• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic

S

SapphiCine

Member
Ugh, I'm eyeing Gears of War again. The price to get it in good condition and with the expansion is so high. 😧 Anyone here played it and have negative comments? Looking at reviews, a downside of the game is mission length which overstays the welcome of the mechanics. If it gets tiring in group play I will probably get tired of it faster solo. Another thing keeping me from pulling the trigger is I like Corey Konieczka games better on paper than actually playing them. 😐
 
R

robotzombie

Member
Thanks guys! Still looking through all the great suggestions.

I think number 1 right now that I'm leaning towards is Descent (Inis is looking like a nice 2nd). The prices I'm seeing for Descent are all over the place, any suggestions on how much I should reasonably be spending on it? Also, is it very beneficial to get expansions immediately, or just the main game is good for now?
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
SapphiCine said:
Ugh, I'm eyeing Gears of War again. The price to get it in good condition and with the expansion is so high. 😧 Anyone here played it and have negative comments? Looking at reviews, a downside of the game is mission length which overstays the welcome of the mechanics. If it gets tiring in group play I will probably get tired of it faster solo. Another thing keeping me from pulling the trigger is I like Corey Konieczka games better on paper than actually playing them. 😐
Click to expand...
I like Gears of War and it is too bad that FFG is not updated the mechanic and use it for another game. It can get clunky at time but it is mostly enjoyable.
 
S

Seganomics

Member
robotzombie said:
Thanks guys! Still looking through all the great suggestions.

I think number 1 right now that I'm leaning towards is Descent (Inis is looking like a nice 2nd). The prices I'm seeing for Descent are all over the place, any suggestions on how much I should reasonably be spending on it? Also, is it very beneficial to get expansions immediately, or just the main game is good for now?
Click to expand...

I think Descent should be costing around 60-70? If you haven't already, you should check some online reviews to see how the game plays out. The Dice Tower and Shut up and sit down do mostly excellent reviews and I'm guessing The Dice Tower have reviews of the expansions too so you can see which, if any, are worth adding to the base game.
 
N

NuffDREW4two

Member
SapphiCine said:
Anyone here played it and have negative comments?
Click to expand...
Borrowed it from an out of town friend and played over a bunch of lunch hours with two co-workers.

Generally, we liked it, but I'll sum up some thoughts:
- Enjoyable mechanics and theme. I was familiar having played all the games, my co-workers not so much. They didn't seem to mind since I filled in some of the story beats. However, my WHOO!s, and mock guitar riff when we cleared out some enemies were a little lost on them.
- Story is toss away. It follows the first game's plot points and is pretty paper thin.
- Of the 6 story missions, we breezed through about 3 of them, had to try a couple of them a 2 or 3 times, and China Shop became an unfun kick in the balls (after a dozen plays we never beat it and skipped it). We never did try the insane difficulty on any of the levels. Played the Horde mode once and thought it was decent.
- After having played it day after day for a while, we had had our fill

I see ebay has a copy with 0 bids and a couple days left for $100 w/ shipping. I'm sure you could recoup most, if not all of that, if you did decide to resell down the road.
 
P

Phthisis

Member
robotzombie said:
1. First off, the new Dark Souls board game looks amazing, anyone here play it? Is it worth $100+?
Click to expand...

Ehhhh....

2. Any suggestions on other fun games considering my list above? I really like strategy, co-op and competitive are both great, we also do like D&D and there seem to be a lot of games out there that are like mini campaign type RPG boardgames, but I don't know if any of them are good, but having individual characters and being able to level up or upgrade throughout a game are certainly pluses.
Click to expand...

For my money, the D&D adventure series is the best for this (go with the new ones, Temple of Elemental Evil or Drizzt). Not a fan of FFG's dungeon crawler co-ops. I don't like their dice system, or their constant enemy respawn mechanics.
 
A

antiquegamer

Member
Fury451 said:
I wouldn't be surprised to see one if the board game sells well- that's a pretty reliable cash flow for FFG, and the Fallout brand would be a natural fit for it.

Then again, my friend who works for FFG said that Android Netrunner has slowed and the Star Wars LCG isn't selling quite as stupendously as expected, though the new Star Wars Destiny thing is doing very well.

So if not a LCG, I wouldn't be surprised to see FFG do something else with the brand.
Click to expand...

The problem with FFG LCG model is that while they start off very good, after awhile the games became ungainly due to all the expansions and very difficult for people to get in. If you want to be competitive then it become very expensive. It's kind of ironic since one of the selling point for LCG was that you can get whatever you want since there is no blind pack. They are trying to address this with rotation but I don't know if this will work.

I don't know how Arkham Horror LCG will be in the future but one thing it has going for is that you can sort of keep each expansion as its own season. I don't even know if we suppose to mix the stuffs from Dunwich (as far as investigator cards) into the next expansion.
 
X

XShagrath

Member
antiquegamer said:
I don't know how Arkham Horror LCG will be in the future but one thing it has going for is that you can sort of keep each expansion as its own season. I don't even know if we suppose to mix the stuffs from Dunwich (as far as investigator cards) into the next expansion.
Click to expand...
All of the player cards are legal in any campaign. So you can take Dunwich investigators to Carcosa, or to the Core campaign, etc.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
Has anyone played Holmes and Watson, and if so what are your thoughts / how many players? I realize it may have zero replayability.
 
F

Fury451

Banned
antiquegamer said:
The problem with FFG LCG model is that while they start off very good, after awhile the games became ungainly due to all the expansions and very difficult for people to get in. If you want to be competitive then it become very expensive. It's kind of ironic since one of the selling point for LCG was that you can get whatever you want since there is no blind pack. They are trying to address this with rotation but I don't know if this will work.

I don't know how Arkham Horror LCG will be in the future but one thing it has going for is that you can sort of keep each expansion as its own season. I don't even know if we suppose to mix the stuffs from Dunwich (as far as investigator cards) into the next expansion.
Click to expand...

That's true- that seems to be an issue that afflicts their model as a whole, but at least with the non-competitive games you can keep everything in play and invest over time. Stuff like Android Netrunner(which I'm a big fan of), I don't really play for tournaments, so I don't have any concerns about cards becoming illegal to play, but if you invested up till now I'm not sure how you don't feel slightly burned. But I guess rotation is a way to keep everyone constantly on their toes and changing up decks as a whole. Generally though their deluxe box expansions are always legal, so it's really the cycle packs that get rotated out. Stuff like with Arkham wouldn't be affected at all, and I believe LOTR is the same.

Fallout would work better as a co-operative campaign LCG I think- that way people can invest over time at their own pace and not worry about things not being playable in the future. Plus some neat scenarios could be created.
 
R

RelentlessRolento

Member
Yes I know with at least the LotR LCG you can purchase out of order for player cards. It's the encounter cards (ie the story you play through) that have restrictions as they tie to story more than balance.


I'm not a huge Fallout fan, but I'd greatly enjoy it as a LCG. I love the Fallout world but none of the games clicked with me. I say this with having played a number of them and at least beaten Fallout 3.
 
E

emag

Member
joelseph said:
Have you tried Santorini?
Click to expand...

Target has a $20 version of Santorini in stock (or coming into stock, depending on location). Impressions on BGG are that the quality is on-par with the original (although the Golden Fleece rules are removed along with the cosmetic ocean tile). I ordered a copy for home delivery.
 
R

Ripenen

Member
Phthisis said:
Ehhhh....
For my money, the D&D adventure series is the best for this (go with the new ones, Temple of Elemental Evil or Drizzt). Not a fan of FFG's dungeon crawler co-ops. I don't like their dice system, or their constant enemy respawn mechanics.
Click to expand...

Are any of the D&D adventure games friendly for younger kids? I think my kids could handle something about the level of complexity of Dragon Strike.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Blizzard said:
Has anyone played Holmes and Watson, and if so what are your thoughts / how many players? I realize it may have zero replayability.
Click to expand...

Edit: This was all for "Watson & Holmes" which I assume is the game you meant, lol.

I demoed a full case at Origins with 6. It enjoyed it, but that might just be because I got to be the one that correctly solved the mystery? I could see it being super frustrating to be reading a few clues, then someone else just leaps ahead and solves the case correctly because they happened to, somewhat randomly visit the room that had the key piece of evidence.

It kind of plays like Clue, but the clues you pick up in each "room" are actual paragraphs of evidence that tell you stuff about the mystery and let you work through the questions you're aware that you have to answer. This was a neat mechanic, and it was fun to break stuff down when the game was over to figure out what everyone was thinking/found out from the clues you didn't see. This probably varies case by case, but it did at least seem like there were different combos of location you could visit to get to the same solution.

In general, if you want a mystery game I'd probably go the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective first, but if you want something like that that is competitive it could be a good choice?
 
E

emag

Member
BassForever said:
I was consulting detective wasn't so damn expensive and oop
Click to expand...

The reprint is due soon, right?

ThLunarian said:
Apparently this was accidentally uploaded to the Fantasy Flight Games website recently. It's since been taken down:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/148168926411489281/345556051447250966/1502430222089.png

(Can't paste directly into the thread right now, but it's a poster for Twilight Imperium 4th Edition)
Click to expand...

I hope there's at least an option for a more compressed (3 hr) playtime. Then I'd actually be able to get TI onto the table.
 
S

SillyEskimo

Member
Ripenen said:
Are any of the D&D adventure games friendly for younger kids? I think my kids could handle something about the level of complexity of Dragon Strike.
Click to expand...

They're all kid friendly. IMO, the only thing better is Mice & Mystics for a kids first dungeon crawler. Well, perhaps Dungeon!, but that is more like a board game.

My kids were 5&6 I think? They played all of those, with help, just fine. It's not like they could set any of those games up and play alone at that age, but as 3rd & 4th players everything went great.
 
R

Ripenen

Member
SillyEskimo said:
They're all kid friendly. IMO, the only thing better is Mice & Mystics for a kids first dungeon crawler. Well, perhaps Dungeon!, but that is more like a board game.

My kids were 5&6 I think? They played all of those, with help, just fine. It's not like they could set any of those games up and play alone at that age, but as 3rd & 4th players everything went great.
Click to expand...

Great thanks for the info. Does it matter which D&D version you start with? Looks like Drizzt has the best reviews but not by much.
 
E

emag

Member
Ripenen said:
Great thanks for the info. Does it matter which D&D version you start with? Looks like Drizzt has the best reviews but not by much.
Click to expand...

Not really. Just go with the one that has the most appealing theme (Ravenloft = undead/horror, Ashardalon = dragons/outdoors, Drizzt = drow/underdark, etc.).
 
S

SillyEskimo

Member
Ripenen said:
Great thanks for the info. Does it matter which D&D version you start with? Looks like Drizzt has the best reviews but not by much.
Click to expand...

I believe that one is the best reviewed overall, however, theme is everything with my kids so Ravenloft easily wins for them. Its an old castle with zombies, frankenstein, and a skeleton dragon amongst other creatures and critters.
 
F

fenners

Member
BassForever said:
Can't read though it all, does it include any of ti3's expansions or talk about streamlining the games length?
Click to expand...

It's got a bunch of features from the expansions, as well as a bunch of streamlining of mechanics/polishing off some edges. Definitely doesn't appear to streamline length.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
ultron87 said:
Edit: This was all for "Watson & Holmes" which I assume is the game you meant, lol.

I demoed a full case at Origins with 6. It enjoyed it, but that might just be because I got to be the one that correctly solved the mystery? I could see it being super frustrating to be reading a few clues, then someone else just leaps ahead and solves the case correctly because they happened to, somewhat randomly visit the room that had the key piece of evidence.

It kind of plays like Clue, but the clues you pick up in each "room" are actual paragraphs of evidence that tell you stuff about the mystery and let you work through the questions you're aware that you have to answer. This was a neat mechanic, and it was fun to break stuff down when the game was over to figure out what everyone was thinking/found out from the clues you didn't see. This probably varies case by case, but it did at least seem like there were different combos of location you could visit to get to the same solution.

In general, if you want a mystery game I'd probably go the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective first, but if you want something like that that is competitive it could be a good choice?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the detailed comments! Yes, Watson & Holmes was what I meant. I read some reviews and saw similar comments, that there is some randomness, and also that the game tends to be very quiet with people just sitting and making notes from the cards.

What I really want is a good cooperative Sherlock Holmes game, something that lets people discuss ideas with each other, and something that the casual players who have played Mysterium a million times could possibly also get into. So what I've actually always wanted is...
BassForever said:
I was consulting detective wasn't so damn expensive and oop
Click to expand...
This. This is the thing I've always wanted, but people only carry Jack the Ripper. It's just been so long that I'm not sure it'll ever be reprinted at this point, and...
ultron87 said:
It looks like Miniature Market has both the original game reprint and standalone expansion in stock right now for 40 each for those in the US.
Click to expand...
WHAT

Am I reading correctly that "The Thames Murders and Other Cases" is the same thing as the classic "Consulting Detective", but revised and translated and it's actually good? I'm going to order this so hard if so.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Blizzard said:
WHAT

Am I reading correctly that "The Thames Murders and Other Cases" is the same thing as the classic "Consulting Detective", but revised and translated and it's actually good? I'm going to order this so hard if so.
Click to expand...

Yep, this the new printing of the original Consulting Detective game: https://www.miniaturemarket.com/asmsheh03.html I will note I haven't played this version, so I can't comment on the translation/changes.

The "Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures" expansion is also completely standalone so that's an option also.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
ultron87 said:
Yep, this the new printing of the original Consulting Detective game: https://www.miniaturemarket.com/asmsheh03.html I will note I haven't played this version, so I can't comment on the translation/changes.

The "Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures" expansion is also completely standalone so that's an option also.
Click to expand...
MY SMALL TOWN LOCAL GAME STORE HAS 2 COPIES IN STOCK YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW EXCITED I AM. Thank you so much for the heads up or I would never have checked. ;_;
 
U

ultron87

Member
Blizzard said:
MY SMALL TOWN LOCAL GAME STORE HAS 2 COPIES IN STOCK YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW EXCITED I AM. Thank you so much for the heads up or I would never have checked. ;_;
Click to expand...

I'm glad to have helped! I hope you enjoy it! One of my fondest board game related memories is from the first time I played that game where I had an actual "Eureka!" moment of it all clicking together in my head. It felt so good!
 
U

ultron87

Member
I do think the changes they talk about in for TI4 seem good, but I just can't see myself ever buying another copy of that thing that I get to play once a year at most.

Personally I wouldn't have minded something to streamline the combat, either to have less dice chucking or at least to speed things up when super huge fleets fight. Because when you're in hour 8 of a TI game, two other players chucking dice at each other for ten minutes is kind of awful.
 
S

shawnoftheshred

Member
Just found this thread and am super thankful for it. I also wanted to shine a light on a great game. Full disclosure, my good friend made it, but biases aside, I think it's a fantastic game and well worth some more attention. It's called Allegiance: A Realm Divided and is primarily a great game for those familiar with, or interested in collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, but who are sick of the frustration that comes with mana screw or the financial burden that comes with constantly buying new sets. It's fully self-contained and has a mechanic by which you're constantly building up the equivalent of mana to play your cards/use your abilities. It also has some of the most consistently amazing artwork I've seen in a game in years.

Anywho, here's a link to the boardgamegeek entry: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147887/allegiance-realm-divided

And some images from the game:

HeroBoard_Necromancer.png

UDG1000a.jpg

Allegiance-Characters.jpg
Click to expand...
 
A

AbsolutBro

Member
ultron87 said:
I do think the changes they talk about in for TI4 seem good, but I just can't see myself ever buying another copy of that thing that I get to play once a year at most.

Personally I wouldn't have minded something to streamline the combat, either to have less dice chucking or at least to speed things up when super huge fleets fight. Because when you're in hour 8 of a TI game, two other players chucking dice at each other for ten minutes is kind of awful.
Click to expand...
Honestly I would kill for a video game vresin of that board game for exactly these reasons. I haven't actually played in AGES, but it's still the game I most try to get to the table. A video version that can streamline some of the longer aspects would be great, especially with AI opponent options.

That said, I'm still in for this even if I only get to play it once a year at MOST.
 
B

BassForever

Member
AbsolutBro said:
Honestly I would kill for a video game vresin of that board game for exactly these reasons. I haven't actually played in AGES, but it's still the game I most try to get to the table. A video version that can streamline some of the longer aspects would be great, especially with AI opponent options.

That said, I'm still in for this even if I only get to play it once a year at MOST.
Click to expand...

In general I wish more board games would get video game versions. Yeah mobile/tablet versions are nice but I'd kill for a game like ti3/4 or descent to get a console or handheld version.
 
S

SillyEskimo

Member
Video game versions are a great way to figure out rule conflicts. As easy as Talisman is to play, things can get complicated when there are so many expansions, cards, effects, and characters in play. The ios version has cleared up a ton of these issues for me for when we play the actual board game.
 
J

JSR_Cube

Member
TI4 has me interested in a new version but at $150, I'll probably wait for reviews.

FYI, you get a hardcover rulebook if you preorder.
 
A

AbsolutBro

Member
JSR_Cube said:
FYI, you get a hardcover rulebook if you preorder.
Click to expand...
I out off preordering, because I'm not sure you do:
If you pre-order Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition, you’ll have the opportunity to receive the Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition rulebooks bound together in a single volume hardback book.
Click to expand...

Like, does that mean it's a lottery like the pictures they mention? Is it at added cost?
 
EYEL1NER

EYEL1NER

Member
AbsolutBro said:
I out off preordering, because I'm not sure you do:


Like, does that mean it's a lottery like the pictures they mention? Is it at added cost?
Click to expand...
I thought it was weird wording at first, but then I decided it must mean that it is while supplies last. The way they worded something later in the text about getting your pre-orders locked in soon made me think that.
 
P

piratepwnsninja

Member
shawnoftheshred said:
Just found this thread and am super thankful for it. I also wanted to shine a light on a great game. Full disclosure, my good friend made it, but biases aside, I think it's a fantastic game and well worth some more attention. It's called Allegiance: A Realm Divided and is primarily a great game for those familiar with, or interested in collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, but who are sick of the frustration that comes with mana screw or the financial burden that comes with constantly buying new sets. It's fully self-contained and has a mechanic by which you're constantly building up the equivalent of mana to play your cards/use your abilities. It also has some of the most consistently amazing artwork I've seen in a game in years.

Anywho, here's a link to the boardgamegeek entry: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147887/allegiance-realm-divided

And some images from the game:
Click to expand...

Just ordered this from Amazon as it is something right up my alley. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
 
K

KJ869

Member
Cthulhu Wars Onslaught 3 Pricing is just horrible. I can get cheaper core+expansion shipped now from gamestore in UK than do that kickstarter with its expensive shipping. That accolyte price is such a ripoff compared to the other tiers
 
B

BassForever

Member
Finally got to try Forbidden Island with my bro, we loved it not as much as Pandemic but it's still excellent. We had kind of a weird first run though the treasure deck since we got all 3 water rises card in the first 3 turns including 2 in 1 turn so for awhile there was no threat of anything submerging. Once the decks reset hoo boy the island really does feel like it's sinking and the theme came out really strong in the final turns.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
Blizzard said:
MY SMALL TOWN LOCAL GAME STORE HAS 2 COPIES IN STOCK YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW EXCITED I AM. Thank you so much for the heads up or I would never have checked. ;_;
Click to expand...
I tried the first mystery today with my fiance. We haven't finished yet, but I'm really happy with the purchase. Everything about the presentation is super classy, and the writing feels like good old fashioned Sherlock Holmes.

I love the London directory you have to consult to look everything up, and the newspaper is a neat touch. The only downside to it all is that it's hard to focus only on the lead you're looking up, and not notice that a different number on the other page has tons of text that indicate an important clue. :p
 
C

cirrhosis

Member
TumblingHippo said:
Can't wait to hear impressions. I couldn't back it at the time but it definitely was one I wanted to pick up when it came out.
Click to expand...

So this hit the table last night. Unpacked it and organized the cards. I also kickstarted the three expansions but didn't open those. Wow. There's a lot of game here in just the base set.

We set it up for two players. The rulebook recommends that a certain card is added for first time players so we added that.

Impressions from first play through: the art is beautiful. Time flew by. We only intended ti play for an hour but the next time we looked at the clock, five had melted away. We lost, which we expected about halfway through. Mostly due to exploring every tile early on, which ate up a fair portion of the action deck. Items weren't crafted until after the halfway point (which could have cut down on actin deck usage). Action deck is used as collective lifeblood of all players. Each of the different characters have their own special abilities, and those combined with intelligent use of other skill cards and items can mitigate action card usage and loss.

There are loads of hidden terrain cards that you can find through careful observation. The game includes a handy magnifying plastic thing to get a better look at the card. Exploration of tiles can lead to good stuff or bad stuff, and when it's bad, it's real bad lol. Players can split up to explore the continent on their own, but splitting up may cause higher usage of the action deck. Conversely, if players work and explore together they can better utilize resources.

There are four to five curses in the base game. With two players, one is recommended. This number increases with more players, up to four. Each curse has what looks like a map on it showing its passage to the goal. But it's up to the players to make sense of what's on the tile. Details are vague and not well defined. Are those shapes trees, wells or islands? Is that a cliff or a river? And so forth. Each tile can have three to five options on it. You could split them all, but again, doing so will impact your action deck loss.

There is a lot of stuff we haven't even looked at.

I'm already thinking of what to do differently on the next try and really looking forward to it. I don't expect to bring this out during my Gloomhaven group sessions but it will be good for other game nights.

I recall reading on BGG that Serious Poulp (publisher) will be doing another Kickstarter for a second printing - date undecided AFAIK.
 
W

witchedwiz

Member
witchedwiz said:
sooo peeps..

next games for august//september, advice me!
1) gloomhaven (i played it, and loved it, but i didn't get in the ks) ?
2) lords of waterdeep + xpac ?
3) scythe ?
4) cry havoc ?
5) ???
6) lotr lcg (though i think i'd first buy the stuff for android netrunner before embarking on lotr lcg.. especially because i will buy 5 rings lcg in september)
7) dead of winter crossroad or the long night
8) pandemic legacy season1 (i played it quite a bit, but i don't own it)
9) time

the only one that i will get for sure regardless are path to carcosa xpac for arkham horror and five rings lcg core set. rest, i cannot decide on what to buy..
i favour game that can be played both as solo and as a group.. mandatory solo, potentially as group.. but if the game is really good even a group only game is fine :)
choices, choices :|
Click to expand...
bought all the deluxe expac for netrunner....
i can buy 2 more games in august :p starting lotr lcg? dead of winter?
 
O

Olorin

Member
witchedwiz said:
bought all the deluxe expac for netrunner....
i can buy 2 more games in august :p starting lotr lcg? dead of winter?
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of Dead of Winter. It does a lot of things right, but having a 1 in 12 chance of instantly dying whenever you move or fight feels really dumb.

Pandemic Legacy and Scythe are both amazing games. I'd recommend getting those 2, unless you've already come close to finishing Pandemic Legacy before.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Project Mugen officially titled Ananta, new trailer to premiere on December 4
News Trailer
9
1K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Free-to-play multiplayer social deduction game Illang announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android
News Trailer
0
907
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Netflix Testing Cloud Game Streaming to TVs and Web
News
18
2K
Meicyn replied
Have Digital Libraries guaranteed PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam’s future dominance?
Business Sales-Age Platform 2
89
3K
RetroGamingUK replied
Infinity Nikki Closed Beta Announced | Gamescom 2024
News Trailer
14
1K
begotten replied
Top Bottom