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[Board games] I choose poorly.

MNC DoverMNC Dover Full-time Voice ActorKirkland, WARegistered User regular
edited March 2018 in Critical Failures
Hey there! This thread is about board games. Let me tell you about them!

A different kind of board game is on the rise. Invading pop culture. Invading Target, Barnes and Noble, Toys R Us. Invading Penny Arcade itself.
There are brand-new games about dying in the desert:
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or 20-year old card games getting new life:
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or even family-friendly train games that stir something black in the soul:
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This thread exists to convey one simple message: board games have come a long way since Monopoly and Risk.

Perhaps you’re looking for something for your lunch hour.
Perhaps you’re looking for something to play when you’re just hanging out with friends.
Perhaps you’re looking for something like chess but more fun for newcomers.
Perhaps you’re looking for an all-day simulation of the asymmetrical struggles of Europe during the Protestant Reformation.

No problem, gotcha covered. So without further ado, let me attempt to give you a barely-sketched outline of what is possible in cardboard, wood and plastic.

Oh, and watch out for that pig-flooping.


GREAT GAMES FOR JUST ABOUT ANYONE (especially those new to games):

Ticket to Ride
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Quite possibly one of the best entry-level games. Draw cards into your hands, claim a route between two cities with your train cars by laying down same-color cards that match a route on the board. Simple, intuitive. Kids can grasp it, adults can play it more cut-throat and get into deeper strategies. Many versions have been made; they are pretty much all great, but check to see how many people can play. There’s also plenty of expansion maps, including a highly-rated Asia map for team play up to 6.

Trains
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Trains, while having a similar theme to Ticket to Ride, is almost entirely different! Trains is a deck builder. That's not to say it's like Magic: the Gathering, but instead you build your deck during the game! Furthermore, there's a board you'll be playing on, trying to connect routes and build stations and block your opponents from doing the same. However, beware Waste! You generate waste when you build things and it clogs up your hand, taking up the space of more useful cards.

Carcassonne
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Another older game, which has aged well because of its short length and wide appeal. Pick up a tile, add it to the tiles already placed so that you match the road, castle, or field. You may optionally “claim” a road, castle, or field with one of your followers or “meeples”, which gives you points. A great, quick game for pretty much all ages, but it is especially good for a younger crowd.

Lords of Waterdeep
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Newer game, but it has really made a splash. It’s a fairly light worker-placement euro that non-gamers (or minimal-gamers) really seem to enjoy. The “worker-placement” part is themed up as sending knights and wizards off to accomplish quests, and there’s even a bit of back-stabbery against the other players.

Forbidden Desert
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An amazing little cooperative game that starts with formula that made Forbidden Island and Pandemic so popular, and then develops and improves that formula into something magical. You must explore and excavate tiles to find pieces of an airship, while a sandstorm moves the tiles around and dumps sand everywhere. Everybody has their own special ability, and they work together in amazing ways. Get all the parts, find the launch pad, GET TO DA CHOPPA, and escape to safety. But you'll probably die of thirst first. Great components, too.

Okay, so I'm done with those gateway games! What's everyone really into nowadays?

Cantido's pick:
Clank!
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The only deckbuider I've owned and played since Penny Arcade's foray into the genre. Where the word "deckbuilder" sends some players running, Clank puts smiles on any player's face. It is a push your luck game, combining Ascension with Deep Sea Adventure. There is a double-sided board with two different dungeons that players traverse. Players build a deck to let them race to the deepest part of the dungeon to find the most valuable treasures while avoiding making too much noise to disturb the dragon who will attack players at random.

As the game goes by, players accidentally (or intentionally) give themselves or their opponents Clank! They put their colored cubes in a pile, and when the dragon attacks, those cubes go in a bag and are pulled out in increasing amounts. If a player's color is pulled, they took damage, and if their damage is maxed, they are out of the game. If they died underground they get zero points, if they die above ground, they at least get to count points at the end of the game.

Healing is scarce. Really scarce. You can't count on it. Your options are to increase the Clank of other players, reducing the probability of your cubes getting pulled, or just grabbing a lesser treasure and ending the game early. You might come across cards that reduce your clank, or really rare ones that give you healing.

The Dungeon Row deck changes up the flow of the game every time. I've seen games with absolutely new healing and a very aggressive dragon where only one player escaped, I've sen slow games with plenty of healing where every player scored high, and everything in between. I've also seen players boldly (or recklessly) build their decks with high Clank and high Card Draw, allowing them to rampage through the dungeon and end the game early. Either way, the finale of the game leaves players clutching their pearls, biting their nails and possibly screaming. Don't let player elimination scare you off either. If all players are playing optimally, everyone should be lasting an equal amount of time in the game.

My only complaint is that some cards in the Dungeon Row are utter garbage and nobody wants them, such as the Lucky Coin.

Mikey CTS's Picks!
Chinatown

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You have to make peace to wage war. Chinatown is a game of negotiation and trading, as you claim board spaces, draw building tiles, and start putting those businesses on the board over the course of six years (rounds). The larger the business you can build, the more money it'll earn you every year. However, you'll never get the board placement or tiles you'll need to build those businesses up on your own. This is where negotiation and trading come in to play - you'll have to wheel and deal with your other players to complete that Dumpling Shop you desperately want. And during negotiations in Chinatown, there is one simple rule: ANY. THING. GOES. Want to trade tiles for spaces? Be my guest. You want to make some deal or future trade agreements, go right ahead. You want to offer your buddy a soda for that spot you need on the board? Maybe they'll go for it. Just remember, any agreements made regarding future commitments are not binding. Happy negotiations!

Broom Service

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A criminally under-appreciated gem, it's Kiki's Delivery Service the Boardgame. Well, not quite, but pretty close. In Broom Service, using your witches and their assistance, you create potions and send your witches off to distant lands to make deliveries. During each round, players will select six of their ten cards to play during that round. Each card represents a witch-y helper, like gnomes, druids, or witches, who each have specific jobs. Whenever another player selects to play a card, every player must play the same card in clockwise order if they have it. The catch is, each card has either a coward or brave option. If you are cowardly, you may claim your reward immediately. If you select brave, your rewards will be much greater but you must wait till the end of the round to claim them. If another player after you also claims to be brave, you will receive no rewards at all. Last player to select brave picks the next card to play. It's a game of risk and reward, of gosling for position, and jockeying for the the order of actions. The player who takes the wisest risks and can best predict their opponents' plays will win.

Athenor's Game Picks:
Mint Works

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What started as a Board Game Geek contest has quickly become my favorite pick up and play game. A worker placement game, you use resources on a limited set of actions to purchase plans for buildings, then build them in order to score points. The game is incredibly fast, playing in about 10-15 minutes, and it all fits into a mint tin!

Keep your eye out for this one once the designer gets his distribution issues resolved.


Lotus

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A serene-looking game that actually gets very cutthoat! You are guardians of a garden, cultivating flowers. Completing flowers gets you points equal to how many petals it has, and also allows the controlling player to either gain a special ability or 5 points! You control a flower by having the most of your symbol on it, augmented by your bug avatars. But only 1 of each type of flower can be out on the board at once. So do you go for the score or go for the control?

Star Wars: Destiny

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THIS IS A COLLECTABLE CARD GAME. BUY IN AT YOUR OWN RISK.

That said? The game is incredibly fun. Using a very fast-paced back and forth playstyle, where you get a moment of breathing to react to any given action...

You enter the game with a set of characters that get their own dice and resources. Your deck is then used to add upgrades, support, or play events. It's a simple game on the surface, but getting to play it is where it shines. Unfortunately, its popularity is making it very hard to find at the moment. Still, grab a starter and see if it is worth playing for you.


Powerpupp's Game Picks:
Blood rage!
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This is a heavy game with drafting, fighting, and card synergy. You play for three Ages of the end of the world. Don't worry about dying - heroes are resummoned to their clan longboats out of Valhalla at the beginning of each age. Each age begins with drafting six cards from packs of 8, which get you monsters or combat bonuses or points or quests. Quests and successful pillaging of the surviving provinces of the world let you advance your clan stats to give you more actions per age, more points per fight, or a higher max army size. It's a combat-heavy game but combat is neither an unalloyed good thing nor an unalloyed expenditure of resources. Losing fights can help with quests and points and trigger clan upgrades, so you're not constantly maneuvering to threaten without actually fighting like in TI, but it's not a straight up war game, often the best strategies involve your own heroes dying or standing off in a corner not fighting.


Darric's Game Picks:
A Feast for Odin

I like Agricola a lot. I like how tense it is. I haven't played Caverna, but if I had to pick a game that's much nicer than Agricola, and still gives me what I want from it, it'd be A Feast for Odin. It's ... kind of incredible. You're vikings, doing everything vikings do. Everything. Building houses, growing food, hunting food, eating food, building boats, going whaling, going to market, trading goods, pillaging, discovering new lands, emigrating - these are all mechanically represented in a game with the biggest worker placement action board you've ever seen. And while that might seem like design creep in the worse possible sense, everything is in service of this brilliant simple (but brain burning) tile laying (ala Patchwork) mechanic where you're trying to cover as much space as possible with high quality goods. I love it.


TimFiji's picks:
Captain Sonar
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Scythe
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Shadowfire's pick:
Red Dragon Inn
Adventurers have downtime too, and after their latest dungeon dive, they retire to the Red Dragon Inn to brag about their travels, flex their muscles, gamble, and drink.

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Each character is a little different, with some like Fiona whittling away at others' fortitude and keeping from getting drunk, or Gerki being a great gambler. The wizard Zot and his familiar Pooki add a bit of unpredictability to the mix since Pooki's mood can change. The characters have their own decks, and you use those to be the last adventurer standing, because everyone else is too drunk, too injured, or broke! There are five volumes of Red Dragon Inn available, all with different characters, plus individual packs with new characters, and each one can interact with the other. New characters have included Pooki as a separate character, the summoner Zariah, and the best character of all time: Wizgille, the Gnome Artificer.

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I adore this game. Everyone should own at least two editions of it.


Fairchild's pick:
Sentinels of the Multiverse
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Mansions of Madness: 2nd Edition
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Zombie Hero's pick:
Mysterium
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Castles of Mad King Ludwig
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Jonbob's pick:
Fantastic new games keep coming out! For example, check out Potion Explosion.
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This is a short game of collecting ingredients to brew potions, which give you points as well as special abilities you can use if you drink them. That's fun by itself, but the magic comes in the way you collect those ingredients.

There's this nifty cardboard dispenser you pour a bunch of marbles into, and they fill the columns with a satisfying clacking sound. Then, when you take an ingredient, new marbles will roll down into place, and if you cause like colors to collide, you get those too. Causing these chain reactions is the heart of the game, and it's extremely clever and fun.


I love little, simple games that are easy to teach. That's why it's so notable that I love Vast, which is the opposite of these things.

Vast is a game of asymmetry, which is handily summarized in the following simple diagram:
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In Vast, each player takes on a role with its own rules, its own goals, and its own mechanisms. Turn structure for one player bears no resemblance to the turn structure for the next. The Knight is playing a typical RPG, exploring a cave, completing sidequests, gaining experience, and trying to slay the dragon. The Goblins, on the other hand, are controlling a bunch of moving parts, swarming and darting through the darkness and trying to chip away at the Knight. The Cave player is trying to misdirect and slow down other players long enough to collapse in, killing everyone. And so on! It's a marvel that it works at all.


But new games aren't everything! Classics return to the table every week. For example, I'm enamored of Edel, Stein & Reich, an older game of bluffing and brinksmanship.
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This is a simultaneous action selection game. I love games like this, because everyone is always involved! Players try to collect majorities in four different colors of gems by deciding what action to take: claim gems, claim cash, claim a special action card, and so forth. If nobody else chose what you did, then great! You get to take that action. If three or more chose it, nobody gets to do it. But if two people chose it, they have to negotiate over which one gets to do it, and how the other one gets compensated. Simple, clean, cutthroat, and fun.


The old OP has a ton of recommendations too!

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Posts

  • MNC DoverMNC Dover Full-time Voice Actor Kirkland, WARegistered User regular
    Hey everyone!

    I'm going to overhaul the OP and I need your help! In the spirit of the "Forum name's pick" section, I'd instead like to through up genres of games and have different suggestions for each.

    This is where you come in. Post here with a genre you'd like to write about. For each genre, give a few of the popular picks, the hidden gems, and a few personal favorites.

    For example: You choose "Party Games!" as your genre. For the most popular games, you could cite Codenames and provide a write-up of why it's great. Do the same for some lesser known titles and your favorite.

    When done, simply PM me your write (please spell check!) and I'll add it to the OP. There are tons of genres, so feel free to pick your favorite. To claim a genre, just @ me in a post with which genre you're going to write about.

    Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
    Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
    Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
    Steam ID
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  • BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    Last night I finally got Near and Far to the table, a legacy lite version of Above and Below, and we all loved it. It helps that we loved Above and Below already, but it just had so much fun stuff to do, and that was playing a stand alone, unconnected round. It's got the story book we loved from Above, plus a bunch of really beautiful maps, and interesting "world cards". I got an Adorable Kitten which gave me a small benefit on the map, or I could "discard this card, lose 2 reputation, and gain 1 food".

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
  • SokpuppetSokpuppet You only yoyo once Registered User regular
    Athenor wrote: »
    Question.

    Game store has a wooden go board for 50. I don't know if the stones are plastic or glass. The board is marked made in China.

    Worth it?

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    Athenor wrote: »
    They feel ceramic and kind of coarse. Definitely not glass or plastic.

    Sintered or "yunzi" stones. I quite like them and I think that's a nice Go set for the price.
    You might want to test the stones for lead though.

  • ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    It sounds like it could be a nice set. I would.

    Owning a nice go board and crokinole board are also on my eventual list.

    @MNC Dover I'll do cooperative board games? Probably with a focus on action point allowance like Pandemic and Flash Point.

    ArcSyn on
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  • FuselageFuselage Oosik Jumpship LoungeRegistered User regular
    Still excited, but I do recall it getting suspect ratings on BGG for what that's worth. I even unwrapped it, as opposed to several others still-sealed games on my shelf.

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  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    Testing for lead?

    He/Him | "A boat is always safest in the harbor, but that’s not why we build boats." | "If you run, you gain one. If you move forward, you gain two." - Suletta Mercury, G-Witch
  • FishmanFishman Put your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain. Registered User regular
    Does 'Games from New Zealand' count as a genre?

    X-Com LP Thread I, II, III, IV, V
    That's unbelievably cool. Your new name is cool guy. Let's have sex.
  • Custom SpecialCustom Special I know I am, I'm sure I am, I'm Sounders 'til I die!Registered User regular
    Just finished up the first game of Great Western Trail with my wife. I take to systems a bit faster than she does. She usually gets AP early when learning games because she doesn’t know what things mean/do yet so it’s hard to commit to decisions. So there might have been somewhat of a gap between our scores...
    But we’re going up to Vancouver for the weekend with no kids so it might be one of the games we bring to get a few more rounds in. Also, is there anything cool in Vancouver to check out?

    XBL: F4ll0utBP | STEAM | PSN : CustomSpecial | Bnet: F4ll0ut#1636
  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    @MNC Dover The board is a bit thin, but for a full sized board with containers for the stones? I think 50usd is fine. I am sure you could find it cheaper on a yard sale, but that's a bit like winning a lottery.

  • MNC DoverMNC Dover Full-time Voice Actor Kirkland, WARegistered User regular
    Aldo wrote: »
    "MNC Dover" The board is a bit thin, but for a full sized board with containers for the stones? I think 50usd is fine. I am sure you could find it cheaper on a yard sale, but that's a bit like winning a lottery.

    I wasn't the one looking to buy a Go set. :)

    Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
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  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Fishman wrote: »
    Does 'Games from New Zealand' count as a genre?

    no, new zealand is imaginary

  • VyolynceVyolynce Registered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Fishman wrote: »
    Does 'Games from New Zealand' count as a genre?

    no, new zealand is imaginary

    That's Middle Earth you're thinking of. Common mistake.

    nedhf8b6a4rj.jpgsig.gif
    AC:NH Chris from Glosta SW-5173-3598-2899 DA-4749-1014-4697 @vyolynce@mastodon.social
  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Vyolynce wrote: »
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Fishman wrote: »
    Does 'Games from New Zealand' count as a genre?

    no, new zealand is imaginary

    That's Middle Earth you're thinking of. Common mistake.

    bull. have you ever seen them together?

    i rest my case

  • VyolynceVyolynce Registered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Vyolynce wrote: »
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Fishman wrote: »
    Does 'Games from New Zealand' count as a genre?

    no, new zealand is imaginary

    That's Middle Earth you're thinking of. Common mistake.

    bull. have you ever seen them together?

    i rest my case

    No, because Middle Earth is imaginary. We just went over this.

    nedhf8b6a4rj.jpgsig.gif
    AC:NH Chris from Glosta SW-5173-3598-2899 DA-4749-1014-4697 @vyolynce@mastodon.social
  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Hmm. I was all ready to return to the board game thread and call in whatever category Inis would be in, when I realized I wasn't exactly sure what category it would be in, and then realized BGG simply has it in "strategy" and that's more useless than Donald Trump.
    My best is that at heart it's a pretty even mix of area control and drafting, but I don't know where specifically that leaves it. Any thoughts? :P

  • AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
    Hmm. I was all ready to return to the board game thread and call in whatever category Inis would be in, when I realized I wasn't exactly sure what category it would be in, and then realized BGG simply has it in "strategy" and that's more useless than Donald Trump.
    My best is that at heart it's a pretty even mix of area control and drafting, but I don't know where specifically that leaves it. Any thoughts? :P

    I'd say it fits under area control; despite Seven Wonders and other pretty-pure incarnations of it, drafting (with deck-building following it from a bit of a distance) is increasingly a mechanic rather than a genre.

    kshu0oba7xnr.png

  • SpawnbrokerSpawnbroker Registered User regular
    There have been a lot of really neat games coming out recently that use deck building as a nice mechanic rather than the main dish. Gloomhaven and Great Western Trail come to mind.

    I need to buy Great Western Trail, that game was fun.

    Steam: Spawnbroker
  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Auralynx wrote: »
    Hmm. I was all ready to return to the board game thread and call in whatever category Inis would be in, when I realized I wasn't exactly sure what category it would be in, and then realized BGG simply has it in "strategy" and that's more useless than Donald Trump.
    My best is that at heart it's a pretty even mix of area control and drafting, but I don't know where specifically that leaves it. Any thoughts? :P

    I'd say it fits under area control; despite Seven Wonders and other pretty-pure incarnations of it, drafting (with deck-building following it from a bit of a distance) is increasingly a mechanic rather than a genre.
    I feel like that's a fair suggestion. "Drafting" as a genre is probably better considered as the hand/tableau-building sort. Lets say area control and if nobody else wants it I'll take a stab.

    There have been a lot of really neat games coming out recently that use deck building as a nice mechanic rather than the main dish. Gloomhaven and Great Western Trail come to mind.

    I need to buy Great Western Trail, that game was fun.
    I wish it wasn't almost certainly cheaper for you to just buy it new, because I would happily sell you my copy. :P

  • Ah_PookAh_Pook Registered User regular
    Inis is definitely an area control game

  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    "Legacy" should be a Genre. Not volinteering myself, too busy, but it should include Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Risk/Pandemic Legacy.

    Might also want to have a 'Upcoming" Category for Kickstarters that are soon to be delivered and will probably be hot like 7th Continent.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    azith28 wrote: »
    "Legacy" should be a Genre. Not volinteering myself, too busy, but it should include Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Risk/Pandemic Legacy.

    Might also want to have a 'Upcoming" Category for Kickstarters that are soon to be delivered and will probably be hot like 7th Continent.

    7th Continent has already been delivered, hasn't it?

    Magic Pink on
  • KetarKetar Come on upstairs we're having a partyRegistered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    azith28 wrote: »
    "Legacy" should be a Genre. Not volinteering myself, too busy, but it should include Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Risk/Pandemic Legacy.

    Might also want to have a 'Upcoming" Category for Kickstarters that are soon to be delivered and will probably be hot like 7th Continent.

    7th Continent has already been delivered, hasn't it?

    They put up a re-print and additional expansions Kickstarter, but yeah, the game's been out for quite a while.

  • BlazeFireBlazeFire Registered User regular
    Yes, the upcoming 7th Continent delivery is round 2.

  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    True, I just think like most KS's that get a reprint, it was pretty small batch first time around, and like gloomhaven, its only really hitting mass market levels of ownership with the reprint.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    azith28 wrote: »
    "Legacy" should be a Genre. Not volinteering myself, too busy, but it should include Gloomhaven, Charterstone, Risk/Pandemic Legacy.

    Might also want to have a 'Upcoming" Category for Kickstarters that are soon to be delivered and will probably be hot like 7th Continent.

    7th Continent has already been delivered, hasn't it?

    I got a crack at it over the weekend; dropped into some friends' game from the week before as what I can only assume is the doctor character given what my personal skills did.

    They were already irrevocably off-track from their quest, so far as I could tell, so mostly I got to experience being hopelessly lost.

    kshu0oba7xnr.png

  • DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    Has anyone heard any buzz around that semi-cooperative Nemesis Boardgame? It looks really neat.

  • DirtmuncherDirtmuncher Registered User regular
    Has anyone heard any buzz around that semi-cooperative Nemesis Boardgame? It looks really neat.

    Shutupandsitdown covered it in their games news today.
    But their stance on Kickstarter is: wait for the reprint or retail because then you know if it's good.

    steam_sig.png
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Has anyone heard any buzz around that semi-cooperative Nemesis Boardgame? It looks really neat.

    Shutupandsitdown covered it in their games news today.
    But their stance on Kickstarter is: wait for the reprint or retail because then you know if it's good.

    They mentioned that they haven't been big fans of anything else the designer has done.

  • DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    Has anyone heard any buzz around that semi-cooperative Nemesis Boardgame? It looks really neat.

    Shutupandsitdown covered it in their games news today.
    But their stance on Kickstarter is: wait for the reprint or retail because then you know if it's good.

    Is there any way of figuring out if the game will hit retail shelves? From what I understand, 7th Continent could only be acquired through kickstarter itself right?

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Has anyone heard any buzz around that semi-cooperative Nemesis Boardgame? It looks really neat.

    Shutupandsitdown covered it in their games news today.
    But their stance on Kickstarter is: wait for the reprint or retail because then you know if it's good.

    Is there any way of figuring out if the game will hit retail shelves? From what I understand, 7th Continent could only be acquired through kickstarter itself right?

    Typically, the Kickstarter pages should say if the game is going to be available through retail distribution later on or only via Kickstarter... somewhere with all the other information about the game.

    Keep in mind that a retailer backer-level isn't the same as being made available for retailers to purchase after the Kickstarter.

  • FryFry Registered User regular
    Hey Gloomhaven folks -

    Going to be getting to play a first session with a friend's copy this weekend. He wants to include his child (age roughly 12, I think) to see if she's interested in playing, which I'm totally cool with. I think I've heard that the first scenario is pretty brutal, is that true? Any suggested changes to decrease the difficulty? I haven't read through the rules yet, but I'm intending to do that beforehand.

  • LykouraghLykouragh Registered User regular
    Sokpuppet wrote: »

    Sintered or "yunzi" stones. I quite like them and I think that's a nice Go set for the price.
    You might want to test the stones for lead though.

    Looks like a nice Go set to me.

  • HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    Fry wrote: »
    Hey Gloomhaven folks -

    Going to be getting to play a first session with a friend's copy this weekend. He wants to include his child (age roughly 12, I think) to see if she's interested in playing, which I'm totally cool with. I think I've heard that the first scenario is pretty brutal, is that true? Any suggested changes to decrease the difficulty? I haven't read through the rules yet, but I'm intending to do that beforehand.

    I don't know that the first scenario is particularly difficult, but it's certainly not a hand-holding tutorial either. You do need to manage your cards well to make it to the end without becoming exhausted.

    The most straightforward way to reduce the difficulty just a bit would be to use the level 0 monster cards instead of level 1 monsters. If you really wanted to dial down the challenge, you could use the monster placements for 2 players instead of 3, which would make the first scenario much closer to a cakewalk. (Every scenario includes different placement instructions for 2, 3, and 4 players.)

  • Zombie HeroZombie Hero Registered User regular
    Bargain Quest was fun the first time through. I'm not super deep, but it's a fun light game for 30-45 minutes. It played reasonably well with 2, going to try it with 4-6 as soon as i can.

    Steam
    Nintendo ID: Pastalonius
    Smite\LoL:Gremlidin \ WoW & Overwatch & Hots: Gremlidin#1734
    3ds: 3282-2248-0453
  • Ah_PookAh_Pook Registered User regular
    Speaking of Kickstarter, Tasty Minstrel just launched one for deluxe Gentes which is pretty tempting. That game looks really neat.

  • PowerpuppiesPowerpuppies drinking coffee in the mountain cabinRegistered User regular
    Inis and Blood Rage and TI are in the same genre. Scythe and Terra Mystica and Space Terra Mystica (Gaia Project is the name, maybe?)
    are in another one even though you control area in them.

    I love the first three games and CitOW and even GoT, I wish i got to play them more

    sig.gif
  • ArcticLancerArcticLancer Best served chilled. Registered User regular
    Inis and Blood Rage and TI are in the same genre. Scythe and Terra Mystica and Space Terra Mystica (Gaia Project is the name, maybe?)
    are in another one even though you control area in them.

    I love the first three games and CitOW and even GoT, I wish i got to play them more
    Ironically, I don't know that I consider Terra Mystica and Gaia Project as relateable as they should be from their namesake. While there's a lot of shared core rules, how they built them out makes TM far more focused on the main board while GP makes most of the game about everything OTHER than the main board.

    Otherwise it's all pretty subjective. I won't hide that I'm not a fan of Scythe, but the area control aspect of the game is pretty minor compared to most of its other elements. I wouldn't consider it close to TM at all. shurg

  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Has anyone heard any buzz around that semi-cooperative Nemesis Boardgame? It looks really neat.

    There's several playthroughs on YouTube of it. It IS really neat. I'm in for the whole shebang.

  • Ah_PookAh_Pook Registered User regular
    Inis and Blood Rage and TI

    One of these things is not like the others..

  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    Hedgethorn wrote: »
    Fry wrote: »
    Hey Gloomhaven folks -

    Going to be getting to play a first session with a friend's copy this weekend. He wants to include his child (age roughly 12, I think) to see if she's interested in playing, which I'm totally cool with. I think I've heard that the first scenario is pretty brutal, is that true? Any suggested changes to decrease the difficulty? I haven't read through the rules yet, but I'm intending to do that beforehand.

    I don't know that the first scenario is particularly difficult, but it's certainly not a hand-holding tutorial either. You do need to manage your cards well to make it to the end without becoming exhausted.

    The most straightforward way to reduce the difficulty just a bit would be to use the level 0 monster cards instead of level 1 monsters. If you really wanted to dial down the challenge, you could use the monster placements for 2 players instead of 3, which would make the first scenario much closer to a cakewalk. (Every scenario includes different placement instructions for 2, 3, and 4 players.)

    My advice is to make sure the differences between 'lost' and 'discarded' cards are understood along with 'short rest' and 'long rest' differences. Encourage people not to use any 'lost' effects until at least the second room is fully engaged.

    You may want to give her a bit of a handicap for her age. maybe give her a free perk, or auto give her the blessing rewards as if she donated the 10 gold to the church in her draw deck.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
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