Speaking of rolling dice, there is a kickstarter up for a Too Many Bones reprint and new expansion in its last couple days. My group really likes it, but its not for everyone. I also would say if you are unsure, I would actually get the standalone undertow expansion over the base game. Keep in mind that is only two players though.
Currently playing through the last case of the Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. Barring a catastrophe in this case I'm confident in saying that the expansion is better than the original. The way the Lab works (drop off evidence and get a report X hours later) is awesome. The construction and story of the case is better. Loving it.
The newest double-sized EXIT game (Catacombs of Horror?) is also the best in the series. The most recent Unlocks were great too. The designers are all learning, and their stuff is just getting better.
Disappointed that there's only 2 new scenarios. That's the one new thing they needed an abundance of because quite frankly the replay value just isn't there (3rd edition is like playing the card game scenarios except without the deck tweaking). They say the scenarios have a bunch more possible endings than the base though, so we'll see how much that adds.
They really need some way of randomizing objectives. I think they can do it without sacrificing narrative by doing what they did for mysteries in Eldritch Horror: splitting each one up into escalating acts but have multiple acts for each stage with a random one drawn for them.
I'm really surprised they haven't released a bunch of small box scenario expansions honestly, given the thing I've seen everyone say about 3e is it needs more scenarios asap
I'm really surprised they haven't released a bunch of small box scenario expansions honestly, given the thing I've seen everyone say about 3e is it needs more scenarios asap
Yeah. I dunno. They could fit a new scenario into the same space of a small Arkham CG scenario pack. Seems like they're stuck in the Eldritch/Mansions mindset where every new scenario has to have giant cardboard stuff like new board pieces and player mats?
Watched the live steam reveal video (which I do not recommend: the interviewer is tremendously annoying and the dev veers too far into spoiler territory several times). At least he says that it's just adding "more of the stuff that's already there" and not more bell & whistle mechanics.
AH3ed needs a structure similar to the adventure cards in Eldritch: separate them into escalating act stages, but have multiple instances of each stage and one is randomly picked every game. The scenarios need an element of randomness to their objectives, especially if they're going to continue the pace of one new scenario every 5 months.
I'm having a... moment.
I want to talk about a game that I recently became aware of, researched, and subsequently purchased.
So far so good.
There is a catch.
The game in question: Skies above the Reich, published in 2018 by GMT.
That last word in the title is where we find the problem;
If you are anything like me, the word "Reich" invokes images of horror and genocide and madness.
This particular game finds the player engaged in the military defense of Nazi Germany, an act that I think basically starts at "distasteful" and immediately degrades.
So why did I buy this game? Why am I playing it?
There are a number of complex and useful discussions available while trying to answer those questions, but there are two simple answers;
1. I think that Skies above the Reich is probably the best air combat board game ever printed
2. I think that Skies above the Reich is probably the best solitaire board game ever printed
A glance at the first board of bomber formations was enough to convince me that this game represents something new and unique.
I'm having a... moment.
I want to talk about a game that I recently became aware of, researched, and subsequently purchased.
So far so good.
There is a catch.
The game in question: Skies above the Reich, published in 2018 by GMT.
That last word in the title is where we find the problem;
If you are anything like me, the word "Reich" invokes images of horror and genocide and madness.
This particular game finds the player engaged in the military defense of Nazi Germany, an act that I think basically starts at "distasteful" and immediately degrades.
So why did I buy this game? Why am I playing it?
There are a number of complex and useful discussions available while trying to answer those questions, but there are two simple answers;
1. I think that Skies above the Reich is probably the best air combat board game ever printed
2. I think that Skies above the Reich is probably the best solitaire board game ever printed
A glance at the first board of bomber formations was enough to convince me that this game represents something new and unique.
Everyone is going to have their own line on this but personally I do not have an issue playing a game in which I do horrible, distasteful things or play a horrible, distasteful person or faction.
For me it’s really easy to make that separation between myself and who/what I am playing. Especially in a historical game, like. The history happened. Nothing I am going to do will change that. Using a game as a lens to look at history is interesting to me.
Skies Above the Reich is unique in that it's the only real tactical bomber defense game I can think of. There have been countless strategic bomber defense games (pick any Battle of Britain game), or tactical bomber offense games (B17 Queen of the Skies, Phantom Leader).
The rules did seem a tad grognardy for my taste.
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FairchildRabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?"Registered Userregular
Hard to believe that the World Boardgaming Championship (WBC) is only one month away already, but here we are. July 20 - 28 at the lovely Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Somerset, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from Pittsburgh.
Here's the WBC website, I meant to link this yesterday before pre-registration expired, sorry about that: http://www.boardgamers.org/
An entire week of boardgaming at an out-of-season ski resort is a pretty good return on your vacation dollar, I must say. I will be there all week in the GMT/MMP open gaming area, playing all sorts of stuff. Last year's games included MANSIONS OF MADNESS, GLOOMHAVEN, TIME OF CRISIS, WON BY THE SWORD, THE CAPTAIN IS DEAD, and CONAN, for example. I hope to see some of y'all there.
Skies Above the Reich is unique in that it's the only real tactical bomber defense game I can think of. There have been countless strategic bomber defense games (pick any Battle of Britain game), or tactical bomber offense games (B17 Queen of the Skies, Phantom Leader).
The rules did seem a tad grognardy for my taste.
I enjoyed Duel in the Dark but it's a lot more abstract than these, I think. I'm not sure whether it would be considered more strategic or tactical.
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FairchildRabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?"Registered Userregular
KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
Nemesis is actually good?
Damn it. I had backed it at one point, but ended up pulling out after deciding I'd backed too many other overproduced miniature fests in the past and it didn't make sense with the play time that most of them ended up getting.
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Damn it. I had backed it at one point, but ended up pulling out after deciding I'd backed too many other overproduced miniature fests in the past and it didn't make sense with the play time that most of them ended up getting.
Me and mine were somewhat disappointed in our one play of it - bad personal objectives for tension purposes, I think - but it seemed solid.
Is Nemesis the Alien one? That looked good but I'm allergic to Kickstarter.
There are two Alien-inspired ones! Lifeform is basically Alien, while Nemesis is Aliens. The latter is the box-full-of-minis game of the two. Both companies are historically good at giving you a full retail experience. Most of what Awaken Realms, the creator behind Nemesis, has done as optional purchases and stretch goals have released to retail as expansion packs (though that took awhile the case of Lords of Hellas). I would not feel too bad about missing out on its Kickstarter campaign.
Lifeform will be arriving at port at the beginning of July. They will sell to retailers in the UK and US in limited quantities, and I believe they have a deal with The Game Steward for distribution of some copies (they had with their previous game).
Nemesis' retail copies may hit after wave two campaign shipping. The last estimate I saw was between Q4 of this year and Q1 of next.
Dashui on
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
I played Carcassone for the first time in a long time last night
You know what game still works like a goddamn charm? Carcassone! Some games are classics for a reason, turns out
+10
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AstaerethIn the belly of the beastRegistered Userregular
I played Nemesis once and was not really a fan. I don’t want to bring the dreaded f-word into this thread, but it’s one of those games that feels like a lot of mechanical complexity for comparatively little result.
I'm really surprised they haven't released a bunch of small box scenario expansions honestly, given the thing I've seen everyone say about 3e is it needs more scenarios asap
Yeah. I dunno. They could fit a new scenario into the same space of a small Arkham CG scenario pack. Seems like they're stuck in the Eldritch/Mansions mindset where every new scenario has to have giant cardboard stuff like new board pieces and player mats?
Watched the live steam reveal video (which I do not recommend: the interviewer is tremendously annoying and the dev veers too far into spoiler territory several times). At least he says that it's just adding "more of the stuff that's already there" and not more bell & whistle mechanics.
AH3ed needs a structure similar to the adventure cards in Eldritch: separate them into escalating act stages, but have multiple instances of each stage and one is randomly picked every game. The scenarios need an element of randomness to their objectives, especially if they're going to continue the pace of one new scenario every 5 months.
I don't know if this came across in the reveal stream, but this is a small box expansion. It's $30 (versus $25 for the AH 2nd small boxes), and thus is the same price as an LCG deluxe. There isn't going to be any new map tiles whatsoever, just more things for the codex. In fact, the only cardboard I'm aware of is the new monster card holder, which sounds like it was a bonus.
But yeah. 2x scenarios is on the low side, and reminds me of the Mansions 2nd small boxes. The problem is that AH can't do DLC content like Mansions can.
Still, the promise that a big box is coming is comforting. Hopefully that will have 4 scenarios in it, and not 3 like MoM big boxes tend to.
Crazy mail order mystery packages ranging from $50-$300. My friend had an anonymous person buy one for him and the thing just showed up on his doorstep one day. Some Cthulhu mythos themed around him being an investigator looking into an ancient one cult. Had a letter from a fake package company announcing that they had just found this "lost" item meant for him. Inside was
minor spoilers
a hand-written note from "a friend" with the usual "If you're reading this, it means I've failed but I'm leaving my notes with you etc etc." Rolled up papyrus scrolls with symbols scribbled all over them. A giant half cracked metal coin. 19th century newspaper clippings. Star charts. Old timey photographs of creepy cult groups.
Slightly bigger spoiler
The whole thing comes in 3 packages sent about a week apart. One week included a photograph of cult members wearing burlap sacks over their heads with creepy faces painted on them. Next week was a giant wooden crate on the doorstep that needed a hammer to pry and break open. Inside was one of the same creepy face sacks. Inside the sacks was a wood/resin carved Cthulhu idol.
A month later and he still doesn't know who sent it.
I was looking into checking out one of the cheaper ones.
Like someone else said, there should be a 'reveal' envelope at the end. I don't believe there's even an opt-out for that, though you could maybe put in a fake name.
I've done two Mysterious Package Company packages - The Weeping Book and The King in Yellow.
There's no 'game' or anything to it. You get (a) letter(s) from a weird source with story content and then a nailed-shut wooden crate (smaller than a breadbox but still wood and nailed shut) containing the 'artifact' for the story along with more content.
Spoilers for The Weeping Book as an example
The initial letter described a scenario with a missing kid and came with some realistic documents (a letter and newspaper clippings, all in an envelope containing another envelope with convincing mud stains and wrinkling). The crate had the book (a convincingly distressed journal containing 'handwritten' (actually printed and bound) pages), a metal amulet with a hemp rope cord, and a missing person poster, as I recall.
The stories were pretty good overall but it's a fully passive experience. I tried leaving out the crates with all the documents and stuff in them on my coffee table but I don't think anyone was ever curious enough to look, much less read it all. It'd probably be pretty cool if you didn't know it was coming but not that much fun to buy for yourself.
Carcassonne had me counting undealt tiles too much in the end.
So it felt like the game hinged on whether I got to play a tile or not.
Maybe it's better at 3+ players..
Carcassonne had me counting undealt tiles too much in the end.
So it felt like the game hinged on whether I got to play a tile or not.
Maybe it's better at 3+ players..
I don't think you're missing much
It's a fun, gentle tile game where you can chat while playing or it's a wretched tile counting game
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Carcassonne had me counting undealt tiles too much in the end.
So it felt like the game hinged on whether I got to play a tile or not.
Maybe it's better at 3+ players..
I don't think you're missing much
It's a fun, gentle tile game where you can chat while playing or it's a wretched tile counting game
It's a shame, because the best bit was sabotaging my partner's castle or vice versa.
But then you hem in the critical space with other bits and then it either completes or doesn't based on who got what tile.
And you could also hem in the bit to make it impossible to switch control too, as the only possible tiles were already played.
I've always played Carcassone as a nice game where everyone can debate where a tile would be best placed as nobody has any 'in hand' hidden information.
The idea of tile counting to work out what is left in the bag beyond the most superficial estimate sounds like taking it far too seriously.
Ah.
See that implies 3+ is better, as two players can agree to place a tile where it is beneficial to both.
Whereas 2, it's solely protect your castle, steal their's, because stealing castles is fun, and worth double so you can't just let someone build a massive castle.
(It's not counting per se, just 'this border arrangement only has a specific tile for it', leading to, 'well then I fence it off in that arrangement' or 'well I'm stuffed unless I get that tile')
Discrider your should find a copy of Carcassonne The Castle. It's a 2p only variant developed by Reiner Knizia and it's just great.
Also, Carcassonne is definitely a light game with a lot of luck of the draw. If you need to complete a thing to be competitive and you never draw tiles that would complete the thing you're going to lose. Just the nature of the game .
Crazy mail order mystery packages ranging from $50-$300. My friend had an anonymous person buy one for him and the thing just showed up on his doorstep one day. Some Cthulhu mythos themed around him being an investigator looking into an ancient one cult. Had a letter from a fake package company announcing that they had just found this "lost" item meant for him. Inside was
minor spoilers
a hand-written note from "a friend" with the usual "If you're reading this, it means I've failed but I'm leaving my notes with you etc etc." Rolled up papyrus scrolls with symbols scribbled all over them. A giant half cracked metal coin. 19th century newspaper clippings. Star charts. Old timey photographs of creepy cult groups.
Slightly bigger spoiler
The whole thing comes in 3 packages sent about a week apart. One week included a photograph of cult members wearing burlap sacks over their heads with creepy faces painted on them. Next week was a giant wooden crate on the doorstep that needed a hammer to pry and break open. Inside was one of the same creepy face sacks. Inside the sacks was a wood/resin carved Cthulhu idol.
A month later and he still doesn't know who sent it.
I was looking into checking out one of the cheaper ones.
Like someone else said, there should be a 'reveal' envelope at the end. I don't believe there's even an opt-out for that, though you could maybe put in a fake name.
I've done two Mysterious Package Company packages - The Weeping Book and The King in Yellow.
There's no 'game' or anything to it. You get (a) letter(s) from a weird source with story content and then a nailed-shut wooden crate (smaller than a breadbox but still wood and nailed shut) containing the 'artifact' for the story along with more content.
Spoilers for The Weeping Book as an example
The initial letter described a scenario with a missing kid and came with some realistic documents (a letter and newspaper clippings, all in an envelope containing another envelope with convincing mud stains and wrinkling). The crate had the book (a convincingly distressed journal containing 'handwritten' (actually printed and bound) pages), a metal amulet with a hemp rope cord, and a missing person poster, as I recall.
The stories were pretty good overall but it's a fully passive experience. I tried leaving out the crates with all the documents and stuff in them on my coffee table but I don't think anyone was ever curious enough to look, much less read it all. It'd probably be pretty cool if you didn't know it was coming but not that much fun to buy for yourself.
I think it will be more fun that someone talked about the time they kept getting mysterious packages and never found out why then 'that one time carl pranked me by sending me packages'. Especially for the person who actually sent it.
Carcassonne had me counting undealt tiles too much in the end.
So it felt like the game hinged on whether I got to play a tile or not.
Maybe it's better at 3+ players..
I don't think you're missing much
It's a fun, gentle tile game where you can chat while playing or it's a wretched tile counting game
Carcassonne is a much more fun game digitally so you dont have to correctly add up everything at the end.
Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
Carcassonne had me counting undealt tiles too much in the end.
So it felt like the game hinged on whether I got to play a tile or not.
Maybe it's better at 3+ players..
I don't think you're missing much
It's a fun, gentle tile game where you can chat while playing or it's a wretched tile counting game
Carcassonne is a much more fun game digitally so you dont have to correctly add up everything at the end.
I've never had that much of a problem. I do it by removing all of the player's pieces and just tallying their stuff up since it makes it really easy. Find color, score it, remove piece so you remember you scored it. I call out the point value while someone else updates the score tracker. It takes like five minutes.
I’ll have to check my own copy to make sure they were scoring correctly, cause the people that showed me how to play were also the ones who said the way Scythe works is you move sequentially on the playerboard from left to right for your actions that turn so now I’m inherently suspicious whenever they teach me a game
+3
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
I think there have been a few subtle changes in scoring between editions
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Is Nemesis the Alien one? That looked good but I'm allergic to Kickstarter.
There are two Alien-inspired ones! Lifeform is basically Alien, while Nemesis is Aliens. The latter is the box-full-of-minis game of the two. Both companies are historically good at giving you a full retail experience. Most of what Awaken Realms, the creator behind Nemesis, has done as optional purchases and stretch goals have released to retail as expansion packs (though that took awhile the case of Lords of Hellas). I would not feel too bad about missing out on its Kickstarter campaign.
Lifeform will be arriving at port at the beginning of July. They will sell to retailers in the UK and US in limited quantities, and I believe they have a deal with The Game Steward for distribution of some copies (they had with their previous game).
Nemesis' retail copies may hit after wave two campaign shipping. The last estimate I saw was between Q4 of this year and Q1 of next.
Looking at the BGG page.
The artwork for Lifeform is what Dark Moon's should have been. The actual art of DM isn't bad, it's just that it doesn't convey the subject at all. There's no hint of a monster, or even any violence at all. The game could have been called "Power Outage: Fumble in the Dark" and the artwork would have fit better.
Lifeform is like they took the Darkmoon art and actually added the subject matter. In fact, the art was otherwise so similar I had to look up if it was the same artist. (it's not)
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
I think there have been a few subtle changes in scoring between editions
Not going to claim to be THE MOST informed person on the nuance of Carcassonne scoring, but I think the only changes were how farms are scored, and something about 2-tile cities, but both of those were ages ago (before I first played the game in 2009).
CRIMOPOLIS (was at the 2019 PAX South Indie showcase) funded on Kickstarter and the devs were super pumped. They took a picture of the dining room table where they have a meeple for every backer behind four representing them (funded at 70).
Nice concrete way to see dreams and hard work coming together.
Posts
The newest double-sized EXIT game (Catacombs of Horror?) is also the best in the series. The most recent Unlocks were great too. The designers are all learning, and their stuff is just getting better.
Disappointed that there's only 2 new scenarios. That's the one new thing they needed an abundance of because quite frankly the replay value just isn't there (3rd edition is like playing the card game scenarios except without the deck tweaking). They say the scenarios have a bunch more possible endings than the base though, so we'll see how much that adds.
They really need some way of randomizing objectives. I think they can do it without sacrificing narrative by doing what they did for mysteries in Eldritch Horror: splitting each one up into escalating acts but have multiple acts for each stage with a random one drawn for them.
Yeah. I dunno. They could fit a new scenario into the same space of a small Arkham CG scenario pack. Seems like they're stuck in the Eldritch/Mansions mindset where every new scenario has to have giant cardboard stuff like new board pieces and player mats?
Watched the live steam reveal video (which I do not recommend: the interviewer is tremendously annoying and the dev veers too far into spoiler territory several times). At least he says that it's just adding "more of the stuff that's already there" and not more bell & whistle mechanics.
AH3ed needs a structure similar to the adventure cards in Eldritch: separate them into escalating act stages, but have multiple instances of each stage and one is randomly picked every game. The scenarios need an element of randomness to their objectives, especially if they're going to continue the pace of one new scenario every 5 months.
I want to talk about a game that I recently became aware of, researched, and subsequently purchased.
So far so good.
There is a catch.
The game in question: Skies above the Reich, published in 2018 by GMT.
That last word in the title is where we find the problem;
If you are anything like me, the word "Reich" invokes images of horror and genocide and madness.
This particular game finds the player engaged in the military defense of Nazi Germany, an act that I think basically starts at "distasteful" and immediately degrades.
So why did I buy this game? Why am I playing it?
There are a number of complex and useful discussions available while trying to answer those questions, but there are two simple answers;
1. I think that Skies above the Reich is probably the best air combat board game ever printed
2. I think that Skies above the Reich is probably the best solitaire board game ever printed
A glance at the first board of bomber formations was enough to convince me that this game represents something new and unique.
Everyone is going to have their own line on this but personally I do not have an issue playing a game in which I do horrible, distasteful things or play a horrible, distasteful person or faction.
For me it’s really easy to make that separation between myself and who/what I am playing. Especially in a historical game, like. The history happened. Nothing I am going to do will change that. Using a game as a lens to look at history is interesting to me.
The rules did seem a tad grognardy for my taste.
Here's the WBC website, I meant to link this yesterday before pre-registration expired, sorry about that: http://www.boardgamers.org/
And here's Seven Springs: https://www.7springs.com/
An entire week of boardgaming at an out-of-season ski resort is a pretty good return on your vacation dollar, I must say. I will be there all week in the GMT/MMP open gaming area, playing all sorts of stuff. Last year's games included MANSIONS OF MADNESS, GLOOMHAVEN, TIME OF CRISIS, WON BY THE SWORD, THE CAPTAIN IS DEAD, and CONAN, for example. I hope to see some of y'all there.
Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
I enjoyed Duel in the Dark but it's a lot more abstract than these, I think. I'm not sure whether it would be considered more strategic or tactical.
It's a great game, on my shortlist for best game of the year.
Damn it. I had backed it at one point, but ended up pulling out after deciding I'd backed too many other overproduced miniature fests in the past and it didn't make sense with the play time that most of them ended up getting.
Me and mine were somewhat disappointed in our one play of it - bad personal objectives for tension purposes, I think - but it seemed solid.
Selling Board Games for Medical Bills
There are two Alien-inspired ones! Lifeform is basically Alien, while Nemesis is Aliens. The latter is the box-full-of-minis game of the two. Both companies are historically good at giving you a full retail experience. Most of what Awaken Realms, the creator behind Nemesis, has done as optional purchases and stretch goals have released to retail as expansion packs (though that took awhile the case of Lords of Hellas). I would not feel too bad about missing out on its Kickstarter campaign.
Lifeform will be arriving at port at the beginning of July. They will sell to retailers in the UK and US in limited quantities, and I believe they have a deal with The Game Steward for distribution of some copies (they had with their previous game).
Nemesis' retail copies may hit after wave two campaign shipping. The last estimate I saw was between Q4 of this year and Q1 of next.
You know what game still works like a goddamn charm? Carcassone! Some games are classics for a reason, turns out
Until its time to count grass!
When Carcassone came out for the Xbox Arcade it was amazing, it did the math for you, no more counting grass. It was a great version of the game.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I don't know if this came across in the reveal stream, but this is a small box expansion. It's $30 (versus $25 for the AH 2nd small boxes), and thus is the same price as an LCG deluxe. There isn't going to be any new map tiles whatsoever, just more things for the codex. In fact, the only cardboard I'm aware of is the new monster card holder, which sounds like it was a bonus.
But yeah. 2x scenarios is on the low side, and reminds me of the Mansions 2nd small boxes. The problem is that AH can't do DLC content like Mansions can.
Still, the promise that a big box is coming is comforting. Hopefully that will have 4 scenarios in it, and not 3 like MoM big boxes tend to.
Like someone else said, there should be a 'reveal' envelope at the end. I don't believe there's even an opt-out for that, though you could maybe put in a fake name.
I've done two Mysterious Package Company packages - The Weeping Book and The King in Yellow.
There's no 'game' or anything to it. You get (a) letter(s) from a weird source with story content and then a nailed-shut wooden crate (smaller than a breadbox but still wood and nailed shut) containing the 'artifact' for the story along with more content.
Spoilers for The Weeping Book as an example
The stories were pretty good overall but it's a fully passive experience. I tried leaving out the crates with all the documents and stuff in them on my coffee table but I don't think anyone was ever curious enough to look, much less read it all. It'd probably be pretty cool if you didn't know it was coming but not that much fun to buy for yourself.
There’s a new version coming out for Switch that is gonna be real real good
OOh shit might have to pick this up.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Carcassonne had me counting undealt tiles too much in the end.
So it felt like the game hinged on whether I got to play a tile or not.
Maybe it's better at 3+ players..
I don't think you're missing much
It's a fun, gentle tile game where you can chat while playing or it's a wretched tile counting game
It's a shame, because the best bit was sabotaging my partner's castle or vice versa.
But then you hem in the critical space with other bits and then it either completes or doesn't based on who got what tile.
And you could also hem in the bit to make it impossible to switch control too, as the only possible tiles were already played.
The idea of tile counting to work out what is left in the bag beyond the most superficial estimate sounds like taking it far too seriously.
See that implies 3+ is better, as two players can agree to place a tile where it is beneficial to both.
Whereas 2, it's solely protect your castle, steal their's, because stealing castles is fun, and worth double so you can't just let someone build a massive castle.
(It's not counting per se, just 'this border arrangement only has a specific tile for it', leading to, 'well then I fence it off in that arrangement' or 'well I'm stuffed unless I get that tile')
Also, Carcassonne is definitely a light game with a lot of luck of the draw. If you need to complete a thing to be competitive and you never draw tiles that would complete the thing you're going to lose. Just the nature of the game .
I think it will be more fun that someone talked about the time they kept getting mysterious packages and never found out why then 'that one time carl pranked me by sending me packages'. Especially for the person who actually sent it.
Carcassonne is a much more fun game digitally so you dont have to correctly add up everything at the end.
I've never had that much of a problem. I do it by removing all of the player's pieces and just tallying their stuff up since it makes it really easy. Find color, score it, remove piece so you remember you scored it. I call out the point value while someone else updates the score tracker. It takes like five minutes.
Looking at the BGG page.
The artwork for Lifeform is what Dark Moon's should have been. The actual art of DM isn't bad, it's just that it doesn't convey the subject at all. There's no hint of a monster, or even any violence at all. The game could have been called "Power Outage: Fumble in the Dark" and the artwork would have fit better.
Lifeform is like they took the Darkmoon art and actually added the subject matter. In fact, the art was otherwise so similar I had to look up if it was the same artist. (it's not)
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Nice concrete way to see dreams and hard work coming together.