I think my pret-a-porter is stuck in Germany :( for 4 days it keeps updating it's in transit but never leaves
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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
- Start date
Nusfjord, imo, is clearly A Feast for Odin's little brother. The DNA they share is immediately obvious...but they're not twins, and Nusfjord is not a dumbed down AFfO. It minimizes the "cover up negative points on your board with tiles" mechanic to something pretty breezy. Just three resources, wood, money and fish. Adds a neat forest mechanic. The elders add some freedom for players from the main worker placement board. It plays quicker, and can handle a fifth player without really bogging down.
I really like it, it's a shame it has to live in the shadow of it's sibling, because I think it does enough different things that there's room for both. However, if AFfO is too much, but you still want a Euro wp game, Nusfjord may fit the bill for you. I need to back off on board game buying just so that I can get some of the ones I already own more play time, and Nusfjord is definitely one I want to go back to.
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Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is your copy of Scythe still sealed?This is the last pic I have (badly cropped to hide dog toys all over). Probably in the middle of collectors. Not small but not like some I've seen
You're correct. My buddy has one so whenever we play it's always his ha
This is just a pet peeve of mine, but I feel like "dryness" gets misused a lot as a catch-all term (and often pejoratively) for not liking a game, when people could give a more specific reason. I just don't know what to make of the "dryness" complaint half the time.
For example, I don't love Dominion. I much prefer Star Realms, because it's more exciting to play thanks to more generous combo mechanics and the direct confrontation. Both games have very generic themes that basically don't matter, but I've never heard anybody call Star Realms dry.
Don't get me wrong, though. I think it's fine if you don't like a game's subject or artwork. Or in the case of Feast for Odin, it might be that no amount of style or quality of artwork will help you like a game designed like that (while other people love it). I just wish people were clearer about why they don't like a thing, so people don't jump into "how dare you not like the king of all deck builders" reactions.
I tried that once in TTS. Empyreal to me felt like a pretty standard game despite the ways they've tried to reinvent the theme. I mostly remember it as a game where you put a thing on a colored hex, and there were powers. Unfortunately it was visually pretty busy and hard to look at. IMO I appreciate the function of the graphics a lot more than whatever story it's trying to tell.
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sure, I get that. I think "dry" to me in the context of how I use it is even more subjectively that there isn't a lot of personality or flavor in the art or theme. If that's still too esoteric of a description, I think of something like Scythe. Before the mechs come to the table, the board itself looks "dry" using this context, and the setting is a post war europe, but there's a visual satisfaction with the various main units + their animals.
I didn't mean to say Feast for Odin looked like shit, I take that back. I think "visually satisfying" is more of the completely subjective point I was trying to make, and I think Everdell looks incredible from a board and art standpoint, and because of that I would take it over a "better" Worker Placement game. Maybe it's lifespan wouldn't be as long, but It'd have a better shot at getting played in my group.
I hope i'm explaining myself clearly, even if i'm alone in this lol
Thanks for your feedback. I'd like to try Odin myself, but I think it's too much for my group. Nusfjord might be more their thing.
Brass Birmingham up for preorder at GameNerdz, shipping 10/4
Edit: Looks like Cool stuff has it for $50 if GN is oos or you wanna do store pickup and you have one nearby
Edit: Looks like Cool stuff has it for $50 if GN is oos or you wanna do store pickup and you have one nearby
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At first I was worried it would never make it to my table due to complexity, but then I remembered I bought Terra Mystica earlier this week, so obviously I don't care what my group thinks lol
Hmm Ravensburger is making a Minecraft boardgame "Builders and Biomes". If it's as cool as Jaws and Horrified seem then I'm in.
I have decided to cancel my order of Tapestry for now & maybe see if I can pick one up nearer Christmas or early next year. Happy to see what a few friends opinions are of the game (and perhaps get some plays in on their copies first).
Have got a copy of Spirit Island coming my way instead! Have watched some play through's and it certainly looks challenging.
Have got a copy of Spirit Island coming my way instead! Have watched some play through's and it certainly looks challenging.
-stares at his unopened copy of Terra Mystica-
no idea what you're talking about
Fuck cmon
Glad the rising sun sold out so no chance of a fomo impulse buy.
OP
OP
Just another reason that people should just avoid CMON like the plague.
Sure, there might be a tariff on board games from China, but it's only 15% of the manufacturing cost, and should not affect final retail prices that much. Even then, that should have no bearing on those ridiculous non-US shipping prices. They're definitely trying to get people in the door with an "attractive" price, and then completely bend them over on shipping & handling.
We did 2 player Horrified tonight. Did easy mode . Was super fun. We won pretty easy with 6 damage. Will do 3 monsters next time. Loved it though and the art and style was great
Thousands of people are lining up to pay hundreds of dollars (+ an insane amount for shipping) to get these games full of plastic and minis, and yet some of the same people are complaining that Tapestry is too expensive and that it should't have included its landmark minis because it increased the price.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I wanted Rising Sun but...not that bad. I'm not sure how CMON gets away with it. I get it that they're shipping from America but there are literally shipping prices in the $300+ range.
Then again, I don't really understand shipping.
Played Tapestry with 4 tonight, and I can't stop thinking about it. It's not balanced... At all... But I'm ok with that! I look at it like an optimization puzzle, if I feel l optimized the best I could, I am ok with how I did.
The gameplay is so good, and I almost wish someone would take it and balance the shit out of it for my friends that enjoy more balanced games
The gameplay is so good, and I almost wish someone would take it and balance the shit out of it for my friends that enjoy more balanced games
I've played a couple of solo games of Teotihuacan using the expansion modules from the Late Preclassic Period box. I did 2 modules in the first game, and 4 in the second game - tried them all at least once across those two games. Here are some impressions:
Height of Development (the new Orange temple track)
This is a new temple track that rewards you with some pretty awesome powers if you climb it. However, the only way up the track is through the wild temple action, so it made me focus a lot on going to that Worship space, or getting it as a bonus. The track also has spaces that let you move a worker back counter-clockwise, which can be a big deal if you want to revisit a space and not go all the way around.
Seasons of Progress (rule tweak for each era)
This one gives you a random draw at a rule tweak (usually a beneficial one) that lasts throughout one era. For example, one of them made the pyramid scoring multiplier 5/4/3 instead of 4/3/2. This one came up in the first era, and I definitely as hard as I could building pyramid pieces, because 5x made for some really nice points on top of what I already got from the pyramid.
Priests and Priestesses (individual player powers):
Everyone gets a special ability, but it has a dual-edged sword element to it. For example, the power I got was to make every Main Action cost 1 cocoa, no matter how many other workers are on it. That is an amazing power, but it also means you pay 1 even if the space is empty (in that case it would have been free). The other power I had a choice of (you draw 2 and pick one) was to get a free resource and temple move when you pick up a mask (amazing) - but you can't pick up anything except masks, which is a big gamble.
Architecture (an alternate board for Decorations) and Development (alternate board for Pyramid building)
These two seemed like the least different / new things of the set, but they do make the game slightly harder by making the power of the ability equal to the lowest power worker (like the resource spaces). However, they also have some interesting new bonuses as well, like a free worker unlock that I took advantage of once to great effect.
Overall? Teotihuacan is a game that I sit down to and have no idea what I'm doing. Trying to plan a sequence of moves melts my brain, there are just so many strange branches to the decision tree, and resources are very tight. I think this expansion really helps you try and focus your strategy by giving certain activities more of an incentive. I just found myself doing Worship or going after temple bonuses way more than I ever have because of that orange track and those awesome powers, or throwing everything into pyramid building because of the extra points. A lot of the new things help you break rules, and it turns out it's pretty fun to do that in a game that might be a little too rigid and incomprehensible sometimes.
Height of Development (the new Orange temple track)
This is a new temple track that rewards you with some pretty awesome powers if you climb it. However, the only way up the track is through the wild temple action, so it made me focus a lot on going to that Worship space, or getting it as a bonus. The track also has spaces that let you move a worker back counter-clockwise, which can be a big deal if you want to revisit a space and not go all the way around.
Seasons of Progress (rule tweak for each era)
This one gives you a random draw at a rule tweak (usually a beneficial one) that lasts throughout one era. For example, one of them made the pyramid scoring multiplier 5/4/3 instead of 4/3/2. This one came up in the first era, and I definitely as hard as I could building pyramid pieces, because 5x made for some really nice points on top of what I already got from the pyramid.
Priests and Priestesses (individual player powers):
Everyone gets a special ability, but it has a dual-edged sword element to it. For example, the power I got was to make every Main Action cost 1 cocoa, no matter how many other workers are on it. That is an amazing power, but it also means you pay 1 even if the space is empty (in that case it would have been free). The other power I had a choice of (you draw 2 and pick one) was to get a free resource and temple move when you pick up a mask (amazing) - but you can't pick up anything except masks, which is a big gamble.
Architecture (an alternate board for Decorations) and Development (alternate board for Pyramid building)
These two seemed like the least different / new things of the set, but they do make the game slightly harder by making the power of the ability equal to the lowest power worker (like the resource spaces). However, they also have some interesting new bonuses as well, like a free worker unlock that I took advantage of once to great effect.
Overall? Teotihuacan is a game that I sit down to and have no idea what I'm doing. Trying to plan a sequence of moves melts my brain, there are just so many strange branches to the decision tree, and resources are very tight. I think this expansion really helps you try and focus your strategy by giving certain activities more of an incentive. I just found myself doing Worship or going after temple bonuses way more than I ever have because of that orange track and those awesome powers, or throwing everything into pyramid building because of the extra points. A lot of the new things help you break rules, and it turns out it's pretty fun to do that in a game that might be a little too rigid and incomprehensible sometimes.
Pandemic: Cthulhu ended up arriving last Friday. My fiancee and I played a few games with just the two of us and man, it is HARD. I want to say almost borderline impossible with just two people. We ended up getting 3 gates shut twice but before we could shut the last we would run out of cultists.
All in all it is a lot of fun and actually required a little more strategy then I had originally assumed. Going to have some people over next weekend and we will definitely be playing. Thanks again for the rec!
All in all it is a lot of fun and actually required a little more strategy then I had originally assumed. Going to have some people over next weekend and we will definitely be playing. Thanks again for the rec!
Spirit Island has a super thick rule book! Looking forward to playing.
Game is amazing and it's far less complex than it seems, but there's usually lots of questions early about what does what, what a word or phrase means, etc. I'd recommend bookmarking the living FAQ
And also check out their commonly misplayed rules.
Thanks a lot, will definitely take a look at these.
I'm a big fan on Pandemic and the spin off titles have been consistently above average to great.
I think that Iberia in particular is probably the best version of Pandemic I have played outside of Legacy season one. Glad you are enjoying Cthulhu, I don't own it but really enjoyed what I played of a friends copy.
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Oh my, you're in for a treat.Spirit Island has a super thick rule book! Looking forward to playing.
Went to Fal Con yesterday and got a chance to play a few games including Awkward Guest. Game came down to the wire and everyone at the table was within a turn away from winning, but each person had a different element of the puzzle they were trying to sure up when the person made the winning guess.
We had this pre-ordered in May. I'm happy to hear it's finally on its way. I'm hearing nothing but good things.
Any opinions on The Isofarian Guard I really appreciate how it has so few minis and the relatively low cost.
Very nice organisers!
Played my first solo Spirit Island game....it really gets the brain cells working, I can't say I am particularly great at teaching games at the best of times but can't even imagine trying to teach a new player this right now. As mentioned above the turn progression/phases are actually pretty easy along with individual card actions being relatively simple once you have an understanding of the iconography.
What really pushes it is examining the board on a number of different timescales of what is due to build & what is ravaging. In addition I am tracking two levels of fast and slow powers that interact with each other along with the overall area control game, individual spirits abilities and power levels....it feels like a hell lot to track.
I watched a few good run throughs before purchasing but my first game still ran for over 2 hours due to the amount of sheer thought going into turns. I sped up a bit by the end, I think my first moves took about half an hour of looking at the board and powers.
It's certainly the heaviest and most 'strategic' feeling game I think I have so far. I really enjoyed it, I can tell it is something that a lot of time can be put into.
Played my first solo Spirit Island game....it really gets the brain cells working, I can't say I am particularly great at teaching games at the best of times but can't even imagine trying to teach a new player this right now. As mentioned above the turn progression/phases are actually pretty easy along with individual card actions being relatively simple once you have an understanding of the iconography.
What really pushes it is examining the board on a number of different timescales of what is due to build & what is ravaging. In addition I am tracking two levels of fast and slow powers that interact with each other along with the overall area control game, individual spirits abilities and power levels....it feels like a hell lot to track.
I watched a few good run throughs before purchasing but my first game still ran for over 2 hours due to the amount of sheer thought going into turns. I sped up a bit by the end, I think my first moves took about half an hour of looking at the board and powers.
It's certainly the heaviest and most 'strategic' feeling game I think I have so far. I really enjoyed it, I can tell it is something that a lot of time can be put into.
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Nice I want to get it back to the table again, and I may be teaching it this Wednesday at a local game store. There's so many cool things for you to see and do in that box still!
Very nice organisers!
Played my first solo Spirit Island game....it really gets the brain cells working, I can't say I am particularly great at teaching games at the best of times but can't even imagine trying to teach a new player this right now. As mentioned above the turn progression/phases are actually pretty easy along with individual card actions being relatively simple once you have an understanding of the iconography.
What really pushes it is examining the board on a number of different timescales of what is due to build & what is ravaging. In addition I am tracking two levels of fast and slow powers that interact with each other along with the overall area control game, individual spirits abilities and power levels....it feels like a hell lot to track.
I watched a few good run throughs before purchasing but my first game still ran for over 2 hours due to the amount of sheer thought going into turns. I sped up a bit by the end, I think my first moves took about half an hour of looking at the board and powers.
It's certainly the heaviest and most 'strategic' feeling game I think I have so far. I really enjoyed it, I can tell it is something that a lot of time can be put into.
It's a great game. I managed to sell my copy with the promos for a good price and did a late pledge on here. I love how scalable the difficulty is.
Huh, that's quite a nice tapestry organizer, where abouts did you snag that bad boy?
etsy
I like how you can just give each player their tray to start setup
Sweet, I should grab one of these, looks like it makes setup a breeze
I've yet to try it at 2 players, but it worked well at 3. The biggest change I see in a 2 player game is you get to ask about 4 topics instead of 2, so more information can potentially passes between players. Part of the strategy of the game is both knowing what to ask for and knowing how much to offer from your hand. In my 3 player game I often had only 1 or 0 cards relevant to the things being asked about, but the rare time I had 3-4 I had to think about how much I wanted to offer, or go all in for a big info trade. A 2 player game would probably be more exciting in some ways since those decisions would come up more often. I hope to get a 2 player game played this weekend.
nice
If you play a 2 player let us know how it went. I may try to do 2 player this weekend also but pretty busy. I have more odds of doing 2 player than 3+ though so curious to hear if it's as good/better/worse
Finally got to play Custom Heroes, it is fantastic.
Also a similar game: L.A.M.A is pretty fun, even if we got the rules wrong.
Also a similar game: L.A.M.A is pretty fun, even if we got the rules wrong.
For the first time, I have ordered a game from a print and play company. I saw some pictures of the final products and it looks like they make pretty good stuff so, here is hoping. It is also pretty funny that I ordered it at like 3 am Monday morning and the game will be here tomorrow. Shit is like Amazon Prime.
My nemesis stretch goal box came today . I may just sell it. Still haven't gotten base game to table
the stretch goal box . I'd still like to get the base game played
we took a trip to go visit a friend a few months ago and got a chance to play the base game
That was a very fun and good game
I ended up watching a video about how to organize it, took me a while to organize it in any case.
Anyone use cardboard caravan before to get spiel games? How long does it take to ship for USA delivery?