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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)

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F

Flynn

Member
Learned and played Troyes and London today.

Troyes seemed complicated but played fast. London seemed light but got Martin Wallace heavy with the economic engine. My poor opponent got swamped in a debt spiral. Cost him 49 VP.
 
S

Secks4Food

Member
I played Arkham Horror today for the first time...6 hours of constant struggle just to be beaten by Cthulu himself. Fuck.

It's a decently fun game, very epic and immersive as far as board games go. I actually enjoy reading the cards/character stories and just enjoying the art and setting more than actually playing though. The game can be very unforgiving at times, especially if you get a nasty monster surge or just draw a card that unapologetically screws you over. It also gets pretty repetitive for being such a long game: just constantly closing portals just to have a new one open up elsewhere gets pretty old. Definitely not a game I want to play regularly despite my love for Lovecraft...I'd rather curl up with the Necronomicon than play this.
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Most games don't take six hours though. Average time for me is 2.5-3. I think once you get >5 players or >3.5 hours is when it starts to drag a bit. I've certainly been known to just cut off games when it was clear we were going to lose but would take another hour or two to actually happen. I'm a pragmatist.
 
E

emomoonbase

I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.
Played Dungeon Twister last night for the first time. The tile turning mechanic is cool but the game seemed to devolve into a "park a character on a turnstile and just spend all your AP to keep turning it over and over creating a stalemate over the final VP. I admire the games lack of random elements (no dice, etc) but was really hoping I just could have a good die roll to get my damn characters into the victory zone after 15 minutes of playing "spin the tile" lol.
 
S

Secks4Food

Member
AstroLad said:
Most games don't take six hours though. Average time for me is 2.5-3. I think once you get >5 players or >3.5 hours is when it starts to drag a bit. I've certainly been known to just cut off games when it was clear we were going to lose but would take another hour or two to actually happen. I'm a pragmatist.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Cthulu has the largest health bar of all the bosses, so that extended the game time a fair bit, plus we're all pretty new at it so questions had to be asked, rule books had to be consulted, etc. I could definitely see it going faster with experience/less players (we had seven).
 
Emerson

Emerson

May contain jokes =>
I was literally on the brink of paying 100 bucks for a copy of it when I thought to look at the website and saw that. Thank God.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
Of course they announce it a couple weeks after I find a copy of the first edition.
Click to expand...
Shouldn't have been too surprising, given how well the live action series is doing.
 
N

Neverfade

Member
New stuff played tonight:

Kill Dr Lucky (not my copy): No. Just no.

Glen More: Pretty sweet. Played with 4 and my biggest complaint was the track changed a bit too much for my liking. I think I'll really like this one with 2p.
 
H

Hero

Member
Wren said:
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.
Click to expand...

Ravenloft is very unfair. Constant uphill struggle and once you let things get out of control, well, good luck.

Secks4Food said:
I played Arkham Horror today for the first time...6 hours of constant struggle just to be beaten by Cthulu himself. Fuck.

It's a decently fun game, very epic and immersive as far as board games go. I actually enjoy reading the cards/character stories and just enjoying the art and setting more than actually playing though. The game can be very unforgiving at times, especially if you get a nasty monster surge or just draw a card that unapologetically screws you over. It also gets pretty repetitive for being such a long game: just constantly closing portals just to have a new one open up elsewhere gets pretty old. Definitely not a game I want to play regularly despite my love for Lovecraft...I'd rather curl up with the Necronomicon than play this.
Click to expand...

If this was your first attempt and your group is relatively new to the game why would you fight Cthulu? He is one of the hardest Ancient Ones not to mention the one with the longest doom tracker. You should've played another one. It probably would've been easier and even if it weren't the game wouldn't have taken that long. 6 hours for a game means you guys weren't closing portals fast enough which means you weren't good enough at the game to try a harder scenario.

Emerson said:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2496

A Game of Thrones being reprinted


So fucking excited, I really want this.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Anyone here play this? Would like to hear about it.
 
C

Cathcart

Member
That is the reason I am very hesitant to introduce people to Arkham when there are more than 3 of us playing and/or more than one new person. Of course everyone has a good time, we're all friends and we're playing a good game, but it almost always turns into this ridiculous 6 hour thing that people walk away from saying "That was fun but let's never do it again."

Anyway, good news is that tonight our group had our first ever human win in Battlestar Galactica (after maybe only 5 or 6 games). I got accused of being too talkative and making it too hard for the Cylons, lolz. I'm glad I got to be a human when we got the first win, though. I've played Roslin in our last two games and now I'm really liking her as a character. Having cancer blows but there are a lot of things she can do that don't involve activating ship locations that you can mitigate it. And her 2 crisis card draw is pretty awesome.
 
N

Neverfade

Member
Worst disadvantage in the game. We never play her because of it. I don't know what the fuck they were thinking, but it's crippling.
 
S

Schmattakopf

Member
Cathcart said:
Anyway, good news is that tonight our group had our first ever human win in Battlestar Galactica (after maybe only 5 or 6 games). I got accused of being too talkative and making it too hard for the Cylons, lolz. I'm glad I got to be a human when we got the first win, though. I've played Roslin in our last two games and now I'm really liking her as a character. Having cancer blows but there are a lot of things she can do that don't involve activating ship locations that you can mitigate it. And her 2 crisis card draw is pretty awesome.
Click to expand...
I don't mind her negative that much, maybe because I seem to always be a Cylon, and maybe because her crisis draw ability is amazing.

And even more amazing if you're a Cylon playing as her.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Horseticuffs said:
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
Click to expand...

Don't do it.

Cthulu Dice is made by Steve Jackson "games". The game is literally a die that you roll and you do what it says. There isn't a game at all. It's like playing a drinking game without the drinking.

On the plus side, the die is a *really* cool looking die with elder signs and whatnot on it. On the negative side, you can look at the die in a store and save yourself 5 bucks or whatever because that is literally the only thing this "game" is good for.

I bought it with the same thought "hey, it's cheap!", and it plays out like a game of war. Roll a die. Take a hit, gain a life. repeat until everyone is finally dead and you can play something else.
 
C

Cathcart

Member
Neverfade said:
Worst disadvantage in the game. We never play her because of it. I don't know what the fuck they were thinking, but it's crippling.
Click to expand...
But possibly best advantage in the game. Because of it we avoided two Cylon attack cards at at least one Admiral chooses card that would have been bad for us because I was pretty sure our Admiral was a Cylon. At least in the base game I think it's the best per-turn advantage, we haven't used expansion characters yet.

And as I said, her disadvantage isn't that bad. Between quorum cards and trading that one Politics card for two other cards she can be really good in skill checks, both as a human and a Cylon. I only used a ship ability one time in the entire game and it was the forced FTL jump that won it for us. Still, I was able to brig both Cylons during an XO (probably one of my favorite things I've done in the game) and put us over the top on some key skill checks that required engineering (which our humans were a little low on) because I had carded up during turns where not much was going on.

I actually bought both expansions when I got the game but I was waiting until everyone in our group had played the game a couple of times. It's been really cool to see the balance shifting from Cylon to human as we gain experience playing the game. Our next game will definitely include the Cylon board and possibly Pegasus. I'm slightly nervous about incorporating the execution mechanic because I think it could be pretty frustrating, but I think it will be offset by all of the cool new choices available to both sides.

Schmattakopf said:
I don't mind her negative that much, maybe because I seem to always be a Cylon, and maybe because her crisis draw ability is amazing.

And even more amazing if you're a Cylon playing as her.
Click to expand...
I've actually never been a Cylon. The Cylon players in this game accused me of making it too hard to be a Cylon because I'm always on top of how many of what cards were played in skill checks. They were half joking because they've both won a few times as Cylons so they couldn't be too mad that it was only the first human victory, but they did raise a good point. If I keep talking so much as a human it will be too obvious when I do end up a Cylon. I think I was mostly doing it because I was always sort of teaching the game to whoever was new so I'd feel obligated to point stuff out, but now I might stop talking so much before I give myself away. Or I'll just have to get better at spouting bullshit, lol.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
So,

My girlfriends sister had a birthday on Friday.. and I bought her the first two Killer Bunnies expansions because she really likes the game and has no money to buy the expansions with. She comes to game night sometimes and I thought it would be a good gift since she keeps mentioning wanting them..

To this point, I have avoided playing Killer Bunnies. Looks like my game night is being taken over on Tuesday for Killer Bunnies.

How bad is it going to be?
 
N

Neverfade

Member
Cathcart said:
But possibly best advantage in the game.
Click to expand...

Helo, Boomer, and Starbuck all got that on lock way before Laura. In our expansion games, there just isn't any room for losing skill cards. Whether it's the expansions themselves or the experienced cylons, essentially eliminating a person from using ship spaces is gimping the humans right out the gate.

Now, I'll agree she's an excellent pick if you're a cylon looking to play the bumbling "human" sabotager.

StoOgE said:
To this point, I have avoided playing Killer Bunnies. Looks like my game night is being taken over on Tuesday for Killer Bunnies.

How bad is it going to be?
Click to expand...

Munchkin, with an even stupider theme, probably.
 
U

UpperCaseN

Member
ultron87 said:
Gen-Con Indy is the weekend after next. Anyone going?
Click to expand...

I'll be there with 5 friends, maybe more. We as a group have a few titles that haven't been able to hit the table yet, so I'm hoping we get them all in during Gencon, including:

Arkham Horror
Game of Thrones Card Game
Battlestar Galactica
maybe start a Pathfinder campaign for beginners if the DM is ready

as long as vendor prices are good, I plan on buying and hopefully playing:
Formula D
King of Tokyo
Catan Seafarers expansion
Cash N Guns
Claustrophobia (don't expect to play this since it's only 2 players)
Alien Frontiers as long as the price is ~$50

At least 1 of my buddies has a list of things to pick up as well, but I don't know what titles.

How are the vendor prices at GenCon?
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
Hero said:
Ravenloft is very unfair. Constant uphill struggle and once you let things get out of control, well, good luck.
Click to expand...

Yea all the D&D board games are like that, it's annoying the combat/reveal mechanic as it pretty much gaurantees as soon as you move forward, something pops out and stabs you. It's more of a survival game and race against time than a real dungeon crawl.
 
F

fenners

Member
StoOgE said:
Hell :(

I should have known when she was looking forward to how funny the cards were. :/
Click to expand...

There's a better game in it than Munchkin; there's some nice combos & planning ahead elements that are ok. Still a random "take that" type of game that tends to overstay its welcome.

The gotcha is the random fucking ending where you flip a carrot tile & whoever has it, wins, regardless of number of carrots/bunnies you've got. You can be the best fucking player all game, totally dominating, but if it's the wrong random carrot? Tough luck.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
fenners said:
There's a better game in it than Munchkin; there's some nice combos & planning ahead elements that are ok. Still a random "take that" type of game that tends to overstay its welcome.

The gotcha is the random fucking ending where you flip a carrot tile & whoever has it, wins, regardless of number of carrots/bunnies you've got. You can be the best fucking player all game, totally dominating, but if it's the wrong random carrot? Tough luck.
Click to expand...

I guess that is at least better. So, it's more trying to improve your odds of having the right carrot in your hand to win the game. Someone with one carrot can still win, but the odds are with the person who has the most?

How long is playtime on it? Maybe I can bring something short/simple like TTR to wash the taste out of my mouth. Unless she wants to play again :/
 
C

Cathcart

Member
OK, well, I can't really argue with you, Neverfade, since you've definitely played the game a lot more than me. But where my group is right now I'm liking Roslyn a lot. I do miss playing as Starbuck, though. I used her as my only character for a while but the last two games she was taken so I've been trying others. I sort of want to play the Chief but I'm always nervous that if I end up as a Cylon it will be too easy for everyone else to figure out.
 
N

Neverfade

Member
I think Chief is a decent Cylon character. His repair ability is good if you're a human, but as a Cylon you can focus on alternate methods of winning while giving the humans that false sense of security as you play Mr Fix It. Plus you can find an excuse to "not have any repair cards" in your hand when its critical. :)

Edit: Plus, his Blind Devotion is devastating or a godsend, depending on your loyalty. Great either way.
 
D

Darb

Neo Member
I read on BGG that both Puerto Rico and Ghost Stories have been submitted for approval to Apple. I'm guessing we may see them on the app store this week or next.
 
A

Agyar

Member
My gaming groups has picked up a couple of copies of The Resistance and as a result I never want to play BSG again. With the inclusion of the expansion cards, Resistance has all the bits I like about BSG condensed into a 30-60 game.

I've also had a chance to play some of Cargo Noir, which is a fun and super easy to pick up. Definitely a good one to whip out alongside Small World with casual players. Similarly to Small World again, the art is fantastic.
 
B

BomberMouse

Member
After almost a year I finally convinced my wife to give agricola another chance and with a little help from the animeeples in the past few weeks we must have played something like 10 games (huge number for me).

Which of the agricola expansions are worth it? I think I'll get gamer's deck and legendary forest since they are cheap but I'm not sure about farmers of the moor or the goodies (I mean 40 dollars for some decks and meeples seems a bit too much).
 
N

Neverfade

Member
Agyar said:
My gaming groups has picked up a couple of copies of The Resistance and as a result I never want to play BSG again. With the inclusion of the expansion cards, Resistance has all the bits I like about BSG condensed into a 30-60 game.
Click to expand...

Me right now:
Jhtlb.gif
 
D

Doublethink

Banned
I have the Goodies expansion and the animeeples alone were worth it to me. It makes the game more "cutesy" for my friends who would otherwise never touch something as heavy as Agricola. Although if you already have a set of animeeples, I don't think it'd be worth it just to get the resource-eeples. I haven't even touched the other parts of the Goodies expansion. I also have Farmers of the Moor, the Gamers' Deck, and the Legendairy Deck. All of them remained unplayed :(
 
J

joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
Agyar said:
My gaming groups has picked up a couple of copies of The Resistance and as a result I never want to play BSG again. With the inclusion of the expansion cards, Resistance has all the bits I like about BSG condensed into a 30-60 game.

I've also had a chance to play some of Cargo Noir, which is a fun and super easy to pick up. Definitely a good one to whip out alongside Small World with casual players. Similarly to Small World again, the art is fantastic.
Click to expand...
The Resistance is good but it's over too quick for me. I prefer BSG's tension much more. As far as Cargo Noir, meh. It may have been the three hour (!) game I was subjected to but I wasn't feeling it at all. The downtime between turns was excruciating (possibly due to the unusually long play time) and the goods had absolutely no baring on anything. It didn't matter what I went for as long as it was a set of something. The art is nice but that's pretty much the only positive thing about I can say about the game.
 
U

UpperCaseN

Member
Agyar said:
My gaming groups has picked up a couple of copies of The Resistance and as a result I never want to play BSG again. With the inclusion of the expansion cards, Resistance has all the bits I like about BSG condensed into a 30-60 game.

I've also had a chance to play some of Cargo Noir, which is a fun and super easy to pick up. Definitely a good one to whip out alongside Small World with casual players. Similarly to Small World again, the art is fantastic.
Click to expand...

I've had the Resistance on my radar for a little bit now, perhaps I'll pick it up at/for GenCon. Hoping to get BSG on the table though so I hope either doesn't get ruined by the other. On 2nd thought, maybe I'll hold off
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Gryphter said:
I've had the Resistance on my radar for a little bit now, perhaps I'll pick it up at/for GenCon. Hoping to get BSG on the table though so I hope either doesn't get ruined by the other. On 2nd thought, maybe I'll hold off
Click to expand...

Resistance is an extremely light game and is very much "figure out who the baddie is". BSG has the added benefit of playing against the system.. and even if you do figure out who the cylon is you still have to survive.

BSG is a much much better game than the Resistance. That said, the resistance is a great little deduction game.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
soldat7 said:
Anyone have any experience with Saint Petersburg, from Rio Grande?

Saint_Petersburg_game.jpg
Click to expand...

One of my favorite quick games. Plays in under an hour, pretty fun little game with good decision mechanics. Pure economic/vp engine game with very little luck involved but plays quickly.

Some of the other guys played this on Yucata, and it SUCKS in that format.
 
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