I got a copy of Seal Team Flix in the mail and was pretty bummed to find out it had actual visible mold growing on the wooden components. The game smells absolutely awful, just totally foul.
Well I'm pleased to say that they responded quick, within a day and a half. They said that they will get a new copy of the game sent out to me, but will be opening it and personally inspecting it beforehand to make sure there are no mold issues. Score! I am really hyped up for Seal Team Flix, so that is great news. Now I'm just trying to think if there are any components worth saving out of the moldy copy.
I'm very curious too. I expect shipping costs for Kickstarters will go up by a couple of dollars, and there could be a big rush to get current Kickstarters out quickly before the tariffs go in effect. Let's hope it's just temporary.I am curious how the newly announced tariffs will effect existing Kickstarters.
I'm very curious too. I expect shipping costs for Kickstarters will go up by a couple of dollars, and there could be a big rush to get current Kickstarters out quickly before the tariffs go in effect. Let's hope it's just temporary.
that's awful, it seems like a ton of kickstarters just happened last month and a 25% hike is a big deal
here is a quote someone posted that is making me a tad nervous:
(From a game designer)
"DVG News…
If you've been following the news, you've seen the stories about the US-China trade war. It's true, the trade war is going to levy duties on game products leaving China that were not previously in place. The estimate is a duty of 25% added to the cost of the games.
To put this into perspective, I received a phone call from our printer in China yesterday. We've worked together for years, and this is maybe the second or third time they've called. All our communications are done via email. They wanted to reach out to make sure I understood that this is a very bad thing.
The printer confirmed the duty, and said the exact date will probably be sometime in June, and all games leaving China after that will have the extra cost, which they must of course pass on to me.
This catches DVG at a bad time as we have Castle Itter, Pavlov's House reprint, and all of Warfighter Shadow War being printed right now. None of them are exiting China before the deadline.
What this means…
There has been talk of companies with games that were funded with Kickstarter months ago, adjusting the pricing in the pledge manager to take the duty increase into account. I will make every attempt not to have to do this. However, I will probably need to increase the MSRPs for this wave of games before they ship out through the distribution channels.
I sincerely hope the two countries can work something out in the coming weeks to cancel the proposed duty increase.
In closing, it would be very easy for this to turn into a political thread, let's not. Once the discussion turns political, it will go from civil discourse to flaming circus in about 3 posts."
The above versus a quick post by Double Six dive who says that they are exploring the issue but felt impact was minimal and they would "eat" the cost.
Trump's trade war with China is causing panic in the tabletop game industry
Proposed 25 percent tariff would impact board games, card games, RPGs, and even dice
President Donald Trump's disastrous trade war with China is causing a panic inside the board game industry. A list of tariffs on Chinese imports proposed by the United States trade representative would raise the cost of virtually everything needed to produce modern tabletop games. John Stacy, executive director of the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), says that tariffs could dramatically reduce the number of new games in production in the United States. Even worse, they could cost workers and business owners their livelihoods.
It should be everything. I already had the initial stuff from the first KS, so I'm getting the expansion stuff this time around, which is next week for US folks. I assume if you ordered everything, and just chose "Wave 2 Shipping" or whatever, you're gonna get everything tomorrow.7th Continent is arriving Saturday, is it all of the content or just some of it, I don't know. Going to give this game one more shot and then I am getting rid of it. Just seems too hard for hard's sake unless I am playing the action cards very wrong.
It should be everything. I already had the initial stuff from the first KS, so I'm getting the expansion stuff this time around, which is next week for US folks. I assume if you ordered everything, and just chose "Wave 2 Shipping" or whatever, you're gonna get everything tomorrow.
Going off of the KS updates, it sounds like everything arrived in the US last weekend, and should start shipping out next week.Probably, but none of the three items listed sounded like all the expansions but I figure it should be most things.
7th Continent is arriving Saturday, is it all of the content or just some of it, I don't know. Going to give this game one more shot and then I am getting rid of it. Just seems too hard for hard's sake unless I am playing the action cards very wrong.
I've heard that one of the most important tricks to enjoying 7th Continent is to skip the first scenario and go to the next one. For whatever reason the designers decided to make it super long and a lot less fun than the later ones.I need to retry 7th Continent again too. Getting the second box will be a good reason for that. I feel you on the difficulty, I'll probably just play with some more forgiving rules just to have fun exploring all the cards and figuring out the puzzle type stuff. Like I'm not really playing that game for a hard core survival deck management thing (even though I totally should've known that's what I was getting when I backed it).
I need to retry 7th Continent again too. Getting the second box will be a good reason for that. I feel you on the difficulty, I'll probably just play with some more forgiving rules just to have fun exploring all the cards and figuring out the puzzle type stuff. Like I'm not really playing that game for a hard core survival deck management thing (even though I totally should've known that's what I was getting when I backed it).
That's what I did for the "recommended first" quest line. I sort of just went through it after losing all my action cards twice but it left me scratching my head and wonder how in the world were people supposed to beat that mission. The amount of space you must cover in such little time is ridiculous and there aren't many ways to get food.
Finally got around to playing Grimm Forest with the family. Was fun and easy to learn. Went quick.
Picked up MegaLand at target for $11.50, excited to give that one a try
My copy of Noctiluca came. That's my Saturday game this weekend I think
helps a lot until you realize you can't stack food :POnce I understood how surviving works in 7th continent I've not had an issue. Do you understand how stacking items works? I feel that's the biggest difference between survival and slaughter in the game that a lot of people get wrong.
that's more what I meant, that each food still takes a slot.Well you can put food in an item stack, but it's still only one use. They key is just making sure you cook it for the added restoration of the action deck.
I also got Megaland on sale. I can't believe how nice the insert is. I usually sleeve, but for this kids game, I'm not going to trash the nice insert to make it happen.
I also got Megaland on sale. I can't believe how nice the insert is. I usually sleeve, but for this kids game, I'm not going to trash the nice insert to make it happen.
I also got Megaland on sale. I can't believe how nice the insert is. I usually sleeve, but for this kids game, I'm not going to trash the nice insert to make it happen.
Stacking as in combining them? My problem is that it takes so many action cards to do anything that I run out of stamina before things can really get done, especially with the first mission.Once I understood how surviving works in 7th continent I've not had an issue. Do you understand how stacking items works? I feel that's the biggest difference between survival and slaughter in the game that a lot of people get wrong.
Don't forget to look UNDER the insert. I'm assuming that what should be there still is.
I hate trashing nice inserts, but I find myself doing it more and more recently to save space. Nmbr 9 (to combine two copies), word on the street (to combine base and expansion), and resident evil 2 (go from 8ish boxes to 3) are some of the recent ones I've done.
Also my thunder stone quest ks expansion came in. Still haven't sleeved this beast but need to soon, same with legendary marvel.
Also to note, my wife and I did try Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn a couple years ago, for some reason that one just didn't click with me.
What was it about Ashes that you didn't like, and what kinds of things appeal to you about Magic? I can try to narrow down some options for you based on that.
General aesthetics aside, I didn't enjoy the dice as much as I thought I would and it just felt a little too slow paced for my liking I suppose. While we didn't play it a whole lot, it did seem some of the preconstructed decks were a little off balance. We haven't had the desire to go back to the game to try the drafting rules.
As far as Magic goes, I've been a fan of the artstyle and I like the idea of being able to build a deck from it's different color classes and the card combos that can emerge from that.
Yeah I don't think Ashes even sold well or garnered much interest. I wanted to compare that game to Seasons (a good cards + dice game), but it's not exactly a CCG style game.
The most common advice is to go for Cube draft for Magic. Basically, you buy enough cards to make a large but balanced pool of cards (a "cube") that you shuffle together. From this heap, you create randomized booster "packs" that you draft for each game, much like the regular draft format. Players like this because you don't have to play it like an arms race or build decks ahead of time, you just keep cycling through this pool and each game is a unique experience.
I've never done this myself (it feels slightly hard to understand as someone who is a beginner at Magic), but there are guides online.
Alternatively you could check out a game called Epic, which is a streamlined variation of Magic. It's got the same gameplay, color classes and very similar keyword effects as Magic, but you don't use lands. The game comes in one cheap 180 card set (basically like a mini cube) that you can play draft or constructed, and there are expansion packs once you're ready to add to it. As a very casual player of these types of games, I like it.
I enjoyed playing Magic when I got into it but I didn't enjoy buying it; the CCG business model is not for me. There are a lot of games that are similar to MtG though and even more that capture the back-and-forth feel of MtG. Are you specifically looking for a card game? If not, I'd recommend Dice Throne. It reminds me a lot of how MtG feels to play. I've seen it described a lot (and describe it the same way) as Magic-meets-King of Tokyo. You've got a character that has different attacks, you roll and reroll your dice (where the King of Tokyo comparisons come in to play) to try to get the required symbols to get those attacks off so you can damage your opponent's life points, you generate currency that is similar to mana and required to use your cards, you play cards to upgrade your attacks or affect your dice (or opponent's dice) or interrupt attacks like instants in Magic. You can play it with 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, or as a free-for-all. It plays really well at 1v1 though and could be a good one for your wife and yourself to play.Wondering if anyone can offer up some suggestions about getting into either Magic: The Gathering or another similar style game. I'm just looking for something to play with my wife and/or a friend. Magic has always appealed to me and I've always wanted to play it, but the feeling used to be it's a total financial sink. But I've read a few things about duel decks or being able to still get into the game casually without dropping loads of cash.
So just wondering what my best options are. Grabbing a duel deck or a couple core sets? Or is there another game that I should look into?
Also to note, my wife and I did try Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn a couple years ago, for some reason that one just didn't click with me.
Thanks for the info! Just checked out Epic and it's cheap and seems rather close to MTG. Seems to be a cheaper jumping in point than the Magic Cube. Do you have any experience or thoughts on Keyforge? I just came across that one this morning and it sounds pretty fun.
Looking for opinions from other Heavy Gamers!
Last game I look to add this year is a three way tie between:
Trickerion
Arkwright
Lignum
If anyone can offer an opinion on which way I should lean, let me know!
I've only played Trickerion. The artwork is fantastic, but the gameplay was only okay -- it ran far too long for what it was. The game could have done with another design iteration that streamlined away the excess complications that added marginal strategic/tactical depth.
Yeah, I am struggling with this. In my heart I know Arkwright is probably the best game, but getting it to the table will be an undertaking. Food Chain has been a huge hit so far though. I know Trickerion's theme will help things out.
Thank you! Definitely putting Epic up on the list and Keyforge just sounds much easier since it's already a built deck.Keyforge is fun, I have enjoyed the times I've played. But as you probably know, it's a game where you buy a premade deck and cannot modify it. For me, this is a great thing, since deck making is the thing I have the most trouble with in these games.
The idea of Keyforge was to get a deck, play it a bunch of times to figure out its strengths and maximize what it can do. This means that you're gonna have some cards in your deck that are not "useful", at least at first glance. I like this idea, but other people don't like this because some decks are better than others and they just want to tinker and make the perfect deck. I think both POVs are fair, it's just a matter of opinion. However, there's a caveat in that if you want to change the game up you have to keep buying decks at 7-10 bucks a pop. The decks and the game do make it possible to play one deck differently each time, so there is that.
For me, I think something like Epic gives me something more authentic to Magic while being probably the cheapest and easiest way to get in and have something with variability and customization. There are a lot of good card games worth checking out but I feel like that's a good entry point.
Dice Throne looks fun - is it very similar to King of Tokyo? That's something we've already played quite a bit of in the past so not sure if it'll end up feeling redundant too quickly for us?I enjoyed playing Magic when I got into it but I didn't enjoy buying it; the CCG business model is not for me. There are a lot of games that are similar to MtG though and even more that capture the back-and-forth feel of MtG. Are you specifically looking for a card game? If not, I'd recommend Dice Throne. It reminds me a lot of how MtG feels to play. I've seen it described a lot (and describe it the same way) as Magic-meets-King of Tokyo. You've got a character that has different attacks, you roll and reroll your dice (where the King of Tokyo comparisons come in to play) to try to get the required symbols to get those attacks off so you can damage your opponent's life points, you generate currency that is similar to mana and required to use your cards, you play cards to upgrade your attacks or affect your dice (or opponent's dice) or interrupt attacks like instants in Magic. You can play it with 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, or as a free-for-all. It plays really well at 1v1 though and could be a good one for your wife and yourself to play.
Yes I saw that! How's that game? I remember eyeing it before, but for some reason I don't remember, I dropped my attention from it. Maybe it was longish or had too much narrative in a way that might harm replayability for my tastes? I don't remember. I forget about the game to be honest. I might be thinking of the other games in that series though.. Hm..
Wondering if anyone can offer up some suggestions about getting into either Magic: The Gathering or another similar style game. I'm just looking for something to play with my wife and/or a friend. Magic has always appealed to me and I've always wanted to play it, but the feeling used to be it's a total financial sink. But I've read a few things about duel decks or being able to still get into the game casually without dropping loads of cash.
So just wondering what my best options are. Grabbing a duel deck or a couple core sets? Or is there another game that I should look into?
Also to note, my wife and I did try Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn a couple years ago, for some reason that one just didn't click with me.
I'll make the obvious suggestion of KeyForge, $10 gets you a complete, unique deck. The starter box is a great option for $40 as it gives you two tutorial decks, 2 unique decks, and nice components to make the game easier to play. Sure you could money sink if you want to own a ton of decks or get a specific set of houses/cards, but if you're looking to go casual you can't beat keyforge.