I traded for a copy of Duel of Ages 2 and inventoried it yesterday. There is a token in that game that is a little black square with a duck on one side and the Mona Lisa on the other side. No text, haven't looked in the rules to see wtf. Just saying the game seems rad.
Two part epoxies can get a little funky. But super glue you can just snap off the bond if you were not happy with it, it’s pretty brittle.
Superglue can F you up! It’s very good at bonding skin to skin (or eye...) and setting is an exothermic reaction to the extent that someone in the 40K thread has a party story of managing to empty a bottle onto their jeans and ending up with flames.
Like don’t be scared of it, but show it some sensible respect.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I think Mansions of Madness is my most complicated organizer. With that, they developed a rail system to hold the minis (both monsters and investigators). So adding all those rails and getting everything lined up can be tricky and time consuming.
That's going to change next week with my Big Damned Crate (I'm super excited if you can't tell), but still.
Also, good instructions is very important. There were a few ambiguous bits to the scythe instructions because they didn't indicate that pieces were asymmetrical or had certain alignments, and the instructions squished the dimensions to emphasize which pieces to place next - and in doing so made it harder to tell things.
I've built 3 broken token organizers. I've made a foamcore organizer myself. And I've put together 2 foam core organizers from Folded Space.
Spoilers for long winded explanations of my experience with these 3 organizer types:
Broken token organizers are, in my opinion, the best thought out in terms of usability. I have the Dead of Winter, Gloomhaven, and Kingdom Death Monster organizers.
Dead of Winter I don't remember the details of - I got it after playing some one else's copy twice, and my copy once, and realizing I would never want to play it again without organizational help. I played it a couple more times, and then realized...I kinda don't like the game in general? But the organizer made set up / tear down a breeze, and everything makes sense.
Gloomhaven organizer took me a full night to put together. There are *tons* of little trays and organizers. And then the monsters each get their own tuck box. There are also 4 player boards to store player set ups between sessions. I love/hate this organizer. I think it's super smart, but I don't particularly like the monster tuck boxes (they are extremely tight fits), I don't like that there isn't space in the box for the empty 4 player boxes (you have to flatten them and slide them into the side of the box somewhere, or store them outside the box), and I don't like how the map tiles are stored in a more or less jigsaw puzzle single tray. The trays for the various map tokens are great, though, as are the trays for status effects, coins, and the monster cards. Using the Gloomhaven Helper App, though, means that you have to take out basically every tray in the box to get to the monster standees, and then you don't really end up using any of the other items. So, realistically, I think the BT organizer is only helpful if you refuse to use the app. Otherwise you're better off putting the standees in a plano box organizer, and stuffing all the tokens and such into bags. Then you have lots of space to figure out a storage solution for the cards, which, admittedly, the BT organizer does a great job of organizing.
KDM's organizer is great. Very simple, just lots and lots of space for lots and lots of sleeved cards. Not a lot of fiddly bits. This one just has LOTS of trays, so it took some time to put together.
For BT organizers, I've used wood glue. Generally I punch out all the tiles required for all the trays, and organize them into piles. I've done enough by now that I don't even really need to look at how they're put together, or where to put glue, so I just kind of wing it. I've never needed a mallet, and find that generally if you have to force a piece you probably put it together in the wrong order? But, I've only done 3 organizers (granted 2 were enormous projects).
For the organizer I made myself, I made one for Spirit Island. It took several nights of effort between finding someone who made something similar, planning out the cuts, cutting, dry fitting, and gluing. I used regular PVA (elmer's white) glue. It was nice because I could plan out which trays held what items and what might need to be passed around or just needed for set up. I think, not to pat myself on the back too much, that this set up was the best in terms of organizing for actual play. Unfortunately, I mis-measured one of my trays, ended up getting frustrated, and then bought a foam organizer from Folded Space for ~$10.
The Folded Space organizers are super cheap, decent foam core (better quality stuff than I was able to purchase myself on amazon / Micheals). I used the same PVA glue. They seemed to be *mostly* well thought out in terms of providing specific trays for play smartly, but I put together the one for Anachrony (like 26 individual trays) and my fiancee put together the one for Spirit Island (~12 total trays) so I wasn't really paying attention to how well thought out the Spirit Island organizer was, and I've only played Anachrony the one time (and basically was like - no way I play this again without an organizer), so I'm not sure on that one either. I'll report back when I get some more plays in. I also have the Folded Space organizer for Eclipse + Expansions, so I can get all that stuff in one box. That was my major reason for getting the SI / Anachrony organizers as well - trying to fit everything into one box.
Last Friday I got some games in of games that have been sitting on my shelf unplayed: Hansa Tuetonica: I loved the crap out of this one. Every turn feels agonizing, but the turns were short, you had to pay attention to your opponents, and your early moves greatly impacted your later moves. We got a couple rules wrong (placing bonus tiles after claiming a bonus tile), so that led to a bit of a runaway leader problem, but still had a blast. My fiancee isn't a big fan of direct interaction / take that mechanics, so even though this game feels crazy cut throat and brutal, she still enjoyed it. She said that even though people could block what you wanted, there was always a way to make something work for your turn. Definitely want to play this a bunch more.
Blue Lagoon: Very similar feeling to Hansa. Extremely brutal decisions every turn. Fiancee liked this one less because people could straight up block what you wanted to do and you didn't have a whole lot of recourse. I played poorly and came in last, but thoroughly enjoyed it. The comparisons to Go are apt - initial placements, first round village placements, and overall early decision making is hugely impactful. It kinda feels like the 2nd act is....lesser? Like, it kind of felt like the board state was already determined, so it mostly became a race to just fill out the obvious things you were doing? Not sure - only 1 play of it, so who knows.
Azul: Fiancee was tired by this point, so my friend and I did a quick game of Azul to close out the night. I tried a different strategy from my usual and did extremely poorly. I still really like Azul. 2 player is probably my least favorite player count, though.
Diagnosed with AML on 6/1/12. Read about it: www.effleukemia.com
I think Mansions of Madness is my most complicated organizer. With that, they developed a rail system to hold the minis (both monsters and investigators). So adding all those rails and getting everything lined up can be tricky and time consuming.
That's going to change next week with my Big Damned Crate (I'm super excited if you can't tell), but still.
Also, good instructions is very important. There were a few ambiguous bits to the scythe instructions because they didn't indicate that pieces were asymmetrical or had certain alignments, and the instructions squished the dimensions to emphasize which pieces to place next - and in doing so made it harder to tell things.
If this is the Eldritch Horror crate, watch the the large sides of the inner part of the crate. I have a ton of broken token organizers and this was the only one where I made a mistake due to the directions not being super clear.
Where all the drawers go, one side has a little shelf so you want to make sure that side has the slot for it.
Two part epoxies can get a little funky. But super glue you can just snap off the bond if you were not happy with it, it’s pretty brittle.
Superglue can F you up! It’s very good at bonding skin to skin (or eye...) and setting is an exothermic reaction to the extent that someone in the 40K thread has a party story of managing to empty a bottle onto their jeans and ending up with flames.
Like don’t be scared of it, but show it some sensible respect.
Might depend on the kind you get. I put my boardgame inserts together with tape and the small tube super glue you can get at art stores or Wallmart. Works well enough. You definitely don't want to get it into your eye or anything like that but I've gotten it on my fingers plenty of times and in my experience you can just wash it off. I guess also obviously if you feel it on your fingers you shouldn't just keep them pressed together for a minute while it sets.
Completely different topic: So I just heard that Trump's tariffs on China are going to destroy the boardgame market. Do I need to start stocking up or am I already stocking up with all these game I have that I've barely played?
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
I think Mansions of Madness is my most complicated organizer. With that, they developed a rail system to hold the minis (both monsters and investigators). So adding all those rails and getting everything lined up can be tricky and time consuming.
That's going to change next week with my Big Damned Crate (I'm super excited if you can't tell), but still.
Also, good instructions is very important. There were a few ambiguous bits to the scythe instructions because they didn't indicate that pieces were asymmetrical or had certain alignments, and the instructions squished the dimensions to emphasize which pieces to place next - and in doing so made it harder to tell things.
If this is the Eldritch Horror crate, watch the the large sides of the inner part of the crate. I have a ton of broken token organizers and this was the only one where I made a mistake due to the directions not being super clear.
Where all the drawers go, one side has a little shelf so you want to make sure that side has the slot for it.
Nah. Big Damned Crate is used for misbehavin' and being free!
Blue Lagoon: Very similar feeling to Hansa. Extremely brutal decisions every turn. Fiancee liked this one less because people could straight up block what you wanted to do and you didn't have a whole lot of recourse. I played poorly and came in last, but thoroughly enjoyed it. The comparisons to Go are apt - initial placements, first round village placements, and overall early decision making is hugely impactful. It kinda feels like the 2nd act is....lesser? Like, it kind of felt like the board state was already determined, so it mostly became a race to just fill out the obvious things you were doing? Not sure - only 1 play of it, so who knows.
if you ever get a chance to try Through The Desert you should. its basically the game that Blue Lagoon added a bunch of stuff onto to be a new game. its leaner and its definitely meaner. that said i do quite enjoy Blue Lagoon. setting myself up for the second half is something that im real bad at.
You definately want to wood glue the joints of the BT organizers. I did the Gloomhaven one around Christmas, and there were quite a few parts that were wobbly, and not tight.
It's easy enough to do. I just bought a cheap hobby brush (like used to paint miniatures), and smeared a line of the clear drying wood glue all along the seams whereever the pieces met, and its held up well.
Current board game frustration: bending cards. They kind of twist from the core after awhile, so one corner is at a different height than its diagonal opposite. I think it's a humidity thing, especially when these games get transported from one hemisphere to another. Not a whole lot I can do about it, but it's annoying nonetheless.
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
Wjelp I've gone down the dark path. One of the 5 Arkham horror novelas with alt art promo Jenny barns cards was available at retail price and I ordered it immediately because that art is sweet and I like playing as Jenny. The out of print ones are absurdly priced though. Though 2/5 of the investigators are currently only available as those promos but I'm sure they'll add them eventially
I played Anachrony and it is very good and now I'm sad I missed the new Kickstarter.
I intentionally skipped it. Not because I dislike the game in any way, but it never gets to the table thanks to Gloomhaven and the occasional TIME Stories expansion. Maybe one those have run their respective courses I'll look into picking up the expansion.
Viticulture makes me sad because I quite liked it but only with the Tuscany expansion, and buying it with the expansion drives the price well above how much I liked it/think we will play it.
WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
That just means you need to play it a whole lot! :biggrin:
In another topic, what's the best "hidden resource screen" thing you've seen in board games? So far I've only seen the ones in the Game of Thrones board game, and Keyflower's. Keyflower's is so pretty - houses for your meeples! - but so dang flimsy, and for some reason the fact that three of the six house-screens have the exact same color in roofs drive me nuts, so I was thinking of making my own.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Best one I've seen personally is Roll for the Galaxy's, especially the one in the new Rivalry expansion. The whole "for the galaxy" line is very heavy on symbolism, so having a tool that you could potentially teach the whole game from is a godsend.
Thinking out side of the box, my second favorite is Raise your Goblets. Technically you don't know what is in the goblets, so it is hiding "resources!"
Played a lot of Wingspan this weekend, it's pretty good and nice looking. The best thing I can say about it is that people that usually need to get coaxed into joining us for games kept asking to play again and again. Pretty big win IMO.
I ended up getting viticulture/Tuscany for my birthday game today after putting way too much thought into trying to figure out what the best value play was or what I was most likely to want but not justify buying myself and I should have just grabbed the thing I wanted in the first place
Inis is a fantastic game and everyone I've shown it to thinks it's the bee's knees. So easy to set up and learn for how deep it is. Doesn't overstay its welcome.
Everyone loves Santorini. Full stop. Best $20 game you can get.
Played Wingspan for the first time today. Wasn't really clear on what was going on, but I still managed to assemble some birbs and 25 eggs, so I wasn't too horribly far off the winner's score.
Was sad that there were no penguins or puffins, or indeed any non-American birds, but the game's owner assured me that those would likely be in the expansions, which he will likely pick up.
Played Wingspan for the first time today. Wasn't really clear on what was going on, but I still managed to assemble some birbs and 25 eggs, so I wasn't too horribly far off the winner's score.
Was sad that there were no penguins or puffins, or indeed any non-American birds, but the game's owner assured me that those would likely be in the expansions, which he will likely pick up.
There is one puffin IIRC? It's one of the endangered birds that give you another bonus card.
All birds in the base game have a territory that includes at least part of North America. There are a ton of bird species in the world, and this seems as good as any way to limit the options. Stonemaier has indicated that each expansion will focus on a different region.
+1
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
edited May 2019
So our group got gifted Spirit Island! As the resident rules guy, I'll be teaching them this weekend, so what do I need to know/keep in mind?
Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
I love that game so much! It's a long long rules explanation. You might play a solo game to get the hang of the invaders? You don't really have to teach that part if you just operate the invader cycle for the group.
Things I got wrong: everybody has to start on their own cardboard board section, Ocean gets 1/X energy per drowned HP, where X is number of players, not 1 per, Earned Terror cards don't turn face up until they take effect.
The starting rules are pretty easy, but there's ~10 additional difficulty levels. 2 or 3 should be about even odds for experienced gamers trying hard on their first playthrough. I like it fine at base level.
I almost never use the power progression basic rules, even for new players. The alternative, pick one power of four, is really easy for even new players to grasp.
Also I don't make new players stick to low complexity spirits. Everyone seems to do fine with medium, and high is fine for competitive gamers. It's more likely a new player will pilot a complex spirit suboptimally than that they won't have fun.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
edited May 2019
Ah yeah, I'll be purely facilitating as we're five players, just so I don't have to worry about teaching the game alongside playing my spirit.
I'm looking at the elements requirements in the innate powers, they're checked resources a la 7 Wonders's wood/clay/ore/stone/cloth/glass/paper, instead of being consumed, yes? And we only have the elements of the power cards played that turn?
Ah yeah, I'll be purely facilitating as we're five players, just so I don't have to worry about teaching the game alongside playing my spirit.
I'm looking at the elements requirements in the innate powers, they're checked resources a la 7 Wonders's wood/clay/ore/stone/cloth/glass/paper, instead of being consumed, yes? And we only have the elements of the power cards played that turn?
Correct. All innate powers and slow or fast major powers activate with all played powers' elements, as long as you haven't destroyed the power card already (very rare).
I, uh, had not heard of it! I don't keep up with events. I won't be going, but I will be going to my local board game store which is having a Queen's Birthday sale.
Ordered Tiny Epic Tactics via their post-kickstarter thingamajigga. I'm always on the lookout for short/simple but deep games that we can play at lunch time here at work. This fits the bill and is also adorable!
So our group got gifted Spirit Island! As the resident rules guy, I'll be teaching them this weekend, so what do I need to know/keep in mind?
Not a specific rule, but I'd maybe stress the importance of planning for the future. I've seen new players focus too much on what looks bad at that moment, and not at what the cards are saying is going to happen in the next turn or two.
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
Yeah if you can't usefully save a Dahan home or prevent a blight, then use your powers (especially turtles) on whatever's about to build, not whatever's about to ravage.
Don't say this up front, though, just mention it off-handedly as an option while they're confusedly throwing out plans for their turn.
On the base difficulty level your team can win even with somebody making bad decisions, so I've been very successful refusing to offer advice unless directly asked, in an effort to avoid the Pandemic Problem.
Posts
If you want to stain, varnish, or paint then it can take a lot longer but since I don’t care much for stain on HDF Go7 stuff is just build & use.
Two part epoxies can get a little funky. But super glue you can just snap off the bond if you were not happy with it, it’s pretty brittle.
Superglue can F you up! It’s very good at bonding skin to skin (or eye...) and setting is an exothermic reaction to the extent that someone in the 40K thread has a party story of managing to empty a bottle onto their jeans and ending up with flames.
Like don’t be scared of it, but show it some sensible respect.
That's going to change next week with my Big Damned Crate (I'm super excited if you can't tell), but still.
Also, good instructions is very important. There were a few ambiguous bits to the scythe instructions because they didn't indicate that pieces were asymmetrical or had certain alignments, and the instructions squished the dimensions to emphasize which pieces to place next - and in doing so made it harder to tell things.
Spoilers for long winded explanations of my experience with these 3 organizer types:
Dead of Winter I don't remember the details of - I got it after playing some one else's copy twice, and my copy once, and realizing I would never want to play it again without organizational help. I played it a couple more times, and then realized...I kinda don't like the game in general? But the organizer made set up / tear down a breeze, and everything makes sense.
Gloomhaven organizer took me a full night to put together. There are *tons* of little trays and organizers. And then the monsters each get their own tuck box. There are also 4 player boards to store player set ups between sessions. I love/hate this organizer. I think it's super smart, but I don't particularly like the monster tuck boxes (they are extremely tight fits), I don't like that there isn't space in the box for the empty 4 player boxes (you have to flatten them and slide them into the side of the box somewhere, or store them outside the box), and I don't like how the map tiles are stored in a more or less jigsaw puzzle single tray. The trays for the various map tokens are great, though, as are the trays for status effects, coins, and the monster cards. Using the Gloomhaven Helper App, though, means that you have to take out basically every tray in the box to get to the monster standees, and then you don't really end up using any of the other items. So, realistically, I think the BT organizer is only helpful if you refuse to use the app. Otherwise you're better off putting the standees in a plano box organizer, and stuffing all the tokens and such into bags. Then you have lots of space to figure out a storage solution for the cards, which, admittedly, the BT organizer does a great job of organizing.
KDM's organizer is great. Very simple, just lots and lots of space for lots and lots of sleeved cards. Not a lot of fiddly bits. This one just has LOTS of trays, so it took some time to put together.
For BT organizers, I've used wood glue. Generally I punch out all the tiles required for all the trays, and organize them into piles. I've done enough by now that I don't even really need to look at how they're put together, or where to put glue, so I just kind of wing it. I've never needed a mallet, and find that generally if you have to force a piece you probably put it together in the wrong order? But, I've only done 3 organizers (granted 2 were enormous projects).
For the organizer I made myself, I made one for Spirit Island. It took several nights of effort between finding someone who made something similar, planning out the cuts, cutting, dry fitting, and gluing. I used regular PVA (elmer's white) glue. It was nice because I could plan out which trays held what items and what might need to be passed around or just needed for set up. I think, not to pat myself on the back too much, that this set up was the best in terms of organizing for actual play. Unfortunately, I mis-measured one of my trays, ended up getting frustrated, and then bought a foam organizer from Folded Space for ~$10.
The Folded Space organizers are super cheap, decent foam core (better quality stuff than I was able to purchase myself on amazon / Micheals). I used the same PVA glue. They seemed to be *mostly* well thought out in terms of providing specific trays for play smartly, but I put together the one for Anachrony (like 26 individual trays) and my fiancee put together the one for Spirit Island (~12 total trays) so I wasn't really paying attention to how well thought out the Spirit Island organizer was, and I've only played Anachrony the one time (and basically was like - no way I play this again without an organizer), so I'm not sure on that one either. I'll report back when I get some more plays in. I also have the Folded Space organizer for Eclipse + Expansions, so I can get all that stuff in one box. That was my major reason for getting the SI / Anachrony organizers as well - trying to fit everything into one box.
Last Friday I got some games in of games that have been sitting on my shelf unplayed:
Hansa Tuetonica: I loved the crap out of this one. Every turn feels agonizing, but the turns were short, you had to pay attention to your opponents, and your early moves greatly impacted your later moves. We got a couple rules wrong (placing bonus tiles after claiming a bonus tile), so that led to a bit of a runaway leader problem, but still had a blast. My fiancee isn't a big fan of direct interaction / take that mechanics, so even though this game feels crazy cut throat and brutal, she still enjoyed it. She said that even though people could block what you wanted, there was always a way to make something work for your turn. Definitely want to play this a bunch more.
Blue Lagoon: Very similar feeling to Hansa. Extremely brutal decisions every turn. Fiancee liked this one less because people could straight up block what you wanted to do and you didn't have a whole lot of recourse. I played poorly and came in last, but thoroughly enjoyed it. The comparisons to Go are apt - initial placements, first round village placements, and overall early decision making is hugely impactful. It kinda feels like the 2nd act is....lesser? Like, it kind of felt like the board state was already determined, so it mostly became a race to just fill out the obvious things you were doing? Not sure - only 1 play of it, so who knows.
Azul: Fiancee was tired by this point, so my friend and I did a quick game of Azul to close out the night. I tried a different strategy from my usual and did extremely poorly. I still really like Azul. 2 player is probably my least favorite player count, though.
If this is the Eldritch Horror crate, watch the the large sides of the inner part of the crate. I have a ton of broken token organizers and this was the only one where I made a mistake due to the directions not being super clear.
Where all the drawers go, one side has a little shelf so you want to make sure that side has the slot for it.
Might depend on the kind you get. I put my boardgame inserts together with tape and the small tube super glue you can get at art stores or Wallmart. Works well enough. You definitely don't want to get it into your eye or anything like that but I've gotten it on my fingers plenty of times and in my experience you can just wash it off. I guess also obviously if you feel it on your fingers you shouldn't just keep them pressed together for a minute while it sets.
Completely different topic: So I just heard that Trump's tariffs on China are going to destroy the boardgame market. Do I need to start stocking up or am I already stocking up with all these game I have that I've barely played?
Nah. Big Damned Crate is used for misbehavin' and being free!
if you ever get a chance to try Through The Desert you should. its basically the game that Blue Lagoon added a bunch of stuff onto to be a new game. its leaner and its definitely meaner. that said i do quite enjoy Blue Lagoon. setting myself up for the second half is something that im real bad at.
It's easy enough to do. I just bought a cheap hobby brush (like used to paint miniatures), and smeared a line of the clear drying wood glue all along the seams whereever the pieces met, and its held up well.
this box is 40% punchboard
You start by purchasing a 3-pack of plano boxes to store said punchboard.
I intentionally skipped it. Not because I dislike the game in any way, but it never gets to the table thanks to Gloomhaven and the occasional TIME Stories expansion. Maybe one those have run their respective courses I'll look into picking up the expansion.
That game always ends up a goddamned nailbiter for me, I’m so tense by the end of it seeing if my work pays off
In another topic, what's the best "hidden resource screen" thing you've seen in board games? So far I've only seen the ones in the Game of Thrones board game, and Keyflower's. Keyflower's is so pretty - houses for your meeples! - but so dang flimsy, and for some reason the fact that three of the six house-screens have the exact same color in roofs drive me nuts, so I was thinking of making my own.
Thinking out side of the box, my second favorite is Raise your Goblets. Technically you don't know what is in the goblets, so it is hiding "resources!"
Everyone loves Santorini. Full stop. Best $20 game you can get.
Was sad that there were no penguins or puffins, or indeed any non-American birds, but the game's owner assured me that those would likely be in the expansions, which he will likely pick up.
There is one puffin IIRC? It's one of the endangered birds that give you another bonus card.
Things I got wrong: everybody has to start on their own cardboard board section, Ocean gets 1/X energy per drowned HP, where X is number of players, not 1 per, Earned Terror cards don't turn face up until they take effect.
The starting rules are pretty easy, but there's ~10 additional difficulty levels. 2 or 3 should be about even odds for experienced gamers trying hard on their first playthrough. I like it fine at base level.
I almost never use the power progression basic rules, even for new players. The alternative, pick one power of four, is really easy for even new players to grasp.
Also I don't make new players stick to low complexity spirits. Everyone seems to do fine with medium, and high is fine for competitive gamers. It's more likely a new player will pilot a complex spirit suboptimally than that they won't have fun.
I'm looking at the elements requirements in the innate powers, they're checked resources a la 7 Wonders's wood/clay/ore/stone/cloth/glass/paper, instead of being consumed, yes? And we only have the elements of the power cards played that turn?
Correct. All innate powers and slow or fast major powers activate with all played powers' elements, as long as you haven't destroyed the power card already (very rare).
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
Not a specific rule, but I'd maybe stress the importance of planning for the future. I've seen new players focus too much on what looks bad at that moment, and not at what the cards are saying is going to happen in the next turn or two.
Don't say this up front, though, just mention it off-handedly as an option while they're confusedly throwing out plans for their turn.
On the base difficulty level your team can win even with somebody making bad decisions, so I've been very successful refusing to offer advice unless directly asked, in an effort to avoid the Pandemic Problem.