cola?

# ? Oct 9, 2018 21:29

Tekopo: Oct 24, 2008; When you see it, you'll shit yourself.

Played Tash-Kalar for the first time in a long time (apart from playtesting). Still owns. Sylvians still OP.

# ? Oct 9, 2018 21:51

The End: Apr 16, 2007; You're welcome.

Rising sun does not need an organiser. Just throw out the lovely vac trays for the player figures and standard components and bag everything. Just keep the trays for the monsters

# ? Oct 9, 2018 22:49

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

So we managed to get our $1 library book sale copy of Empires of the Void II played while I was on vacation, 2p.

Honestly the rules were dead easy to grok, there aren't really that many weird exceptions, not having played TI I suspect this was meant to be a super light quick TI, the events and stuff were flavorful and cool (fungus!), the giant plastic worldships and cool metal pieces in whatever deluxe edition this was were great.

All in all, it's a good spacefaring adventure game that if you looked too closely at the strategy it would probably be a little eh and just go play eclipse or TI4, but as a 2 player game to play in the evening where we don't actually want heavy 2p games, this works.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 00:20

Mojo Jojo: Sep 21, 2005

silvergoose posted:

So we managed to get our $1 library book sale copy of Empires of the Void II played while I was on vacation, 2p.

Honestly the rules were dead easy to grok, there aren't really that many weird exceptions, not having played TI I suspect this was meant to be a super light quick TI, the events and stuff were flavorful and cool (fungus!), the giant plastic worldships and cool metal pieces in whatever deluxe edition this was were great.

All in all, it's a good spacefaring adventure game that if you looked too closely at the strategy it would probably be a little eh and just go play eclipse or TI4, but as a 2 player game to play in the evening where we don't actually want heavy 2p games, this works.

I don't think it's a 4x at all. It's a Star Trek simulator

# ? Oct 10, 2018 07:01

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

Mojo Jojo posted:

I don't think it's a 4x at all. It's a Star Trek simulator

Y'know, my wife said the same thing, that it would go great as a star trek game.

I still think it *feels* like a 4x, but it's definitely a "see what happens and try not to make obvious mistakes" game for us rather than a super tight experience.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 12:53

Terminally Bored: Oct 31, 2011; Twenty-five dollars and a six pack to my name

WHich Tash-Kalar expansions/decks are worth getting?

# ? Oct 10, 2018 14:04

CaptainRightful: Jan 11, 2005

Speaking of 4x, I learned Impulse last night. If you didn't know it was a Chudyk game going in, you'd realize it once you start playing. There's a hell of a lot going on--probably too much variety in the cards, which have something like 6 categories in 4 different colors, each with slightly different wording. But for all the complexity, it ended faster than I expected. Too meaty of a game to judge after a single play.

One I feel more confident in judging is Illimat. It was designed by the Decemberists, which is a huge red flag. It looks lovely if you're into that quirky, tarot-inspired, old-timey, Decemberistsesque aesthetic. It's a simple trick-taking game with a few gimmicks--primarily the box, which sits on the center of the cloth game mat and gets rotated throughout the game. The mat has 4 sections and on your turn you either discard ("sow") into any section; or play a card equal in value to take ("harvest") any number of cards in a section (e. g., play a 12 to take a 4 and an 8); or "stockpile" which means placing a card on top of a card to increase its value, or of the same number to create a larger stack w/o changing its value. The rotating box disallows 1 of those actions in each section. When you play through the entire deck, the player with the most cards gets 4 points, the most Summer suit cards gets 2 points, and the most Winter suit cards gets -2 points. There are also trinkets and special faux tarot power cards you acquire if you clear out a section.

I don't want to call any game broken after a single play, so I'll just call this highly suspect. First player to 17 points wins. I won in 2 rounds, final score of 17 to 4 to 1. Scores can't go below 1, otherwise he would have had -2. I can't put this down to brilliant strategy, I just always had high cards that could harvest while the guy who came in last had a starting hand of all 6s or lower. Snowballing seems inevitable. Sowing gives no immediate benefit to you, but always increases the chance someone else can harvest. I never stockpiled a single time--afterward we all agreed that it was a risky move with almost no chance of paying off unless you're a brilliant card counter.

This might work with 2 players, but I have no interest in exploring it further.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 16:17

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

Terminally Bored posted:

WHich Tash-Kalar expansions/decks are worth getting?

All of em.

Probably in order is best, but seriously every deck is cool. Maybe etherweave before nethervoid, Tekopo would have a better idea there.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 16:22

Tekopo: Oct 24, 2008; When you see it, you'll shit yourself.

I'm not a huge fan of nethervoid and I'm a huge mark for Etherweave because I helped build it, but yeah, all of the expansions are nice and relatively cheap. I think my sequence is Everfrost -> Etherweave (everfrost actually teaches you how to play etherweave) -> nethervoid.

Edit: also I still have my shrinked comp extra copy of etherweave so if anyone in europe wants it, let me know.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 16:50

Terminally Bored: Oct 31, 2011; Twenty-five dollars and a six pack to my name

Tekopo posted:

I'm not a huge fan of nethervoid and I'm a huge mark for Etherweave because I helped build it, but yeah, all of the expansions are nice and relatively cheap. I think my sequence is Everfrost -> Etherweave (everfrost actually teaches you how to play etherweave) -> nethervoid.

Edit: also I still have my shrinked comp extra copy of etherweave so if anyone in europe wants it, let me know.

PM sent.

Tash-kalar and its first two expansions got translated in my country but Etherwave never made it. The publisher recently said that the game wasn't popular enough to warrant all three expansions which sucks because the game owns bones.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 17:09

Servoret: Nov 8, 2009

Is the promised Tash-Kalar app ever going to happen? I�ve never been able to get anyone I know into it. I guess I could play it on Board Game Arena, but I don�t really like doing real time play-by-web games.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 17:21

al-azad: May 28, 2009

CaptainRightful posted:

Speaking of 4x, I learned Impulse last night. If you didn't know it was a Chudyk game going in, you'd realize it once you start playing. There's a hell of a lot going on--probably too much variety in the cards, which have something like 6 categories in 4 different colors, each with slightly different wording. But for all the complexity, it ended faster than I expected. Too meaty of a game to judge after a single play.

One I feel more confident in judging is Illimat. It was designed by the Decemberists, which is a huge red flag. It looks lovely if you're into that quirky, tarot-inspired, old-timey, Decemberistsesque aesthetic. It's a simple trick-taking game with a few gimmicks--primarily the box, which sits on the center of the cloth game mat and gets rotated throughout the game. The mat has 4 sections and on your turn you either discard ("sow") into any section; or play a card equal in value to take ("harvest") any number of cards in a section (e. g., play a 12 to take a 4 and an 8); or "stockpile" which means placing a card on top of a card to increase its value, or of the same number to create a larger stack w/o changing its value. The rotating box disallows 1 of those actions in each section. When you play through the entire deck, the player with the most cards gets 4 points, the most Summer suit cards gets 2 points, and the most Winter suit cards gets -2 points. There are also trinkets and special faux tarot power cards you acquire if you clear out a section.

I don't want to call any game broken after a single play, so I'll just call this highly suspect. First player to 17 points wins. I won in 2 rounds, final score of 17 to 4 to 1. Scores can't go below 1, otherwise he would have had -2. I can't put this down to brilliant strategy, I just always had high cards that could harvest while the guy who came in last had a starting hand of all 6s or lower. Snowballing seems inevitable. Sowing gives no immediate benefit to you, but always increases the chance someone else can harvest. I never stockpiled a single time--afterward we all agreed that it was a risky move with almost no chance of paying off unless you're a brilliant card counter.

This might work with 2 players, but I have no interest in exploring it further.

Designed by Keith Baker. The Decembrists provided the inspiration from a photo shoot in one of their albums.

The game is all about strategic stockpiling. You can stockpile to create multiples of the same value or create a card of a higher value, but doing so reveals to the table that you also have a card to harvest it. If you start with a bad hand then you want to begin sowing and stockpiling in winter since your opponents can't harvest. Eventually a face card will be played to shift the illimat and you can collect your reward. There is a benefit to sowing, especially to toss your winter cards or prevent someone from clearing a field.

You have to count cards and be acutely aware of what is and isn't in the game, but that's just trick taking games in general. But it's totally not a 2 player game even though it advertises itself as such. The scoring variance is too wide to work two player which is why Fox in the Forest and Haggis have no penalties, the latter giving a failed bid to the other players instead of subtracting from your total.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 17:33

!Klams: Dec 25, 2005; Squid Squad

So, my work buddies expressed an interest in playing board games, but meant stuff like Game of life and mousetrap. They know I'm a board game nerd, and are tentatively open to new games, but semi reluctantly. Part of the charm for them seems to be the nostalgia. I get the vibe that the enjoyment from the two mentioned was more the 'experience generator' aspect, and the 'its cute putting pegs in the car / building the trap' physicality of it. We work in tech, so could imagine something engine-buildery going down well. Anyone got any good ideas for what I could drop that would be an easy sell?

# ? Oct 10, 2018 17:43

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

!Klams posted:

So, my work buddies expressed an interest in playing board games, but meant stuff like Game of life and mousetrap. They know I'm a board game nerd, and are tentatively open to new games, but semi reluctantly. Part of the charm for them seems to be the nostalgia. I get the vibe that the enjoyment from the two mentioned was more the 'experience generator' aspect, and the 'its cute putting pegs in the car / building the trap' physicality of it. We work in tech, so could imagine something engine-buildery going down well. Anyone got any good ideas for what I could drop that would be an easy sell?

Celestia, maybe. Menara?

# ? Oct 10, 2018 17:50

LifeLynx: Feb 27, 2001; Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time; Grimey Drawer

!Klams posted:

So, my work buddies expressed an interest in playing board games, but meant stuff like Game of life and mousetrap. They know I'm a board game nerd, and are tentatively open to new games, but semi reluctantly. Part of the charm for them seems to be the nostalgia. I get the vibe that the enjoyment from the two mentioned was more the 'experience generator' aspect, and the 'its cute putting pegs in the car / building the trap' physicality of it. We work in tech, so could imagine something engine-buildery going down well. Anyone got any good ideas for what I could drop that would be an easy sell?

Citadels? Love Letter? I have a six year old, I know how painful it can be to be a gamer and have to suffer through cutesy roll-and-move games.

I hate to suggest it, but Betrayal at House on the Hill has always gone over great with people who rarely if ever play board games. Who knows, you might trigger one of the scenarios at the right time that's actually fun!

# ? Oct 10, 2018 17:58

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# ? May 16, 2024 18:18

CaptainRightful: Jan 11, 2005

al-azad posted:

The game is all about strategic stockpiling. You can stockpile to create multiples of the same value or create a card of a higher value, but doing so reveals to the table that you also have a card to harvest it. If you start with a bad hand then you want to begin sowing and stockpiling in winter since your opponents can't harvest. Eventually a face card will be played to shift the illimat and you can collect your reward. There is a benefit to sowing, especially to toss your winter cards or prevent someone from clearing a field.

You have to count cards and be acutely aware of what is and isn't in the game, but that's just trick taking games in general.

Here's the problem as we saw it: player with low cards begins sowing or stockpiling in the Winter zone while player with high cards harvests everywhere else. Having the biggest pile of cards is always good because it more than offsets having the most Winter cards. You can stockpile in the Winter zone, but there's no guarantee that the next player won't rotate the board and the player after them won't take your stockpile. As soon as someone starts stockpiling, the other players are incentivized to steal that stockpile or harvest faster than that player stockpiles. You can't count cards early in the game, so a player able to harvest immediately will always have the advantage over one who isn't.

# ? Oct 10, 2018 18:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

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