Finished the main campaign of the first one just a few weeks ago. So worth the money, I'm up for more!
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
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Finished the main campaign of the first one just a few weeks ago. So worth the money, I'm up for more!
I recommend using the Gloomhaven Helper app. Makes setup a breeze. Also, AI movement is going to hinder you the most when you first start playing, but you'll get the hang of it.
Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to pass that along. Trying to get things to go somewhat smoothly is half the battle with keeping our better halves interested so I'll take any help we can get.
I'm not a fan of it myself but it is popular.
Gloomhaven Dungeon Master is another good one and I use that one myself.
Yeah, I was iffy on buying it. My friend decided to take the plunge himself though so at least I don't have the pressure of feeling like I wasted a bunch of money if I don't like it. The concept is interesting, just not sure how the complexity will go.
Metal Gear Solid Board Game is now on Backerkit after amazon cancellation and a short delay.
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https://metalgear.backerkit.com/hos...l_1&utm_medium=launch_email&utm_source=launch
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clockworkinyou said:I've had a sealed copy of Age of Thieves since earlier this year, just haven't gotten around to it so I'd like to send it to a good home!
Since I'll cover shipping, please keep it to the 48 contiguous US.
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A year ago there were a ton of copies of that game at Half Price Books.
Really enjoying Tapestry. Not a deep game, but there's a good variety of in there in the combo of Civs and Tapestry cards you end up with. I do wish the rule book was a bit better laid out. Had to spend too much time last night arguing the Advancement Tracks don't automatically give you their core benefits (Explore, Conquer, Invent, Research) automatically to where I just put the game away and told the group to reconvene next week.
I will admit that out of the 4 Stonemeiar Games I own, it's probably the roughest in balance and organization.
I will admit that out of the 4 Stonemeiar Games I own, it's probably the roughest in balance and organization.
Just out of curiosity, did you play with the re-balanced Civs or the original ones from the box?
Necromancers in Frosthaven!
An album of pictures from PAX Unplugged
An album of pictures from PAX Unplugged
Rebalanced, though that didn't effect most of the players in both games I've played. In fact, I believe mine was the only one in that first, cutoff session that was heavily affected (iirc Heralds that start @ -15 VP). Can't speak on how that fix panned out since we halted the game after the first few advancement turns, but the second game (Architect vs Merrymakers) seemed okay.
And there's my reminder to begin focusing on starting up Gloomhaven.
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Ice Cool would be a good jump in with the dexterity element to keep them engaged more. Something more strategy based, I'd recommend Santorini.
Living in Spain but recently joined a boardgame club and man it feels good to be playing boardgames again. Been over two years since I really didn't have the opportunity.
Gaia Project, star wars imperial assault and got hooked on Marvel Legendary(ugh) lol
They play alot of terraforming mars too but haven't had the chance to play that one yet
Gaia Project, star wars imperial assault and got hooked on Marvel Legendary(ugh) lol
They play alot of terraforming mars too but haven't had the chance to play that one yet
in addition to what has already been said, I've always been a fan of playing Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert with younger players. Easy to grasp, co-op, fun, adjustable challenge.
Codenames, Just One if they're good at knowing different words. Batman Love Letter for something small and quick. Maybe King of Tokyo just because big monsters?
I'll always recommend Quest for El Dorado. Very fun and quick but enough depth to not bore you. Though there is a new edition coming out next year.
My absolute go-to for my nieces - which they started enjoying a little younger than that but they're still finding it fun now - is Incan Gold/Diamant; I've recommended it to a ton of people and many have found it a success. The individual decisons are nice and simple, but the tension is great.
Also, others have said it, but I'd like to underline Codenames; I've started a boardgame lunchtime session at work, and that's already convinced at least one of the attendees to buy a copy of Codenames (and another to buy a copy of Incan Gold) to play with their family.
And a question of my own, on the subject of games for kids: What do people think is the best kid-friendly simplified adaptation of an existing game? I gifted my nieces Ticket To Ride: First Journey last year, but I haven't heard them speak about it so I don't know if it made an impact.
(One issue is that I think they'd be better being taught the games from someone who knows the rules already rather than being guided into it by their parents, who'd also be encountering it for the first time)
(One issue is that I think they'd be better being taught the games from someone who knows the rules already rather than being guided into it by their parents, who'd also be encountering it for the first time)
So I'm looking at Gloomhaven, watched a couple of short vids on it and have some questions that can maybe be answered quicker here. First - would people here recommend it as something to play with my 13yr old son? He likes crpg stuff and is a bright kid so thinking he might like something he can dig into with me. Second, the most common complaint seem to be the complexity of set-up - is there any reason we couldn't just keep it set-up? If so, how big is the required playing surface (we have a 41" (105cm) square coffee table)? Last, what accessories are most recommended? I see the app recommendations here and some possible storage improvements (for when we do store it) but not sure which ones are good.
My son liked My Little Scythe and. Honestly I think I like it better than regular Scythe in some ways.
Gloomhaven is a great game - and a massive one. So large, in fact, that the initial investment is greater than the box price alone. To really get the most out of that game I would recommend two things: getting card sleeves for it - Amazon has a box of the right cuts - and, I would consider getting the Broken Token organizer. It's pricy, but completely changes the way to access the components and makes for a much smoother experience. It's not just about breaking down and setting up times - the organizer will present the in game shop with items based on ascending level, sort out environment pieces and traps, and have trays to store each players character.
As for the table size, you'll be alright with two people.
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have you already opened and organized it? if not, it should be a reminder to organize it because that initial organization is going to take a while.
you can either get the broken token trays or do other methods, but you are going to want to organize it all and get it ready for play before you actually try to play.
He should be absolutely fine, as long as you get a good grasp of the rules and do the bookkeeping. Using an app certainly helps a lot with setup, as you don't have to mess around with the individual sets of cards and stats for every single enemy. Using the cards does make the mechanics of the enemies more transparent, though, so there is some merit to using them if playing with a younger player. It will absolutely give him a better understanding of the design. The table you describe will be fine for setting up the individual missions, though you'll need too keep stuff like the map, city and road events, shop items and the like readily available while not in the actual battles.
As for the poster who claimed you should sleeve the cards, I don't really agree. It's a huge extra investment for an already expensive game that does not really need the cards to remain in pristine condition to be enjoyable. It's not a collectors item, but a fun game that you will share together during an extended period of time. I don't see the reason to be too OCD with the state of the components. Let the game age alongside your enjoyment. The organiser is something I've never tried. I keep all components organised in (a huge quantity of) resealable plastic bags, and it works fine. I'm sure the organiser would help even more if money is not an objection, but it's not a necessity. Some way to organise the components is absolutely necessary, though.
Above all, you'll likely have a great time together. I only wish my dad would have invested the time and energy for a shared game like Gloomhaven when I was a kid. It's a great way to bond over a shared activity.
We play TTR with the kids. We did start them on the First Journey games then graduated them to regular.
Some thoughts:
- I agree with apocat that the cards don't need to be sleeved, that is unless you want it to remain pristine
- if you're uncomfortable permanently putting stickers on cards/map board, or may want to resell in the future, there's a vinyl sticker set that can be purchased
- likewise, if you don't want to mark up the campaign book, print off a sheet with a table to fill in (columns such as completed, mission #, mission name, chest acquired). We used this from the start and after a while we gave up on tracking it on the map and just used the sheet
- we left our game set up the entire time so I don't think an organizer is critical. That being said, it does take up a bunch of space, so maybe a cheap Plano box to organize some chits and map tokens could help keep the clutter down. You can sort and bag everything when you're done
- split up responsibilities, such as your son managing enemy cards and damage, you doing enemy movement, etc. If it gets to be too much, consider the app, but we liked the physicality of it all and never used the app.
Awesome suggestions - Thanks!
I will check out the organizer although pictures of it look intimidating lol.
Thanks for the thoughts on the card protectors - I'm not very ocd by nature and sometimes appreciate some wear-and-tear. From what you describe it also sounds like we might enjoy it more at least initially without an app.
Yup. I don't recommend sleeving but if you do, just get sleeves for your deck/class and nothing else.
DEFINITELY use this
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Y.A.S.S (Yet Another Storage Solution) | Gloomhaven
A few people have messaged me asking for pictures showing how I've organized Gloomhaven. I think it's a great system: everything fits in the box, the important things are labelled and well separated, set up and tear down are quick, and implementing it doesn't consume a huge
How big of an area do you find you need to keep your game set up? And do the vinyl stickers make for a more easily replayable game? I'm not exactly sure how the stickers work. Thanks!
There were three of us and we had a 4'x6' table - everything was laid out on it, with monsters, cards and scenario components (chests, rocks, pillars, etc) in individual piles, the map (which doesn't need to be out during a scenario), and then room for the scenario, our player areas and the monster area. So it can certainly be accomplished on your table, though non-critical stuff can be stored under the table until you need it. I kept the main box with characters we hadn't unlocked yet off the table. In fact, here's what it looked like:
Each of those black table sections are 2'x4'.
I also had an accordion folder separating the room tiles by letter to make finding it a bit easier. Totally not necessary though, since for most of our campaign, I just kept the map tiles in the lid.
Gloomhaven's considered a legacy game, meaning that you'll use stickers to permanently alter the components of the game. In other legacy games, one might rip up a card or draw on a board, but Gloomhaven is strictly placing stickers (to improve your character cards) and placing/writing on stickers (keeping track of your missions on the map board). Also, there are areas to write in your campaign booklet to keep track of everything. If you want to replay the campaign or have one-off scenarios when you've finished the campaign, you'll be using those upgraded cards.
The vinyl stickers can just be easily removed from the cards and map without damaging components, so this might only be important if you're looking to reset the game back to zero to replay it in the future or if you're wanting to sell it.
Yeah, that was the first thing I did before bringing it to the table last year. Iirc I used the YASS bgg post that was linked above, and can vouch that it's a good storage solution for those who need a quick fix until they can get a BT one.
That's a great visual - looks like our 4'x4' will work for two of us. I just know we will play way more if we aren't always putting it away and setting it up again.
I agree organizer will help a lot and if you have extra cash Broken Token is great if you don't want that huge investment there is a guide on BGG for cheap Plano box storage solution. I don't agree that you need to sleeve cards. Player cards are not around long enough since you will be retiring and moving to different character (unless you just want to keep playing the same character class but that is not fun). May be you might want to sleeve the combat decks but my suggestion is just to use the app. It will make your life much easier. I don't like using app to roll dices or pull chits or tokens and was against using app to draw the cards for a long time but after I used it once we never went back to the deck. Even then, unless you are super messy and rough with your cards I don't think it's necessary at all.
The game can take up huge space but you can get rid of the over world map and that should help keep play area smaller and if you go with apps that will go a long way. Unless you are playing multiple campaign or planning to sell it, I don't find vinyl stickers to be necessary. My daughter and I finished the game last summer and we stickers everything including the map and now it's a keepsake. Trust me by the time you get close to the end you probably not going to want to replay it. We got the expansion but my daughter and I find it to be too cumbersome with the hidden set up it was taking so long to set up and play so after couple of scenarios we never went back to it.
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Haha, yeah. That's kind of the feeling I have right now. We didn't end up getting the expansion and I've heard mixed things about it too, so I'm no rush to give it a play. Even the announcement of Frosthaven didn't excite me - I think I just got burnt out on the formula after 80 or so scenarios since we did every side mission we could. Still, it was a blast while it lasted. If I recall correctly, we only failed and replayed scenarios two or three times, and won first try on everything else.
Just finished my first play through of Marvel Champions, and I'm really liking it. That's two for two on co-op LCGs from FFG, and I've still yet to try LOTR. Just played the Rhino/Spidey tutorial, losing the first attempt due to getting caught out by a big scheme at the wrong time, and won the second
Was a little confused at first with the streamlined resource system being built into the cards, I got all the way through setup and then realised I'd actually need to watch a video to get any further with play! Really surprised with how quickly you burn through your deck in this one, too, suspect that's going to be a significant factor in some high-end strategies
Now time for the fun of digging out the FAQ and finding out everything I played wrong! Still not entirely comfortable with getting Mockingbird to stun the villain through a Guard.
Edit: Oh, no official FAQ yet?
Was a little confused at first with the streamlined resource system being built into the cards, I got all the way through setup and then realised I'd actually need to watch a video to get any further with play! Really surprised with how quickly you burn through your deck in this one, too, suspect that's going to be a significant factor in some high-end strategies
Now time for the fun of digging out the FAQ and finding out everything I played wrong! Still not entirely comfortable with getting Mockingbird to stun the villain through a Guard.
Edit: Oh, no official FAQ yet?
Upload to imgur then link it. Played some today. Had a new player so did one of the scenarios near the very beginning.
