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

Tekopo posted:

I bought Combo Fighter[...]

Positives:
- It's really loving easy to teach and my SO was able to grasp all the rules and play the game well even after our first game.
- I like the art, it's quite nice.
- The game is really fast and it's easy to play a couple of games in half an hour or so.
- It feels pretty thematic to do the combos, from a strike, to ducking and weaving, then another strike, and the combo system is quick and easy to visualise.
- It can lead to exciting endings when you are on pixel health and manage to pull out a win.
- You can get into the mindgames for each of the different characters really easily.

[...]

This makes the game a purer RPS, although still a weighted RPS, which I don't think it's for the better, although this does make the game much more accessible.

[...]

Eh sounds pretty rough. All of those positives apply to Yomi with the arguable exception of ease to teach (and art, because art is subjective [lol j/k wtf Setsuki camel toe]) and that negative is a monster. It's already a bear to get people to accept that Yomi is not "random" or "just RPS," that Sicilian arguments of "he knows that I know that he knows" do in fact have logical stopping points. Reduced weighting on the payoffs might make for a justified "why spend money on RPS" argument.

Actually I genuinely like 90%ish of Yomi's art. It's just when there's some yikes there's some yikes. I might sarcastically argue that it captures the misogyny of the fighting game world, though!

# ? Oct 4, 2019 17:42

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# ? May 30, 2024 11:38

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

Safety Biscuits posted:

Couldn't you just play shobu on a normal chess board? Magnetic travel sets are small and cheap.

I tried this and heads exploded. Light board / dark board / my side of rope / your side really seems to help people organize the turn structure, as well me having to repeatedly confirm that they could push pieces 'off' into the center lines. But, maybe i just need to get nerds with sturdier heads.

# ? Oct 4, 2019 17:46

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

SuperKlaus posted:

Eh sounds pretty rough. All of those positives apply to Yomi with the arguable exception of ease to teach (and art, because art is subjective [lol j/k wtf Setsuki camel toe]) and that negative is a monster. It's already a bear to get people to accept that Yomi is not "random" or "just RPS," that Sicilian arguments of "he knows that I know that he knows" do in fact have logical stopping points. Reduced weighting on the payoffs might make for a justified "why spend money on RPS" argument.

Actually I genuinely like 90%ish of Yomi's art. It's just when there's some yikes there's some yikes. I might sarcastically argue that it captures the misogyny of the fighting game world, though!

I get your point and honestly Yomi is the better game at least in my opinion. The difference though, and where I don�t agree with you, is one of expectations. If I can tell someone how to play in one minute flat and then have him engage with the mind games immediately, they are going to be much more acceptive of an experience that is more reminiscent of RPS. If I have to spend half an hour to teach the game and then tell someone that they will have to spend more than a dozen games not only getting familiar with their character, but also the character they are facing and the matchup as a whole, and then the game will start feeling less like RPS, then that�s a much harder sell. The latter is why I like Yomi over CF, but the difference in approachability is quite considerable and I don�t think you would get the same criticism simply because the game will be done in 15 minutes or less.

# ? Oct 4, 2019 18:04

uncle blog: Nov 18, 2012

I'm going to play Twilight Imperium 4 tomorrow with a full group of 6 people. I've only played it once before, and that was a while ago. We're randomly assigning 2 races to people beforehand, letting everybody chose between those two. I've been given Yssaril Tribes and The Barony of Letnev. From what I can see, the latter is more offensive and the former more sneaky? Anyway, was hoping to get some tips on which race to choose, and preferably some hints of how to play them (and maybe some game tips in general) so that I won't lag too far behind the rest of the group?

# ? Oct 4, 2019 18:15

cenotaph: Mar 2, 2013

Dre2Dee2 posted:

What is the best way to learn this potentially wonderful game, everything looks confusing as gently caress but surely it cant be that hard... right

Check out Cribbage Classic if you have an android phone (don't know if it's on ios) . That's how I learned.

# ? Oct 4, 2019 18:20

Grundma: Mar 26, 2007; DOG controls your destiny. Seek out three items of his favor and then seek his shrine.

uncle blog posted:

I'm going to play Twilight Imperium 4 tomorrow with a full group of 6 people. I've only played it once before, and that was a while ago. We're randomly assigning 2 races to people beforehand, letting everybody chose between those two. I've been given Yssaril Tribes and The Barony of Letnev. From what I can see, the latter is more offensive and the former more sneaky? Anyway, was hoping to get some tips on which race to choose, and preferably some hints of how to play them (and maybe some game tips in general) so that I won't lag too far behind the rest of the group?

I played Yssaril in my last game and while they arent as amazing as they were in 3rd edition they are still solid. Starting with 2 carriers and lots of infantry gives you one of the best early expansion fleets if you have the ability to get two double systems in range. I havent played Letnev in 4th edition but they do start with two techs which is especially useful in 4th where theres a lot of tech based objectives as well as a solid starting system.

# ? Oct 4, 2019 18:50

Triskelli: Sep 27, 2011; I AM A SKELETON
WITH VERY HIGH
STANDARDS

I find Letnev easier to play, their bonus to fleet supply makes the whole game easier, especially if other players hog the Leadership strategy.

# ? Oct 4, 2019 22:14

Impermanent: Apr 1, 2010

Update: battleCON still good

# ? Oct 5, 2019 01:20

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

https://twitter.com/Cephalofair/status/1180252219280510976?s=19

# ? Oct 5, 2019 02:11

al-azad: May 28, 2009

I've brainstormed with friends how Gloomhaven could be boiled down entirely to a card game. Then like all things board games it ballooned grotesquely into what I can only describe as Up Front: Fantasy Edition.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 02:22

Fellis: Feb 14, 2012; Kid, don't threaten me. There are worse things than death, and uh, I can do all of them.

I'm curious if that will be new scenarios with the established characters or if everything will be from the base game. Gloomhaven can be got for $100 in the USA market, I'm curious who the product would be for if it's just half price/half content Gloomhaven

al-azad posted:

I've brainstormed with friends how Gloomhaven could be boiled down entirely to a card game. Then like all things board games it ballooned grotesquely into what I can only describe as Up Front: Fantasy Edition.

When is the kickstarter

Fellis fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Oct 5, 2019

# ? Oct 5, 2019 02:54

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

Played lost cities, TGZ, and Neuland. All are still good. It�s been a while since we�ve played TGZ so quick inflation without the proper counterplays ensured a short game at 3 lol.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 02:58

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Fellis posted:

When is the kickstarter

Coincident with the Up Front kickstarter

# ? Oct 5, 2019 03:32

Fellis: Feb 14, 2012; Kid, don't threaten me. There are worse things than death, and uh, I can do all of them.

StashAugustine posted:

Coincident with the Up Front kickstarter

Though actually Up Front can be reprinted on drive through rpg�s wargame site for relatively cheap (for an otherwise completely OOP gem)

Fellis fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Oct 5, 2019

# ? Oct 5, 2019 04:28

Memnaelar: Feb 21, 2013; WHO is the goodest girl?

Fellis posted:

I'm curious if that will be new scenarios with the established characters or if everything will be from the base game. Gloomhaven can be got for $100 in the USA market, I'm curious who the product would be for if it's just half price/half content Gloomhaven

Report is 24 new scenarios, 4 new characters. So not terrible value.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 04:58

Morpheus: Apr 18, 2008; My favourite little monsters

Played Blood on the Clocktower today at SHUX. Some thoughts:

- it was tense as hell the entire time, was really cool
- absolutely not worth $100. The components (tokens and player aides) weren't particularly good, certainly not justifying that price.
- the fact that there are numerous reasons that the information provided to you could be incorrect (Drunk, Poisoner, Recluse, more I'm sure) made for a rather frustrating experience. Why believe anything, if anything can be false?
- people who got their information at the beginning of the game were way less useful than those who got theirs every round or so
- I feel like a disproportionate amount of responsibility is placed on the storyteller to make sure people have a good time

I still had fun, all things considered. Would never buy the game, but if a friend was crazy enough to get it then I'd be willing to play again.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 07:09

Ayn Randi: Mar 12, 2009; Grimey Drawer

Morpheus posted:

Played Blood on the Clocktower today at SHUX. Some thoughts:

- it was tense as hell the entire time, was really cool
- absolutely not worth $100. The components (tokens and player aides) weren't particularly good, certainly not justifying that price.
- the fact that there are numerous reasons that the information provided to you could be incorrect (Drunk, Poisoner, Recluse, more I'm sure) made for a rather frustrating experience. Why believe anything, if anything can be false?
- people who got their information at the beginning of the game were way less useful than those who got theirs every round or so
- I feel like a disproportionate amount of responsibility is placed on the storyteller to make sure people have a good time

I still had fun, all things considered. Would never buy the game, but if a friend was crazy enough to get it then I'd be willing to play again.

Pretty much my thoughts, I�m friends of friends of the developers and had played a few games of the prototype version and I can see the appeal but I�m not the target audience. Apart from the player elimination component the worst issue was as you said just too many ways the information you get can simply be false we no reasonable recourse for actual deduction in a deduction game, and whoops you�re dead and your only input for the next 90 minutes is one vote. And that price point, yikes.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 08:03

SuperKlaus: Oct 20, 2005; Fun Shoe

Fellis posted:

I'm curious if that will be new scenarios with the established characters or if everything will be from the base game. Gloomhaven can be got for $100 in the USA market, I'm curious who the product would be for if it's just half price/half content Gloomhaven

Filthy normies I suppose. Though I have yet to meet anyone with even a passing interest in the sort of thing Gloomhaven offers who isn't immediately wowed by the sheer ~*value*~ and promise of ~*content*~ found in that 22 pound box, and this product at 24 scenarios is well less than half the full game's value despite being right on half the price.

Also is Childres making a big box expansion or what?

# ? Oct 5, 2019 17:35

SoftNum: Mar 31, 2011

Yeah it's pretty clearly for people who like social deduction games as improv roleplaying and theatrics and not as tight logic puzzles.

Also I agree that the "omg everyone has a role" falls a bit flat when half the roles in the starting set are "you know one thing." It looks like the other two sets are more involved though (but also skew more into the side of "you can't really know anything")

Gloomhaven lite is probably for "we want something on the shelves at Target" and target prolly ain't carrying a $140 board game.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 17:35

the holy poopacy: May 16, 2009; hey! check this out; Fun Shoe

SuperKlaus posted:

Filthy normies I suppose. Though I have yet to meet anyone with even a passing interest in the sort of thing Gloomhaven offers who isn't immediately wowed by the sheer ~*value*~ and promise of ~*content*~ found in that 22 pound box, and this product at 24 scenarios is well less than half the full game's value despite being right on half the price.

Also is Childres making a big box expansion or what?

There are plenty of groups who will never be able to dedicate the many hundreds of hours it takes to get through all the scenarios in the main box. If getting through 24 scenarios is a stretch on your available gaming time, 24 scenarios for $50 is a better deal than any more scenarios for $100+.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 17:42

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

SuperKlaus posted:

Also is Childres making a big box expansion or what?

Yeah, details in December

Kemet 1.5 rulebook is out:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2270796/kemet-v15-rulebook

# ? Oct 5, 2019 17:49

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall? Examples I can think of:
-18xx: varies from game to game but companies can frequently fail and/or be traded between players. The advance of technology causes old trains to go obsolete and be removed so companies that can't keep up will die
-Pax Pamir: each player does represent a coherent political faction, but their alignment with empires changes and the empires themselves will go away every so often. Plus the players cards and pieces are usually pretty transient
-Small world: yeah the game isn't great but player's factions will inevitably run out of steam since they have limited resources and have to be replaced

# ? Oct 5, 2019 17:57

Dancer: May 23, 2011

StashAugustine posted:

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall? Examples I can think of:
-18xx: varies from game to game but companies can frequently fail and/or be traded between players. The advance of technology causes old trains to go obsolete and be removed so companies that can't keep up will die
-Pax Pamir: each player does represent a coherent political faction, but their alignment with empires changes and the empires themselves will go away every so often. Plus the players cards and pieces are usually pretty transient
-Small world: yeah the game isn't great but player's factions will inevitably run out of steam since they have limited resources and have to be replaced

Indonesia. Most games with stock markets (e.g. Acquire).

# ? Oct 5, 2019 18:05

Robo-Slap: Jun 5, 2011

StashAugustine posted:

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall?

Imperial and Imperial 2030

# ? Oct 5, 2019 18:27

Aramoro: Jun 1, 2012

StashAugustine posted:

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall? Examples I can think of:
-18xx: varies from game to game but companies can frequently fail and/or be traded between players. The advance of technology causes old trains to go obsolete and be removed so companies that can't keep up will die
-Pax Pamir: each player does represent a coherent political faction, but their alignment with empires changes and the empires themselves will go away every so often. Plus the players cards and pieces are usually pretty transient
-Small world: yeah the game isn't great but player's factions will inevitably run out of steam since they have limited resources and have to be replaced

Camel Up

# ? Oct 5, 2019 18:38

SoftNum: Mar 31, 2011

StashAugustine posted:

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall?

Magic Maze qualifies for half of this statement.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 18:54

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

I know Everdell didn't turn many heads here but I'm tempted to pick up a copy because it probably is the game my partner thought ROOT was going to be :v:

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:15

taser rates: Mar 30, 2010

StashAugustine posted:

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall? Examples I can think of:
-18xx: varies from game to game but companies can frequently fail and/or be traded between players. The advance of technology causes old trains to go obsolete and be removed so companies that can't keep up will die
-Pax Pamir: each player does represent a coherent political faction, but their alignment with empires changes and the empires themselves will go away every so often. Plus the players cards and pieces are usually pretty transient
-Small world: yeah the game isn't great but player's factions will inevitably run out of steam since they have limited resources and have to be replaced

Most Winsomes also fall under this.

Stephenson's Rocket, The Estates/Neue Heimat, Greed Inc.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:15

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

Mombasa works with that

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:35

pospysyl: Nov 10, 2012

StashAugustine posted:

Idle question: what games are set up so that players are not identified directly with an in game entity (country, company, etc) but rather are manipulating various entities that organically rise and fall? Examples I can think of:
-18xx: varies from game to game but companies can frequently fail and/or be traded between players. The advance of technology causes old trains to go obsolete and be removed so companies that can't keep up will die
-Pax Pamir: each player does represent a coherent political faction, but their alignment with empires changes and the empires themselves will go away every so often. Plus the players cards and pieces are usually pretty transient
-Small world: yeah the game isn't great but player's factions will inevitably run out of steam since they have limited resources and have to be replaced

Knizia's Winner's Circle is about betting on horses rather than jockeying them (although you do control how fast the horses move).

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:38

Duck and Cover: Apr 6, 2007

The Eyes Have It posted:

I know Everdell didn't turn many heads here but I'm tempted to pick up a copy because it probably is the game my partner thought ROOT was going to be

I haven't bought it yet but I like shiny things. Shiny so shiny buy all shiny games.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:38

pospysyl: Nov 10, 2012

Speaking of shiny games, Wingspan's getting an expansion. I know, you're all shocked. I predicted that it would take an expansion or two to turn Wingspan from a good game into a much better one, like Race for the Galaxy, so here's hoping this expansion is as good as Gathering Storm.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:39

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

pospysyl posted:

Speaking of shiny games, Wingspan's getting an expansion. I know, you're all shocked.

Not really. They announced that Birds of Europe was coming before the original game was out.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:56

Sir Gladu: Nov 26, 2008

The Eyes Have It posted:

I know Everdell didn't turn many heads here but I'm tempted to pick up a copy because it probably is the game my partner thought ROOT was going to be

Everdell is a perfectly fine worker placement game. Nothing outstanding about it, except the cuteness of the board and of the critters within. We're all huge suckers for good theme/art in my group, and willing to overlook a few flaws for it, so it's been great.
Be careful of the good ol' higher player counts (4 base game, 5-6 with an expansion) + choice paralysis-prone players combo; that can really make it tedious. For 2-3 players who dont expect a super-deep game, it's nice.

e: it's our canon that Everdell is Root after the cats have been kicked out by the rebels, who then created a small utopia

Sir Gladu fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Oct 5, 2019

# ? Oct 5, 2019 19:59

Funzo: Dec 6, 2002

I played Everdell once at 5 players, two of whom had serious AP. It was a slog. I ended up winning despite going out first in the earliest season. I�d play it again if everyone else wanted to, but I don�t know if I�d volunteer it.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 20:35

Aramoro: Jun 1, 2012

pospysyl posted:

Speaking of shiny games, Wingspan's getting an expansion. I know, you're all shocked. I predicted that it would take an expansion or two to turn Wingspan from a good game into a much better one, like Race for the Galaxy, so here's hoping this expansion is as good as Gathering Storm.

What will the expansion do to the very bad game Wingspan though?

# ? Oct 5, 2019 21:20

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

Add more birds.

# ? Oct 5, 2019 22:21

pospysyl: Nov 10, 2012

Aramoro posted:

What will the expansion do to the very bad game Wingspan though?

I'd rate vanilla Wingspan about as well as vanilla Race for the Galaxy: basically all right. Currently, vanilla Wingspan is the only Wingspan that exists, whereas there are lots of non-vanilla Races for the Galaxy.

# ? Oct 6, 2019 00:07

Funzo: Dec 6, 2002

Tried our first game of Spirit Island and got our asses kicked. I'm not sure if we played a rule wrong, but I think we just didn't grasp the strategy right away. We made it 4 turns until we ran out of blight to place.

# ? Oct 6, 2019 02:14

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# ? May 30, 2024 11:38

tokenbrownguy: Apr 1, 2010

That's pretty standard. You lose the first two games and have to crank up the difficulty every game after the fifth.

# ? Oct 6, 2019 02:17

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