I don't think I would go so far as to say the art for FCM is good, but it fits the game and the overall graphic design is quite solid. Which is a lot better than Antiquity.
Also, all of the components look like they belong to the same game. Which is a lot better than Indonesia.
Agree. I think FCM has a kind of "plain, simple, and chunky" vibe. The cards are clear and simple, the board and food items are solid and bright and plain and obvious, and so on. It's not a pretty game, but there's not a lot of clutter, nor things to squint over, the board state is pretty clear at a glance.
There's not a lot of clutter on the board, but the deck of cards gets split into like 40 piles, right? I've only played it once but I remember thinking cards weren't the optimal choice and if the game was made today the theme would be less patriarchal and there would be a lot fewer cards and it would be made less space-greedy. Maybe I'm totally wrong, though, I only played it once!
It ain't one of the top of page categories because it's a pretty chunky chunky, but I have to word some words about Caverna: The Forgotten Folk. If you liked Caverna but you didn't like how it was always the same Caverna, this one's got eight variant game modes for one player apiece!
Cave Goblins start with a bonus dwelling and three workers, and can always get up to six! But they're goblins, so they're dirty incompetent cowards; their dwellings are never worth points, when they pick up goods from a space (as in the goods tokens that are present on that space) they lose one of them to the discards, and any weapon they forge comes out two points weaker.
Dark Elves will thank you not to look down at them; so what if they don't mind a bit of hard work? They always get a bonus ruby when they build a ruby mine, but their utilitarian dwellings aren't worth any points. They can also find goblin help when they go adventuring, but hired goblins are dirty incompetent super-cowards, like cave goblins but unwilling to even get onto the board until all other actual players have gone (unless you dangle a ruby in front of them).
Elves love forests and sunlight! They don't even need to clear land. They can plant whatever they want, just outside in the forest. They can make pastures, too! They can even build cave buildings outside, no problem! (The new meadow and field buildings do need a cleared meadow and field first, though.) As for inside... sure! They can dig tunnels inside just fine! "They" meaning of course passing dwarves, at the cost of one ruby per tile you want to put down in the initial excavation. Fortunately, elves start with two gemfruits, which are rubies that plant like vegetables. Even more fortunately, elves don't lose points for having uncleared spaces. Elves are hard mode, for certain values of hard.
Humans are tall drinks of water. They clear land like crazy - they can hang any double tile off the edge of the forest grid for 1 gold and 2 food. But they have to dig tall; when they would put a double tile down underground they only pick one side of it. They don't lose points for an incomplete cave.
Mountain Dwarves dig greedily and deep. They can hang any double tile off the edge of the mountain grid for 2 gold. When they build buildings, they can substitute ore or stone for wood. But when they clear a double tile outside, they can only stand to get half of it done. They don't lose points for an incomplete forest.
Pale Ones just dig, man. They can hang any double tile off the edge of the mountain grid for 1 gold and 1 mushroom, which is like a vegetable that plants in an empty cave. They can go to any of the main digging spaces even if someone else is already there, though they don't get the stone. They also only clear single spaces outside and don't lose points for an incomplete forest.
Silicoids are rocks. So they eat rocks; each Silicoid eats 1 stone instead of 2 food (or 1 stone per 2 when you would eat 1 food). They build at a cost of 1 fewer stone. But they understand this "food" thing is in high demand elsewhere; at every harvest they can get up to 2 gold by paying 3 food each, and then optionally buy a stone for 1 gold. Silicoids are a more different hard mode.
Trolls are big and stupid. Full-grown trolls eat 3 food instead of 2; their only possible weapon is a 4-strength giant club that takes 2 wood, and their weapons can never improve beyond 10. But they adventure for 1 more reward whenever they adventure, and they're not picky eaters; any animal is a minimum of 2 food for them.
You can play as regular dwarves, too, and have a regular game alongside people going crazy. But they recommend selecting a minimum of four variants even if everyone plays regular dwarves, because each one also replaces four buildings with buildings that do the same kind of thing but different in specifics. Some are too strong with the race; cave goblins have an advantage pursuing the Broom Chamber, so they replace it with a different bonus point chamber that gives you bonuses for complete sets of animals (including dogs). Some are too strong against the race; elves could never take the Office, so they replace it with a different rulebreaker chamber that lets you feed vegetables to animals to breed 2 kinds again.
It sounds nuts, but everything has kind of held together across plays so far. One thing to keep in mind if you pick it up yourself is that, in addition to always adventuring vs. never adventuring being a balance that it's never good to be on the popular side of, tons of weaker actions vs. fewer stronger actions is also one of those balances. This is especially true of Dark Elves and their adventure goblins.
Oh what the shit is this? I stay away from the board game thread for months and now that I'm reading the thread again I don't even make it past the first page without spending money? Damn.
FCM should come with rolodexes to put the cards in, or some kind of insert to use the box to display the upgrade trees
There is an accordion organizer, but it's an extra buy on the side.
This. They also had milestone boards that you could use dry-erase markers with rather than handing them out. Both good solutions, but neither in the box.
Personally, I just put the cards into a few loose binder sleeves. Sorted by type, they're pretty easy to pass around as people need to pull things out. Also just go straight into the box so no additional setup or tear-down. shrug
Lord help me blood on the clock tower is hitting my buttons hard
Yeah, the price is the only thing holding me back at this point. Even if it does come with a lot of stuff, including delivery to NZ, I'm looking at the cost of 2 other games. Sigh.
It seems like more of an "event" game than other social deduction games. The fact that the storyteller is more of a role really works for me, as I'm usually that guy.
I think I'll wait for a wide release so I can save on the delivery.
Aether on
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CaptainPeacockBoard Game HoarderTop o' the LakeRegistered Userregular
Definitely a convention game, if ever there was one.
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
+1
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
Buddy of mine made his own accordion thingy with a piece of paper. Worked great.
Yeah, I should try that. My interim solution is simply to not have all the cards out (e.g. late-game milestones and 3/4th tier employees), and rely on the menu more. "I would like to order a Guru, please."
When I was a child, I had a fever... My BoardGameGeek profile
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i backed a kickstarter! its called SeaRovers, and its a pirate game thats been around in various stages of development for like 15+ years and is finally getting actually published. it looks fun, it uses INCREDIBLE art for everything, and its super reasonably priced without a bunch of kickstarter nonsense. so check it out if you think a pirate game sounds neat i guess?
theres a couple long live streams with the developer about the game, and its long history etc too
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
0
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
Field hospital was always a Cat ability. It changed from saving one warrior to saving all warriors.
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
Field hospital was always a Cat ability. It changed from saving one warrior to saving all warriors.
Altho the Field Hospital rule was one of the most easily overlooked rules in the game, in my experience.
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
Field hospital was always a Cat ability. It changed from saving one warrior to saving all warriors.
Ok! Wow. Then I'm gonna need to update my copy then! :biggrin:
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
Field hospital was always a Cat ability. It changed from saving one warrior to saving all warriors.
Ok! Wow. Then I'm gonna need to update my copy then! :biggrin:
You also want to update WA victory points, and vagabond rules so they don't score points from swords unless they start the fight
Got the chance to play a few games of the new Fireball Island yesterday. It's fun! Something abut it feels not quite fun enough, though. The zaniness-to-downtime ratio felt a bit off, and while sometimes a big marble cascade will cause a bunch of chaos and be really entertaining to watch, just as often, or perhaps more often, nothing really happens. While nothing bad happening to you is good for your chances of winning, it's also pretty boring.
We were also able to play a game with one of the expansions that added a second mini island with a pirate ship. While the game and the decisions involved became a lot more interesting, it also introduced a phenomenon where we'd be told to start some marble action in an area where no one was, making the chances of something disappointing happening even greater.
It has an undeniable draw, though. The promise of more expansions with even more chaos is really compelling, even though the chances of the action misfiring, I imagine, would only increase more and more with each addition. Afterwards we all got caught up in spitballing ideas you could add to make the game even flashier or more exciting; it reminded me of that episode of That 70s Show where a couple of the characters become driven to modify their Pong home console.
BloodySloth on
+2
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Okay, suppose I am interested in buying Root and the first expansion. How will I get a copy with the updated rules and balance fixes?
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
Field hospital was always a Cat ability. It changed from saving one warrior to saving all warriors.
Altho the Field Hospital rule was one of the most easily overlooked rules in the game, in my experience.
It was both easy to miss and pretty bad. I think it was originally just there because the Cat doesn’t really use many cards.
jergarmarhollow man crewgoes pew pew pewRegistered Userregular
edited April 2019
Finished our first campaign in Arcadia Quest with my 7-year-old, great success. I was hoping that he would finish off Lord Fang, and in fact he played perfectly fine, but the "wheel of fate" swung around and just decided that I would roll all the hits and he would not. But I'll be blowed if he wasn't a great sport about it, and in fact insisted that we make a sign that said "Daddy won!" so that we could take a picture of it. It's weird to see qualities in your kids that make you say, "Uhhh... I didn't teach him that," in a positive sense.
Anyway, he's raring to go for another campaign. But what he doesn't know is that I just got the Beyond the Grave expansion off the BGG Virtual Flea Market, so I'm going to put him off for a couple weeks, and then blow his mind.
jergarmar on
When I was a child, I had a fever... My BoardGameGeek profile
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+10
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Tonight I'm hoping I get the chance to play Star Wars: Outer Rim. A few of our locals do demo stuff for Asmodee North America, and got to demo it at Adepticon... and did such a good job that the'll be demoing it at Star Wars Celebration. So ANA let them keep the prototype in the couple weeks between. That means tonight only they'll be giving an in-store demo.
I introduced a new group to Splendor this weekend, and everyone enjoyed it so much we played another game immediately after the first - even though it was 1am. My partner loves the game as well, but I've always been lukewarm on it. What does everyone think of the expansion? I understand its four expansions in a box - do folks recommend it in general, and if so, which modules do you find using every time you play?
The expansion is really good! But you only use one part at a time, it's not designed to work together. In broad strokes the 4 mods in the expansion get you:
A meaner, blockier game where whenever you buy a card you can soft block others from buying a particular card with strongholds, or remove someone elses block, OR if you invest enough time you can get to buy TWO cards in a turn, which is great!
A neat, faster ramping game where you unlock abilities as you buy cards, earning the ability to do things like spend 2 of one color as if they were another color, get bonus points for things etc. Definetly makes for a shorter game because you are just more powerful in general
An alt victory condition game where the nobles are replaced with cities that have a point and color requirement, and the first to get a city wins. Definitely changes the point and color race into what tends to be a closer game.
And a game that adds 3 whole new decks with powers like making two gems! Or being a wild gem! or making you destroy cards you have to buy them! I...don't like this expansion much, but its fine.
If you don't like splendor yet, the only way I see that changing is either the strongholds make it a bit more directly interactive, or the unlocking powers make you feel a power ramp that is more satisfying for you. But if you like splendor, I'd say it's well worth it.
The expansion is really good! But you only use one part at a time, it's not designed to work together.
Is there a module you find yourself drawn to or do you tend to mix it up?
So we mainly play two player, and we really really like the stronghold expansion that lets you block cards, it makes for a good back and forth struggle to get things done that we enjoy. The other modules are fine. For high player counts the powers can be nice for slightly more chaotic games. The cities alternate win condition is a nice change of pace from nobles.
- It is very expensive, considering the price of the base game
- You can't use the modules together, which means you are likely buying stuff you will rarely/never use. Even if all the modules were pretty good you would end up playing the one or two you liked and let the others gather dust, which is really unfortunate.
- The extra column of "advanced cards" is more of the same, and it's fine. Not revolutionary.
- The ability board is quite fun. I like this one and would probably have purchased it a la carte at a reasonable price.
- The alternate victory condition for cities seems fine, but the color requirement in practice makes things really tight around a color or two. In the base game you can find an alternate plan when a color is snapped up from you, but with cities it is simply mandatory. Luck of the draw can completely ruin one player's day.
- The strongholds just seem to amplify the worst feelings in the game. The board gets jammed up quickly with "no, you can't go here" markers, instead of being a wealth of possibilities to play with.
One of the designers in my local group coined a phrase we like: "The fun granted by a game mechanism must be greater than its anti-fun." If you have a "lose a turn" in a game, that's bad because the anti-fun experienced by one player is much larger than the sum of the fun experienced by the other players. Cities and Strongholds are just chock full of anti-fun for me. I would have been happy with just the other two at half the MSRP of this box.
- It is very expensive, considering the price of the base game
- You can't use the modules together, which means you are likely buying stuff you will rarely/never use. Even if all the modules were pretty good you would end up playing the one or two you liked and let the others gather dust, which is really unfortunate.
- The extra column of "advanced cards" is more of the same, and it's fine. Not revolutionary.
- The ability board is quite fun. I like this one and would probably have purchased it a la carte at a reasonable price.
- The alternate victory condition for cities seems fine, but the color requirement in practice makes things really tight around a color or two. In the base game you can find an alternate plan when a color is snapped up from you, but with cities it is simply mandatory. Luck of the draw can completely ruin one player's day.
- The strongholds just seem to amplify the worst feelings in the game. The board gets jammed up quickly with "no, you can't go here" markers, instead of being a wealth of possibilities to play with.
One of the designers in my local group coined a phrase we like: "The fun granted by a game mechanism must be greater than its anti-fun." If you have a "lose a turn" in a game, that's bad because the anti-fun experienced by one player is much larger than the sum of the fun experienced by the other players. Cities and Strongholds are just chock full of anti-fun for me. I would have been happy with just the other two at half the MSRP of this box.
I mean, I think that I read somewhere* that the attach rate for board game expansions is pretty abysmal, and it gets worse with every expansion that you print, with some notable exceptions (card games, mostly). I don't fault them for packaging all of the expansion content in a single box. Selling a la carte probably would be a money-losing proposition, as much as it sucks for the consumer.
* Found it: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24105591#24105591
Tom Lehmann (involved with Race for the Galaxy and Pandemic expansions) breaks it down using BGG registered game ownership as a proxy, along with his lived-in experience as an expansion designer:
Expansion sales go down dramatically with each expansion.
Using BGG registered game ownership as a rough proxy for proportional sales, the three Pandemic expansions have sold 36%, 11%, and just 3% of the base game's unit sales.
For comparison, the five Race expansions have sold 45%, 29%, 19%, 8%, and 3% of the base game's unit sales. Again, you can see the sharp decline in sales as more expansions get produced.
Roll's base game has 39% of Race's base game sales. Ambition, Roll's first expansion, has unit sales of 28% of Roll's base game sales. As Wei-Hwa and I work on figuring out what's in and what's out for the second Roll expansion, we're not all sure we'll get ever get to do a third one.
The solution, of course, is for everyone to buy more games. Right? RIGHT??
I totally get the financial model and the reasons it's expensive. The fact remains that I would buy two of the four at $20, and won't buy all four at $40. I don't think they are bad people for doing this, or anything, but I can't recommend that other people pay for this product.
Here's a weird one for you. My kids love the look of minis on maps when I have a Dungeon crawler out, but in trying to play them they freak out with the stress of monsters injuring their characters. Playing Dad as the bad guys openly saying I'll fudge it to let them win still doesn't work.
Is there some kind of non-perilous or very low hazard, co-op or 1 vs many, adventure game I could try with them? I don't even know how that would work whilst still functioning as a game so I suspect not.
Jam Warrior on
0
ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
<not helpful> This sounds like a really good occasion to try teaching them the concept of the greater good. </not helpful>
Here's a weird one for you. My kids love the look of minis on maps when I have a Dungeon crawler out, but in trying to play them they freak out with the stress of monsters injuring their characters. Playing Dad as the bad guys openly saying I'll fudge it to let them win still doesn't work.
Is there some kind of non-perilous or very low hazard, co-op or 1 vs many, adventure game I could try with them? I don't even know how that would work whilst still functioning as a game so I suspect not.
I would suggest Mice and Mystics, but that has character damage and monsters, unfortunately. It might still work because being adventurous, brave mice is enough of a disconnect that they might abstract out the damage instead of personally worrying about it.
There's a whole line of Peaceable Kingdom co-ops for kids that might work. There's a Ghostbusters: Save the Barrier (or something like that) that might work. If they are old enough, something like Flashpoint Fire Rescue (no character actually dies, although a victim might if they don't act quickly enough, but you can easily house-rule this by telling them "Oops, you didn't get them, so they have to go to the hospital"), Forbidden Desert/Island/Sky might work.
+5
jergarmarhollow man crewgoes pew pew pewRegistered Userregular
Here's a weird one for you. My kids love the look of minis on maps when I have a Dungeon crawler out, but in trying to play them they freak out with the stress of monsters injuring their characters. Playing Dad as the bad guys openly saying I'll fudge it to let them win still doesn't work.
Is there some kind of non-perilous or very low hazard, co-op or 1 vs many, adventure game I could try with them? I don't even know how that would work whilst still functioning as a game so I suspect not.
I've been talking about Arcadia Quest, gotta recommend it. My son is definitely one who gets "stressed out" by monsters and peril (one day I'll relate our harrowing foray into Minecraft), but in AQ the monsters mostly retaliate in a simple way, and you have multiple cartoony heroes who respawn when they die. Low stress. It's not a co-op game, and you can fight against each other, but it's mostly optional, and a great chance for the kids to "get daddy" sometimes.
When I was a child, I had a fever... My BoardGameGeek profile
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+1
FairchildRabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?"Registered Userregular
Here's a weird one for you. My kids love the look of minis on maps when I have a Dungeon crawler out, but in trying to play them they freak out with the stress of monsters injuring their characters. Playing Dad as the bad guys openly saying I'll fudge it to let them win still doesn't work.
Is there some kind of non-perilous or very low hazard, co-op or 1 vs many, adventure game I could try with them? I don't even know how that would work whilst still functioning as a game so I suspect not.
I think DESCENT, 2nd edition would be ideal here, with the monsters cranked down. Also, what's the Mouse dungeon game called, MICE & MYSTICS ?
EDIT- Yes, MICE & MYSTICS, someone mentioned it just now. I suspect it was designed specifically for what you are looking for.
KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
AhPook's enthusiasm sold me on backing SeaRovers. Sadly, the campaign was canceled this evening due to low funding. It sounds like they'll tweak things a bit and re-launch at a later date.
+1
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
edited April 2019
Outer Rim Pre-ordered.. but I'm an FFG shill, so that's not a surprise.
Pros:
- it offers an interesting smuggling & hunting game in a smaller package than Firefly (my main comparison). The map is more concise, the potential targets more concise, the overall mechanics are just quicker and easier to pick up on.
- The theming is great, as can be expected.
- It's really easy to teach symbols and what everyone is doing, because it uses X-wing dice (so probabilities are really well known) and familiar green/red/yellow iconography.
Cons:
- The goal is pretty much static: Gain fame. Not the most money, not have reputation with a certain faction, just fame.
- It can get super swingy in gaining fame. One player shot from 2-5 fame in one turn by completing a job in the right place at the right time.
- I'm really worried about the longevity of the product. It's been known for a while that FFG is getting cheaper with their cardboard, and unlike Scythe the player mats aren't double thick so the bottom layer of cardboard is just exposed. Also there was a lot of wear already showing on the fame marker spots. Taking apart the board had me freaked out a bit. ( yes, this was a retail run copy.)
-At only supporting up to 4 players, it isn't the biggest playground out there. That said, when you have 4 players it is VERY easy to drift off because there is very limited player interaction between the turns, unless someone is hunting a specific bounty. I heard the sweet spot is 3 players.
-The single player Automa is pretty basic from what I could tell, and doesn't provide much in the way of engagement.
-A minor nitpick, but a lot of the player board is wasted on things that don't help the player in any way, and just "look good." There's a large section next to the captain slot that could be used for something, and the fact that the sliders have "notches" makes it seem like faction rep can be anything other than positive, neutral, or negative.
I also want to call special attention to the negotiation aspect of the game. This is actually the counter to the no interaction part - you can trade credits, gear, cargo, and jobs/bounties. So if your players want to lean into it, you can do a ton of negotiating and eat up a toooon of time. Or you can completely ignore that facet of the game, as none of the captains are built around it. So that aspect will be very much driven by player interaction.
Like any FFG product, it shares the DNA of its earlier brethren pretty clearly on its shoulder. There's a bunch of Arkham Horror in there, as well as other narrative products. There's obviously a lot of past Star Wars products. I was told there's some aspects of Fallout as well.
I know it looks like I listed a lot of negatives, but really the positives outweigh it for me. It's a lighter game than Firefly, to be sure, and might just be a gateway drug into that kind of game. It's also $65, because there are no minis - only cardboard, cards, and X-wing attack dice painted gold.
Chris James, who demo'ed the game for us, did a lot of video work (With FFG/Asmodee's permission) and has uploaded that to BoardGameGeek if you wish to see more.
Re: Danger averse kids. Hmm, not sure on Mice and Mystics. I feel being a small mouse ravaged by an owl will be worse rather than better than being a Dwarf being attacked by a goblin. Being captured rather than killed might help? I think a mate has the game so I'll see if I can get a test drive.
Arcadia Quest with it's cartoony look and the fact you just get sent home to base rather than killed might help, but possibly a bit too PvP and not sure if the team of three would help or hinder proceedings. I'll look further into it. The aesthetic reminded me of Super Dungeon Explore which I might look into as well.
Posts
There's not a lot of clutter on the board, but the deck of cards gets split into like 40 piles, right? I've only played it once but I remember thinking cards weren't the optimal choice and if the game was made today the theme would be less patriarchal and there would be a lot fewer cards and it would be made less space-greedy. Maybe I'm totally wrong, though, I only played it once!
Oh what the shit is this? I stay away from the board game thread for months and now that I'm reading the thread again I don't even make it past the first page without spending money? Damn.
This sounds so awesome.
Nintendo ID: Pastalonius
Smite\LoL:Gremlidin \ WoW & Overwatch & Hots: Gremlidin#1734
3ds: 3282-2248-0453
There is an accordion organizer, but it's an extra buy on the side.
Personally, I just put the cards into a few loose binder sleeves. Sorted by type, they're pretty easy to pass around as people need to pull things out. Also just go straight into the box so no additional setup or tear-down. shrug
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Yeah, the price is the only thing holding me back at this point. Even if it does come with a lot of stuff, including delivery to NZ, I'm looking at the cost of 2 other games. Sigh.
It seems like more of an "event" game than other social deduction games. The fact that the storyteller is more of a role really works for me, as I'm usually that guy.
I think I'll wait for a wide release so I can save on the delivery.
wait until the third printing comes out at the end of the year, or get one now and print out the upgrades and add them on yourself
Yeah, I should try that. My interim solution is simply to not have all the cards out (e.g. late-game milestones and 3/4th tier employees), and rely on the menu more. "I would like to order a Guru, please."
My BoardGameGeek profile
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theres a couple long live streams with the developer about the game, and its long history etc too
Important question: do wind speed and direction matter?
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Indeed! There are basic movement rules, which have a simplified wind system. There are also advanced movement rules, which you can see here.
http://samrichardson.com/searovers/SR_ADV_RULES_2.0.PDF
http://samrichardson.com/searovers/SR_WIND_CHARTS_2.0.PDF
I thought the latest rule changes came with the second printing already?
That's the version I bought last month and as far I'm aware it's all there. Like the Field Hospital ability for the Marquise de Cat, for example, is the latest addition I believe.
Field hospital was always a Cat ability. It changed from saving one warrior to saving all warriors.
Altho the Field Hospital rule was one of the most easily overlooked rules in the game, in my experience.
Ok! Wow. Then I'm gonna need to update my copy then! :biggrin:
You also want to update WA victory points, and vagabond rules so they don't score points from swords unless they start the fight
We were also able to play a game with one of the expansions that added a second mini island with a pirate ship. While the game and the decisions involved became a lot more interesting, it also introduced a phenomenon where we'd be told to start some marble action in an area where no one was, making the chances of something disappointing happening even greater.
It has an undeniable draw, though. The promise of more expansions with even more chaos is really compelling, even though the chances of the action misfiring, I imagine, would only increase more and more with each addition. Afterwards we all got caught up in spitballing ideas you could add to make the game even flashier or more exciting; it reminded me of that episode of That 70s Show where a couple of the characters become driven to modify their Pong home console.
It was both easy to miss and pretty bad. I think it was originally just there because the Cat doesn’t really use many cards.
Anyway, he's raring to go for another campaign. But what he doesn't know is that I just got the Beyond the Grave expansion off the BGG Virtual Flea Market, so I'm going to put him off for a couple weeks, and then blow his mind.
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A meaner, blockier game where whenever you buy a card you can soft block others from buying a particular card with strongholds, or remove someone elses block, OR if you invest enough time you can get to buy TWO cards in a turn, which is great!
A neat, faster ramping game where you unlock abilities as you buy cards, earning the ability to do things like spend 2 of one color as if they were another color, get bonus points for things etc. Definetly makes for a shorter game because you are just more powerful in general
An alt victory condition game where the nobles are replaced with cities that have a point and color requirement, and the first to get a city wins. Definitely changes the point and color race into what tends to be a closer game.
And a game that adds 3 whole new decks with powers like making two gems! Or being a wild gem! or making you destroy cards you have to buy them! I...don't like this expansion much, but its fine.
If you don't like splendor yet, the only way I see that changing is either the strongholds make it a bit more directly interactive, or the unlocking powers make you feel a power ramp that is more satisfying for you. But if you like splendor, I'd say it's well worth it.
So we mainly play two player, and we really really like the stronghold expansion that lets you block cards, it makes for a good back and forth struggle to get things done that we enjoy. The other modules are fine. For high player counts the powers can be nice for slightly more chaotic games. The cities alternate win condition is a nice change of pace from nobles.
- It is very expensive, considering the price of the base game
- You can't use the modules together, which means you are likely buying stuff you will rarely/never use. Even if all the modules were pretty good you would end up playing the one or two you liked and let the others gather dust, which is really unfortunate.
- The extra column of "advanced cards" is more of the same, and it's fine. Not revolutionary.
- The ability board is quite fun. I like this one and would probably have purchased it a la carte at a reasonable price.
- The alternate victory condition for cities seems fine, but the color requirement in practice makes things really tight around a color or two. In the base game you can find an alternate plan when a color is snapped up from you, but with cities it is simply mandatory. Luck of the draw can completely ruin one player's day.
- The strongholds just seem to amplify the worst feelings in the game. The board gets jammed up quickly with "no, you can't go here" markers, instead of being a wealth of possibilities to play with.
One of the designers in my local group coined a phrase we like: "The fun granted by a game mechanism must be greater than its anti-fun." If you have a "lose a turn" in a game, that's bad because the anti-fun experienced by one player is much larger than the sum of the fun experienced by the other players. Cities and Strongholds are just chock full of anti-fun for me. I would have been happy with just the other two at half the MSRP of this box.
* Found it: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24105591#24105591
Tom Lehmann (involved with Race for the Galaxy and Pandemic expansions) breaks it down using BGG registered game ownership as a proxy, along with his lived-in experience as an expansion designer:
The solution, of course, is for everyone to buy more games. Right? RIGHT??
>.>
<.<
(I'm so broke)
Is there some kind of non-perilous or very low hazard, co-op or 1 vs many, adventure game I could try with them? I don't even know how that would work whilst still functioning as a game so I suspect not.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
There's a whole line of Peaceable Kingdom co-ops for kids that might work. There's a Ghostbusters: Save the Barrier (or something like that) that might work. If they are old enough, something like Flashpoint Fire Rescue (no character actually dies, although a victim might if they don't act quickly enough, but you can easily house-rule this by telling them "Oops, you didn't get them, so they have to go to the hospital"), Forbidden Desert/Island/Sky might work.
I've been talking about Arcadia Quest, gotta recommend it. My son is definitely one who gets "stressed out" by monsters and peril (one day I'll relate our harrowing foray into Minecraft), but in AQ the monsters mostly retaliate in a simple way, and you have multiple cartoony heroes who respawn when they die. Low stress. It's not a co-op game, and you can fight against each other, but it's mostly optional, and a great chance for the kids to "get daddy" sometimes.
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I think DESCENT, 2nd edition would be ideal here, with the monsters cranked down. Also, what's the Mouse dungeon game called, MICE & MYSTICS ?
EDIT- Yes, MICE & MYSTICS, someone mentioned it just now. I suspect it was designed specifically for what you are looking for.
Pros:
- it offers an interesting smuggling & hunting game in a smaller package than Firefly (my main comparison). The map is more concise, the potential targets more concise, the overall mechanics are just quicker and easier to pick up on.
- The theming is great, as can be expected.
- It's really easy to teach symbols and what everyone is doing, because it uses X-wing dice (so probabilities are really well known) and familiar green/red/yellow iconography.
Cons:
- The goal is pretty much static: Gain fame. Not the most money, not have reputation with a certain faction, just fame.
- It can get super swingy in gaining fame. One player shot from 2-5 fame in one turn by completing a job in the right place at the right time.
- I'm really worried about the longevity of the product. It's been known for a while that FFG is getting cheaper with their cardboard, and unlike Scythe the player mats aren't double thick so the bottom layer of cardboard is just exposed. Also there was a lot of wear already showing on the fame marker spots. Taking apart the board had me freaked out a bit. ( yes, this was a retail run copy.)
-At only supporting up to 4 players, it isn't the biggest playground out there. That said, when you have 4 players it is VERY easy to drift off because there is very limited player interaction between the turns, unless someone is hunting a specific bounty. I heard the sweet spot is 3 players.
-The single player Automa is pretty basic from what I could tell, and doesn't provide much in the way of engagement.
-A minor nitpick, but a lot of the player board is wasted on things that don't help the player in any way, and just "look good." There's a large section next to the captain slot that could be used for something, and the fact that the sliders have "notches" makes it seem like faction rep can be anything other than positive, neutral, or negative.
I also want to call special attention to the negotiation aspect of the game. This is actually the counter to the no interaction part - you can trade credits, gear, cargo, and jobs/bounties. So if your players want to lean into it, you can do a ton of negotiating and eat up a toooon of time. Or you can completely ignore that facet of the game, as none of the captains are built around it. So that aspect will be very much driven by player interaction.
Like any FFG product, it shares the DNA of its earlier brethren pretty clearly on its shoulder. There's a bunch of Arkham Horror in there, as well as other narrative products. There's obviously a lot of past Star Wars products. I was told there's some aspects of Fallout as well.
I know it looks like I listed a lot of negatives, but really the positives outweigh it for me. It's a lighter game than Firefly, to be sure, and might just be a gateway drug into that kind of game. It's also $65, because there are no minis - only cardboard, cards, and X-wing attack dice painted gold.
Chris James, who demo'ed the game for us, did a lot of video work (With FFG/Asmodee's permission) and has uploaded that to BoardGameGeek if you wish to see more.
Arcadia Quest with it's cartoony look and the fact you just get sent home to base rather than killed might help, but possibly a bit too PvP and not sure if the team of three would help or hinder proceedings. I'll look further into it. The aesthetic reminded me of Super Dungeon Explore which I might look into as well.