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Carillon posted:Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements › Vitamins › Multivitamins › The Quacks of Quedlinburg This is amazing. And it's sold by CMYK games so it makes me wonder if they listed it there on purpose because it's really all about making potions?
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Feb 8, 2022 16:01
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| # ? May 29, 2024 08:42 |
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MIND MGMT Kickstarter is up, get in
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Feb 8, 2022 19:40
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I'm definitely tempted by the Kickstarter for MIND MGMT but I want to avoid buying more games, especially deluxe Kickstarter stuff. I'm a fan of Whitehall Mystery and I'm interested in trying something crunchier that doesn't drag on for too long and this seems to fill that niche nicely. I will probably wait and hope I can get it from a retailer without paying through the nose though, then I have a degree of separation in terms of giving Kickstarter my money as well.
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Feb 8, 2022 21:06
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The regular version is already out retail. This is like a second printing + expansion content.
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Feb 8, 2022 21:48
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And to be clear, it's not "expansion content" per se, it's professionally-printed cards that you would otherwise PnP if you cracked the "codes" in the game and went to the website and downloaded them. Retail versions have equal access to it already too.
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Feb 8, 2022 22:15
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A glowing SU&SD review means it's sold out everywhere. The last time this happened to me weirdly was with Whitehall Mystery and I ended up buying an Italian version for dirt cheap instead of waiting for a reprint. That seems less like a workable solution for this though.
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Feb 8, 2022 22:30
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Omobono posted:No QIC means no extra range if needed early on and no QIC actions later on. So they lose all timings on expansion early on because they have to go up to nav2 before being able to expand and it reverse snowballs from there. It's the same problems Fakirs had, for the opposite reason: they have massive trouble going anywhere in the early game. Thanks a lot! That was very informative. (But wow, I hadn't really delved into TM power levels and had thought that Fakirs are at least mid-level!)
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Feb 9, 2022 00:14
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Aggro posted:I also just found out the reason why those are the four pawns in Magic Maze. Moving left isn't a game.
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Feb 9, 2022 02:07
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Moving left isn't a game. Yeah nah you're missing out. Play Magic Maze standing up, and watch how EXTREMELY AGITATED you and your friends can get is a loving blast Slamming the Pay Attention pawn down in front of someone repeatedly until they get the clue. Magic Maze is a 10/10 game
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Feb 9, 2022 02:15
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Moving left isn’t a game.
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Feb 9, 2022 02:19
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Moving left isn't a game. What about when you aren’t an ambiturner and need to save the Prime Minister of Malaysia
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Feb 9, 2022 02:19
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Bottom Liner posted:Moving left isn’t a game. Gonna move this post right into the bin
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Feb 9, 2022 02:40
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I think I'm addicted to Spirit Island. I had already played it a ton since I got it several years ago - probably in the 50-100 games range or maybe more, but now that I'm routinely playing against level 6+ adversaries it feels almost like I've discovered the 'actual' game. Kinda like how hardcore MMO players only consider the endgame content to be relevant, it's like there's a whole other level of game that I'm just scratching the surface of now. It's crazy to me that the game has that much depth, and crazy that there are players doing two level 6 adversaries simultaneously while I'm still working out how to reliably play each spirit against a single level 6. It also goes against my normal gaming habits which is to play a steady rotation of different games, but with SI I feel I could just play game after game after game. I think I need help.
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Feb 9, 2022 02:44
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Infinitum posted:Yeah nah you're missing out. I have actually played it, and for a serious discussion other than the player count on the box objectively being a lie it's not terrible, but I prefer space alert for similar real time coop coordination vibes. Magic maze's core gameplay loop isn't as satisfying for me as space alert. If you said I could play space alert or magic maze, I would never pick magic maze except in circumstances where I'd rather pick nothing. I think part of it is that both games have communications restrictions, but space alert's evolve from the structure of the gameplay which is a really nice feature.
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Feb 9, 2022 03:56
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Kerro posted:I think I'm addicted to Spirit Island. I had already played it a ton since I got it several years ago - probably in the 50-100 games range or maybe more, but now that I'm routinely playing against level 6+ adversaries it feels almost like I've discovered the 'actual' game. Kinda like how hardcore MMO players only consider the endgame content to be relevant, it's like there's a whole other level of game that I'm just scratching the surface of now. It's crazy to me that the game has that much depth, and crazy that there are players doing two level 6 adversaries simultaneously while I'm still working out how to reliably play each spirit against a single level 6. It also goes against my normal gaming habits which is to play a steady rotation of different games, but with SI I feel I could just play game after game after game. I think I need help. Have you played the multiple waves mode? That adds another strategic axis too
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Feb 9, 2022 04:05
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CommonShore posted:Have you played the multiple waves mode? That adds another strategic axis too I haven't yet. For some reason the scenarios just haven't interested me - and I've been playing a lot with people on the SI discord and they never seem to do scenario games. If I ever run out of interest in just playing different spirits against different adversaries perhaps I'll give that a shot! Also played a learning solo game of Ark Nova so that I can introduce it to my game group tomorrow night. Fun game - I've largely moved away from multiplayer-solitaire euros, but if the puzzle is compelling and different enough game to game they still appeal. This felt a bit like AFfO in that sense, in that there's enough going on and satisfaction out of chaining together bonuses and actions that I think I'll have a good time with this one - and hopefully the sheer number of unique cards will give it longevity, though only repeat games are likely to show whether they're actually different enough to create variation. I really liked the action mechanic from Civ: New Dawn so I'm glad to see another game using it. It works well here and also helps to constrain your choices turn-to-turn just enough to hopefully reduce too much AP in what is a pretty complex game. Plus I love the theme and pictures of cute animals. Managed to end up with a positive score (barely) in my first game with a whopping 4 points. On beginner mode.
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Feb 9, 2022 05:07
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Kerro posted:I haven't yet. For some reason the scenarios just haven't interested me - and I've been playing a lot with people on the SI discord and they never seem to do scenario games. If I ever run out of interest in just playing different spirits against different adversaries perhaps I'll give that a shot! Well give it a read at least! It's the least "scenario" of the scenarios. It might be to your liking. The longest streak of spirit island I've played was because we got hooked on that play mode. We never managed to win 4 in a row.
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Feb 9, 2022 05:40
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Kerro posted:I think I'm addicted to Spirit Island. I had already played it a ton since I got it several years ago - probably in the 50-100 games range or maybe more, but now that I'm routinely playing against level 6+ adversaries it feels almost like I've discovered the 'actual' game. Kinda like how hardcore MMO players only consider the endgame content to be relevant, it's like there's a whole other level of game that I'm just scratching the surface of now. It's crazy to me that the game has that much depth, and crazy that there are players doing two level 6 adversaries simultaneously while I'm still working out how to reliably play each spirit against a single level 6. It also goes against my normal gaming habits which is to play a steady rotation of different games, but with SI I feel I could just play game after game after game. I think I need help. I stopped playing for a few months and now I have trouble against level 2 adversaries. I had gotten so good at thinking of the game not in "turns", but as one long timeline of planning ahead, but now by the time I'm ready to do my first discard recovery I'm already losing badly enough that I want to restart. I partially blame events for this, I wish they added some atmosphere into what is otherwise a puzzle without having a better chance than not of royally screwing your entire game plan. I got gifted 7th Continent for my birthday and it's amazing. I don't know how it'll hold up to repeated plays, but being able to save anywhere and the "one size fits all" gameplay mechanic that lets actions feel thematic even though it's the same gameplay is genius.
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Feb 9, 2022 07:26
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Kerro posted:I haven't yet. For some reason the scenarios just haven't interested me - and I've been playing a lot with people on the SI discord and they never seem to do scenario games. If I ever run out of interest in just playing different spirits against different adversaries perhaps I'll give that a shot! Yeah, solo mode is tuned pretty tightly in Ark Nova. It puts you on a timer where you gotta fuckin' book it from word go. Since the game is otherwise a race to make your tracks cross, playing a learning game with other people who aren't moving too fast means you don't have to move too fast either.
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Feb 9, 2022 08:29
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LifeLynx posted:I stopped playing for a few months and now I have trouble against level 2 adversaries. I had gotten so good at thinking of the game not in "turns", but as one long timeline of planning ahead, but now by the time I'm ready to do my first discard recovery I'm already losing badly enough that I want to restart. I partially blame events for this, I wish they added some atmosphere into what is otherwise a puzzle without having a better chance than not of royally screwing your entire game plan. I've definitely had some solo games where I just restart after a few turns when it becomes clear I messed up, though sometimes it can be fun seeing if you can turn it around from an absolute mess. I definitely felt like the events were very swingy at first, but after enough games I've found that I've started to internalise the common effects so that I can take that into account for how I resolve powers and effects to get best advantage out of them. Getting the wrong one at the wrong time can still seriously mess up your game though, but again I find the games where I get a turnaround victory some of the most satisfying. Glazius posted:Yeah, solo mode is tuned pretty tightly in Ark Nova. It puts you on a timer where you gotta fuckin' book it from word go. Since the game is otherwise a race to make your tracks cross, playing a learning game with other people who aren't moving too fast means you don't have to move too fast either. Yes it'll be interesting to play against other players as I can see the game could end up feeling a lot more spacious when it's not on such a strict timer. I kinda feel like I lucked out a bit in my first game due to making the right choices almost by accident cos I was able to completely cover my board on the very final action of the game which gained me 2 conservation points and 12 appeal due to end-game scoring and zoo cards I had.
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Feb 9, 2022 09:32
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Can Ark Nova be played like TFM, never advancing to the end trigger?
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Feb 9, 2022 09:53
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I don't think so. Playing sponsor and animal cards gives you tickets and some of them will give you conservation points. Partner zoos, universities and additional workers also give you conservation points. So you will reach the end trigger. It may take a while but I don't think you can actively avoid it Selecta84 fucked around with this message at 10:00 on Feb 9, 2022 |
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Feb 9, 2022 09:57
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I don't really see how - any time you get points of any sort you advance towards the end game. So in theory you could, but you'd be spinning your wheels, not actually doing anything relevant to the game. I suspect controlling the pacing of the game may end up being part of the strategy, but I think it would be more like GWT or RftG where you can adopt a rush strategy but even if you don't the game will still end in a predictable amount of time.
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Feb 9, 2022 09:58
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It naturally progresses towards the end game but somehow still takes longer than TfM according to Reddit and BGG threads about the game.
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Feb 9, 2022 10:01
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Eh, if you don't doodle around between other players turns and start to plan your next action 2 - 2 1/2 hours for a 4 player game is reasonable. The actions are so short, with playing animals taking the longest, and even then an action takes like 15 - 20 seconds. And the board state doesn't change that much IMO between turns so you don't have to constantly change your plans. Solo it takes me like 30 minutes including setup.
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Feb 9, 2022 10:45
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Infinitum posted:Yeah nah you're missing out. Magic maze, escape form the cursed temple and captain sonar are all games I'd love to play again but can't, because they all reduced the sanity points of my friends to zero. In MM there comes a point, either from a power up mid game thing, to just the end of the game, where suddenly you can talk again, and I always immediately started laughing, because to me it was really funny. One of the other players immediately started shouting at the top of his lungs and another one started having like an anxious suttering fit.
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Feb 9, 2022 10:47
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!Klams posted:But all the Catan talk, reminds me of an issue, and it's something Citizen Keen touched on, that somehow gets missed often, which I find baffling. And it's that apparently rulebooks need a rule that says "you might play with the same players again in the future, and so in a way this is a legacy game, because your actions will have consequences across multiple games". It's not even that, to be honest. A game usually has a stated objective to attempt to meet, and meeting that means winning. Typically a player's goal is that objective, even if it's not one they expect they'll meet. When that objective becomes impossible, of course they're going to come up with another goal, whether it's "do the best I can" or "see how silly I can make this setup" or "get revenge on the rear end in a top hat who put me out of contention" or, very commonly, "end the game as soon as possible". People just need to understand that everyone has their own motivations going into a game, and they might not always seem rational to you because people often seem irrational. That's part of the fun, though: if you want mindless automatons to test your skill against with no emotion, there's no shortage of other options out there.
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Feb 9, 2022 15:43
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Ark Nova definitely did not take as long as TfM the last time I've played. Taught two new people and it took just over 2 hours. As mentioned you can sandbag by doing literally nothing, but that's hard because the end game state is to get someone's points track and income track to overlap.
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Feb 9, 2022 16:21
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Bottom Liner posted:It naturally progresses towards the end game but somehow still takes longer than TfM according to Reddit and BGG threads about the game. At first yes, However as you learn more about how the game plays and make more efficient and effective plays, the play time will shorten. There's folks playing four player within 2 hours now.
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Feb 9, 2022 16:22
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Rosalie_A posted:It's not even that, to be honest. A game usually has a stated objective to attempt to meet, and meeting that means winning. Typically a player's goal is that objective, even if it's not one they expect they'll meet. When that objective becomes impossible, of course they're going to come up with another goal, whether it's "do the best I can" or "see how silly I can make this setup" or "get revenge on the rear end in a top hat who put me out of contention" or, very commonly, "end the game as soon as possible". This is that gray area between different playstyles and an established meta with your local group. Most people here will probably agree the latter isn't really enjoyable for things because that's when you have couples helping each other out, the one player that'll implode and take you down with them if you kick in their sandcastle, etc. It's pretty silly to have to expect that someone goes all in on you because they carried a grudge from their last game with you (which may be 5, 10, or however many games from you that you've since long forgotten). It's reasonable to expect tabula rasa between each playthrough along with the social contract that you should be trying to win for yourself.
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Feb 9, 2022 16:34
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A meta can develop when certain players become predictable in their style of play, so you should definitely take that into consideration (and maybe even exploit that). In general, I do think tabula rasa is important. When we were playing Games of Thrones the board game (lol), it was with the social contract that, yes we would betray each other, and yes that's part of the game and won't affect the next game. Shifting alliances and keeping an eye behind your back was part of the game, and if you got rid of that the game would be diminished. Permanent alliances or being afraid of hurting other players' feelings made for a worse game.
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Feb 9, 2022 16:56
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People will also frequently be wrong when they feel they can't win, which complicates talking about it online. I have played against and been the player who, after the first thing goes wrong, throws a strop and think there's no point in even playing anymore. And that's a tiresome for everyone. But I have also kingmade in favour of the player who will win the next turn, against the player who would have won the turn after, and I don't think that soured the evening too much.
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Feb 9, 2022 16:58
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I will have no hesitation to kingmake the player who screwed me over less during the game
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Feb 9, 2022 17:02
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Rosalie_A posted:It's not even that, to be honest. A game usually has a stated objective to attempt to meet, and meeting that means winning. Typically a player's goal is that objective, even if it's not one they expect they'll meet. When that objective becomes impossible, of course they're going to come up with another goal, whether it's "do the best I can" or "see how silly I can make this setup" or "get revenge on the rear end in a top hat who put me out of contention" or, very commonly, "end the game as soon as possible". Thank you for saying what I wanted to say in better words. Chill la Chill posted:It's reasonable to expect tabula rasa between each playthrough along with the social contract that you should be trying to win for yourself. Hard disagree. There's a spectrum between tabula rasa and grudge. If someone kicks your sandcastle in during a game of Cyclades, targeting that player in the next evening's Rex: Final Days of an Empire is a dick move, and don't be a dick. But ignoring the entire context of who you're playing with is impossible. My group will regular utter phrases like "And I have to give a bonus blue cube to someone... Avery, you brought that tasty bread tonight, have a cube." Often the margin of difference between targeting two or three other players with a good card or bad card is narrow to the point where other factors come in to play. I'm not going to hunt down a player who beat me in the last game with the Gotcha card, but if the Gotcha card target is a toss up between someone who took my favorite castle last game and someone who didn't, I will absolutely yell "REMEMBER CASTLE WHATEVER" while playing the "Increased Taxi Fare" card in a completely different game.
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Feb 9, 2022 17:14
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So is the consensus then that Ark Nova is a Good Game and worth adding to my definitely not already crowded collection?
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Feb 9, 2022 17:34
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FulsomFrank posted:So is the consensus then that Ark Nova is a Good Game and worth adding to my definitely not already crowded collection? Depends on what you like  If you like a low interactive, heavily thematic (for a Euro) type of a game (think Terraforming Mars without the bad game play) then yes. If you're looking for the next awesome 18xx game or a sequel to Food Chain Magnate, then no. If you have a progressive style view of zoos you might enjoy seeing that implemented, the game doesn't resemble California's Sea World in any way. It's considered relatively complex, noting that I don't find it so, but a lot of people have a different view of complexity than I do.We're enjoying it. As I said in my video, it's not the game of year for me, that'd be Imperial Steam but it's a nice time.
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Feb 9, 2022 17:45
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I have a soft spot for TfM and Ark Nova does what it tries to do but better. I don't like the theme quite as much but it's still a very good theme. It's my hotness right now.
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Feb 9, 2022 17:59
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Are there any boardgames out there that handle having a big event happen mid-game that is designed to slow all of the players down/throw a wrench in their plans/cause some damage without being overbearing and lovely? I ask because I'm working on making some boardgames as a hobby / creative outlet. I'd like to find a way to try to somewhat model the Bronze Age Collapse in a Tresham Civ-like game. Its game that will already have calamities as little one-off negative events, though I am going to be trying to bake in positives the players get for getting hit with calamities (e.g. if you get hit by a flood you'll suffer the immediate hit to cities and/or pops but you'll get a discount on flood mitigation techs). Its a goal of mine, that if it doesnt work I'll just ditch the idea, to try to model the Bronze Age Collapse in an interesting way to temporarily influence the game's basic gameplay loop without just giving the players a gently caress you event. This would probably mean that they endure some negatives/penalties for a few turns but afterwards get bonuses to certain things (tech cost, building new cities, warfare, I'm not sure yet). In any case, I figure it would be smart to spend some time researching games that already do something similar with the gameplay (even if its a different genre).
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Feb 9, 2022 18:03
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:Are there any boardgames out there that handle having a big event happen mid-game that is designed to slow all of the players down/throw a wrench in their plans/cause some damage without being overbearing and lovely? This reminds me of Spirit Island's blighted island effects. For those not familiar, allowing the bad guys to do their thing unfettered slowly destroys the island and eventually tips over a threshold. You flip a randomized card and its effects remain for the rest of the game. Such as every turn every spirit must destroy a presence; an extremely bad thing that is hard to mitigate. Sometimes they are explicitly good in exchange for making the one of the Lose the Game conditions much easier to reach. It also changes some of the effects of most of the event deck. Also if you play too well then you never blight the island and never have to do this.
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Feb 9, 2022 18:17
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| # ? May 29, 2024 08:42 |
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:Are there any boardgames out there that handle having a big event happen mid-game that is designed to slow all of the players down/throw a wrench in their plans/cause some damage without being overbearing and lovely? Without going into spoilers, Pandemic Legacy Seasons 1&2 sort of do this (waiting until the summer for my daughter to visit to play 0, which probably does this as well) -- includes big gameplay shifts but also usually new mechanisms to handle those shifts. Not sure if co-op examples are applicable. Another game that comes to mind that might be relevant is (IIRC title) Brittania, an Avalon Hill bookcase game IIRC. 3-5 players control various cultures in Britain, and these cultures go through ebbs and flows. E.g., one of the initial cultures is the late Romans and they automatically die out by turn 3 or 4, but the player who had the late Romans takes over a new culture and continues, having earned VPs/accomplishments based on how the late Romans did under their control. Sorry, it's been like 25 years since I've looked at the game and never actually played it, but it might have ideas. One last thought -- you might want to make the decision point about transitioning technology a gameplay decision. You can muddle along with Bronze Age tech if you're close to thresholds/engaged in several skirmishes/can't afford the temporary hit of going into collapse to come out into the Iron Age, but that'll just delay your advancement into the next stage of civilization/tech/trade/etc.
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Feb 9, 2022 18:27
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