I've had a lot of luck with YouTube video, notably Geek and Sundry since they have one video explaining the rules and one of them actually playing it.
In Clank's case..
HOW TO
GAMEPLAY
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
- Start date
I've had a lot of luck with YouTube video, notably Geek and Sundry since they have one video explaining the rules and one of them actually playing it.
In Clank's case..
HOW TO
GAMEPLAY
My boyfriend got me XCOM: The Board Game for Christmas and we played it the day after. I enjoyed it quite a bit, then tried solo the day after that to get used to the mechanics some more. I traded with enemies three times in a row, so I stopped, haha.
Very fun game, though! Both plays were on easy just to get used to the mechanics and cards. Eager to see how the real thing goes later on.
Very fun game, though! Both plays were on easy just to get used to the mechanics and cards. Eager to see how the real thing goes later on.
Advice about what else to play, or about how to be better at Scythe?
The latter. Like, how not to lose the game with only 1 star.
EDIT: Well I kinda figured stuff out I guess. I stopped trying to go for 8 workers early which meant I didn't have to spend power and popularity when it came to building, and I set myself up in a way to make me win battles from incoming enemies. Only thing I need to do next time is get more popularity as I only won 70-66. Could've been more if I wasn't Tier I in that field.
Also I won as Rusviet/Mechanical if that matters.
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Sure! Here are a few general tips I could think of. Just keep in mind that I never played the Steam version of Scythe, just the board game, but I'll assume all concepts are the same between the two versions.
- It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the possibilities and all the things you could do. The best is to choose one beneficial thing you would like to achieve at a time (e.g., do a useful upgrade, deploy a specific mech, enlist a recruit, build a structure, etc.) and work toward achieving just that thing. Focus on it. Once you could do it, choose another.
- As a general rule of thumb, try to do both the top and bottom action of a row by your 3rd or 4th turn.
- Don't fight against your player mat by insisting to do things it's not meant for. The combination of actions can be drastically different from one mat to another, and because of this it's absolutely possible that a specific strategy that was successful for you in a previous game would now be completely unfeasible. You need to adapt to your mat. At the beginning of the game, take the time to study it, and plan your game accordingly.
- Related to the above point, most of the mats have one action that can become really cheap (i.e., only 1 or 2 resources) after doing a few upgrades, as well as giving a lot of money (and sometimes other useful things like popularity or power). This action should be your bread and butter. Even when you don't have an upgrade, structure, mech, or recruit to get out of this action anymore, continue doing it often as it will easily get you a lot of money. And don't forget that money equals to victory points in this game.
- Throughout the game, keep an eye on the popularity track. You don't want to end up in a lower section of this track than your opponents. Many times it would equal to a loss, even if you have more stars, territories, and resources.
- The idea of combat can be really dissuasive in this game. You can bluff your way and make the opponents believe that you're more powerful than you really are, convincing them to leave you alone, or even retreat. If you do enter combat, make sure you're not left completely powerless afterwards. Sometimes, it's better to lose a fight on purpose than to be left with just a few power points and 0 combat card. It's easy to force some opponents to retreat after they became suddenly powerless because of a recent fight.
- For your first games, don't play with the factions coming from the expansion (Albion and Togawa) as they are a bit more difficult to play than the regular factions. Make sure you have learned the basics first. I would also advise not playing with the airship expansion at first for the same reasons.
That's what I could think of right now. I'll add more if I think of anything else. Have fun!
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I wound up ordering Q.E. that day after you mentioned it, ThatMathyFolf. I looked at the shipping and ordering it seperatly would have cost the same as if I had ordered it with On Tour ($5 on its own, versus $10 total shipping together), so I didn't feel like I was blowing any money on the shipping.
I'm starting to think I want to buy the Funkoverse games. They definitely seem to be better than I initially thought they would have been. Right now the sets aren't that appealing to me though. Batman and Rick & Morty are ones I'd want to get but Golden Girls are not high on my list and Harry Potter is not desirable to me at all. If I do buy into it, then I'll probably get GG and Potter though, just for the diversity of characters, items, and maps. I know they've teased Back to the Future. Hopefully the game is doing well-enough that they can keep pumping out sets based on other IPs and it doesn't just kind of die off by the end of next year.
I opened and sorted my Istanbul Big Box and it has a super-strong mold/mildew smell to it. Don't know how I could get another moldy game after getting Seal Team Flix in the same shape earlier this year. I fired off an email to AEG but they are on holiday break until after the New Year.
I'm starting to think I want to buy the Funkoverse games. They definitely seem to be better than I initially thought they would have been. Right now the sets aren't that appealing to me though. Batman and Rick & Morty are ones I'd want to get but Golden Girls are not high on my list and Harry Potter is not desirable to me at all. If I do buy into it, then I'll probably get GG and Potter though, just for the diversity of characters, items, and maps. I know they've teased Back to the Future. Hopefully the game is doing well-enough that they can keep pumping out sets based on other IPs and it doesn't just kind of die off by the end of next year.
I opened and sorted my Istanbul Big Box and it has a super-strong mold/mildew smell to it. Don't know how I could get another moldy game after getting Seal Team Flix in the same shape earlier this year. I fired off an email to AEG but they are on holiday break until after the New Year.
I had a few more games but they got lost in a move so I am slowly rebuilding. Right now I'm going for lighter games to entice my friends to play. I'm really wanting to get Deception Murder In Hong Kong. I really can't wait to get back into playing.
I hope you like Q.E., my copy should arrive sometime this week. Hopefully you get the mold issues sorted out.
Thank you! I had the impression the Underworld (Moles & Crows) was already out.
Does anyone have a link that contains Top 10's list of board games? Cuz I just can't remember the name of the website where I came here looking for a recommendation in the first place. I think it's an article one.
I lucked into a complete Too Many Bones collection just before Christmas, with every add-on/expansion bar the upcoming Splice and Dice content. This was my holy grail of solo board games for some time; the shipping costs simply kept it out of reach. So I was extremely happy to find a complete collection locally at a reasonable price, far less than I'd have paid if I bought everything new.
I received Aeon's End Legacy w/Buried Secrets and Aeon's End: New Age w/The Wild for Christmas. Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated is also arriving by post shortly. Is there anything I should know before diving into AE: Legacy?
2019 has been a great year for board games and seen my collection expand and contract as I explore different genres and discover my tastes. I'll probably slow down on purchases for the moment, as I have enough solo content to last me some time. However, after first hand experience with TMB's incredible components, the Cloudspire reprint KS is a guaranteed purchase in early 2020. I look forward to sharing more experiences with everyone in the new year.
I received Aeon's End Legacy w/Buried Secrets and Aeon's End: New Age w/The Wild for Christmas. Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated is also arriving by post shortly. Is there anything I should know before diving into AE: Legacy?
2019 has been a great year for board games and seen my collection expand and contract as I explore different genres and discover my tastes. I'll probably slow down on purchases for the moment, as I have enough solo content to last me some time. However, after first hand experience with TMB's incredible components, the Cloudspire reprint KS is a guaranteed purchase in early 2020. I look forward to sharing more experiences with everyone in the new year.
Anyone know how much quirky circuits was today at cool stuff deal of the day? It's sold out sadly but just wondering what it was priced at
29.99 according to this BGG thread - https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2338913/dead-csi-quirky-circuits-dotd-2999
How do people get ahold of some of these new games? Checking out people's top 10s for the year and so many are not available unless you want to pay double msrp.
I saw 2 copies of Nemesis getting played at my LGS, but have never spotted one on a shelf. Wingspan for 120 on Amazon? Do you have to roll the dice on kickstarter to have a chance to get them?
I saw 2 copies of Nemesis getting played at my LGS, but have never spotted one on a shelf. Wingspan for 120 on Amazon? Do you have to roll the dice on kickstarter to have a chance to get them?
It's unfortunate, but here's about your only means to getting these games:
1. Kickstarter
2. Second Hand
3. Straight off publisher's website
These days it seems only the big name publishers like Zman, FFG, and asmodee are the exception for traditional distribution. Otherwise, you missed out on the best titles of the year like Pax Pamir 2e.
Ya, in addition to what MrCheezball said, Essen (the biggest convention for board games) is in October and it means that some of the best games on those lists don't even make it to North American distributors until sometime in the next year. It takes some speculation or importing to get some of those games. It's tough. With the nature of the board game industry, the first print runs are often sold out if the game is popular (see Maracaibo and Wingspan for recent examples). So, people have to wait for the next edition to get made and sent out. With Kickstarters, it's even worse as sometimes they don't get reprinted that quickly. The reality is that you have to research and gamble to get the newest games early.
kidkstarter and luck of the draw. I got nemesis last year off kick starter. Wingspan comes in and out of stock every few weeks. Most times you just need to kinda know if you think you'll want something way in advance to have a chance these days
If you're new to board games, you learn to navigate the system a bit, which is inherently slow. I have managed to get my hands on a lot of things I've wanted, but it requires patience and diligent searching. The most important rule I follow is that if a game is truly good today, it will still be good whenever you end up getting it - whether that's in a month, a year, or 10 years.
Here's my advice:
1. Scope out previews of games and make notes of things you want to try to get. The sooner you can get on it, the better. Beware of overly enthusiastic paid previews and such. Don't go crazy buying games based on preview alone - everything is amazing according to them. If you can manage to play the game somehow before it gets released, even better!
2. Preorder stuff if you can. I said this hobby is inherently slow, and that's because you're either waiting for a boat to cross an ocean with your preorder, or you're waiting for a reprint (on another boat), or what have you. There are no release dates here!
3. As a habit, I check out the usual online retailers once a day (usually just after midnight) to see what's new. It's not uncommon for them to restock some copies of hot games out of the blue. Sometimes I scour the internet for smaller retailers that possibly got some copies in, as well as the lesser known retailers in Canada that ship to the US.
4. The second hand sellers and scalpers are trying to profit off your desperation and FOMO. Don't give in to that shit. If a game is hot, it's in the publisher's best interest to put it in the market to sell it. You will get your chance! And like I said, if a game is good, it will stay good no matter when you get it.
4. Consider looking at and buying older games! There are plenty of awesome games that get overlooked nowadays because of the hype for new stuff.
Trading via BGG whether it's one on one or in a math trade (local and shipping). For example, I got caught up in the hype and FOMO of backing On Mars, and realized when I recieved it that this will NEVER get to the table (far too complex for people I run with). Rather than letting it languish as a display item, I flipped it for a copy of "Container: Jumbo Edition", which is forever out of print and expensive. Look into moving games you dont play for games you know will get played.
This happens so often. People buy games for themselves forgetting that they also have to find a game which fits in their group as a whole. Now I'm going in to my third year playing board games as my main hobby, my goal this year, is to reduce my collection down and really focus on only buying games that resonate with me.
I really need to stop buying every 18XX's though.
Yup, when you boil it down, most people do not truly need more than a 4x2 or 4x3 Kallax to get the same experiences. Also, I cant wait for the 1889 reprint!
I don't like that FOMO board game, though. Because even when you win, you lose most of the time :p
I heard it got rave reviews at release but excitement has tempered off a few months afterwards. :p
Sometimes the deals are too good. I purchased some capstone games from there at 50% off. Granted they are almost always poorly packaged.
Even setting aside the abusive employee practices and other Amazon-isms, there's also too much risk that you get a bootleg game from Amazon. I've gotten at least one and it sucks. Amazon doesn't crack down on it at all.
It's not as simple as just avoiding third party sellers on Amazon.
Here's a post from BGG explaining:
Thanks, this all makes sense. It's weird in 2019 to have the money for an item you desire and feel as if no one is willing to sell it to you (unless they are obviously ripping you off), but that's mostly what board gaming feels like. I will have to do responsible things like play the Kemet and Marco Polo I already have.
Is there any site dedicated to foam core insert plans? Or would it just be cheaper to get ones others have made?
I'm sure we can whip up some recommendations of stuff that's available now that you can check out, if you're itching for a new game.
Pubmeeples has a section dedicated to making your own foamcore inserts: Foam Core Inserts | Pub Meeples
I have followed their plans for Scythe and it came out great. Highly recommended.
And then there is the subreddit: r/foamcore
It is definitely cheaper to make them yourself, and more fun, if you enjoy crafting.
4:3 video shot in 2011, how thinga have changed in a decade.
The demo for that Monopoly seemed okay but not being able to see your money at any time feels like a real problem with the design.
A little late but here's what me/my wife/my roommate got for Christmas:
Quadropolis
Pompei
Starfarers Catan
Millenium Blades
I also bought Clank Legacy for the household
This is still on top of at least a dozen other games we still haven't played, but I finally got a job where I'm not gone 44 weeks of the year so I hope to get a lot more board gaming done this year.
Also picked up a 3D Printer so now it's time to start printing out some upgrades, organizers and inserts.
Quadropolis
Pompei
Starfarers Catan
Millenium Blades
I also bought Clank Legacy for the household
This is still on top of at least a dozen other games we still haven't played, but I finally got a job where I'm not gone 44 weeks of the year so I hope to get a lot more board gaming done this year.
Also picked up a 3D Printer so now it's time to start printing out some upgrades, organizers and inserts.
Got to play a bunch of games through the Holidays.
Just One - Played over 100 games of my already most played game. Best party game that works for everyone. 10/10
Tainted Grail - Got the opportunity to play through the opening chapter in a 3p session. It was amazing really. The table presence, the setting, and the gameplay interwoven with the narrative choices still has me thinking about the options we didn't choose. Can't wait for my friend to return later this year to continue into Chapter 2. 10/10
Race for the Galaxy - I'm beginning to realize engine builders aren't my cup of tea but this is considered one of the all time greats. The iconography was a lot to wrap my head around; nevertheless, I did have some idea of what was happening by the end. Would try again but it didn't light my world on fire. 5/10
Star Wars: Outer Rim - Yes it's probably too long. Our 3p game was 2 1/2 hours. Sure there's a lot of text to read on every market card that is constantly cycling and that inherently adds a rng luck factor. Hey a lucrative job popped up in the market on my turn and it's only a few spaces away! Despite these issues and riding high on Star Wars hype, I really enjoyed my time in the Outer Rim. 7/10
Goodcritters - Simple fun bluffing/negotiation game with Zootopia inspired gangsters. It's good to be the boss and oh wait it's tough to be the boss and stay the boss for more than a couple turns in a row after skimming too much loot from the rest of the group haha. 7/10
Azul - 4p session and it was fun working on filling out your sheet. We didn't play all that cutthroat so it was a bit solitaire beyond maybe a couple tile denials near the end. I think I prefer Stained Glass of Sintra over this one though. 6/10
Blitzkrieg! - Really fast (20min) chit pull and place head to head game. Played with 3 different people and all were wanting to play again immediately. Mark of a good game. 8/10
Skull - Played twice in a row and had been wanting to try this for a while as a possible alternative bluffing game to Coup. It is interesting but in no scenario would I choose this over Coup. 5/10
Port Royal - A highly bgg ranked push your luck pirate themed card game. It was OK but a boring implementation of a pirate theme and the dry graphical presentation didn't get me board. 4/10
Wingspan - Played in a 5p game and all of us had never played. We made big optimization mistakes, fumbled through the mechanics early, but we got there and it clicked eventually. This was a few of the players highlight game of the week but I couldn't wait for a different game. The theme wasn't exciting to me and engine builders aren't my jam admittedly. Some at the table did, but I did not feel the hype 3/10
Bargain Quest - Finally got this to the table in a couple of 4p sessions and it's night and day versus the 2p experience. Lovely drafting game with great presentation. All were involved and laughing along with the humorous items we were selling to our mostly hapless, hopeless adventurers. 8/10
Skulk Hollow - Asymmetrical head to head Shadow of the Colossus-esque game where a band of Foxen Heroes must climb, and one body part at time, take down a giant Guardian. Stellar art and presentation elevates this skirmish game. Very simple to play and teach but enough strategy for repeat plays even with the same Guardian matchups. Only real issue raised by anyone that's played it is that the number of actions available to you on a turn feels limiting. Also the movement is a little strange as the board is placed in a diamond shape rather than square so the movement arrows shown on the cards may not put you where you initially think they will until you get used to it. 8/10
Team3 - Hilarious team game against the clock cooperative or team vs team race competition. One player can't see and is being a directed to build a blueprint of polymino blocks by 2 other players. Only one can actually see the blueprint but can't speak so they must use hand signals to communicate to the middle player who can speak to the blind builder. It's fun and as soon as you think you've got it down switch roles and boom you're in a whole new ball game. 8/10
There were also a bunch of games we wanted to play but just ran out of time:
Atlantis Rising 2nd Ed. - never played; stings we didn't get to try it but I will be trying it solo soon on my table
Elysium - never played; Christmas gift still sealed;. Heard good things but ran outta time
Mansions of Madness 2nd ed - have played before; fantastic but outta time
Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth - have played before; fantastic but no time
Call to Adventure - have played before; my favorite set collection game. Just didn't get it to the table this time
Marvel Champions - have played before; excellent! Even had my new Captain America and Green Goblin packs arrive but just didn't find the time to fit it in.
Street Masters - have played before; one of my favorites. Next time baby.
Just One - Played over 100 games of my already most played game. Best party game that works for everyone. 10/10
Tainted Grail - Got the opportunity to play through the opening chapter in a 3p session. It was amazing really. The table presence, the setting, and the gameplay interwoven with the narrative choices still has me thinking about the options we didn't choose. Can't wait for my friend to return later this year to continue into Chapter 2. 10/10
Race for the Galaxy - I'm beginning to realize engine builders aren't my cup of tea but this is considered one of the all time greats. The iconography was a lot to wrap my head around; nevertheless, I did have some idea of what was happening by the end. Would try again but it didn't light my world on fire. 5/10
Star Wars: Outer Rim - Yes it's probably too long. Our 3p game was 2 1/2 hours. Sure there's a lot of text to read on every market card that is constantly cycling and that inherently adds a rng luck factor. Hey a lucrative job popped up in the market on my turn and it's only a few spaces away! Despite these issues and riding high on Star Wars hype, I really enjoyed my time in the Outer Rim. 7/10
Goodcritters - Simple fun bluffing/negotiation game with Zootopia inspired gangsters. It's good to be the boss and oh wait it's tough to be the boss and stay the boss for more than a couple turns in a row after skimming too much loot from the rest of the group haha. 7/10
Azul - 4p session and it was fun working on filling out your sheet. We didn't play all that cutthroat so it was a bit solitaire beyond maybe a couple tile denials near the end. I think I prefer Stained Glass of Sintra over this one though. 6/10
Blitzkrieg! - Really fast (20min) chit pull and place head to head game. Played with 3 different people and all were wanting to play again immediately. Mark of a good game. 8/10
Skull - Played twice in a row and had been wanting to try this for a while as a possible alternative bluffing game to Coup. It is interesting but in no scenario would I choose this over Coup. 5/10
Port Royal - A highly bgg ranked push your luck pirate themed card game. It was OK but a boring implementation of a pirate theme and the dry graphical presentation didn't get me board. 4/10
Wingspan - Played in a 5p game and all of us had never played. We made big optimization mistakes, fumbled through the mechanics early, but we got there and it clicked eventually. This was a few of the players highlight game of the week but I couldn't wait for a different game. The theme wasn't exciting to me and engine builders aren't my jam admittedly. Some at the table did, but I did not feel the hype 3/10
Bargain Quest - Finally got this to the table in a couple of 4p sessions and it's night and day versus the 2p experience. Lovely drafting game with great presentation. All were involved and laughing along with the humorous items we were selling to our mostly hapless, hopeless adventurers. 8/10
Skulk Hollow - Asymmetrical head to head Shadow of the Colossus-esque game where a band of Foxen Heroes must climb, and one body part at time, take down a giant Guardian. Stellar art and presentation elevates this skirmish game. Very simple to play and teach but enough strategy for repeat plays even with the same Guardian matchups. Only real issue raised by anyone that's played it is that the number of actions available to you on a turn feels limiting. Also the movement is a little strange as the board is placed in a diamond shape rather than square so the movement arrows shown on the cards may not put you where you initially think they will until you get used to it. 8/10
Team3 - Hilarious team game against the clock cooperative or team vs team race competition. One player can't see and is being a directed to build a blueprint of polymino blocks by 2 other players. Only one can actually see the blueprint but can't speak so they must use hand signals to communicate to the middle player who can speak to the blind builder. It's fun and as soon as you think you've got it down switch roles and boom you're in a whole new ball game. 8/10
There were also a bunch of games we wanted to play but just ran out of time:
Atlantis Rising 2nd Ed. - never played; stings we didn't get to try it but I will be trying it solo soon on my table
Elysium - never played; Christmas gift still sealed;. Heard good things but ran outta time
Mansions of Madness 2nd ed - have played before; fantastic but outta time
Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth - have played before; fantastic but no time
Call to Adventure - have played before; my favorite set collection game. Just didn't get it to the table this time
Marvel Champions - have played before; excellent! Even had my new Captain America and Green Goblin packs arrive but just didn't find the time to fit it in.
Street Masters - have played before; one of my favorites. Next time baby.
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OP
OP
Figured I'd post my update list for 2019's plays. This showed my largest number of plays since tracking. That's definitely due to me starting to play a bunch of shorter games this year, such as Similo (sometimes as short as 1-2 minutes), Second Chance, Timeline, and Silver & Gold.
Arkham LCG is still my most-played game (discounting those shorter games) by quite a bit. I haven't played in a while, but would like to get back to it soon.
Arkham LCG is still my most-played game (discounting those shorter games) by quite a bit. I haven't played in a while, but would like to get back to it soon.
I picked this up awhile ago and haven't gotten it to the table, it seems like a lot of fun and quick to learn! Did your group use the promisary note/cash extra rule?
My roommates and I finally got around to playing this last week after having the base game and the full Dunwich expansion for more than a year. Two of us got wrecked in the 2nd base scenario and decided to reroll so our 3rd could join from the beginning and we could use the expansion cards in deck-building. We breezed through the two games that gave us problems before and need to finish Night of the Zealot before school starts up again next week.
How far does 32 plays of Arkham Horror TCG get you? Do you go back to previous episodes or just finish stuff as it comes out? This game took over my brain in the days following Christmas, but I dunno if the other guys are willing to go deep with me.
We did and we didn't. They were definitely in the game at our disposal but I recall only one player ever offered their promised vote but the other player didn't take it. Upon repeat plays I could see that being a bigger part of the negotiations because buying someone's guaranteed vote could be beneficial but we were mostly satisfied with the action cards driving the game rather than wild bribes and deals.
OP
OP
I believe this was mostly plays of old stuff. I believe I've only played once since May or June, since my group isn't as enamored with it as I am. Most of my solo hobbying time goes into painting minis, unfortunately. I do enjoy painting quite a lot, but I need to clear up the backlog a bit to find that balance between that and solo gaming.