Thanks for the replies. It looks neat but maybe too steep of a price for a game where the goal is to move cubes around.
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
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Isn't moving cubes around the goal of the vast majority of board games? :p
That's kind of my point. I can get a solid Euro game for half the price of Vindication.
If you don't have Azul I highly recommend that for easy to learn, quick to play, exciting the whole way through. In the realm of all time classics that have all those things if you don't own carcassone you need to pick that uo.
If you want a bit more back and forth for two players star/hero realms are amazing and you can even try the app for free to get a taste of the game. You can also get Hive/Hive Pocket which is chess with no board and hexagon bug pieces. The pieces themselves as you play them must stay connected and form the hive that they'll move around to try and capture the queen bee.
Since you mentioned some heavier stuff like mansions of madness, you might want to look into either summoner wars or battlelore 2.0. Both are pretty engaging strategy/war games, summoner wars uses a deck of cards as your monsters, spells, and mana; battlelore is minis on a map with a really cool set up mechanic where you can try to outthink your opponents set up.
Finally you can never go wrong with coops like Pandemic or the Legendary games (marvel, alien, predator, etc). Since you mentioned liking the cthulu stuff there is a Pandemic: Cthulu version where instead of curing diseases you're fighting cultist to seal gates.
This guy gets it, lol. I have thoroughly enjoyed Fresco when I played it, but in a lot of ways it's a classic JASE (Just Another Soulless Euro) from an era that overbounded with 'em.
Thanks for the recs! Looking at Azul that looks right up our alley.
I'm going to check on the Pandemic stuff as well.
Wow a copy of Horrified showed up for me at a local store! They only had one copy and a I had a gift card so was in my price range.
When you're looking at Azul, take a look at Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, too. I actually prefer it to the original Azul and like the look of it better, but it's really down to personal preference. They're very similar games so it's not worth getting both, but just being aware there are options can be helpful.
Kingdomino can be taught in a few min and plays in 15 min, while still being pretty tactical. Accessible for kids/family. Fairly cheap, too.
Cool Stuff had Wingspan staring me in the face when I walked in to pickup Underwater Cities, so now I own that :D and only $42 at that.
Very excited to check both of these games out.
Very excited to check both of these games out.
Nice! I'm gonna try to play Sunday (of course I tried to play spirit island and black Angel last week to no luck..)
Got my dice throne adventure pledge manager. Can't decide if I need to add the $60 minis or not. I don't want to regret later but boy that's like 90 percent he cost of the game
Freaking nice haul! Gettin my underwater cities tomorrow
So how's the hype on underwater cities? I keep hearing about it?
I'm currently going through the same conundrum. I have a hard time justifying it, but dice throne is my wife's favorite game.
I haven't played it, but plan to tomorrow. I really love Pulsar 2849, and since this is the same designer, and the critical consensus seems to be at least as good to better than that, I'm pumped.
The rule book looks really good, at first glance I can tell it's going to be the kind of game I should have no problems learning.
Holy crap is Wingspan gorgeous. I'm not sure I've ever seen a game quite like it. My girlfriend took a look when she got home tonight and immediately wants to play it, so that's a win I think. Stonemaier really knows how to put together a game with some presentation and production quality. Still waiting for Tapestry though, hopefully it ships before I go out of town next weekend :/
I played my copy 2 weeks ago. It's stunning. It's easy to set up and a joy to play. It's incredibly simple. Boil it down and you're just collecting resources and using those to visit parks, which then earns you points.
You lay the path out (random shuffle) and flip over a card which tells you anything different for the round (items costing less/bonuses/etc) and the card has the weather . You set the weather out on the path. Each section of path has an icon (sun, rain, mountain or tree). Plus whatever the weather is. (Example tree plus water) When you move down the path you collect the resources . The first person there gets the bonus weather resource . Everyone always gets the printed on default one.
You can only go forward down the path. So if you really need water you might skip 3 spots ahead to get the bonus water from the weather. But you can't go backwards after that. So it's a risk reward
The parks you visit each cost X amount. The more points they are worth the more they cost (1 park might cost a tree and 2 water when another may be 3 treee 2 water a mountain and 2 sun).
Honestly it's an instant but for me . It's gorgeous and anyone can play. Great to have.
Hi, looking for some advice from the many experts in here :)
I want to pick up one of the many many "dungeon crawler" type games out there, mainly as a way to get some family time together around a table rather than phones, video games and tablets!
It will probably by myself and my 11 year old lad playing together mainly, so a game we can play without a Dungeon Master is preferable.
My shortlist so far is one of the D & D boardgames (Wrath Of Arshardalon or Dungeon of The Mad Mage looking the most interesting), Descent 2.0, Massive Darkness, or Swords & Sorcery...the last two being the "outsiders", though the aesthetics of those two look great.
I'm a character artist by trade so the shallow part of me is also easily swayed by the sets with a great set of minis and artwork, not that it matters if the game itself is boring.
Ideally we want something that's not to heavy on the rules, so able hold the attention span of a Fortnite loving lad and something we can play over an hour or two.
I played a bit of pen and paper D&D many, many years ago as well as the old Heroquest games...the one with the Skavens. I also owned more than a handful of Citadel miniatures at some point.
Many thanks for any suggestions, I realise I could search this thread but it's a pretty long one.
I want to pick up one of the many many "dungeon crawler" type games out there, mainly as a way to get some family time together around a table rather than phones, video games and tablets!
It will probably by myself and my 11 year old lad playing together mainly, so a game we can play without a Dungeon Master is preferable.
My shortlist so far is one of the D & D boardgames (Wrath Of Arshardalon or Dungeon of The Mad Mage looking the most interesting), Descent 2.0, Massive Darkness, or Swords & Sorcery...the last two being the "outsiders", though the aesthetics of those two look great.
I'm a character artist by trade so the shallow part of me is also easily swayed by the sets with a great set of minis and artwork, not that it matters if the game itself is boring.
Ideally we want something that's not to heavy on the rules, so able hold the attention span of a Fortnite loving lad and something we can play over an hour or two.
I played a bit of pen and paper D&D many, many years ago as well as the old Heroquest games...the one with the Skavens. I also owned more than a handful of Citadel miniatures at some point.
Many thanks for any suggestions, I realise I could search this thread but it's a pretty long one.
You might also want to look at descent or journeys in middle earth, I know you want to get away from tech but the apps for them act as a dungeon master of sorts for you.
Got a copy of Wingspan on the way now, glad I didn't opt for an overpriced copy a while back. Tapestry looks awesome.
Also picked up three Arkham Horror LCG packs as I finally got the motivation/time to organise the cards into a basic little craft box which will make set up a ton easier:
I second looking at Journeys in Middle Earth. Lots of mini's in the game and dynamically generated maps through the app. I am on mission 5 solo now and really enjoying the progression. Mission lengths fit exactly within what you want and the game isn't too hard without being a pushover. As a bonus most failure states just let you carry on with an altered story anyway so the time never feels like a complete write off. Happy to answer any questions about it.
Also picked up three Arkham Horror LCG packs as I finally got the motivation/time to organise the cards into a basic little craft box which will make set up a ton easier:
I second looking at Journeys in Middle Earth. Lots of mini's in the game and dynamically generated maps through the app. I am on mission 5 solo now and really enjoying the progression. Mission lengths fit exactly within what you want and the game isn't too hard without being a pushover. As a bonus most failure states just let you carry on with an altered story anyway so the time never feels like a complete write off. Happy to answer any questions about it.
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How about Gloomhaven? It's got a ridiculous High score on bgg for a reason.
Oh man, Dungeon Crawlers are my JAM
Mice and Mystics might be up your alley. It's sort of rules light and has a pretty kid friendly theme. You're a group of people, turned into mice, battling an evil sorceress and her cronies (who have been turned into rats). There's all kinds of other baddies like spiders and crows and bugs. It's a light campaign, so you keep a little bit of stuff from mission to mission, and there are a couple overarching stories. The minis are only so-so though, I admit. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
You've mentioned Descent 2.0, which is pretty solid co-op with support from the app. There's also a ton of expansions, though I think FFG said they're basically "done" with Descent 2.0 and won't be releasing any more stuff. That said, the app features a handful of campaigns already, from a simple tutorial mission, to a nigh-infinite Delve, to some pretty well designed story missions. The figures are decent enough, and there is basically an absolute boat-load of content to keep you going.
If you're Star War fans, Imperial Assault is basically a Star Wars reskin of Decent 2.0. You can play a couple ways, one of which is a co-op campaign using the app that Fantasy Flight released for free. I think there are two campaigns on the app right now. No idea if they'll be doing more, and like Descent 2.0 I think they've said they're "done" with Imperial Assault. That said, there are still a bunch of big-box expansions and a ton of smaller individual model expansions. None are absolutely critical, although some of the campaigns through the app do require a particular expansion. I know one of them requires the Jabba's Palace expansion, and I think the campaign itself is actually just called "Return to Jabba's Palace". This one is pretty popular in my group, since it's basically a refined version of Descent (there are a couple rules differences between the two) and we're all giant Star Wars nerds, so this sees more play than Descent.
The D&D board games you mentioned are pretty solid. Oddly enough of all the popular dungeon crawler lines out there, those are the ones I don't own any of, though I've played a friend's copy before.
Shadows of Brimstone has a couple base sets out now and is a bit more involved than other dungeon crawlers. It's way more mission oriented than something like M&M or Descent, and doesn't really have a canon over arching campaign. There are a couple fan campaigns out there though. There is a TON of stuff for this one, and Flying Frog Productions is still releasing "Other Worlds" expansions. I describe it often as "Cowboys vs Cthulhu", but it really has become a lot more than that. The minis in the first productions were okay at best, but they've come a long way in quality. If you're looking for something to play for a while, and don't mind a slightly more intricate (but by no means super heavy) rule set, this is one of my favorite dungeon crawlers. There are a few kickstarter exclusive classes though, so if you're a completionist this might be ... expensive. I mean, there's a ton of stuff so it's already expensive, but finding those kickstarter exclusive classes can be difficult. It's full co-op though, and doesn't use an app. The only "must have" expansion, imo, is the Frontier Towns expansion, which GREATLY expands on the otherwise barebones Town phase of the game.
You mentioned Advanced Hero Quest (the one with the skavens), so I'd be remiss to not bring up Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower and Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress (which is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe). They're the new iteration of the classic Warhammer Quest dungeon crawler, though they don't have quite as solid a grip on the campaign aspects, imo. Character growth is meh (or basically nonexistent in Blackstone Fortress), but the game mechanics themselves are pretty solid. The figures, naturally for Games Workshop, are pretty fantastic. I think they're fine games, but Blackstone Fortress really somehow lacks the dungeon crawling feel that Silver Tower does a better job of evoking.
Lastly I think Skull Tales: Full Sail may be worth mentioning. It came out via kickstarter not that long ago, so I haven't actually had a chance to give it a shot. It's a Pirate themed
There are a couple more options out there, but they usually require one player to play all the bad guys in a classic Hero Quest Zargon / DM role. If it's just the two of you though, that's probably something to skip. I'm pretty sure the next iteration of ID's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past will feature full co-op rules, and even though I dropped a ton of money on the game I do have to caution that the people making it are a bit on the a-hole side. When they did the first campaign (which was for a one-vs-many version of the game) they mentioned releasing full co-op rules, but then diverted it to a new kickstarter campaign. So I spent a bunch of money and the figures are fantastic and the game itself is actually pretty fun (and features a pretty unique dice sharing action system), but I'm still p-oed at IDW about it.
I left Gloomhaven out because it might be a bit much for an 11 year old, but I will say Gloomhaven is a fantastic game.
Yeah I think Gloomhaven is too much to throw at an 11-year-old, certainly one new to dungeon crawling board games. Maybe something to look at in a year or so though, if you guys are having fun with the genre.
This is probably not up your alley either because you enjoy board game aesthetics so much, but the Four Against Darkness booklet is basically a very simple set of rules for generating a random PnP dungeon crawling adventure. It would be great to play with imaginative kids but again it's just drawing boxes on graph paper. I think they released an adventure module or two for it though.
This is probably not up your alley either because you enjoy board game aesthetics so much, but the Four Against Darkness booklet is basically a very simple set of rules for generating a random PnP dungeon crawling adventure. It would be great to play with imaginative kids but again it's just drawing boxes on graph paper. I think they released an adventure module or two for it though.
Played it last night with a couple friends. A tremendous amount of fun with the many different types of civilization packed with it. Had a three player game. Got second place (lost by three points).
I don't know how readily available it is, but Mechs vs. Minions might be another one to look in to.
I checked mine last night when you posted this to no avail. But I got out of It 2 today to find mine shipped. I'm beyond excited!
I believe it took about two hours after learning the rules. Some analysis paralysis. I see this game taking more hour and a half once everyone knows the rules and icons.
So once I ripped the bandaid off, selling games I haven't played for a while (or ever) has been much easier. I've added a ton of games to my list, and since we really don't have a board game B/S/T thread like video games do in community, I'm just going to post my list here. PM me if you're interested in anything.
I should probably do something like this before my next move. My biggest issue is most of the games that may fall into this category for me are so small it's hard to justify getting rid of them.
I just wish shipping board games was more economical. Definitely some good stuff in there. I will be musing about a couple, for sure.
Haha it's a small world, I just realised I sold you a game a few months back off our local FB trade group as I recognised the list :)
Agreed. I've had good luck locally but I live in a big city with lots of geeks.
Lol! That's hilarious. Was it Heroscape, Zombicide or Sword & Sorcery?
Heroscape ;)
Currently 3d printing trays to hold sleeved cards for Snowdonia. It's downright irritating that they said it'd handle sleeved cards, they even sold sleeves during the KS, and the final box can't do it.
My "local" store finally started doing a used section and it's a godsend. You fill out a google sheet with quality. Set your price. And they put on used section. They contact you at the end of the month if it sold (so if you drop sept 1 you won't hear anything until oct even if it sold sept 2nd) then they take 20 percent and you get the rest in store credit.
I dropped off a pile end of July and last week they informed me I had $140 in credit. Easy peasy and so much easier than shipping
That's awesome and such a good use of a store's space and presence. Is there any reason this doesn't make sense?
If you think you can get a better price without without giving 20% to the store...though from a buyer's perspective it's great.
Shipping cost is unfortunately a huge depressor on used board game prices. I've been trading and selling games for years now and people just don't want to pay the current cost of shipping (it's like $15 bucks per game). It basically makes me ask for less money.
It also doesn't help that they are used to "free" shipping from meeting minimums on their favorite online game shops, or "free" shipping through Amazon Prime.
Id say the 20% fee seems well worth it for the trouble and effort saved.