So, what would be the best version of Munchkin to introduce people to the game? Alternatively, which is the least nerdy? I figured Super Munchkin would be my best bet.
Also, Ticket to Ride is expensive as fuck.
I found Cthulu to be the most fun. It's end-game is much shorter too, as their are multiple game-ending conditions.
It's nerdy, but I like it a lot. I really can't wait to pick up my own copy. I had to leave Munchkin at home when I moved to Japan, so I may import it from sjgames' website.
Is Paths of Glory as hard to learn as the instructions make it seem?
I don't think so. I'm new to the game and I didn't find it hard to pick up. There are lots of exceptions and special rules in the game, but the basic game engine is pretty clean. Many of the special rules don't apply until later in the game after cards are added to the deck and new nations enter the war. You don't have to worry about the Near East map until turn 3 or so, for example.
Here is a good intro and guide to the game (Microsoft Word file). It describes the basic rules first, and saves the nitty gritty details for later in the document.
Is Paths of Glory as hard to learn as the instructions make it seem?
I don't think so. I'm new to the game and I didn't find it hard to pick up. There are lots of exceptions and special rules in the game, but the basic game engine is pretty clean. Many of the special rules don't apply until later in the game after cards are added to the deck and new nations enter the war. You don't have to worry about the Near East map until turn 3 or so, for example.
Here is a good intro and guide to the game (Microsoft Word file). It describes the basic rules first, and saves the nitty gritty details for later in the document.
I wish they made some of these into computer games that could be played over email. Where I could take my turn and email it to my opponent. This would be great since most of my board gaming buddies ended up in different parts of the world.
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited September 2008
Well, Race For The Galazy turned up and I've been through the rules. Sounds good although I'm a little worried that the interaction between players has gone beyond subtle and in to nearly non existent. Still, I won't judge until I play. Although I'm not quite sure when I'll get the time, hopefully tomorrow or at the weekend.
I wish they made some of these into computer games that could be played over email. Where I could take my turn and email it to my opponent. This would be great since most of my board gaming buddies ended up in different parts of the world.
I feel this way sometimes, but I've played some boardgames online and you really do lose some of the magic when you aren't sitting around a table together with your friends having a chat and playing a game. Saying that, it does give an avenue for roleplaying, which is quite cool.
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Not really having any boardgame-playing friends around here Xbox Live Arcade has given me my first tastes of Catan and Ticket to Ride, both of which have been awesome fun. Do they get much play on Live from people in here?
So I just played Puerto Rico for the first time with two of my friends.
Holy fuck that was awesome. I edged out the win because of a smart purchase of a large building and the fact that I made no accidental errors in the early turns when I wasn't sure what to do. Fantastic game. This and Power Grid should keep me busy for a while.
Edit: Although my elation is a little muted by the sight of the incredible epic World War 2 simulators I see above that I MUST FUCKING PLAY.
Puerto Rico is indeed awesome; Power Grid is on my list of games to pick up when I get the chance.
But I must have that Battlestar Gallactica game; my group has been enjoying Shadows over Camelot and it looks like a sci-fi version with better quests. Amazingly well-done licensed game from what I'm seeing of the playthrough on the boards.
Frak all of you for getting to play that but leaving me out!
Edit: And upon searching for it, the game doesn't even come out until October.
So, what would be the best version of Munchkin to introduce people to the game? Alternatively, which is the least nerdy? I figured Super Munchkin would be my best bet.
Also, Ticket to Ride is expensive as fuck.
I found Cthulu to be the most fun. It's end-game is much shorter too, as their are multiple game-ending conditions.
A friend of mine already owns Cthulhu, what would you recommend as a second choice? Oh, and I want to go on record saying that Super Munchkin is a huge disappointment.
Munchkin impossible isn't overly nerdy; it's got a James Bond theme, with classes of Playboy, Tourist, and Assassin and weapons and gadgets that you would find in spy movies.
Finally was able to get my hands on a copy of Tomb. Was going to snag it at GenCon, but I was tapped financially from other purchases (and having to spend about $100 on cab rides over three nights... :x frickin' roomies always heading back to the hotel 15-ish miles away before I'm done with events...). Played a few two-player games, and it's quite aces. Probably one of the better, if not the best, dungeon-crawling board game, since it can actually be completed in under a hour.
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So if I wanted to buy Munchkin, what should I get? The people I'd be playing with are complete geeks. We're also starting a GURPS campaign and would like to know what to buy (preferably cheap).
With complete geeks who have played D&D before, I'd vote for vanilla munchkin or Munchkin Cthulu.
Be advised, though, that Munchkin is a fairly light game; for me, it's fun a few times while the cards are still new to read, but it doesn't seem to reward repeated play strategically.
With complete geeks who have played D&D before, I'd vote for vanilla munchkin or Munchkin Cthulu.
Be advised, though, that Munchkin is a fairly light game; for me, it's fun a few times while the cards are still new to read, but it doesn't seem to reward repeated play strategically.
Hmm... Maybe I'll put the $20 to something a bit deeper then. Tomb looks amazing. But there are so many board games I don't have yet. Pandemic, A Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Struggle of Empires, Power Grid.... Aaaaaghhh!!!
Edit: Ah, most of those games aren't getting a re-print untill October and I found a copy of A Game of Thrones for $25, that made the choice easy.
So we had a game of Shadows Over Camelot at the local comics store after Friday Night Magic.
It doesn't start well; one of the knights goes running off to pick up Lancelot's Armor without having the cards he needs to complete it (set of 2 and set of 3), and I as Arthur cannot funnel him the cards since I just don't have them either. He's sitting there after a few turns hoping the board will fill and his cards will be enough to win, but he's run out of things to do so he either has to abandon or accuse. Random accusation flies, and he hits the traitor. So things are suddenly looking a bit better.
But we've all dropped down to one life to try to accelerate our quests/stem the flow of evil, then we get hit with "All knights lose one life" and suddenly the entire team is dead except for Sir Kay, who drank from the grail. Camelot falls in short order after that.
Does anyone have any play experience with the SoC expansions? Would they be worth picking up?
So we had a game of Shadows Over Camelot at the local comics store after Friday Night Magic.
It doesn't start well; one of the knights goes running off to pick up Lancelot's Armor without having the cards he needs to complete it (set of 2 and set of 3), and I as Arthur cannot funnel him the cards since I just don't have them either. He's sitting there after a few turns hoping the board will fill and his cards will be enough to win, but he's run out of things to do so he either has to abandon or accuse. Random accusation flies, and he hits the traitor. So things are suddenly looking a bit better.
But we've all dropped down to one life to try to accelerate our quests/stem the flow of evil, then we get hit with "All knights lose one life" and suddenly the entire team is dead except for Sir Kay, who drank from the grail. Camelot falls in short order after that.
Does anyone have any play experience with the SoC expansions? Would they be worth picking up?
I was just about to buy Shadows over Camelot (the guy on BGG never confirmed the order for A Game of Thrones), and just a few hours after placing an order for Shadows over Camelot the guy confirms the order for A Game of Thrones.
Well, I decided that since we've been enjoying Shadows Over Camelot, I should pick up a few more co-op style games. So I just put in a big order to Thoughthammer:
Coop:
Arkham Horror
Pandemic
Battlestar Galactica
Lord of the Rings
Some interesting two player card games:
San Juan
Blue Moon Legends (Knizia card game)
Citadels
And just because I want to play them:
Agricola
Twilight Imperium
Ingenious (will probably spend most of its time at school with me)
Should make for fun times soon, though some of those are pre-orders and will be awhile getting to me. And if anyone is in/near central VA and wants to get together for games, let me know.
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited October 2008
That is a big damn order, but you've done well there. Very well indeed.
I've still not plated Race For The Galaxy. I've just not been able to gather enough people who like boardgames together at once. Stupid, real life commitments.
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Not sure how I feel about those card games (I've never really heard of them, I think), but all the others are pretty sweet looking. I haven't played LotR, Pandemic, Agricola, or Ingenious, but they all look like games that I would love to play, if I had the cash to spend on them.
I usually hate super-random games, but Arkham Horror was pretty fun when I tried it for the first time this Saturday. I'm looking forward to playing it again.
Agricola just looks really interesting to me; anything that is playable as a single-player puzzle but is also a good enough multiplayer game to dethrone Puerto Rico on BGG is one I just couldn't not buy.
Fed ex says I should receive my copy of Agricola on Wednesday, so I'll let you know how it goes, then.
I highly recommend it. It is a much faster paced version of Risk. If you decide to play with the new rules (you can still play classical risk on it, you'll just be using a different map), you get to play risk with:
The Moon: That's right! You can go up in space and dominate the moon!
Underwater colonies: a new type of territory available for players who have a Naval Commander (more on this later)
Power cards: Powers which can be purchased using 'credits', the game's currency' with which you can use to turn the tide of war in your favour. There are five or six different kinds of power card decks, but you only begin with access to two of them.
Commanders: There are five different kinds of Commanders: Land, Diplomat, Nuclear, Naval, and Space. Players begin their campaign with a Land Commander and a Diplomat, giving them access to the Diplomat and Land Commander power card decks from which to purchase Power Cards.
Commanders give bonuses to a player for attacking certain kinds of territories. The Land Commander, for example, allows you to roll a D8 when defending or attacking a land based territory. Space and Naval Commanders allow you to launch your forces to the moon after building a launching station on one of your territories (purchased with five credits I believe, I can't quite remember), and naturally the Naval commander allows you to invade underwater cities, which remain unclaimed at the beginning of the game because no one can invade them to begin with.
The Nuclear commander gives you access to the Nuclear Power Card deck. THIS MEANS EXACTLY WHAT IT IMPLIES!
Did I mention that instead of soldiers and cannon miniatures to represent your armies, you get three different kinds of mech? Small mechs represent 1 army. Medium mechs represent 3. The big guys represent 5.
And, if nothing else, the map of the 23rd century is hilarious to look at. The United States is no more, and is now split into a few countries such as the Exiled States of America and the Northwestern Oil Emirate. Hong Kong is also its own country. Canada has been split into several factions.
Also, at the beginning of the game, players randomly determine three land territories in the world which become Nuclear Fallout Zones. These areas are forbidden, devastated lands that can not be invaded, captured, or moved through, thus forcing you to consider how to adapt your strategy to the loss of those territories.
The winning goal for the game is to be the player who owns the most territories by the end of a 5 year campaign (five game turns, which can actually take 2 to 3 hours).
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I should get a better Risk; I only have vanilla. Looking at BGG, the original star wars trilogy risk and 2210 seem to have the most love; I'll keep an eye out.
In other news, I've managed to play through LotR (solitare with two players) and Arkham Horror (solo) and am pleased with both. I'll be taking them to our after-Friday-Night-Magic game night tonight and see if I can get a game up this evening.
Would there be interest in my running LotR on the board, the way BSG and Pandemic have been? I'd like to see how the game develops with more players. I realize the BSG game has fizzled for now, else I would wait for that to finish up before we try something new.
And once my copy of Pandemic comes in, I'd love to play/run that a time or two with people on here. Don't suppose anyone who already has a copy would like to run another session of it in the meantime?
Edit: Oh, I should mention my other impressions.
San Juan looks solid; played a couple of 2p games with it and it works well as a quick, light-PR fix.
Blue Moon Legends seems meh, but I was trying it solitaire (controlling both sides) so it may blossom with an actual opponent. Still, it was cheap and I got some plastic dragons (and the cards have great artwork).
Haven't broken out Citadels and TI:3 yet, but from a quick look at the citadels deck and rules I fully expect to enjoy that one. The rest were back-ordered.
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited October 2008
I quite like the prequel trilogy variant of Risk, just because of the moment when you get to execute Order 66.
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Mike Danger"Diane..."a place both wonderful and strangeRegistered Userregular
edited October 2008
Alright, so the people in my dorm have been having a good time playing your traditional sort of word games--Taboo, Scattergories, Apples to Apples. I'd like to go out and get a board game for everyone to play, and the store down the street has got a pretty good selection. My question is what people think would appeal most to a lot of people. I desperately want to blow $50 on the Arkham set (they seem to have most/all of the expansions as well), but I'm not sure how well Lovecraft will be received.
Also, has anyone played the Order of the Stick game? I saw that at the store, and I'm curious to know how it is.
I will be playing the OotS game this weekend; Hellbunny got a copy of it for her birthday, and I'm heading up her way for Charcon (in Charleston, WV). So, I'll let you know on Monday how it goes.
How many people are you looking at playing with?
Carcassonne is strategic but still fairly light for 2-6, so I could see that working. But it is traditional-turn based, with the down time that entails. Puerto Rico is great with 3-5 players, and has rules adaptions for 2p that work well. Each of you is running a plantation in Puerto Rico; mechanically, each round the players take turns selecting a role, then each player gets to do the action associated with that role. Not much down time, deep strategy, and multiple reasonable paths to victory with a minimum of randomness. Citadels is cheap and good for 2-8 players (secretly choose a role, then take turns building your city in role order. Each role has a special power, so it becomes a bluffing game to try to avoid the special abilities of the assassin/thief while making progress on your city). Also, it's card based but follows board game mechanics, so it can be a good transition game for your group.
I don't think Arkham Horror is a good choice for a first board game. It's far too complex for complete novices; let them get some practice manipulating all the little pieces in PR for a while first.
Other possibilities:
Abstract strategy for multiple players:
Ingenious (match colors to score; lowest scoring color is the one that counts at the end)
Blokus (I like the trigon version, because it handles three players better and it is more difficult to completely block in another player)
Tantrix (play tile matching colors; largest ring or longest chain scores the number of tiles contained (doubled for ring))
Rumis (blokus with 3d pieces)
All of those games are simple to teach and visually very interesting, while offering strategic play.
Co-operative games:
Shadows over Camelot (all working together, with the possibility of a traitor in your midst attempting to bring down Arthur's reign)
Lord of the Rings (2-5 hobbits working together to destroy the one ring)
Pandemic (see the let's play on this board; great game for 1-4 players working together; currently out of print waiting on the reprint later this month)
Battlestar Galactica (not really co-op, though; two teams, but the Cylon team starts secretly; not out yet, but will be within a month; look at the group play on this board to get a feel for it)
Traditional Ameritrash:
Ticket to Ride is probably the best of the bunch; rummy mechanic used to build train lines to fulfill your secret missions (trips from here to there). Highly recommended for new board game players; stick with the vanilla version to start, possibly adding the 1910 expansion.
Munchkin is a light/fun card game for people with DnD experience; probably not the right choice
Traditional Eurogames:
Settlers of Catan: city building on an island with randomized resource production
Carcassonne
Puerto Rico
San Juan will do up to 4 players. It's a similar theme, of course, to Puerto Rico, but feels quite different. Basically, it's a points race; there is almost no interaction between players (i.e. ways to screw others). On the other hand, once people realize how the game works, you can play very very quickly. Once someone picks a role, there's generally no need to wait on others.
Agricola
I've only played solo, and this is fun. I really need to find some gamers locally.
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I found Cthulu to be the most fun. It's end-game is much shorter too, as their are multiple game-ending conditions.
It's nerdy, but I like it a lot. I really can't wait to pick up my own copy. I had to leave Munchkin at home when I moved to Japan, so I may import it from sjgames' website.
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I have Sega, Nintendo and Xbox games and systems for sale. Please help me buy diapers.
Oh... Well never mind then.
I don't think so. I'm new to the game and I didn't find it hard to pick up. There are lots of exceptions and special rules in the game, but the basic game engine is pretty clean. Many of the special rules don't apply until later in the game after cards are added to the deck and new nations enter the war. You don't have to worry about the Near East map until turn 3 or so, for example.
Here is a good intro and guide to the game (Microsoft Word file). It describes the basic rules first, and saves the nitty gritty details for later in the document.
Awesome, thanks!
This.
I have a feeling nobody else I know would even come close to feeling the same way...
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I thought the same thing. I don't know if that answers your question though.
I feel this way sometimes, but I've played some boardgames online and you really do lose some of the magic when you aren't sitting around a table together with your friends having a chat and playing a game. Saying that, it does give an avenue for roleplaying, which is quite cool.
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Civilization was the original board game that the Civilization PC game was based on.
Edit: Whoa, Agricola beat out Puerto Rico for the #1 spot on BGG, I just noticed that.
Holy fuck that was awesome. I edged out the win because of a smart purchase of a large building and the fact that I made no accidental errors in the early turns when I wasn't sure what to do. Fantastic game. This and Power Grid should keep me busy for a while.
Edit: Although my elation is a little muted by the sight of the incredible epic World War 2 simulators I see above that I MUST FUCKING PLAY.
But I must have that Battlestar Gallactica game; my group has been enjoying Shadows over Camelot and it looks like a sci-fi version with better quests. Amazingly well-done licensed game from what I'm seeing of the playthrough on the boards.
Frak all of you for getting to play that but leaving me out!
Edit: And upon searching for it, the game doesn't even come out until October.
A friend of mine already owns Cthulhu, what would you recommend as a second choice? Oh, and I want to go on record saying that Super Munchkin is a huge disappointment.
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Be advised, though, that Munchkin is a fairly light game; for me, it's fun a few times while the cards are still new to read, but it doesn't seem to reward repeated play strategically.
Hmm... Maybe I'll put the $20 to something a bit deeper then. Tomb looks amazing. But there are so many board games I don't have yet. Pandemic, A Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Struggle of Empires, Power Grid.... Aaaaaghhh!!!
Edit: Ah, most of those games aren't getting a re-print untill October and I found a copy of A Game of Thrones for $25, that made the choice easy.
It doesn't start well; one of the knights goes running off to pick up Lancelot's Armor without having the cards he needs to complete it (set of 2 and set of 3), and I as Arthur cannot funnel him the cards since I just don't have them either. He's sitting there after a few turns hoping the board will fill and his cards will be enough to win, but he's run out of things to do so he either has to abandon or accuse. Random accusation flies, and he hits the traitor. So things are suddenly looking a bit better.
But we've all dropped down to one life to try to accelerate our quests/stem the flow of evil, then we get hit with "All knights lose one life" and suddenly the entire team is dead except for Sir Kay, who drank from the grail. Camelot falls in short order after that.
Does anyone have any play experience with the SoC expansions? Would they be worth picking up?
I was just about to buy Shadows over Camelot (the guy on BGG never confirmed the order for A Game of Thrones), and just a few hours after placing an order for Shadows over Camelot the guy confirms the order for A Game of Thrones.
Heh, guess I'll have to wait a few more months.
Coop:
Arkham Horror
Pandemic
Battlestar Galactica
Lord of the Rings
Some interesting two player card games:
San Juan
Blue Moon Legends (Knizia card game)
Citadels
And just because I want to play them:
Agricola
Twilight Imperium
Ingenious (will probably spend most of its time at school with me)
Should make for fun times soon, though some of those are pre-orders and will be awhile getting to me. And if anyone is in/near central VA and wants to get together for games, let me know.
I've still not plated Race For The Galaxy. I've just not been able to gather enough people who like boardgames together at once. Stupid, real life commitments.
I still want to get my hands on Agricola.
Fed ex says I should receive my copy of Agricola on Wednesday, so I'll let you know how it goes, then.
Risk 2210 A.D (this is a link)
I highly recommend it. It is a much faster paced version of Risk. If you decide to play with the new rules (you can still play classical risk on it, you'll just be using a different map), you get to play risk with:
The Moon: That's right! You can go up in space and dominate the moon!
Underwater colonies: a new type of territory available for players who have a Naval Commander (more on this later)
Power cards: Powers which can be purchased using 'credits', the game's currency' with which you can use to turn the tide of war in your favour. There are five or six different kinds of power card decks, but you only begin with access to two of them.
Commanders: There are five different kinds of Commanders: Land, Diplomat, Nuclear, Naval, and Space. Players begin their campaign with a Land Commander and a Diplomat, giving them access to the Diplomat and Land Commander power card decks from which to purchase Power Cards.
Commanders give bonuses to a player for attacking certain kinds of territories. The Land Commander, for example, allows you to roll a D8 when defending or attacking a land based territory. Space and Naval Commanders allow you to launch your forces to the moon after building a launching station on one of your territories (purchased with five credits I believe, I can't quite remember), and naturally the Naval commander allows you to invade underwater cities, which remain unclaimed at the beginning of the game because no one can invade them to begin with.
The Nuclear commander gives you access to the Nuclear Power Card deck. THIS MEANS EXACTLY WHAT IT IMPLIES!
Did I mention that instead of soldiers and cannon miniatures to represent your armies, you get three different kinds of mech? Small mechs represent 1 army. Medium mechs represent 3. The big guys represent 5.
And, if nothing else, the map of the 23rd century is hilarious to look at. The United States is no more, and is now split into a few countries such as the Exiled States of America and the Northwestern Oil Emirate. Hong Kong is also its own country. Canada has been split into several factions.
Also, at the beginning of the game, players randomly determine three land territories in the world which become Nuclear Fallout Zones. These areas are forbidden, devastated lands that can not be invaded, captured, or moved through, thus forcing you to consider how to adapt your strategy to the loss of those territories.
The winning goal for the game is to be the player who owns the most territories by the end of a 5 year campaign (five game turns, which can actually take 2 to 3 hours).
Probably my favorite Risk variant.
In other news, I've managed to play through LotR (solitare with two players) and Arkham Horror (solo) and am pleased with both. I'll be taking them to our after-Friday-Night-Magic game night tonight and see if I can get a game up this evening.
Would there be interest in my running LotR on the board, the way BSG and Pandemic have been? I'd like to see how the game develops with more players. I realize the BSG game has fizzled for now, else I would wait for that to finish up before we try something new.
And once my copy of Pandemic comes in, I'd love to play/run that a time or two with people on here. Don't suppose anyone who already has a copy would like to run another session of it in the meantime?
Edit: Oh, I should mention my other impressions.
San Juan looks solid; played a couple of 2p games with it and it works well as a quick, light-PR fix.
Blue Moon Legends seems meh, but I was trying it solitaire (controlling both sides) so it may blossom with an actual opponent. Still, it was cheap and I got some plastic dragons (and the cards have great artwork).
Haven't broken out Citadels and TI:3 yet, but from a quick look at the citadels deck and rules I fully expect to enjoy that one. The rest were back-ordered.
Also, has anyone played the Order of the Stick game? I saw that at the store, and I'm curious to know how it is.
How many people are you looking at playing with?
Carcassonne is strategic but still fairly light for 2-6, so I could see that working. But it is traditional-turn based, with the down time that entails. Puerto Rico is great with 3-5 players, and has rules adaptions for 2p that work well. Each of you is running a plantation in Puerto Rico; mechanically, each round the players take turns selecting a role, then each player gets to do the action associated with that role. Not much down time, deep strategy, and multiple reasonable paths to victory with a minimum of randomness. Citadels is cheap and good for 2-8 players (secretly choose a role, then take turns building your city in role order. Each role has a special power, so it becomes a bluffing game to try to avoid the special abilities of the assassin/thief while making progress on your city). Also, it's card based but follows board game mechanics, so it can be a good transition game for your group.
I don't think Arkham Horror is a good choice for a first board game. It's far too complex for complete novices; let them get some practice manipulating all the little pieces in PR for a while first.
Other possibilities:
Abstract strategy for multiple players:
Ingenious (match colors to score; lowest scoring color is the one that counts at the end)
Blokus (I like the trigon version, because it handles three players better and it is more difficult to completely block in another player)
Tantrix (play tile matching colors; largest ring or longest chain scores the number of tiles contained (doubled for ring))
Rumis (blokus with 3d pieces)
All of those games are simple to teach and visually very interesting, while offering strategic play.
Co-operative games:
Shadows over Camelot (all working together, with the possibility of a traitor in your midst attempting to bring down Arthur's reign)
Lord of the Rings (2-5 hobbits working together to destroy the one ring)
Pandemic (see the let's play on this board; great game for 1-4 players working together; currently out of print waiting on the reprint later this month)
Battlestar Galactica (not really co-op, though; two teams, but the Cylon team starts secretly; not out yet, but will be within a month; look at the group play on this board to get a feel for it)
Traditional Ameritrash:
Ticket to Ride is probably the best of the bunch; rummy mechanic used to build train lines to fulfill your secret missions (trips from here to there). Highly recommended for new board game players; stick with the vanilla version to start, possibly adding the 1910 expansion.
Munchkin is a light/fun card game for people with DnD experience; probably not the right choice
Traditional Eurogames:
Settlers of Catan: city building on an island with randomized resource production
Carcassonne
Puerto Rico
Played this once, seemed pretty decent.
San Juan will do up to 4 players. It's a similar theme, of course, to Puerto Rico, but feels quite different. Basically, it's a points race; there is almost no interaction between players (i.e. ways to screw others). On the other hand, once people realize how the game works, you can play very very quickly. Once someone picks a role, there's generally no need to wait on others.
I've only played solo, and this is fun. I really need to find some gamers locally.