Ah, no, just my laptop.
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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
- Thread starter AstroLad
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Ah, no, just my laptop.
LaserBuddha
Member
I'm pretty new to modern board games. I just played Talisman and liked it quite a bit. Before that I tried Arkham Horror and that was a terrible experience.
I'm looking to get a game of my own to share with my group. I'm interested in Super Dungeon Explore, but I'm worried they may not like it since it doesn't feel much like a "board" game. It may feel rather mindless to them if it's just generic RPG combat like it seems to be. "Zombicide" is another option along those lines, but I've read that it gets old, and I don't like that it doesn't scale to player count.
As you can tell I like games with minis and/or attractive components, in the FFG style. I will certainly be picking up Relic when it comes out. I can handle complexity but I don't want something with as many systems and components as Arkham Horror. Fantasy/sci-fi themes are a bonus.
Can anyone make a guess as to what else I might like?
I'm looking to get a game of my own to share with my group. I'm interested in Super Dungeon Explore, but I'm worried they may not like it since it doesn't feel much like a "board" game. It may feel rather mindless to them if it's just generic RPG combat like it seems to be. "Zombicide" is another option along those lines, but I've read that it gets old, and I don't like that it doesn't scale to player count.
As you can tell I like games with minis and/or attractive components, in the FFG style. I will certainly be picking up Relic when it comes out. I can handle complexity but I don't want something with as many systems and components as Arkham Horror. Fantasy/sci-fi themes are a bonus.
Can anyone make a guess as to what else I might like?
BattleMonkey
Member
Might want to try Descent
piratepwnsninja
Member
Descent is good. Asymmetrical in nature with one player playing the GM of sorts and the rest playing as heroes. Combat is dice-rolls though, and not entirely dissimilar from SDE.
Defenders of the Realm is a fun co-op game. Lots of minis. You play against the board trying to stop evil. Gets very hectic and is not easy to win. Nowhere near as much fiddly stuff going on as in Arkham Horror though.
If sci-fi is a plus, then Battlestar Galactica is quite good as well. Part co-op, but with the possibility of players secretly being Cylons that are trying to sabotage the win for the humans.
LaserBuddha
Member
Thanks for the suggestions guys.
Heading out tomorrow to print the trial version of the new BattleCON game (Devastation of Indines) coming out soon, which gives you 4 characters to mess with. The system seems very intriguing, and I'm kind of on an asymmetrical competitive game kick right now. I'm considering picking up War of Indines if I like how this one plays, but I'm really not a fan of the components/art (has a really inconsistent look IMO). The second one coming out seems to have tightened things up in that department though, so we'll see.
Has anyone played War of Indines? I'm a big fan of Yomi and Flash duel (although I haven't played the latter as much as I would have liked yet), and this almost seems like a combination of both in some ways. Really interested to see how it plays
Has anyone played War of Indines? I'm a big fan of Yomi and Flash duel (although I haven't played the latter as much as I would have liked yet), and this almost seems like a combination of both in some ways. Really interested to see how it plays
Just need to find someone who will give this a try with me... Might be a bit of a tough sell.
I am playing it right now on my iPad (its free and comes with 4 characters) and I would say I really like it. It feels much better than Yomi did and a lot closer to a board/cardgame version of fighting games. Considering to pledge for the Devestation of Indines box.
RaySpencer
Member
Eclipse is so good! I got a chance to play it a couple times over the holidays and wow is it awesome.
I found that alliances in the game kind of hurt the game play. You don't gain much other than the early free cube it seems. There isn't any trading, you can't move into or through their systems, you can't assist them in battles. It seems really limiting. But maybe in just missing something. Haha.
Do you guys have any recommendations for good house rules? Also are the two mini expansions worth picking up? I will probably try to get the big expansion asap, I'm just not sure if I should get the little ones.
I found that alliances in the game kind of hurt the game play. You don't gain much other than the early free cube it seems. There isn't any trading, you can't move into or through their systems, you can't assist them in battles. It seems really limiting. But maybe in just missing something. Haha.
Do you guys have any recommendations for good house rules? Also are the two mini expansions worth picking up? I will probably try to get the big expansion asap, I'm just not sure if I should get the little ones.
An early cube of your choice can be very useful in the right situations and it can be used to encourage your close neighbour to not attack you. It's about getting a breathing space from a direct assault & getting an early cube of your choice. Of course, too much of this & your game descends into nicey nicey Star Trek territory.
No house rules needed. Seriously. I've played this a bunch & nothing's came up that needs house ruled. The mini expansions are relatively minor - the second isn't available widely yet, it's coming to the BGG store soon. The big expansion's great - it's a grab bag of more techs, races, developments etc, and some new rules like proper alliances. Nothing /essential/ but fun.
BattleMonkey
Member
Yea diplomatic relations in Eclipse is often mainly for the deterrent of holding back an opponent. It's a nice simple system for diplomacy.
If you haven't checked out the expansion yet, you might want to do that before looking for house rules.
If you haven't checked out the expansion yet, you might want to do that before looking for house rules.
RaySpencer
Member
Yeah, don't get me wrong, early cubes can be awesome. I guess we haven't played enough games yet to start having people be traitors and stuff. So both our games had people start alliances early in the game, and then they would basically work together and plan stuff out as a team. Haha.
I guess I won't worry about house rules yet. I will just grab the expansions I can find and go from there.
I haven't tried it, but the turn-order house rule in Eclipse sounds like a good idea. You just need to keep track of the order in which each player passed in the current round, and make that the turn order for the next round. BGG discussion here.
Time to form your own alliance and CRUSH THEM.
RaySpencer
Member
Hmmm. Yeah. I'd want to have 5 more markers to keep track. Haha.
Edit: yeah. It's hard though since you can't assist in battles. And sometimes just getting across the board is hard. Either run out of money that round, or run out of rounds. Haha.
I'm going to either drop by the FLGS for some spare parts or use a white board when we play.
RaySpencer
Member
I'm going to either drop by the FLGS for some spare parts or use a white board when we play.
Oh fuck. White board near the gaming table is an awesome idea.
Yeah we have one of these suckers for the kids (whiteboard on back). I borrow it on occasion.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50021076/
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I've played with the variable turn order once and it worked. The only problem is you are constantly checking on whose turn it is but that's just a minor annoyance.
RaySpencer
Member
My local shop didn't have the eclipse expansion in stock. Now I must wait! Also the mini expansions are BGG only or what? That's what my guy says. Does BGG ship to Canada? Haha.
Edit: I nearly bought android netrunner instead. Maybe I will next time.
Edit: I nearly bought android netrunner instead. Maybe I will next time.
LaserBuddha
Member
Just watched a Youtube playthrough of Death Angel (Space Hulk card game).
It looks like a lot of fun, even for one player. Anyone have any experience?
It looks like a lot of fun, even for one player. Anyone have any experience?
BattleMonkey
Member
It's good game. Game is pretty simple too, the rulebook makes it seem more complex than it is really since it's like 32 page book for such a simplistic game. But once you learn it, it goes very smooth.
Be prepared to lose alot though as it's quite hard.
Got Agricola for Christmas and only yesterday did a friend and I FINALLY figure out how to play it (well, the family version at least). It took us the official instructions, unofficial instructions a 30 minute video and a few google searches.
Now that I understand it the game really isn't all that complicated. But holy god, it has by far the worst, least helpful instructions I've ever seen for a board game. Worse than Power Grid!
Now that I understand it the game really isn't all that complicated. But holy god, it has by far the worst, least helpful instructions I've ever seen for a board game. Worse than Power Grid!
AbsolutBro
Member
Board game GAF, I can finally join you!
I do have one question for you though. What are your thoughts on Fortune and Glory? It's by Flying Frog (whose games I love) but I hadn't really thought about it. It's not cheap (70 ish bucks on Amazon, normally 100!) but has a ton of parts (over 165 plastic pieces!) and I'm a big fan of adventure pulp. Last Night on Earth does a great job with Zombie movie tropes and A Touch of Evil is great for your horror themes. (I also like that it has both coop and competitive game play modes.) Is Fortune and Glory worth the price?
I do have one question for you though. What are your thoughts on Fortune and Glory? It's by Flying Frog (whose games I love) but I hadn't really thought about it. It's not cheap (70 ish bucks on Amazon, normally 100!) but has a ton of parts (over 165 plastic pieces!) and I'm a big fan of adventure pulp. Last Night on Earth does a great job with Zombie movie tropes and A Touch of Evil is great for your horror themes. (I also like that it has both coop and competitive game play modes.) Is Fortune and Glory worth the price?
Hahah yeah it's kinda funky. Being taught IRL is way better. To be fair it's quite a bit more complex than Power Grid (the real game, not the Family version which I actually don't recommend).
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
The game really doesn't open up until you add the cards into the mix. The family game fine to learn but after that you will want to add the cards in.
platypotamus
Member
Every time I say to myself I am not going to buy more games, I buy more games. Somebody help me!
ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Every time I say to myself I am not going to buy more games, I buy more games. Somebody help me!
I'll gladly help you break down those pesky barriers preventing you from buying more games.
MisterNugNug
Member
So I got Pandemic and my family got a real kick out of playing it. I'll be getting the expansion but now I want to get other games. I've been browsing for potential co-op games and the Cthulhu games look really interesting. But I'm torn between Elder Sign, Arkham Horror and MoM. Also Infiltration and Android sound really intriguing.
BomberMouse
Member
Well, you could choose by level of complexity
ES: Easy, cheap and fast
MoM and AH: Long, hard and fiddly (not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to board games
)Have you checked out Space Alert, Ghost Stories, Flash Point or the rest of the games on this page? http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2023/co-operative-play
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Elder Sign is an easier version of Arkham Horror. I actually like it a bit better as it doesn't take forever to set up and play. Mansions of Madness is fun but it's more of a All Vs. One game instead of a co-op. I do have to say the bummer with MoM is the setup time and it's prevented me from playing it a ton. As far as my favorite co-ops, I love Flash Point, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and BSG (Co-op with a hidden traitor element). Ghost Stories is hard as balls. Be pepared to get your ass kicked for your first half a dozen to a dozen games.
With Android, are you talking about Android the board game or Netrunner. Android the board game is an interesting mess. I got it to the table a few months back and while I did enjoy it I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. It's a pretty hardcore game that will have players doing really horrible things to each other. The bad thing with that is the game is a long one (it took us four hours to finish our game) and if you have a set back in a game like that it would potentially ruin a couple hours work. There are also so many things going on in the game that it feels messy. None of the mechanics really flow together and it can be confusing. That said, the story was a lot of fun. Everybody gets individual plot cards and seeing your characters evolve was neat to see.
Android: Netrunner is a good game. I like it but it's not something I would buy myself. Thankfully I have a guy in my group who owns the game and we will play it every once in awhile. The game is a card game where one player plays a hacker while the other plays a corporation. The two players play completely different and the asymmetrical nature of the game is interesting and what I like about it. The mechanics themselves are fine, typical card game stuff nothing too groundbreaking.
Same here, though I have never played it with other people.
Now that I think of it, I've never played any co-op game with other people. I love 'em solitaire-style, but prefer competitive games with others.Dammit, I suck. Took me like 25 tries to beat it.joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
So there are two things I really don't like about Agricola:
+The lack of an included storage solution. This seems easy enough to rectify - I'm going to swing by a crafts store and pick up a jewelry box or something.
+The lack of labelling.
This is tougher. I have the version with animeeples, so they're good. I can find farmer stickers on the internet I can buy to make the discs more fun. But I can't find anywhere I could buy labels for the resources. My only option is to buy labelling paper, download a PDF off of board game geek, buy a specialty hole punch and then take a painstaking amount of time and effort to carefully stick 100+ stickers I'd inevitably mess up somehow.
I would pay a decent amount of money for someone else to assemble a set like this - or at least send some pre-punched stickers.
Argh! What do?!
+The lack of an included storage solution. This seems easy enough to rectify - I'm going to swing by a crafts store and pick up a jewelry box or something.
+The lack of labelling.
This is tougher. I have the version with animeeples, so they're good. I can find farmer stickers on the internet I can buy to make the discs more fun. But I can't find anywhere I could buy labels for the resources. My only option is to buy labelling paper, download a PDF off of board game geek, buy a specialty hole punch and then take a painstaking amount of time and effort to carefully stick 100+ stickers I'd inevitably mess up somehow.
I would pay a decent amount of money for someone else to assemble a set like this - or at least send some pre-punched stickers.
Argh! What do?!
BomberMouse
Member
Buy Agricola: The Goodies
See but that replaces everything with giant ugly resource...meeples. Or whatever. Blech. They're giant compared to the original pieces. Wish there was an elegant solution.
The poor presentation / organization is my biggest peeve with Agricola so far. Maybe Pandemic (+ expansion) spoiled me.
Related questions: what are the games with the best presentation / production?
Wish I could get a copy of 1999 Acquire for a decent price
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
This. Comes with everything you would need, stickers, new wood pieces, couple of new decks, and new themed player boards.
BattleMonkey
Member
If presentation bothers you, you are going to miss out on a ton of great games.
Only bothers me when it's such a mess that it gets in the way of the game. I have the 1963 Acquire and I don't mind that it's bland...because it's also not a huge jumbled mess of pieces. It's easy to organize and keep track of.
It's pathetic that Agricola comes with enough baggies to separate everything out but they don't do it for you. Come ooooooooooon.
It's pathetic that Agricola comes with enough baggies to separate everything out but they don't do it for you. Come ooooooooooon.
Man I love all the art in Agricola, and thus its overall presentation. As to the bits, yeah I guess they're pretty dry but not bad at all -- they're wood for starters, which is nice for a euro with this theme.
Most games with lots of bits bag them in one giant set and you separate them out, but unlike Agricola most don't give you the bags to do it. Just wouldn't justify the labor cost is my take.
Most games with lots of bits bag them in one giant set and you separate them out, but unlike Agricola most don't give you the bags to do it. Just wouldn't justify the labor cost is my take.
BattleMonkey
Member
Most games are like Agricola, a mess in a box. Sorting pieces just raises the costs of games that most are not willing to bother with. Organizing your games is always a one time deal either way. But lot of games are far worse off than Agricola, and most don't come with baggies either at least to put your stuff into.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Man, I like sorting a game when I first get it. It makes you become familiar with the pieces. The only thing I don't like is stickering, but only because I suck at stickering.
BomberMouse
Member
Yep, punching chits is so relaxing. Stickering is the worst, I'm afraid of block wargames games because of this.
Has anyone here backed Pirates vs Dinosaurs yet on Kickstarter? Had my eye on this for a while, a bit confused what will happen if funding isn't met, will they not make the game? Not sure why I want this so much.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1649598142/pirates-vs-dinosaurs
If anyone can suggest me some new games for 2013 I'd be happy. Favorites are Ticket to Ride, Tikal, Survive, Revolution and Heckmeck (Pickomino)
Thanks!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1649598142/pirates-vs-dinosaurs
If anyone can suggest me some new games for 2013 I'd be happy. Favorites are Ticket to Ride, Tikal, Survive, Revolution and Heckmeck (Pickomino)
Thanks!
Owlowiscious
Member
If funding isn't met, you don't pay anything, don't get anything, and the people don't get anything.
I know that, I was just hoping/wondering if they'd find another way to finish it. Before this they did preorders on their site.
It's for idiots. Agricola without the cards is horrible. The cards MAKE the game.
BomberMouse
Member
I don't know if you own them already but there are always the classics, Blokus, Carcassonne, and Stone Age. Since most of the games you listed are somewhat light, enjoyable on big numbers and have a nice "screw you" factor I'd recommend:
- Lifeboats. 100% negotiation game it. People cry over this game.
- Quoridor. Neat little abstract game. Gets very chaotic with 4.
- Hey that's my fish!. Fast and fun.
- O Zoo le mio. Neat little blind bidding/zoo building game. Blind bidding is awesome when playing with 4 and someone ends up paying double than everyone else.
- For Sale. Best quick game for 4 to 6. Overpaying for that lousy dog house? priceless. Not playing the space station when everyone was expecting you to do it? priceless.
- Bottle Imp. Best trick taking game. It's incredible when you force someone to keep the bottle (and lose all their points).
Also, look into the TTR expansions, there are a ton of them.
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