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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
- Thread starter AstroLad
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joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
My first game of Dominant Species took about three hours with rules explanation. It's a relatively complex game but not impossible to play or teach. I would take the first few rounds slow reexplaining what each space on the board does. Maybe openly discuss player's thought process during those first couple rounds will help as well. Good luck and enjoy, Dominant Species is a great game.Stairs said:
Wren said:
Some of my game group is really into Descent. One of the expansions allows you to create persistent characters/quests that you can continue to use D&D style. I've always really wanted to get into the game. It does require a DM though.
The D&D games are supposed to be good, don't know about persistency of characters and the game runs itself so no DM required.
UpperCaseN
Member
Wren said:
I'm a fan of the D&D co-op board games. There's 2 out now, Castle Ravenloft (vampires) and Wrath of Ashardalon (dragons). I've only played Ashardalon like twice but I've played Ravenloft probably 6 times. They share the same rules and mechanics, and can even be combined. Basically you and your group of heroes (up to 5) go into a dungeon, fight monsters, uncover sections of the map as you move, and complete the scenario you chose (usually defeat whatever enemy). The difficulty is high, borderline brutal/crushing. It really forces you to work together and helps emulate the feeling of fighting for your life.
There's also a new one coming out in Oct, Legend of Drizzt.
Played Battle Line with a friend recently. Really enjoying the game, the rules are so simple but the strategy has a lot of meat to it. However, so far we usually just play with the troop cards. I find the tactics cards remove a lot of the strategic beauty of the game and unnecessarily complicate matters.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Yes.Neverfade said:
Aww man I was thinking of getting Quarriors too but ran into the same thing. Is it gonna be super-good?
Played 7 Wonders for the first time last night -- really awesome game. One of those have-to-play-it-to-believe-it games in the sense of it actually plays well and quickly with seven. The neighbor thing is really brilliant and something lacking from games like RFTG where even when you get five it becomes a time-consuming chore to follow everyone. Really can't wait to play again.
Played 7 Wonders for the first time last night -- really awesome game. One of those have-to-play-it-to-believe-it games in the sense of it actually plays well and quickly with seven. The neighbor thing is really brilliant and something lacking from games like RFTG where even when you get five it becomes a time-consuming chore to follow everyone. Really can't wait to play again.
Yeah it's a really fun game -- one of my favorite light 2P games.Pepboy said:
A friend of mine is a huge board game hobbyist, so most of my exposure was through his collection.
Catan is definitely a great gateway game into Euro boards. Players are rarely left out of the action, even when out of their turns, because they can be earning resources or getting involved in trades. That constant activity with its simple rules makes it pretty casual friendly. Our games have some rather ridiculous financial engineering; we've traded call options, demanded ransoms for determining robber placement, sold road-building rights, paid people to hold extra resources (if over 7), and probably more. 1:1 trades are almost unheard of.
Dominion is the most popular game right now within the group, and having the extra expansions help. Some of the suggested spreads are kind of hit or miss, but it's fast paced. There are some aggro cards, but they're optional in the game, so that will depend on the group.
Agricola is my friend's currently favorite board. There's a limited level of randomness so that not every game is exactly the same, but for the most part it is also mostly a non-random and diceless game. It stresses diversity in scoring, so throughout the game you are trying to get everything done, at least a little. Good if you like Euro boards.
Power Grid is pretty popular and gets played every now and then. You're basically a power company that has to buy power stations and power (burning fuel, though some green stations need no fuel) at least 15 homes (VPs) to win. It's a game that tries to achieve balance by giving players who are behind advantages so that it's constantly competitive. Players in the lead will pay more for resources and get lower-priority access to locations, and players who are behind pay less for resources and get better options on the board. There's some amount of randomness in that the order of power plants up for auction are randomized, but outside of that it's also a largely luckless (and diceless) game.
Carcassone isn't played too much anymore. It's usually broken out when there are fewer than 4-5 players available. Fairly easy-going tile-laying game. Scoring is generally easy to follow as the game is still unfolding, though some of the more casual members still have trouble remember to score Fields. I like its iteration on iPad.
Caylus is one that we played a little bit, but the group got put off for various reasons. The more casual side was put off by its abstractness, and, being diceless/luckless, always felt overwhelmed by the possibility they were making the wrong choice. The more hardcore side was put off after playing on BSW and learning optimal play that more pro players could determine who would win or lose by turn 2. It's pretty much never seen again.
Ticket to Ride has been kicked out of the rotation because it has been broken. There are no rules to players stockpiling cards until there's nothing left in the deck, and especially not when two players do it. We could have house-ruled it, but the net effect would have been the same in that the game was just not terribly suitable for the group as a whole. Every girl that's played it has liked it, probably due to its simple rules and casual nature.
As for non-Euro:
Risk 2210 used to be a huge staple, and we used to play it once or twice a month, but now most would rather play more different games in the same amount of time as one game of Risk 2210, so that's a shame. It adds a lot to the simplistic nature of Risk by adding a new resource, cards that activate special abilities or actions, and commanders that increase the value of the dice. The map also has been improved to have more entry points to each continent, balanced by the value of that continent. A fairly lengthy game.
More theme-based less-abstract games:
Pandemic: A zombie outbreak game where each player takes on a specialized role. Died from rotation mostly because the more hardcore players would basically tell the casual players what to do and play the game for them. It's a cooperative game where the players play together vs the board.
Catan is definitely a great gateway game into Euro boards. Players are rarely left out of the action, even when out of their turns, because they can be earning resources or getting involved in trades. That constant activity with its simple rules makes it pretty casual friendly. Our games have some rather ridiculous financial engineering; we've traded call options, demanded ransoms for determining robber placement, sold road-building rights, paid people to hold extra resources (if over 7), and probably more. 1:1 trades are almost unheard of.
Dominion is the most popular game right now within the group, and having the extra expansions help. Some of the suggested spreads are kind of hit or miss, but it's fast paced. There are some aggro cards, but they're optional in the game, so that will depend on the group.
Agricola is my friend's currently favorite board. There's a limited level of randomness so that not every game is exactly the same, but for the most part it is also mostly a non-random and diceless game. It stresses diversity in scoring, so throughout the game you are trying to get everything done, at least a little. Good if you like Euro boards.
Power Grid is pretty popular and gets played every now and then. You're basically a power company that has to buy power stations and power (burning fuel, though some green stations need no fuel) at least 15 homes (VPs) to win. It's a game that tries to achieve balance by giving players who are behind advantages so that it's constantly competitive. Players in the lead will pay more for resources and get lower-priority access to locations, and players who are behind pay less for resources and get better options on the board. There's some amount of randomness in that the order of power plants up for auction are randomized, but outside of that it's also a largely luckless (and diceless) game.
Carcassone isn't played too much anymore. It's usually broken out when there are fewer than 4-5 players available. Fairly easy-going tile-laying game. Scoring is generally easy to follow as the game is still unfolding, though some of the more casual members still have trouble remember to score Fields. I like its iteration on iPad.
Caylus is one that we played a little bit, but the group got put off for various reasons. The more casual side was put off by its abstractness, and, being diceless/luckless, always felt overwhelmed by the possibility they were making the wrong choice. The more hardcore side was put off after playing on BSW and learning optimal play that more pro players could determine who would win or lose by turn 2. It's pretty much never seen again.
Ticket to Ride has been kicked out of the rotation because it has been broken. There are no rules to players stockpiling cards until there's nothing left in the deck, and especially not when two players do it. We could have house-ruled it, but the net effect would have been the same in that the game was just not terribly suitable for the group as a whole. Every girl that's played it has liked it, probably due to its simple rules and casual nature.
As for non-Euro:
Risk 2210 used to be a huge staple, and we used to play it once or twice a month, but now most would rather play more different games in the same amount of time as one game of Risk 2210, so that's a shame. It adds a lot to the simplistic nature of Risk by adding a new resource, cards that activate special abilities or actions, and commanders that increase the value of the dice. The map also has been improved to have more entry points to each continent, balanced by the value of that continent. A fairly lengthy game.
More theme-based less-abstract games:
Pandemic: A zombie outbreak game where each player takes on a specialized role. Died from rotation mostly because the more hardcore players would basically tell the casual players what to do and play the game for them. It's a cooperative game where the players play together vs the board.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Le que? Pandemic is just regular ass diseases, but I guess you can apply any disease names you want.StMeph [B said:
Okay. I confess that it's about diseases, but I used to describe it as a zombie outbreak theme to get people to try it. I apparently convinced myself of my lies and forgot about the actual theme.
I'm going to hold on to that illusion for as long as possible though. Umbrella Corp. isn't going to sweep this under the rug. Not anymore.
I'm going to hold on to that illusion for as long as possible though. Umbrella Corp. isn't going to sweep this under the rug. Not anymore.
Got together a somewhat impromptu group for Citadels and Carcassone last night. Those are the group's favorite games by far right now. The amount of screwage in Citadels has increased as people have become better at predicting one another's moves, and Carcassone is such a light, easy game that it's relaxing after the mass screwing during Citadels has taken place.
I've just read the reviews and watched the videos on BGG, so I have no great insight. I'm interested becauseAstroLad said:
- It's a new idea (or melding of some recent ideas in a new way), and I enjoy trying new things.
- It's a descendant of Dominion and other deck-building games. I suppose we need a new term here... Collection-building games? Anyway, my group likes these games in the card form and I suspect they'll like it with dice, too.
- It plays fast. All reports are pointing to 10 to 20 minute games. This is very important for my group who are slooooow at games of all kinds. We're guaranteed to take up to twice as long at any game we play; we struggle to get Dominion done in less than an hour. Thus, the faster the game plays the better chance we'll get through it multiple times in one setting, or have time for a second game.
- It has a shitload of colorful dice. That justifies itself.
narcosis219
Member
Evlar said:
You know, I never understand why people complain about randomness in a dice game.
It's like complaining about thinking in a strategy game.
Name a dice game where randomness is not a factor. It's pretty dumb that randomness is considered a negative in a dice game.
platypotamus
Member
Picked up the Leaders expansion for 7 Wonders yesterday. Was maybe going to get a chance to try it out tonight, but wife is sick, so it seems unlikely.
Also got wife permission to purchase Echoes of the Past expansion for innovation, but it wasn't in yet.
Also got wife permission to purchase Echoes of the Past expansion for innovation, but it wasn't in yet.
narcosis219 said:
I think the argument is not that dice introduce randomness (that's what they were designed for) but for what they add randomness to.
Dice movement, for example, is generally not fun because you're at the whim of the dice.
But Catan uses the dice to create variety -- they're a simple method for generating goods in an unpredictable fashion. You have the ability (through your initial placements and subsequent settlements) to mitigate some of the randomness.
I'd argue that the better a game is at letting you have some control or freedom from the randomness of the dice the better (or at least more fun for the strategy minded gamer) it is.
Group has been enjoying Small World, but we've been playing it for a couple months now so I figured I'd try and pick up something new. I'm looking for a slightly more complex, less luck dependant (not that sw is really that luck reliant) wargame for 4 - 6 people (a max of 5 might be acceptable depending on the game) that incorporates temporary alliances, bluffing, and specialized units. Basically, I want more politics and "consistency" to the board. (In sw, the board state shifts so radically that the conflict oftentimes feels secondary to the simple math of how many points you can accumulate per turn.) I've looked around and the best fit seems to Game of Thrones + Clash of Kings expansion- for the port rules and 6th player option- but that's ludicrously expensive right now. Are there other good options/is GoT/CoK up for reprint soon?
TwiztidElf
Member
House rule we play is Encounters only during every second rotation. Keeps the pressure on, but gives you breathing space in the onslaught of monsters.Gryphter said:
I guess I may as well plug this here as well.
My first (of many) board game columns for Kill Screen.
My first (of many) board game columns for Kill Screen.
narcosis219
Member
TwiztidElf said:
The game is perfect the way it is.
Just have to learn not to sit around killing monsters 1 at a time. The faster you move, the less encounters you deal with.
Maybe in Ravenloft it's a bit harder because the treasures are kinda bad. Ashardalon feels pretty good.
platypotamus
Member
Flynn said:
Kingsburg does such a great job at making you really think about how to get the most out of the roll you get.
You use at least one of your 3+ die to bid to bribe an adviser. You place these bids in order from lowest roll to highest roll (so high rollers can influence the better guys, but go last, and only one player can bribe each adviser).
You've got to decide if it's best to split your dice amongst different advisors, and if so, how? a 2-1 split or a 1-1-1 split? Then you have to decide the best order to bid (you bid for one adviser and then the turn passes). So you're constantly making plans and backup plans based on your roll compared to your opponent's roll.
1-5-5 vs a let's say 2-4-6, and 4-4-5-2 (extra die available with certain upgrades)
1-5-5 bids first. His options?
- 5-5 on the 10 cost adviser and 1 on the 1 cost
- 1-5 on the 6 cost, and 5 on the 5 cost
- all three on the 11 cost
The only adviser that's absolutely safe (assuming no upgrades on the board) would be the 1-cost adviser... either player can hit the 10 cost, and one or the other can get the 6 cost or the 11 cost
Of course, the decision is either made far easier or far more complicated by the actual FUNCTIONS of those advisers, but even the straight dice bidding side of things is interesting as it is.
platypotamus
Member
AstroLad said:
The nice thing about the expansion is that it's modular. If I were playing with total newbs, I'd probably use just the battle tokens and the large board, and leave off the replacement rows, roles, and event cards.
emomoonbase
I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.
Anybody have any recommendations for adventure games with lots of minis? I have Descent (nobody likes it because it takes too long), Claustrophobia (doesn't support enough players) and Wrath of Ashardalon (everyone seems to like, but kinda simplistic) and was trying to find things in the same vein.
So apparently people who ordered the limited edition got their copies recently. Any chance someone here has played it yet? I'm really getting excited about it since reading the rules but not quite excited enough to pay 70 dollars. I'll probably wait until it shows up on CSI and grab it.Flynn said:
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Mansions of Madness? Takes the all versus one of Descent and plays in around two hours. There are some great minis in that one.emomoonbase said:
emomoonbase
I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.
Mansions looks pretty interesting. I've never played Arkham Horror (although people have recommended it often) but I like the setting. It would be nice to play something that isn't a fantasy theme for a change.
Flynn said:
which is why Stone Age and Kingsburg are still considered top flight games. Sure, they have dice and the dice are random, but you are effectively playing the odds. So unless your die rolls just suck the entire game you should be ok.
Then there is stuff like alea iacta est and Troyes where the die become the workers that get placed.. so the die are more like a card draw in a game like Brass... the dice don't determine anything other than to limit your action choices to keep the game from bogging down completely.
In any case, I have an interest in Quarriors. Just don't know if I need another Dominion clone, even if it looks completely different.
Also,
I want to sing the praises of Cosmic Encounter. My girlfriend *loves* everything about this game, sans the artwork. It's such a fun beer and pretzels game.
At first they thought certain things were overpowered or too random, but then my group started to see the strategy that goes into the randomness. Getting a new card draw *can* be a total crapshoot, but you have to make the decision of "do I burn through this deck ASAP and try and get something better, or do I try and hang on to what I have because I have this awesome flare in my hand?"
The powers are also great. I like the special powers in Bang! but these are much more game changing. Bang! powers typically slightly affect the way you play or give you some small advantage, but some of the powers in Cosmic really require you to play very differently. For instance, no one invited me as an ally in the last game because my power was to take peoples ships with me to the warp when I died. It made me going to the warp a huge risk. It also meant that the leading player and I had almost all of our ships in the warp.
He won the game actually by taking a ship off of his 3rd home planet (giving up his special power) and hoping for the best. Worked out for him, and it's just one of the many really nice decisions you get to make.
The game of course is completely random and isn't a strategic game by most measures, but it has fun decisions to be made in the midst of the insanity. It's also a game that really revels in the randomness and rule-breaking so it's hard to get too mad when you lose because of something insane.
It's my new go to "non gamer" game because it has so much direct conflict. It's kind of what I hoped for: a better Bang!
I want to sing the praises of Cosmic Encounter. My girlfriend *loves* everything about this game, sans the artwork. It's such a fun beer and pretzels game.
At first they thought certain things were overpowered or too random, but then my group started to see the strategy that goes into the randomness. Getting a new card draw *can* be a total crapshoot, but you have to make the decision of "do I burn through this deck ASAP and try and get something better, or do I try and hang on to what I have because I have this awesome flare in my hand?"
The powers are also great. I like the special powers in Bang! but these are much more game changing. Bang! powers typically slightly affect the way you play or give you some small advantage, but some of the powers in Cosmic really require you to play very differently. For instance, no one invited me as an ally in the last game because my power was to take peoples ships with me to the warp when I died. It made me going to the warp a huge risk. It also meant that the leading player and I had almost all of our ships in the warp.
He won the game actually by taking a ship off of his 3rd home planet (giving up his special power) and hoping for the best. Worked out for him, and it's just one of the many really nice decisions you get to make.
The game of course is completely random and isn't a strategic game by most measures, but it has fun decisions to be made in the midst of the insanity. It's also a game that really revels in the randomness and rule-breaking so it's hard to get too mad when you lose because of something insane.
It's my new go to "non gamer" game because it has so much direct conflict. It's kind of what I hoped for: a better Bang!
platypotamus
Member
StoOgE said:
Too much for me though. Bang mitigates the gang-up problem with the secret roles, Cosmic Encounter gets personal too easily.
platypotamus said:
I've heard this, but I think the destiny deck mostly mitigates this issue. I mean, if everyone in a 7p game is always siding against you you'll have issues, but as long as people are playing to win you'll be good.
Bang! obviously is a game I like and doesn't really have much of a ganging up problem at all, but it has the "what does a cat balou" do again? issue.
Then again, Cosmic has the "when can I use this card again?" issue.
I don't know, they are similar enough, but I feel Cosmic has a bit more meat on it's bones.
Hey thanks to StoOgE and Gryphter for providing some feedback a few pages back. My group decided to split the cost and grab Descent as well as one of the D&D games and give them both a shot.
Descent giving one player control over the dungeon definitely provides a more interesting experience for the heroes who have to work together to counter spawns and more strategic monsters. However getting stuck as the DM is kind of a bummer since playing the game 1v4 isn't nearly as fun, not to mention most of the early scenarios seem to be weighted greatly in the heroes' favor.
Alternatively D&D allows everyone to play a hero, however the lack of a designated DM can make the game feel extremely random and sometimes unfair at times.
In the end I think both were good purchases and I would recommend either of them to someone looking for a dungeon crawl type of game.
Descent giving one player control over the dungeon definitely provides a more interesting experience for the heroes who have to work together to counter spawns and more strategic monsters. However getting stuck as the DM is kind of a bummer since playing the game 1v4 isn't nearly as fun, not to mention most of the early scenarios seem to be weighted greatly in the heroes' favor.
Alternatively D&D allows everyone to play a hero, however the lack of a designated DM can make the game feel extremely random and sometimes unfair at times.
In the end I think both were good purchases and I would recommend either of them to someone looking for a dungeon crawl type of game.
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
I'm looking to get into tabletop gaming and bring my oldest daughter (8 years old) along with me. She's getting really good at Kard Combat on my Ipod and she's learning some of the basic concepts behind card gaming by playing it.
I've had recommended to me the "Call of Cthulhu" Collectible Card Game since I was interested in Arkham Horror but was told it was an awfully difficult game to learn unless you had a regular and experienced gaming group which, due to obligations and geography, isn't practical.
I'm a huge Lovecraft fan, and I'm learning to love card games thanks to the recent games on the App store so the CoC CCG seems like a good bet, but I've also been told that the game "Cthulu Dice" would be a good purchase. Cthulhu Dice is cheap enough that it's as good as bought, I'm just wondering what you fine folks thought of the CoC CCG.
I haven't heard much about it prior to having it recommended, is it generally well received? Reasonable for beginners? The odd mixture of a CCG and Board Game component seems appealing.
If the CoC CCG isn't a good idea, what of the Ravenloft boardgame that was released recently? It claims to be dead simple, and I loved reading the Ravenloft source books as a young teen, but I could never convince anyone to play with me. It looks really neat, but I'm afraid it might be overwhelming for my daughter.
I've had recommended to me the "Call of Cthulhu" Collectible Card Game since I was interested in Arkham Horror but was told it was an awfully difficult game to learn unless you had a regular and experienced gaming group which, due to obligations and geography, isn't practical.
I'm a huge Lovecraft fan, and I'm learning to love card games thanks to the recent games on the App store so the CoC CCG seems like a good bet, but I've also been told that the game "Cthulu Dice" would be a good purchase. Cthulhu Dice is cheap enough that it's as good as bought, I'm just wondering what you fine folks thought of the CoC CCG.
I haven't heard much about it prior to having it recommended, is it generally well received? Reasonable for beginners? The odd mixture of a CCG and Board Game component seems appealing.
If the CoC CCG isn't a good idea, what of the Ravenloft boardgame that was released recently? It claims to be dead simple, and I loved reading the Ravenloft source books as a young teen, but I could never convince anyone to play with me. It looks really neat, but I'm afraid it might be overwhelming for my daughter.
emomoonbase
I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.
Horseticuffs said:
Ravenloft might be pushing it for 8 years old, but not too bad if she has previous game experience. You can download the rule book from the Wizards of the Coast web site so maybe give that a read through before you buy. Link to rule book pdf
I personally really like the game (and Wrath of Ashardalon). It's pretty much all events based on card draws and you roll a d20 to determine hits. Damage done to monsters is spelled out for you on a card each player has, and you got card board bits to track health and other status effects. All pretty easy to manage really.
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