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Bottom Liner posted:Some thoughts on newish games I've been played lately: Nice write-up. If you had to pick Imperium Classics or Legends which would you go with? VVV yeah looking them over it seems kindaaa kindaaaaaaaaaa chincey to split them up but who am I to say.... FulsomFrank fucked around with this message at 20:57 on May 3, 2022 |
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May 3, 2022 20:20
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Tough call with only 3 plays. Classics probably, that still gets you a few weirder factions like Vikings and the "normal" ones are still engaging and feel fully designed. But I've only played 1 of the Legends factions and glanced through the rest, so with experience they may become. The real answer is Osprey should have just put them all in one box and charged ~10 more instead of doing it this way.
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May 3, 2022 20:27
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Maybe this came up already, but that new version of Ra looks really good. Is there a good comparison to other games, as in if I already have Game X then I don’t need this?
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May 3, 2022 20:59
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There's nothing that combines the push your luck/set collection/fixed bid auction systems the way Ra does. You could try out Lost Cities Rivals for a similar (and amazing) game from him for cheap. I prefer Modern Art for the more pure auctions but Ra is definitely unique and great. That said, the retail version will be cheaper and some of the design is bloated because Ian only works in extremes, or you could get the new version from Dice Tree or the Geekbits from BGG (and print your own board for it).
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May 3, 2022 21:07
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Oops, wrong thread.
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May 3, 2022 21:07
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Funzo posted:Maybe this came up already, but that new version of Ra looks really good. Is there a good comparison to other games, as in if I already have Game X then I don’t need this? The brinksmanship you can employ reminds me a bit of High Society. In both games (moreso in Ra) you have fixed currency amounts and can't make change, which in turn means you can force really nasty choices on your neighbour since they can't just bid you up by 1 (through all of Ra, later in the game in High Society). That said, they still feel very different. I'm not sure anything else (even other Knizia auction game) has the same push your luck feel as Ra.
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May 3, 2022 21:14
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Also played a good bit of Undaunted Normandy and I’m impressed with the skirmish game feel it accomplishes with very simple deck building and combat rules. The attrition/wound system is great, as is the initiate trade off for powerful cards and the fog of war cards cluttering your deck. Haven’t played North Africa or Reinforcements yet, but looking through the rules and scenarios they seem to complete what is already a solid foundation. Overall best batch of new games I’ve played in years, even if nothing stands out enough to be a mainstay for our collection with the exception of possibly Undaunted and Imperium pending thoughts on replayability.
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May 3, 2022 22:37
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Bottom Liner posted:Also played a good bit of Undaunted Normandy and I’m impressed with the skirmish game feel it accomplishes with very simple deck building and combat rules. The attrition/wound system is great, as is the initiate trade off for powerful cards and the fog of war cards cluttering your deck. Haven’t played North Africa or Reinforcements yet, but looking through the rules and scenarios they seem to complete what is already a solid foundation. Undaunted was the first time in years my war game buddy and I have played through the full box scenarios in any of our games. It really is just a fantastically tight little game in a an affordable package.
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May 3, 2022 23:40
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ROOT isn't exactly news, but after puttering around with it a few times here and there I ended up playing with two other players, and for the three of us it really sings. We all play at roughly the same level, and grasp the game state enough that it feels we play the game the way it feels intended to be played. It's a great feeling to lose (or win) by a few points, to immediately know what it came down to, to think about where you surged and where things stalled, and start to get ideas about what to do next time. Also: the Lizard cult is really challenging to wrap one's head around, and no one likes the Vagabond!
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May 4, 2022 00:05
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The vagabond is indeed the worst. Last week I played a five player game of Root with: - Otters - Lord of the Hundreds - Badgers - Cats - Lizards Game was over in the first four rounds as the table just absolutely threw pawns at the Otters for merc and card access. They parlayed this into fat stacks of funds points and a massive army. On one hand, frustrating that no one listened to me repeating over and over again that they need to stop depending on the otters' cards. On the other, hopefully a good lesson for next time we play.
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May 4, 2022 00:21
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The Eyes Have It posted:ROOT [...] no one likes the Vagabond! yep sounds like Root
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May 4, 2022 02:21
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Vagabond remains the most fun faction to play but should have probably been spun off into its own game. It's an important role in 4p base game though, just don't let them run around unhindered all game.
Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 06:54 on May 4, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 03:30
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Bottom Liner posted:
I read some reviews for this and almost all of them talk about it as a solo game. I see 1-4 people listed as the player count though. How does this game play with additional players? Is it multiplayer solitaire or is there interactivity?
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May 4, 2022 05:55
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I think I've said it before, but I feel that the idea of having an asymmetric war game where a faction is just one guy is such a mindfuck that it helped Root garner even more mindshare on top of the wonderful art, deep asymmetry and quality gameplay. Like, how Vast had people running around going, "One player plays THE CAVE!" That Patrick Leder is a creative guy, even if a lot of us do agree that the Vagabond is not the best to play with. In other Root news, it seems like people are finally getting their hands on the Marauder expansion, which includes 'Hirelings' which are tiny subfactions that help build out the game when playing with lower player counts. Each is based on an existing and can't be played with them: the Last Dynasty can't be played if the Eyrie Dynasties are in the game. Each has two modes; a promoted with pieces and a demoted side without, and the choices depend on player count with more promoted sides in games with fewer players. The demoted side basically gives you a faction ability, like Field Hospitals, while the other bulk up the map with extra warriors to beat up and fill space. I remember looking into this a year ago when they were developing it, and I'm super happy they made the system a lot simpler than it was before. First person to reach a certain point threshold gains it. They roll a die to see how long you control it, but that number will be lower if you're in first, but you also get to choose who it goes to. There is even a hireling called the Exile who replaces the Vagabond that's a huge bear and it revolves around giving the Exile items and then regretting it. Just like playing with the vagabond.  This person on YouTube explains the Hirelings here. Also, The Exiles and Partisans deck has been added to Root digital if you have missed it. I haven't played with that deck yet, but lots of people like it better than the base deck because the crafting requirements are lower and there are no swingy Favor cards. Instead the cards act as to give players abilities similar to those of certain factions, like Corvid Planners allowing you to ignore rule when moving, like the Corvids do. It seems super sweet, and was something fairly major missing from the digital version.
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May 4, 2022 08:59
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I'm looking for some tips on teaching 18xx (probably Chesapeake, maybe 61/67). I'm familiar with teaching games in general and the people I'll be teaching have played train stuff before (mostly cube rails) so some of the high level concepts should be familiar.
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May 4, 2022 10:23
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I also own both Imperium Classics and Legends. Legends has more complex and weirder civilizations as mentioned before. If complexity doesn't matter to you, just pick the one that has civilizations you're interested in. Megasabin posted:I read some reviews for this and almost all of them talk about it as a solo game. I see 1-4 people listed as the player count though. How does this game play with additional players? Is it multiplayer solitaire or is there interactivity? Some cards allow you to steal resources from other players or add unrest cards (negative points) to your opponent's decks. On top of that there's also the market row. So there's some interaction going on. Solo also plays different from multiplayer as each civ you're playing against has a specific AI script. So you're not looking at the cards themselves they play, but rather what type of card. The AI Egyptians for example focus on gathering resources in the barbarian phase and then on turning those resources into points in the civilized phase. It felt very thematic. Multiplayer felt faster than solo in the games I've played.
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May 4, 2022 11:09
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Doctor Spaceman posted:I'm looking for some tips on teaching 18xx (probably Chesapeake, maybe 61/67). Teach the OR first: companies operate in this order, by whoever has the most stock, lay track, token, run for this much using trains, choose to pay out or withhold, shares get this much each, if you've got a private you can buy it in at this point of the game, train rusting. Then stock rounds, emphasize that the first action goes to whoever would have had the next action had no one passed in the last SR, maybe mention dumping companies that have no trains. Then the initial auction, because explaining that first with no context means no one will understand why any given private means anything. Just the way I'd do it and have heard others do it.
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May 4, 2022 11:14
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Megasabin posted:I read some reviews for this and almost all of them talk about it as a solo game. I see 1-4 people listed as the player count though. How does this game play with additional players? Is it multiplayer solitaire or is there interactivity? I think it's great at 1 or 2, but beyond that it could drag some. There's not really anything for you to do when it's not your turn, so the downtime is what ends up hurting higher player counts. As Autodrop Monteur mentioned, there is some interaction with taking or trashing cards from a common market before your opponent can get to them, and some factions have attack cards that can directly go after your opponent's resources or territory cards. The game has a few different endgame triggers, and one of them is running out of the pool of unrest cards, at which point your VP score doesn't matter, and whoever has more unrest cards loses. You normally pick up unrest cards during the course of the game, and try to manage them to not run the pool out, but there are a couple of factions that use this offensively to try and shove a bunch into your opponent's deck faster than they can ditch them, and force the pile to run out while they're holding the bag, so that's definitely interaction as well. That being said you will be substantially more focused on your own game in most cases. I bought both boxes as well, I think Classics vs Legends is really what appeals to you, Classics is all 'historical' civilizations so to speak, so you've got your Greeks, Romans, Persians, etc. Every faction still feels notably unique though. Legends is a mix of historical and mythical (Arthurians, Atlanteans, etc.) and has some more divergent playstyles. There's an officially sanctioned tabletop simulator "demo" with 4 factions from Classics if you want to try it out. It's one of my favorite pickups of the last year. Also, thanks garthoneeye, SettingSun, and Bottom Liner for the input, looking forward to pickup up some new stuff this weekend!
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May 4, 2022 12:17
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Bottom Liner posted:
Wanted to add to this: I've only ever played GWT on BGA and didn't remember until halfway through the first game that this was the game where the 1e had teepees and "trading" where the bandits are. The bandits fit the theme so much better that I didn't know until I had asked a question about it. Also, I don't know how the game looks on the board with the white (heh) player but pro-tip use the white to purple setting on BGA. Makes the board so much easier to see since the neutral buildings are some sort of cream/beige color. Otherwise, decent game and I like the tempo control but would still say with the interaction involved, Trajan is still better. Don't think the shared rondel interaction adds enough to replace the removal of other points of interaction and racing elsewhere. Shared rondel might be influenced too much by the initial player order anyway, but I do like that they let you choose your initial starting position.
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May 4, 2022 14:09
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Doctor Spaceman posted:I'm looking for some tips on teaching 18xx (probably Chesapeake, maybe 61/67). Heavy Cardboard also has a teach you can look at for reference, it seems reasonably good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fxfrEUqD6Q&t=280s
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May 4, 2022 14:34
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Chill la Chill posted:Also, I don't know how the game looks on the board with the white (heh) player but pro-tip use the white to purple setting on BGA. Makes the board so much easier to see since the neutral buildings are some sort of cream/beige color. Wait, is this something you can just do on BGA, or is it a feature of the specific implementation?
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May 4, 2022 15:17
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Doctor Spaceman posted:I'm looking for some tips on teaching 18xx (probably Chesapeake, maybe 61/67). I would personally NOT start with 61/67 because the mergers are weird and the game is SLOW at the start unless people are aggressive with buying trains/taking loans, which is unintuitive unless you really know what you're doing or are guiding your players but that's a ton of extra handholding. It's also not as fun not being able to own shares in other peoples' companies off the bat and you'd be surprised how much of a dopamine rush it is for new players to get their pay outs as investors. It also builds this investment in the game because you care about how the company is being run and cringe when profits are withheld. I haven't played CHES but have heard it's a perfectly cromunlent introduction to the series, but then again I'd say the same about 1830 based on my plays of it. When I taught MEX on Saturday I did: -how to win (shares/cash on hand) -the main flow of the game (stock rounds of buying and selling shares, operating rounds of laying track, running trains, making money, buying trains) -how floating a company and presidency works -how rusting works and to WATCH OUT -and finally the auction when we are about to start it Everything else can be taught on the fly and hopefully without burying the poor bastard(s) under info. If you've got a great group/pupil they'll just be excited as the system reveal themselves and not get too salty or pissed if they don't grasp the subtleties immediately and curse you for using them as a punching bag. I legitimately love teaching 18xx to new people not because I'm great at it (I'm not) but because it is so much fun watching strategies and thought processes develop in real time in the absence of the typical table group think. RE: Ark Nova - looks like the first shipment has been delayed in Canada (AGAIN) and the second shipment doesn't even have an ETA anymore. The game is exploding and only one person I know has a copy. FulsomFrank fucked around with this message at 16:03 on May 4, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 15:48
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Magnetic North posted:Wait, is this something you can just do on BGA, or is it a feature of the specific implementation? Specific to GWT I believe.
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May 4, 2022 16:01
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PerniciousKnid posted:The way I do it (for all games) is to tell the players I'm going to teach the game three times: a high-level overview, a more detailed walkthrough (with an OR example), and then a detailed review as concepts come up (first SR, first OR, first new phase etc.). I'm a fan of Branislav Berec's videos on the Nithrania channel myself, and he does a very good one for 18Ches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGA40VMYe_U
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May 4, 2022 16:27
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One of the things I emphasize when teaching (and this will be dependent on your group), don't expect to win the first game. I could tell you a hundred times that diesels rust the 4's and that you need a strategy to get a permanent train, but until a player experiences it, it's hard to grok. I do this for all games, but 18Ches and related 18xx's can be a real surprise to even the most seasoned gamer.
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May 4, 2022 17:10
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Viper915 posted:I think it's great at 1 or 2, but beyond that it could drag some. There's not really anything for you to do when it's not your turn, so the downtime is what ends up hurting higher player counts. As Autodrop Monteur mentioned, there is some interaction with taking or trashing cards from a common market before your opponent can get to them, and some factions have attack cards that can directly go after your opponent's resources or territory cards. The game has a few different endgame triggers, and one of them is running out of the pool of unrest cards, at which point your VP score doesn't matter, and whoever has more unrest cards loses. You normally pick up unrest cards during the course of the game, and try to manage them to not run the pool out, but there are a couple of factions that use this offensively to try and shove a bunch into your opponent's deck faster than they can ditch them, and force the pile to run out while they're holding the bag, so that's definitely interaction as well. That being said you will be substantially more focused on your own game in most cases. I bought both boxes as well, I think Classics vs Legends is really what appeals to you, Classics is all 'historical' civilizations so to speak, so you've got your Greeks, Romans, Persians, etc. Every faction still feels notably unique though. Legends is a mix of historical and mythical (Arthurians, Atlanteans, etc.) and has some more divergent playstyles. There's an officially sanctioned tabletop simulator "demo" with 4 factions from Classics if you want to try it out. It's one of my favorite pickups of the last year. Imperium Classics/Legends reminded me of this (2 player game)  Sold immediately.
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May 4, 2022 17:12
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Left: potential publisher Right: aspiring game designer
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May 4, 2022 17:39
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I haven't found the card interactions more involved than say Res Arcana or any of the LCGs. Your turn consists of spending action and exhaustion tokens (again like Through the Ages), so figuring out the order to spend them along with card plays is the meat of the game and could cause AP. But also that's what I meant by a straight deckbuilding experience but meaty. Also while we're still talking about it, here's the summary of how asymmetric the factions can be   I've also been playing the Xenoshyft app a good bit while traveling recently and I've been pretty impressed by the deckbuilder/tower defense/wave fighting system it uses. I think it would be too fiddly on the table but the app is cheap and good with a lot of content before even getting the DLCs. Definitely one of the best CMON releases. Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 18:18 on May 4, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 18:15
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Bottom Liner posted:I haven't found the card interactions more involved than say Res Arcana or any of the LCGs. Your turn consists of spending action and exhaustion tokens (again like Through the Ages), so figuring out the order to spend them along with card plays is the meat of the game and could cause AP. But also that's what I meant by a straight deckbuilding experience but meaty. Good comparison, noting I don't own those either  .
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May 4, 2022 18:18
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Mayveena posted:Imperium Classics/Legends reminded me of this (2 player game) I'm definitely curious to know happened there, since I haven't encountered that sort of chaining during my plays. As Bottom Liner mentioned, you have to spend a limited number of action and exhaust tokens in order to get anything done, which typically precludes you from doing a massive combo like that. There are some cards that allow 'free' actions, but you usually only have one or two available so it's still hard to pull off a chain of actions. Not trying to discount your experience, but I'm wondering if a rule got missed or tokens were mistakenly not spent? Or maybe I just haven't hit the particular faction matchup you played, and something interacts strangely that I haven't seen.
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May 4, 2022 19:17
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Viper915 posted:I'm definitely curious to know happened there, since I haven't encountered that sort of chaining during my plays. As Bottom Liner mentioned, you have to spend a limited number of action and exhaust tokens in order to get anything done, which typically precludes you from doing a massive combo like that. There are some cards that allow 'free' actions, but you usually only have one or two available so it's still hard to pull off a chain of actions. Not trying to discount your experience, but I'm wondering if a rule got missed or tokens were mistakenly not spent? Or maybe I just haven't hit the particular faction matchup you played, and something interacts strangely that I haven't seen. The other player's turn took forever while he did this that and the other and I just watched. Which is how I interpreted the comic, one player plays a long turn and you watch and hope that at some point it will be your turn. I realize that all turn based board games have this issue to some degree, but the games I like are ones where I care about what they are doing. In Imperium each player does their own thing and it felt like a completely heads down experience.
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May 4, 2022 19:21
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Mayveena posted:The other player's turn took forever while he did this that and the other and I just watched. Which is how I interpreted the comic, one player plays a long turn and you watch and hope that at some point it will be your turn. I realize that all turn based board games have this issue to some degree, but the games I like are ones where I care about what they are doing. In Imperium each player does their own thing and it felt like a completely heads down experience. Ahh, yeah that's valid. I mostly play it solo, which has me a lot more engaged with the AI turn than I would be a human opponent. I still think it's manageable at 2, but at 3 or 4 I'd rather play something else.
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May 4, 2022 19:27
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This week I played my first game of Anno 1800 and it's real good. Lots and lots of interaction that felt really good and not "take that" which tends to be hit and miss for my regular group. It felt very very fast once we started to get the flow of actions and then it continues to be a snowballing economy builder hurtling along at breakneck pace until suddenly you can see people are starting to gear up to trigger the end game and it's time to start blasting high-scoring cards and abilities. Absolute winner at 3 players, and I can imagine the competition for production gets even fiercer at 4. Every resource production type has only two available tiles (some rare ones can be gotten through other methods but this is random what's available). Not sure how well 2 player would work as both players could potentially have their entire economy self sufficient at least to a point where early game would have very little trade. Might feel a little more multiplayer solitaire-y until people get new-world goods. We plan to play the crap out of this more this weekend.
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May 4, 2022 21:41
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My day consisted of learning about Imperium Classics/Legends here, reading the rules, loading up the module on TTS, then going to MM and buying both immediately. From my middling testing in a two player setup, I can see the potential of an experienced player taking a complex turn especially against a rookie but I'm prepared to take that risk. I really liked what I saw.
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May 4, 2022 21:45
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Anyone have any ideas for smallish semi easy to learn games? I'm going out on a trip in a couple of weeks with some friends and I need something. Burgle bros 2 looks potentially good, or I was considering a deckbuilder, since those come in tiny boxes.
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May 4, 2022 21:57
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Jarvisi posted:Anyone have any ideas for smallish semi easy to learn games? I'm going out on a trip in a couple of weeks with some friends and I need something. The crew
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May 4, 2022 21:58
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Bottom Liner posted:I've also been playing the Xenoshyft app a good bit while traveling recently and I've been pretty impressed by the deckbuilder/tower defense/wave fighting system it uses. I think it would be too fiddly on the table but the app is cheap and good with a lot of content before even getting the DLCs. Definitely one of the best CMON releases. Xenoshyft is really really good. I love that they 'automated' the boring but important bits of deckbuilding (i.e upgrading currency and trashing cards) to let you focus on the more interesting stuff, and also how much interaction there is between players in terms of planning your turns. The decisions felt so much more interesting and meaningful than say Aeon's End. I did sell my copy though because the setup/breakdown is horrendous particularly with expansions - which you kinda want to have variety - and because it really only plays well at 2 players, any more becomes far too much of a slog.
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May 4, 2022 22:29
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Jarvisi posted:Anyone have any ideas for smallish semi easy to learn games? I'm going out on a trip in a couple of weeks with some friends and I need something. How many people? (If the answer is 3-5 then yes the Crew is a great recommendation, whether in quality, ease of learning, or portability.)
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May 4, 2022 23:04
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Jarvisi posted:Anyone have any ideas for smallish semi easy to learn games? I'm going out on a trip in a couple of weeks with some friends and I need something.
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May 4, 2022 23:31
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Admiralty Flag posted:How many people? Is Crew less good with 2?
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May 4, 2022 23:51
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