Is there a game that actually benefits from a long play session with fairly casual gamers?
I've played six hours of X-Wing and Zombicide before; the former is usually definitely not fun by the end, the latter ebbs and flows depending on the people and scenario.
I've played four hours of Game of Thrones and Firefly (both for the first time and with rules explanations which hurts the memories) and those sort of dragged on for a while.
I haven't played Twilight Imperium yet so it's been easy to ignore when I see the price tag, but is there a game out there for a long session that won't tempt me to go face down into my phone?
What makes a long-session game interesting? Do your favorite long games have different phases?
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
I would think casual gaming and one long game are antithetical. When I play one long game it's a serious competitive thrill facing off against my friends.
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
Ouch. I was about to go on an Exit purchasing spree. Secret Lab really that bad? Any others in the Exit/Escape/Unlock series to avoid?
We have only played the 2 games. From looking at comments on BGG it seems the people really like Secret Lab or felt like it had a lot of leaps in logic. The Dice Tower guys mentioned that Abandoned Cabin had 2 really great moments and Pharaoh's tomb had 1, but didn't mention anything about Secret Lab.
The wife and I don't mind getting puzzles wrong and finding out that the puzzle was more clever than us. This game has a lot of "REALLY that was it!" moments. The first few puzzles are one at a time, so with many people there isn't a lot to do.
My wife wants to try another game though, so maybe we will try the Polar Station or Forbidden Island.
All four of the Exit games I've tried have been really fun. I've done Secret Lab, Pharaoh's Tomb, Abandoned Cabin, Forgotten Island. Any one of them is better than any of the Unlock! games I've played.
We’ve played the same 4. We had the worst time with forgotten island and the best time with tomb. I think lab has some weak bits overall, but we really liked solving the last few puzzles and it ended on a high note. Sorry it went so poorly for you guys, but I’m glad the cabin worked out so well.
Assuming a game isn’t purely random (like say Munchkin for example) the longer the game goes on for, the further the player who making consistently good decisions will pull ahead.
Therefore, if there is a large player skill gap shorter games are recommended, as there will be less time for that gap to display itself. Also, more random games are recommended, as if the game is short losing or winning due to just randomness won’t be particularly annoying and give everyone a chance to feel successful.
Oh right I didn’t answer your main question, what makes a long session game interesting:
For me my favorite long session games tend to involve many players and asymmetric factions.
What makes them interesting is the long term narratives that get woven over the course of the game. How long do I honor that compact I made on turn 2 with my friend? How long can I get away with quietly bullying the table with subtle trade pressure before everyone turns on me? Etc.
It’s about weaving a rich tapestry one stitch at a time, but it takes time, time that short session games don’t have.
Sounds like I need to play Diplomacy in person for the first time, that never leads to hard feelings!
I agree with using randomness as a buffer for skill gaps. I tend to focus on games with a decent amount of chance or shuffling since I know I'm not actually good at games, I just enjoy them. Also co-op games.
I've thought about grabbing the Pandemic expansion with the bio terrorist (I don't even have the base game) since then I can work out power imbalances and once a group plays that asymmetrical version it would probably be easier to play the co-op or competitive versions without as much quarterbacking. The one time I've played Pandemic it was basically quarterbacked the whole time and I didn't enjoy it.
Seems like given my current group the most I should aspire for are medium length games since we have one skilled player and the rest of us are varying degrees of scrub.
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
Sounds like I need to play Diplomacy in person for the first time, that never leads to hard feelings!
I agree with using randomness as a buffer for skill gaps. I tend to focus on games with a decent amount of chance or shuffling since I know I'm not actually good at games, I just enjoy them. Also co-op games.
I've thought about grabbing the Pandemic expansion with the bio terrorist (I don't even have the base game) since then I can work out power imbalances and once a group plays that asymmetrical version it would probably be easier to play the co-op or competitive versions without as much quarterbacking. The one time I've played Pandemic it was basically quarterbacked the whole time and I didn't enjoy it.
Seems like given my current group the most I should aspire for are medium length games since we have one skilled player and the rest of us are varying degrees of scrub.
Played hit Z road again, it remains a blast. Two players died in round 8 of 8, leaving victory for my girlfriend and me in 2nd place after I survived 6 zombies with my last survivor.
After that we tried Pandemic Rising Tide for the first time. We are all Dutch, so it was nice to recognize places. We lost gloriously after an unlucky storm that flooded most of Zeeland (historically accurate).
Sounds like I need to play Diplomacy in person for the first time, that never leads to hard feelings!
I agree with using randomness as a buffer for skill gaps. I tend to focus on games with a decent amount of chance or shuffling since I know I'm not actually good at games, I just enjoy them. Also co-op games.
I've thought about grabbing the Pandemic expansion with the bio terrorist (I don't even have the base game) since then I can work out power imbalances and once a group plays that asymmetrical version it would probably be easier to play the co-op or competitive versions without as much quarterbacking. The one time I've played Pandemic it was basically quarterbacked the whole time and I didn't enjoy it.
Seems like given my current group the most I should aspire for are medium length games since we have one skilled player and the rest of us are varying degrees of scrub.
Try Hanabi or Space Alert or Magic Maze
I really enjoy Hanabi and have played the hell out of it on previous work trips. After hearing about it on the Tuesday Knight Podcast I picked up Beyond Baker Street but unfortunately my current group isn't into it.
My last session of The Voyages of Marco Polo was a blast using some, but not all, of the expansion (some of it is overwhelming). The Venice board is a great addition, but there's no way I would play this with the fifth player it provides. Venice gave me the extra gold and point engines needed to place my score in the eighties and win by one point. Everyone did well except one player with severe AP syndrome did very poorly and I felt bad to a point. Maybe they would have done better if that person put their damn phone away. Also, the mini expansion characters are wonderful.
EDIT - Also, it was the most travel-heavy game I've ever played. All characters were movement based, and no city cards converted resources into points or money. I have never liked movement but this game forced me to get the hang of it, as I was playing as Marco and his dad. I learned that only three characters (the Polo duo, William von Rubek & the Mongol posse in the mini-expansion) have any business trying to plant all their buildings. Everyone else should charge straight to Beijing, their secret objectives, and the cities they like.
Cantido on
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
I think I may have accidentally discovered a new solution for quarterbacking co-op: I now own so many co-op games that I can just pull out one the problematic player hasn't played before/enough. Problem solved?!
I think I may have accidentally discovered a new solution for quarterbacking co-op: I now own so many co-op games that I can just pull out one the problematic player hasn't played before/enough. Problem solved?!
They keep making expansions for Flash Point and Pandemic for exactly this reason, right?
I enjoy Flash Point for precisely the reason it's straightforward enough it's simple to play and a suboptimal move and an optimal move aren't all that different, and the rolling dice for fire provides enough random chance that it's not predictable and so you can't forsee that single fire you left now exploding into a giant fireball.
Unless you're playing on the highest of difficulties, you shouldn't be taking the game seriously enough to quarterback someone's turn.
You can always get the rest of your group to passively aggressively refer to the QB by the names of bad quarterbacks. "So Johnny Manziel wants me to move to St. Petersburg. What does everyone else think?" "Hey RGIII, don't hurt yourself on your way to the bathroom." "Ryan Leaf, while you are up, can you grab me a beer?"
If that doesn't stop it, at least the group can have a decent laugh out of the situation.
That's a neat thing about Pandemic Legacy: Because it's continually introducing new mechanics and unexpected wrinkles, everyone is more involved in discussing the best course of action. In the group where I'm playing, we're always trying to coordinate everyone's actions together in order to try and maximize each character's abilities.
You can always get the rest of your group to passively aggressively refer to the QB by the names of bad quarterbacks. "So Johnny Manziel wants me to move to St. Petersburg. What does everyone else think?" "Hey RGIII, don't hurt yourself on your way to the bathroom." "Ryan Leaf, while you are up, can you grab me a beer?"
If that doesn't stop it, at least the group can have a decent laugh out of the situation.
That would require knowledge of not only football, but enough to even know the bad quarterbacks and not just the ones who are well known because they are good.
However, my sister in law would laugh I'm sure.
I have had my mother in law quit once because she was being quarterbacked. I think it left an impression well enough it hasn't been an issue since in family games.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
How did you all get your parents and in laws into board games?
How did you all get your parents and in laws into board games?
My parents started having us over for dinner once grandchildren were part of the picture. We did it occasionally prior, but it became regular after. After a while we wanted to do something after dinner and started with card games like hand and foot. Then it was Ticket to Ride, and once I started buying more games I started introducing them more often. They have favorites and definitely more on the lighter end of the spectrum.
My wife has two sisters and they're both now married, and we get together for a week at the beach in the summer and a few days at Christmas. I started bringing a game or two to play, and now I bring two duffel bags to summer vacation for evenings and rainy days. My in-law parents occasionally play with us.
I played Scythe today for the first time. It was a six-person game. Yeah, I'm going to have to buy that for myself at some point. I had ignored it for so long because I thought it had too many pieces or was too difficult, but it was actually really easy to learn. At the same time, there are so many interesting decisions to make - especially with six players - that I sat there bug eyed for a good number of turns. "Oh jeez, please don't move there. In just two more turns I can capture that hex and claim my secret objective!"
Dashui on
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
I played Scythe today for the first time. It was a six-person game. Yeah, I'm going to have to buy that for myself at some point. I had ignored it for so long because I thought it had too many pieces or was too difficult, but it was actually really easy to learn. At the same time, there are so many interesting decisions to make - especially with six players - that I sat there bug eyed for a good number of turns. "Oh jeez, please don't move there. In just two more turns I can capture that hex and claim my secret objective!"
You're familiar with the unofficial banning of the Rusviet / <action board I can't remember> combination?
So tonight I think solidified that my wife loathes Tiny Epic Quest.
I enjoy it, and love the theme, but I think it won't leave the shelf ever again unless I happen to be with some guy friends and we've played everything else.
She dislikes the 5 round timer, the spell learning system, the spell escalation system, the limited rewards for actions, and losing progress if you don't defeat the goblin or die while in a temple. So yeah, pretty much everything.
I wish she at least would attempt to hide her distaste until the end of the game, but instead just was bitter for half of it. Ugh.
She's amazing and I love her, don't misunderstand me, but she has difficult tastes in games.
I played Scythe today for the first time. It was a six-person game. Yeah, I'm going to have to buy that for myself at some point. I had ignored it for so long because I thought it had too many pieces or was too difficult, but it was actually really easy to learn. At the same time, there are so many interesting decisions to make - especially with six players - that I sat there bug eyed for a good number of turns. "Oh jeez, please don't move there. In just two more turns I can capture that hex and claim my secret objective!"
You're familiar with the unofficial banning of the Rusviet / <action board I can't remember> combination?
That's the faction that can keep using the same action, right? We did play with that one. I played as Polania and the other new player was given Rusviet. He came in last place while I took second. The player who won was using Togawa, and she crushed up by over 30 points.
Speaking of Stegmaier games, Viticulture is getting a new expansion on June 1st. It replaces all the visitor cards with ones less focused on victory points. It sounds like the idea is to remove some of the game's randomness so that a good strategy doesn't come crashing down because another player got a lucky swing.
Dashui on
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
How did you all get your parents and in laws into board games?
My parents got me into boardgames.
Whenever the siblings and the parents are together in the evening or in an afternoon, a boardgame generally hits the (outdoor)table, since that's a lot more fun then watching a movie/sports/sitting outside.
Few things are as enjoyable as gloating for the rest of the day/night, after trouncing your entire family in a fun game.
its always interesting though, when new significant others or friends are thrown in the mix, that aren't cutthroat. Because if there's one thing that our family complains about is when people are being nice to other people for stupid reasons like (they're behind or losing)
I played Scythe today for the first time. It was a six-person game. Yeah, I'm going to have to buy that for myself at some point. I had ignored it for so long because I thought it had too many pieces or was too difficult, but it was actually really easy to learn. At the same time, there are so many interesting decisions to make - especially with six players - that I sat there bug eyed for a good number of turns. "Oh jeez, please don't move there. In just two more turns I can capture that hex and claim my secret objective!"
You're familiar with the unofficial banning of the Rusviet / <action board I can't remember> combination?
That's the faction that can keep using the same action, right? We did play with that one. I played as Polania and the other new player was given Rusviet. He came in last place while I took second. The player who won was using Togawa, and she crushed up by over 30 points.
Speaking of Stegmaier games, Viticulture is getting a new expansion on June 1st. It replaces all the visitor cards with ones less focused on victory points. It sounds like the idea is to remove some of the game's randomness so that a good strategy doesn't come crashing down because another player got a lucky swing.
It's the Rusviet/Industrial combo.
Were these all first time players? The 2 expansion factions (Togawa and the Scottish one) are not only extremely tricky, but considered to be weak overall.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
Albion.
I'm looking forward to how Jamey Stegmaier says he's figured out how to do modular Scythe maps.
I played Scythe today for the first time. It was a six-person game. Yeah, I'm going to have to buy that for myself at some point. I had ignored it for so long because I thought it had too many pieces or was too difficult, but it was actually really easy to learn. At the same time, there are so many interesting decisions to make - especially with six players - that I sat there bug eyed for a good number of turns. "Oh jeez, please don't move there. In just two more turns I can capture that hex and claim my secret objective!"
You're familiar with the unofficial banning of the Rusviet / <action board I can't remember> combination?
That's the faction that can keep using the same action, right? We did play with that one. I played as Polania and the other new player was given Rusviet. He came in last place while I took second. The player who won was using Togawa, and she crushed up by over 30 points.
Speaking of Stegmaier games, Viticulture is getting a new expansion on June 1st. It replaces all the visitor cards with ones less focused on victory points. It sounds like the idea is to remove some of the game's randomness so that a good strategy doesn't come crashing down because another player got a lucky swing.
It's the Rusviet/Industrial combo.
Were these all first time players? The 2 expansion factions (Togawa and the Scottish one) are not only extremely tricky, but considered to be weak overall.
No, the Rusviet player and I were the only new people to the table. Despite not knowing what we were doing for the longest time, we still really enjoyed the game. It's now high up there on my to-buy list. Beyond that, I might focus on expansions next. I'm feeling the fatigue of owning too many games I haven't gotten around to playing yet, so I may as well support the games I have played and really enjoy (Concordia, Dominion, Eldritch Horror).
Now that I think about it, Scythe actually reminded me quite a bit of Concordia if you were to strip the former of its mechs/combat and throw in deck building.
Dashui on
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
Let me pick your collective brains, board game thread:
In the game Alhambra, there are three groups of things that are color coded:
- The six players (Red, Orange, Yellow, White, Green, Blue)
- The six building types (Blue, Red, Brown, White, Green, Purple)
- The four money types (Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue)
The color overlap causes some minor mishaps that mostly goes away with experience, but nevertheless remain annoying (eg trying to buy a blue building with blue money when the building can only bought for orange money).
How would you redesign Alhambra's color scheme to eliminate this altogether?
(For funsies, here's mine)
Since I can't touch the tile colors at all for practical reasons, I decided to update the money and player colors:
- Money gets changed via print-and-stick-to-Magic-cards with metallic colors: Gold, Silver, Copper, and Lead (dark bluish gray)
- Bought some player discs of the following colors: Grey, Pink, Lime Green (building's a darker shade of green), Tan, Orange (money's now Copper), and Sky blue
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Can somebody sell The Mind to me? I've read the description and either it's an elaborate joke / Victorian magic trick or the descriptions have been missing key gameplay mechanics
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
When your meetup group has over 50 board games available, and someone wants to play Exploding Kittens.....
We have taken out Love Letter as a palate cleanser between 2 longer games only to find people want to keep playing Love Letter and forget about the second longer game. We will never do that again.
I am not big on Fluxx, but we have a friend that wants to play that every time she comes over.
Can somebody sell The Mind to me? I've read the description and either it's an elaborate joke / Victorian magic trick or the descriptions have been missing key gameplay mechanics
None of those things are true, imo. But it's also a game you're probably just going to have to try, if you've read about it already.
When your meetup group has over 50 board games available, and someone wants to play Exploding Kittens.....
We have taken out Love Letter as a palate cleanser between 2 longer games only to find people want to keep playing Love Letter and forget about the second longer game. We will never do that again.
I am not big on Fluxx, but we have a friend that wants to play that every time she comes over.
I prefer LOVECRAFT LETTERS, actually. LOVE LETTER with a nice twist.
Posts
I've played six hours of X-Wing and Zombicide before; the former is usually definitely not fun by the end, the latter ebbs and flows depending on the people and scenario.
I've played four hours of Game of Thrones and Firefly (both for the first time and with rules explanations which hurts the memories) and those sort of dragged on for a while.
I haven't played Twilight Imperium yet so it's been easy to ignore when I see the price tag, but is there a game out there for a long session that won't tempt me to go face down into my phone?
What makes a long-session game interesting? Do your favorite long games have different phases?
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Therefore, if there is a large player skill gap shorter games are recommended, as there will be less time for that gap to display itself. Also, more random games are recommended, as if the game is short losing or winning due to just randomness won’t be particularly annoying and give everyone a chance to feel successful.
For me my favorite long session games tend to involve many players and asymmetric factions.
What makes them interesting is the long term narratives that get woven over the course of the game. How long do I honor that compact I made on turn 2 with my friend? How long can I get away with quietly bullying the table with subtle trade pressure before everyone turns on me? Etc.
It’s about weaving a rich tapestry one stitch at a time, but it takes time, time that short session games don’t have.
I agree with using randomness as a buffer for skill gaps. I tend to focus on games with a decent amount of chance or shuffling since I know I'm not actually good at games, I just enjoy them. Also co-op games.
I've thought about grabbing the Pandemic expansion with the bio terrorist (I don't even have the base game) since then I can work out power imbalances and once a group plays that asymmetrical version it would probably be easier to play the co-op or competitive versions without as much quarterbacking. The one time I've played Pandemic it was basically quarterbacked the whole time and I didn't enjoy it.
Seems like given my current group the most I should aspire for are medium length games since we have one skilled player and the rest of us are varying degrees of scrub.
Try Hanabi or Space Alert or Magic Maze
After that we tried Pandemic Rising Tide for the first time. We are all Dutch, so it was nice to recognize places. We lost gloriously after an unlucky storm that flooded most of Zeeland (historically accurate).
I really enjoy Hanabi and have played the hell out of it on previous work trips. After hearing about it on the Tuesday Knight Podcast I picked up Beyond Baker Street but unfortunately my current group isn't into it.
I'll check out the other two.
EDIT - Also, it was the most travel-heavy game I've ever played. All characters were movement based, and no city cards converted resources into points or money. I have never liked movement but this game forced me to get the hang of it, as I was playing as Marco and his dad. I learned that only three characters (the Polo duo, William von Rubek & the Mongol posse in the mini-expansion) have any business trying to plant all their buildings. Everyone else should charge straight to Beijing, their secret objectives, and the cities they like.
They keep making expansions for Flash Point and Pandemic for exactly this reason, right?
Unless you're playing on the highest of difficulties, you shouldn't be taking the game seriously enough to quarterback someone's turn.
If that doesn't stop it, at least the group can have a decent laugh out of the situation.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
That would require knowledge of not only football, but enough to even know the bad quarterbacks and not just the ones who are well known because they are good.
However, my sister in law would laugh I'm sure.
I have had my mother in law quit once because she was being quarterbacked. I think it left an impression well enough it hasn't been an issue since in family games.
My parents started having us over for dinner once grandchildren were part of the picture. We did it occasionally prior, but it became regular after. After a while we wanted to do something after dinner and started with card games like hand and foot. Then it was Ticket to Ride, and once I started buying more games I started introducing them more often. They have favorites and definitely more on the lighter end of the spectrum.
My wife has two sisters and they're both now married, and we get together for a week at the beach in the summer and a few days at Christmas. I started bringing a game or two to play, and now I bring two duffel bags to summer vacation for evenings and rainy days. My in-law parents occasionally play with us.
You're familiar with the unofficial banning of the Rusviet / <action board I can't remember> combination?
I enjoy it, and love the theme, but I think it won't leave the shelf ever again unless I happen to be with some guy friends and we've played everything else.
She dislikes the 5 round timer, the spell learning system, the spell escalation system, the limited rewards for actions, and losing progress if you don't defeat the goblin or die while in a temple. So yeah, pretty much everything.
I wish she at least would attempt to hide her distaste until the end of the game, but instead just was bitter for half of it. Ugh.
She's amazing and I love her, don't misunderstand me, but she has difficult tastes in games.
That's the faction that can keep using the same action, right? We did play with that one. I played as Polania and the other new player was given Rusviet. He came in last place while I took second. The player who won was using Togawa, and she crushed up by over 30 points.
Speaking of Stegmaier games, Viticulture is getting a new expansion on June 1st. It replaces all the visitor cards with ones less focused on victory points. It sounds like the idea is to remove some of the game's randomness so that a good strategy doesn't come crashing down because another player got a lucky swing.
My parents got me into boardgames.
Whenever the siblings and the parents are together in the evening or in an afternoon, a boardgame generally hits the (outdoor)table, since that's a lot more fun then watching a movie/sports/sitting outside.
Few things are as enjoyable as gloating for the rest of the day/night, after trouncing your entire family in a fun game.
its always interesting though, when new significant others or friends are thrown in the mix, that aren't cutthroat. Because if there's one thing that our family complains about is when people are being nice to other people for stupid reasons like (they're behind or losing)
It's the Rusviet/Industrial combo.
Were these all first time players? The 2 expansion factions (Togawa and the Scottish one) are not only extremely tricky, but considered to be weak overall.
I'm looking forward to how Jamey Stegmaier says he's figured out how to do modular Scythe maps.
No, the Rusviet player and I were the only new people to the table. Despite not knowing what we were doing for the longest time, we still really enjoyed the game. It's now high up there on my to-buy list. Beyond that, I might focus on expansions next. I'm feeling the fatigue of owning too many games I haven't gotten around to playing yet, so I may as well support the games I have played and really enjoy (Concordia, Dominion, Eldritch Horror).
Now that I think about it, Scythe actually reminded me quite a bit of Concordia if you were to strip the former of its mechs/combat and throw in deck building.
In the game Alhambra, there are three groups of things that are color coded:
- The six players (Red, Orange, Yellow, White, Green, Blue)
- The six building types (Blue, Red, Brown, White, Green, Purple)
- The four money types (Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue)
The color overlap causes some minor mishaps that mostly goes away with experience, but nevertheless remain annoying (eg trying to buy a blue building with blue money when the building can only bought for orange money).
How would you redesign Alhambra's color scheme to eliminate this altogether?
(For funsies, here's mine)
- Money gets changed via print-and-stick-to-Magic-cards with metallic colors: Gold, Silver, Copper, and Lead (dark bluish gray)
- Bought some player discs of the following colors: Grey, Pink, Lime Green (building's a darker shade of green), Tan, Orange (money's now Copper), and Sky blue
The Exit games.
The Mind fits into this exact niche quite well also.
We have taken out Love Letter as a palate cleanser between 2 longer games only to find people want to keep playing Love Letter and forget about the second longer game. We will never do that again.
I am not big on Fluxx, but we have a friend that wants to play that every time she comes over.
None of those things are true, imo. But it's also a game you're probably just going to have to try, if you've read about it already.
I prefer LOVECRAFT LETTERS, actually. LOVE LETTER with a nice twist.