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[Board Games] Pandemic in a Pandemic

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Posts

  • Dark WhiteDark White Registered User regular
    MrBody wrote: »
    Eclipse was the worst of both worlds with its Euro/Ameritrash combo. Boring engine optimization with randomness and die chucking that could and did ruin your entire game early on. Bad early tile draws or one bad die roll to lose your ship's fight with an ancient and you might as well concede.

    Even if you got past that point, the Euro optimizing was a joke because your choices were "plasma missiles/bombs then sit in as many systems as you can" or "grab monoliths and turtle up". 3/4ths of the tech tree was never worth getting.

    These are totally valid criticisms, but I'm curious how often a optimal strategy/luck-based outcomes actually 'ruin' games for people. If you are going to play Eclipse a couple dozen times over the next few months - sure. But, is that how most people are playing board games?

    The way I seem to consume games is: I'll get a new game, play it 2-4 times over a month or two, and then, if I did end up really liking it, it will probably come off the shelf once every 6-12 months or so. When the game comes back out, everyone needs a quick refresh of the rules and I don't think anyone is going into it thinking "I need to do X, then Y, then Z because last time Johnny pulled off that wombo-combo and crushed us." I never find myself coming to learn optimal strategies of games and I don't feel like a bad draw here or there was what caused me to lose (even if that was the reality) because I don't have enough mastery of the game to understand how that might have affected things. So, in the end, I'm engaging with the systems of a game, some things happened, someone won, and we had a good time.

    In that vein, I'm delighted by a game like Eclipse. I had these neat ships and made these invincible dreadnaughts, a shame I didn't really get to use them before the game ended - clearly was too slow of a strategy, but oh well we explored this dynamic map and hey, cool upgrades! I'll try to shoot for the Wormhole Generator next time, I think that would have helped me win!

    Then in nine months, I'll have forgotten that I was gonna go for the Wormhole Generator and oh look there's all these cool upgrades, again.

    jswidget.php?username=Dark%20White&numitems=8&text=title&images=small&show=top10&imagesonly=1&imagepos=right&inline=1&domains%5B%5D=boardgame&imagewidget=1
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Etherfields is showing up today. It looks neat but maybe poorly designed unfortunately.

    yeah i still haven't looked to see how this turned out. I'm just super into the dreamlands esque setting and i excitedly supported it while working in a game store so i guess we'll see how it ends up working out

  • MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    edited November 2020
    Dark White wrote: »
    MrBody wrote: »
    Eclipse was the worst of both worlds with its Euro/Ameritrash combo. Boring engine optimization with randomness and die chucking that could and did ruin your entire game early on. Bad early tile draws or one bad die roll to lose your ship's fight with an ancient and you might as well concede.

    Even if you got past that point, the Euro optimizing was a joke because your choices were "plasma missiles/bombs then sit in as many systems as you can" or "grab monoliths and turtle up". 3/4ths of the tech tree was never worth getting.

    These are totally valid criticisms, but I'm curious how often a optimal strategy/luck-based outcomes actually 'ruin' games for people. If you are going to play Eclipse a couple dozen times over the next few months - sure. But, is that how most people are playing board games?

    There's not much to optimize in Eclipse because it's a very limited system. Spotting the path of least resistance to a win only took us 2-3 games.

    Like the SU&SD review of Root pointed out, if the primary enjoyment of a game is thinking of what you'll do "next time" rather than looking back at the game that just happened, perhaps the game is not very good.

    MrBody on
  • ThirithThirith Registered User regular
    Sorry, some more Pandemic gushing. I find it utterly fascinating how well the game balances its various challenges and temptations: it looks like things might be getting worse in Asia, but you could possible eradicate the yellow disease in one or two moves. Which will you go for? You'll be able to cure black in your next move, but there's a potential if unlikely outbreak looming in Karachi, and that'll take you further away from the nearest research centre. What are you going to do?

    I also really like how the way the game feels changes substantially based on what character you're playing, something I rarely felt to this extent in video games with character classes. I've recently played a couple of games as the medic, which meant that my focus was entirely on controlling diseases (and, from a certain point onwards, eradicating them if possible). Yesterday I played the researcher, while my wife played the dispatcher, and I found myself concentrating - a bit too much, it turned out - on supplying her with the cards she needed to cure. And then, boom!, one outbreak in Asia led to a domino effect that took us from "three diseases cured, we've got the cards for the fourth, only two outbreaks so far" to dead in one fell swoop. That's another thing I'm really appreciating: our games all have a pretty distinct flavour to them, again something I've rarely found with comparable video games. Some games of Pandemic were smooth sailing, leaving us with a sense that we were always in control of things. Others had a mounting sense of dread and were constantly stressful, as we were reacting to potential and actual disasters around the world. And then there were games like yesterday where all our grand plans exploded in our faces as a single round of infections took us from actual "This is fine" to that-cartoon-with-the-dog "This is fine".

    Unfortunately my wife wants to play regular Pandemic with all permutations of roles before we get started on Legacy, and while I want to be well prepared, I hope I will be able to talk her out of this.

    webp-net-resizeimage.jpg
    "Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
  • FryFry Registered User regular
    "Spouse wants to play good board game a lot" is a good problem to have. :P

  • 38thDoe38thDoe lets never be stupid again wait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered User regular
    Fry wrote: »
    "Spouse wants to play good board game a lot" is a good problem to have. :P

    I taught my wife Castles of Burgundy this summer...

    We are up to 65 logged games together online...

    38thDoE on steam
    🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀
    
  • ThirithThirith Registered User regular
    Fry wrote: »
    "Spouse wants to play good board game a lot" is a good problem to have. :P
    Heh. I see what you mean, but I would also quite like to get started on Legacy mode before long, because that's what got me excited in the first place.

    webp-net-resizeimage.jpg
    "Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Etherfields is showing up today. It looks neat but maybe poorly designed unfortunately.

    yeah i still haven't looked to see how this turned out. I'm just super into the dreamlands esque setting and i excitedly supported it while working in a game store so i guess we'll see how it ends up working out

    apparently what i read was pretty baseless kvetching. good game is good.

  • Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    Thirith wrote: »
    Sorry, some more Pandemic gushing. I find it utterly fascinating how well the game balances its various challenges and temptations: it looks like things might be getting worse in Asia, but you could possible eradicate the yellow disease in one or two moves. Which will you go for? You'll be able to cure black in your next move, but there's a potential if unlikely outbreak looming in Karachi, and that'll take you further away from the nearest research centre. What are you going to do?

    I also really like how the way the game feels changes substantially based on what character you're playing, something I rarely felt to this extent in video games with character classes. I've recently played a couple of games as the medic, which meant that my focus was entirely on controlling diseases (and, from a certain point onwards, eradicating them if possible). Yesterday I played the researcher, while my wife played the dispatcher, and I found myself concentrating - a bit too much, it turned out - on supplying her with the cards she needed to cure. And then, boom!, one outbreak in Asia led to a domino effect that took us from "three diseases cured, we've got the cards for the fourth, only two outbreaks so far" to dead in one fell swoop. That's another thing I'm really appreciating: our games all have a pretty distinct flavour to them, again something I've rarely found with comparable video games. Some games of Pandemic were smooth sailing, leaving us with a sense that we were always in control of things. Others had a mounting sense of dread and were constantly stressful, as we were reacting to potential and actual disasters around the world. And then there were games like yesterday where all our grand plans exploded in our faces as a single round of infections took us from actual "This is fine" to that-cartoon-with-the-dog "This is fine".

    Unfortunately my wife wants to play regular Pandemic with all permutations of roles before we get started on Legacy, and while I want to be well prepared, I hope I will be able to talk her out of this.
    Sometimes, bad shit happens and you just have to roll with it, too. Like the dreaded and rare back-to-back epidemic draws. At least, when that happens, you know that the next few turns will all be damage control while the next epidemic is far away.

    You can afford to eat an outbreak occasionally in favor of a cure (especially for two players) because it won’t re-outbreak until the next epidemic is drawn.

    8i1dt37buh2m.png
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Etherfields is showing up today. It looks neat but maybe poorly designed unfortunately.

    yeah i still haven't looked to see how this turned out. I'm just super into the dreamlands esque setting and i excitedly supported it while working in a game store so i guess we'll see how it ends up working out

    apparently what i read was pretty baseless kvetching. good game is good.

    i saw a few individual threads on reddit about it and one of the takeaways was it felt like a more self contained arkham horror LCG and honestly that's all it took to re-excite me that is' coming (i think. i honestly don't remember which shipping wave i did)

  • PowerpuppiesPowerpuppies drinking coffee in the mountain cabinRegistered User regular
    Since you said you're curious, back when we gathered in person we would frequently play a new game seven times in two months. If we liked it, more likely we would bring it back out once a month then once every 6-12 months. Probably 4 games over the last ten years made it to 100 plays, since i can remember 3: Coup, Blood Rage, and Inis.

    In pandemic times we've played a lot of carcassone, code names, and seven wonders.

    sig.gif
  • EricJEricJ Registered User new member
    The thing I have discovered is the Catan goes so much quicker... me and my friends do a game in like 15 minutes instead of 2 hours

  • PowerpuppiesPowerpuppies drinking coffee in the mountain cabinRegistered User regular
    7 Wonders and Twilight Struggle are lot better on PC for that reason

    sig.gif
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    A lot of games are designed with the intent that you play it multiple times, consistently, with people who also play it consistently. That's a huge part of the appeal of heavier board games, to me — to play them competitively with other people. To play them as one-off or short-term experiences seems like a waste, when that kind of play is so well-suited to social games or party games or games that lean more in that direction (or video games, frankly!) — I'm thinking of denser but still mechanically simple games like Mysterium, say.

    I'd play e.g. Codenames once in a while and enjoy it immediately, as do most people. I think plenty of folks have played it once, ever, and enjoyed it and felt they fully understood it. Playing something like... El Grande, or Inis, or Terra Mystica, or Root, Cthulhu Wars, Brass, etc. just a few times for the vibe would be immensely dissatisfying to me.

  • DirtmuncherDirtmuncher Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Ah_Pook wrote: »
    Fry wrote: »
    Nothing good is Kickstarter exclusive forever. If it's good, it'll make its way to retail eventually. But it's probably not actually good, so you can afford to miss it.

    the real trick is realizing that even if a thing is good and stays kickstarter exclusive forever and you can literally never get it... it just doesnt matter at all. there are so many great games, just get a different one.

    This 100%. I already have a bunch of great games on my shelf that even without the pandemic never get enough table time. My friends group and I would all have to retire to make a dent in our games collections.

    Same here
    A lot of games are designed with the intent that you play it multiple times, consistently, with people who also play it consistently. That's a huge part of the appeal of heavier board games, to me — to play them competitively with other people. To play them as one-off or short-term experiences seems like a waste, when that kind of play is so well-suited to social games or party games or games that lean more in that direction (or video games, frankly!) — I'm thinking of denser but still mechanically simple games like Mysterium, say.

    I'd play e.g. Codenames once in a while and enjoy it immediately, as do most people. I think plenty of folks have played it once, ever, and enjoyed it and felt they fully understood it. Playing something like... El Grande, or Inis, or Terra Mystica, or Root, Cthulhu Wars, Brass, etc. just a few times for the vibe would be immensely dissatisfying to me.

    I totally agree. I have started to dislike some games to much because I feel I lack the control to play it competitively enough.
    Wingspan for instance is a favourite in several social groups I play games with, but I dread playing it. I usually can get a nice score but the cards.... The cards are to random.

    steam_sig.png
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    The store near my area got my preorder of Sidereal Confluence - Remastered arrived and it is gorgeous.

    If only there wasn't a pandemic going on.

    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • TimFijiTimFiji Beast Lord Halfway2AnywhereRegistered User regular
    Cantido wrote: »
    The store near my area got my preorder of Sidereal Confluence - Remastered arrived and it is gorgeous.

    If only there wasn't a pandemic going on.

    Mine arrives tomorrow! Would you like to stare at it, unable to play, with me?

    Switch: SW-2322-2047-3148 Steam: Archpriest
      Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
    • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
      Cantido wrote: »
      The store near my area got my preorder of Sidereal Confluence - Remastered arrived and it is gorgeous.

      If only there wasn't a pandemic going on.

      Finally! That was delayed quite a bit.

      But yes, it's a stretch to see that getting played in the immediate future

      Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
    • Ah_PookAh_Pook Registered User regular
      Ah_Pook wrote: »
      Unrelated, I'm Really Excited about the new Friedman Friese game Faiyum that's coming out imminently. Basically it's the card play of Concordia mixed with Splottery communally owned infrastructure. It sounds super cool imo.

      My copy will be here Friday from France. I'm very excited.

    • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
      I totally agree. I have started to dislike some games to much because I feel I lack the control to play it competitively enough.
      Wingspan for instance is a favourite in several social groups I play games with, but I dread playing it. I usually can get a nice score but the cards.... The cards are to random.

      I'm in the middle. Games I hate are either types like Catan where it's obvious who is going win early on and there's nothing you can do to stop them but you have another hour or 2 of playing left. I'm also not a fan of games that only have X number of strategies and if you don't follow one of them, you might as well not play. We really love Wingspan for that aspect. The randomness helps other, more causal players have a chance. We also like games that allow you to 'attack' other players. Since it gives someone who knows they aren't going to win, something to do and possibly tilt the balance of the winner.

      Granted, right now in the pandemic, my board gaming behavior has switched over to "have a good time with friends" and less "I need to win" haha.

      Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
    • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
      edited November 2020
      Oceans got a deliberately barebones digital version for Android and iOS called Oceans Lite. Its got a good tutorial and solo play.

      And the key is that its free. I got it just for the tutorial, since I struggled to understand the rulebook on matters such as Gains. This will save me and my friends to learning to play when we get it to the table.

      Cantido on
      3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
    • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
      edited November 2020
      Cantido wrote: »
      Oceans got a deliberately barebones digital version for Android and iOS called Oceans Lite. Its got a good tutorial and solo play.

      And the key is that its free. I got it just for the tutorial, since I struggled to understand the rulebook on matters such as Gains. This will save me and my friends to learning to play when we get it to the table.

      I hope they release some paid content that opens it up to multiplayer. This game looks right up our alley.

      EDIT: Seems there's a previous version called Evolution that is on Steam and has MP. Any one play that version?

      Trajan45 on
      Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
    • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
      edited November 2020
      Trajan45 wrote: »
      Cantido wrote: »
      Oceans got a deliberately barebones digital version for Android and iOS called Oceans Lite. Its got a good tutorial and solo play.

      And the key is that its free. I got it just for the tutorial, since I struggled to understand the rulebook on matters such as Gains. This will save me and my friends to learning to play when we get it to the table.

      I hope they release some paid content that opens it up to multiplayer. This game looks right up our alley.

      EDIT: Seems there's a previous version called Evolution that is on Steam and has MP. Any one play that version?

      I play Evolution with my friends regularly. Other than the requirement to make a North Star Games account, gameplay is a polished experience. No Climate DLC, only paid DLC for some extra cards (but if one player buys them, all friends receive them for the game play. With North Star at high risk for going belly up, I wouldn't get my hopes up for Climate at this time.

      Cantido on
      3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
    • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
      Haven't played the digital version of Evolution, but the paper version is brilliant. I've heard good things about the digital version.

    • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
      Cantido wrote: »
      Trajan45 wrote: »
      Cantido wrote: »
      Oceans got a deliberately barebones digital version for Android and iOS called Oceans Lite. Its got a good tutorial and solo play.

      And the key is that its free. I got it just for the tutorial, since I struggled to understand the rulebook on matters such as Gains. This will save me and my friends to learning to play when we get it to the table.

      I hope they release some paid content that opens it up to multiplayer. This game looks right up our alley.

      EDIT: Seems there's a previous version called Evolution that is on Steam and has MP. Any one play that version?

      I play Evolution with my friends regularly. Other than the requirement to make a North Star Games account, gameplay is a polished experience. No Climate DLC, only paid DLC for some extra cards (but if one player buys them, all friends receive them for the game play. With North Star at high risk for going belly up, I wouldn't get my hopes up for Climate at this time.

      That's a shame. I'm always worried about that with Playdek and Lords of Waterdeep. Since it uses their system for Multiplayer, if they go out of business or just a business decision on those servers, could kill that part of it.

      Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
    • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
      During our first quarantine I played Oceans with friend son TTS. Ironically, we all agreed it would probably be much easier to play on a real table because the tokens blend in so badly without proper depth perception. :P
      I liked it a lot more than Evolution, and it definitely felt like the better game. Hope you all enjoy~

    • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
      edited November 2020
      Vampire - Heritage just showed up. Man I am jazzed to give this a try. Let's see, next session is

      *checks calendar*

      August of 2022.

      Magic Pink on
    • AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
      During our first quarantine I played Oceans with friend son TTS. Ironically, we all agreed it would probably be much easier to play on a real table because the tokens blend in so badly without proper depth perception. :P
      I liked it a lot more than Evolution, and it definitely felt like the better game. Hope you all enjoy~

      I tried out Oceans at Unplugged 2019; it's overall a lot more streamlined than regular Evolution even if you're used to working in Climate.

      kshu0oba7xnr.png

    • TimFijiTimFiji Beast Lord Halfway2AnywhereRegistered User regular
      My High Frontier 4 All kickstarter arrived with Neoprene mat (I'm a sucker for these). I'm really excited to dive into this science-y steep learning curve space game.

      Map picture:
      m96uxlg6inut.jpg

      Switch: SW-2322-2047-3148 Steam: Archpriest
        Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
      • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
        i absolutely hate neoprene and it drives me nuts they always include that shit in discounted "all in" bundles

        BLARG

      • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
        You can feel that way, but High Frontier has had a history with neoprene mats for longer than Kickstarter has been a fad.
        I hope you have fun, @TimFiji. I love High Frontier, but sold my copy because everyone I would play with also owned the game. Honestly, the learning curve isn't that hard for the game either - it's more that actually accomplishing meaningful things can be hard. Winning some auctions for assorted space junk and then shaking your head trying to figure out how you do anything with it was one of my favourite parts of the game. You'll be hard pressed to find a game that more often makes you go "Why is math so hard?" :p

      • TimFijiTimFiji Beast Lord Halfway2AnywhereRegistered User regular
        You can feel that way, but High Frontier has had a history with neoprene mats for longer than Kickstarter has been a fad.
        I hope you have fun, @TimFiji. I love High Frontier, but sold my copy because everyone I would play with also owned the game. Honestly, the learning curve isn't that hard for the game either - it's more that actually accomplishing meaningful things can be hard. Winning some auctions for assorted space junk and then shaking your head trying to figure out how you do anything with it was one of my favourite parts of the game. You'll be hard pressed to find a game that more often makes you go "Why is math so hard?" :p

        Good. Finally get some use out of my masters in math and economics.

        I'm going to run a solo game of the intro game they included before jumping into the full game. Seems like a lot went into it so I have hopes it'll be fun

        Switch: SW-2322-2047-3148 Steam: Archpriest
          Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
        • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
          That sounds much better than when I learned the game. I played as three players. It was a huge mistake because you have to keep track of everybody's individual math and what they intended to do with it. It took me so long to do absolutely nothing. XD
          But hey, I did internalize a lot of the rules so it was a win in the end?

        • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
          3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
        • Raw ConcreteRaw Concrete Registered User regular
          Phil Eklund is a...somewhat problematic person. But I have wanted to play High Frontier ever since I saw a picture of that map, so I still backed a copy.

          Oh, come and shake me 'till I'm dry
        • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
          Eklund is a dipshit but he’s also such a terrible businessman he’ll never be able to accumulate enough money to try and push his bad politics.

          Besides, it could be worse: he definitely wouldn’t have voted for Trump.

        • DirtmuncherDirtmuncher Registered User regular
          Cantido wrote: »

          Allready pre-ordered!
          Look to be fun!

          steam_sig.png
        • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
          Cantido wrote: »

          Allready pre-ordered!
          Look to be fun!

          I'm apprehensive about the expansion pack. I'd love the plastic tray but I think my Wall of Shame has suffered enough. I'm not really into minis these days. Maybe when I finish the book I'll change my mind.

          3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
        • DirtmuncherDirtmuncher Registered User regular
          edited November 2020
          Cantido wrote: »
          Cantido wrote: »

          Allready pre-ordered!
          Look to be fun!

          I'm apprehensive about the expansion pack. I'd love the plastic tray but I think my Wall of Shame has suffered enough. I'm not really into minis these days. Maybe when I finish the book I'll change my mind.

          I pre-ordered through my local retailer (in Europe) so there was no choice. In my opinion the expansion pack doesn't really add anything to the game, just plastic clutter. All the agents need paint so I can see the difference between them better. All grey agents is a step down from wood in different colours in my opinion.

          Dirtmuncher on
          steam_sig.png
        • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
          Cantido wrote: »
          Cantido wrote: »

          Allready pre-ordered!
          Look to be fun!

          I'm apprehensive about the expansion pack. I'd love the plastic tray but I think my Wall of Shame has suffered enough. I'm not really into minis these days. Maybe when I finish the book I'll change my mind.

          I pre-ordered through my local retailer (in Europe) so there was no choice. In my opinion the expansion pack doesn't really add anything to the game, just plastic clutter. All the agents need paint so I can see the difference between them better. All grey agents is a step down from wood in different colours in my opinion.

          I actually caved and bought the expansion when I found out it had its own sleeves.

          3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
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