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New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic
- Thread starter Karkador
- Start date
I love their games but finding time to play is definitely a challenge. I have a similar problem with any head-to-head game, really. People often don't really want to play them at a "games night" so 1v1 games are kind of hung out to dry most of the time. A specific effort needs to be made for them to hit the table.
Pixel Tactics and BattleCON are both amazing but they take time to learn and understand the depth of, which takes multiple plays.
I've managed to play a bunch of games with PT1 and that's it, haven't even played the other decks yet. Mirror match makes the most sense since it helps us learn the cards and we don't have to worry about imbalances. Luckily it has a fast set up too.
I've only ever done 3+ games in a row with Battlecon using the same characters a single time, and it was a great way to learn the ins and outs of the fighters. However, most of the time at least one player (including myself) wants to switch it up after one round because there are so many fighters to try. That can kind of leave the game feeling gimmicky if there's a really effective combo that one person finds for their character, then switches off the next round before you figure out how to beat it (not unlike a 2D fighter video game in that sense!). Or if someone loses because of a series of bad guesses, there's no chance to reassert yourself if you stop after one game. Really drilling down with the same match-up is actually awesome and the game really benefits from it.
BattleCON requires some kind of storage solution otherwise the set up takes way too long. Even with every character separated by bags (with all necessary cards and tokens) set-up can feel long.
I got a Chewbacca dice from one of my booster packs but no card to go along with it.
hmm.. still hoping QA is higher for SoR.. but this is a little disappointing.
I did get Chewie in my 3 packs (and immediately checked the die for a misprint. phew)
my pulls of the day though were definitely a common (Bait and Switch) and a Rare (Lightsaber Pike) both of which instantly went in my JabbaDooku melee. Ironically I didn't get to use B&S once as the times I had it in hand jabba never rolled (or rerolled) resources
The timing of SoR (and the pre-release event) really sucks though. All I'm doing is thinking about and waiting for SoR... but I have to get these cards back out of my deck now and keep training for Worlds (not that I'm really expecting much.. hell I'll just be happy to get to Day 2)
but yeah, tossing out Flamethrower for the infinitely better Lightsaber Pike... feels so good.
I've also played two games on TTS.. but man I am still getting familiar with it. I am only starting to remember to:
hover -> E to tap (make sure cursor isn't over ANYTHING else.. uggh..)
move my dice onto the field. R to roll then INSTANTLY click on the field to unselect my dice..
way too many times I've hit a key and changed ALL of my dice.. so frustrating and I feel like a total dumbass to my opponent. also a little annoying to be playing against SoR decks.. only because TTS is already way slow compared to real life.. then having to hover over EVERYTHING just to see what it does first..
hmm.. still hoping QA is higher for SoR.. but this is a little disappointing.
I did get Chewie in my 3 packs (and immediately checked the die for a misprint. phew)
my pulls of the day though were definitely a common (Bait and Switch) and a Rare (Lightsaber Pike) both of which instantly went in my JabbaDooku melee. Ironically I didn't get to use B&S once as the times I had it in hand jabba never rolled (or rerolled) resources
The timing of SoR (and the pre-release event) really sucks though. All I'm doing is thinking about and waiting for SoR... but I have to get these cards back out of my deck now and keep training for Worlds (not that I'm really expecting much.. hell I'll just be happy to get to Day 2)
but yeah, tossing out Flamethrower for the infinitely better Lightsaber Pike... feels so good.
I've also played two games on TTS.. but man I am still getting familiar with it. I am only starting to remember to:
hover -> E to tap (make sure cursor isn't over ANYTHING else.. uggh..)
move my dice onto the field. R to roll then INSTANTLY click on the field to unselect my dice..
way too many times I've hit a key and changed ALL of my dice.. so frustrating and I feel like a total dumbass to my opponent. also a little annoying to be playing against SoR decks.. only because TTS is already way slow compared to real life.. then having to hover over EVERYTHING just to see what it does first..
I got Chewie too and some other stuff that I have an interest in for Han/Rey like Protective Mentor (is anyone even talking about this card? Fits in really nicely) and Lone Operative. Rough time to first be getting into TTS though because of the very issue you flagged. I actually haven't played it since SoR came out b/c I want to settle on a good deck first. But yeah once you learn most of the cards and get comfortable with the UI it can go decently fast (still agree that it's slower than IRL though).
LuciusAxelrod
Member
Always sleeve your cards. If I have a game with cards then I always go out of my way to sleeve them, even if they never get shuffled. I think I had to order sleeves from Germany to fit my Betrayal at House on the Hill cards a couple years ago.
I backed Medioevo Universalis
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/166119889/medioevo-universalis?ref=user_menu
Rulebook is coming in a few days. Can't wait to see it lmao
Did anybody get the backer updates from this project?
BassForever
Member
Spent nearly 2 hours getting everything seperated and bagged in the battlecon box. Wish I could do something more elegant but it works for the time being.
I know exceed has the kickstarter but how is millenium blades? How is it different from level 99's other games?
I know exceed has the kickstarter but how is millenium blades? How is it different from level 99's other games?
Iced_Eagle
Member
Yup, Gloomhaven almost certainly beats KDM in terms of value. I've been really enjoying the big, meaty games with my friends so $100 isn't actually that bad if the game has the content to support it.
I think Gloomhaven was actually smart by using standees and not coming with a bajillion mini's. It's at a much better pricepoint, and also doesn't require a godawful amount of mini-assembly (which I'm fearing once I get KDM 1.5 in my hands).
Millennium Blades is very different from most games at all.
Basically, it is a simulated-collectible-card-game-board-game. Players all play characters in a universe playing a Yu-Gi-Oh inspired card game, collecting cards and participating in tournaments. Game is split into three rounds with two phases each. The first phase is the market phase where players will buy, sell and trade cards to start building their collections and ultimately their deck for the following phase. It is all in real time where players try to buy "boosters" on the market board to get new cards, trade unwanted cards with other players, sell them to the aftermarket, "fusion" cards into more powerful and potentially more useful cards, build "collections" to turn in for victory points and also as said build a deck.
Following the market phase after about a total of 20 minutes of frantic picking, reading, strategizing is the Tournament Phase. Each player goes into the game with a deck of about 10 cards and plays a very simplified card game using the cards they got trying to score as many points as possible. The player with the highest score is the winner and gets a price of cards and victory points, followed by the second, third, fourth etc. players also getting some sort of prize.
Then this repeats in three rounds and after the third round, players check their victory point collection to see who has the most and the player with the highest wins the game.
It is a very funny and interesting game of "simulating" CCGs and even though you're not a CCG or haven't been a CCG player, it's a lot of fun. It comes with a TON of cards that you build the market deck out of which can then switch around for many different combinations and so many different strategies. You have different characters with different powers during the Market Phase and Tournament Phase and they just released the Set Rotation expansion which adds new starting decks, new characters, new expansions and most importantly, co-op, where you try to either fight the Card Game Illuminati or fight off an Alien invasion with a card game (it is all VERY Yu-Gi-Oh). It's a great ton of fun once you get playing. The only complaint I got is that it is very much a hassle to set up cause of how many cards are involved. And like all Level99 games, it's not a beginners board game, it requires some rules explanation etc.
One random but really cool thing, see that bundle of tri-colored cash on the left side? That is also a brilliant thing. The first game that makes paper money actually amazing to play with. What you get is a HUGE amount of paper money that you then split into piles of 5, take two piles and place them back to back, then bind them with a sticker, creating a wad of cash that becomes the currency of the game. They actually feel great, are easy to handle and have this satisfying feel when you throw them onto the table to buy cards or pay other players with.
Yeah this is the kind of game you REALLY wanna keep drinks away from the table and away from all the flying hands and arms.
BassForever
Member
I was gonna say much the same thing
I'm not ridiculously OCD/anal about keeping drinks/food away from games, but that's a little too close for comfort in a game with so much paper & so much reaching about from pile to pile Food Chain Magnate: The player who really wanted to play without milestones reconsidered over the course of the week, so we played normally. However, about halfway through (2-3 turns from game-end) said player was obviously not having fun and another player, who was attempting a waitress-heavy strategy, was effectively not interacting with the table, so we just called it. Perhaps I was just so caught up in last week's game myself that I missed the discontent then, or maybe we're just cultists-of-the-new, so much so that the luster wore off of Food Chain Magnate in three plays (but at least it had some, unlike Pax Renaissance). Maybe we need to go back to our old favorite, Imperial/Imperial 2030, to refresh our palate.
Camel Up Cards: I like Winner's Circle better as a racing/betting game, but this is cheaper, simpler, and more portable (although the score/money cards are too clever by half). The public and private information about the makeup of the movement deck is interesting, but perhaps a little more weighty than this game otherwise merits. Spamming the fennec (fox) is... disruptive. I think others at the table enjoyed this more than I did, though. We'll add it to the filler rotation.
Fake Edit: Checking my BGG play logs, the only non-filler our group has played more than 3 times in the last year is Scythe (4 plays, including 1 with Invaders from Afar). Maybe we've grown out of heavier/longer games altogether. I know I don't play nearly as well as I did before I had a chid, let alone when I was single. :/
Camel Up Cards: I like Winner's Circle better as a racing/betting game, but this is cheaper, simpler, and more portable (although the score/money cards are too clever by half). The public and private information about the makeup of the movement deck is interesting, but perhaps a little more weighty than this game otherwise merits. Spamming the fennec (fox) is... disruptive. I think others at the table enjoyed this more than I did, though. We'll add it to the filler rotation.
Fake Edit: Checking my BGG play logs, the only non-filler our group has played more than 3 times in the last year is Scythe (4 plays, including 1 with Invaders from Afar). Maybe we've grown out of heavier/longer games altogether. I know I don't play nearly as well as I did before I had a chid, let alone when I was single. :/
You won't be disappointment. I have played it with two different groups (9 different people) along with my 6 and 10 year old girls. Other than the setup and tear down time everyone has really enjoyed it and wanted to play it again imitatively.
I would suggest that once you build your "store" you play with it 3-4 times before "building" a new one. That helps with setup and cleanup.
Very unique game that takes around 2 hours to play but the time goes by fast as you are almost always doing something. My kids and I in a 3p game can get done in under 90 minutes as we normally don't need to take the 20 minutes each time in the buy/trade/build phase.
Polioliolio
Member
Nooo!! I always sleeve.. What bugs me is I noticed in some of my games, my cards even sleeved have fingernail impressions, and I know it's a couple guys I play with who do this thing when they play a card in games, where they slap the card down then tap it with their finger... Love playing games with these guys but I hate their table manners.
Could you link me? I'd love to sleeve them!
Have you played the Camel Up board game and how would you compare it to the cards if so?
LuciusAxelrod
Member
For Betrayal? I don't think you have to order German sleeves anymore; I didn't have enough of the old sleeves when I got the expansion so I had to order new ones.
I think I got these ones from Mayday games: https://www.maydaygames.com/products/dwarf-king-card-sleeves
But these sleeves might be a slightly better fit: https://www.swanpanasiasleeves.com/...betrayal-of-the-house-on-the-hill-80-per-pack
You'll need 110 sleeves, I think.
I'm getting prepared to do a large purge and I'm really interested in how people price their used games. How far under market value would you price your games if they are "Like New"? How much does supply/demand affect your price point? What about games that have expensive inserts and/or autographed boxes?
Right now I have been doing a quick pass through the games and then entering the condition and asking price into a spreadsheet. For prices I have been using boardgameprices and putting it 5-10 under the cheapest which is usually Amazon but not always. The less market exposure a game has currently the closer I price it to market prices. I plan on organizing my pile after I get it all priced out and then going back through everything meticulously to make sure all pieces are accounted for, etc.
I am hoping to sell the majority of it through local no-ship groups.
Right now I have been doing a quick pass through the games and then entering the condition and asking price into a spreadsheet. For prices I have been using boardgameprices and putting it 5-10 under the cheapest which is usually Amazon but not always. The less market exposure a game has currently the closer I price it to market prices. I plan on organizing my pile after I get it all priced out and then going back through everything meticulously to make sure all pieces are accounted for, etc.
I am hoping to sell the majority of it through local no-ship groups.
I've only seen regular Camel Up played, not played it myself.
Both games are extremely similar in overall concept, but in Cards players have more information about -- and control over -- the future movement of the camels via card drafting (instead of it randomly be determined by one die per camel). Cards also has additional leg bets for a camel coming in 3rd place and makes all bets pubic with final position bets being exclusive. The per-player oasis/mirage tile is replaced by a single fennec token and a single palm tree token that are first-come-first-served but are reusable.
My takeaway is that Camel Up Cards is more strategic but Camel Up is more accessible.
1700 Gloomhaven pledges, $165,000 / $100,000 in 9 minutes.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1350948450/gloomhaven-second-printing?ref=checkout_rewards_page
It's $99 including shipping for the U.S. The man is nuts.
Also, the community-driven campaign has started and it's available on Tabletop Simulator: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898292518&searchtext
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1350948450/gloomhaven-second-printing?ref=checkout_rewards_page
It's $99 including shipping for the U.S. The man is nuts.
Also, the community-driven campaign has started and it's available on Tabletop Simulator: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898292518&searchtext
Damn, I don't think i will be able to resist. The fact that shipping is free in Canada definitely helps!
SillyEskimo
Member
Last night we had a friendly family game of Machi Koro turn into a blood bath by about turn 15.
My youngest kept getting cafes every turn. Its just the way the cards turned up. This meant that every time someone rolled a 1, she would wipe out every cent that person had. We were only rolling a single dice at the time and 1 was coming up far too often. I eventually built the building that me me roll 2 dice, getting me out of her sick loop of greed. My wife rolled a 1 5 turns in a row. On the 5th turn, she let out a clear as day "Mother Fucker!", much to the shock and amusement of my 8&10 yr old girls who have never heard their mother swear before.
From there, it just kept getting crazier. My daughters clearing out each other's financial stash turn after turn. My wife eventually was able to roll 2 dice and gambled on some cards that never paid off. Meanwhile, I took some chances and rolled box cars 3 turns in a tow, allowing me to break ahead of the pack of wild dogs that my family had become and secured the win.
My kids are obsessed with red cards and it almost always costs them in the late game. Last night was a great example of what I had tried to explain in the past. I think it finally sunk in thanks to the fact that despite early game success, they both failed to capitalize by diversifying their properties and preparing for the late game.
It was a great game of Machi Koro!
My youngest kept getting cafes every turn. Its just the way the cards turned up. This meant that every time someone rolled a 1, she would wipe out every cent that person had. We were only rolling a single dice at the time and 1 was coming up far too often. I eventually built the building that me me roll 2 dice, getting me out of her sick loop of greed. My wife rolled a 1 5 turns in a row. On the 5th turn, she let out a clear as day "Mother Fucker!", much to the shock and amusement of my 8&10 yr old girls who have never heard their mother swear before.
From there, it just kept getting crazier. My daughters clearing out each other's financial stash turn after turn. My wife eventually was able to roll 2 dice and gambled on some cards that never paid off. Meanwhile, I took some chances and rolled box cars 3 turns in a tow, allowing me to break ahead of the pack of wild dogs that my family had become and secured the win.
My kids are obsessed with red cards and it almost always costs them in the late game. Last night was a great example of what I had tried to explain in the past. I think it finally sunk in thanks to the fact that despite early game success, they both failed to capitalize by diversifying their properties and preparing for the late game.
It was a great game of Machi Koro!
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
That's absurd. It just came out!
BattleMonkey
Member
Kickstarter hype train in effect
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Probably going to back Gloomhaven again with the solo book. I sold my copy because why not. So if I want that solo book, do I have to throw $10 on top of my $99 pledge? I don't understand add-on shit.
I was curious so I checked the top 20:
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (2015)
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization (2015)
Twilight Struggle (2005)
Terra Mystica (2012)
Star Wars: Rebellion (2016)
Scythe (2016)
7 Wonders Duel (2015)
Caverna: The Cave Farmers (2013)
The Castles of Burgundy (2011)
Gloomhaven (2017)
Puerto Rico (2002)
Agricola (2007)
Terraforming Mars (2016)
War of the Ring (Second Edition) (2012)
Mage Knight Board Game (2011)
Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization (2006)
Blood Rage (2015)
Star Wars: Imperial Assault (2014)
Power Grid (2004)
Eclipse (2011)
I'm aware of 4/20 being kickstarters:
Through the Ages (only one of them I assume), Scythe, Gloomhaven, Blood Rage
Did I miss anything? Kickstarter may be one aspect, but I think the very high average rating suggests at minimum that it's also quite a good game. Like every game I'll certainly admit it has flaws, of course.
That's what I did with the $25 combo. The assumption is you just pledge the total and pledge manager will let you choose later.
It can be biased towards certain types of games, and people's rankings are obviously broken since they should put Feast for Odin in the top 20, but otherwise I think they're still a decent indicator of very solid games.
If it merely reflected cult of the new, you wouldn't have 50% of the top 20 alone being 5+ years old.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
This is what I was alluding to previously when the topic came up. Anything half decent will be in the top 100 nowadays.
That said, Gloomhaven is legitimately excellent and probably one of the new games that actually deserves to be high on the list.
Take for comparison SeaFall. It only has 1.1k ratings, it was hotly anticipated as the next big legacy thing (see Pandemic Legacy at #1), and yet it's #1051 / #196 / #551 in its various rankings, with a massively lower rating than typical top 100 games. The only reason it's even 196 is because of the "thematic" category.
I suppose it wasn't technically Kickstarter so maybe this case isn't a good example?
I suppose it wasn't technically Kickstarter so maybe this case isn't a good example?
BomberMouse
Member
It makes no sense that Gloomhaven is top 10 with only 2.6 ratings. First print run only had 4.9k backers. They really need to rework their algorithm.
BattleMonkey
Member
The rankings change quick and often. Game gets hyped to heck, shoots up, then falls off the top. Initial rankings often are knee jerk reviews, lot of bs from ppl who obviously never even played the game (such as all the rave reviews for games not even released yet). Then once game is out and more real reviews come in, the placement changes.
The whole top ranking chart is meaningless, it changes so much
Meaningless means having no meaning. I argue it has SOME meaning, since games that stay in the top 20 (or even top 50) have a very good chance of being solid games.
Again, note the 10 games that have stayed there despite being 5 years old. Real reviews didn't kick them out.
Also note that none of the top 20 are unreleased games.
AHappyPanda
Member
I will have to look at the card version.
I've been interested by Camel Up since it came out, but every video review I watch, I'm like "meh"
Put that ranking into its context of "greatest of all time", since every game on the database is on it, and it is ridiculous to think anything that new is in the top 20. Top 100 (maybe top 200) should pretty much be hallowed grounds.
Also, though I enjoyed Pandemic Legacy, it never deserved to be #1. That's crazy, especially with some of the crappy mechanics they add around the middle of the game.
Also, though I enjoyed Pandemic Legacy, it never deserved to be #1. That's crazy, especially with some of the crappy mechanics they add around the middle of the game.
And I'm fine with such criticism! I just think there's middle ground to be had between rankings meaning nothing, and rankings being perfect.
The rankings are information which is useful to hobbyists and consumers if taken in a broader context.I need to stop posting about the kickstarter because I don't want to sound like I'm advertising, though I'm a pretty big fan. However, one more comment -- from the FAQ, this is a Kickstarter campaign after my own heart:
Side note, it looks like there's no pledge manager so I'll have to figure out the add-on thing.
I agree with this. People shit on BGG rankings b/c yeah sometimes funny things happen, but in general I find them a good proxy for quality, especially for people savvy enough to recognize when a highly ranked game just might not be for them. I consult them pretty frequently not via the main ratings, but via this Geeklist that sorts by recommended # of players: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/205940/optimum-game-selection-tool-v30Meaningless means having no meaning. I argue it has SOME meaning, since games that stay in the top 20 (or even top 50) have a very good chance of being solid games.
Again, note the 10 games that have stayed there despite being 5 years old. Real reviews didn't kick them out.
Also note that none of the top 20 are unreleased games.
dsfdf. If you're someone who just consumes a ton of reviews, or has reviewers you trust, maybe you won't benefit from it as much, but I still find it useful to find good older games that frankly don't get as much attention from reviewers. For new games I won't really pay attention to rating since I can rely on reviewers much more.
I don't really care about the BGG rankings that much, although I can see why the games at the top are ranked highly, even if maybe they're not my thing. The thing that I think is silly are the speculative threads, like "How high can Arkham Horror: The Card Game get in the rankings?" Does that make it a better game if it's in the top 10?
Pledge $25 or more
Upgrade combo pack
This level includes three previous levels at a reduced price for those who own the first printing. (See "Shipping" section for shipping details.)
Includes:
Four health and experience dials
Rule book and scenario book upgrades
Solo scenario book
Estimated delivery Aug 2017
Ships to Anywhere in the world
I picked it up as well.
Also a new free mission for GH. Looks like he might be putting together a mini campaign for the kickstarter to give out every few days: http://www.cephalofair.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/S1_JAN.pdf
BattleMonkey
Member
Meaningless means having no meaning. I argue it has SOME meaning, since games that stay in the top 20 (or even top 50) have a very good chance of being solid games.
Again, note the 10 games that have stayed there despite being 5 years old. Real reviews didn't kick them out.
Also note that none of the top 20 are unreleased games.
No the point is games getting in the top 10 or such real quick, which we see alot of then they drop like a brick soon after.
If a game is on there for over a year, then it shows it has some credibility. But seeing a game quickly jump up real high in the chart doesn't mean much of anything cause it's often knee jerk hype and inflated bs reviews
Yeah, I think I might sleeve a few of my games now. I am toying with fire since I play a lot at breweries with my wife. I won't sleeve everything...can't imagine sleeving Eldritch Horror but will sleeve the games that travel a lot.
Speaking of sleeving, I never shared it here but someone on Boardgame Geek a month or so back was nice enough to send this to me for the cost of shipping since it didn't work well with their sleeved Eldritch Horror cards.
http://imgur.com/a/2R4Ia
It has made set up a breeze. Currently, it's holding Base + Forsake Lore + Strange Remnants + Signs of Carcosa + Under the Pyramids.