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I finally got to try both Dead of Winter (knowing it wouldn't be good) and Warhammer Conquest. Dead of Winter was more or less exactly what I expected, except maybe a little better. I echo the sentiment that the Crossroads deck is a glaring heap of misplaced design. I guess they are a little like those quavering violins that signal heightened tension in a movie...that noise doesn't always lead to a stabbing. But since one is constantly "on deck," that tension is gone. Should have been something that WOULD happen on a player turn that round, but not clear on whose. I think the "are these people the protagonists or the red shirts" waffling due to the game's mechanics was ok for certain kinds of zombie drama (i.e., in some horror films, somebody who looks useful and cool will die unexpectedly) and not good for others. I also think the waste pile is unthematic and (unlike morale and food and turns) doesn't even have a tracker, and in general is a bad mechanic; if they wanted to limit the item usage, they should have done so some other way (they already had noise tokens!). So, all in all, I would play it again, but would pick literally any game that was actually good ahead of it. Warhammer Conquest was tense and interesting. We had both played Smash Up before and so the comparisons were obvious and not favorable to Smash Up. The inexorable march of "First Planet" puts a hard limit on the game's playtime and sets up some really interesting potential long-term planning -- I realize now that from the start of the game, you would know which planets would be the ones where you have initiative, and could see how that matched up with the symbols on them, and could do a little buildup in advance. The command struggle for a planet's resources being different from the actual battle for the planet's Battle effect was also a fun complexity.
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Dec 21, 2015 16:28
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homullus posted:Warhammer Conquest was tense and interesting. We had both played Smash Up before and so the comparisons were obvious and not favorable to Smash Up. The inexorable march of "First Planet" puts a hard limit on the game's playtime and sets up some really interesting potential long-term planning -- I realize now that from the start of the game, you would know which planets would be the ones where you have initiative, and could see how that matched up with the symbols on them, and could do a little buildup in advance. The command struggle for a planet's resources being different from the actual battle for the planet's Battle effect was also a fun complexity. I've played a lot of Conquest and the starter decks can lead to a lot of unbalanced games. I've only really played three games out of 30 that were swingy and the whole game wasn't decided by the second planet. Plus the game has a lot of tricks. Because of how useful everycard is in the small starter decks stuff that makes you "take the top six cards of your deck and put the other five at the bottom" can quite often lose you the game! That isn't to say it's not loads of fun. I do enjoy it. I just wish games were a bit less one sided most of the time. In other news I've now played twelve hours of Arcadia Quest. I kind of feel as though it's a competative version of Descent and I enjoy it a lot. The monster mechanics are a little perculiar - they're kind of like traps rather than anything else - but it's still a lot of fun to compete over quests and to upgrade things. I'd like some more heroes though. 12 heroes and 3 heroes in each guild isn't great when there's a few heroes that are poo and some that are definitely the best.
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Dec 21, 2015 18:39
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Taear posted:
The extra heroes are great if you can snag them. We have all but two promo characters and it's great being able to draft heroes one at a time from a large pool. As for the monsters, we experimented with a Zombicide style monster phase where the monsters all move one space towards the nearest hero in line of sight at the end of each round, but don't attack. It definitely ups the action and leads to some fun leading monsters to block other players, etc. Also, you can still get a late pledge for a Kickstarter copy of Inferno still it comes with a crazy amount of content. 3 campaigns, like 40+ new heroes, etc. 
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Dec 21, 2015 18:45
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I hope you feel suitably bad about yourself for playing a game that looks like that.
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Dec 21, 2015 20:44
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Not half as bad as the white guilt I feel when playing Freedom: The Underground Railroad.
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Dec 21, 2015 20:50
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Codenames was a hit at the family get together, everyone really liked it once they worked out how it worked Then we played monopoly. It went how you would expect 
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Dec 21, 2015 21:31
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Bottom Liner posted:Not half as bad as the white guilt I feel when playing Mombasa. But it's so good and someone just gave me a $30 Amazon gift cert 
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Dec 21, 2015 21:36
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CancerCakes posted:Codenames was a hit at the family get together, everyone really liked it once they worked out how it worked Just as long as you play by the rules, it's not that bad. Plus it's over in like 30 minutes.
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Dec 21, 2015 21:58
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Bottom Liner posted:The extra heroes are great if you can snag them. We have all but two promo characters and it's great being able to draft heroes one at a time from a large pool. As for the monsters, we experimented with a Zombicide style monster phase where the monsters all move one space towards the nearest hero in line of sight at the end of each round, but don't attack. It definitely ups the action and leads to some fun leading monsters to block other players, etc. I kickstarted it already! It's a shame it is so long away.
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Dec 22, 2015 00:14
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People are generally positive towards Monopoly Shuffle, right? I'd like more small, fast economy games in my stock, and it's cheap, but I'm putting myself on a game buying vacation for the spring.
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Dec 22, 2015 00:49
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Rumda posted:Is Innovation a Good Game I played half a game a few weeks ago and enjoyed it but... Innovation is a 2 player flux-like game. You will win or lose based on the cards. But it also offers just enough pretend decision making to make it feel like time not wasted. It's not a bad game. It's not a great game. It's merely okay.
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Dec 22, 2015 01:30
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My sister told me that she wants Glory to Rome: Black Box edition for Christmas this year. I can't find it anywhere. No listings on ebay, and the only US listing on the BGG marketplace hasn't replied to the message I sent a week or so ago. I know this game will be expensive and it is hard to obtain, but I would really like to get this gift for her. If anyone knows where I can buy a copy, I would greatly appreciate it.
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Dec 22, 2015 02:05
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Do you have about $300 to sink into 54 cards? Your best bet is to print on demand it somewhere and make her a sweet box.
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Dec 22, 2015 02:07
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Bottom Liner posted:Do you have about $300 to sink into 54 cards? Your best bet is to print on demand it somewhere and make her a sweet box. I've never done something like that before, but I'll look into it.
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Dec 22, 2015 02:22
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pakman posted:My sister told me that she wants Glory to Rome: Black Box edition for Christmas this year. I can't find it anywhere. No listings on ebay, and the only US listing on the BGG marketplace hasn't replied to the message I sent a week or so ago. I know this game will be expensive and it is hard to obtain, but I would really like to get this gift for her. If anyone knows where I can buy a copy, I would greatly appreciate it. You might also want to look into Mottainai. I haven't played enough of either to be able to tell much of a difference, but at least mechanically they're very similar games.
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Dec 22, 2015 02:34
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Mottainai is very good as well. The main changes mechanically are you do all actions on your turn (including following the actions other players made) instead of doing things during their turns.
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Dec 22, 2015 02:37
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Bottom Liner posted:Mottainai is very good as well. The main changes mechanically are you do all actions on your turn (including following the actions other players made) instead of doing things during their turns. I haven't played Mottainai but this sounds strictly worse than the way GtR handles it. More memory issues, plus you aren't engaged on other peoples turns, why did they change that?
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Dec 22, 2015 03:50
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So Asmodee just released a "clarifying statement" about their new distribution policy. It's mostly meaningless PR bullshit but based on what they don't say it sounds like CSI/MM are going to be cut off or forced to sell at MSRP.
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Dec 22, 2015 04:01
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I dunno. I read most of a post on BGG about it, and it sounds like they're going after exclusively online store fronts. Though why? Doesn't Asmodee make the same money regardless?
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Dec 22, 2015 04:05
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The General posted:I dunno. I read most of a post on BGG about it, and it sounds like they're going after exclusively online store fronts. Three potential angles I can think of... A) If everyone sells at MSRP or at least closer to it then they might be able to raise the amount they sell to retailers for (while keeping margin the same or even increasing it). No idea if this is sound from a business perspective. B) They want to encourage more local communities by eliminating the huge advantage online retailers have over local shops. This one might have some credence. I know that for myself the main reason my X-Wing collection is modest and my Armada collection non-existent is that absolutely nobody plays at my FLGS. Maybe if more people went there to buy them instead of getting cheap ships online this might strengthen local scenes, which could boost overall sales. C) Corporate hubris?
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Dec 22, 2015 04:09
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Crackbone posted:So Asmodee just released a "clarifying statement" about their new distribution policy. It's mostly meaningless PR bullshit but based on what they don't say it sounds like CSI/MM are going to be cut off or forced to sell at MSRP. It specifically says notable online retailers will be allowed and no price floors will be set (as that's illegal). Mince Pieface posted:I haven't played Mottainai but this sounds strictly worse than the way GtR handles it. More memory issues, plus you aren't engaged on other peoples turns, why did they change that? It was designed this way because one of the not-met stretch goals was an app, so this would allow for better async play. In game, it's not an issue at all as turns are fast and each players card is left on their mat until their next turn.
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Dec 22, 2015 04:15
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Puzzle Strike got a Steam release! It's on sale for  for the base characters until the 28th, I'm probably going to sink way too much time into it now I don't have to go off the website. 
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Dec 22, 2015 04:21
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Also coming out on iOS in a few weeks!  ing my loving mind out over here
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Dec 22, 2015 04:22
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I'll probably buy a copy in a few days, I want to see what else is on steam sale first + general post-holiday money clutching.
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Dec 22, 2015 04:30
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Bottom Liner posted:It specifically says notable online retailers will be allowed and no price floors will be set (as that's illegal). Of course not. On the other hand, there is nothing that will prevent Asmodee jacking up the price on units sold to online retailers while offering B&M stores more favorable pricing. It's exceedingly dense to think this is anything but a backdoor attempt to stop heavy discounters.
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Dec 22, 2015 04:31
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Swank. I might need to pick that up. It can sit in my unplayed steam pile. Which is better than getting the physical version which would take up space on the already crowded unplayed game shelf.
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Dec 22, 2015 04:32
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Bottom Liner posted:It specifically says notable online retailers will be allowed and no price floors will be set (as that's illegal).
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Dec 22, 2015 04:35
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Lorini posted:I don't know that price floors are illegal, but I do know that publishers can choose who they sell to. If you sell a product below the floor that the publisher has told you to sell at, you won't get anymore product. Mayfair enforces a 10% below retail price floor all the time. Bose does as well for another example. Yeah, American regulatory law is pretty toothless, and if Asmodee wants to stop discounting they will find a way to manage it.
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Dec 22, 2015 04:40
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Chekans 3 16 posted:Puzzle Strike got a Steam release! It's on sale for the base characters until the 28th, I'm probably going to sink way too much time into it now I don't have to go off the website.
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Dec 22, 2015 07:18
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I feel like $9 is a pretty reasonable price for a game as thoroughly tested as PS, but I admit I'm not really up to speed on what other digital board games go for.
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Dec 22, 2015 07:42
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Scyther posted:The only thing it strikes a balance between is random nonsense and swingy bullshit. Ignacy Trzewiczek isn't anywhere near as bad as Isaac "The poo poo Peddler" Vega, but he's not a good designer. Robinson Crusoe is a fantastic game, random extreme swings in fortune are consistent with the theme of surviving a desert island. I mean come on, people talk about it like its in the same tier as Munchkin. It's not a 100% deterministic euro, but that doesn't mean it's bad,just maybe not your cup of tea.
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Dec 22, 2015 08:35
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Chekans 3 16 posted:Puzzle Strike got a Steam release! It's on sale for I'm already regretting buying this. The base game dudes are so outclassed by the DLC guys it's like you aren't even playing the same game.
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Dec 22, 2015 10:04
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Toshimo posted:I'm already regretting buying this. The base game dudes are so outclassed by the DLC guys it's like you aren't even playing the same game. I thought Puzzle Strike was "Dominion with Theme"? What are the differences between characters like?
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Dec 22, 2015 10:19
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I really like Vendetta in Sirlin games, but have little idea on how to do well with him in Puzzle Strike. Other than feeling he needs some juicy red chips in the bank to make him work, he always seem to underperform for me. I mean, all his chips look super cool, but in practice he just kinda fucks around. How do I Vendetta?
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Dec 22, 2015 10:20
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Fat Samurai posted:I thought Puzzle Strike was "Dominion with Theme"? What are the differences between characters like? Each starts with 3 unique chips/cards.
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Dec 22, 2015 10:29
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Toshimo posted:I'm already regretting buying this. The base game dudes are so outclassed by the DLC guys it's like you aren't even playing the same game. I admit I have a lot more games of Yomi under my belt that PS, but the 2015 character rankings show that Jaina (#1), Midori (#4), and Grave (#8) are all top 10 base characters and plenty of others aren't far behind. In fact, the least-winning character is still about 42% which is certainly not ideal but is pretty good for a game with 20 characters and certainly better than completely outclassed. You might just not have enough game under your belt and are getting beat by people who know how to play better, odds are people who bought the game immediately on Steam are loyalists. Fat Samurai posted:I thought Puzzle Strike was "Dominion with Theme"? What are the differences between characters like? PS is more like "Dominion with direct conflict", but it does the theme of "puzzle fighter" well enough I guess. Every character has three unique starting chips/cards which basically replace Estates in your starting deck (iirc decks start with 3 character chips, 6 copper equivalents, and 1 Crash action). Some characters lean more toward defense, others economy, and some offense, and plenty sorta float in between the extremes. You can play through the tutorial on Sirlin's site for free if you want to learn more. Lichtenstein posted:I really like Vendetta in Sirlin games, but have little idea on how to do well with him in Puzzle Strike. Other than feeling he needs some juicy red chips in the bank to make him work, he always seem to underperform for me. I mean, all his chips look super cool, but in practice he just kinda fucks around. Guides for every character Guide for Ven specifically (I haven't read it) Insanely indepth guide to the entire game, and a Much more general guide, and also a Guide to the "Triangle" thing that explains the Defense > Rushdown > Economy > Defense situation. This one here also has some good general advice for playing to your character's strength or how best to counterplay. That last bit may also explain a lot of why some characters have lower win percentages than others, where popular characters have strong matchups which drives the lesser played winrate down since they more often get put in bad matchups. Countblanc fucked around with this message at 10:42 on Dec 22, 2015 |
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Dec 22, 2015 10:29
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Has anyone had a chance to play Tail Feathers? It's today's deal on CSI, and I liked what I saw (art/presentation-wise) in Watch It Played's intro video.
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Dec 22, 2015 14:20
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Corin Tucker's Stalker posted:Has anyone had a chance to play Tail Feathers? It's today's deal on CSI, and I liked what I saw (art/presentation-wise) in Watch It Played's intro video. No clue, but those models need some paint. You can go crazy with bird colors 
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Dec 22, 2015 15:23
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Countblanc posted:I admit I have a lot more games of Yomi under my belt that PS, but the 2015 character rankings show that Jaina (#1), Midori (#4), and Grave (#8) are all top 10 base characters and plenty of others aren't far behind. In fact, the least-winning character is still about 42% which is certainly not ideal but is pretty good for a game with 20 characters and certainly better than completely outclassed. You might just not have enough game under your belt and are getting beat by people who know how to play better, odds are people who bought the game immediately on Steam are loyalists. Sorry, not buying it. I cycled through a handful of the base duders in a few dozen matches and too many of them have dead character cards early and remake dude is just nuts, especially on boards where he can convert his crash into a combo thing (the 6-drop that trashes into any 2). Even just looking at the base vs dlc guys you can see that they got away from making reaction-only character chips because they are too often dead. Maybe there's the odd base guy who can hold his own, but there's definitely an almost insurmountable gap for some of them.
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Dec 22, 2015 16:46
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Toshimo posted:Sorry, not buying it. I cycled through a handful of the base duders in a few dozen matches and too many of them have dead character cards early and remake dude is just nuts, especially on boards where he can convert his crash into a combo thing (the 6-drop that trashes into any 2). Even just looking at the base vs dlc guys you can see that they got away from making reaction-only character chips because they are too often dead. Maybe there's the odd base guy who can hold his own, but there's definitely an almost insurmountable gap for some of them. "Sorry, not buying it. My couple dozen plays with a handful of the base guys tell me a lot more than those tens of thousands of matches with all the characters."
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Dec 22, 2015 17:27
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