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The Eyes Have It posted:Shipping frankly sucks even under the best of times, and these past few years shipping has sucked harder than ever, it's not even close. Shipping is so atrocious it actively weighs on my decision to back/purchase things more than the product's base price even. I know that shipping container prices have dropped dramatically from their highs ~2-3 years ago, but obviously that's only part of the process. The amount of times I've held off and just said I'll grab it from my FLGS is higher than ever before. Doesn't help that very, very few seem interesting enough generally to bite the bullet. I think 1889 was one of the last projects I backed after years of mashing that button without a second thought. VVV same. I also am extremely pissed off about certain companies/people who ship poo poo without considering the customs portion properly and I get smoked with an additional $20-40 in duties cough cough LONNY and PORTAL GAMES. Seeing someone using DHL is a death sentence because lol if you think I'll sit there and pay an additional 2/3 price of the base game in shipping and duties alone. FulsomFrank fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Feb 14, 2023 |
# ? Feb 14, 2023 18:04 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 18:24 |
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I am half expecting a surprise additional shipping ask when pueblo and 89 go out. I've reduced KS usage to games that have a solid history that I know I'll like based on previous plays or geekbuddy recommendations.
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# ? Feb 14, 2023 18:09 |
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It was also companies that didn’t secure shipping contracts early and just waited until production was almost finished to scramble for pricing. CTG managed to launch every product with no change to its ($10) shipping price even through 2020ish. They didn’t even change pricing when they switched the Trove Chest from cardboard to MDF. And their poo poo ain’t light.
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# ? Feb 14, 2023 18:11 |
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Decided to get Under Falling Skies and drat, it kind of owns. I really dig the aesthetic and managed to play a few games of it without the campaign to get a handle on it. I started to feel that Roswell, even though it's the beginner setup, feels harder to play than the other citiies, especially since Robots really super-charge your actions once you get them going. Decided to play my first campaign and won the first game. Really enjoying the game so far.
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# ? Feb 14, 2023 22:06 |
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I finally got Gate in, and so far I've played it 3 times, winning 66% of the time It's a solo deckbuilder (someone said tower defense, and, I guess??), where the premise is you have to defend the gate, the tower, and the farm (outside the gate), from the attacking enemies. Each turn, an enemy gets revealed that can cause damage to the buildings, and your job is to manage incoming damage by repairing buildings, paying citizens to come out of their homes to help defend the town, and attacking the creatures directly. You also have to assuage the town's fears, but worry not, sometimes as the fear increases in the town, a noble hero comes to help out your town, temporarily. The game is pretty quick, and, if you don't get the playmat, it fits in a goddamn altoids sized container, which is incredible. I could see myself getting bored of the game after maybe...30 or 50? plays but for a quick little game with minimal setup, some planning, and some critical thinking skills, you can win and still have the fear of losing, which is really exactly the kind of solo game I want. I've played too many solo modes in games where the difficulty is like slamming your dick in a drawer and gently caress that. I want to win, with the threat of losing. If I want to play a hard mode, I can just take things away until it's harder. That being said, it does have a "hardcore" mode, and I might be too weeny for that for now. It does make me want all the rest of this developer's solo games because this was fantastic. Only drawback....you gotta wait in line for a single company to print it for you, which they estimate says takes a month. (there are print and play stuff, but I'm lazy and I hate printing games out and then cutting it out and then the materials don't feel good in my hands, or I have to come up with weird storage/sorting solutions, etc. I'd rather just pay the money to have someone else do that bullshit) I ordered mine on Feb 1st, and got my copy on Feb 14th, so, not a month, but it depends how fast they get through the order. Just the game was but I had to have the game mat, because I'm stubborn like that, and they shipped it flat, even going as far to ship it in a bigger box simply to do so, which I thought was odd. Rolling a mat is better than folding it, but shipping it in a bigger box is a bit bizarre to me. tl;dr: I love love love love this. Even right now as I type this review I want to go back and play again for a fourth run, and this hardly ever happens to me, even for games I like. usually I do a run and I go "yep that was enough brain, I am stressed out and frustrated and tired for having to be so 'ON' while playing" and shelve the game for months until I get the mojo back. GreenBuckanneer fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Feb 15, 2023 |
# ? Feb 15, 2023 04:44 |
Loving the Fearamid
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 05:00 |
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Tekopo posted:Decided to get Under Falling Skies and drat, it kind of owns. I really dig the aesthetic and managed to play a few games of it without the campaign to get a handle on it. I started to feel that Roswell, even though it's the beginner setup, feels harder to play than the other citiies, especially since Robots really super-charge your actions once you get them going. Yeah Roswell feels rough for a lot of reasons, not only because no robots, but also no character cards and at least the front side of Roswell doesn't have an ability (and even the damaged side, while a nice bonus, is a one time thing that isn't particularly powerful). I haven't gotten into the campaign yet, but I do like that the way the game is set up, you can just grab a random city/character/scenario after you've finished the campaign and just play something that may be vastly more different and challenging than the battles you've done before. The copy we had on our shelf had the free Kyiv promo which of course isn't part of the campaign, nor are any of the other three cities that are at the top of the box. They're just there to do on your own in the future.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 05:24 |
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glad you ended up acquiring and enjoying it
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 08:05 |
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also I know it’s probably a homage to the knight from rampart: but I can’t look at the cover without seeing pointing soyjak
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 08:13 |
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MizuZero posted:but I can’t look at the cover without seeing pointing soyjak It's not just you memes are poison unrelated: I bought https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/331573/pusheen-purrfect-pick for the GF who is a basic gamer, and she liked it a lot. We played 3 games and, well I won 33% of the time. It's basically a match game w/ Pusheen so it's a cute, which is mostly why I bought it for her. She liked it so it was a good evening. I think it would have been better if there were more players than 2 though. GreenBuckanneer fucked around with this message at 08:24 on Feb 15, 2023 |
# ? Feb 15, 2023 08:15 |
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Tekopo posted:Decided to get Under Falling Skies and drat, it kind of owns. I really dig the aesthetic and managed to play a few games of it without the campaign to get a handle on it. I started to feel that Roswell, even though it's the beginner setup, feels harder to play than the other citiies, especially since Robots really super-charge your actions once you get them going. This inspired me and my GF to try the first campaign mission, after playing the games 5-ish times. We got the everloving crap kicked out of us. Still, the way the campaign works already has me exited to see what more there is to see.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 11:02 |
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For my first campaign game I went with threat level 2, but I had (slight spoilers) Rio de Janeiro and the pilot character, along with the Satallites scenario. Thanks to the Rio ability and the one-shot from the character, I was able to keep my skies relatively clean. It basically meant that I didn't really have to use airplanes as much.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 11:10 |
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We did Threat Level 1. (Slight spoilers for Under Falling Skies Scenario 1) We were also defending Rio but had the mechanic character and a scenario where we faced more ships. We did not look at the scenario first, as the rulebook suggests as a possible way to improve replayability, but would obviously make things harder. Maybe should have stayed at Threat Level 0 considering that. Not sure I like Rio that much. The early energy spaces suck and we never got to put down a robot because the higher robot room is ludicrously energy intensive. Even with several rounds of taking down 3+ ships, we came down to needing some serious luck in the end which we didn't get. Most strenuous game we've tried so far.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 11:25 |
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I really enjoyed my playthrough of Under Falling Skies, but I did make it needlessly hard on myself at first by performing mothership actions whenever an alien fighter causes to lower the mothership.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 12:55 |
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Finally got JC2E to the table last weekend. 4p, intro scenario, took 4 hours with a rolling teach with experienced players who only superficially went over the rules beforehand. The rules clicked for them after maybe a turn and a half. The rulebook's ok, but watching a few streams by Heavy Carboard helped me pick it up much faster. Started turning on each other around turn 4, split into a 2v2 coalition, I as the chairman sided with the player with prime minister and shut out the other two from offices, funds on the last turn. Lost to the PM by a point due to a few things not going my way (gave too many concessions to the PM, got a trade sabotaged with blackmail by one of the other players, leaving me a pound short for the next level of retirement). I really like it, but I think I'll only play it with people I know, playing something this negotiation-heavy with randos is too risky. What are people's experiences with playtime after repeated plays? I feel like this is one where it'll get longer with time due to people getting more into the negotiations.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 16:55 |
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kalthir posted:Finally got JC2E to the table last weekend. 4p, intro scenario, took 4 hours with a rolling teach with experienced players who only superficially went over the rules beforehand. The rules clicked for them after maybe a turn and a half. The rulebook's ok, but watching a few streams by Heavy Carboard helped me pick it up much faster. Started turning on each other around turn 4, split into a 2v2 coalition, I as the chairman sided with the player with prime minister and shut out the other two from offices, funds on the last turn. Lost to the PM by a point due to a few things not going my way (gave too many concessions to the PM, got a trade sabotaged with blackmail by one of the other players, leaving me a pound short for the next level of retirement). I really like it, but I think I'll only play it with people I know, playing something this negotiation-heavy with randos is too risky. What are people's experiences with playtime after repeated plays? I feel like this is one where it'll get longer with time due to people getting more into the negotiations. My friends have played two games of it recently and minus the absurdly long teach, the majority of the even more absurdly long playtime was eaten up by people wheeling and dealing (which sounds right up my alley, minus the rest of the finnicky stuff connected to it). I think you're right though, the more you know the game the longer the deal hustling might take because even though you trade inexperience for knowledge, the better understanding of the rules/systems results in people having a better idea of the value of their offers and consequences, which can lead to more protracted negotiations. The same thing happens to us in Civ but because there's a flat time-limit during the trading phase you can't just endlessly dither and bullshit.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 19:10 |
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I’d just like to thank this thread on behalf of my wife who is obsessed with watching the No Rolls Barred YouTube channel playing Blood on the Clock Tower. Ever since her favourite YouTube channel that plays social seduction games Bouncin Mouncin ended last year due to tragic circumstances, she has been starving for a replacement!
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 20:54 |
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Kicked off a Frosthaven campaign with two goons on Monday. Encounters 0 and 1. Hot drat, it's all the fun of tactical RPGs with none of the responsibility of GMing. Love it. There's me, the Drifter, and my friend playing the Deathspeaker (weaver?), and then over there is the mad lad kicking off with Geminate and knocking out both their Masteries in the first two games. Not sure how I'm going to pull of my Masteries as the Drifter, but we'll see. I should take further discussion to a Gloomhaven thread I have high confidence exists, but Frosthaven is great. Also, grateful to get to play with good people. Showing up to a house where the host had painted our Frosthaven minis and baked brownies was delightful. Other goon brought homemade bread and fancy cheese. I brought beer. When everybody at the table is a good host/guest, cherish it.
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# ? Feb 15, 2023 21:15 |
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FulsomFrank posted:I think you're right though, the more you know the game the longer the deal hustling might take because even though you trade inexperience for knowledge, the better understanding of the rules/systems results in people having a better idea of the value of their offers and consequences, which can lead to more protracted negotiations. Opposite for my games. It speeds up because you don't lose time making inconsequential deals. Who cares if my ship is in W or E ocean, not like you can control the storm die. You can just laugh at people who try and squeeze a pound out of you over pointless stuff and move on.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 07:07 |
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This is my experience with negotiation games in general. At the start, you haggle over everything, because that's the game right? What are you doing if you're not haggling? Maybe there's a second step, but I haven't taken it. I hate negotiation games.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 07:48 |
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Under Falling Skies is an absolute gem of a game. What the designer managed to accomplish just like 4 tiny boards and a few dice is almost unbelievable. Gonna jump in the campaign bandwagon, I started one like a year ago when I first got the game but abandoned it halfway. I was doing really well for my first 3 missions, beating all of them first try at TL 2 and then got absolutely mauled both attempts in the second mission I got for Ch2: Reactor Leak + Moscow, very brutal since Moscow board is already very energy constrained. papasyhotcakes posted:Oh I'm in Mty too! If you ever feel like it you can shoot me a pm at healraga (at) gmail. Well poo poo, we might already know each other if you're in the whmty crowd. Haven't been there in many years now but if you were around from 2010-2015 we're probably acquainted already.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 10:21 |
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So I kind of fell off following/buying new games over the last 1-2 years and have been appreciating the games I currently own, but now I've got an itch for something new. So anyone have any good recommendation for a new game? Group is 99% 3 players, have been doing a lot of light games lately but Spirit Island is probably our favorite. We tend to lean more towards coop when the rules get heavy but have no problem with competitive/conflict.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 15:31 |
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Losem posted:So I kind of fell off following/buying new games over the last 1-2 years and have been appreciating the games I currently own, but now I've got an itch for something new. So anyone have any good recommendation for a new game? Group is 99% 3 players, have been doing a lot of light games lately but Spirit Island is probably our favorite. We tend to lean more towards coop when the rules get heavy but have no problem with competitive/conflict. Have y'all done Pandemic Legacy? That's always an easy recommendation if your group loves co-op.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 16:12 |
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Losem posted:So I kind of fell off following/buying new games over the last 1-2 years and have been appreciating the games I currently own, but now I've got an itch for something new. So anyone have any good recommendation for a new game? Group is 99% 3 players, have been doing a lot of light games lately but Spirit Island is probably our favorite. We tend to lean more towards coop when the rules get heavy but have no problem with competitive/conflict. Welcome back! In the OP, there are some 'thread approved' suggestions by complexity and player count. Based on what you said and the time you've been away, you may have missed The Crew or its sequel The Crew: Deep Sea. They are too fantastic to miss. It's a cooperative trick taking game, and if that sounds weird, it is. Another recent game that is interesting at 3 is The King is Dead, 2E. It's a light area control game where players are trying to court the interests that vie for control after the death of the current monarch. I think the hype has cooled slightly on it, but it's a clever game for 3 that you might have missed.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 16:15 |
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My core group, similar to yours, has been going nuts over Cthulhu: Death May Die the past couple months Much less complex than Spirit Island and probably easier but it's great fun
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 16:25 |
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Mr. Squishy posted:This is my experience with negotiation games in general. At the start, you haggle over everything, because that's the game right? What are you doing if you're not haggling? I love negotiation games because it allows me to bypass my failure to grasp the technical elements of most games in lieu of browbeating and used-car-salesman hustling my opponents instead.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 17:05 |
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FulsomFrank posted:I love negotiation games because it allows me to bypass my failure to grasp the technical elements of most games in lieu of browbeating and used-car-salesman hustling my opponents instead. or sheriff of Nottingham where you get to hustle and lie
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 17:26 |
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FulsomFrank posted:I love negotiation games because it allows me to bypass my failure to grasp the technical elements of most games in lieu of browbeating and used-car-salesman hustling my opponents instead. and this is why i hate games that rely on negotiations. I don't want to be browbeat or have a game grind to a halt because some other player feels like they are some master tactician with alpha bro 'rise and grind' stuff or something. But I also deal with used car salesmen EVERY loving DAY so my tolerance for that poo poo is paper thin. To each their own, though. There are about thousand types of games out there, ain't all of them made for all players.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 17:35 |
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enigmahfc posted:and this is why i hate games that rely on negotiations. I don't want to be browbeat or have a game grind to a halt because some other player feels like they are some master tactician with alpha bro 'rise and grind' stuff or something. But I also deal with used car salesmen EVERY loving DAY so my tolerance for that poo poo is paper thin. So I'm hearing that Sidereal Confluence and Civ is a maybe?
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 18:00 |
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Not a Children posted:My core group, similar to yours, has been going nuts over Cthulhu: Death May Die Still salty I bought this game at a good price and then got an email saying there was a stock error.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 18:03 |
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Does anyone here know anything about or maybe even has played Minotaur? Link included because apparently there's multiple games just named Minotaur. It caught my eye while I was straightening shelves, and it looks right up my alley. BGG has essentially nothing about it though. I imagine it's a game with a small print run from a tiny publisher and isn't widely available or interesting to most people (especially when stuff like Frosthaven is around). It's only 30 bucks so I might give it a shot but I just was curious if anyone had played it or heard about it. I'm also eyeing the Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition that's been on our shelf for about four months now. It's a little cheaper than Gloomhaven and one of my co workers described it as "essentially Gauntlet Legends in board game form" which I like the sound of. It's apparently a really good game, just I suppose not the newest hotness.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 19:13 |
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Twelve by Pies posted:I'm also eyeing the Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition that's been on our shelf for about four months now. It's a little cheaper than Gloomhaven and one of my co workers described it as "essentially Gauntlet Legends in board game form" which I like the sound of. It's apparently a really good game, just I suppose not the newest hotness. that is, uh, not how I would describe Mage Knight it's basically an abstract high-level view of a D&D murderhobo campaign, with individual adventures condensed down into puzzles to be solved with a hand of cards as you spend a few hours killing and looting your way across a countryside full of monsters and towns it is indeed a really good game but it is an absolute beast to set up and play, to the point that it's probably best known as a solo game since it gets so unwieldy with additional players.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 19:57 |
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I love Mage Knight but each player you add is an additional 1.5 to 3 hours of downtime.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 20:01 |
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the holy poopacy posted:that is, uh, not how I would describe Mage Knight I think he just meant in the sense you said it, that it's just "Here is a level, beat the level, move on to the next one." Which is fine by me. And yeah I'm basically only into single player board games at this point due to all my friends being online, so it being more unwieldy the more players you have is fine by me. It's just gonna be me anyway.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 20:08 |
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Twelve by Pies posted:I think he just meant in the sense you said it, that it's just "Here is a level, beat the level, move on to the next one." Which is fine by me. Maybe these videos can help you get a picture of the game. I learned it with these and still enjoy Rickys playthroughs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_zW9zDxeYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=268O9ye4P3c
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 20:57 |
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Mage Knight kind of sucks. I really want to like it, there's a ton of parts I like, but it's got issues that keep it off my table. It's very long setup and teardown, especially compared to a lot of more modern games in the genre. The way you use cards to do everything, including moving, can result in a lot of feel bad moments where you burn good combat cards to just barely move, and you burn good movement cards in combat. In solo this is annoying but not a big deal. In a multiplayer game it can be frustrating when you're stuck with the leftovers of the other players with better draws. I think it's a better solo game than multiplayer. If you play with other people, it really feels like you're just playing a bunch of solo games where you're stuck waiting to take turns for someone else to do things. It's also a weird use of the license. It feels so unlike Mage Knight except they put the little clix dial on a couple things in the box that you don't use often. The highs though, for Mage Knight, are really good. When you do have it actually setup, you aren't getting frustrating draws, and you're making decent progression, it's a really good time.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 20:59 |
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I dunno, slaving over your hand figuring out the best way to use it this turn is perhaps where I derive all the fun of that game. Of course, that only exacerbates the multiplayer problem of everyone spending inordinate amounts of time pondering their hands at all times while the active player performs their battle calculus. I play it a lot more on tts where I don't have to do any setup. And once I figure out how to implement Lost Legion into Paladin's Oath I'll play it a lot more there too.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 21:06 |
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Never forgive whoever killed the app version that was in development.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 21:08 |
Bottom Liner posted:Never forgive whoever killed the app version that was in development.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 21:15 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 18:24 |
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I've never played multiplayer as anything but co-op and I'm baffled that some people play it competitively.
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# ? Feb 16, 2023 21:20 |