I don't know if I read the full post-release rules, but I remember the first time I played it with the print-and-play rules and they were really bad.
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
- Start date
The "learn to play" book. Feels like an incredibly shitty way to "learn to play", if I need to be given a step by step guide instead.
Played a bunch of games over the weekend:
Fireball Island (2018): Played this one twice with 3 players and 4 players with all expansions and everyone had a great time. I was worried about the snakes constantly falling from their perches and causing board reset headaches but in the first game no one was poisoned the whole game so I will continue to include them without worry. Pouring the bees into VulKar proved to be a fan favorite activity in both games. The tiger didn't appear often and was a big miss when it did; will need more practice for it to make an impact though it was fun to make a tiger pounce attempt. Everyone agreed the game length felt just right. First game end game was triggered by cataclysms and the 2nd by snapshots.
Doom (2016): Played the first scenario which was an infestation sample collection mission with 4 players (3 Marines/1 villain). Used the suggested balance tweaks from bgg for this mission subtracting the chainsaw and a couple medpacks. We had a great time with this one as well. Came right down to the wire but the invader player won with some good card play and a tough as nails Baron that refused to die.
Marvel Strike Teams: Played the tutorial and a single full mission with 4 players (3 heroes/1 villain). The tutorial was a victory 5 to 4 for the Heroes. In the full mission it was Falcon, Agent May, and Iron Man up against 3 Hydra soldiers, Radioactive Man, and Winter Soldier. This one came down to whoever won the last objective would win the game. The heroes were on their heels the whole game and the way the objectives were laid out on the map had no opportunity to waste a single action or reserve many between turns either. They managed to pull out the win in the final round though.
This was a big hit with our group and I think Wizkids bungled this one a bit with the Heroclix branding when it really doesn't have anything to do with Heroclix besides the figures having the click bases to track their level. Just seems like people interested in acquiring Heroclix won't be interested and it causes people that aren't into Heroclix to ignore it altogether without learning more about it. Also graphic design is bland, specifically the map tiles though the cards aren't hot either but they are functional and clean so they get a pass. This is essentially objective based Marvel Descent with diceless combat.
Rising Sun: This one was a mixed experience. We played with 6 players going in blind. So it took about 6 hours to get through but I think I enjoyed the game ha. I would definitely be interested in revisiting now that we know how to play though I don't know if I'd play with 6 again. The way the mandates worked were interesting in that everyone gets to do what you pick and you do it last. Some benefits await if you are in a alliance. I'd hesitate to call our specific session "fun" but it was quite the experience!
5-Minute Marvel: Played a ton of this. Quick to setup, quick to play, chaotic fun. Not much to say other than I personally prefer 5-Minute dungeon as I wasn't a fan of having to draw from two separate decks but they are basically the same.
Hail Hydra: Played this social deduction game 3 times. First was with 5 players and it was a Hydra beatdown as Shield was barely able to defeat the first villain before New York was destroyed. The next two times was 7 players and the extra Shield member made a big difference. Hydra won the second game but Shield made it to the final villain. Shield won the third game fairly handedly as we were able to oust one of the two Hydra players fairly quickly. Need some more plays but a better impression of the game after the third play than that brutal first one. May just not be very good with 5 and that 6+ players is key.
Street Masters: Played 3 times. Twice with two players and once with three. I've played this one a few times already and these sessions were no exception as it's always a great time. This is one of my favorite games right now. Just love the theme and fast paced nature of the game. If you know nothing of the game it is comparable to Sentinels of the Multiverse if that game had a board with minis.
Fireball Island (2018): Played this one twice with 3 players and 4 players with all expansions and everyone had a great time. I was worried about the snakes constantly falling from their perches and causing board reset headaches but in the first game no one was poisoned the whole game so I will continue to include them without worry. Pouring the bees into VulKar proved to be a fan favorite activity in both games. The tiger didn't appear often and was a big miss when it did; will need more practice for it to make an impact though it was fun to make a tiger pounce attempt. Everyone agreed the game length felt just right. First game end game was triggered by cataclysms and the 2nd by snapshots.
Doom (2016): Played the first scenario which was an infestation sample collection mission with 4 players (3 Marines/1 villain). Used the suggested balance tweaks from bgg for this mission subtracting the chainsaw and a couple medpacks. We had a great time with this one as well. Came right down to the wire but the invader player won with some good card play and a tough as nails Baron that refused to die.
Marvel Strike Teams: Played the tutorial and a single full mission with 4 players (3 heroes/1 villain). The tutorial was a victory 5 to 4 for the Heroes. In the full mission it was Falcon, Agent May, and Iron Man up against 3 Hydra soldiers, Radioactive Man, and Winter Soldier. This one came down to whoever won the last objective would win the game. The heroes were on their heels the whole game and the way the objectives were laid out on the map had no opportunity to waste a single action or reserve many between turns either. They managed to pull out the win in the final round though.
This was a big hit with our group and I think Wizkids bungled this one a bit with the Heroclix branding when it really doesn't have anything to do with Heroclix besides the figures having the click bases to track their level. Just seems like people interested in acquiring Heroclix won't be interested and it causes people that aren't into Heroclix to ignore it altogether without learning more about it. Also graphic design is bland, specifically the map tiles though the cards aren't hot either but they are functional and clean so they get a pass. This is essentially objective based Marvel Descent with diceless combat.
Rising Sun: This one was a mixed experience. We played with 6 players going in blind. So it took about 6 hours to get through but I think I enjoyed the game ha. I would definitely be interested in revisiting now that we know how to play though I don't know if I'd play with 6 again. The way the mandates worked were interesting in that everyone gets to do what you pick and you do it last. Some benefits await if you are in a alliance. I'd hesitate to call our specific session "fun" but it was quite the experience!
5-Minute Marvel: Played a ton of this. Quick to setup, quick to play, chaotic fun. Not much to say other than I personally prefer 5-Minute dungeon as I wasn't a fan of having to draw from two separate decks but they are basically the same.
Hail Hydra: Played this social deduction game 3 times. First was with 5 players and it was a Hydra beatdown as Shield was barely able to defeat the first villain before New York was destroyed. The next two times was 7 players and the extra Shield member made a big difference. Hydra won the second game but Shield made it to the final villain. Shield won the third game fairly handedly as we were able to oust one of the two Hydra players fairly quickly. Need some more plays but a better impression of the game after the third play than that brutal first one. May just not be very good with 5 and that 6+ players is key.
Street Masters: Played 3 times. Twice with two players and once with three. I've played this one a few times already and these sessions were no exception as it's always a great time. This is one of my favorite games right now. Just love the theme and fast paced nature of the game. If you know nothing of the game it is comparable to Sentinels of the Multiverse if that game had a board with minis.
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Got a group together tonight after a ~2 year hiatus. We played Robinson Crusoe with 4 players and it was amazing. Got into the last few rounds with no roof and were getting slammed by weather but got the last wood we needed for the bonfire on the last round when we all had 2-3 health remaining. Lots of discussion and cooperative planning every round to make sure we maximized resources. Working together and winning that scenario cemented how amazing games can be. We immediately busted out calendars to schedule the next game night. I love this hobby.
Finished Pandemic Legacy season 2 tonight.
While we loved the first season... none of us felt the second season was all that enjoyable. Felt a lot less like we were working towards stopping something horrible and more like we were just trying to survive, and that change of feeling really just left a sour taste in our mouths after most games.
While we loved the first season... none of us felt the second season was all that enjoyable. Felt a lot less like we were working towards stopping something horrible and more like we were just trying to survive, and that change of feeling really just left a sour taste in our mouths after most games.
Interesting. I really enjoyed Season 2, much more than Season 1, actually because it was such a departure from the core Pandemic gameplay. The problem for me was the Pandemic was getting rather stale and while Season 1 did enough to spice it up to be rather enjoyable, Season 2 was what brought life to that system in my opinion. But I'm also a person who likes theme, but I don't get invested or immersed in one. I just think the gameplay and the legacy aspects far outpace the the first season.
That sort of open discussion/planning that gets resolved all at once, rather than the turn-by-turn style of other co-ops, is what really shines about Robinson Crusoe.
Sanity check:
Last year over Christmas, I got my parents into Ticket To Ride, and left my copy of the original US set at their place. This year, I'm planning to introduce them to Europe.
I have already had the Europa 1912 expansion sent on there ahead in amongst their gifts, so I can travel lighter.
Do I need to pack anything other than the board and the stations? I *think* I can get all the remaining cards and pieces I need from the US set and the expansions, is that correct?
Last year over Christmas, I got my parents into Ticket To Ride, and left my copy of the original US set at their place. This year, I'm planning to introduce them to Europe.
I have already had the Europa 1912 expansion sent on there ahead in amongst their gifts, so I can travel lighter.
Do I need to pack anything other than the board and the stations? I *think* I can get all the remaining cards and pieces I need from the US set and the expansions, is that correct?
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If you are talking about the Law of Root rulebook, it is probably pretty weird if you have never read a GMT or wargame rulebook. Once you get used to them, then they are are really easy to follow.
You would also need destination cards for Europe and I am not sure the train counts you might want to check to make sure. Also as an aside, not sure how experience they are as gamer but casual players that enjoyed TTR that I introduced them to tend to dislike Europe version. They don't like the added complexity.
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I believe the expansion contains a full set of the original destination cards, although I could be wrong on that.
And yes, I am nervous about the added complexity, but we can always fall back to the US option!
May be Smallworld? A bit of area control with asymmetric power and little meatier than A&A but still easy enough to learn.
Don't worry too much about the added complexity. I only have Europe and haven't had any trouble any difficulty explaining it to complete non-gamers. Ferries are super easy, stations should be easy to grasp (and make the game less cutthroat than US), tunnels is the only one that might give people a bit of a pause but in reality is pretty simple push-your-luck (draw X cards based on length of route, pay 1 extra train per card drawn of same color).
I play 2p (one character each). While it'd be certainly doable solo two-handed, I would probably find it too cumbersome (especially because the game is pretty demanding setup-wise)
I really fell off hard from playing board games. Hopefully during the holidays I will have some time and gather some family members (oh boy) to play something.
edit: Recieved some Tiny Epic games (kickstarted packages) that I ordered a while ago. Sadly those are in english so no go for family play :(
Galaxies and Defenders (2ndE) should be alright I read.
edit: Recieved some Tiny Epic games (kickstarted packages) that I ordered a while ago. Sadly those are in english so no go for family play :(
Galaxies and Defenders (2ndE) should be alright I read.
I can't talk from direct experience here, but I got a mate who played it solo and I asked him the same question a few weeks back and he didn't recommend it. Too much bookkeeping apparently.
Thanks! Tough decision as the game looking FUCKING. AMAZING.
I still play but this forum and the discord is about as active as my local scene, so that's a shame :)
If you don't need the cardboard experience, they are working on a digital version of the game.
https://www.level99games.com/blog/2018/12/19/free-pixel-tactics-4-pixel-tactics-promo-cards
Just pay shipping and handling to get every? Pixel tactics promo card and PT4. Pretty amazing game and you get a lot of content at that price.
Just pay shipping and handling to get every? Pixel tactics promo card and PT4. Pretty amazing game and you get a lot of content at that price.
It's not complexity, it's that they don't want any more added complexity usually. If you start out teaching them TTR Europe then they don't really have anything to compare to.
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Nah, I think the whole point for me is the sheer absurdity of the materials. Though I watched some playthrough videos and the bookkeeping looks intense.
I'm looking to get back into wargames, and I'd like some advice for a WWII Eastern Front game. Preferably something that either tackles a major battle/campaign or one that covers the whole theater. Right now I'm looking at No Retreat, but I would like more options with maybe what their selling points are. I don't mind something on the more complex side, but it needs to have a manageable-sized map.
I'll be honest, the setup can be quite significant, but good organization really helps make it manageable. I put all the monsters (standees, cards, stat sheet) in cd sleeves, the map tiles in an accordion folder, the little hexes and other cardboard items in plano boxes, all the character stuff in their original boxes, and the rest of the cards in a BCW cardboard box. It's still a pain to set everything up (but kind of relaxing?), but it's worth it for me for the gameplay.
Once in combat, the bookkeeping isn't too bad. The main thing is keeping track of the damage tokens and status effects on the monsters, which I don't find too cumbersome once I got used to it, and the elements board.
This seems a major complaint, even for a reviewer who just left it set up for a month while he reviewed the game. And thanks for the bookkeeping notes... I think I'm going to buy it; I need a new obsession in my life.
It looks like the rules and gameplay are the same, but Grab N Go has a tiny board and components.
Also there are much better games one could play than Monopoly, but that's not what you're asking. If you'd be interested we could certainly elaborate!
I am aware of that, it is not for myself, it is for my girlfriend. I ended up ordering one from Amazon Spain (we live here) in Portugues (I'm Brazilian) for under 6 euros (!!!). She wants to play it and for that price it is hard to skip. Being a smaller version is fine as long as it plays the same.
There are a few board games I am interested but I don't have friends to play (I do have friends lol, but I am sure they don't like it... most of them don't even speak English) so I am not buying any... same goes for videogames, I wish I had someone to play some couch coop/competitive...
While I was on Youtube looking for board games, I found a list of '10 most strategic board games' and guess what? they put Monopoly in there. I lol'd and left that channel
As an alternative to physical board games, you can look at getting them on PC or iOS/Android. There have been a ton of digital board games released, and it can be a good way to get a similar experience. If you're willing to do a bit more legwork, Steam has Tabletop Simulator where you can play a ton of different games; same thing with VASSAL although you'll have to put in more work.
All this talk about Robinson Crusoe, I should really play it. Have owned it for a year but haven't had opportunity to yet.
I guess I will be the dissenting voice and say yay. While I am playing a tts campaign two player, I am soloing my physical copy of the game. I find the setup and take down rituals pretty soothing, but admittedly I shelled out for the Broken Token organizer which makes that a little easier. Still, during the game the book keeping isn't any worse than using say the Imperial Assault app wrt monsters and damage or status. At least, once you remember what each token is.
I'm not saying it is easy or smooth, but it is still very much enjoyable.
I really enjoyed my first game and thinking about ways to tweak my approach already.
It succeeds in constantly upping the pressures on you if you don't build your engine quickly, totally caught me by surprise and I expect I didn't push my luck enough early on.
I generally don't play board games solo, but if I did it would probably be a good fit. As long as you can accept the cumbersome set up and packing processes.
I was suggesting other games for my group to play next time but everyone just wants to play RC again.
Thanks for all the gloomhaven input. Still on the fence; can't talk myself into buying it... I'll try to find someone to play it with first. 140 is a bit steep if I wind up hating it.
Speaking of gloomhaven, I've been using this app called gloomhaven helper and it really helps out a ton with the bookkeeping for the monsters.
Highly recommend it. http://esotericsoftware.com/gloomhaven-helper
Highly recommend it. http://esotericsoftware.com/gloomhaven-helper
Hi there, any preference for playercount & difficulty?
Small World and 7 Wonders would be up your alley.
Stone Age is also a great option as a resource gathering, worker placement game that's probably in your wheelhouse. There's an anniversary edition coming out soon.