OP
OP
I think I'm remembering now that they suggest closing off a certain section of the board for 2p with the base game. I've only played it three times, so I don't claim to be an expert.
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
- Start date
I'm like 80% confident that's not in the printed rules, but if someone knows where it's suggested, I'd like to hear it.
OP
OP
You are correct. I guess I was just thinking about the tighter map on the B-side of the base board not having the D tiles.
Should I turn in my gamer card now? :(
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I prefer Concordia over Istanbul. For 2 player only Concordia play alright but you really need the smaller expansion map (see below). If you are just playing 2 player why not look for 2 player games instead. While I really like Concordia, not a single person in my regular play group like it. They all seem to not like the fact that everything score at the end.
The smaller maps are definitely better for 2 player. I played all the map and Corsica is my favorite along the new Egypt map.
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i printed off this scoring sheet - https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/101463/scoring-tables-concordia and use it to help teach the game - but also it elimated complaints about end scoring because you can eyeball it fairly easy this way.
I don't mind the standard map at 2, but corsica and britain are the maps we go to the most. crete can be pretty brutal
I don't mind the standard map at 2, but corsica and britain are the maps we go to the most. crete can be pretty brutal
Thanks, that is a great tool. May be I will get them to play. I don't know if it goes against spirit of the game but who care as long as I get people to play it.
It's a great game, just bit of a doozy to play in person. I would also recommend no more than 3 players if playing in person, it can easily take 3-4 hours with 4.
I've played the original before. The comment I made was because I was a staunch hater of the game. Tastes evolve and there seem to be some improvements so I'm giving it another shot.
Ha!
It really is an amazing game, though I've still to try the new edition.
New Frontiers: The Race for the Galaxy Boardgame is incredibly enticing, even though I'm trying to prune my collection for a summer move. It brings elements of one of my top three boardgames, Race for the Galaxy, to Puerto Rico, once my favorite game, while adding its own twists.
In this more socially concious era, Puerto Rico's problematic theme can't be readily dismissed; New Frontiers obviates that concern and that of player order binding while providing a more complex and variable design. It does lose some of the screwage that Puerto Rico had, though (e.g., filling/assigning ships in the Captain phase).
I wasn't a fan of TtA 1E, either; I found it a chore to play. I'd like to give 2E a chance on the same basis as you, but it's still a long and complex game that doesn't present much opportunity to bring to the table.
In this more socially concious era, Puerto Rico's problematic theme can't be readily dismissed; New Frontiers obviates that concern and that of player order binding while providing a more complex and variable design. It does lose some of the screwage that Puerto Rico had, though (e.g., filling/assigning ships in the Captain phase).
I wasn't a fan of TtA 1E, either; I found it a chore to play. I'd like to give 2E a chance on the same basis as you, but it's still a long and complex game that doesn't present much opportunity to bring to the table.
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I agree that Puerto Rico is a good game that needs a remake (and colonialism in board games generally should start going away), but man the unpleasant aspects of the Race for the Galaxy-style graphic design is very noticeable when you blow it up to a board game size.
Yeah RftG is my second most favorite game of all time and I have played it around 1500 times, and I agree with you.
Honestly instead of creating all these Race adjacent games they should make a second edition of race, with updated iconography and graphic design.
As a graphic designer I've thought about how Race could be redesigned, it's an interesting challenge.
Believe it or not, though, they have done a fair amount of work in getting the design to where it is now. The way Race for the Galaxy works as a game is pretty closely tied to how complex the cards are. The layout and iconography can't be reinvented or improved that easily, as it's already performing a lot.
The thing that's mostly an eyesore for me is that the overall aesthetic is pretty plain and looks like "programmer art" or symbols and shapes pulled out of a flowchart.
I'm currently circling a sealed copy of Kingdom Death: Monster 1.5. I'm a little confused by the expansion and add-on content offered though. What exactly are the brown and white boxes? What content should be prioritised after the core game?
I'm also late to the Kickstarter party, but I'm waiting on:
7th Continent
Cthulhu: Death May Die
Deep Madness (expansions only)
Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress (expected to arrive in the next fortnight!)
Starcadia Quest
Tidal Blades - Heroes of the Reef
Zombicide: Invader
I'm also late to the Kickstarter party, but I'm waiting on:
7th Continent
Cthulhu: Death May Die
Deep Madness (expansions only)
Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress (expected to arrive in the next fortnight!)
Starcadia Quest
Tidal Blades - Heroes of the Reef
Zombicide: Invader
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White box are just "pinup" miniatures, brown box looking like what you see on there :
Are actual gameplay/monster addon.
You should ba able to find some list on bgg or reddit about what are the "best" addon, but I think the general rule of thumb is to take early years monster. Since the game is based on failing and starting it again, you will fight the first monster a big number of time, so those are the one you want to give yourself the opportunity to replace by something else.
With the currently available expansion, this mean that Gorm Expansion is probably the best one ( as in the most usefull one at least ), since it can replace the first monster you'll farm.
They did release a 2e just recently. 5 new start worlds, 5 rebalanced cards (buffs), and some changes to make it more colorblind-friendly
I like the overall graphic design, but do believe they could change the icons into some that would make more sense for what the actions do. That being said I am not a graphic designer so I am not going to pretend I have the same experience or knowledge on the subject as you :)
Super intrigued by Treasure Island. It seems really fun.
And the review by SU&SD was rather positive:
I wonder how good it is with 2 players. Anybody here tried it?
And the review by SU&SD was rather positive:
I wonder how good it is with 2 players. Anybody here tried it?
It seems really cool, but I also feel like, without better dry erase markers, it's a game that would be much cooler with some jack-box-like implementation.
Eh, half the fun looks like using the tools to draw stuff.
Really looks cool, though. Feels like someone finally leveled up the Scotland Yard/Whitechapel game play.
Certainly! But I'm colorblind and have a hard enough time reading some dry erase markers on a white board lol
Oh yeah that's a big shame about the board. I am not color blind but I do appreciate when people think about that stuff with their design.
It's not clear from the review if the game needs people to tell the marker colors apart.
I'm wondering if there's some kind semi-transparent plastic sheet that can be put over the board to cut the contrast/color saturation down so markers can pop more.
played some more betrayal legacy today....
I do wonder
I do wonder
How many people manage to keep control of the house for 4 games in a row (136 years with this single character as we have decided that the house keeps my character alive and healthy at the 150 years old she is now :P) So far we have played 5 sessions and I have ruled the house for 4 of them lol.
I own it- you just get more characters to control and know more information. I'd say play it with a minimum of three. One person knowing everything sort of defeats the object of the game really. You need people to be greedy and play off each other to get the most out of it imo.
Oh yeah, if you just need one color they would be fine. I'm sure a good expo black would pop.
There are several clue cards that come out where the LJS player will have to reveal something related to where a player could have been in previous turns. IE "This player was the closest to Y". If you can find a way to alternately track that then color probably isn't a huge deal, but it sure makes it easier.
That sure doesn't look like a colorblind friendly game... I wonder what kind of modification to the game could help.
My understanding is that each player needs their own color because it leaves traces of everybody's actions. You can then observe what each individual player is trying to do, and with that try to deduce what clues are true/false.
Kind of curious about the transparent plastic sheet you mention. If possible, I think that could work in having the markers pop more.
Thanks! Yeah it makes sense. Doesn't sound like a great 2 players only game.
I finally got to play Tokyo Highway last night. What a great game... I'd have pictures for everyone, but I was waiting until the end of the game and of course I lost by knocking over most of the structures. It was shaping up to be something beautiful, too, but I couldn't rebuild it.
I also played Arkham 3rd solo and this might be my favorite recent purchase. It's hard as nails with 1 player/1 investigator, though.
I also played Arkham 3rd solo and this might be my favorite recent purchase. It's hard as nails with 1 player/1 investigator, though.
I ordered Skies Above the Reich before it goes OOP. Added Concordia Venus standalone for free shipping.
So I got Manhattan Project: Energy Empire recently and played it solo a couple of times over the weekend, and now I wanna talk about it.
This game is not actually an expansion, but rather a separate sister game to The Manhattan Project. It's still worker-placement, but the theme is a bit more positive (generating energy, resources, and cash, rather than bombs), and with MUCH less take-that involved.
The key mechanic here is that the worker placement involves stacks of workers. To take an action, you have to place a stack of workers higher than the tallest stack on the space (even if that stack is yours). You can deliberate leave taller stacks to make it harder, but that cost is potential for other actions. I really like the possibility of going wide or deep with your workers like this.
To make the worker stuff even more dynamic, the way you are growing these stacks is with Energy, which you have to generate by buying a variety of custom power plant dice. The dice add a nice shock of luck into the game, because you can't exactly plan for how many energy you'll have - but you can go with clean power, dirty power, or a mix. Your energy pool grows as the game goes along, opening up more possibilities with your actions (but also ramping up pollution).
The original Manhattan Project was kind of a miss for me, but the thing that keeps this fresh is the various paths to victory and the higher emphasis on engine-building.
The only negatives for me about the game are that it's a bit fiddly. Often times my turns involved taking resources from the supply, just to return them in the same turn, as part of a chain. But you can be smart about this and count the resource as you take the next action, rather than physically take it.
This game is not actually an expansion, but rather a separate sister game to The Manhattan Project. It's still worker-placement, but the theme is a bit more positive (generating energy, resources, and cash, rather than bombs), and with MUCH less take-that involved.
The key mechanic here is that the worker placement involves stacks of workers. To take an action, you have to place a stack of workers higher than the tallest stack on the space (even if that stack is yours). You can deliberate leave taller stacks to make it harder, but that cost is potential for other actions. I really like the possibility of going wide or deep with your workers like this.
To make the worker stuff even more dynamic, the way you are growing these stacks is with Energy, which you have to generate by buying a variety of custom power plant dice. The dice add a nice shock of luck into the game, because you can't exactly plan for how many energy you'll have - but you can go with clean power, dirty power, or a mix. Your energy pool grows as the game goes along, opening up more possibilities with your actions (but also ramping up pollution).
The original Manhattan Project was kind of a miss for me, but the thing that keeps this fresh is the various paths to victory and the higher emphasis on engine-building.
The only negatives for me about the game are that it's a bit fiddly. Often times my turns involved taking resources from the supply, just to return them in the same turn, as part of a chain. But you can be smart about this and count the resource as you take the next action, rather than physically take it.
So I have been tinkering with an idea for my board game reviews and I would love feedback from you guys.
My reviews are written in danish and then translated to english on BGG. What I am considering is for games like the COIN games, to make a little video where I show how a turn works, both with all factions and with bots (if they are present) and then linking to that in the review. It would be much easier for people to grasp the gameplay and I could spent my writing time on opinions and actual reviewing instead of gameplay rundown.
How does that idea sound to you guys?
My reviews are written in danish and then translated to english on BGG. What I am considering is for games like the COIN games, to make a little video where I show how a turn works, both with all factions and with bots (if they are present) and then linking to that in the review. It would be much easier for people to grasp the gameplay and I could spent my writing time on opinions and actual reviewing instead of gameplay rundown.
How does that idea sound to you guys?
I think the board game community needs more written content and less video. Mostly because explaining games or reviewing games can be a lengthy process that is harder to skip in video than in text. Not to mention searchability.
What do you think the limitations of explaining through text is? The quality of the translation?
Yes it is mainly a translation concern.
But there is also the fact that the last three GMT games I have covered where all COIN games, and most of the structure of play is the same, so you end up typing alot of the same, and simply asking people to read a different review for a complete overview feels weird to me.
Personally, if I were reading up on a game, I think I would either read the written reviews and ignore any extermal links including video, or just look for videos about the game on youtube.
Not related: anyone have any experience with selling on the Geek Market? Thinking of unloading my copy of Normandy '44 1st ed since I am unlikely to ever get to play it (it's been gathering dust for 8 yrs....)
Not related: anyone have any experience with selling on the Geek Market? Thinking of unloading my copy of Normandy '44 1st ed since I am unlikely to ever get to play it (it's been gathering dust for 8 yrs....)
I've sold and traded a number of things on BGG. I have found that just listing it in the geek market rarely moves the item.
If you've got other things you wanna get rid of, an auction on BGG is a great way to get exposure on it. BGG has a couple different places that allows you to promote your auction, it shows up in the front page, and people sometimes get a little crazy with bids and give you more than you would have thought to ask for it. I'd say you only have one game but it's a hot item or rare OOP it's still worth an auction.
You can also search to see if your local area has a flea market geek list where you can list it. The positives here are local drop-off and people are usually subscribed to the list, so your game will get eyeballs when they check their notifications.
Thanks. Man, BGG is such a bad site. How in blazes was I supposed to know about flea markets?
I've sold stuff on BGG as well. I'm pretty fair with prices when I'm selling things, so they move fairly quickly. It's better than the cut that Ebay takes, that's for sure!
Rover: I'll try Energy Empire. We liked the original Manhattan Project but we found the bombing just too punitive in the original game. We played it several times but it just fell out of the rotation.
I've ordered the new Concordia: Venus full game. I've already got the base game and all the expansions. I just figured we can use the extra resources when we play anyway. It wasn't much more than the Venus expansion. That, and I'm pretty much a completionist.
Rover: I'll try Energy Empire. We liked the original Manhattan Project but we found the bombing just too punitive in the original game. We played it several times but it just fell out of the rotation.
I've ordered the new Concordia: Venus full game. I've already got the base game and all the expansions. I just figured we can use the extra resources when we play anyway. It wasn't much more than the Venus expansion. That, and I'm pretty much a completionist.
Thanks for the reply. I am going to stick to the written reviews :)
On second thought, I think I will play Normandy '44 solo/coop with my SO. Us as one side, and me as the other side. Kind of like a dungeon master or AI or something. I think it'll be interesting to learn about the strategy and challenges of the battle rather than winning/losing a game.
How do you guys house rule Zombicide, if at all? There are some rules, like "you hit your teammates if you miss" that are anti-fun so we avoid them. Now that I have access to the Zombie survivors, its hard to how to play to balance. The Resurrection mode completely changes the balance but almost seems kinda necessary to win.
I have never heard of this Batman game, seems awesome. Wish I hopped on RE2 as well. So no way I can get in on Batman late?
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I don't know about late pledges for Batman but Monolith, the company behind the game, doesn't do retail. They will likely have a 2nd kickstarter or expansion this year if I had to guess but that isn't confirmed as far as I know. There are always people selling KS games after release... Just how much do you want to pay.
EDIT:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/806316071/claustrophobia-1643/posts/2346272
Our next Kickstarter campaigns:
- Batman Gotham City Chronicles 2: in the course of 2019
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Haha I heard bad things. Gonna open it today I hear some people have damaged components