I just backed Merchants Cove.... Dunno how good its going to be but i kinda like what its doing with its multiple types of gameplay competing with each other.
Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
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CaptainPeacockBoard Game HoarderTop o' the LakeRegistered Userregular
Just got an email that my Brass Birmingham Deluxe just charged
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
Tidying up our house and I found a bunch of old boardgames. Cluedo, Ludo, Tiddlywinks etc. But one in particular brought back fond memories.
Creepy Critters! A 1949 game sold as "Cootie" but in Australia and NZ they sold it in the 60s as Creepy Critters. Played by my Mum as a kid and later, me. Real simple game, just roll the die and if you get a good number you get a part. First person to build their bug wins. The kind of "game" I dislike as there's no player choice at all (à la Snakes and Ladders), but I still have nostalgia for the creepy yet not really accurate bugs.
There's gotta be a more modern bug building game around right? I'd like to play something like this but with player choice or some objective beyond "build your bug the fastest".
Dune worked great; the two people I was most worried about liking it out of our six had a good time. I played the Bene Gesserit poorly, but managed to get my friend (the one who'd bought the game) to win as Emperor in round 6 fulfilling my prediction. His reaction of disgust, with a little respect mixed in, when I flipped the prediction cards to steal the win from him was fantastic. Took us probably 4 hours and change to do the teach and play with mostly new people. We did basic rules for the first game, which I don't regret at all, but felt like the next round should be an advanced play. So that'll be interesting. Too much learning going on + a turn 4 first nexus meant we haven't really gotten to explore the alliance change impacts.
GKR Heavy Hitters hit the table today for 4 of us. Actually went over pretty well; two of the guys had a 'meh' demo of it at Gen Con but liked this play a lot better. Game went down to the wire, and I took it with a well timed orbital strike. There was more depth and possible replayability in this than I was initially expecting, but between playing a bit slower than we were hoping, and not quite being good enough to push out other options I probably won't see the game with this group again any time soon. Still fun though, I'd be up for playing again no question.
Got a round of Res Arcana in as well while wating for people to gather for Dune, but too many distractions to really feel like a solid play. I like what I'm seeing so far though.
Oh, come and shake me 'till I'm dry
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
Res Arcana is interesting. I'm worried about how fiddly and noninteractive it seemed. I won one game by buying the dragon thing first turn, and tapping / untapping / tapping it for four good a turn, buying a point card every turn to end on turn six. I don't remember the combo that won the other game, but it was slower and more powerful, so maybe that game was more interactive?
Nicely done. I spent too long backing it myself first.
edit1: Oh, also it's live on Kickstarter now, not coming on the 19th.
edit2: Annnnnnd, it's fully funded.
ArcSyn on
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
edited September 2019
Mint Works was a fine intro to the concept of worker placement that goes further due to the small size. I backed and I tend to take it with me when I go on holiday,
Mint Delivery fell short of reaching the point where the form factor could carry it by feeling very static and solvable. I backed but sort of regretted it.
This new one looks like a solo game more than a coop from the description. I don't really see the hook. I suppose it's quite cheap? So far, it's a pass.
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Yeah. Mint Works did something new and interesting, with the idea of workers as a fungible currency instead of belonging to players. The size was a nice bonus, though their follow-up Penny Lane is a more satisfying take on the same mechanism.
Mint Delivery is fine but other than the size I don't know what its selling point is, and right now I'm getting the same feel from this one.
Local price came out for Tapestry recently, $179NZ. At that price I cant justify it. I get that it's got painted minis but I can buy 2 other games at that price. Has anyone played this yet?
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Local price came out for Tapestry recently, $179NZ. At that price I cant justify it. I get that it's got painted minis but I can buy 2 other games at that price. Has anyone played this yet?
Has the review embargo lifted yet?
I've heard one single line impression from somebody who demoed it. And it was along the lines of "it's fine"
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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QuestorPAX Aus Tabletop [E]Melbourne, AustraliaRegistered Userregular
I watched the Drive Thru 'demo' video, and yeah, it looks....fine
I am excited for Cooper Island coming at Essen, that looks really fun.
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
I played Orleans last night which is a bag builder like Quacks. The difference is Quacks is push your luck and Orleans is worker placement. Maybe its a bit too long/heavy for the bag builder mechanic. I think I'd do better now that I have played it but there is a token that seems far and away better than all the others the worker that gives a gear making other actions cheaper for the rest of the game as well as being a useful worker. Although the same thing happens in Quacks set I were the raven head token is by far the best token in the game.
I am excited for Cooper Island coming at Essen, that looks really fun.
I'm liking almost everything coming from Capstone in the US -- I've pre-ordered Cooper Island and Maracaibo (also because I like Pfister).
On Tapestry, the review embargo has lifted. I've got a buddy who actually ordered it, and expects it soon. The review takes vary from Radho's gushing on down, but I don't know that I've watched anyone who disliked it yet. I have to appreciate the idea of streamlining a game in the genre, and I don't feel like anything I've played from Stonemeier is actively bad. It does sound like all the minis are one of the less impactful parts of the actual game though, which is kinda meh if so since it's a key thing driving the price up.
I played Orleans last night which is a bag builder like Quacks. The difference is Quacks is push your luck and Orleans is worker placement. Maybe its a bit too long/heavy for the bag builder mechanic. I think I'd do better now that I have played it but there is a token that seems far and away better than all the others the worker that gives a gear making other actions cheaper for the rest of the game as well as being a useful worker. Although the same thing happens in Quacks set I were the raven head token is by far the best token in the game.
There's a few different ways you can go with Orleans, my wife generally plays a Monk heavy game, which seems to work as well. As I usually get max Scholars, I like to get the building that allows you to use them as wilds. I think which buildings you get make a big difference. Buy I agree with Quacks, we don't use the peeking power, as it seems to be a bit too good.
I played Orleans last night which is a bag builder like Quacks. The difference is Quacks is push your luck and Orleans is worker placement. Maybe its a bit too long/heavy for the bag builder mechanic. I think I'd do better now that I have played it but there is a token that seems far and away better than all the others the worker that gives a gear making other actions cheaper for the rest of the game as well as being a useful worker. Although the same thing happens in Quacks set I were the raven head token is by far the best token in the game.
Altiplano is a spiritual sequel made by the same developer that is much better and "fixes" some of the problems I had with Orleans.
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QuestorPAX Aus Tabletop [E]Melbourne, AustraliaRegistered Userregular
Though I would personally say that Altiplano needs the expansion as it makes it a fixed number of turns game, which the base game isn't, and that can make it drag on a bit too long for me
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
I'll see if I can get into a game of Altiplano then. Is it still a bag builder? What problems did you find with Orleans?
I played Orleans last night which is a bag builder like Quacks. The difference is Quacks is push your luck and Orleans is worker placement. Maybe its a bit too long/heavy for the bag builder mechanic. I think I'd do better now that I have played it but there is a token that seems far and away better than all the others the worker that gives a gear making other actions cheaper for the rest of the game as well as being a useful worker. Although the same thing happens in Quacks set I were the raven head token is by far the best token in the game.
There's a few different ways you can go with Orleans, my wife generally plays a Monk heavy game, which seems to work as well. As I usually get max Scholars, I like to get the building that allows you to use them as wilds. I think which buildings you get make a big difference. Buy I agree with Quacks, we don't use the peeking power, as it seems to be a bit too good.
Yeah, I lost out on that building. I got the wool maker and pharmacy but I didn't really get anymore because I was trying to max sea captains. The guy who had all the gears and the gear building was taking 5-6 actions to my 2-3 at the end of the game. I would try and stop someone from getting that many gears in a future play but with the random nature of things you can't always do that.
I'll see if I can get into a game of Altiplano then. Is it still a bag builder? What problems did you find with Orleans?
I didn't like the random events. Especially since its all symbology and I would forget that this is a turn where bad stuff happens and whoops I didn't do the thing that keeps me safe.
In Altiplano you still draw from your bag, but you go through your whole bag before you "reshuffle" your bits back in, which makes it more like a deck.
Also the things you can do are location dependent. And Players get variable starting powers. Which adds more variety to turns. Lots of Orleans turns boil down to everybody getting books or everybody loading up on monks.
Lastly the buildings are set up better. The two piles building set up in Orleans is just bad. In Altiplano they come out X at a time and are separated into ages so they get better as the game goes on.
I played Orleans last night which is a bag builder like Quacks. The difference is Quacks is push your luck and Orleans is worker placement. Maybe its a bit too long/heavy for the bag builder mechanic. I think I'd do better now that I have played it but there is a token that seems far and away better than all the others the worker that gives a gear making other actions cheaper for the rest of the game as well as being a useful worker. Although the same thing happens in Quacks set I were the raven head token is by far the best token in the game.
Altiplano is a spiritual sequel made by the same developer that is much better and "fixes" some of the problems I had with Orleans.
Strong disagree. I don't think any of the added complexity in Altiplano actually makes it better than Orleans - granted Orleans ideally needs the Trade and Intrigue expansion to fix the beneficial deeds board. Of the two I vastly prefer Orleans.
what needed fixing with the beneficial deeds board? it seems good as is i dunno.
also, unrelated, the TTA expansion is out. if you didnt like TTA already this sure isnt going to change your mind, but if you did this expansion is SO GOOD OMG. tons of subtle and not subtle balance changes and shakeups to the standard game patterns. just really fun stuff. hit me up if you want to play a game.
Through the Ages digital expansion was released today.
New leaders, wonders, and military tactics cards. You can choose to play with just the new cards, a random mix of base + new cards, all the original cards, or all the original cards with some of them newly tweaked for balance purposes (not sure on the specifics of those changes yet).
At a glance, a lot of the new antiquity leaders seem flat out better than the originals. Confucius seems like a flat out better Aristotle: preparing event cards gives you +1 science, military cards can be discarded in this way for +1 science, and you get another +1 science when he leaves play (there's another aspect to him "when revealed, non-event cards are treated as 'everyone gains +1 science' events" that I'm not sure what it means).
Vast: Mysterious Mansion showed up and I am turgid as hell to play this game.
It feels generally a tighter design than the first game. It is facing an additional challenge of not being quite as tropey; people have a bit more instinct built up in how the roles in Crystal Caverns might work than the Mysterious Manor ones might. However, each role feels engaging. I particularly liked the Manor puzzles in my first play.
Learning/teaching is still a struggle, but the player aids/reference cards are a big improvement over Crystal Caverns.
Very glad to see Magic Pink posting! Hope all has been well.
Picked up Dragonfire from Barnes & Noble clearance sale and have been giving it a shot. Basically a reskin of Shadowrun:Crossfire which I liked ok. This one 'feels' a little better, like having some of the rough edges sanded off. Very difficult unless you're particularly lucky on the draws, but more forgiving than Crossfire so it isn't so immediately 'well screw this noise'. I like it very much as a solo puzzle to be solved, I think it would actually suffer to play with other people, at least for me. But ultimately I don't know that I'll stick with it very long, it's one of those where the balance of 'deal with what comes up by chance with the tools you got' is too heavy on the chance side, if that makes sense.
Very glad to see Magic Pink posting! Hope all has been well.
Picked up Dragonfire from Barnes & Noble clearance sale and have been giving it a shot. Basically a reskin of Shadowrun:Crossfire which I liked ok. This one 'feels' a little better, like having some of the rough edges sanded off. Very difficult unless you're particularly lucky on the draws, but more forgiving than Crossfire so it isn't so immediately 'well screw this noise'. I like it very much as a solo puzzle to be solved, I think it would actually suffer to play with other people, at least for me. But ultimately I don't know that I'll stick with it very long, it's one of those where the balance of 'deal with what comes up by chance with the tools you got' is too heavy on the chance side, if that makes sense.
I've played this a few times, and I agree. They sanded the rough edges of Crossfire off the game, but they didn't quite reduce the "there's a very slim chance you'll succeed because this is based on card draws and there's just not quite enough player control to make you feel like you had a say in that success or not" issue. However, the fact it's based on D&D has gone over a lot better than Shadowrun, though I preferred the Shadowrun world.
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CaptainPeacockBoard Game HoarderTop o' the LakeRegistered Userregular
Through the Ages digital expansion was released today.
(there's another aspect to him "when revealed, non-event cards are treated as 'everyone gains +1 science' events" that I'm not sure what it means).
This is referring to his ability to play non-event cards to the event stack, which you normally couldn't do. When they are revealed, since they are not true events, everyone gets a prize.
Cluck cluck, gibber gibber, my old man's a mushroom, etc.
Very glad to see Magic Pink posting! Hope all has been well.
Picked up Dragonfire from Barnes & Noble clearance sale and have been giving it a shot. Basically a reskin of Shadowrun:Crossfire which I liked ok. This one 'feels' a little better, like having some of the rough edges sanded off. Very difficult unless you're particularly lucky on the draws, but more forgiving than Crossfire so it isn't so immediately 'well screw this noise'. I like it very much as a solo puzzle to be solved, I think it would actually suffer to play with other people, at least for me. But ultimately I don't know that I'll stick with it very long, it's one of those where the balance of 'deal with what comes up by chance with the tools you got' is too heavy on the chance side, if that makes sense.
I've played this a few times, and I agree. They sanded the rough edges of Crossfire off the game, but they didn't quite reduce the "there's a very slim chance you'll succeed because this is based on card draws and there's just not quite enough player control to make you feel like you had a say in that success or not" issue. However, the fact it's based on D&D has gone over a lot better than Shadowrun, though I preferred the Shadowrun world.
Dragonfire is probably the only time I've heard anyone pitch a game with "the first mission is broken"
Through the Ages digital expansion was released today.
(there's another aspect to him "when revealed, non-event cards are treated as 'everyone gains +1 science' events" that I'm not sure what it means).
This is referring to his ability to play non-event cards to the event stack, which you normally couldn't do. When they are revealed, since they are not true events, everyone gets a prize.
Ah ha
Been seeing more of the new leaders/wonders. They seem either extremely good or extremely niche (Age I leader whose farms can count as an artillery for tactics?).
They count as either infantry or artillery. Zizka can absolutely crush early military. He's better at it than Barbarossa of you set it up, though you need a military plan when he leaves unlike Batb. But while he's rolling he's scary. Consistent early aggressions are nasty to play against.
Vast: Mysterious Mansion showed up and I am turgid as hell to play this game.
Also, Mythic Games you are officially sloppy greedy assholes in my book.
What did they do? I backed their MOBA game.
Got to play Pax Pamir 2e for the first time today. All newbies so a bit rough (took about 2 hours), but really really good.
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QuestorPAX Aus Tabletop [E]Melbourne, AustraliaRegistered Userregular
Picked up Gugong and Firenze from a FLGS sale today.
Firenze I had played a German edition and knew I liked it, Gugong I haven't played but have heard good things about.
Posts
Creepy Critters! A 1949 game sold as "Cootie" but in Australia and NZ they sold it in the 60s as Creepy Critters. Played by my Mum as a kid and later, me. Real simple game, just roll the die and if you get a good number you get a part. First person to build their bug wins. The kind of "game" I dislike as there's no player choice at all (à la Snakes and Ladders), but I still have nostalgia for the creepy yet not really accurate bugs.
There's gotta be a more modern bug building game around right? I'd like to play something like this but with player choice or some objective beyond "build your bug the fastest".
Donated ours to the local library about a month ago.
Dune worked great; the two people I was most worried about liking it out of our six had a good time. I played the Bene Gesserit poorly, but managed to get my friend (the one who'd bought the game) to win as Emperor in round 6 fulfilling my prediction. His reaction of disgust, with a little respect mixed in, when I flipped the prediction cards to steal the win from him was fantastic. Took us probably 4 hours and change to do the teach and play with mostly new people. We did basic rules for the first game, which I don't regret at all, but felt like the next round should be an advanced play. So that'll be interesting. Too much learning going on + a turn 4 first nexus meant we haven't really gotten to explore the alliance change impacts.
GKR Heavy Hitters hit the table today for 4 of us. Actually went over pretty well; two of the guys had a 'meh' demo of it at Gen Con but liked this play a lot better. Game went down to the wire, and I took it with a well timed orbital strike. There was more depth and possible replayability in this than I was initially expecting, but between playing a bit slower than we were hoping, and not quite being good enough to push out other options I probably won't see the game with this group again any time soon. Still fun though, I'd be up for playing again no question.
Got a round of Res Arcana in as well while wating for people to gather for Dune, but too many distractions to really feel like a solid play. I like what I'm seeing so far though.
Help save the town as superheroes in the first co-op focused game in the series. Hitting KS on the 19th of this month today!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
Mint Works, Mint Delivery, and now..... Mint Cooperative!
Looks like a mint-sized Legendary? Still watching the video.
It's on Kickstarter, so not direct linking, but here's a link to Five24 Labs.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
edit1: Oh, also it's live on Kickstarter now, not coming on the 19th.
edit2: Annnnnnd, it's fully funded.
Mint Delivery fell short of reaching the point where the form factor could carry it by feeling very static and solvable. I backed but sort of regretted it.
This new one looks like a solo game more than a coop from the description. I don't really see the hook. I suppose it's quite cheap? So far, it's a pass.
Mint Delivery is fine but other than the size I don't know what its selling point is, and right now I'm getting the same feel from this one.
Has the review embargo lifted yet?
I've heard one single line impression from somebody who demoed it. And it was along the lines of "it's fine"
I am excited for Cooper Island coming at Essen, that looks really fun.
I'm liking almost everything coming from Capstone in the US -- I've pre-ordered Cooper Island and Maracaibo (also because I like Pfister).
On Tapestry, the review embargo has lifted. I've got a buddy who actually ordered it, and expects it soon. The review takes vary from Radho's gushing on down, but I don't know that I've watched anyone who disliked it yet. I have to appreciate the idea of streamlining a game in the genre, and I don't feel like anything I've played from Stonemeier is actively bad. It does sound like all the minis are one of the less impactful parts of the actual game though, which is kinda meh if so since it's a key thing driving the price up.
There's a few different ways you can go with Orleans, my wife generally plays a Monk heavy game, which seems to work as well. As I usually get max Scholars, I like to get the building that allows you to use them as wilds. I think which buildings you get make a big difference. Buy I agree with Quacks, we don't use the peeking power, as it seems to be a bit too good.
Yeah, I lost out on that building. I got the wool maker and pharmacy but I didn't really get anymore because I was trying to max sea captains. The guy who had all the gears and the gear building was taking 5-6 actions to my 2-3 at the end of the game. I would try and stop someone from getting that many gears in a future play but with the random nature of things you can't always do that.
I didn't like the random events. Especially since its all symbology and I would forget that this is a turn where bad stuff happens and whoops I didn't do the thing that keeps me safe.
In Altiplano you still draw from your bag, but you go through your whole bag before you "reshuffle" your bits back in, which makes it more like a deck.
Also the things you can do are location dependent. And Players get variable starting powers. Which adds more variety to turns. Lots of Orleans turns boil down to everybody getting books or everybody loading up on monks.
Lastly the buildings are set up better. The two piles building set up in Orleans is just bad. In Altiplano they come out X at a time and are separated into ages so they get better as the game goes on.
Strong disagree. I don't think any of the added complexity in Altiplano actually makes it better than Orleans - granted Orleans ideally needs the Trade and Intrigue expansion to fix the beneficial deeds board. Of the two I vastly prefer Orleans.
also, unrelated, the TTA expansion is out. if you didnt like TTA already this sure isnt going to change your mind, but if you did this expansion is SO GOOD OMG. tons of subtle and not subtle balance changes and shakeups to the standard game patterns. just really fun stuff. hit me up if you want to play a game.
I think it works as is, but it's a little undercooked without the added benefits that make it appealing early and mid game.
Also, Mythic Games you are officially sloppy greedy assholes in my book.
New leaders, wonders, and military tactics cards. You can choose to play with just the new cards, a random mix of base + new cards, all the original cards, or all the original cards with some of them newly tweaked for balance purposes (not sure on the specifics of those changes yet).
At a glance, a lot of the new antiquity leaders seem flat out better than the originals. Confucius seems like a flat out better Aristotle: preparing event cards gives you +1 science, military cards can be discarded in this way for +1 science, and you get another +1 science when he leaves play (there's another aspect to him "when revealed, non-event cards are treated as 'everyone gains +1 science' events" that I'm not sure what it means).
(whoops, beaten to it)
Learning/teaching is still a struggle, but the player aids/reference cards are a big improvement over Crystal Caverns.
Picked up Dragonfire from Barnes & Noble clearance sale and have been giving it a shot. Basically a reskin of Shadowrun:Crossfire which I liked ok. This one 'feels' a little better, like having some of the rough edges sanded off. Very difficult unless you're particularly lucky on the draws, but more forgiving than Crossfire so it isn't so immediately 'well screw this noise'. I like it very much as a solo puzzle to be solved, I think it would actually suffer to play with other people, at least for me. But ultimately I don't know that I'll stick with it very long, it's one of those where the balance of 'deal with what comes up by chance with the tools you got' is too heavy on the chance side, if that makes sense.
Holy crap it has been a while! I figured you were finally literally buried under a mountain of cardboard and were lost to us forever, Pink.
I've played this a few times, and I agree. They sanded the rough edges of Crossfire off the game, but they didn't quite reduce the "there's a very slim chance you'll succeed because this is based on card draws and there's just not quite enough player control to make you feel like you had a say in that success or not" issue. However, the fact it's based on D&D has gone over a lot better than Shadowrun, though I preferred the Shadowrun world.
This is referring to his ability to play non-event cards to the event stack, which you normally couldn't do. When they are revealed, since they are not true events, everyone gets a prize.
Dragonfire is probably the only time I've heard anyone pitch a game with "the first mission is broken"
Ah ha
Been seeing more of the new leaders/wonders. They seem either extremely good or extremely niche (Age I leader whose farms can count as an artillery for tactics?).
What did they do? I backed their MOBA game.
Got to play Pax Pamir 2e for the first time today. All newbies so a bit rough (took about 2 hours), but really really good.
Firenze I had played a German edition and knew I liked it, Gugong I haven't played but have heard good things about.