I backed blood on the clocktower. My group of friends and I sometimes do murder mystery nights so I think this will be a decent alternative for those that don't like the role playing to be as intense.
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
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As I said in the Discord channel- there is so many red flags with that Kickstarter I wouldn't be surprised if we are here again next year and the game still isn't out and it's in development hell. I'd like to back it but I'm super wary about it.
I'm not in discord. I'd be curious to see what your concerns are. I'm sold on the game but I don't hesitate cancelling kickstarters when there are red flags.
- Loads of unanswered questions in the comments.
- Eg: How big is the box, How will it close, how thick are the tokens, how robust is the box?
- Art isn't even started yet. We've no idea how the final product will it will look, also no proper mock ups.
- They've never produced a game before- good chance feature creep will add to delivery times.
- A lot of custom components and no factory prototypes from Panda yet- Trickerion designers promised a felt box for their collectors edition and had to change it as it wasn't working out for them.
It seems they have a game designed but no idea how it's final featured product will look- Seize the bean was in a better position when they started their kickstarter and is now... 6 months behind and is only just in to full production so probably going to be nearly a year late if not longer.
SU&SD hyping this game up without the HUGE caveats was foolish and I'm sure it'll bite them in the arse in future.
- Eg: How big is the box, How will it close, how thick are the tokens, how robust is the box?
- Art isn't even started yet. We've no idea how the final product will it will look, also no proper mock ups.
- They've never produced a game before- good chance feature creep will add to delivery times.
- A lot of custom components and no factory prototypes from Panda yet- Trickerion designers promised a felt box for their collectors edition and had to change it as it wasn't working out for them.
It seems they have a game designed but no idea how it's final featured product will look- Seize the bean was in a better position when they started their kickstarter and is now... 6 months behind and is only just in to full production so probably going to be nearly a year late if not longer.
SU&SD hyping this game up without the HUGE caveats was foolish and I'm sure it'll bite them in the arse in future.
It's a bit weird, as it's pretty much contrary to how they generally approach kickstarters. I can only assume the game is exceptionally fun, and that they were a bit blinded by that. It does look like a pretty great game. I'm leaning towards waiting for a future retail version at the moment. The shipping cost alone is exceptionally high to the EU. Higher than to the UK, weirdly.
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Clocktower is a really fun game, but they've been working on it for four years and still don't have anything but placeholder art? Most board games that go to kickstarters these days are all but done and coming from reliable publishers. Compare it to a kickstarter I am backing, Shadows of Kilforth, which has gorgeous art examples from an experienced publisher. Night and day.
There is also the issue of them praising it for encouraging the GM to ignore rules, despite the game rules explicitly stating that the GM is NOT allowed to ever break the rules.
No worries. They way things are going so far I'd be surprised if anything gets answered- time will tell.
I have the family addicted to Santorini right now. We did a bracket tournament last week and I won. They want to another tomorrow. Great game. I bought the expansion immediately and I am considering painting it.
Roll Player + expansion has gotten some solo play from me basically just to get the rules nailed down before introducing the group to it. I rarely play board games solo, opting for video games or one of my other hobbies instead. It's a pretty fun game and I am glad to have it in my collection.
Sagrada and Azul have hit the table in recent weeks, with each of my kids liking one more than the other. I think they like whichever game they win the first time and it becomes their new favorite. My oldest daughter is still undefeated in Splendor. We're talking easily over a dozen plays. It's crazy.
I have been painting Zombicide Black Plague for well over a year now and am officially past the half way point. I was lucky enough to get the original BP Knight & Huntsman pledges for $100 total, which is a steal. It added a significant amount of models to paint. I am happy to have it though, because the prices keep getting higher and higher. March has been an extremely productive month for me with 40ish zombies painted, a trebuchet, and 10 heroes completed!
I'm also almost finished with all the missions in the modern Zombicide base game with my group. We have taken the same 6 characters through the entire game and it has been fantastic. Playing with everything is the only way to play!
Roll Player + expansion has gotten some solo play from me basically just to get the rules nailed down before introducing the group to it. I rarely play board games solo, opting for video games or one of my other hobbies instead. It's a pretty fun game and I am glad to have it in my collection.
Sagrada and Azul have hit the table in recent weeks, with each of my kids liking one more than the other. I think they like whichever game they win the first time and it becomes their new favorite. My oldest daughter is still undefeated in Splendor. We're talking easily over a dozen plays. It's crazy.
I have been painting Zombicide Black Plague for well over a year now and am officially past the half way point. I was lucky enough to get the original BP Knight & Huntsman pledges for $100 total, which is a steal. It added a significant amount of models to paint. I am happy to have it though, because the prices keep getting higher and higher. March has been an extremely productive month for me with 40ish zombies painted, a trebuchet, and 10 heroes completed!
I'm also almost finished with all the missions in the modern Zombicide base game with my group. We have taken the same 6 characters through the entire game and it has been fantastic. Playing with everything is the only way to play!
Honestly, Dominion is still probably the best deckbuilding game out there. Most deckbuilders out there run off of buying cards off a market row, and that's just not a very good mechanic. Aside from that, even the base game has a lot more variety than just about any deckbuilder out there. Just changing a couple of the cards you're playing with can drastically change the way the game works and force players to adopt different playstyles.
The only other pure deckbuilder that can compete is Valley of the Kings. That game also has a market row mechanic, but it's a tiered market row and a key part of the game is all about manipulating that market row so it turns a negative into a positive.
I love deck building games, probably my favorite card/board games. Dominion is really, really good, I just find it sometimes lacking in the interaction department, but there are probably addons that solve that (I don't have any of them yet, sadly).
I don't really know why I don't have 7 wonders yet, I would probably love it. Is the duels version good as well?
I don't really know why I don't have 7 wonders yet, I would probably love it. Is the duels version good as well?
If you like head-to-head competitive, 7 Wonders Duel is excellent in my opinion. The expansion might not even be necessary since the base game is pretty balanced -- I think the only criticism is that military and/or science may not be QUITE as viable in the base.
I always recommend any or all of the Valley of the Kings sets if you ever want a portable deckbuilder. It has:
* Interaction in cards (affect other players' cards / scoring / hand)
* Interaction in the market (affect options for other players)
* Interesting choices for the cards you buy (instead of dead turns buying gold in Dominion etc., all cards can act as money OR their effect)
* An interesting time progression (you have to keep putting cards in your tomb or you can't score them, and you'll start panicking near the end of the game because you haven't entombed enough...but if you entomb a powerful card then you can't use its effect).
Thanks, I will check it out. Seems like a nice portable game - it also got that Pegasus-treatment for German/Austrian/Swiss market, which I always appreciate.
I also have been playing a lot of Smah Up! lately. It's cool but can be read-heavy and slow, but tactics, theme-flavour and "take that" is a plus for me.
I also have been playing a lot of Smah Up! lately. It's cool but can be read-heavy and slow, but tactics, theme-flavour and "take that" is a plus for me.
If anyone has old Star Wars Destiny cards, you might want to look at the infinite format holocron that came out today. There are a ton of changes: https://www.reddit.com/r/swdestiny/comments/b8kqbh/rrg_updated_infinite_standard_trilogy_holocrons/
Perhaps most noteworthy is that old cards, even though they're not longer legal in standard play, are legal in infinite play. A lot of them got significantly cheaper so you can do things like play Chirrut and Baze on the same team with 2 dice each! Plus, a bunch of characters gained subtypes. For example, Luminara is cheaper AND now a Jedi Leader. Kallus is now a Trooper Leader.
Perhaps most noteworthy is that old cards, even though they're not longer legal in standard play, are legal in infinite play. A lot of them got significantly cheaper so you can do things like play Chirrut and Baze on the same team with 2 dice each! Plus, a bunch of characters gained subtypes. For example, Luminara is cheaper AND now a Jedi Leader. Kallus is now a Trooper Leader.
Nice! No notice for me yet. I am looking forward to playing it. It looks like fun. On Mars hits April 18th on Kickstarter too.
New Lord of the Rings LCG deluxe expansion announced today too..
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/4/2/a-shadow-in-the-east/
Welp. I caught the Go bug. Bought a set of glass stones and a bamboo board today for around $60 CAD total.
The board's etched lines are very unevenly colored though. How can I best fill in the etched lines so that the board's lines looks uniform?
The board's etched lines are very unevenly colored though. How can I best fill in the etched lines so that the board's lines looks uniform?
Gave up and bought 7 Wonders since I needed a non-party game for a large group. Always liked the game, but not enough to buy it since someone else always had it (not in my current group though). Also bought Codenames Pictures as a replacement for vanilla (due to language barrier). These are also my first purchases from a FLGS, yay?
From things I played recently I really liked Decrypto, it's a hassle to explain but it's very fun and challenging.
From things I played recently I really liked Decrypto, it's a hassle to explain but it's very fun and challenging.
Wait what? So all the parts about random effects and the GM favoring the losing team is part of a strict ruleset?
On the one hand it feels bad for a reviewer to misrepresent how a game is played
On the other hand, if the way the reviewer plays makes the game more enjoyable
On the other hand, if the way the reviewer plays makes the game more enjoyable
Played Dragoon this weekend and it was a lot of fun, but I feel like $50 bucks is a steep price for what it is. I would pay $50 no question for the Gold Edition with all of the nice metal pieces, but not for what is in the regular edition.
I just ordered Dice Throne which I havent played before but think it looks really cool. I already want expansions and I dont even have the base game in hand yet, lol.
But the thing I am so excited about right now is that I finally ordered Key to The Kingdom. It is a vintage game but holy hell is it amazing. I found a copy on ebay for 50 bucks that was only missing one piece (a bridge piece that can be easily replaced). I have had my eye on this game for the past 3-4 years and just now pulled the trigger.
I cant WAIT to get this to the table. After a thorough cleaning that is....
I just ordered Dice Throne which I havent played before but think it looks really cool. I already want expansions and I dont even have the base game in hand yet, lol.
But the thing I am so excited about right now is that I finally ordered Key to The Kingdom. It is a vintage game but holy hell is it amazing. I found a copy on ebay for 50 bucks that was only missing one piece (a bridge piece that can be easily replaced). I have had my eye on this game for the past 3-4 years and just now pulled the trigger.
I cant WAIT to get this to the table. After a thorough cleaning that is....
This game is known as "Taralans Traumland" in Germany and my brother and I loved that when we where kids. Fantastic game.Played Dragoon this weekend and it was a lot of fun, but I feel like $50 bucks is a steep price for what it is. I would pay $50 no question for the Gold Edition with all of the nice metal pieces, but not for what is in the regular edition.
I just ordered Dice Throne which I havent played before but think it looks really cool. I already want expansions and I dont even have the base game in hand yet, lol.
But the thing I am so excited about right now is that I finally ordered Key to The Kingdom. It is a vintage game but holy hell is it amazing. I found a copy on ebay for 50 bucks that was only missing one piece (a bridge piece that can be easily replaced). I have had my eye on this game for the past 3-4 years and just now pulled the trigger.
I cant WAIT to get this to the table. After a thorough cleaning that is....
Oh my goodness. I LOVED that game the one time I got to play it.
That reminds me of another game though, but I can't remember the name. Fantasy game, I know a Manticore is involved and the monsters had cardboard chits that went into their bases that hid their stats. I think it was a 1 v many ala Hero Quest... anyone know what I'm talking about?
Edit: found it. Darkworld.
I am not sure what do you mean by eccentric ... do you exotic? There are several companies that do metal dice and I have seen them around convention. Barnes & Nobel also sell metal dice set for RPG along with most game hobby shop. Quick google got me these ...
https://www.dieharddice.com/about
https://www.norsefoundry.com/ I think I seen them at convention
Its always fine to do houserules. But they should never be a part of a review, especially if you do not inform your readers about it being a houserule.
But the thing I am so excited about right now is that I finally ordered Key to The Kingdom. It is a vintage game but holy hell is it amazing. I found a copy on ebay for 50 bucks that was only missing one piece (a bridge piece that can be easily replaced). I have had my eye on this game for the past 3-4 years and just now pulled the trigger.
I cant WAIT to get this to the table. After a thorough cleaning that is....
I recall playing it many years ago, it's really interesting as experiments go. I wonder if one of the reproduction game kickstarter folks might ever decide to take a look at it.
I think I read a few months back that someone had secured the rights to it (may be the same folks that re-made Fireball island). Speaking of Fireball Island, that is another one on my immediate radar.
I know the Fireball Island folks are working on a revamp of Dark Tower at the moment, a game my sister had in the 80s (I was a little too young at the time) and I thought was genuinely fascinating. Even if I was scared of the 'plague' icon!
Ha! Even though I think Dominion is a great game, this is the biggest reason why I'll never buy it!I gaze into the face of true madness.
Isn't that like 5k cards? Your fingers would be dust.
(And it would cost more than an all in kickstarter pledge to sleeve no doubt.)
I do still have that on the cards (b'dum-*tish*) at some point. Ulp.
Unless it's like your most favorite game to play and you play it weekly I don't see why you would want to sleeve Millennium Blades. We used to played it when my kids were at home and even when we were playing it for entire months (couple times a week) we still didn't use all the cards more than a few times.
I've read a lot of positive things about Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right. How does it play as a two player game? I'd like to play it with my wife. However, wanted to get opinions on it first.
My understanding is Root is a below average 2 player game. Its great at 4 though.
That's my impression as well. My wife and I play 2P to learn it and then be able to teach it whenever there are more people.
It's a very fun game, but borderline bad with only two players. The expansion has an AI player that can be added to the mix to even it out with fewer players, but I'd still only really recommend it if you're going to play it with more than two players.
I would definitely not recommend Root for 2 players. Maybe check out some other games with kinda similar mechanics?
Spirit Island works great for 2P, features "dudes on a map" with a novel theme (you play as different gods expelling colonists from your pristine island), and each player has unique powers and gameplay - but it's a full co-op unlike Root.
If you definitely want to battle with your 2nd Player, there are some good asymmetric games to look at, but I wonder how much of your interest in Root is the theme and artwork.
Spirit Island works great for 2P, features "dudes on a map" with a novel theme (you play as different gods expelling colonists from your pristine island), and each player has unique powers and gameplay - but it's a full co-op unlike Root.
If you definitely want to battle with your 2nd Player, there are some good asymmetric games to look at, but I wonder how much of your interest in Root is the theme and artwork.
I had an opportunity to play Blood on the Clocktower with about 14 other people last night. It took us about 5 hours to play 2 games but it felt much shorter than that. My immediate impression was pretty positive, we were trying to unravel a difficult puzzle throughout the game but never felt frustrated with it. I also liked the role dead townsfolk played, letting them continue to participate and giving them one last all-important vote is way better than player elimination.
That SU&SD review strikes a weird tone that they normally avoid, game is good , but you certainly don't "not care about the hobby" if you don't back it or enjoy it.
Edit: Also, the "Bad Moon Rising" scenario seems a bit hit or miss, it seems like it's either everyone dies very fast or no one dies for like 4 rounds.
That SU&SD review strikes a weird tone that they normally avoid, game is good , but you certainly don't "not care about the hobby" if you don't back it or enjoy it.
Edit: Also, the "Bad Moon Rising" scenario seems a bit hit or miss, it seems like it's either everyone dies very fast or no one dies for like 4 rounds.
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Huge props to GMT for cancelling Scramble for Africa. The games designers description made it sound like the typical euro "we treat colonialism like it was fun and games. After being called out, not only did they cancel it but made a very sincere apology where they lamented the fact they didn't catch this before getting called out on the game.
Aye- I saw that, after reading the description I was kinda waiting for the shoe to drop where as you're punished or something happens. Nope! Just exploit those Africans! Genuinely surprised it made it this far.
Not surprised at the vehement defence of it on BGG- old white gammon men shouting about censorship. Absolute fucking cock ends.
Not surprised at the vehement defence of it on BGG- old white gammon men shouting about censorship. Absolute fucking cock ends.
I'm sure you can figure out a way to take the core mechanics and reskin it into a game with a more acceptable theme. As it was though, yeah no bueno.