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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)

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Switters

Member
So how awesome is Merchants and Marauders? Crazy awesome, that's how much. I absolutely crushed it last night while playing as a Merchant.

That was my impression, playing as a merchant. A lot of fun and if you're careful, not a whole lot of fights. The thing that made my group put it down was that everyone wanted to be pirates. That slowed the game down considerably when the board was filled with a.i. boats. There would be three or four battles in a row with endless dice rolling. I loved it otherwise. Best in theme IMHO. I wish there were more games like it or an expansion for M&M.
 

MichaelBD

Member
Last night we played Lords of Vegas and I had some killer luck behind me. I almost triggered the auto-victory because I was nailing every break the game could offer. My final score was one tick away from the auto-victory--by far the highest point total in the dozen or so plays we've put into it.

How lucky was I?

-If I renovated from one color to the next then the new color would come out within the next draw or two from the deck.

-I had one 8 block casino where I had 3 dice (and was boss) and another player had 5. He re-orged at least 4 times and couldn't oust me as the boss (I won one re-org with a 4 as my high die value). This casino was purple and at the start of the game (where players get two cards/lots as a starting position) there were no purples. This casino grew quick and early and by the time the End Game card was pulled all 9 of the purple cards had already been drawn.

-I had a lone die in a brown casino where my opponent had 4 die. I paid to re-org and ended up taking it over. Next card draw was brown.

It was to the point where it was embarrassing and I was feeling bad for the other players. But it was also awesome. I could do no wrong. Such a great game (even without my lucky streak).
 

Staccat0

Fail out bailed
I'm sorry but your friends sound kind of unreasonable. It's fine to play a big game that'll accommodate everyone at the beginning and/or the end of the night, but it makes more sense to split into different groups once you have 6 or more. Teaching shouldn't matter either, as long as one group play something they are familiar with.

I don't really know how it makes them unreasonable... They can be reasoned with. they just prefer to play together, and I wish we played more hardcore games. It would be unreasonable for me to force everyone else to accommodate me IMO.
 
Last night we played Lords of Vegas and I had some killer luck behind me. I almost triggered the auto-victory because I was nailing every break the game could offer. My final score was one tick away from the auto-victory--by far the highest point total in the dozen or so plays we've put into it.

How lucky was I?

-If I renovated from one color to the next then the new color would come out within the next draw or two from the deck.

-I had one 8 block casino where I had 3 dice (and was boss) and another player had 5. He re-orged at least 4 times and couldn't oust me as the boss (I won one re-org with a 4 as my high die value). This casino was purple and at the start of the game (where players get two cards/lots as a starting position) there were no purples. This casino grew quick and early and by the time the End Game card was pulled all 9 of the purple cards had already been drawn.

-I had a lone die in a brown casino where my opponent had 4 die. I paid to re-org and ended up taking it over. Next card draw was brown.

It was to the point where it was embarrassing and I was feeling bad for the other players. But it was also awesome. I could do no wrong. Such a great game (even without my lucky streak).
Lords of Vegas is so underrated it's criminal. Every person I've played the game with loves it and I've even gotten a couple people to buy it after they played my copy.
 
played 2 games last night, 3 players

1st was Elder Sign: Most players I've ever had, the other 2 this was their 1st time and 1 of the guys is not a gamer, so we played it straight with no variant rules. Thank goodness because we nearly lost; any difficulty variant would have made it a slaughter. We fought Yig and he actually woke up; there was a card that added 2 doom tokens at midnight that we didn't notice, so we didn't think to complete that task before midnight. 2 of us got devoured when Yig woke, it was just 1 guy who fought him but luckily he was prepared; it came down to the last few rolls and he beat him.

2nd was Dungeon Run: I read the manual but did not have a chance to test it, but they didn't mind and wanted to help me try it out. The first half we all split up. Encountered a few monsters that could only be beaten by 2, and we ran through the dungeon tiles really fast; so fast that no one had really leveled up or gotten items. We realized that we were probably supposed to stick together for that part, but the boss was on the map so whatever. We stumbled through fighting the boss, most of the damage he took resulted in the hero being KO'ed as well. Towards the final hit point, things took a turn. The group went into "I have to win the game" mode, so we became much more sneaky and suspicious of each other. 1 guy got the Summoning Stone and his special ability was able to zap me dead, but it was great because the endgame felt so damn dangerous. "It's every man for himself, stay away from me!" kind of mentality. The dungeon exploring was so-so, maybe because we didn't stick together at all, but the endgame was all sorts of awesome. I will definitely try to get this to the table again, that's for sure.
 

besada

Banned
Played Gears of War board game last night. I didn't think much of it. It's near the same space as Tannhauser, which (rules version kerfuffle aside) does a much better job. I did think Gears did a good job of making you feel like you were going to get fucked constantly, but the mechanics are weak and often vague and the setup not only takes too long, but requires you to hand sort through big decks of cards to pull out only certain cards to make more decks. At one point I had something like twelve different stacks of cards all over the table.
 
played 2 games last night, 3 players

1st was Elder Sign: Most players I've ever had, the other 2 this was their 1st time and 1 of the guys is not a gamer, so we played it straight with no variant rules. Thank goodness because we nearly lost; any difficulty variant would have made it a slaughter. We fought Yig and he actually woke up; there was a card that added 2 doom tokens at midnight that we didn't notice, so we didn't think to complete that task before midnight. 2 of us got devoured when Yig woke, it was just 1 guy who fought him but luckily he was prepared; it came down to the last few rolls and he beat him.

2nd was Dungeon Run: I read the manual but did not have a chance to test it, but they didn't mind and wanted to help me try it out. The first half we all split up. Encountered a few monsters that could only be beaten by 2, and we ran through the dungeon tiles really fast; so fast that no one had really leveled up or gotten items. We realized that we were probably supposed to stick together for that part, but the boss was on the map so whatever. We stumbled through fighting the boss, most of the damage he took resulted in the hero being KO'ed as well. Towards the final hit point, things took a turn. The group went into "I have to win the game" mode, so we became much more sneaky and suspicious of each other. 1 guy got the Summoning Stone and his special ability was able to zap me dead, but it was great because the endgame felt so damn dangerous. "It's every man for himself, stay away from me!" kind of mentality. The dungeon exploring was so-so, maybe because we didn't stick together at all, but the endgame was all sorts of awesome. I will definitely try to get this to the table again, that's for sure.

Dungeon Run is fun and light, but did wish it lasted longer before the boss showed up. It never feels like you can really ever level up as much as you want, and often seems like one or two players get screwed and don't get to level just out of pure luck. I had one game where I essentially just wandered around never finding anything and when the boss came I had accumulated no loot or lvl ups. At least I was not considered a threat and nearly won because of it though heh.

Played Gears of War board game last night. I didn't think much of it. It's near the same space as Tannhauser, which (rules version kerfuffle aside) does a much better job. I did think Gears did a good job of making you feel like you were going to get fucked constantly, but the mechanics are weak and often vague and the setup not only takes too long, but requires you to hand sort through big decks of cards to pull out only certain cards to make more decks. At one point I had something like twelve different stacks of cards all over the table.

I hate Tannhauser so I don't really see the comparisons, as I really enjoyed Gears of War. The rules are initially vague but once we got it on the table and read the components, it all made sense. It's been a big hit with us. Set up isn't that bad compared to most FFG games, especially coming from Mansions of Madness recently which is some of the worst set up times I've seen in a while.
 
Dungeon Run is fun and light, but did wish it lasted longer before the boss showed up. It never feels like you can really ever level up as much as you want, and often seems like one or two players get screwed and don't get to level just out of pure luck. I had one game where I essentially just wandered around never finding anything and when the boss came I had accumulated no loot or lvl ups. At least I was not considered a threat and nearly won because of it though heh.

that sounds like exactly what happened to all 3 of us. I wonder if we should just play all tiles instead of the amount per player as specified by the rules.
 
that sounds like exactly what happened to all 3 of us. I wonder if we should just play all tiles instead of the amount per player as specified by the rules.

Game also mentions getting a 2nd set of the game for double the tiles. We liked that idea as it would make the game longer but then of course... having to buy a 2nd set. I do hope that it just gets some expansions as I kinda not been feeling like buying a 2nd set for the game. Even with all tiles the game goes by quick since each player added just explores stuff faster. It's supposed to be light and fast game, which it's good at, but would like a little bit more length added before the backstabbing begins
 

Dreavus

Member
Are there any impressions on Yomi that I missed here? I am a big fighting game fan, and the game looks like it's right up my alley... but a few more impressions couldn't hurt! Heard good things about it so far. The price tag is a bit daunting but I honestly don't mind paying that much if the game is good.
 
Are there any impressions on Yomi that I missed here? I am a big fighting game fan, and the game looks like it's right up my alley... but a few more impressions couldn't hurt! Heard good things about it so far. The price tag is a bit daunting but I honestly don't mind paying that much if the game is good.

you can try it online at the official site

http://www.fantasystrike.com/game/index.php

you don't even need to make an account. I like the idea of the game but ultimately passed on it; something like this would never hit the table with my game group. too many players
 

Omikron

Member
Ok guys, I am relying on you to make some good suggestions!

Currently looking for a new game to play with the wife, we played a bit of Talisman recently at a friends and thought it was alright and she seems to want a copy, I was just wondering if there are other similar style light rpg style games out there.

Basically we would need something that takes <2 hours to play, suitable for 2 players etc etc and can be played on a coffee table sized table.

:)
 

Neverfade

Member
Ok guys, I am relying on you to make some good suggestions!

Currently looking for a new game to play with the wife, we played a bit of Talisman recently at a friends and thought it was alright and she seems to want a copy, I was just wondering if there are other similar style light rpg style games out there.

Basically we would need something that takes <2 hours to play, suitable for 2 players etc etc and can be played on a coffee table sized table.

:)

Runebound > Talisman.

Death to roll-and-move.
 

XShagrath

Member
Got any suggestions?
Dungeon-crawly games that are good for two are a little hard to come by. Runebound (as Neverfade suggested) might work out well for you. It's got lots of monsters and loot and the like. Mage Knight is an awesome fantasy game, but won't work on a coffee table. That one needs lots of room.

Claustrophobia and Earth Reborn are both great games, but I don't think they really fit in with the "dungeon crawler" motif, as there's really not much of the "slay monsters to get loot" type of thing going on. Definitely worth looking into though, if you want to stray from your original theme.
 

Omikron

Member
Dungeon-crawly games that are good for two are a little hard to come by. Runebound (as Neverfade suggested) might work out well for you. It's got lots of monsters and loot and the like. Mage Knight is an awesome fantasy game, but won't work on a coffee table. That one needs lots of room.

Claustrophobia and Earth Reborn are both great games, but I don't think they really fit in with the "dungeon crawler" motif, as there's really not much of the "slay monsters to get loot" type of thing going on. Definitely worth looking into though, if you want to stray from your original theme.

Feel free to extend theme to "2 player games with a fantasy theme" if you want. Really probably after something with a bit of character progression / customisation.

Understand that is a bit vague perhaps but I am pretty open to suggestions even if it makes it harder for me to decide. There are just SO many games out there atm.
 
Runebound takes way longer than 2 hours though, even with one of the quicker leveling variants. Mage Knight doesn't take any less time, but I find the gameplay much more satisfying. Runebound might have the edge in the customization aspect though.
 

Keasar

Member
Anyone have any experience of Warhammer Invasion? I saw a mention of it on RockPaperShotgun and thought it sounded interesting.
 

Switters

Member
Feel free to extend theme to "2 player games with a fantasy theme" if you want. Really probably after something with a bit of character progression / customisation.

You want Super Dungeon Explore. Just set aside a couple of hours to assemble the minis.

Earth Reborn is a pretty deep small arms tactical combat simulation with some fluff thrown on top. It's definitely not an open and play title.
 
Tried Conquest of Nerath yesterday. Seems like a nicely build product, the rules are kind of light, but I don't always trust the guy who taught us to teach us rules right.... don't know if others have to deal with this kind of thing. Always feel like I got to check the rulebook when hes teaching us anything. Constantly during the game I would be like "that doesn't seem right", and he would look up a rule and be like... "oh yea...."

Game though is basically just a spiffy RISK type of game.

Anyone have any experience of Warhammer Invasion? I saw a mention of it on RockPaperShotgun and thought it sounded interesting.

It's a pretty good game that feels very fluffy to the universe. It has lot of standard CCG mechanics though is heavily focused on combat with a little bit of kingdom building in it as your playfield is split into different areas. As long as you go in knowing it's basically a CCG style game and not a stand alone board game, you should enjoy it.
 

Neverfade

Member
I'll be visiting my designer buddy I mentioned recently the weekend after next. In addition to his game I'll be playing, he's also having over Stephen Glenn, the designer of Balloon Cup, etc and Brad Fuller, a guy who designed a game called Pressure Point and we will be playtesting some of their new designs apparently. Pretty cool.
 
I'm so pumped about the just-announced World of Warcraft Monopoly and Starcraft Risk!

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/4452528/World_of_Warcraft_Monopoly®_and_StarCraft_Risk®-2_10_2012

F5382MSOJQZL1328917420781.jpg


42GGHADF7ONB1328917727975.jpg
 
Oh I'm sorry, I read "Newcomer Friendly" in the thread title. Guess I'll be going now.
Hang around! Learn about other, cool board games. I can understand disdain for the cold responses, but just know that among board game enthusiasts, Risk and Monopoly aren't regarded very highly. But, most of us started there and if you're excited for them, then rock on! And look into other games while you're at it.
 

ultron87

Member
WoW Monopoly? How does that even make sense? Starcraft Risk, sure. I mean, it's all about conflict. But what the hell are you even buying in WoW Monopoly?

Man.

I'd assume it'd just be cities from the game.

I just want to know what Boardwalk and Park Place are. I assume it'd have to be some of the capital cities. Do you go Stormwind + Orgrimmar or do you go with the high level neutral cities like Dalaran and Shattrath? Or maybe even Ice Crown Citadel or something.
 

Xater

Member
Item sets maybe?

I'd assume it'd just be cities from the game.

I just want to know what Boardwalk and Park Place are. I assume it'd have to be some of the capital cities. Do you go Stormwind + Orgrimmar or do you go with the high level neutral cities like Dalaran and Shattrath? Or maybe even Ice Crown Citadel or something.

If that's the case I would consider my idea already cooler with actual potential for new rules. ;)
 
Hang around! Learn about other, cool board games. I can understand disdain for the cold responses, but just know that among board game enthusiasts, Risk and Monopoly aren't regarded very highly. But, most of us started there and if you're excited for them, then rock on! And look into other games while you're at it.

Gotcha, thanks!
 

LProtag

Member
Gotcha, thanks!

Look into the Game of Thrones board game. Considering your avatar you might like it as it has a lot of that backstabbing diplomacy feel from the books.

Then again you need to get 5-6 people together for a pretty complex game that could take up to 6 hours...
 

Artadius

Member
Oh I'm sorry, I read "Newcomer Friendly" in the thread title. Guess I'll be going now.

Let us start with one of the very first lines of the OP.

I. What is modern board gaming?
Let's start out with what it isn't: It isn't Monopoly, Clue, Risk, Scrabble, or any of the countless crappy licensed TV/movie tie-ins (except Battlestar Galactica).

So while discussion is free to happen on games like that here... that is a two way street. When you post your excitement for those types of games, you're going to get a few jibs and jabs about it. Grow some thicker skin. You'll need it if you're going to play boardgames anyways.
 

besada

Banned
Gotcha, thanks!

Nothing wrong with enjoying Monopoly and Risk if you haven't been introduced to other board games. Might I suggest Ticket to Ride, which is friend and family friendly, yet considerably more exciting than Monopoly? If you don't want to plunk down forty bucks to try it out, but you have an iPhone or iPad, the app versions of the game make a good trial for the real thing.

Welcome to the board game thread, by the way.

Edit: On a side note, Balloon Cup is the most vicious game ever. It seems so pretty and friendly, until you're sitting there with a hand full of sevens and your opponent is cramming tens into your three-holes.
 

cozo

Member
had our first BGC last night. all the chat beforehand was about playing scrabble, monopoly etc so I was dreading it, knowing that those games are largely p.boring

played one (interminable) game of scrabble and then I taught everyone ticket to ride. went down really well!

hopefully people are hooked on that now which will mean no more scrabble etc. and can use it as a springboard to other euro/ameri games

edit: got citadels coming in the post... hopefully that's good

finished the night with a couple of games of king of tokyo. heaps of fun that game!!
 
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