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[Board Games] Discussions of Wil Wheaton's cardboard nerd-cred consolidated here.

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Posts

  • NamrokNamrok Registered User regular
    So Commands & Colors has me reading all about ancient history now. Funny how that works. The best part is there are a ton of free history books on kindle! I'm quite impressed actually. Still catching up on my history to where I am in the base games scenario list. Just getting to the second Punic war, which is what most of the base game focuses on.

    Who says games aren't good for you?

  • Alistair HuttonAlistair Hutton Dr EdinburghRegistered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Just packed up a box with a small subset of my gaming collection as I'm mving house to a smaller flat. Managed ot fir in Dominion (Base,Sea,Hinterlands,Prosperity & Alchemy) C&C:A, Lost Cities, Babel, Kahuna, jords, Ticket to Ride, Zertz, Kings Gate, Carcassone, Dragon Parade, Ra, Medici and Race for the Galaxy.

    So many left behind. For now.

    Alistair Hutton on
    I have a thoughtful and infrequently updated blog about games http://whatithinkaboutwhenithinkaboutgames.wordpress.com/

    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.
  • FreeAgentFreeAgent Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Purchasing Core Worlds for $17 is a sweet, sweet buy. The savings alone have enraptured me, which is to say nothing of the game itself.

    FreeAgent on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • TayrunTayrun Registered User regular
    My poker chips finally arrived!

    WOOOHOOOOOO! :D

  • PMAversPMAvers Registered User regular
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    COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
  • SeGaTaiSeGaTai Registered User regular
    Nice find-I'm hoping this is something that can make it to the table more often than Android itself

    PSN SeGaTai
  • NamrokNamrok Registered User regular
    So apparently the game night I had with my brother made an impression on him. He'd been playing games with coworkers for a while, but evidently they were all AP prone as fuck. Case in point, a game of Agricola took 6 hours, and has permanently scared my brother away from the game. So after having played 3 games in 4 hours on Satuday, he asked to come over again today to play games with me. Which is great because we haven't always had the best relationship, and honestly neither of us have much family left we relate to. It's been a goal of mine for a while to have a better relationship with my brother, and I'm glad board games are helping in that regard.

    So maybe tonight I'll break him into Commands & Colors.

  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    I expect your next message to be in the form of, "I think I ruined my relationship with my brother by flinging C&C dice at him while screaming and chasing him out of my house. That's what he gets for killing a heavy infantry unit and a leader with an unsupported auxila."

  • NamrokNamrok Registered User regular
    It's a distinct possibility. But we both inherited an intolerance for losing and extreme competitiveness from our dad, so the post game fight will just be more family bonding!

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Alternatively, play a co-op and then co-op rage at the game when you lose. More bonding!

    ArcticLancer on
  • jergarmarjergarmar hollow man crew goes pew pew pewRegistered User regular
    edited May 2012
    admanb wrote: »
    I expect your next message to be in the form of, "I think I ruined my relationship with my brother by flinging C&C dice at him while screaming and chasing him out of my house. That's what he gets for killing a heavy infantry unit and a leader with an unsupported auxila."

    Uncanny. I did ALMOST this exact thing to my wife, except even worse because it was her turn and I played a "first strike", winning the game and robbing her of her certain win. My wife is pretty even-keeled, but she was quite annoyed. That would be enough to nerd-rage just about anybody (and I would probably have totally lost it).
    Namrok wrote: »
    <snip>
    So maybe tonight I'll break him into Commands & Colors.

    Just wanted to contribute that C&C:A does NOT seem to bring out the worst in AP players. I'm partly referring to myself, here.

    EDIT:
    Namrok wrote: »
    So Commands & Colors has me reading all about ancient history now. Funny how that works. The best part is there are a ton of free history books on kindle! I'm quite impressed actually. Still catching up on my history to where I am in the base games scenario list. Just getting to the second Punic war, which is what most of the base game focuses on.

    Who says games aren't good for you?

    Roman history is great. Rome was the Microsoft of the ancient world. Seriously. Big, plodding, but adaptable. The first few times they tried to do something new they got kicked in the teeth, but they just wouldn't quit. In fact, it would often produce something so effective that they could dominate the region even more. It's true in Roman politics, engineering, warfare, administration, and so on. Like their method of bringing newly-conquered regions deeper and deeper into alliance, with promises of higher levels of privilege and tax relief, culminating in Roman citizenship itself... really amazing.

    jergarmar on
    When I was a child, I had a fever...
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  • NamrokNamrok Registered User regular
    jergarmar wrote: »
    admanb wrote: »
    I expect your next message to be in the form of, "I think I ruined my relationship with my brother by flinging C&C dice at him while screaming and chasing him out of my house. That's what he gets for killing a heavy infantry unit and a leader with an unsupported auxila."

    Uncanny. I did ALMOST this exact thing to my wife, except even worse because it was her turn and I played a "first strike", winning the game and robbing her of her certain win. My wife is pretty even-keeled, but she was quite annoyed. That would be enough to nerd-rage just about anybody (and I would probably have totally lost it).

    A friend of mine did that to me. I nerd raged. Hard. He did it for his 3rd straight win in a row, out of only 3 games I'd played. I was feeling pretty hopeless losing to him ALL THE TIME. Regardless of which side of the battle I played. No matter how lop sided my initial advantage, it seemed I always rolled straight misses and he always rolled straight hits and crushed the shit out of me.

    Now with 10 games under my belt things have evened out more considerably.

  • AaronKIAaronKI Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Does Ticket to Ride work well with kids around 10? Playing the digital version with three bots made the game feel hyper-competitive, so I'm a little worried that it could easily lead to a group of pouting and angry children. Even I was starting to get irritated towards the end of the bot game. (I'm used to playing it 2P with adults, so there's never been much direct competition.)

    AaronKI on
    soempty.jpg
  • DarianDarian Yellow Wizard The PitRegistered User regular
    10 year old kids should be able to handle TtR, yes.

  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Darian wrote: »
    10 year old kids should be able to handle TtR, yes.
    Pro tip: Like everything in life, it depends on the person [see: kids].

    I'm sure they could comprehend it assuming they're intelligent. But asking if they'll enjoy it is anybody's guess ...

  • acidlacedpenguinacidlacedpenguin Institutionalized Safe in jail.Registered User regular
    I liked ticket to ride the one or two times I've played it. . . If I were to buy it now is there some particular edition or version that could be considered the definitive, if you own only one this is the one to own, version?

    GT: Acidboogie PSNid: AcidLacedPenguiN
  • DarianDarian Yellow Wizard The PitRegistered User regular
    Depends on how many players you want to be able to use it with, if I recall correctly. Europe was the first to introduce the tunnels and ferries, Märklin adds passengers and goods, Nordic is the best for 2p but only handles up to 3. So Märklin might be the "definitive" version, but it adds complexity to a game that otherwise works fine as a light, introductory game.
    Personally, I've been happy with the basic USA version (with the 1910 expansion for larger, easier to shuffle cards and enough long routes to use the Big Ticket variant for 2p games).

  • Medium DaveMedium Dave Registered User regular
    Thanks for the buying advice, guys. I went with Twilight Struggle, because the lady is mad into that kind of thing and also, I think my dad would dig it. So, next question.

    Puerto Rico or Agricola. Agricola is always expensive, but using the coupons on yoyo would really alleviate that. Also, I'm trying to remember...is Puerto Rico or Agricola a lot like Stone Age? I swear I heard that one of those was very similar.

  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Agricola and Stone Age are very similar.

  • NamrokNamrok Registered User regular
    Agricola and Stone Age are roughly similar. Stone Age is a lighter, easier worker placement game for newcomers. Although so far as I'm concerned, Lords of Waterdeep has replaced it rather completely in my collection.

  • Gandalf_the_CrazedGandalf_the_Crazed Vigilo ConfidoRegistered User regular
    Speaking of Ticket to Ride, does anybody have experience with the Alvin & Dexter expansion? It looks hilarious.

    PEUsig_zps56da03ec.jpg
  • Medium DaveMedium Dave Registered User regular
    Boom, that's what I needed, great, thanks. I'll do Puerto then and then later, maybe Le Havre or Ora & Labora sometime later.

    I just got Alvin and Dexter and it seems like a silly way to add some flavor to Ticket to Ride. I'll read up on the instructions tonight, see if it adds any confrontation to a game I feel contains almost negative confrontation.

  • EvilBadmanEvilBadman DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Boom, that's what I needed, great, thanks. I'll do Puerto then and then later, maybe Le Havre or Ora & Labora sometime later.

    I just got Alvin and Dexter and it seems like a silly way to add some flavor to Ticket to Ride. I'll read up on the instructions tonight, see if it adds any confrontation to a game I feel contains almost negative confrontation.

    A locomotive moves Alvin or Dexter 3 towns along a route, 2 moves them 6. Each monster can only be moved once a round (If player B moves Dexter, Dexter cannot be moved until player B's next turn). Locations where Alvin or Dexter are can not be built to. At end game, the towns with Alvin and Dexter on them have their ticket values halved. Also the player that moves Alvin and the player that moves Dexter the most gets a 15 point bonus.

    It is pretty much cut all the throats.

    EvilBadman on
    FyreWulff wrote: »
    I should note that Badman is fucking awesome
    XBL- Evil Badman; Steam- EvilBadman; Twitter - EvilBadman
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Darian wrote: »
    Depends on how many players you want to be able to use it with, if I recall correctly. Europe was the first to introduce the tunnels and ferries, Märklin adds passengers and goods, Nordic is the best for 2p but only handles up to 3. So Märklin might be the "definitive" version, but it adds complexity to a game that otherwise works fine as a light, introductory game.
    Personally, I've been happy with the basic USA version (with the 1910 expansion for larger, easier to shuffle cards and enough long routes to use the Big Ticket variant for 2p games).

    I would consider either USA or Europe. Europe is my own personal preference. We also have it with the India/Switzerland expansion for better 2-3 player play. USA and Europe both keep the rules simpler, which is appropriate to the game, I think, as a more casual experience.

    Edit: Alvin and Dexter feels almost sacrilegious to me, but that's because we specifically pull Ticket to Ride off the shelf for times when we want minimal cut-throatness and brain burning.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    Starlit Citadel put an article up demonstrating how the Tabletop web series boosted sales of the games featured by a fair amount, which is nice to see. Settlers of Catan saw much less of a boost, because that's stocked everywhere, whereas stuff like Small Worlds saw a big ol' jump.

  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    AaronKI wrote: »
    Does Ticket to Ride work well with kids around 10? Playing the digital version with three bots made the game feel hyper-competitive, so I'm a little worried that it could easily lead to a group of pouting and angry children. Even I was starting to get irritated towards the end of the bot game. (I'm used to playing it 2P with adults, so there's never been much direct competition.)

    Kids that age can certainly handle the intellectual side of the game - I've played it with 10 year-olds, and have often played it with my friend's son, who is 11.

    Winning and losing is not likely to be a problem - kids play games all the time and have plenty of practise at both. If there's a problem, it will be because the game's long and someone has a short attention span.

    I figure I could take a bear.
  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Bogart wrote: »
    Starlit Citadel put an article up demonstrating how the Tabletop web series boosted sales of the games featured by a fair amount, which is nice to see. Settlers of Catan saw much less of a boost, because that's stocked everywhere, whereas stuff like Small Worlds saw a big ol' jump.

    A girl walked into my game meeting via Meetup wanting to play Small World as her first boardgame ever, literally because of Tabletop.

    Now she's a convert and comes to all the game meetings. Likes Defenders of the Realm and Saboteur best, so far.

    poshniallo on
    I figure I could take a bear.
  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    We played a store copy of Puzzle Strike today, and it was actually a lot of fun.

    Surprisingly, I seem to be the only human being in that store that remembers Puzzle Fighter. I have never even played the game, but I do know that it exists.

    YL9WnCY.png
  • DarianDarian Yellow Wizard The PitRegistered User regular
    edited May 2012
    Puzzle Strike is playable online at http://fantasystrike.com/ if anyone wants to check it out. (They make two characters available for free each week, and playing quick matches lets you earn credits to permanently unlock additional characters.)

    Board game night was a 5p game of Shogun (Wallenstein family variant); went very well and everyone had fun with it. The tower of uncertainty is a great way to resolve battles. Ended up winning the game on tiebreakers (money), with the game coming down to a two major battles in the final round.

    Darian on
  • Alistair HuttonAlistair Hutton Dr EdinburghRegistered User regular
    EvilBadman wrote: »
    Boom, that's what I needed, great, thanks. I'll do Puerto then and then later, maybe Le Havre or Ora & Labora sometime later.

    I just got Alvin and Dexter and it seems like a silly way to add some flavor to Ticket to Ride. I'll read up on the instructions tonight, see if it adds any confrontation to a game I feel contains almost negative confrontation.

    A locomotive moves Alvin or Dexter 3 towns along a route, 2 moves them 6. Each monster can only be moved once a round (If player B moves Dexter, Dexter cannot be moved until after player B's next turn). Locations where Alvin or Dexter are can not be built to. At end game, the towns with Alvin and Dexter on them have their ticket values halved. Also the player that moves Alvin and the player that moves Dexter the most gets a 15 point bonus.

    It is pretty much cut all the throats.

    Play Alvin And Dexter 3 or 5-player Big Cities for the mega-lols. A clever A&D tactic is, as the game is drawing to a close and you know you can't score a route, to move one of them onto your city as that halves the penalty you take.

    Personally my Game Group think that 15 points for moving the monsters each is too much given that globetrotter and longest route are 15 and 10 points respectively.

    I have a thoughtful and infrequently updated blog about games http://whatithinkaboutwhenithinkaboutgames.wordpress.com/

    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.
  • The MantizThe Mantiz BONK! DenmarkRegistered User regular
    Played Robo Rally for the first time yesterday, and won. That is a pretty fun game, but man, is it tough to plan ahead when too many of the other robots are nearby.
    But the weirdest thing was that one of the other new players played, like, half the game without understanding the goal of the game. When I reached the third flag, he asked what the deal with the flags was :P Turns out he thought the goal was to kill the other robots...

    Later he ended up screwing up a game of Lords of Waterdeep by moving another players scoring token instead of his own without any of us noticing. So no one knew who the real winner was. Pretty stupid day for him :P

    3DS - 2878-9572-9277
  • NamrokNamrok Registered User regular
    Games went well with my brother. Played the first scenario of Commands & Colors: Ancients. He didn't care for it because it was too luck based. Ah he reminds me of myself when I first got into games. 100% deterministic games only. That way I can win 100% of the time, like I rightfully should! I'm sure he'll grow out of it as he plays more games. We played Eminent Domain after that which I think baffled him quite a bit. I think by the end he enjoyed it though.

  • Joe DizzyJoe Dizzy taking the day offRegistered User regular
    Namrok wrote: »
    Ah he reminds me of myself when I first got into games. 100% deterministic games only. That way I can win 100% of the time, like I rightfully should!

    I'm starting to think that this is really the reason why so many people around my area flock to certain type of games. Which I find increasingly strange.

    When I started out, I was mostly opposed to strongly confrontational games, and now my favourites include Cosmic Encounter, Game of Thrones and Chaos in the Old World. I wonder if people eventually let go of this necessity of removing randomness in their games, as they get more comfortable with different gameplay styles.

  • MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    FreeAgent wrote: »
    Thanks for the insight on lords of waterdeep. Gives me something to think about.

    I'm considering picking up one or two games while that deal is going. How would you advise between the following: 7 wonders, core worlds, race for the galaxy, betrayal at house on the hill,
    . I've played 7 wonders once, and none of the others.

    Haven't played Core Worlds, but definitely 7 Wonders over the other two.

    Betrayal at House on the Hill is like playing Candyland for half an hour followed by another half hour of braindead Hero Quest where half the players can't really do anything. I am not exaggerating about that Candyland comment; they both have the exact same level of interactivity. People will say it's an atmospheric game but they don't even put any effort into making the cards fun to read. At that point instead of playing a game your group might as well watch a cheesy horror movie together.

    7 Wonders is Race for the Galaxy done a hundred times better. RftG has pretty artwork and plays quickly, but the theme is way too vague and as long as all players have hit the plateau of knowing how to play off actions, the game just comes down to luck. There are some hardcore Dominion experts in our group, but everyone eventually gave up on RftG when no one could find any strategy for improvement.

    7 Wonders has clear goals, a clearer theme, almost as pretty art, and more interactivity with other players.

  • jergarmarjergarmar hollow man crew goes pew pew pewRegistered User regular
    MrBody wrote: »
    7 Wonders is Race for the Galaxy done a hundred times better. RftG has pretty artwork and plays quickly, but the theme is way too vague and as long as all players have hit the plateau of knowing how to play off actions, the game just comes down to luck. There are some hardcore Dominion experts in our group, but everyone eventually gave up on RftG when no one could find any strategy for improvement.

    7 Wonders has clear goals, a clearer theme, almost as pretty art, and more interactivity with other players.

    I don't think I can quibble with any of your statements here, but directly comparing RftG and 7 Wonders (in which one replaces the other) is strange to me. What possible category do they both fit into?

    When I was a child, I had a fever...
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  • TayrunTayrun Registered User regular
    Games that involve cards.

  • Hi I'm Vee!Hi I'm Vee! Formerly VH; She/Her; Is an E X P E R I E N C E Registered User regular
    They're both tableau-building games.

    vRyue2p.png
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    They can both be nominally compared as deck-building games, but they fill different enough niches in them that you can like both.

  • TayrunTayrun Registered User regular
    Neither of them are Agricola.

  • MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    How are they hugely different? They're both tableau-building "empire" card games where it's mostly multi-player solitaire except for a couple mechanics where you can deny opponents a card or two here and there.

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