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Tekopo posted:Made various changes to the OP as per suggestions. Also yeah, some of the other Vlaada games are more crunchy so I didn't include them. I'm disappointed you couldn't spring for the 4e Essentials version of the thread title.  The new thread OP gave me an excuse to read through the oldest board game megathread. Ah, 2008, so full of people espousing Cosmic Encounters and Pandemic, wondering if Dominion is any good. 
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Dec 13, 2014 16:36
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Lichtenstein posted:I think Claustrophobia made some clever use of dice, too. Claustrophobia is in my pile of "games I like but never play and should probably get rid of but they're just a little too good".
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Dec 13, 2014 17:19
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Need a gift recommendation for a coworker: ideas for games he can play with his 6 and 10 year old sons. He already has Ticket to Ride and Small World, but complains that TtR is too slow. They started playing a variant where first to complete three tickets wins. I was thinking maybe Forbidden Desert, but maybe there's too much QBing (he's complained about that before). He mentioned that they play Monopoly Jr. together, and this cannot stand. (The boys at least made up some rules for attacking properties you land on to spice things up, so on some level they understand it sucks.)
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Dec 16, 2014 16:45
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Paper Kaiju posted:So, the player who draws the shortest routes at the beginning of the game automatically wins? I think he said something about whoever completes tickets worth the most points is the second winner? Maybe the sons are the rule-creators.
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Dec 16, 2014 17:02
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Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I forgot to mention the dad is already getting KoT (not KoNY  ) for Christmas. I think Tsuro is exactly the game I was looking for.I may recommend Power Grid or Carcassonne to him at a later date, if he asks. Or one if the kids games, if he's birthday shopping.
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Dec 16, 2014 18:31
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Broken Loose posted:Yes. The new expansions are literally Avalon + more. I'm pretty sure The Resistance is an elaborate troll. By the way, played Avalon again last night, and Jesus is it way too confusing for non-gamers. I finally taught everyone in the group that Minions of Mordred was the red team, and ended up with a semi-compromised game where the Assassin thought she should put her thumb up for Percival, so Percival was confused by seeing three thumbs but was afraid to ask questions and blow the game. But even so, it's still the favorite game of about 85% of my friends (and "I refuse to play" to the other 15% including my wife). Sgt. Anime Pederast posted:In an amusing sidenote to my boyfriend wanting to get cosmic encounter for christmas. Today a big box came and in it was the 1980 version of cosmic encounter. I'm not sure if I should be amused or horrified. Apparently the latest edition is sold out and someone ripped him off! 1980 version comes with more Original Gamer cred. 
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Dec 18, 2014 16:59
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Texibus posted:I think you're teaching the game poorly. Try just saying the red guys are double agents and don't include any special characters, once they get the basics mechanics like voting down then throw in Merlin and the Assassin. Everyone involved has played the game at least a half-dozen times, most a few dozen times, hence the roles. I probably should've stuck with just Merlin for a couple games to refresh people's memories, though; it was partway in that I realized we hadn't played in months and some didn't remember the rules as well as I do. Mojo Jojo posted:It honestly doesn't matter what the red team are called. I think you're overcomplicating things. Start without a game without any special roles and move from there. The red = Minions of Mordred thing came up because I was using the app, which doesn't say color, and I hadn't thought to stress that Minions of Mordred were the red guys. That was my fault. PerniciousKnid fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Dec 18, 2014 |
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Dec 18, 2014 17:44
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bobvonunheil posted:Man this is just like the time I asked why nobody was talking about Battlecon See you in a few months when you discover Battlestar Galactica.
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Dec 18, 2014 21:54
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I think it's important to distinguish between a newbie game and a casual game. Light games to play occasionally with non-gamers should have a smaller gap in results between skilled and unskilled players, otherwise the guy who owns the game just wins every time. But that doesn't mean War is a gateway game for aspiring Chess players, who would appreciate a game of skill and working to improve their ability.
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Dec 20, 2014 19:30
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Gimnbo posted:I think it's kind of sad that he has to attach "but I think Vlaada is a cool designer!" to all of his posts. He knew he would get jumped on for not liking a Vlaada game. Vlaada is a lovely designer who makes lovely games about poo poo and his name is too hard.
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Dec 21, 2014 21:41
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ConfusedUs posted:Oh, I thought your stuff still coasted along and you got something. You might have been confused with the rule for no engine power, where Galaxy Trucker allows you to coast along with no engines until you hit an Open Space.
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Dec 22, 2014 16:41
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I can't remember the last time I played Catan where there wasn't one player who had no chance the whole time. Their whole game was effectively a string of "lose your turns" with crappy dice luck as they were missing some key resource to make any meaningful headway. The problem is that someone always has bad dice luck. You can somewhat mitigate with good placement, but it's difficult for all four players to guarantee redundant access to both wood and brick, or to ore/wheat; if you can't do that, you're depending on luck to expand. Trading is usually worthless for the person in last place, because they usually don't have anything useful to trade.
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Dec 23, 2014 23:28
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CNN Sports Ticker posted:This weekend I'm hopefully getting to play Twilight Struggle, Guns of Gettysburg, Le Havre and Keyflower I convinced my friend who owns Gettysburg on DVD and read the books to ask for Guns of Gettysburg, so I should get to play it sometime after Christmas I hope. I more excited about that than anything I'm getting myself.
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Dec 24, 2014 15:23
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Illegal Username posted:What's the best co-op game for two players? I'm a wargame turbosperg but i'd like a co-op boardgame i can play with my wife and maybe one or two friends occasionally. I own Arkham (which she likes but it it Arkham and thus takes a loving eternity) and Space Alert (Which is fun but not really the best for 2 players) I think given those criteria, you'll have to think about if you want a quarterbacking game like Lord of the Rings or Pandemic. Those are games that are good if players are equally invested, but if one is an expert they turn into boss-people-around sessions. If you think that will be the case, you may be better off with a time-limit or hidden-info co-op like Hanabi or Escape Curse of the Temple.
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Dec 25, 2014 17:54
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Illegal Username posted:Thanks for the suggestions. We've actually played Pandemic at a friend's place. The premise was fun but i don't know about the replayability? Both of us and most of us are pretty chill so quarterbacking won't be a problem (probably) It's not really about being chill, it's about solving a puzzle together when one person already knows the answer. You either solo the game while evenings watches, or you bite your tongue as your partners screw everything up. But if you're all experienced then it won't necessarily be a problem.
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Dec 25, 2014 18:43
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sector_corrector posted:Any opinions based on that? Have you played The Resistance? It's a social deduction game, weightier than a "casual" party game but still accessible, and flexible with respect to group size. Aside from that, my favorite worker placement is Archipelago, but that's probably a few hours outside your wheelhouse.  Within the 45min range, I think Dominion is still the king.
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Dec 25, 2014 18:52
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Elysium posted:I'm really not sure how I feel about this game. It's been fun, but you're like just about to get going and you look at the crowns and you're like "poo poo, this game is over in 1 turn." Also, I'm disappointed I didn't wake up to six pages of Temporum impressions.
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Dec 26, 2014 16:24
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Broken Loose posted:IB&C has done the unthinkable and posted the rules for the Hidden Agenda Assassin module roles online because they failed to include them in the actual loving rulebook. Now people are gonna start pirating the game! “Body Guard, open your eyes so you know the Commander & False Commander” Is it just me, or do these names sound way stupider than the Arthurian ones?
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Dec 27, 2014 17:13
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Countblanc posted:Oh sorry for being sassy I figured that was common knowledge. Yeah in the manual for Intrigue (and possibly the Core Set replacement expansion) it literally says "now you can play 5-8 players, or play two games at once!" or something like that. It's hilarious. I think the Dominion max is 6 players in a single game; 8 would be two 4-player games.
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Jan 1, 2015 00:03
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fozzy fosbourne posted:3) Are Netrunner and Doomtown interesting enough to purchase as board games and play with new people without investing in a bunch of cards? I liked cube drafting to play Magic: The Board Game, basically Depending on what you mean by "play with new people", the bluffing and mind-game aspects of Netrunner might be a bit lost on you. Everyone involved will need to invest a little bit, in time and thought, in order to make the most of it. Otherwise, it's just Cyberpunk Monty Hall.
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Jan 1, 2015 22:00
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Blamestorm posted:Kemet would not be a good game with two people, regardless of its other merits or weaknesses. I'm convinced the only good two player board games are two player board games. Everything else is merely adequate at best. PerniciousKnid fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Jan 3, 2015 |
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Jan 3, 2015 17:07
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If she liked Risk, maybe she'd be down with Twilight Struggle, the two player cold war game. Thematic, but requires at least one person to invest some time reading and understanding the rules.
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Jan 4, 2015 14:44
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fozzy fosbourne posted:Edit: ^^^ an advantage of a card driven game like TS is that a significant portion of the complexity is metered out via the cards. Instead of choking down a bunch of rules up front, you get a nice drip feed. FWIW, I'm pretty sure I had an easier time teaching Twilight Struggle than most Vlaada games, for example (not hating; they are traditionally a lot of rules to choke down up front). I think the key to keep in mind learning Twilight Struggle is that, initially, your games will all turn on getting screwed by events out of the blue that lose you the game instantly, or just ignore your influence in a country and give it to the other player for free. It takes a few games to get a sense of what all the cards can do.
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Jan 5, 2015 03:51
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Lottery of Babylon posted:Pegasus expansion replaces the 2D cardboard basestars with 3D plastic basestars, which look much cooler. Grab the errata (I forgot what it was) for one of the cards, which was included in Pegasus but you can just read online. Aside from that the expansions are all mixed bags. Just play the base game until you're sick of it, then consider expansions.
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Jan 7, 2015 18:45
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Somberbrero posted:Especially with newer players, I would highly recommend Diplomacy over Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones is almost exactly Diplomacy with a lot more moving parts, some balance issues, and a Fantasy Flight Games manual. Diplomacy is a pretty simple game that anyone should be able to pick up and the lack of mechanical cruft makes it even more cutthroat.
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Jan 8, 2015 18:22
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Azran posted:I was tempted to get Ticket to Ride, but I'm concerned that the train + USA theme will bore people to tears. You could get TtR: Europe, or another setting.
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Jan 8, 2015 18:23
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thespaceinvader posted:Starting with base set is OK, but base set is very limited when it comes to interesting cards. I agree with this. Even if new players don't realize that Spy and Thief are crap, they do realize that they're boring and make the game take longer. I think Intrigue is harder to learn, but it's not that much harder. In return, you get much more interesting interactions.
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Jan 9, 2015 20:24
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jivjov posted:Quick Dominion question: if I play Moat as a reaction, I still get the +2 cards, right? You would reveal the card as a reaction and retain it, and on your turn it would still be in your hand to be played as an action if desired.
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Jan 10, 2015 17:57
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SuccinctAndPunchy posted:Anyway, this is the part where I ask what expansions come recommended for Dominion because drat there's a lot of them and they all look pretty cool. Paging Broken Loose to the thread. We've been playing exclusively with the base set up to this point. I believe the standard advice is to buy expansions in publication order, skipping Alchemy. I would add that if you read about the expansions and any of them has a mechanical theme that appeals to you, go ahead and grab it (Seaside has more funky action combos, Prosperity has interesting treasure stuff and cards with 9+ cost, etc.). Dark Ages is complicated and should be saved for later (and I understand Guilds may be the same?). Dominion: Intrigue is the only stand-alone expansion, so I suggest skipping it if you think you can goad a friend into buying it later, then you don't have to.
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Jan 12, 2015 00:14
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Azran posted:What's the deal with Cosmic Encounter? I see it gets some bad rep here but the SU&SD guys love it. Are you trying to start a fight or something?  Cosmic Encounter is a great game with an innovative and influential design 20 years ahead of its time. Unfortunately, it's 40 years old. It's a game with a lot of randomness, and the fun of the game is mitigating that randomness with bluffing, politics and some skill. The variable player powers give it a "solve this game's puzzle" aspect, a bit like Dominion, and allow each player to feel unique as they figure out how to leverage their gimmick within the game. It allows for diplomacy and politics, but uses randomly-determined match-ups to somewhat avoid making things too personal. The playtime can vary a bit, generally 45-90 minutes in my experience (roughly the same as Dominion with a non-expert group), although I think we had a two hour game once. It's primary sins are that the play time is a bit variable, and that the end of the game can stall if the leaders don't have enough juice saved to push past the other players for the win. (Shared wins can mitigate this, and some races do a better job than others of pushing toward a conclusion.) It's not the best game on the market, and it shows its age, but it's also not nearly as bad as the TG crew would have you believe. I have no idea why people here poo poo all over it so much; maybe it isn't serious/hardcore enough for them. I think it still has a place in non-hobbyist groups where simple rules and randomness are more valuable than strategic depth.
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Jan 13, 2015 04:01
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Clockwork Gadget posted:Game Nite is okay if you're there with a group big enough to make the dudes there care, but basically if you ain't buying $50 worth of Magics or Heroclixs for a tournament then gently caress you. No, the saddest thing was when they were in the mall, and their gaming tables were outside the store in the common space. Or at least, I got sad when I walked by the nerds on display during DnD Encounters night.
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Jan 15, 2015 14:54
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I should try one of these "meetups" sometime; I saw one at the grocery store cafe and they definitely looked more social than the usual GameNite crew.
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Jan 15, 2015 19:27
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Lorini posted:Just so people know, the organizer pays a fee to meetup.com to organize the meetup, so they tend to be more social in order to make it worthwhile. There's no point in paying a bunch of money to hang out with yourself Everyone who owns a copy of Hornet Leader just got a little sad. silvergoose posted:A wsj link some might enjoy. Packers of Catan posted:The game’s object is to build settlements on the board using “resource” cards. Think of it as a fantasy version of Monopoly. Goddammit WSJ, you rag.  Edit: quote:The rules of the game can be complex—making it all the funnier that the Packers have embraced it. 
PerniciousKnid fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jan 16, 2015 |
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Jan 16, 2015 04:20
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Chomp8645 posted:Wow that WSJ article about the Packers and Catan has some hidden gems. Some parts of this article definitely sound like they were written fifteen years ago. I don't know if that is because it's Green Bay, or the Wall Street Journal.
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Jan 16, 2015 14:21
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Tekopo posted:I love Dungeon Petz but I sometimes worry about the theme because sometimes it is explicitly the best option to make your pets suffer in order to gain more points. I think this is the reason Lorini (iirc) doesn't like it and why my SO also kind of dislikes it. Hm, maybe I should pick it up; my wife hates animals.
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Jan 16, 2015 20:51
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xopods posted:The natural evolution of the deck-builder is for someone to build a deck-destroyer. Now that I've said that, I just had a great idea for how that would work... it's been a while since I've worked on a new design, gonna have to give this one some thought. No no no, it's obviously Dominion: Legacy. All the expansions will be full of cards that you can't add to the supply until somebody buys three provinces in a turn or something.
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Jan 17, 2015 17:13
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Can someone explain why Eminent Domain is good? As far as I can tell, it looks like simplified Dominion plus simplified Race for the Galaxy, resulting in a game that looks really simple. But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.
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Jan 17, 2015 18:35
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esquilax posted:Oh yes I forgot that those 5 major differences that make the game play completely differently weren't meaningful differences. I think "improvements" would've been a better term, there.
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Jan 17, 2015 18:42
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Jedit posted:Would you mind defining these improvements? Because I played 50-odd digital games of Star Realms and found it was Ascension with one of the routes to victory taken away and an obvious dominant strategy (buy Outposts). What I meant was, it would be better to say the changes made in Star Realms are not "improvements", rather than saying they aren't "meaningful differences" (because changes that make the game suck are still "meaningful").
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Jan 17, 2015 19:13
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papasyhotcakes posted:Sorry to post this again, but my previous post seems to have been lost in the discussion of the difference between good/bad nerdy (there isn't). I don't know the answer, except that there are some expansions that are cards-only (no counters and such) and should be avoided as first purchases, although they might not exist anymore anyway.
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Jan 17, 2015 20:51
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