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Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming
- Thread starter XShagrath
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Played Parks for the first time last night. What a beautiful game! A surprisingly cutthroat game despite the wholesome theme. Hands down the most beautiful and well organized internal game I've seen, too. The assortment of complements inside the box was just as well considered as the game's mechanics.
And Oathsworn is available. All in tier is pricey but I never care about art books or extras not tied to gameplay anyway....pledging for now while I mull it over since there's a day 1 backer box.
Kickstarter campaign.
Kickstarter campaign.
Thank you, I'm not American so things here are more expensive :(, but already bought it and really anxious to try.
Thanks. I got only the base game for now.
Hey everyone. Thoughts on Oathsworn? I've backed just to get my foot in the door but I'm seeing it's the company's first crack at a game. Not entirely concerning, I mean, look at Gloomhaven, but still wanted to see if anyone else was interested. Art looks great!
Looks interesting. But I'll personally wait until a retail release or reprint once impressions are out
I have played both games, Azul since it came out an Sintra version recently, I think Sintra is even easier to teach than original Azul. Scoring is simpler to explain in Sintra than Azul. I also feel Sintra is better than original.
I played a few rounds of Abomination to learn the rules. That game seems really, really cool. And boy, is it macabre. This is the first worker placement game with story I've checked out, and it works so well with the theme and the gameplay. So far this reminds me a lot of how well Dinosaur Islands theme blends with the gameplay, and that's a huge plus for me. Looking forward to playing a real game this weekend.
Got my copy of Pret-A-Porter today. It was a bit of a surprise since I never got a tracking number or shipping notice. The wife and I weren't able to get in a full game, but we like what we've been able to play so far. Tussie Mussie also arrived and we got in a quick game of that. Fun little game that was pretty much what I expected. Light but not too long and should be great as a travel game.
That is indeed too many...Well damn. My wave 1 shipment for Too Many Bones is here, it's big!
Looks like I'll have to do some Tetrising later.
Still getting in games of Spirit Island whenever I can & massively enjoying it.
The game is very challenging, I have managed to get two wins in with Vital Strength of the Earth now and really enjoy the defensive play style and power progression with that spirit.
I have moved onto River Surges in Sunlight today and got beaten pretty thoroughly. I think I was too focused on a similar strategy to Vital Earth but River (at least in the suggested card progression which I am still using for now) doesn't have the damage output in a similar way to make it viable, I now think that I really need to be moving around the explorers more to stop builds...fear progression felt pretty slow though and I am unsure how I would combat that to get a win.
The game is very challenging, I have managed to get two wins in with Vital Strength of the Earth now and really enjoy the defensive play style and power progression with that spirit.
I have moved onto River Surges in Sunlight today and got beaten pretty thoroughly. I think I was too focused on a similar strategy to Vital Earth but River (at least in the suggested card progression which I am still using for now) doesn't have the damage output in a similar way to make it viable, I now think that I really need to be moving around the explorers more to stop builds...fear progression felt pretty slow though and I am unsure how I would combat that to get a win.
Well damn. My wave 1 shipment for Too Many Bones is here, it's big!
Looks like I'll have to do some Tetrising later.
Just about all of that can fit in the the main/big box. I have TMB, 2 characters, and the 2 other small box expansions (Age of Tyranny & 30 Days) in the main box. I could easily fit the other two characters no problem. Probably could only fit Undertow if I removed the insert
I'm backing this one and I don't have too many reservations. I've been following along for months and I have liked what I've seen and heard so far. I'm also staying in the dark on all the bosses because I want to be surprised as they apparently intended. My wife and I should have a blast with this even if we can't get a steady group together. Although they've made the game where it's easy for folks to drop in and put apparently as well.
That's what I'll be trying to do. They do have their huge box coming with splice and dice. That would be great but until then...
That's my predicament! I just got Undertow and last 2 characters I didn't have but I have to wait for the box to store it all. I think I'll keep Undertow separate until the big box.
Still waiting on my pret a porter
I have UPS/FedEx/Usps tracing accounts and there are zero shipments coming. And portals last updated claims they sent them all out. I'm worried ahhh
Any tips on how to introduce longer (60+ mins) strategy games to my board game group? We usually have around 15-25 people and we play fillers and party games since there are too many of us to play a long 4 players game.
Buy enough copies so that everyone can be playing the same game at the same time in groups of 3-4
Offer a prize to whoever gets the highest score
😬
Seriously though you'd be better off finding the 2-3 people in that group who are interested in doing a heavier game, and get into it at the start of the night or make plans to meet up another day to play.
But then I'd have to explain the game to everyone!
The bolded is what I might end up doing starting tomorrow actually. But I created a monster that's been going on and growing for two years and I can't play the games I prefer lol.
OP
OP
For larger gaming groups, just split into smaller games. There are very few games that are supporting 10+ players, so your options are going to be fairly limited there. Splitting into smaller groups means that you can have more diversity in your game selection, and also the other people there can play a number of different games as well.
The extreme upper player count limit for strategy games is 6p. 5p gives you a lot more choices, and 4p is the sweet spot. If you want to play heavier games, you plan around those games, you don't try to brute-force them into a larger casual group
It's struck me that there's a gap in my collection; I could do with having a decent icebreaker game, that is funny but also safe for work.
Normally I'd gravitate to the likes of Jackbox for this sort of thing, but, well, "a laptop" is quite a large accessory that I won't necessarily have to hand!
Any recommendations on that front? I think of what I currently have, Codenames is perhaps the best fit, but that doesn't gravitate to 'funny' by default.
Normally I'd gravitate to the likes of Jackbox for this sort of thing, but, well, "a laptop" is quite a large accessory that I won't necessarily have to hand!
Any recommendations on that front? I think of what I currently have, Codenames is perhaps the best fit, but that doesn't gravitate to 'funny' by default.
A couple of recommendations, I find Pictomania to be a blast. It's a fairly simple game where everyone gets two cards denoting which thing in a pool of words they have to draw. Then simultaneously everyone draws and attempts to guess what other people are drawing, you get points for correct answers and finishing quickly*, you lose points for any leftover points you have not given away to people who correctly guessed your drawing. *The points you get for finishing quickly will count negatively against you if you have the most wrong. I would recommend playing on the higher difficulties if you have any decent artist, The words get more similar to each other and possibly more abstract (example having to draw the house of reps, instead of the senate ect.)
Detective Club, one player writes a world on a note pad for each player, except one which is left blank. Then each player in turn order plays a dixit style card that they think matches the word. If you know the word you are trying to figure out who doesn't, if you don't know the word your trying to blend in. After two cards per a person have been played the word is announced and then you go around trying to explain how your cards fit the words, it's quite hilarious(example the word was game and I had a couple of fish swimming toward an underwater light, so I explained the fish were playing red light green light, and the light was currently yellow). It's a lot of fun, but a tad slow.
When I Dream, is a super quick word guessing game, where 1 player is the dreamer and wheres a blindfold. Everyone else is handed a role card(fairy, sandman, boogeymen man) and take turns giving 1 word clues. The fairies are trying to get the dreamer to guess the word, boogeymen men want the word wrong and the sandmen want an equal amount of right and wrong. Each round is 2 minutes and points are dealt after each round.
I Almost Got him is Poker but everyone is a Batman villain trying to guess which player is Batman(everyone has an identity and a role(roles have certain hands that give bonuses, including Batman)) while Batman is trying to take everyone else. That could be fun if everyone already knows poker. It's from the one night werewolf guys
How's it look? I backed Etherfields pretty heavily this summer and I'm wondering how the quality of their shipments are. Hope everything is secure and the components are housed nicely in the box!
So I could play 4 games of solo Tapestry so far.
The fact that Tapestry uses an Automa system for its solo play was what made me hesitate before placing the preorder. While I love Scythe very much, I never actually had a lot of fun playing against the Automa(s). The system is quite impressive, and the AI does work well, but the major rules differences between the player and the AI always bothered me enough to make me lose interest. And the system can be quite fiddly...
That said, I can say that I am very impressed by the Automa of Tapestry. It's a much more streamlined, efficient, and fun AI system than Scythe. While the AI still acts differently than a real player, and uses a few different rules, these differences make sense and don't denature the game. You sometime definitely have the uncanny impression to play against a real person. Playing using the Automa still does have a learning curve, but the system is significantly more streamlined than Scythe, and you'll be able to completely learn how it works after a game or two.
One slight negative aspect about this system is that a few Civilizations and Tapestry cards need to be removed from the game when playing solo. Basically, everything that is heavily based on player interaction. But it's not much, we're talking about maybe 4 Civilizations and 10 Tapestry cards. Also, the Automa is VERY challenging, even at the lower difficulty levels. You need to be prepared to lose a few times, especially your first games.
I find solo Tapestry to be very fun! And I will definitely continue to play it. I really like the game.
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they pack their stuff ridiculously well. Nemesis and the Kickstarter box had custom foam padding inside the shipping box.
I know this is three months later, but if you happen to want to get rid of dungeon degenerates, I'd buy it from ya! Just PM me, if not, that's okay too! :)
I am slowly amassing a massive RPG collection, but I went the KS route, and because of that, none of my collection is here yet! :( I backed both Middara and Oathsworn.
Sounds great! Thanks a lot for the solo impressions. Will definitely keep a look out for a Christmas purchase.
Digital Spirit Island is up on indie go go for those interested...
Personally digital versions don't do a huge amount for me especially in this instance when the game is already great solo. It's also nice to get away from a screen in the evenings.
If it's anything like Through the Ages, it would be great and quick to play through an entire game...if it were for mobile.
Agreed...if this was for my iPad I would be more interested. Through the ages is great in that format.
The box they shipped it in was superb. It was a custom box with custom styrofoam inserts that hold the game and extra contents together. Came in perfectly.
I've only opened the box for the instructions so far so I haven't looked at the components but I like what I am reading in the instructions. They do a silly/neat thing of having their intro be a story but also lay out an example of a game session. "I woke up and decided to go to MOVE to the bridge and heard a noise. I know my objective is to kill the mechanic but that can wait, so I SEARCH this room and found gear and CRAFTED a flamethrower..." It was fun.
Did you get them painted? Just curious if you did and how they came out.
Backed Etherfields all gameplay tier. Thinking about upgrading it when the pledge manager opens in two weeks.
What? That's sick! Tabletop now has traditional video game tutorial. Excellent.
I'll always recommendThe Quest for El Dorado. A card drafting & racing game. Very easy to learn. Very simple. Variable set up as well. Actually perfect at 2 players or 4 players.
The Quacks of Quedlinburg is another great game but pricier. I think the expansion just came out too.
I asked here some time ago for recommendations for my nieces, and among several options the one which really resonated well with them was Incan Gold. Easy enough to understand, and still very enjoyable for adults playing along.
Incan Gold is a great press your luck game. Always Enjoy it. Also I would recommend Catan Junior, it's a great introduction to Euro board games and has nice production values.
I found that Railroad Ink is great for that. It's easy too teach and there are actually quite a few people that enjoy this kind of puzzling (like my Sudoku loving dad.) and it's a nice small package and plays equally well from 2- however many you want if you get extra boards.