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[Artadius]

Just received and plan to bust out at next week's Boardgame night:

• Space Alert + New Frontier Expansion
• The Resistance
• Thunderstone
• Ascension + Expansion (Friend's actually)

Should be a fun night

I'm especially looking forward to Space Alert. Damn I had alot of fun with that game getting introduced to it a few weeks ago. Probably won't be able to do it this first week, but I'm looking forward to doing the XP / Achievement system for the group.

 

[Doublethink]

I'm especially looking forward to Space Alert. Damn I had alot of fun with that game getting introduced to it a few weeks ago. Probably won't be able to do it this first week, but I'm looking forward to doing the XP / Achievement system for the group.

Wait, the expansion adds an XP system? What does the system keep track of? Space Alert was a big hit with my friends so this sounds really interesting to me.

*Begins planning next big CSI order*

 

[StoOgE]

Wait, the expansion adds an XP system? What does the system keep track of? Space Alert was a big hit with my friends so this sounds really interesting to me.

*Begins planning next big CSI order*

I looked into it before, it lets you track XP across multiple missions. So the longer your dude stays alive, the stronger he becomes. Rouge-like esque.

 

[AstroLad]

cross posting from the ios thread but fantasy flight is going after viking lords:

The owner of the war strategy and adventure board game BattleLore on Friday launched a suit in Minnesota accusing Puffin Software of copyright infringement and unfair competition for selling a computerized version of a nearly identical game through Apple Inc.’s App Store.

Roseville, Minn.-based Fantasy Flight Publishing Inc. brought its complaint against Puffin and the European company’s operator, Johannes Edvard Paivinen, claiming their "Viking Lords" game was simply an iPad version of BattleLore under a different name, and was likely to lead to confusion in the...

http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/258462

i haven't played VL but i'm interested to know the basis for the copyright claim in light of http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

 

[RyanDG]

cross posting from the ios thread but fantasy flight is going after viking lords:

http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/258462

i haven't played VL but i'm interested to know the basis for the copyright claim in light of http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

I'm kind of curious of this myself, because even a quick search of the Copyright office doesn't even have a filing for the game (as it should be)... They have a trademark on BattleLore that covers computer games as well, but VL's game doesn't violate or infringe on that trademark...

I wonder if they are trying to pull a GW on the VL developers.

 

[StoOgE]

cross posting from the ios thread but fantasy flight is going after viking lords:

http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/258462

i haven't played VL but i'm interested to know the basis for the copyright claim in light of http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

AFAIK the rules for games are just like recipes for food and drinks...

no such thing as a copyright.

Don't you think MB would be suing the fuck out of all of the -opoly games if they could?

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

There you go. Unless they stole wording directly from the instruction manual or artwork, pretty sure FFG is going to lose this one.

 

[TwiztidElf]

The vast majority of my board gaming is with my two sons (8 and 10).
I just asked them what their favorites are and got these responses:

8 year old:
Settlers of Catan
Citadels
Zombie Dice
Dominion
Wrath of Ashardalan

10 year old:
Wrath of Ashardalan
Puerto Rico
Ticket to Ride
Battle Line

I would absolutely recommend Ticket to Ride as the first purchase always. Dice are generally disliked at our house with maybe the exception of Alien Frontiers. Zombie Dice is just a fun filler Dice Roller. Even though my 8yo enjoys Catan, the subtleties of the strategy are beyond him.

Played some games of Thunderstone last night. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, but the game itself feels clumsy and it's not something I'd consider buying.
Really looking forwards to Quarriors.

 

[BomberMouse]

AFAIK the rules for games are just like recipes for food and drinks...

no such thing as a copyright.

Don't you think MB would be suing the fuck out of all of the -opoly games if they could?

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

There you go. Unless they stole wording directly from the instruction manual or artwork, pretty sure FFG is going to lose this one.

Well, Sega once sued Fox for the game The Simpson: Road Rage for copyright infringement but I can't remember how that one ended.

 

[fenners]

Well, Sega once sued Fox for the game The Simpson: Road Rage for copyright infringement but I can't remember how that one ended.

Sega had gotten a patent on the arrow system used in Crazy Taxi, which is what they sued over - the closeness to Crazy Taxi.

 

[Cathcart]

Man, iOS apps are great marketing tools. I picked up the Ascension app yesterday and I already want to buy the cards. The app is super slick. Stuff is a little small at first on the phone but I bet it looks great on the iPad. And the multiplayer is perfect. It will do the usual turn based notification thing but if the other person happens to be online when you are taking your turn the game seamlessly switches to live mode and you can come or go as you please. Really, really nice.

The game itself is pretty solid. A lot of people seem to be complaining about the card art but I kind of like it. At least, I don't like it any less than Dominion's art. I'm still clueless about strategy, I pretty much just buy/kill whatever I can afford that sounds cool to see what it does. I also like how much the score can swing at the end once cards values are totaled up. Keeps it suspenseful in any game that's reasonably close.

On the one hand I really want to buy the cards. On the other hand I just got a bunch of people into Dominion. Blerg.

Oh yeah, we played the 2 player version of 7 Wonders last night to kill some time. Super lame. You end up having to take turns playing for the dummy 3rd player. It was kind of funny that my friend almost lost to the dummy, though. If only we had had a copy of Ascension around...

 

[AstroLad]

Man, iOS apps are great marketing tools. I picked up the Ascension app yesterday and I already want to buy the cards. The app is super slick. Stuff is a little small at first on the phone but I bet it looks great on the iPad. And the multiplayer is perfect. It will do the usual turn based notification thing but if the other person happens to be online when you are taking your turn the game seamlessly switches to live mode and you can come or go as you please. Really, really nice.

also yucata. it really makes me wonder wth rio grande is thinking not getting dominion out on mobile and web more broadly. sometimes being protective of the cash cow leads people to really ignore opportunities. oh well good for the ascension devs they did a nice job

 

[AstroLad]

castorkrieg if you are still up in here i sent you a handful of yucata invites a while back

 

[BattleMonkey]

Played Merchant & Marauders this weekend. Very cool game, though the group didn't see exactly the benefit of playing as a pirate, it seems easier to be a good person and try to avoid trouble when it comes to money making vs. risk of the game.

 

[Chorazin]

Munchkin should be avoided at pretty much all costs. Munchkin is a fun game the first two or three times you play it because it's kind of funny. The problem is, there isn't really much of a game there, and the funny cards stop being funny the 3rd or 4th time you've seen them. So you are forced to keep buying more and more cards to keep it slightly entertaining at all.

Hardcore types will hate on Munchkin, but it's a great game to just sit around with friends, bullshit, drink a little, and screw each other over.

 

[UpperCaseN]

Anyone play Formula D here? I just saw it reviewed on the TotallyRadShow and am interested now, all 3 of them liked it. DiceTower video review gave it a big thumbs up too.

 

[Cathcart]

Hardcore types will hate on Munchkin, but it's a great game to just sit around with friends, bullshit, drink a little, and screw each other over.

There are a thousand games that can be said about that are far better than Munchkin.

 

[AstroLad]

Anyone play Formula D here? I just saw it reviewed on the TotallyRadShow and am interested now, all 3 of them liked it. DiceTower video review gave it a big thumbs up too.

I used to but I sold it. imo it requires 5+ to be fun, and it's not exactly a gateway game (so takes a little while to teach and for people to get the hang of, lots of corner cases in the rules) but it's not really complex either. I prefer Snow Tails which is very similar but simpler and plays better with fewer. That said if you have a big group of geeky bg types and are into auto racing at all it's a pretty solid choice.

I am digging Ascension after being introduced to it through iOS. By far the breeziest deckbuilder out there, plays well with two, pretty random and plays better with two than Dominion does imo. Glad I gave the app a try because I know it's a pretty divisive game but I'm definitely on the like side.

 

[AstroLad]

oooh i'm at like $70 on a csi order but can't really add anything else in good conscience. looks like i'll have to wait another month or two for a couple more games to come it. that quarriors "dicebuilding" one looks interesting.

Innovation: Echoes of the Past Expansion
Ascension: Return of the Fallen
Dominion: Cornucopia Expansion
....

 

[Doublethink]

I finally got to bust out Galaxy Trucker last night. I thought the ship building part was really fun but the second part was kind of a letdown. Maybe the adventure cards that we encountered weren't that great but it didn't seem like the decisions you had to make where that important. I still liked the game but I think this is a game you only take out every once in a while to keep it fresh. Does anyone have the expansion? How much does it add to the game?

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Played Merchant & Marauders this weekend. Very cool game, though the group didn't see exactly the benefit of playing as a pirate, it seems easier to be a good person and try to avoid trouble when it comes to money making vs. risk of the game.

I got it to the table on this weekend as well and we all really liked it. The main problem we had was the down time between turns can be long. Any AP prone players will kill this game so know your audience before breaking it out. As far as being a merchant or a pirate, it's definitely easier to be a merchant (I ended up winning as a merchant) but it seemed like a lot more fun to be a pirate. What's funny is I was fully ready to go full blown pirate before we started the game. I was playing a merchant just to get enough money for a Frigate. By the time I got one I was already half way on the GP track and I had enough money in my cargo hold to stash to put me to ten points.

 

[superrobot]

Sorry about the delay on yucata.
Stuck on a bug in one game and waiting for someone to either delete it (yes please) or fix it.

 

[Fletcher]

does anyone have any recommendations on small ultra portable games. I'm going to be at comic con and will be sitting in line for hours at times. A line that has the potential to shift at any time.

 

[Neverfade]

does anyone have any recommendations on small ultra portable games. I'm going to be at comic con and will be sitting in line for hours at times. A line that has the potential to shift at any time.

Hive.

 

[AstroLad]

does anyone have any recommendations on small ultra portable games. I'm going to be at comic con and will be sitting in line for hours at times. A line that has the potential to shift at any time.

never done diy myself but this geeklist may be helpful: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/52239/ultra-portable-print-and-play-games-that-are-easy

 

[AstroLad]

hey if anyone is still playing or wants to play 7 wonders online i just read the rules finally. i created a 4p game here. pw is neogaf

http://www.jeuxsurunplateau.com/fr/jeux-en-ligne/jeux-en-ligne~34~playing~m7.html

 

[BattleMonkey]

I got it to the table on this weekend as well and we all really liked it. The main problem we had was the down time between turns can be long. Any AP prone players will kill this game so know your audience before breaking it out. As far as being a merchant or a pirate, it's definitely easier to be a merchant (I ended up winning as a merchant) but it seemed like a lot more fun to be a pirate. What's funny is I was fully ready to go full blown pirate before we started the game. I was playing a merchant just to get enough money for a Frigate. By the time I got one I was already half way on the GP track and I had enough money in my cargo hold to stash to put me to ten points.

Most of us are miniature and wargamers, so we are used to downtime in games.

It's generally safer it seems to be a merchant, but to turn pirate late in the game to go for some easy glory points once you are upgraded or can laugh at any naval power who might come after you. The biggest problem with pirating is being barred from entering ports which just kills your flexibility.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

hey if anyone is still playing or wants to play 7 wonders online i just read the rules finally. i created a 4p game here. pw is neogaf

http://www.jeuxsurunplateau.com/fr/jeux-en-ligne/jeux-en-ligne~34~playing~m7.html

I joined.

 

[StoOgE]

Hardcore types will hate on Munchkin, but it's a great game to just sit around with friends, bullshit, drink a little, and screw each other over.

I think there are about 20 games I can name off the top of my head that are light fun beer and pretzels games where you can screw over your friend that is a better game than Munchkin.

I'm the guy on here who plays Bang! more than any other game I own, which is a game that is hated on by the "hardcore" as well. I just went nuts buying Cosmic Encoutner which is another game that I think fits that category as well.

I agree, Munchkin can be fun with friends. But really, anything can be fun with friends if you just want to spend time hanging out. That doesn't mean Munchkin is really a good or even fun game though. I certainly agree that not every game needs to be Agricola or even Ticket to Ride. Sometimes you want to play a game that has extremely limited strategy or decision making with really high interaction. I just think Munchkin is a really forgettable boring game after the 3rd play. I owned Munchkin and the first two expansions for about 3 months. Played it about 5 times.. the first night we played it we played it 3 times and thought it was just an amazingly fun game. The next two times we stopped playing it halfway through as we realized the game itself wasn't that much fun after you got past how funny it was.

FWIW, I found the exact same problem with "Gloom" and "Killer Bunnies"... funny/fun game once and then it just loses any fun factor because there is very little actual game there. Fluxx I have found to be more enjoyable as there is some semblance of a game there, but again.. I would rather grab Roborally, Cosmic Encounter, Incan Gold, For Sale, Bang, Reistance, Citadels or any number of other super light games that work well in a social setting for my light board gaming.

 

[StoOgE]

I got it to the table on this weekend as well and we all really liked it. The main problem we had was the down time between turns can be long. Any AP prone players will kill this game so know your audience before breaking it out. As far as being a merchant or a pirate, it's definitely easier to be a merchant (I ended up winning as a merchant) but it seemed like a lot more fun to be a pirate. What's funny is I was fully ready to go full blown pirate before we started the game. I was playing a merchant just to get enough money for a Frigate. By the time I got one I was already half way on the GP track and I had enough money in my cargo hold to stash to put me to ten points.

M&M is a great game. It manages to really mix thematic and euro gaming really well.

Luckily a lot of my group likes (and owns) the game, because that sucker is really fiddly rules heavy so I couldn't imagine ever trying to teach the game. I also tend to think it runs long, but I like it.

 

[UpperCaseN]

thanks Astro for the Formula D feedback. I'm pretty sold on it already so I'll pick it up regardless, seems like a good 1st or 2nd game of the night before pulling out the big guns

As for the Munchkin debate, +1 to the haters club. Goddamn I hate that game, sucks cuz I have the base +2 expansions. It starts off super fun and backstabby, but when it comes time to win the game, IT GOES ON FOREVER. Everybody saves up their ammo for the endgame and I swear, I've had games where the final level (reach lv 10 to win the game) takes just as long AND OFTEN LONGER than going from 1-9. I am not trying to play a 5 player game of Munchkin for 3 hours, Holy shit I've got waaaay better games to play in that amount of time.

\rant

Lastly, what kind of vendor prices should I expect at Gencon Indy this year? 1st time going, at PAX East it was a game of "check your iphone for amazon prices" that usually deterred most purchases, but there were a few we bought onsite anyway. I was about to place an order at CSI last night but then I thought wait, they might be there, maybe I should hold off.

 

[StoOgE]

Anyone play Formula D here? I just saw it reviewed on the TotallyRadShow and am interested now, all 3 of them liked it. DiceTower video review gave it a big thumbs up too.

I owned (and sold) Formula De. I liked the system, but I'm a giant F1 geek. I thought it would make for a fun party game, but I've found the downtime can be pretty long on it and a lot of people just don't get the rules for the cornering and wrecks. Several times people would get mad because they would screw up the rule and blow their engine and I would have to be rules nazi and/or let them redo the corner to not make them super mad.

If you get the game, I have two giant suggestions:

1) Buy extra dice
2) For real. . buy extra dice.

If you have 10 people around the table you *will* want more than one set of dice. It becomes extremely annoying looking for the 5th geat dice that someone sat on a counter somewhere. Get a couple extra sets.

3) Also, let everyone race two cars. Keeps the downtime better and lets people have a chance to have one car up in front.

When you come to wanting to buy extra tracks I would avoid the "fantasy" tracks. I think they are a bit much personally. I like the actual F1 tracks they make much better.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

M&M is a great game. It manages to really mix thematic and euro gaming really well.

Luckily a lot of my group likes (and owns) the game, because that sucker is really fiddly rules heavy so I couldn't imagine ever trying to teach the game. I also tend to think it runs long, but I like it.

Teaching it wasn't too bad, actually. I was able to get through rules explanation in around 30 minutes. We also played the first very slowly and pretty much open so that way we all got to see how things would move. Combat rules were briefly described in the beginning and I explained it more in detail when combat actually started.

 

[iapetus]

I think there are about 20 games I can name off the top of my head that are light fun beer and pretzels games where you can screw over your friend that is a better game than Munchkin.

I'll bite. Name them.

Spoiler

And if Family Business isn't top of the list, you lose!

 

[StoOgE]

I'll bite. Name them.

Spoiler

And if Family Business isn't top of the list, you lose!

Bang!
Cosmic Encounter
For Sale
Resistance
Bohnanza
Formula D
Diamant/Incan Gold
Roll Through the Ages
Werewolf
Coloretto
No Thanks
Perudo/Liar's Dice
Shadow Hunters
RoboRally
Fairy Tale
High Society
Cash N Guns
Saboteur
Mall of Horror
Survive!

Just off the top of my head. I'm sure I could name a ton more.

Spoiler

Never played Family Business

 

[Cathcart]

Just in case anyone is interested, here's my arts and crafts project from last week: fitting all of Arkham plus all 8 expansions (including the two new ones) into two Arkham big boxes. Although I do kind of cheat and keep the monster bag separate so my monster and investigator tokens are actually in that bag between the two box tops. I usually just put it on top of the two boxes so it's pretty easy to carry around Arkham Complete (so far).

Still, everything else fits including all of the boards and instruction manuals. I've got the tokens in a few trays that can be taken from the box and placed right on the table to cut down on setup time. I've also got a few of those awesome little mini-tupperware looking boxes on the left (go mom, she found them 10 for a dollar at the dollar store, I have a whole box of them in the basement and use them for a ton of stuff) to hold some of the less frequently used pieces. One of them has the extra bits for Kingsport, one has the bits for Innsmouth, one has the brood tokens for Eihort, etc. Oh and one of them has the character stands and the stat ovals.

I cut up a piece of balsa wood and Elmer'd it into the Miskatonic box to make the card dividers. I was thinking about putting in some mini dividers with labels between each type of card, might do that next week. You can see that I haven't even played a couple of the small expansions yet because the cards are still in shrink, but everything is in there. I wish I had a scale so I could weigh the things, they are pretty damn heavy.

Be warned, kids. The true horror begins when you try to get clever about storing your games. Next thing you know you're building stuff. Turns out board gaming was invented by the carpenter's union. That's how they get you.

 

[StoOgE]

Yeah, I have all of my games in 1 box except for Power Grid. There is no way to get all of the expansion maps stored without using the "collectors" box that came with one of the expansions.

Some of them were easy to do. Some of them took some work (Pandemic + On the Brink) one of them cost 35 dollars (Dominion)

 

[AstroLad]

When we moved I finally just decided to chuck empty expansion boxes altogether. <3 saving space when you have >150 games already.

 

[StoOgE]

When we moved I finally just decided to chuck empty expansion boxes altogether. <3 saving space when you have >150 games already.

I only own about 40 games (around 80 when you throw in expansions). The girlfriend is already pretty dubious of my collection. Keeping it as physically unimposing as possible is critical.

Part of my strategy is putting about 8-10 of my favorite games on my living room shelf, and putting the rest in the closet. Keeps her from seeing the whole collection at once.

 

[Cathcart]

When we moved I finally just decided to chuck empty expansion boxes altogether. <3 saving space when you have >150 games already.

Man I know that's the next step but I'm having a hard time getting there. I do need to clean out a lot of space in my garage, though. Maybe I'll use that as my excuse to dump all of those nice new pretty board game boxes I'm not using anymore.

 

[Stairs]

I peppered in a few games of Bang! This weekend on Stooge's reccomendation. It was a pretty big hit, too. It works great as either a primer to something more substantial or a way to unwind after a more brain burn-y type game. Short, suspenseful and sweet, also Bang! is a fun verb.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I think that is what you call a metric fuckton of cards. Holy shit.

 

[Yaboosh]

All my games fit into a single box. I have somehow kept it under control.

I just moved to the east Bay Area, what are the good game shops around here in Northern California?

 

[StoOgE]

I peppered in a few games of Bang! This weekend on Stooge's reccomendation. It was a pretty big hit, too. It works great as either a primer to something more substantial or a way to unwind after a more brain burn-y type game. Short, suspenseful and sweet, also Bang! is a fun verb.

Don't forget, yelling Bang! and Mancato! is like half the fun of the game.

I usually break this out to end the evening or with non-boardgame friends. Glad to hear it worked for you. I tend not to break it out with people prone to AP as I've seen games of Bang! take 2 hours at someone elses house. Sheesh.

 

[Cathcart]

I think that is what you call a metric fuckton of cards. Holy shit.

Yeah, I believe that is the standard unit of measure for Arkham Horror card boxes.

 

[MichaelBD]

does anyone have any recommendations on small ultra portable games. I'm going to be at comic con and will be sitting in line for hours at times. A line that has the potential to shift at any time.

Mr. Jack Pocket.

And I second Hive as well.

 

[platypotamus]

oooh i'm at like $70 on a csi order but can't really add anything else in good conscience. looks like i'll have to wait another month or two for a couple more games to come it. that quarriors "dicebuilding" one looks interesting.

Innovation: Echoes of the Past Expansion
Ascension: Return of the Fallen
Dominion: Cornucopia Expansion
....

7 Wonders: Leaders?


EDIT: That's actually the only wife-sanctioned purchase for me at the moment, but I might have to try and sneak Echoes of the Past in there too, using the "if you had known it was out, you would have let me buy it too" argument.

 

[BigAT]

I think I finally understand Stone Age.

 

[Loam]

What would you guys recommend as a good dungeon crawl game for a group of 3-5 players who have experience with games like Twilight Imperium and Arkham Horror? I've heard a lot of good things about descent but I was wondering if there was anything else like it out there?

 

[AstroLad]

I think I finally understand Stone Age.

woohoo! a whole new world of great worker-placement games is now open to you

 

[AstroLad]

We need two more for our GAF 7 Wonders game!

http://www.jeuxsurunplateau.com/fr/jeux-en-ligne/jeux-en-ligne~34~playing~m7.html