New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic

piratepwnsninja said:
I'm eventually going to do a full write up, but I feel like Codex is the best game nobody is talking about. I'm continually impressed with how finely tuned it is, as well as how great it plays.
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My Deluxe Edition has been sitting almost entirely in the same spot since it arrived last year. It did move around a bit when I took it into the closest game store last summer when it still held weekly game nights. One of the guys there played MtG, CFV, and a couple other CCGs. I wanted to show off Codex to him to see if it was something he would be interested in playing, but he wasn't.
I should probably go dust that copy off though. Not to play it but just because it has probably accumulated a lot of dust. Hopefully I'll play it one of these days.
 
piratepwnsninja said:
I'm eventually going to do a full write up, but I feel like Codex is the best game nobody is talking about. I'm continually impressed with how finely tuned it is, as well as how great it plays.

In other news, L5R is definitely high on my Gen Con list. I wonder how many copies FFG is going to bring. Definitely my first destination.
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I like the concept, but I have a big problem with the Taunt element of the leader patrol zone. It bottlenecks any sort of offense you can generate in a fight, and I feel it slows the game way down. I wish that leader spot still had one damage mitigation, but that it didn't have taunt; I feel it would make the strategy of what units you use for offense and defense much more interesting if you can choose which target you want to go after in the enemy patrol zone. Every single time I have played Codex, the game has gone about an hour longer than I wanted it to.
 
EYEL1NER said:
That they do. They are increasing the component quality by changing the wooden cubes to more thematic pieces, and plastic chits instead of cardboard. I don't know anything about Antiquity though.
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It's basically a civilization game. I looked into the game and I think, so far, the most accessible, fun and solid Splotter game is probably Food Chain Magnate. I would have loved to grab Indonesia with the recent reprint, but they messed up the production of it.
 
Keasar said:
Oh dear god Level99 games just announced a new full expansion for Millennium Blades.

My box is already so full of cards. ;___;
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Ha, I came here to post about it. I didn't get a KS email yet (I only backed the Set Rotation and Reprint project, not the original, so maybe he hasn't updated that one yet) but I saw it on Facebook. I may actually wait a while to get this, since I own all the content so far and haven't played it.
Awww, who am I kidding? I'll buy it anyway.
 
BassForever said:
Should I wait for this ks to get all of mb is some mega backer set with promos?
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Unsure if this turns into another Kickstarter (very likely though as Level99 remains a very niche company with little fame at large). I can say that out of the box, you'll get a ton of content already. And if they launch a Kickstarter, it wouldn't surprise me if they made one pack with the new expansion and also all mini-expansions 1-5, so if you wanna jump in now and buy the core box and first expansion to get started playing and see if you like it, I think you'd be safe to do so with that reasoning.

Of course, a mega pack with everything Millennium Blades is very likely to be overall a bit cheaper than buying it seperately, remains to be seen though.
 
Keasar said:
Unsure if this turns into another Kickstarter (very likely though as Level99 remains a very niche company with little fame at large). I can say that out of the box, you'll get a ton of content already. And if they launch a Kickstarter, it wouldn't surprise me if they made one pack with the new expansion and also all mini-expansions 1-5, so if you wanna jump in now and buy the core box and first expansion to get started playing and see if you like it, I think you'd be safe to do so with that reasoning.
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I've enjoyed every level 99 games game I've played, it's there fault that I've found myself in the rabbit hole whirlpool of board games thanks to the mega man pixel tactics kickstarter. I'm extremely confident I'd love MB the only reason I didn't buy it yesterday with some of my bonus money was I wanted to get games I can play with my family. Generally the ks bundles are a better deal for the games (like $160 for all of exceed) and I doubt I'll find a group to play MB with until I move back to Florida next year after I finish school.
 
BassForever said:
I've enjoyed every level 99 games game I've played, it's there fault that I've found myself in the rabbit hole whirlpool of board games thanks to the mega man pixel tactics kickstarter. I'm extremely confident I'd love MB the only reason I didn't buy it yesterday with some of my bonus money was I wanted to get games I can play with my family. Generally the ks bundles are a better deal for the games (like $160 for all of exceed) and I doubt I'll find a group to play MB with until I move back to Florida next year after I finish school.
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Think it's safe to wait then, if the game would go out of stock I think any new kickstarter created would include a reprint
 
Hm. So I read this review on amazon, and it resonates with me a bit..

So here is the deal, If you own Elder Sign with all the expansions (like I do) then this game is not needed. However, if you are an avid RPG enthusiast, or already love Lord of the Rings LCG and Warhammer Quest Card Game, you might very well enjoy this. It is after all a well designed game. Its just not a game for everybody.

From the point of view of someone that owns Eldritch Horror, Elder Sign, Arkham etc It feels like it requires too much setup time to build a new character and the "surprises" of storyline are not anymore thrilling than in other games. So far Ive bought the base and two expansions and i think im ready to sell it off. At $15 per additional play (expansions) its just too much for me to justify.

Basically its Elder Sign Legacy Edition if that existed. It has nearly the same flavor text, same inspired imagery, and same flipping cards mechanism of Elder Sign. The difference between that the LCG aspect allows you to carry your personal gear into future games that have a somewhat unfolding storyline. This is also its weakness though.

In Elder Sign the surprises are what gear you will get, what location cards appear, and what boss youll fight this time. In Arkham LCG all of those aspects are basically fixed since you are embarking on a specific arc with your character. The new experience comes by buying expansions. Sure, you can also decide to redo the storyline by picking different gear, but the card sorting is a bear and lack of storyline surprise makes less than thrilling for this gamer.

Perhaps its greatest enemy is all the other great Fantasy Flight games available. If i didnt own any of them then this would be an ok place to start.
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Maybe I ought to just get that game and a choice expansion that adds more content and call it a day?
 
fenners said:
I'm going to be the nay-sayer. I can see why people are enjoying it, but the two times I've played it were totally unbalanced by the card distribution in early rounds. If you got affordable cards with some synergy to build an engine around? You were golden. Those of us who didn't, never got going.

Some of that's unfamiliarity with the game, sure, but we're seasoned Eurogamers, and I've played hundreds of games of Race For The Galaxy, which Terraforming Mars reminded me a lot of. You can have a game of Race where nothing comes together too... But I can play Race in 15 minutes.

I can see the appeal of building an engine through the card tableaux, and the mechanics are fine... And theme is captured really well... But 8th best game evar? Man... I'm outta touch ;)
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I loved Terraforming Mars when it first came out, and slowly came to the conclusion that it has the RFTG problem on steroids. It's a deck builder where you have no control over the deck you are building.

I've had games where I had great set up cards and *never* drew the payoff card I needed for the engine to hit in the last half of the game. I've had games where I went heavy on a energy-heat strategy only to have another player do the same after I did and we got the temp to max early and then I sort of twiddled my thumbs.

I think BGG has a *real* cult of the new problem, and because the industry has grown so rapidly new games jump to the top of the BGG 100 way too fast because they get more reviews than older games ever had in the first place.

1 game in the top 10 is more than 5 years old (2 if you count through the ages reprint). I'm not saying these aren't good games, but they need to do some kind of time weighting on these things because it's basically turned into a hot games list.
 
Have any of you that aren't so hot on Terraforming Mars tried it with the card drafting variant? It definitely cuts down on the random swinginess.

I certainly don't think it's #8 of all time, but it's a fun game. If someone busts it out at gaming night, I won't turn it down.
 
Hm. Wish the core set wasn't 60 dollars. Yeep.



On another note, I finally played Mask Men last night using Karkador's rules. I think we played it correctly this time, but I had to hold my ground multiple times on the correct rules to keep the game together. Eventually I think we did get it, and I thought it was pretty good. Thanks Karkador!
 
StoOgE said:
I loved Terraforming Mars when it first came out, and slowly came to the conclusion that it has the RFTG problem on steroids. It's a deck builder where you have no control over the deck you are building.

I've had games where I had great set up cards and *never* drew the payoff card I needed for the engine to hit in the last half of the game. I've had games where I went heavy on a energy-heat strategy only to have another player do the same after I did and we got the temp to max early and then I sort of twiddled my thumbs.

I think BGG has a *real* cult of the new problem, and because the industry has grown so rapidly new games jump to the top of the BGG 100 way too fast because they get more reviews than older games ever had in the first place.

1 game in the top 10 is more than 5 years old (2 if you count through the ages reprint). I'm not saying these aren't good games, but they need to do some kind of time weighting on these things because it's basically turned into a hot games list.
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Tbf the bgg ranking is nothing but a popularity contest.
 
Considering how much boardgaming has exploded over the last 5-10 years, it's not surprising that newer games make it to the top 100 easier. There are a ton of old, good games that are basically impossible to find these days. People aren't going to rate things that they can't play.
 
I think there's also a little self-selection bias to some of BGG's top games. Games like Gloomhaven, a sprawling, expensive, KS-exclusive dungeon crawl are only going to get played and rated by a niche audience more likely to rate them highly.
 
SapphiCine said:
Popularity metrics have their use but I wish there was a metacritic for board games. Of course there would need to be professional critics in the first place.
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And that's the core of the issue. Most board game reviewers out there are just regular folks and have no experience as actual critics.
 
second game of clank, son destroyed me by over 20 points

he was fighting up a storm and moving a lot thanks to buying up all the best boot items before I could
 
Modest Mauser said:
I think there's also a little self-selection bias to some of BGG's top games. Games like Gloomhaven, a sprawling, expensive, KS-exclusive dungeon crawl are only going to get played and rated by a niche audience more likely to rate them highly.
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Shut up and sit down have an article and podcast this week discussing the issue. They conclude that the ratings are heavily biased by the BGG audience which is just a subset of gaming.

I'd go further and call the list largely irrelevant. Most of the ratings from here on are going to reflect how good someone feels about backing something on KS and will have nothing to do with actually playing and enjoying a game.
 
It's amazing how you can play read a rule book several times and do practice games but the moment you bring the game to someone else they instantly ask a question you missed and it changes how the game plays. Case in point I completely missed in tiny epic galaxies both that your galaxy counts for energy for ships docked there, and that when you collect energy or culture you collect for every possible ship thats able to do so.
 
I've been trying to find some older games that have stuck around and still get lots of praise. I recently picked up High Society and I think that game is super fun. Knizia auction game where you are bidding on luxury items but if you have the least amount of money at the end you can't win. Very simple idea but it makes the auctions pretty tense and it's fun to play into the theme. What older (like 10+ years) games do you guys still like playing?
 
wwm0nkey said:
New Betrayal Spin-off, Betrayal At Baldur's Gate

Already pre-ordered lol
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Not sure about this. The only reason I can tolerate this game is the cool haunted house setting. The haunts, particularly in the expansion, are a mess, rule wise. Clarification is always needed. Everyone's always left guessing what they should be doing or how they should be playing, or whether some particular unaddressed action should be possible.
 
I kind of want to be in for Betrayal at Baldur's Gate but couldn't they have made an improvement to the horrible skill clips on the player board? It looks like the same player board set up, meaning any slight nudge of the play area will send the stat clips sliding about and falling off the board. There are some nice board holders with insertable stat markers on etsy but a full set isn't cheap.
 
cooltrainer said:
I've been trying to find some older games that have stuck around and still get lots of praise. I recently picked up High Society and I think that game is super fun. Knizia auction game where you are bidding on luxury items but if you have the least amount of money at the end you can't win. Very simple idea but it makes the auctions pretty tense and it's fun to play into the theme. What older (like 10+ years) games do you guys still like playing?
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Not sure on age but I'm thinking Ra, Lost Cities, Chinatown and Medici.

I guess a lot of Knizia old stuff.

Betrayal at Baldurs Gate? That kind of seems bad. Isn't the only attraction being a cheesy halloween event?
 
Game night went long because of a lot of people socializing. I managed to drag people through a 5-person Tiny Epic Galaxies: Beyond the Black game and a 4-person Oh My Goods game. I'll split Oh My Goods into another post since this one is going long.

I think they were pretty exhausted since both games are heavier than one would expect. Tiny Epic Galaxies in particular took 2+ hours since some players were new, some were very slow, and we used both mini expansions + the main expansion.

It doesn't help that one player was a smartass half the time (every 2nd or 3rd time you ask "does anyone want to follow" he would say the same "Well I WANT to follow and do bla bla bla action, but I don't have any culture" thing, delaying the game while we waited on him to finish talking). I think he finally toned that down. Another player also liked announcing every detail of his thought process while he pondered the dice. Maybe that helped him think through things, but it took a long time.

Despite those wrinkles, I think it's overall a positive expansion. Beyond the Black adds the ability to hire pilots and the ability to push your luck by exploring. Hiring pilots lets you burn otherwise useless dice to swap one of your normal ships for a fancy ship meeple. That ship then has a special power, like giving you an extra resource every time you land on a planet. Exploring lets you flip over circular cards and either take the latest one or push your luck. They give you resources, and have a chance of punishing you by making you lose resources. Both the cards and the pilots also give you a variety of little colored exploration badges as well as victory points. The exploration badges are totaled up at the end of the game, and the person with the highest in each category gets 2 victory points.

Each pilot has different ships they are compatible with, and each ship takes different dice combinations so you cannot just go for the most powerful pilot necessarily.

The new scoring map is nice for visually identifying when someone is about to hit 21 points. However, we kept forgetting to update it, and it is now a little awkward since when someone levels up their empire you have to calculate the difference between the two values printed on the mat and score THAT (e.g. early on you gain only 1 point per upgrade, but later you gain 2 or 3 points).

There was a lot of management because I was basically acting as the table manager enforcing turn order, checking if people needed to follow if needed, pausing action, etc.

The new mini expansion just lets you burn two dice to put a drone on your pilot, max one per pilot. The drone gives you an instant victory point and doubles the pilot's exploration badges at the end of the game.

One last note, exploring has a chance of sucking your ship into a danger track that will leave it stuck there. However, once you finish exploring your ship ends up in "unexplored space" which provides an always-accessible culture source.
 
Oh My Goods with 4 people went okay after some initial confusion explaining rules. I hate trying to explain everything before people take their turns because so much information overwhelms people, including me. I prefer to dive into the first round, or into an example round, and explain by example. Unfortunately this is the sort of game where you need to understand things before you can make most any decision.

In addition, there is something strange about this game that makes it difficult to explain at first. Maybe it is the way each card can be used in 3+ ways, combined with the production chain thing (you must have resources available from X or Y to do this once, with a couple of modifications, and IF YOU DO then you can spend resources/goods from Y or Z to do this other thing). Some people also took a little bit to understand that each facedown card represents both goods and money -- a good that is worth a certain amount of coins.

Once people grasped that things sailed smoother. Even with the new rules providing an activate-everything final round, however, it is difficult to collect enough goods to use chains much.

It does seem pretty balanced though. Even with different approaches, I ended up winning with 25 points, and other players had 23 / 23 / 22 points.
 
Blizzard said:
Oh My Goods with 4 people went okay after some initial confusion explaining rules. I hate trying to explain everything before people take their turns because so much information overwhelms people, including me. I prefer to dive into the first round, or into an example round, and explain by example. Unfortunately this is the sort of game where you need to understand things before you can make most any decision.

In addition, there is something strange about this game that makes it difficult to explain at first. Maybe it is the way each card can be used in 3+ ways, combined with the production chain thing (you must have resources available from X or Y to do this once, with a couple of modifications, and IF YOU DO then you can spend resources/goods from Y or Z to do this other thing). Some people also took a little bit to understand that each facedown card represents both goods and money -- a good that is worth a certain amount of coins.

Once people grasped that things sailed smoother. Even with the new rules providing an activate-everything final round, however, it is difficult to collect enough goods to use chains much.

It does seem pretty balanced though. Even with different approaches, I ended up winning with 25 points, and other players had 23 / 23 / 22 points.
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The production chains are abit weird to explain but actually very simple. The left side requirements are what is needed to have the building start production. These need to come your hand or the market.
The good on the right side is how you can make the building produce more.

So if your building has, say a wool and a grain on the right then you can take those from the market and produce the initial two goods. Let's say it has a wood on the right side, then you can play as many wood from your hand or wood producing buildings and use those to produce goods. So the left side production is sort of a requirement to access the right side production each round.

Your certainly right it's fiddly to explain, but once players have gotten one round down the game plays so smooth.
 
I haven't bought a new board game in months. My current count is around 150 board and card games that cover pretty much every genre and sub genre in the hobby. Nothing new has really called out to me. My backlog is huge too. I think I can slowly work through what I have over the next few years with family and friends. Is anyone else in a lull too?

I'm still painting Zombicide, but I came to a good stopping point and shifted gears back to Warhammer 40k and other Games Workshop table top games. The pull to paint/model is too strong to ignore! I'm assembling and painting Shadow War squads and also prepping several armies for 8th edition. LOTS to do in that particular hobby.

Also, Fantasy Flight has really disappointed me since losing the GW license. It looks like Arkham and Descent are all they make that interest me anymore, and Descent content is few and far between these days. I used to look forward to going to their site daily to see the various updates, but now its nothing but Star Wars and other games/themes I could care less about. Its pretty sad when something you once loved becomes so unappealing. Oh well. Its not like there isnt a dozen other companies out there putting out good stuff for me to look at.
 
Karkador said:
It's a very dull game
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Emarv said:
There's a digital version that has a free trial mode if you want to try it out.
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-tetsuo- said:
I strongly do not suggest it.
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I see xD What are the alternatives?

Big One said:
Get Arkham Horror Card Game instead!
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I'm interested but I'm hold back by the fact that apparently: you need to buy the expansions, so the price goes up , and after the first one/two plays the replay value is less since you already flipped the cards and discovered the mysteries. Or so I've read.
 
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