Good to know.
That's kind of in line with what I've heard, but it sounds like you can still have fun even if you get bad draws.
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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
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Good to know.
That's kind of in line with what I've heard, but it sounds like you can still have fun even if you get bad draws.
Doublethink
Banned
You could also try Railways of the World. None of my friends are really into brainburners but they picked up on this one easily enough. The Mexico map kind of sucks though so you'll 5-6 players to be able to play the Eastern US map properly.
Ditto on the recommendation. The Railways of New England expansion even has a ruleset that adds stock mechanic which is very reminiscent of 18xx.
I love 18xx, somtimes would play a game that last 2-3 days. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
Anyone here backing Zombicide (not Zpocalypse) on Kickstarter?
They updated the stretch goals (which were not really interesting so far) and it's worth having a look at.
They updated the stretch goals (which were not really interesting so far) and it's worth having a look at.
I'm considering this one. I like the artwork look of it a lot more. It's a bit cleaner looking, and I like the mini's designs. I need to read up more on how easily the zombies control. One of the issues that caused me to get rid of LNOE is that the zombie player was too confusing for new players to take on, and if I played the zombie it meant it was me against new players.. so the idea of the board controlled zombies is appealing since I could "run" them for the group.
I'm really not a fan of the stretch goals + pledge level combo to get everything, I just think it is *way* too confusing. For example with this game you have to pledge at the 100 dollar level to get stretch rewards, but higher levels seem to get you other things... and then you have to read earlier pledge levels to figure out what is included at your pledge level.
Projects really need to streamline the pledge levels so I can tell what I'm actually getting with the copy.
One thing that I am starting to find really interesting is the ways in which foreign producers are getting into kickstarter.
I don't know exactly how they did it, but the designers are French. There is another game called wrong chemistry going up soon that is a European company.
I'm guessing they are forming US based entities who are then running the kickstarter campaign since they can take Amazon payments with a W9 for the US based pass through entitiy.
Either that or they aren't being that clever and just have someone stateside taking the payment and mailing it to them.
It's really brilliant, because games just wilt on indiegogo.
How zombies control is explained here.
Yeah it's indeed a bit confusing. Maybe stretch goals were not thought of by Kickstarter when they started this. But anyway, regarding Zombicide it's pretty simple, every pledge from Abomination and higher gets you all the stretches and that's all there is to it.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Zombicide is very pretty but I'm not sure about the gameplay. I don't know if I need yet another co-op game. I like the fact you level up your character and the noise mechanic is interesting. I'm on the fence, especially since the price point is around $100.
I will get their back on that one.
Mini's in small quantities are super fucking expensive.
Like, insanely expensive. Take whatever you think and double it.
I think it was a good call on their part. The kickstarter zombie board game market is pretty saturated, you need to stand out. It and Zpocalypse are bringing the goods in production quality.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I know why it's expensive and that doesn't bother me. I'm more thinking, "Do I need to spend $100 on another co-op game."
I'm not disagreeing with you there $100 is a high price point for a game that I haven't played yet. Just saying I understand why it's that high
Emerson
May contain jokes =>
Zpocalypse vs Zombicide has definitely been a question for me recently. The minis are definitely nice and I do like the art of Zombicide better but I think the gameplay seems better the other way around. Zpocalypse also seems to have more variety of environment (but less variety of weapons, etc), and unquestionably has the better stretch goals IMO.
I'd certainly enjoy reading others' thoughts on it though as I still have a few days to decide.
I'd certainly enjoy reading others' thoughts on it though as I still have a few days to decide.
Yeah, the whole thing regarding different pledge levels and stretch goals turned me off to the point of not even wanting to back the project anymore. It's really dumb. Set one base level with the game and then everyone gets the extra stuff, that's how it should be. I refuse to support any project that does it like this.
I didn't see this one before... I'm loving the look and the mechanics don't seem half bad either. The minis look pretty good as well. I haven't backed a kickstarter before, but I'm halfway tempted here. I'm going to think it over tonight and maybe pull the trigger tomorrow if I can convince my wife I need more plastic zombie co-op games.
ohh tell me more. looks cool in the 2 minutes i had before leaving work
About Ghost Stories? It's a 1-4p co-op where you're defending a village against ghosts attacking from all sides (each player takes a side basically in a 4p game) with your players who each have special powers. Even on the easiest difficulty it's tougher than Pandemic (which is itself reasonably tough) and it only gets worse from there. It has die rolling and a generally stronger sense of ownership over your character, which is why it's my favorite co-op atm.
Sounds pretty tough, so what are the mechanics just mostly die rolls? I'll look more into it
I finally sat down with Manhattan Project last weekend. That game was good, good fun. We (like most, I'm assuming) didn't make the most of the combat. We were all heads down trying to get our engines running so we could build our bombs. I won by a hair (the rest of my opponents could have built their last bomb in the same turn) so I'm assuming that one good attack could have foiled by chances.
Check it out if you haven't and dig on worker placement.
Check it out if you haven't and dig on worker placement.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Manhattan Project is pretty good. Did you play with the Nations expansion? It gives everybody one special power only they can use. We had one guy play as Russia and he was able to do the espionage action without placing on the board. He made good use of it and caused us to play more defensive. In the end he won, but barely. It actually was a pretty close game with everyone a turn or two off from winning.
We didn't play with the nations. I was the only player to use spying to great effect so Russia would have been really good for me. I know our aggressive player would have loved Japan. I think next time we'll let players chose one of the roles.
timetokill
Banned
Played Blood Bowl again last night. I suck at it
I was playing the Orcs, and I think I managed to get 3 tackles the entire time. I seriously kept missing tackles, even when rolling two dice. Incredibly poor luck. And of course if you aren't hitting guys you aren't doing shit as the orcs.
I was playing the Orcs, and I think I managed to get 3 tackles the entire time. I seriously kept missing tackles, even when rolling two dice. Incredibly poor luck. And of course if you aren't hitting guys you aren't doing shit as the orcs.
Wanted to get GAFs thoughts on backing levels for Tammany Hall. If you thought they were fair, etc. Please don't share this on BGG or anywhere, just trying to get some thoughts.
I want to keep the stretch goaling simple and not bog it down with specific reward levels or whatnot.
The MSRP is 60 dollars, so you are getting early release + goals + free shipping + small discount for kickstarting. Shipping is killing me (wooden bits!) so it's hard to do much better, especially international. It's also cheaper than the original Stratamax US copies which were 60 + shipping.
1 - thanks (mostly so people involved in bulk ordering can post in the comments)
55 - copy of games + all stretch goals (10 dollars extra for Canadians, 30 Eurpe, 40 WW)
105 - 2 copies + all stretch goals (15 dollars Canadian, 40 Eurpe, 50 WW)
200 - 4 copies + all strech goals (US only + 30 Canadian, no WW)
650 - 10 copies to Europe, Latin America, South America
750 - 10 copies to Asia, Pacific, Africa, Middle East
I want to keep the stretch goaling simple and not bog it down with specific reward levels or whatnot.
The MSRP is 60 dollars, so you are getting early release + goals + free shipping + small discount for kickstarting. Shipping is killing me (wooden bits!) so it's hard to do much better, especially international. It's also cheaper than the original Stratamax US copies which were 60 + shipping.
1 - thanks (mostly so people involved in bulk ordering can post in the comments)
55 - copy of games + all stretch goals (10 dollars extra for Canadians, 30 Eurpe, 40 WW)
105 - 2 copies + all stretch goals (15 dollars Canadian, 40 Eurpe, 50 WW)
200 - 4 copies + all strech goals (US only + 30 Canadian, no WW)
650 - 10 copies to Europe, Latin America, South America
750 - 10 copies to Asia, Pacific, Africa, Middle East
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Played Ghost Stories last night and holy shit is it ball crushingly difficult. I played with my wife and we only played one character each. Does it get a little easier with more players or is the game just that hard. Mind you we were even playing on the Introductory level and still got crushed.
I read some reviews of the game that explained they had played 40+ times and never won.
That scared me away.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Looks good to me. The only thing I think you might want to consider is offering the upgraded bits to people who already own the original game. Maybe a $10 level (I don't know your cost is for just the wood)? It gives incentive to people who already have a copy to back you as well. It can be for just the bits and no stretch rewards. Or bump up the price of "Bits only" and add in the rewards. Otherwise I think this looks fine. KISS is the best way to go with these things.
I think you'll get some pushback for the $55 price for game, but as you say, that's cheaper than what it cost originally (and is a bargain still compared to what it's sold on the secondary market recently).
A way for existing owners to get the upgraded "bits" might be useful.
The problem is at 50 dollars Im upside down until I have 1400 backers. Because of the amount of wood in this its going to cost a ton to ship it, even UPS ground in the US. Also, there are a ton of unproven games without any wooden bits going for 50-60 dollars, so hopefully 55 + free shipping will be enough to get people on board. I expect some pushback and the pricepoint, but the math just doesnt work out at any other level.
I'm also using THICK cardbboard for everything with linen embossing for the board and box. Which is driving up costs a bit, but again worth it IMO.
I want to do something for existing owners, but a lot of the upgrades are stretch goals. So, a 15 dollar pledge level for just the stretch goals/upgrade kit is a possibility, so long as people realize that the component upgrades dont all kick in until higher funding levels. Custom meeples aint cheap.
That may be the best way to do it. I can create a section called "existing owners" on the page and explain what the plan is. Once the first stretch goal is hit I can ad that support level in, and then people can back knowing that the reward level will get better as the games funding improves. There are only 500 owners of the game worldwide and about 100 in the US. So there shouldn't be *that* much demand for the upgrades, but I want to make sure everyone who owns the game can get them without having to plunk down 55 bucks.
Hell hath no fury like a board game player who can't get a promo item. I know I've gone scorched earth before over Essen promos I wanted but couldn't get for less than 50 bucks 2nd hand. In fact, I bought the Essen 2011 Power Grid promo for like 20 dollars on ebay. Just because I had every other promo card and didn't want to have less than everything for my favorite game.
It's rough. Are you playing with new intro rules? They give each player a black token as well as their regular one. With less than 4 the key is to use power tokens well -- remember that you can pick them all back up in one swoop.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Also I would stay away from the word "Exclusive". Unless you are only going to offer them to Kickstarters and Kickstarters only there is no need to add that word. People get their panties in a bunch if the "exclusive" is available later on.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Yup we are using a black token as well as our starting color token. The problem we were facing last night was the ghosts kept haunting tiles before we had a chance to exorcise them. Only having 3 tiles haunted before you lose is rough.
Novice requires 4 tiles I believe.
Yeah, not using it at all. I think it's misleading, and I can't say I'll never ever make any of it available at a convention or BGG or something.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Ah, that helps a bit. I must have missed that because in the end game section of the rulebook is mentions 3 tiles flip, game over. It actually might be in that table near the back of the book. I remember glancing over it but it didn't register with me that 4 tiles can flip before you lose.
Does it take anyone else a million years to play Robo Rally with even just 2 or 3 flags? My friends and I love the game, but christ does it eat up some time. I see the other flags in the box and imagine a game with 9 fucking flags... How would people even go about that?
With 8 people, we play with 1 flag
With 5 people, we play with 2 flags
With 3 people, we play with 3 flags
We've never used more than one board or one of the more complicated boards
With 8 people, we play with 1 flag
With 5 people, we play with 2 flags
With 3 people, we play with 3 flags
We've never used more than one board or one of the more complicated boards
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
8 people on one board is really tight. You should consider using two or three at that point. We usually play three flags with 5 or 6 and we are done in about 90 minutes. Are you guys using the sand timer at all? Remember you can move at the same time if you aren't next to each other. The program order number only really matters if there is going to be a collision.
You know... we do, but for a while we were using a house rule where we only started using the timer after someone got the first flag, so that people could learn the game without getting discouraged. These days we use the timer all the time, but I'm sure past experiences are coloring my opinion.
Now that I think of it though... Maybe it's the board thing. I always thought putting the flags further apart meant more time just farting around, but if you guys are getting it done in 90 minutes it makes me wonder if we're so crowded that we're crashing too much and it's slowing things down.
You ever think someone needs to "DM" or "referee" with 8 people? I've been thinking of doing that in the future because people get fucking confused, or impatient or lose their attention and shit gets out of whack. It helps to have some dude going "Conveyors... Gears... Lasers.... Next" but I worry that will slow things down too.
We do all move at once, but again, I'm wondering if the small board does more harm than good.
Thanks. I think we'll try it with a bigger board.
Mr. Lemming
Member
I'm probably going to pick up Zombicide and not Zpocalypse solely because Zombicide is pure cooperative and Zpocalypse is not. I had the chance to play Zpocalypse at PAX. It was enjoyable if not a little unbalanced. The resource management part is pretty cool, and I wish there was more of a focus on that rather than the skirmish combat. But since the focus of the game is on combat I'm going to go with the one that appears to be more streamlined and faster paced... and cooperative.
This is not something against you or the game, but boy do I hate international shipping costs. I would have backed some board games if it wan't for ridiculous shipping prices. To me it is kinda crazy that shipping something simple as a game can cost so much these days. Fucking postal companies...
Oh, I know it. I hate the fact that it's this expensive. It upsets backers and does cause bad blood. I'm actually eating a very good chunk of the costs, and the two bulk options are effectively neutral cost to me. Meaning I'm just trying to not lose money on those sales.
It's absolutely insane. Smaller box card games are actually really affordable to ship. Anything with size or weight and it's 50-60 bucks.
Yeah I noticed that when I shipped a game to Neverfade from Spiel. It was just a card game but the box was big so it was expensive as fuck. Like I said, this is not a dig against you or any other Kickstarter project. More something that pisses me off about postal services in general.
BomberMouse
Member
I feel you pain, the worse part is that you also have to pay taxes for the shipping when the packages arrives. A US$50 game ends up costing US$130.
games night this weekend... planning on bringing along the resistance. anyone got any tips on teaching this? the rules are so barebones I'm worried the reaction I'll get is "I don't get it. is that it?" is the best approach to just breeze through a couple of rounds? again I'd be worried people would just play down cards by rote and essentially let the game play itself. guess there's a lot responsibility on the person teaching to lead the accusations, deductions and conversations etc
it's not helped by the fact I've never actually played the game myself - just picked it up recently because it's so cheap and well regarded. not entirely sure I get it myself yet : / is the proof in the pudding?
going to try get some citadels, king of tokyo, and ticket to ride in too. keep it all nice, light and fun, with some mild 'fuck you' factored in for kicks
it's not helped by the fact I've never actually played the game myself - just picked it up recently because it's so cheap and well regarded. not entirely sure I get it myself yet : / is the proof in the pudding?
going to try get some citadels, king of tokyo, and ticket to ride in too. keep it all nice, light and fun, with some mild 'fuck you' factored in for kicks
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
The game's rules are pretty straight forward but can be confusing to people who aren't used to the hidden traitor mechanic. Basically you have two teams the blue team and the red team. The object of the game is be the first to score three points. The red team has infiltrated the blue team and the red team is the only team that knows who each other are while the blue team must figure out who to trust.
There is two rounds of voting, the first is open and that's when you pick your team the second is hidden and only done by the players you picked in the first vote. If the second vote has one fail vote then the mission fails and the red team gets a point. Rinse and repeat until one team has three points.
The idea with the game is that you don't know who to trust. One team may pass the mission but the next mission has you add one more player. Who do you trust? Do you keep the same people from the first mission and add another player at random? Do you add yourself? What if it fails and you are the only new guy? The game is more about the social aspect than it is the actual mechanics.
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
makes sense to me StoOge, and it'll be the first thing I ever kickstart board-game wise, so let's do it!
Ah, thanks for the response, I guess I'll have to skip it since most of my boardgaming happens in a group of 4-6 people. I'll probably get me cosmic encounter instead.
By the way, a new episode of the shut up and sit down show came out today. You know, one of the few boardgames reviewing shows that make boardgaming seem cool. http://www.shutupshow.com/post/21430876003/season-2-episode-3-the-show
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Thanks.Neverfade said:
I played BSG Express last night and color me impressed. It was a really good game that captures the BSG experience in about an hour. I had the print and play guy on BGG make me a copy and, while you can tell it's homemade, it looks a hell of a lot better than I would be able to pull off.
mediapulp_wes
Member
Ace of Spies, by Sprocket Games, has just launched on Kickstarter and is absolutely worth your investment. I've played a prototype with one of it's creator's, Michael Fox (Host of the Little Metal Dog Show), and I can vouch for both his and his game's awesomeness. Give the man your money...NOW!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1191798117/ace-of-spies
Ace of Spies
Ace of Spies is a card game of set collecting and sneakiness that comes from the minds of two first time designers, Michael Fox and Mark Rivera with playtesting and development by industry legend Richard Borg. Players take on the roles of spymasters, tasked with taking on missions and gathering the resources needed to complete them. The more complex a mission, the more specific your required resources will be but itll also be so much more valuable!
Sprocket Games
Michael Fox presents and produces The Little Metal Dog Show, a site and podcast that looks to talk to the people behind the games we love to play. He'll play pretty much anything that's thrown his way but when pushed he'll say his favourite game is Acquire. Or Summoner Wars. Or maybe Battlestar Galactica. He lives with his wife Steph and their fish, PG, and probably has more game ideas than is actually healthy.
A long time gamer, Mark is primarily a war gamer but also enjoys a wider range of games and is particularly fond of playing adventure, fantasy and science fiction games. He loves the social aspect of gaming and enjoys having a good laugh with friends whilst gaming. Mark posts game reviews on his blog, Boardgames in Blighty and is a regular contributor to the G*M*S* Magazine board game podcast.
PLEDGE $1 OR MORE
0 BACKERS
Agent 001 - Every dollar counts and we thank you for yours!
PLEDGE $40 OR MORE
9 BACKERS
Agent 002 - Copy of the game. Free shipping. Anywhere.
Estimated Delivery: Oct 2012
PLEDGE $65 OR MORE
3 BACKERS
Agent 003 - Copy of the game. Also receive an ePub book containing the art of Ace of Spies.
Estimated Delivery: Oct 2012
PLEDGE $100 OR MORE
3 BACKERS
Agent 004 - Copy of the game. ePub book. Send us a picture of yourself and choose any Agent card in the game. We will print a unique card with your likeness for that Agent and send it to you.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1191798117/ace-of-spies
Ace of Spies
Ace of Spies is a card game of set collecting and sneakiness that comes from the minds of two first time designers, Michael Fox and Mark Rivera with playtesting and development by industry legend Richard Borg. Players take on the roles of spymasters, tasked with taking on missions and gathering the resources needed to complete them. The more complex a mission, the more specific your required resources will be but itll also be so much more valuable!
Sprocket Games
Michael Fox presents and produces The Little Metal Dog Show, a site and podcast that looks to talk to the people behind the games we love to play. He'll play pretty much anything that's thrown his way but when pushed he'll say his favourite game is Acquire. Or Summoner Wars. Or maybe Battlestar Galactica. He lives with his wife Steph and their fish, PG, and probably has more game ideas than is actually healthy.
A long time gamer, Mark is primarily a war gamer but also enjoys a wider range of games and is particularly fond of playing adventure, fantasy and science fiction games. He loves the social aspect of gaming and enjoys having a good laugh with friends whilst gaming. Mark posts game reviews on his blog, Boardgames in Blighty and is a regular contributor to the G*M*S* Magazine board game podcast.
PLEDGE $1 OR MORE
0 BACKERS
Agent 001 - Every dollar counts and we thank you for yours!
PLEDGE $40 OR MORE
9 BACKERS
Agent 002 - Copy of the game. Free shipping. Anywhere.
Estimated Delivery: Oct 2012
PLEDGE $65 OR MORE
3 BACKERS
Agent 003 - Copy of the game. Also receive an ePub book containing the art of Ace of Spies.
Estimated Delivery: Oct 2012
PLEDGE $100 OR MORE
3 BACKERS
Agent 004 - Copy of the game. ePub book. Send us a picture of yourself and choose any Agent card in the game. We will print a unique card with your likeness for that Agent and send it to you.
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