Schmattakopf
Member
Edit: Guess nobody knows about El Grande...
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
- Thread starter AstroLad
- Start date
- Status
outunderthestars
Banned
AstroLad said:
Wow! Awesome collection!
BomberMouse
Member
AstroLad said:
150 seems like a nice number. IMO small expansions shouldn't count towards it though, I mean Carc The Phantom shouldn't even count as one game
I picked up some ooold games at a small charity game con here in Savannah yesterday. Sub Search, which is some sort of 3 dimensional battleship-style game. Huge display set up but missing some pieces. Game is from the 70's. Also got a Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy game that looks like an early form of co-op game with a traitor mechanic. Good stuff (I hope). Some of the older games have such ridiculous production values compared to games of today. There was an UNPUNCHED original Axis and Allies there, stuff still on the sprue, but I already have so many versions of that game I didn't bite.
I'm probably north of 150 games but I really need to trim down. Dominion for starters is going on the chopping block, as are some others. I have a lot of wargames which are hard to get to the table but due to their tiny print runs are real hard to let go as availability is even worse than the usual boardgames. Collapsing expansions into original game boxes, clearly organizing games with a bazillion expansions (Arkham Horror, Runebound, Last night on Earth, etc) helps as well. I'm starting to get more discriminating in my game buys, but with this classic game reprint revival (Rex, Nexus Ops, Ikusa etc) plus slick miniatures games (Dust Tactics, Dreadfleet, Klingon Armada) controlling the growth is pretty difficult.
I'm probably north of 150 games but I really need to trim down. Dominion for starters is going on the chopping block, as are some others. I have a lot of wargames which are hard to get to the table but due to their tiny print runs are real hard to let go as availability is even worse than the usual boardgames. Collapsing expansions into original game boxes, clearly organizing games with a bazillion expansions (Arkham Horror, Runebound, Last night on Earth, etc) helps as well. I'm starting to get more discriminating in my game buys, but with this classic game reprint revival (Rex, Nexus Ops, Ikusa etc) plus slick miniatures games (Dust Tactics, Dreadfleet, Klingon Armada) controlling the growth is pretty difficult.
Been slowly introducing games to my girlfriend's circle of friends. One of them went out and picked up 7 wonders. What a fantastic game, I'm playing it online now http://www.jeuxsurunplateau.com/fr/jeux-en-ligne/jeux-en-ligne~34~playing~m7.html on this french website, I think you all may have been playing it here earlier in the thread?
BattleMonkey
Member
Wow, had about 14 hours of board gaming all day yesterday, fun times. Power Grid was pretty popular, are any of the expansions worth it outside of the new maps? Robots is basically just to fill in spaces for when you don't have enough players?
UpperCaseN
Member
that is awesome, what else hit the table? I had gaming on Fri and Sat as well, we playedBattleMonkey said:
Fri night:
RoboRally
Cash N Guns
7 Wonders
3 games of The Resistance (7, 9, then 9 players. Spies won every game *shakes fist*)
Sat:
Hey! That's my fish
King of Tokyo
Survive! Escape From Atlantis
Cash N Guns
Wasabi!
BattleMonkey
Member
Gryphter said:
Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, Dominion. Have been doing three game nights lately so on Wed it was Carcossone and Betrayal at House on the Hill, and then Star Trek Expeditions on Friday.
Thanks to some new hires at work, my friend and I have found a couple more guys that are interested in board gaming so we got a 4 player group together over the weekend.
We intended to play Arkham, LoTR LCG and Rune Age but our Arkham game (with King in Yellow and Lurker at the Threshold expansions) took 7 hours and we didn't even finish.
With the remaining hour we played some Dominion but I'm really disappointed we didn't get to LoTR or Rune Age. We've played LoTR before but it would have been the first time with Rune Age.
Oh well. It's a reason to get together again when the wives allow it.
We intended to play Arkham, LoTR LCG and Rune Age but our Arkham game (with King in Yellow and Lurker at the Threshold expansions) took 7 hours and we didn't even finish.
With the remaining hour we played some Dominion but I'm really disappointed we didn't get to LoTR or Rune Age. We've played LoTR before but it would have been the first time with Rune Age.
Oh well. It's a reason to get together again when the wives allow it.
BattleMonkey
Member
garath said:
This is why we don't play Arkham anymore. We love the game, but so many times you get stuck in a game that just doesn't seem to want to end.
UpperCaseN
Member
BattleMonkey said:
How is Expeditions? I know near nothing about it besides Knizia
BattleMonkey
Member
Gryphter said:
We have really enjoyed it. Just concerned about it becoming something that ends up being too easy after several plays? Had different difficulty settings and fluffy final scoring elements that push players to try again and go for higher scores.
I do hope they expand on various elements, I know they are releasing 3 new characters which is great, but would be nice if they add new cards to the game to keep it fresh.
XShagrath said:
Even base game can go on for very long. It can be pretty random on how quick the game goes depending on the old one chosen and what investigators are chosen. Have had games go less than 2 hours, while even just the base game had em reach 8 hours with no ending even.
I've only played one game with two players so far, and we probably went about 4 hours before succumbing to the Great Old One. I think we would've actually won in that final fight, but we had read the rules wrong and thought we could only do one "hit" per round of combat.BattleMonkey said:
Hmm. I've never spent more then 3.5 hours on a game of AH.
But:
-Never played with more than one expansion integrated.
-Never played with more than 4.
-Have bailed on games running 3 hours+ where it was clear we were going to get wrecked (ahem . . . Innsmouth).
But:
-Never played with more than one expansion integrated.
-Never played with more than 4.
-Have bailed on games running 3 hours+ where it was clear we were going to get wrecked (ahem . . . Innsmouth).
BattleMonkey
Member
Anyone try out the Star Trek TNG deck building game yet? Saw it at my local shop and resisted. Think the recent two Trek games came out great but this is by Bandai
AstroLad said:
I think the 4 players was hurting us. Especially since it had been awhile since we played and had one new player completely. Plus this was the first time using the Lurker expansion and it caused some rule checks.
We were looking at 60/40 being able to win. It would have been closer to 90% to win and we might have finished prior to the 7 hours except for a pesky environment that wouldn't let us seal gates. It just wouldn't go away.
I think we just ran out of steam at that point.
If we play again, I'm pulling out all expansion cards except Lurker. I really like what that brings to the table. But I doubt we'll play for a long while again.
Doublethink
Banned
I had a big board game weekend.
Dominion: I finally got Intrigue to finish off the collection (until Hinterlands comes out). I really like the split victory cards (Harem, Nobles, Great Hall) especially with Scout. One of my friends scored the highest points I've ever seen in a Dominion game. She got around 90 by taking most of the duchies and all of the Dukes.
Catan: I've been itching to play Catan for a while and the one game scratched that itch. I don't think I'll play this again for a while.
Ticket to Ride: I set the game up using the Big Cities variant from the 1910 expansion. I much prefer playing the game this way as people are more stressed at getting those key cities rather than sitting back and collecting a huge hand. Someone completed a whopping 7 tickets to run away with the game.
Alhambra: Nice, simple game. I screwed myself over by trying to build a massive wall. I couldn't get the correct piece to continue and had to spend a few turns tearing down my Alhambra.
Colosseum: It's a fun auction and trading game where you try to create a show that attracts the most spectators. The auction trading parts of the game aren't as intense as the auctions in Power Grid or the trading in Catan though. And I definitely think the game ends a little too quickly.
Carson City: I really like the western theme. And the duels! The game came down to the last turn and there were several critical duels that had to be won. I lost all my duels, unfortunately, and my properties were robbed. I'm really interested in trying out the Might is Right variant next time.
Stone Age: One of the players completely ignored the cards and ended up scoring less than a 100. Because of him, I was able to gather the majority of the cards that gave you points for the number of meeples you have and the cards that gave you points for the food tracker. I ended up with around 240 points and won the game handily.
Galaxy Trucker: This is definitely a game where I don't plan much. My only strategy is to keep the timer going, grab guns and engines, and then hope for the best. For me, most of the fun of the game is seeing ships get destroyed and this was the most vicious game I've played yet. There were so many meteors and slavers attacks in the final round that two people ended up quitting.
Railways of the World: I like this a lot more than Steam. The game is a lot simpler and I can actually convince my more casual oriented friends to play the game. We played the Mexico map and I ended up winning by one point. I was worried that I had taken out too many bonds since I didn't get to complete my hidden objective. Thankfully, I had enough of a cushion to still win.
Dominion: I finally got Intrigue to finish off the collection (until Hinterlands comes out). I really like the split victory cards (Harem, Nobles, Great Hall) especially with Scout. One of my friends scored the highest points I've ever seen in a Dominion game. She got around 90 by taking most of the duchies and all of the Dukes.
Catan: I've been itching to play Catan for a while and the one game scratched that itch. I don't think I'll play this again for a while.
Ticket to Ride: I set the game up using the Big Cities variant from the 1910 expansion. I much prefer playing the game this way as people are more stressed at getting those key cities rather than sitting back and collecting a huge hand. Someone completed a whopping 7 tickets to run away with the game.
Alhambra: Nice, simple game. I screwed myself over by trying to build a massive wall. I couldn't get the correct piece to continue and had to spend a few turns tearing down my Alhambra.
Colosseum: It's a fun auction and trading game where you try to create a show that attracts the most spectators. The auction trading parts of the game aren't as intense as the auctions in Power Grid or the trading in Catan though. And I definitely think the game ends a little too quickly.
Carson City: I really like the western theme. And the duels! The game came down to the last turn and there were several critical duels that had to be won. I lost all my duels, unfortunately, and my properties were robbed. I'm really interested in trying out the Might is Right variant next time.
Stone Age: One of the players completely ignored the cards and ended up scoring less than a 100. Because of him, I was able to gather the majority of the cards that gave you points for the number of meeples you have and the cards that gave you points for the food tracker. I ended up with around 240 points and won the game handily.
Galaxy Trucker: This is definitely a game where I don't plan much. My only strategy is to keep the timer going, grab guns and engines, and then hope for the best. For me, most of the fun of the game is seeing ships get destroyed and this was the most vicious game I've played yet. There were so many meteors and slavers attacks in the final round that two people ended up quitting.
Railways of the World: I like this a lot more than Steam. The game is a lot simpler and I can actually convince my more casual oriented friends to play the game. We played the Mexico map and I ended up winning by one point. I was worried that I had taken out too many bonds since I didn't get to complete my hidden objective. Thankfully, I had enough of a cushion to still win.
Been playing a bunch of games the past few days. Tonight was game night at work and I learned Hansa Teutonica -- it was coo; don't think I would play it again though. Decent amount of AP and I try to stay away from games that let you target people as blatantly. I can see how it's fun, just not my thing.
Also played a rollicking 4p game of Innovation that resulted in a come-from-behind winner per a dogma effect that was the result of a forced share action. Ahhhh, Innovation.
Also played a rollicking 4p game of Innovation that resulted in a come-from-behind winner per a dogma effect that was the result of a forced share action. Ahhhh, Innovation.
BattleMonkey
Member
So got Outbreak for Resident Evil... a bit underwhelming and lot of oddities. First off you have the strange new packaging which is a smaller box... yet inside it all the game content is in ANOTHER box. You got a box in a box. They even put foam in to keep the little box secure as it's smaller than the big one... ok whatever. So this smaller set instead of trays uses divider cards... for an expansion it's kinda strange also since well the cards take up like only 1/6th of the box so they are just going to flop around. Perhaps you can fit all the cards from the past set in this one box now? Sure, but great, I don't got dividers for those cards. They did include token sheets this time around for health which has always been a silly that the game didn't come with them... but hey once again... wtf they are in quantities of 20 only... when various things in game do damage in other amounts than 20 making the counters kind of pointless to me. Other counters have different amounts but seem to be for infection tracking but one can just use em all for health.
The rulebook though, is the only thing that doesn't fit into this new little box. Like Alliance set, you get the full rules... again with the book which is another oddity as it's sold as a pure expansion. Course many of the cards are designed to work with the new Outbreak mode so in a way it almost works best to keep it separate and this would be a stand alone set almost if they just included the standard resource cards (got full rules, has dividers for the standard resource). The card artwork used is pretty horrible too... most of it has been meh and taken from Capcom artworks or in game hodge podge stuff, but this set is full of nasty looking screen shot cards that are very blurry, and one of which I have no idea what I'm looking at.
The new Outbreak mode is kinda neat as it basically creates a timed game experience. Players who don't attack infected players or go into the mansion will get infected cards. When a player reaches 10 infections, they die and become an infected player who can attack and be attacked by other players and some new rules to follow. For the most part the game plays the same outside of having the timed aspect and players directly attacking one another. Lot of the cards as mentioned have effects that are related to the infection mechanic so if your not playing outbreak mode, lot of this will be useless. So once again we get a completely new Mansion deck included with this set with tons of monsters with infection related effects basically making them not good for mixing with other sets.
Pretty crappy set it seems after what seemed like decent first two.
The rulebook though, is the only thing that doesn't fit into this new little box. Like Alliance set, you get the full rules... again with the book which is another oddity as it's sold as a pure expansion. Course many of the cards are designed to work with the new Outbreak mode so in a way it almost works best to keep it separate and this would be a stand alone set almost if they just included the standard resource cards (got full rules, has dividers for the standard resource). The card artwork used is pretty horrible too... most of it has been meh and taken from Capcom artworks or in game hodge podge stuff, but this set is full of nasty looking screen shot cards that are very blurry, and one of which I have no idea what I'm looking at.
The new Outbreak mode is kinda neat as it basically creates a timed game experience. Players who don't attack infected players or go into the mansion will get infected cards. When a player reaches 10 infections, they die and become an infected player who can attack and be attacked by other players and some new rules to follow. For the most part the game plays the same outside of having the timed aspect and players directly attacking one another. Lot of the cards as mentioned have effects that are related to the infection mechanic so if your not playing outbreak mode, lot of this will be useless. So once again we get a completely new Mansion deck included with this set with tons of monsters with infection related effects basically making them not good for mixing with other sets.
Pretty crappy set it seems after what seemed like decent first two.
Ugg, I would kill to go
Stupid wedding in Taos took my vacation time.
In other news, I'm re-reading the LOTR (been way too long) and have resolved that I will buy War of the Ring and the new card game.
My complete nerd rage at Middle-Earth had died in the 15 years since my last read-through and it has come roaring back into a full on nerdgasm.
Stupid wedding in Taos took my vacation time.
In other news, I'm re-reading the LOTR (been way too long) and have resolved that I will buy War of the Ring and the new card game.
My complete nerd rage at Middle-Earth had died in the 15 years since my last read-through and it has come roaring back into a full on nerdgasm.
platypotamus
Member
StoOgE said:
Almost did that last night when I stumbled into a game shop after a few drinks... but it was $70 and I hadn't drank THAT much
Hey guys, I have not kept up with boardgames lately but Spiel 2011 is coming up! I don't know yet if I will go, but I would like to be up to date. I looked at some of the games and 2 seem interesting and I just wanted to hear your guy opinions on them:
Elder Sign: Well I like coop games and love the Cthulhu mythos. I would like to play Arkham Horror but I don't think I can convince anyone to play that with me. Might this be a good choice AND actually a good game?
Panic Station: Coop again! I like the idea of it being pretty much a boardgame of "The Thing" which is one of my favorite films ever. Also doesn't seem to be too complicated to get people to actually play with me.
If you guys any other new stuff I should maybe check out just let me know.
Elder Sign: Well I like coop games and love the Cthulhu mythos. I would like to play Arkham Horror but I don't think I can convince anyone to play that with me. Might this be a good choice AND actually a good game?
Panic Station: Coop again! I like the idea of it being pretty much a boardgame of "The Thing" which is one of my favorite films ever. Also doesn't seem to be too complicated to get people to actually play with me.
If you guys any other new stuff I should maybe check out just let me know.
timetokill
Banned
Finally got Dunwich Horror!
We got killed by Cthurgha but the Dunwich Horror never showed himself. Oh well. I told the guys that we were never going to kill the AO if he spawned, but they didn't believe me.
If I get a big group I'll probably end up stacking Dunwich with Innsmouth and seeing what happens
We got killed by Cthurgha but the Dunwich Horror never showed himself. Oh well. I told the guys that we were never going to kill the AO if he spawned, but they didn't believe me.
If I get a big group I'll probably end up stacking Dunwich with Innsmouth and seeing what happens
UpperCaseN
Member
I ordered and received a lesser known, foreign card game last week, got 2 plays in and loving it. It's a 2-player, Polish card game called Zombiaki 2, has anyone heard of it? It was mentioned for like 2 seconds on the Dicetower podcast, but it was explained as Plants vs. Zombies the card game, which is what got my attention.
It plays just like PvZ, except instead of plants you play as humans behind a barricade and it takes place in Moscow so everything has a Russian flavor to it. It plays on a 5x3 grid, so 3 lanes with 5 steps between the Zombie spawn area (cemetery) and the human barricade. Zombies win if they can get a Zombie into the barricade area, Humans win if they can survive until the Zombie player draws their last card (dawn). Most of the Zombies move 1 space forward per turn, but there are some specials that can move sideways, or even 2 spaces. There's action type cards too, that allow spawns on a different row for a turn, etc. Humans are usually using gunfire cards, but they also have trucks they can drive down an entire lane to clear it.
Played it twice with 2 Human wins each time, but loads of fun and each game intense! Just like any card game, it can come down to luck of the draw, but what you can control is strategy and how you play what when. I can see it getting old since there are only the 2 decks, but I guess the variety comes from playing each side which are very different. Thumbs up from me since I adore Plants vs Zombies. There's an issue with the printing though, 1 of the Zombie cards is in German instead of English. You can find the english card on BGG and print it out.
It plays just like PvZ, except instead of plants you play as humans behind a barricade and it takes place in Moscow so everything has a Russian flavor to it. It plays on a 5x3 grid, so 3 lanes with 5 steps between the Zombie spawn area (cemetery) and the human barricade. Zombies win if they can get a Zombie into the barricade area, Humans win if they can survive until the Zombie player draws their last card (dawn). Most of the Zombies move 1 space forward per turn, but there are some specials that can move sideways, or even 2 spaces. There's action type cards too, that allow spawns on a different row for a turn, etc. Humans are usually using gunfire cards, but they also have trucks they can drive down an entire lane to clear it.
Played it twice with 2 Human wins each time, but loads of fun and each game intense! Just like any card game, it can come down to luck of the draw, but what you can control is strategy and how you play what when. I can see it getting old since there are only the 2 decks, but I guess the variety comes from playing each side which are very different. Thumbs up from me since I adore Plants vs Zombies. There's an issue with the printing though, 1 of the Zombie cards is in German instead of English. You can find the english card on BGG and print it out.
So at game night last night played a 2P game of Innovation, which was awesome -- stole victory from the jaws of defeat (one action away) by playing a card that forced me and my opponent to draw, meld, and play a 10, mine which was Genetics i.e. the only card in the game that was going to result in me winning.
Also played a 6P game of LNOE. Never played LNOE with 6 but I figured NBD. Turns out it was crazy intense and long (2+ hours). Almost felt like Arkham Horror in a bad way. Also, weirdly, we were playing Escape in the Truck and just wrecking the poor Heroes. I think we killed five by the time they cried uncle. Really weird game. I still love LNOE, but I don't think I'll be playing with 6 again.
Also played a 6P game of LNOE. Never played LNOE with 6 but I figured NBD. Turns out it was crazy intense and long (2+ hours). Almost felt like Arkham Horror in a bad way. Also, weirdly, we were playing Escape in the Truck and just wrecking the poor Heroes. I think we killed five by the time they cried uncle. Really weird game. I still love LNOE, but I don't think I'll be playing with 6 again.
BattleMonkey
Member
Isn't a game of LNOE supposed to end immediatly when 4 heroes die?
Steve Youngblood
Member
All the Innovation talk seriously has me considering it. I need more relatively short games at my disposal.
I had picked up Descent a few weeks ago, and was really looking forward to giving it a shot, as I'm a fan of dungeon crawls. However, before I got a chance to assemble a group for one last late-night nerdathon, my wife gave birth to our first son. So, that's been monopolizing our time. However, I have had a couple of opportunities for much shorter gaming, but that's just dominated by Magic as a go-to game.
So, Innovation is there. How are opinions shaking down on Elder Sign?
I had picked up Descent a few weeks ago, and was really looking forward to giving it a shot, as I'm a fan of dungeon crawls. However, before I got a chance to assemble a group for one last late-night nerdathon, my wife gave birth to our first son. So, that's been monopolizing our time. However, I have had a couple of opportunities for much shorter gaming, but that's just dominated by Magic as a go-to game.
So, Innovation is there. How are opinions shaking down on Elder Sign?
BattleMonkey
Member
Elder Sign is a good quick basically shrunk down version of Arkham Horror. Most games will be about an hour or so at most. Played through it several times and it's been pretty popular with our group. We used to love Arkham but it's become a chore to play and we got stuck in too many games that went on forever with no end.
I love Innovation. Probably play it with my wife 3-5 times/week which is unheard of for us for any game ever. Some people call it too random or chaotic (the 4p game can be pretty chaotic), but I find that almost all of these people have played it a handful of times at most. You can steamroll in Innovation but the game offers opportunities to be clever and get out of bad situations at almost every turn. Helps that it gives a fulfilling roller-coaster experience in less than an hour.Steve Youngblood said:
BattleMonkey
Member
StoOgE said:
The decks in the core set are legal out of the box.
BattleMonkey said:
Sweet. I'll probably go grab an expansion every few weeks from my FLGS to get "caught up". I'll probably also buy the special scenario now since it will be harder to get later I imagine.
Any word on making more threat trackers available for more players in the future?
I've never constructed a deck in a CCG or LCG, so I'm really looking forward to the meta-game a lot. I'll probably have 2-3 go to preconstructed decks at the ready for when friends want to play as well. I imagine lots of solo play will be had here.
BattleMonkey
Member
StoOgE said:
Using any tokens, dice, or just pencil/paper works well and cheap for more threat tracking
StoOgE said:
I had never constructed a deck before getting Wahammer: Invasion. Now I have 6 (one for each race) that I've put together and constantly tweak based on the plays I've gotten in with them. What's nice is with the people I play it with, I'm the only one buying/building so I get to revise decks based on how I think they do against each other. It has really added a whole new element to the game for me. I love it.
BattleMonkey
Member
Got in the Star Trek deck building game since it was pretty cheap and sounded like it could be interesting. Game seems kinda cool, have to try it out but really Bandai sucks at the quality of their games. Resident Evil has had real spotty cards with a bunch in recent sets using very blurry game images, and now with Star Trek you got alot of cards with images that look like they were ripped off VHS copies of TNG episodes. Card image quality is wildy inconsistent with some looking great while others being blurry as if off an old cable broadcast.
BattleMonkey
Member
So tell me about Dominion Alchemy.. why is it so hated on? Is it really that bad? Does it have cards that are worth it while dropping/ignoring the bad?
Well my short stint with Bandai games, yea they suck balls. I don't think the games are bad but they have always had shit quality control. With the Star Trek games, just the look and design of the cards are so bad, lot of stupid design choices that make just reading the cards basic features hard to do. I used to do editing for their english version of the Gundam War card game and they literally had Japanese translators whose english was awful creating tons of engrish and wrongly translated game effects. They were always rushing to get the printing from China done so any fixes to the cards sent in would often get done or badly. One of the edits I did on a card ended up getting put on the card... repeated right after the original engrish translation so you had a card that repeated itself... just the 2nd time it was in better english.
AstroLad said:
Well my short stint with Bandai games, yea they suck balls. I don't think the games are bad but they have always had shit quality control. With the Star Trek games, just the look and design of the cards are so bad, lot of stupid design choices that make just reading the cards basic features hard to do. I used to do editing for their english version of the Gundam War card game and they literally had Japanese translators whose english was awful creating tons of engrish and wrongly translated game effects. They were always rushing to get the printing from China done so any fixes to the cards sent in would often get done or badly. One of the edits I did on a card ended up getting put on the card... repeated right after the original engrish translation so you had a card that repeated itself... just the 2nd time it was in better english.
- Status