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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
- Thread starter AstroLad
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So, I noticed I haven't been changing my game bag up for Monday game night. Really happy with this versatile set of games.
K2
Race for the Galaxy (with first two expansions in the box)
Innovation
King of Tokyo
Citadels
Pandemic
Going to swap in Kingsburg tomorrow just because I've had a lot of fun with Kingsburg (+ expansion) the past couple weeks.
K2
Race for the Galaxy (with first two expansions in the box)
Innovation
King of Tokyo
Citadels
Pandemic
Going to swap in Kingsburg tomorrow just because I've had a lot of fun with Kingsburg (+ expansion) the past couple weeks.
platypotamus
Member
Dreavus said:Finally got this game on the table with 4 players and it was pretty damn intense. In a good way! There were several moments where I thought "so this is what that fellow on GAF was talking about with the whole king-making deal", but time and time again, someone spun it around into a fairly neutral situation somehow and the game kept going (which I thought was really cool). In one particular case, it LOOKED like the player to my right was going to choose between me and a 3rd player for victory, but then he saw that I had enough gold to stop the 3rd player's win and keep the game in motion. So after spending some money to mess up my win, he also forced me to spend to keep the game going. There were probably 3 separate times where I thought I had the game in the bag, but everyone was delicate enough with their plays to keep it from my reach (the same happened to the others, too!)
In the end game, the goal is all about getting other people to do your work for you, which is sneaky, awesome, and underhanded all at the same time. If I have the means to put a stop to a game winning play by one player, if the player after me ALSO has the means to stop it, I can go hands off and essentially force them to make the play (or else we'll both lose). You can also just threaten people with a tidy sum of cash sitting in your possession; just the idea of a late game merchant can make people play very differently. It felt very spot on with the theme even though it's a pretty abstract game; with these powerful families plotting against each other and trying with all of their might to make sure no one else gets too far ahead.
Oh and the art is gorgeous. I love all of the masks.
Awesome, glad you enjoyed it too. I am really looking forward to trying it again myself, though I'm not sure when I'll next have the chance.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Puerto Rico on iOS is ok not great. The UI is needlessly dense. Trying to figure out how many spots are open in different buildings isn't intuitive at all. Another thing I hate is the way the players boards are compressed on to one screen. I get why it was done that way but it feels really cramped. The upside is it's Puerto Rico on the go. My wife and I are on a trip now and we were able to play the game at the airport.soldat7 said:
If I were to list my top 3 iOS boardgames they would be:
Carc
Ticket to Ride
Samurai
All three have online (TTR live only but that's the only way it should be), clean UI, and fantastic graphics.
For upcoming games, I'm really looking forward to Cyclades. The screenshots have been amazing and if done right could be really good.
Did we talk much about Elder Sign? I picked it up with Dreadfleet the other day and it's pretty cool! I've played a couple of practice solo games where I control three investigators and I like how much of the Arkham feel it captures without taking up quite as much time or table space. Definitely not an Arkham replacement but good for a bit sized Arkham snack (which I assume are like Scooby snacks but with tentacles).
Hard to give an impartial review, though. I'm really not sure if I'd like ES nearly as much as I do if I hadn't already played a ton of Arkham. But, who cares! I have, so it's all good
Hard to give an impartial review, though. I'm really not sure if I'd like ES nearly as much as I do if I hadn't already played a ton of Arkham. But, who cares! I have, so it's all good
BattleMonkey
Member
Cathcart said:Did we talk much about Elder Sign? I picked it up with Dreadfleet the other day and it's pretty cool! I've played a couple of practice solo games where I control three investigators and I like how much of the Arkham feel it captures without taking up quite as much time or table space. Definitely not an Arkham replacement but good for a bit sized Arkham snack (which I assume are like Scooby snacks but with tentacles).
Hard to give an impartial review, though. I'm really not sure if I'd like ES nearly as much as I do if I hadn't already played a ton of Arkham. But, who cares! I have, so it's all good
ES is good, though so far we have not lost a game of it yet and have read others who also say the game is too easy it seems. The game could have used some extra difficulty rule options possibly.
We like the game, we just fear it always being too easy. Have heard that certain combos of random cards can make the game incredibly hard though.
Even though the game is easy, I still love it. The components are super high quality. I love the dice, and the cards are great as well.BattleMonkey said:
Playing the game solo with some investigators can make it even more of a cakewalk. I played a solo game last night with one investigator who couldn't have monsters come out on their turn and was able to ignore terror effects., for instance.
BattleMonkey
Member
XShagrath said:
Yea theres a couple glitches with single player where you can basically not lose it seems from what I've read.
Affeinvasion
Member
I really like Elder Sign but part of the difficulty issue for me is not remembering to do certain things...like Terror effects. The text is often so small that I never see it until I finish the card. Oops. I will say that I've lost a couple of times, but both times it was pretty apparent. You will die if your adventure cards stack against the type of health you have (sanity or stamina) or if you have lots of adventure cards that give doom as a failure task.
The problem with the difficulty in ES is that the rulebook is missing a lot of stuff. For example, according to designer Richard Launius, that ability does not apply to monsters that get added at midnight even though the manual clearly states that the midnight actions happen during your turn. So if a mythos card or midnight effect on an adventure card adds a monster you are still supposed to add the monster.XShagrath said:
You can sort of cheese it with the monsters, though. The game says that if you run out of monster spots you choose an adventure card and put the monster on it. It doesn't prevent you from picking one card as your monster dump card and piling them all up on there (and then ignoring that adventure) so I've just been playing that you have to distribute them evenly (no card can get a second until they all have one).
Another example is Mandy's ability, which said that she can allow 2 dice to be rerolled each turn. Richard clarified on the forum that it should really be each day, so it refreshes at midnight. He also pointed out, however, that FFG may or may not decide to use his rule interpretations in their own FAQ. So that's kind of weird.
I don't know, the two games I played were pretty tough. A lot of people seem to be agreeing with you guys, though. Maybe I was unlucky. I feel like more of the adventure cards should add doom tokens for failures, though. That would probably help with the difficulty and also add a little more of a sense of dread about failing.
BattleMonkey
Member
Affeinvasion said:
The biggest source of failure I see that can happen is based on monsters. Certain monsters really fuck things up and when your adventure cards get filled up with monsters you start having to stack them making the adventures really hard or next to impossible to beat without spending several turns failing just to kill off monsters.
At the same time, monsters can sometimes make tasks easier to complete since they can replace a semi difficult task with a simple one die task.... kinda feels odd in that case as one would think a monster should add challenge, but we often find ourselves placing monsters down for the purpose of making a challenge better suited towards a players strengths or to simplify a task.
Yeah. The rulebook probably says that that's fine but I've been using the Arkham method of choosing where the monster will go before drawing it from the bag or looking at it. If I need to place 2 monsters I do it as 2 separate random draws instead of looking at both monsters and then deciding which card to put them on.BattleMonkey said:
BattleMonkey
Member
Cathcart said:
I think really monster placement should be a random method instead of player choice. Players just dump the tough monsters on the shitty adventures that are already too hard like many of the portal adventures that can be crazy, or they cherry pick where to put them in the case of making the task easier. The cultist for example is like the shittiest monster in the game and it generally makes any task you put it on easier than before.
Doublethink said:
You should at least list them here to see if anyone on GAF wants them - I've been looking for some new games to play with buddies lately.
We just got Red November which is pretty fun. Got Ankh Morpork on the way and Super Dungeon Explore is pre-ordered - now if only we had time to play them more
Captain_Spanky
Member
Missed the UPS guy this morning because I was at rehearsal only for him to very kindly drop by at the end of his shift to attempt to redeliver my package. Inside was a coveted copy of Dreadfleet. As an ex-Warhammer addict (as most British geeks are) I've found myself redrawn to the hobby thanks to games like Warhammer Invasion, Horus Heresy and Chaos In The Old World. This game is just the ticket, a complete skirmish game in a box full of all that lovely Warhammer fluff.
I've only just opened it and skimmer the rulebook (which is great, although the binding seems a bit off) as I don't have clippers to cut off the sprues, will pick some up tomorrow I imagine. Anyway it's one of the best rulebooks I've read in ages, it's full of tons of personality, diagrams, examples and clear, bolded key rules. It's got that wonderful slightly lame humour that Warhammer is known for too, full of terrible terrible puns, sort of Terry Pratchett's slightly simple cousin. It's a very punny book. The artwook is absolutely lush too so I'm very impressed with it on a presentation level. The rules seem very simple, but with lots of options for manoeuvring and so forth, about what you'd expect if you followed the game at all. Can't wait to grab an eye patch, some friends and a bottle of rum and go at it.
I've only just opened it and skimmer the rulebook (which is great, although the binding seems a bit off) as I don't have clippers to cut off the sprues, will pick some up tomorrow I imagine. Anyway it's one of the best rulebooks I've read in ages, it's full of tons of personality, diagrams, examples and clear, bolded key rules. It's got that wonderful slightly lame humour that Warhammer is known for too, full of terrible terrible puns, sort of Terry Pratchett's slightly simple cousin. It's a very punny book. The artwook is absolutely lush too so I'm very impressed with it on a presentation level. The rules seem very simple, but with lots of options for manoeuvring and so forth, about what you'd expect if you followed the game at all. Can't wait to grab an eye patch, some friends and a bottle of rum and go at it.
BattleMonkey
Member
Played Horus Heresy on Friday, love that game.
Also put in a preorder for the Metal Gear Solid Risk game. Usually not a fan of Risk but the components look great and it's limited to only 2014 pieces? Figure I can resell it for a profit even if it sucks.
Also put in a preorder for the Metal Gear Solid Risk game. Usually not a fan of Risk but the components look great and it's limited to only 2014 pieces? Figure I can resell it for a profit even if it sucks.
platypotamus
Member
IamMikeside said:You should at least list them here to see if anyone on GAF wants them - I've been looking for some new games to play with buddies lately.
We just got Red November which is pretty fun. Got Ankh Morpork on the way and Super Dungeon Explore is pre-ordered - now if only we had time to play them more
Impressions when you get the chance, please. I'd love to see what happens when some Martin Wallace gets in my Discworld.
I think it has its merits. It's simple to play and I like the miniatures; they are much better than the minis that come with Fleet Captains.BattleMonkey said:
It's easier to set up and play and you have flexibility just like with ST: FC as far as determining a fleet size and how many cards (crew and tactics and weapons) each person gets.
Also, ships can transport other ships which is pretty cool.
With all that said, I don't know that you need both in your collection.
Finally got to play Mr. Jack. It's a really fun little game.. but man, is it ever AP prone. "STOP EVERYTHING, I NEED TO FIND A WAY TO ENSURE THAT THESE 3 CHARACTERS ARE UNSEEN. EVEN IF IT TAKES 3 HOURS!"
Also got a good game of Dominion in.
Sadly, between moving to a new house, two weddings and birthdays there will be very little boardgaming going on in the next month.
But, I'm turning the upstairs loft in the new house to a nerd cave. Comic Books, Board Games, Video Games! Ahoy!
Also got a good game of Dominion in.
Sadly, between moving to a new house, two weddings and birthdays there will be very little boardgaming going on in the next month.
But, I'm turning the upstairs loft in the new house to a nerd cave. Comic Books, Board Games, Video Games! Ahoy!
UpperCaseN
Member
do you mean the limited edition or regular? according to the gaming side thread about this game, the LE is sold out. the OP was willing to ship to people outside of the US, though:IamMikeside said:Dammit - would anyone in the US be willing to order a copy of Metal Gear Solid Risk and send it to me? I can't get it in the UK
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31483255&postcount=1
Played some LotR LCG this weekend. I...liked it? I mean, it's pretty cool. There were a few things that just bugged me, though. Only drawing 1 card at a time, the goofy resource pools and combat. Man, what? I have to have one guy to defend and one guy to attack? Huuuwhat? Gimli doesn't need someone to block for him!
I also kind of hate the whole "threat" concept because thematically it doesn't seem to make sense. It's like, OK, you added some heroes to your team so that makes you a bigger threat. Fair enough. But that makes bad guys more likely to attack you? What fantasy world is this where the bad guys bravely hunt down the more powerful good guys? Seems backwards. And then you go questing but your questing ability isn't enough to overcome the bad guys that are out there so...your threat increases? What? I sucked at questing so I'm a bigger threat?
I get that it's the end game clock but I just wish they hadn't bothered to half-ass giving it some kind of thematic dressing. Just call it the end of game counter. Blerg.
Um, other than that it was pretty good? I did like the art work a lot and a lot of the character powers are cool. I guess I want to give it a few more plays this week to see if I like it more.
I also kind of hate the whole "threat" concept because thematically it doesn't seem to make sense. It's like, OK, you added some heroes to your team so that makes you a bigger threat. Fair enough. But that makes bad guys more likely to attack you? What fantasy world is this where the bad guys bravely hunt down the more powerful good guys? Seems backwards. And then you go questing but your questing ability isn't enough to overcome the bad guys that are out there so...your threat increases? What? I sucked at questing so I'm a bigger threat?
I get that it's the end game clock but I just wish they hadn't bothered to half-ass giving it some kind of thematic dressing. Just call it the end of game counter. Blerg.
Um, other than that it was pretty good? I did like the art work a lot and a lot of the character powers are cool. I guess I want to give it a few more plays this week to see if I like it more.
Affeinvasion
Member
Cathcart said:
Think of it as the Eye of Sauron (which is what is shown on the counter). If you draw enough attention to yourself then the eye begins sending more creatures under his thrall to destroy you. At 50 he really notices you and you're basically fucked. I think it is actually very thematic for the time period in which the game takes place.
Also about combat, it would be way too easy if you could do everything with one character. The strategy of this game is not just resource management, card playing, but character management. There's also characters that get stronger with damage, etc.
I also can't understand the complaint about resources. How would you do it?
I don't know, I'm not a game designer. I just think it's a little goofy that they actually just called it "resources", like they tried to think of a name and were like screw this, you get resource points.
The Eye of Sauron thing is cool and all but why would your threat go up when you fail to have enough willpower to make any progress on your quest? That should make you less of a threat because you suck at quests. Anyway, I can just ignore it and I guess it's fine, but when we first started playing the game it really annoyed me because I couldn't figure out what the hell threat was.
The Eye of Sauron thing is cool and all but why would your threat go up when you fail to have enough willpower to make any progress on your quest? That should make you less of a threat because you suck at quests. Anyway, I can just ignore it and I guess it's fine, but when we first started playing the game it really annoyed me because I couldn't figure out what the hell threat was.
Captain_Spanky
Member
Had my first game of Dreadfleet today. As I thought from reading the rules it's a very fast and exciting game. Simple rule set with the focus firmly placed on manoeuvring, facing and on the spot decision making. Very easy to pick up too, I played with my girlfriend who is by no means a gamer and she loved it. In fact she begged me to leave it set up so we could play again later! This may be due to the fact she won, due to some very poor moves on my part. The fate cards are fun and dynamic, but also negatable with a timely repair order if they don't go your way. They have a variety of bonuses and effects and seem to be as balanced as these things can be (for example one card might grant a bonus to the evil ships, but a later one will only affect the good).Of course being a GW game there is a lot of dice rolling, but the good kind. Lots of ooooooooo and tension in every throw. Loved the fact the wind marker was constantly moving too, really made you take in to account your facing and handling every turn. The ships themselves are full of character both model and rule wise. The special abilities will influence your play style but if you let them dominate it you'll become predictable and easily beaten. And all this was just the first scenario with only two ships and no special rules. A great game so far and I can't wait to play more. Preferably with a bottle of rum and my stereo blasting out the soundtrack to Pirates Of The Caribbean.
I love the game unashamedly (which is weird because I'm meh on LOTR in general). Anyway as for the "one action at a time" thing I took it to show where your character was focused. If they're focused on defending the group then they wouldn't be on the offensive, they're totally absorbed in defending the group. Really I think it's a decent match of gameplay and theme, showing the importance of the fellowship etc. Really, like most of the stuff in the game, it's meant to encourage table talk, tough decisions and cooperation. The game is done a great disservice by being played solo, and the sheer fact that it remains a whole lot of fun when played solo is testament to the strength and tightness of its design in my opinion. It's up there with Death Angel in my opinion.
The eye of Sauron thing is exactly what it sounds like. A threat meter, a measure of the threat you currently pose to Sauron and how much of a priority you are to his forces. Failing quests shows the fellowship over-extending themselves, or pushing forward to quickly, both of which would draw un-wanted attention from the forces of darkness.
Of course neither of these would make you like the game, just kinda weighing in on their thematic relevance to gameplay.
I love the game unashamedly (which is weird because I'm meh on LOTR in general). Anyway as for the "one action at a time" thing I took it to show where your character was focused. If they're focused on defending the group then they wouldn't be on the offensive, they're totally absorbed in defending the group. Really I think it's a decent match of gameplay and theme, showing the importance of the fellowship etc. Really, like most of the stuff in the game, it's meant to encourage table talk, tough decisions and cooperation. The game is done a great disservice by being played solo, and the sheer fact that it remains a whole lot of fun when played solo is testament to the strength and tightness of its design in my opinion. It's up there with Death Angel in my opinion.
The eye of Sauron thing is exactly what it sounds like. A threat meter, a measure of the threat you currently pose to Sauron and how much of a priority you are to his forces. Failing quests shows the fellowship over-extending themselves, or pushing forward to quickly, both of which would draw un-wanted attention from the forces of darkness.
Of course neither of these would make you like the game, just kinda weighing in on their thematic relevance to gameplay.
Captain_Spanky
Member
Cathcart said:
With the out of the box scenarios I've found that if you're playing with at least 2 people (or more , up to 4 if 2 write their threat down instead of using a ticker) then the starter decks work fine and actually compliment each other well. The "rules" for deckbuilding are for as yet unseen tournaments so can really act as more of a guideline at this point. Of course you can pick 2 spheres each and build a deck if you want and then test it out, but erally it's your game play how you want! I haven't got any adventure packs and am waiting for the first deluxe expansion to boost my card pool.
We're running two tournament legal decks (50 card minimum, maximum 3 copies of any card, both decks are dual-sphere) with very good success against the scenarios released so far, and we're able to construct them using two core sets and just one of each booster pack as they come out. You do have to coordinate on who is going to pursue which spheres- you can't have both players using Leadership as their primary sphere, there are not enough copies of the best cards without purchasing more stuff. But coordinating spheres is good strategically anyway.Cathcart said:
You just really need those two core sets, unfortunately, and that's for running even one good tournament-legal deck. There are too many critical cards you need in higher quantities: Northern Tracker, Unexpected Courage, and Sneak Attack, to name a few.
BattleMonkey
Member
Eek, GF decided to invite some of her friends over after dinner for some gaming and I'm in charge of supplying the gaming. They have never played anything hardcore, just generic store bought games so not sure what to present them with....
I introduced my folks to Dominion a couple weeks ago and they both enjoyed it a lot. Same thing happened with a friend of mine recently and his parents. So I'd say that's an easy "gateway" game that could be a hit.BattleMonkey said:
I'm having family visit me later today and we're probably gonna play that again, and I'm gonna see if I can get a game of Thurn & Taxis in as well. I had been wanting to pick up Ticket to Ride for the longest time, but this seemed like a cheaper and better alternative.
outunderthestars
Banned
Looking for a fun game for three players that is easy to teach, and not overly intimidating to newcomers.
Was looking at Pandemic and Ticket To Ride so far. Any suggestions?
Was looking at Pandemic and Ticket To Ride so far. Any suggestions?
Depends what you are looking for! How many players, time limit, etc. Those two are pretty excellent imo. Pandemic you gotta make sure the group is open to co-op play. It is often a gateway hit unless you have someone who's just not open to the idea of co-op. TtR is pretty much always a hit. Probably not one you'll play much as you get more into gaming or with experienced people, but casuals really like it. Other ideas would be Catan & Carcassonne.outunderthestars said:Looking for a fun game for three players that is easy to teach, and not overly intimidating to newcomers.
Was looking at Pandemic and Ticket To Ride so far. Any suggestions?
outunderthestars
Banned
AstroLad said:
I worry that Catan could be a bit intimidating, whereas TtR seems to have an almost Monopoly like aesthetic.
Carcassonne is a great suggestion! I didn't even think of that one!
Astro: Just wondering, how many games do you own?
BattleMonkey
Member
XShagrath said:
Yea, but my GF once tried Dominion and didn't like it, but I dunno. They apparently like horror films so Zombies!!! was recommended to me by the gf as something they might like. Pandemic might also work as it's always liked.
UpperCaseN
Member
they play nothing alike... I can't even fathom how a connection between the 2 could be made...outunderthestars said:
a little bit over 150, counting expansions (thanks bgg! http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/AstroLad?own=1&subtype=boardgame&ff=1)outunderthestars said:
TTR is pretty (except for the crappy plastic trains) -- that's definitely a big part of its appeal. Also the general theme, though when you actually try to think about it it makes no fucking sense with how the mechanics work but you'd have to be pretty dorky to even notice that.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Got back from my trip and Eaten by Zombies, Ikusa, and Ankh-Morpork were waiting for me. 'Twas a nice little surprise.
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