Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Elysium posted:

So I'm picking up Coup, Through the Ages, and Temporum and I need one more game to get free shipping. Here are all the games I own: http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/ElysiumSA

Mainly looking for 3+ player games, nothing super long or heavy, any recommendations?

p.s. the last recommendation I got here was for Libertalia which has been a huge hit, so thanks for that.

Ra is a great auction game that isn't too long or heavy but is still plenty strategic. It's great with 3 but good with other numbers too.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2014 07:38

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# ¿ May 6, 2024 00:23

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Tekopo posted:

Guess what Vlaada -related kickstarter stuff I just got in the mail?

Are you in the US?

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 18:08

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

I've seen some good opinions of Steam Park. Are there any reasons not to get it, problems with the game, etc? It's got a good price on Amazon today.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2014 18:24

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

My FLGS has Lords of Vegas used for a nice price. Anyone have any opinions on it? I've seen SU&SD's review and they make it look pretty good but they also love Cosmic Encounter so I'd like to get second opinions.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2014 20:51

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Argue posted:

I'm buying my bro a Christmas gift today; he really loves board games that involve intense resource management, like Powergrid, Ticket To Ride (I think?), and a bunch of other British-made board games. He has a whole mess of them and I can't even remember them all, but could I ask you guys to throw out a couple of gift suggestions? I'll probably need more than one suggestion in case he already has some of them, or in case I can't find them in a store (Amazon would take too long to deliver to my country). I checked out boardgamegeek but as far as I could tell it doesn't really have a way of filtering down to "resource management games".

Seconding Terra Mystica - amazing game that's all about resource management/optimization

# ¿ Dec 19, 2014 07:18

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Azran posted:

Alright, good recommendations so far. The people I play with looooove games where you compete against each other and try to be the most amazing dick. That aside, how's Ladies & Gentlemen/The Resistance? Those picked my interest.

Ladies & Gentlemen is good, and the 2v2v2... aspect is something it does that few other games do. That said, you really want an even number of players, you really want at least 6 players. It's pretty light, and I probably wouldn't play it twice in one night. Keep in mind that playing the Gentlemen side is much esaier and has way less rules than the lady side when choosing teams.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2015 16:12

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

T-Bone posted:

I started four people who had never played a worker placement game on Lords of Waterdeep and they had a great time and want to play again. The theme is nice if your group has any experience with D&D, the Lord of the Rings movies, etc -- and the rules are easily explainable/graspable after one round while maintaining depth. I'm already planning a heavier worker placement to spring on them just based on how much they enjoyed it (come to me Dominant Species, come to me -- or maybe Caylus/Agricola/Viticulture/Concordia/Le Havre/Dungeon Lords aaaaaaaaaahhh I already asked for enough recommendations). Actually I'm definitely getting Dungeon Lords so that + something else.

I wouldn't jump from Lords of Waterdeep to Dominant Species, it's very complicated, competitive, and long, with plenty of ways to get screwed badly. I mean, I love the game, but it could definitely scare off newer players. I'd suggest Terra Mystica if you want a eurogame that's heavier (although it's not worker placement). You might also consider Russian Railroads if you want something heavy. Your other ideas are fine too.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2015 21:05

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

echoMateria posted:

Any opinions on Roll for the Galaxy so far?

My group really likes it so far, but we've only played once. We play a lot of Race, both Brink and AA. Roll is very similar to Race, but it's also definitely different. It doesn't feel like you can get screwed badly by the dice, but it does feel like predicting what phase people are selecting and taking advantage of that is even more important than in Race. Need more plays though.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2015 04:36

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

fozzy fosbourne posted:

Are there any other good games that have simultaneous turns like 7 wonders? More and more I'm becoming aware of the downside to long turns or significant setup and tear down times, but I'm also a little burnt out on 7 wonders.

Race for the Galaxy is a fantastic game that has a bit of a learning curve (like 7 wonders, there's a lot of iconography to learn), but has simultaneous turns and TONS of replayability. It does 2-4, 5 with expansions. If you want to get expansions, there're a few different arcs, so research them / ask here first

# ¿ Jan 11, 2015 02:05

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

GrandpaPants posted:

I think you were the only person I've seen who said words about Theseus, so thanks for the recommendation. I really enjoyed the couple games I've played. I'd be totally cool if they added more cards for the various factions though so that they don't overlap so much (I still don't know why Greys get landmines) and had some more cool, unique cards though.

But yeah I'm totally down for Bots.

Is Theseus only good as a 2 player game? That's what the SU&SD review said. Is the 4p game as bad as people make it out to be?

# ¿ Jan 13, 2015 17:13

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Bubble-T posted:

Tim Fowers started asking for pre-orders for Paperback's second print run a year ago and I received it 2 weeks ago. That's for a 600 unit run.

I'm fine with him deciding to fully self-publish but I think it would seriously hurt board gaming if everyone operated that way. I imagine this is how wargamers feel all the time with the P500 system.

edit: That Cones of Dunshire kickstarter is a fantastic joke.

How is paperback? It looks interesting

# ¿ Jan 15, 2015 05:45

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Gutter Owl posted:

This is sort of a consistent problem with Talton and Level 99. His games range from decent to excellent--BattleCON is the second-best money I've spent on this hobby after Dominion. But christ, his rulebooks are pathetically bad/unclear, and the card templating is all over the place. (You can induce an immediate headache in most BattleCON players by asking a rules question about the "Pulse" special action.)

Next time he does a kickstarter, I really hope one of the stretch goals is "hire a loving technical writer."

AFAIK you're the most experienced with Level 99 Games so I'm gonna ask you: I'm waiting on the BattleCon War kickstarter to arrive (not owning Battlecon yet), but I'm wondering if Pixel Tactics is worth pledging for, or is it another 2 player game occupying a similar length/weight that's just not as good as Battlecon (and I'll just end up playing Battlecon instead)?

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 19:38

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Lorini posted:

Pixel Tactics is simpler than Battlecon is, much simpler really. Not as many characters either. Pixel Tactics is easier to get to the table in a way because the setup is faster and you don't sit down to play a ton of games of it, like you might with Battlecon.

Gutter Owl posted:

Well, pledging for it is a bit of a sailed ship, since the Deluxe edition Kickstarter finished last weekend. I pledged for a copy, but I might end up turning around and selling it.

PT is a whole different beast from BattleCON, and doesn't compete for the same space. If anything, it plays more like a CCG with mirrored preconstructed decks. You have a hand of cards, you play dudes from that hand and send those dudes to attack other dudes for damage. If BattleCON is a short but thinky game about predictive play from fixed, known positions, Pixel Tactics is a lighter, more random game of drawing cards and slapping chumps on a board.

Here's the big problem for me: Pixel Tactics isn't competing against BattleCON for my table time. It's competing against Tash-Kalar. In the (way zoomed-out) abstract, both games are about drawing from a fixed deck of options and trying to keep the board stable enough to put those options to optimal use. And for that kind of gameplay, Tash-Kalar is far and away the better experience. I like Talton, but he's got a looooong way to go to compete with Vlaada.

My big hope is that the upcoming cube draft format will add the extra weight I want out of the game. Otherwise, it's hitting eBay or getting donated.

GrandpaPants posted:

I like Pixel Tactics, but this is a fair assessment of what it is and where it is within my collection, although I'm not sure about Tash Kalar since TK is way more brain burnery for me in a way that definitely isn't there in PT. But in the scope of primarily 2p games, I don't really think it's good enough to replace something like Tash Kalar or Netrunner or WH40k Conquest for me, especially since right now it's super cumbersome to carry around. It's fine to bring it out once in a while, but it's never a game I'm really tempted to master its intricacies or think of when I'm not playing it. Heck, I think I even prefer Sellswords to it, especially if they ever properly write out a good rulebook for it. Sellswords also has the benefit of forcing me to use this as its soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ZXp_5M_7c.

Thanks for the information, good to know it overlaps with Tash-Kalar. I've gotta think about it some more but I appreciate the responses. If anyone else is interested, you actually can still pledge for the game through level 99's website.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 21:02

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

I really like Roll. It feels like there's more randomness than Race, but also a higher skill ceiling, as the potential reward for taking advantage of opponents phase choices is much higher than in Race. The dice pool building is really interesting as well, it forces you to plan ahead because picking up certain types of dice enables some strategies but restricts others by denying you dice with certain symbols. I wouldn't recommend Roll over Race to anyone who hasn't played Race, but if you like Race and you've played it to the point where you know all the cards, I'd definitely recommend Roll.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2015 23:34

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

I started with Catan in high school and moved onto Puerto Rico and Citadels because I had taste and discernment. Was never foolish enough to get Munchkin.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2015 19:10

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Indolent Bastard posted:

Yes it's first to 2 victories and if everybody gets 1 victory (which seems to happen quite often) the game is [number of players] +1 rounds long, which why 4 is optimal. 4 players gives the "player on the left", "player on the right" mechanics room to breathe while only obligating you to play 5 rounds at most. The game is OK, but not terribly fun at 2 players since every single attack hits your one and only foe. Part of the charm of the game is when a spell hits an unintended target because someone you weren't aiming for became strongest or weakest during the round of play.

All in all not a great game but an A- or B+ light game that can be enjoyable with a table of players that aren't wet blankets, especially if you require players to dramatically read their spells aloud in their wizard's voice.

This guy tends to invite laughter when you bellow out a spell using a voice that befits him.

I find with any game that's first to X victories, you should really just play until you're tired of the game.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 17:19

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

I played Murano last night. It's got an interesting worker placement mechanic - you move any 1 of 7 boats along a directional track and take the action you move onto, but you can't pass or share the space of another boat. you can, however, pay $$ to move other boats forward (and off the space you want). It starts off pretty light, but there's a serious amount of paranoia due to the hidden objective character cards you get - these must be assigned to gondoliers which you place on specific islands (areas of the board), and score endgame VP based on that island, only for you. Because there's a limited number of gondolier spaces for each island, figuring out what people are trying to setup on an island and how it might interfere / benefit your own cards can get pretty tricky. Overall, I enjoyed the game, and would recommend it if you like Euros. The character cards interact indirectly in really cool ways (one might give you points for having the only shop on an island, another might say you score points for each shop of a certain color), and the worker mechanic is interesting enough that it keeps money tight and rewards proper timing.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 20:17

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Gimnbo posted:

I wonder if having a Black Market King/Queen would make contraband more viable.

A lot of the promo contraband are pretty powerful and are worth sneaking through. So I guess, spend money to get the promo contraband.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 22:14

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

sector_corrector posted:

I have a nephew who really likes Magic (mostly assembling decks of super over powered rares), Dominion and Lost Legends. I think that, in addition to the strategy, he likes making super powered combos. I'm buying a birthday present, and looking for something he may enjoy for 30 to 50 dollars. A deck builder would be my first instinct, but other stuff may work. Something that sits at least 3 would also be nice.

Does he have all of dominion? If not, and he really likes Dominion, I'd say get him more Dominion. If you want something new though, I'd suggest Race For The Galaxy. It's a tableau building card game that plays great with all numbers, and has tons of cool combos, particularly as you expand it. It might actually be a little under your price range though - you could go ahead and get an expansion as well (I'd say the first arc would be appealing to him if he likes combos, so The Gathering Storm). Or, get Race and another cheap game.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2015 19:57

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Echophonic posted:

Yeah, I didn't really like Splendor either. Mostly because I got hosed, admittedly. Every single time I bought or held something, the perfect thing for the next player came up. He ended up winning and it left a really bad taste in my mouth. Never felt like there was anything I could do about it, much like center-row deckbuilders.

On the other hand, Roll for the Galaxy is even better the second time around. Everyone in my group that's tried it has really liked it and it's really growing on me. I think an expansion of just start tiles is all they really need to do. It probably wouldn't benefit from all the crap that Race added over the years.

It definitely doesn't need stuff like prestige and takeovers or the orb. Goals would be kinda cool though. Or a new type of dice?

# ¿ Feb 7, 2015 05:47

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Echophonic posted:

Goals would have to be fairly different. You don't really have the sprawling tableaus that Race ends up with. I won this most recent game with 7 or 8 tiles. Our first game's winner was at 9ish. I think it'd be hard to build towards them with how comparatively few tiles you see in a given game.

Interesting we've definitely had games end by 12 tiles. And had the winner have 12 as well. The ability to build multiple things per phase lets you do some crazy stuff.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2015 16:07

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Megasabin posted:

iOS please.

So how much interaction is there in terra Mystica? Does it get start getting cutthroat in terms of cutting people off or is it more geometry solitare? I've been debating between TM and dominant species for a long time now. Both seem like medium-heavy weight euros that are highly regarded. Our group tends to like games like Caylus, eclipse, Tigris and Euphrates, Game
Of thrones.

There's definitely interaction in Terra mystica. It's more noticeable the more players you have as the board is more crowded. You want to build near other people to get cheaper trading posts and power, but you also want room to expand. You're also competing on the cult tracks, and you can go up those a few different ways. It can actually be very cutthroat in the first few rounds as border lines get drawn and people take contested spots. Later, there can be a rush to use the power actions for resources or to affect the board.

I'd say dominant species is heavier than Terra mystica if you're wondering. Terra mystica flows really nicely when you're playing, while dominant species has rounds where you've just been wrecked and have no clue what to do

# ¿ Feb 9, 2015 15:17

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Megasabin posted:

Dominant species questions. A lot of the reviews I've read mention it is a very swingy chaotic game. In particular people mention that it is common for who is winning to change from turn to turn. Does this affect its strategic depth? Is it possible to actually plan ahead, have a strategy, etc... Does the better player usually win?

Also how many players does the game work best with? I know it goes up to 6. What's realistic though. Are 3 players or 6 players actually fun?

I've played Dominant species with 3 multiple times and always enjoyed it. It's probably bad with 2 though. I'd say the better player might not always win due to political reasons, but it's an intensely strategic game, just with the ability to have huge swings in points / board development. It's not randomness or luck, it's just the nature of the game.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2015 20:40

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Lorini posted:

I just wish I could get a group to play...love the game and NEVER get to play it.

I played last year with a couple of my euro-loving friends and they HATED it... too confrontational and they're not used to games where you can lose everything you've set up. But it really is a great game with a lot of interesting strategies, and the worker placement is top-notch too.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2015 20:53

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

How is Castles of Mad King Ludwig in either Family games or Solo games?

# ¿ Feb 12, 2015 19:51

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Pret a porters rulebook is TERRIBLE. There's a much better one you can find on boardgame geek

# ¿ Feb 17, 2015 01:26

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

ChiTownEddie posted:

Heh. My RollFTG copy came with double components for a ton of stuff...and a tiny cloth bag that basically can't fit the 55 tiles.
#nailedit

It should have 2 cloth bags, a big and a small one.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2015 17:31

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Who's gonna play the robber

# ¿ Feb 19, 2015 21:25

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Lorini, have you (or anyone else) played with the techromancer expansion for Argent yet? How good / essential is it? I think I'm gonna pick up the base game now but I'm considering getting the expansion too.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2015 16:02

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Impermanent posted:

LMAO this duderino has an entire video dedicated to whining about how combos are too hard.

edit: proceeds to describe all games in which execution is important as limited to "shallow and rote" interactions. Sorry, fighting gamers, starcraft scene, MOBA players! Your games are all shallow and rote.

To be fair all those genres should be single player

# ¿ Feb 26, 2015 18:16

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

goodness posted:

http://www.clevermovegames.com/2015/02/03/7-games-to-play-while-youre-waiting-for-exploding-kittens/

7 Games to Play While You�re Waiting for Exploding Kittens

Russian roulette

# ¿ Mar 1, 2015 23:33

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Does anyone have a recommendation for bowls / dishes to store cubes and chits in during games? I was thinking of picking up these but want to see if anyone else has any suggestions.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2015 18:14

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Poopy Palpy posted:

Last Will is not steampunk, sometimes a top hat is just a top hat.

One Dungeon Lords question: there's a circular sticker with the icon from the back of the Pets Cards which I couldn't find a place for. Where does it go?

Pretty sure that's the fix sticker for the misprinted progress board

# ¿ Mar 3, 2015 15:41

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

If you're never gonna play orb, get TGS. Goals are really good.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2015 19:15

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Bubble-T posted:

Teaching RftG is tricky but if you follow the general advice of "start from the goal and work backwards" it's manageable. Explain how you win (points from chips and cards). Then explain how you get cards in to play (dev/settle) and how you get chips (consume). Then explain how you get cards (explore and trade) and finally how you get goods (produce).

The issue with doing that is of course you've jumped all around the phase order but I find that starting with explore is kind of odd and starting with produce can be quite confusing because conceptually it's actually in the middle of the settle and consume parts of the game.

Definitely use the 'starter' hands the game comes with.

Agreed except I think you should teach produce in between settle and consume. Like you said, that's where it goes conceptually.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2015 00:54

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

FISHMANPET posted:

Doesn't Race for the Galaxy go up to 6 or 7 players with all the expansions?
*ducks*

both AA and TGS add a 5th player and technically they're compatible (different colors) but I don't think there are official rules for playing with 6.

burger time fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Mar 9, 2015

# ¿ Mar 9, 2015 21:18

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

EvilChameleon posted:

I'm thinking I might pick up the expansion so I can make sure to have it before it goes out of stock in case there is no second printing, and I'll just hold onto it until I'm comfy with the base game. Any of you folks tried that? Or the Beach Bash thing? (looks mostly like boobs instead of substance, but could be fun I guess?)

Summer break is worth getting if you're considering getting the expansion, especially for 3-5 dollars. It adds some goofy summer themed vault cards (magic sunblock), one supporter per department, a new voter, and a new scenario where you get new mages as students return from summer vacations each round. It's definitely not just T&A, but the flavor is a little sillier.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2015 04:26

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Countblanc posted:

In terms of price yes, the iOS version is a steal for the amount of content you get. If you mean is the game itself good? That's a lot harder to answer without knowing what you're looking for, but like Succient said you can just try the game for free online to see how you like the systems.

I will say that it gets significantly better if you have reliable opponents to play against, either other friends who buy the app or people from here/Sirlin's forum who play with you.

Wait it doesn't have any matchmaking?

# ¿ Mar 10, 2015 22:46

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

If love letter is too in depth for you, then man, I dunno... Bingo?

# ¿ Mar 13, 2015 04:57

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# ¿ May 6, 2024 00:23

burger time: Apr 17, 2005

Broken Loose posted:

Licensed games are basically a coin flip in board gaming. There are some legitimately good licensed games (BSG, Rampage if it counts) and a good number of legitimately bad ones (DC Deckbuilder, Resident Evil). I can't even say that homages are better than licensed games because Dungeon Lords and Panic Station are basically the opposite ends of the quality spectrum.

The thing to take away from this is to absolutely ignore the license as a statement of a game's quality. Would you back the Ghostbusters game if it didn't have the Ghostbusters license?

Rampage definitely doesn't count, they got a cease and desist for using that name. That's like the opposite of a licensed game.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2015 16:27

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Board Game Thread 4e: The Call of Catan

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