I despise Clue because of the disconnect between the supposed narrative. If I'm playing as the person who committed the crime, I should know that.
If you soak the fourth page of the manual in a mixture of salt and vodka* a hidden story is revealed. Everyone got so sloppy drunk last night, that the murder doesn't remember what happened.
*DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS
I actually find winning as the murderer to be MORE satisfying. I've always interpreted it as finding and destroying enough evidence to guarantee that you get away with it.
Hmm, I'm actually trying and failing to think of a "classic" game that's asymmetrical in any way. Is D&D the first, with the introduction of the DM?
I despise Clue because of the disconnect between the supposed narrative. If I'm playing as the person who committed the crime, I should know that.
If you soak the fourth page of the manual in a mixture of salt and vodka* a hidden story is revealed. Everyone got so sloppy drunk last night, that the murder doesn't remember what happened.
*DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS
I actually find winning as the murderer to be MORE satisfying. I've always interpreted it as finding and destroying enough evidence to guarantee that you get away with it.
Hmm, I'm actually trying and failing to think of a "classic" game that's asymmetrical in any way. Is D&D the first, with the introduction of the DM?
Would Mastermind count?
AC:NH Chris from Glosta SW-5173-3598-2899 DA-4749-1014-4697 @vyolynce@mastodon.social
+2
jergarmarhollow man crewgoes pew pew pewRegistered Userregular
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
I still recommend Carcassonne a lot, yeah. I've played it a bunch and it seems to still be fun, and it hits the table easily.
Looking to pick up a lighter strategy game and I'm having a really hard time deciding between Splendor, Lords of Vegas and Stone Age.
Splendor is so light that after 2 plays I think I'm done with it. Calling it a strategy game is a bit of a stretch for me, it's more like Intro to Euros 101.
Stone Age seemed really light when I started playing it, but by the end I could see the strategies. I haven't played Lords of Vegas.
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
On the other hand, I never get tired of Carcassonne. But I also have a bunch of expansions that I rarely get to use.
0
jergarmarhollow man crewgoes pew pew pewRegistered Userregular
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
I still recommend Carcassonne a lot, yeah. I've played it a bunch and it seems to still be fun, and it hits the table easily.
It's probably just that my tastes are changing. El Grande has been part of my collection for a while, and I still love bringing it out to new or experienced players alike.
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
At this point I would recommend Caverna over Agricola, but Agricola is still a top-tier game.
Looking to pick up a lighter strategy game and I'm having a really hard time deciding between Splendor, Lords of Vegas and Stone Age.
Splendor is so light that after 2 plays I think I'm done with it. Calling it a strategy game is a bit of a stretch for me, it's more like Intro to Euros 101.
Yeah this was my impression of it as well. It's not bad but there just isn't enough there.
AC:NH Chris from Glosta SW-5173-3598-2899 DA-4749-1014-4697 @vyolynce@mastodon.social
I got to play Carcassonne for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it a bit lacking. However, I found out after the game we were playing the simple rules (? Have to look that up for next time) and I had the absolute worst luck with tiles. I finished with a score of 30-something if I remember correctly, might have been 40s.
Meanwhile, my wife went completely around the score tracker and almost halfway a second time. It was ridiculous.
I'll play it again, but definitely not a great first impression.
0
HedgethornAssociate Professor of Historical Hobby HorsesIn the Lions' DenRegistered Userregular
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
At this point I would recommend Caverna over Agricola, but Agricola is still a top-tier game.
I'd recommend Agricola because it's $30-$50 cheaper than Caverna most of the time, and because I still think no other worker placement teaches players to carefully prioritize their actions as much as Agricola does. Playing Agricola is a crash course for every other WP game.
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
I still recommend Carcassonne a lot, yeah. I've played it a bunch and it seems to still be fun, and it hits the table easily.
Funny, was just coming here looking for something to the tune of 25-35 dollars to round out my order.
Thinking maybe a party game, since the other games are Sherlock and twilight struggle. Sad CSI doesn't have Funemployed, cause that looks fun.
PAD ID - 328,762,218
0
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Do you guys still recommend Agricola and Carcassonne to people? I feel like I'm getting SO familiar with these games that they seem lackluster from my familiarity. Do you guys have replacements for them in your collection?
At this point I would recommend Caverna over Agricola, but Agricola is still a top-tier game.
I'd recommend Agricola because it's $30-$50 cheaper than Caverna most of the time, and because I still think no other worker placement teaches players to carefully prioritize their actions as much as Agricola does. Playing Agricola is a crash course for every other WP game.
Caverna is just so much less dick-punchingly punishing than Agircola, but I do see your point.
Honestly my answer to "what should I get" is to start an entire conversation so I don't really have a quick response, but Caverna has supplanted Agricola for me... kind of.
Champions of Midgard is a fun worker placement if you want something a bit more friendly to newcomers. And everyone loves chucking dice to slay monsters, right?
My go to for Worker Placement with some bite is still Viticulture, but I could also see myself making a case for Orleans after a recent streak of playing it.
Oh, I forgot about Orleans for a second. But I think Champions of Midgard might win out if you're aiming to bring in people who don't normally play board games. Battling monsters will likely get people's attention and interest more than...merchanting in medieval France?
But as a game, yeah, Orleans is probably my fav worker placement.
I personally haven't tired of Agricola, or Carcassonne, or heck even Settlers of Catan.
As for Agricola being supplanted by Caverna they are just really different games and it's worth figuring out what kind of game the person wants before saying which they should go with. Caverna is very easy going, easy to get points, easy to get things running. It's mostly about trying to get the most points each turn. Which for some people make it a blast and some people make it boring. Agricola is like trying to extract victory points from a well that's run dry with your bare hands. For some people that is super, for others it is just frustration.
I'm happy to have both in my collection and bring out each game for different groups based on the people in it. The only leg up Agricola has over Caverna in my mind is that the set up is the same every time in Caverna, meaning I can pursue the same strategy every single game. While Agricola forces me to try new things because of the cards.
Never played Agricola but it always seemed a hole missing from my collection. Might have to pick that one up. Is it a Kickstarter or general release this year?
Also I just saw that the PA news post/strip today is about Tharsis, which I picked up a few days ago. If you like punishingly difficult coop boardgames like Ghost Stories you should check it out, though it is solo only (annoyingly). Lots of dice rolling, lots of all of your crew dying horribly in space.
I got to play Carcassonne for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it a bit lacking. However, I found out after the game we were playing the simple rules (? Have to look that up for next time) and I had the absolute worst luck with tiles. I finished with a score of 30-something if I remember correctly, might have been 40s.
Meanwhile, my wife went completely around the score tracker and almost halfway a second time. It was ridiculous.
I'll play it again, but definitely not a great first impression.
If I can be blunt, usually when someone feels they had bad luck with tiles, it means they built themselves into a bad position. Part of the point of Carcassonne is building layouts that keep your options open, that can be completed by the widest range of other tiles, and trying to hem your opponents in, and force them into specific combinations.
Also, does the simple rules just mean not using the farmer? That definitely changes the game a lot.
Also I just saw that the PA news post/strip today is about Tharsis, which I picked up a few days ago. If you like punishingly difficult coop boardgames like Ghost Stories you should check it out, though it is solo only (annoyingly). Lots of dice rolling, lots of all of your crew dying horribly in space.
I've been playing this, too. It's gloriously unforgiving. And random chance just completely fucks you sometimes.
I hear that there are different endings you can get, but I've only actually finished once.
I got to play Carcassonne for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it a bit lacking. However, I found out after the game we were playing the simple rules (? Have to look that up for next time) and I had the absolute worst luck with tiles. I finished with a score of 30-something if I remember correctly, might have been 40s.
Meanwhile, my wife went completely around the score tracker and almost halfway a second time. It was ridiculous.
I'll play it again, but definitely not a great first impression.
If I can be blunt, usually when someone feels they had bad luck with tiles, it means they built themselves into a bad position. Part of the point of Carcassonne is building layouts that keep your options open, that can be completed by the widest range of other tiles, and trying to hem your opponents in, and force them into specific combinations.
Also, does the simple rules just mean not using the farmer? That definitely changes the game a lot.
The farmer is almost a separate game unto itself. My group and I have had some epic battles over some damned farmland.
AC:NH Chris from Glosta SW-5173-3598-2899 DA-4749-1014-4697 @vyolynce@mastodon.social
I got to play Carcassonne for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it a bit lacking. However, I found out after the game we were playing the simple rules (? Have to look that up for next time) and I had the absolute worst luck with tiles. I finished with a score of 30-something if I remember correctly, might have been 40s.
Meanwhile, my wife went completely around the score tracker and almost halfway a second time. It was ridiculous.
I'll play it again, but definitely not a great first impression.
If I can be blunt, usually when someone feels they had bad luck with tiles, it means they built themselves into a bad position. Part of the point of Carcassonne is building layouts that keep your options open, that can be completed by the widest range of other tiles, and trying to hem your opponents in, and force them into specific combinations.
Also, does the simple rules just mean not using the farmer? That definitely changes the game a lot.
Understandable, and as my first game I'm sure I made some terrible moves. As far as bad luck, though, I mean that I didn't draw a single city tile for probably the last third of the game. Left two of my meeples stranded.
I know we didn't use the farmers (laying them down on fields?) and I'm not sure what else may have been different.
Also I just saw that the PA news post/strip today is about Tharsis, which I picked up a few days ago. If you like punishingly difficult coop boardgames like Ghost Stories you should check it out, though it is solo only (annoyingly). Lots of dice rolling, lots of all of your crew dying horribly in space.
Another promising PC board game is Dicetiny. It's still in early access and I've yet to try it out but it reminds me of Culdcept on the PS2 which I absolutely loved (and hope the new version comes out in the US for the 3DS). Kind of like Monopoly with Magic The Gathering card play.
I got to play Carcassonne for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it a bit lacking. However, I found out after the game we were playing the simple rules (? Have to look that up for next time) and I had the absolute worst luck with tiles. I finished with a score of 30-something if I remember correctly, might have been 40s.
Meanwhile, my wife went completely around the score tracker and almost halfway a second time. It was ridiculous.
I'll play it again, but definitely not a great first impression.
If I can be blunt, usually when someone feels they had bad luck with tiles, it means they built themselves into a bad position. Part of the point of Carcassonne is building layouts that keep your options open, that can be completed by the widest range of other tiles, and trying to hem your opponents in, and force them into specific combinations.
Also, does the simple rules just mean not using the farmer? That definitely changes the game a lot.
Understandable, and as my first game I'm sure I made some terrible moves. As far as bad luck, though, I mean that I didn't draw a single city tile for probably the last third of the game. Left two of my meeples stranded.
I know we didn't use the farmers (laying them down on fields?) and I'm not sure what else may have been different.
Well there's only roads, cities, cloisters and farms, so I would assume you only left out farms. I'd play again with farms and see if that changes your opinion - Carcassonne is already a pretty simple game, and I think leaving farmers out makes it too simple. Leaving them out also lowers the value of non-city tiles, since they don't have value beyond the road or cloister on them, and on a tile by tile basis, cities are more valuable. Farmers even out the value of the tiles, and make you think about farmer positions with each tile, regardless of what is on the tile itself.
+2
ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
You know what might make a good OP list? "New Games to get hyped for in 2016."
This is a phenomenal idea. I guess I'll just make this the Board Games/Star Wars Rebellion watch thread.
0
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
We played Star Trek Catan with two newbies, and me and another player with a couple of games under our respective belts. I won because I managed to get an initial spot with good numbers (as well as the only red resource with a good % - the other reds were put into 4, 11 and 12).
For comparison's sake:
- Red (Tritanium) + Green (Dilithium) makes a Starship (road)
- Food (Yellow) + Oxygen (White) + Water (Blue) gets a Development Card
Currently everybody's strategy is 1) Make Ships, 2) Build Outposts. In the last game, with Red being so scarce, I won by getting enough of my other resource and market-trading them for what I need.
Are there any other interesting/offbeat strategies I could pursue?
Dude I work with is into games, too, so we'll set stuff up on the conference room and play during lunch.
We finished off our first Forbidden Stars game and I lost. Pretty cool game, dig how everything works together. The warp fucked me in the end, prevented me from tieing up the game but I don't hold a grudge. Really interested in seeing how the Orks and Eldar play.
Also, I am addicted to math trades ever since someone on these forums turned me onto them. I just finished one and am getting rid of my copy of Nations I picked up for like $25 specifically for a math trade and getting the newest version of Catacombs which I'm really looking forward to.
+2
AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Champions of Midgard is a fun worker placement if you want something a bit more friendly to newcomers. And everyone loves chucking dice to slay monsters, right?
Not when you're rolling badly and clearly out of it by pretty early. That game can be brutally unpleasant if you miss a couple rounds of fighting. Fun otherwise, though!
Looking to pick up a lighter strategy game and I'm having a really hard time deciding between Splendor, Lords of Vegas and Stone Age.
I would probably go with Stone Age.
I'm not a big fan of Lords of Vegas but thats just because my sister always swoops in on my casinos and rolls better than me so I always end up dead last with no chance of getting back.
I despise Clue because of the disconnect between the supposed narrative. If I'm playing as the person who committed the crime, I should know that.
If you soak the fourth page of the manual in a mixture of salt and vodka* a hidden story is revealed. Everyone got so sloppy drunk last night, that the murder doesn't remember what happened.
*DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS
I actually find winning as the murderer to be MORE satisfying. I've always interpreted it as finding and destroying enough evidence to guarantee that you get away with it.
Hmm, I'm actually trying and failing to think of a "classic" game that's asymmetrical in any way. Is D&D the first, with the introduction of the DM?
Does Scotland Yard count as classic? Because it's definitely asymmetrical with one being the criminal on the run and the others being the investigators trying to catch him.
+4
jergarmarhollow man crewgoes pew pew pewRegistered Userregular
Man, I am having such a good time with Dominion these days, thanks to the Dark Ages expansion. Just played a few three-player games of it last night with a guy new to Dominion, and everybody just loved it. I picked it up on a whim (and on the cheap), but now it's like one of my favourite expansions. So many cards give you a big initial benefit but can hurt you in the long run, like Death Cart, Rats, Beggar, and Marauders. The Knights are super mean but knock each other out. The numerous ways to interact with the trash is fun and thematic.
For me this expansion kind of out-intrigues the Intrigue expansion, by adding more interesting attack cards, and out-alchemizes the Alchemy expansion, by adding new mechanisms that still play nice with other expansions. Though I will admit that the Dark Ages cards tend to overshadow the other cards. So there's "Dominion" and then there's "Dark Ages Dominion". But I like it.
I've been thinking about a game for awhile now, I've been calling it Conspiracy. The idea I have is that every player gets a conspiracy group that they are playing for, Illuminati for example, that is trying to take over the world through the government, media, and religion. As the players play, they can spend their turns increasing their hold over the people using cards drawn from the piles, or spending those cards to activate effects that cut power from another player. But this is the catch. While each person's conspiracy is kept secret, some players might be working for the same Conspiracy and not know it, which means that taking power from one player might be hurting your cause. The winner(s) would be determined by which conspiracy has gained the most influence when all the piles are drawn. I'm thinking of doing it as a card game with meeples as markets for influence.
The unknown teammates reminds me of a Study in Emerald I think.
Although in that game it's just the two sides/factions, so you're either "us" or "them".
My first thought was directly to Illuminati from Steve Jackson, with the added wrinkle of Study's hidden teams.
It might be original enough though.
True, many games get their love by combining a bit of this or that. How many players would you need though to support more than two conspiracies? 6? Could get ugly fast but also could work well as a two rooms and a boom style party game.
Anyone with Suburbia have issues with the box corners? Got my trade copy today and despite being shrink wrapped still, and in a shipping box that showed no damage, one of the lid corners is completely split and two of the bottom corners are split. Nothing packing tape can't fix, but irritating. Did they have quality issues in a reprint?
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Hmm, I'm actually trying and failing to think of a "classic" game that's asymmetrical in any way. Is D&D the first, with the introduction of the DM?
Would Mastermind count?
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EDIT:
I still recommend Carcassonne a lot, yeah. I've played it a bunch and it seems to still be fun, and it hits the table easily.
Splendor is so light that after 2 plays I think I'm done with it. Calling it a strategy game is a bit of a stretch for me, it's more like Intro to Euros 101.
Stone Age seemed really light when I started playing it, but by the end I could see the strategies. I haven't played Lords of Vegas.
On the other hand, I never get tired of Carcassonne. But I also have a bunch of expansions that I rarely get to use.
It's probably just that my tastes are changing. El Grande has been part of my collection for a while, and I still love bringing it out to new or experienced players alike.
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At this point I would recommend Caverna over Agricola, but Agricola is still a top-tier game.
Yeah this was my impression of it as well. It's not bad but there just isn't enough there.
Meanwhile, my wife went completely around the score tracker and almost halfway a second time. It was ridiculous.
I'll play it again, but definitely not a great first impression.
I'd recommend Agricola because it's $30-$50 cheaper than Caverna most of the time, and because I still think no other worker placement teaches players to carefully prioritize their actions as much as Agricola does. Playing Agricola is a crash course for every other WP game.
Funny, was just coming here looking for something to the tune of 25-35 dollars to round out my order.
Thinking maybe a party game, since the other games are Sherlock and twilight struggle. Sad CSI doesn't have Funemployed, cause that looks fun.
Caverna is just so much less dick-punchingly punishing than Agircola, but I do see your point.
Honestly my answer to "what should I get" is to start an entire conversation so I don't really have a quick response, but Caverna has supplanted Agricola for me... kind of.
But as a game, yeah, Orleans is probably my fav worker placement.
As for Agricola being supplanted by Caverna they are just really different games and it's worth figuring out what kind of game the person wants before saying which they should go with. Caverna is very easy going, easy to get points, easy to get things running. It's mostly about trying to get the most points each turn. Which for some people make it a blast and some people make it boring. Agricola is like trying to extract victory points from a well that's run dry with your bare hands. For some people that is super, for others it is just frustration.
I'm happy to have both in my collection and bring out each game for different groups based on the people in it. The only leg up Agricola has over Caverna in my mind is that the set up is the same every time in Caverna, meaning I can pursue the same strategy every single game. While Agricola forces me to try new things because of the cards.
More likely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafl_games
Yeah I have a neat little version of one of those I picked up at a ren faire a while back.
I don't think Lookout does Kickstarters do they?
If I can be blunt, usually when someone feels they had bad luck with tiles, it means they built themselves into a bad position. Part of the point of Carcassonne is building layouts that keep your options open, that can be completed by the widest range of other tiles, and trying to hem your opponents in, and force them into specific combinations.
Also, does the simple rules just mean not using the farmer? That definitely changes the game a lot.
I hear that there are different endings you can get, but I've only actually finished once.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
The farmer is almost a separate game unto itself. My group and I have had some epic battles over some damned farmland.
Understandable, and as my first game I'm sure I made some terrible moves. As far as bad luck, though, I mean that I didn't draw a single city tile for probably the last third of the game. Left two of my meeples stranded.
I know we didn't use the farmers (laying them down on fields?) and I'm not sure what else may have been different.
Another promising PC board game is Dicetiny. It's still in early access and I've yet to try it out but it reminds me of Culdcept on the PS2 which I absolutely loved (and hope the new version comes out in the US for the 3DS). Kind of like Monopoly with Magic The Gathering card play.
Well there's only roads, cities, cloisters and farms, so I would assume you only left out farms. I'd play again with farms and see if that changes your opinion - Carcassonne is already a pretty simple game, and I think leaving farmers out makes it too simple. Leaving them out also lowers the value of non-city tiles, since they don't have value beyond the road or cloister on them, and on a tile by tile basis, cities are more valuable. Farmers even out the value of the tiles, and make you think about farmer positions with each tile, regardless of what is on the tile itself.
This is a phenomenal idea. I guess I'll just make this the Board Games/Star Wars Rebellion watch thread.
For comparison's sake:
- Red (Tritanium) + Green (Dilithium) makes a Starship (road)
- Food (Yellow) + Oxygen (White) + Water (Blue) gets a Development Card
Currently everybody's strategy is 1) Make Ships, 2) Build Outposts. In the last game, with Red being so scarce, I won by getting enough of my other resource and market-trading them for what I need.
Are there any other interesting/offbeat strategies I could pursue?
We finished off our first Forbidden Stars game and I lost. Pretty cool game, dig how everything works together. The warp fucked me in the end, prevented me from tieing up the game but I don't hold a grudge. Really interested in seeing how the Orks and Eldar play.
Also, I am addicted to math trades ever since someone on these forums turned me onto them. I just finished one and am getting rid of my copy of Nations I picked up for like $25 specifically for a math trade and getting the newest version of Catacombs which I'm really looking forward to.
Not when you're rolling badly and clearly out of it by pretty early. That game can be brutally unpleasant if you miss a couple rounds of fighting. Fun otherwise, though!
I would probably go with Stone Age.
I'm not a big fan of Lords of Vegas but thats just because my sister always swoops in on my casinos and rolls better than me so I always end up dead last with no chance of getting back.
Does Scotland Yard count as classic? Because it's definitely asymmetrical with one being the criminal on the run and the others being the investigators trying to catch him.
For me this expansion kind of out-intrigues the Intrigue expansion, by adding more interesting attack cards, and out-alchemizes the Alchemy expansion, by adding new mechanisms that still play nice with other expansions. Though I will admit that the Dark Ages cards tend to overshadow the other cards. So there's "Dominion" and then there's "Dark Ages Dominion". But I like it.
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It is also possibly the most thematic card ever produced for any game in the history of the universe.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
Has this kind of game been made before?
Although in that game it's just the two sides/factions, so you're either "us" or "them".
My first thought was directly to Illuminati from Steve Jackson, with the added wrinkle of Study's hidden teams.
It might be original enough though.
True, many games get their love by combining a bit of this or that. How many players would you need though to support more than two conspiracies? 6? Could get ugly fast but also could work well as a two rooms and a boom style party game.