Already out here in Germany and I bought it with the base game. I think it makes out of a good game a great game.
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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
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Already out here in Germany and I bought it with the base game. I think it makes out of a good game a great game.
PushingButtons
Member
Thanks! Defenders of the Realm seems to be pretty interesting
It's pretty fun. But VERY challenging. Be prepared to alter the AI structure with house rules or whatnot. The book rules are pretty brutal.
Not sure what "player interaction" you're referring to in Pandemic. Do you mean just talking i.e., games that encourage social interaction? If so, yeah co-ops are nice. Ghost Stories is my personal favorite.
Here are some good games I've played in the past year that encourage a lot of talking without being strict "party games":
-King of Tokyo
-The Resistance
-Survive!
-RoboRally
-Last Night on Earth
Here are some good games I've played in the past year that encourage a lot of talking without being strict "party games":
-King of Tokyo
-The Resistance
-Survive!
-RoboRally
-Last Night on Earth
Played my first game of Eclipse today with 2 other people. Took us about 3 hours with me explaining the rules. I really liked this game. It does indeed feel like a euro with combat thrown into the mix. I do think though that I have no need for the expansion. Doesn't seem like a must, there is enough going on in this game as it is. And like I said it also is way too expensive.
Yeah I can't justify ~$50 for an expansion when it will almost certainly not add as much to my collection as a separate new game would.
Exactly. The main game costing more than the average game is something I could understand. There is a lot of stuff in the box. The pricing for the expansion is just bonkers. I'd rather save the money and buy another game. It's not like I will get this game to the table all the time anyway.
Oh one thing I wasn't sure about is diplomacy. Do I have to use an influence action to suggest diplomatic relationships to someone?
Dipolomacy's a free action, like using colony ships. Once you're "connected" to someone, the two of you can agree to swap diplomats at any time essentially.
On the expansion front, I think it's a great expansion for fans. I love Eclipse. I adore Eclipse. The expansion gives me new alien races to play, new "toys" to use throughout the game, without drastically increasing the complexity or time to play. The box is filled with cardboard + plastic. So it works for me. I've got three games in with it since Christmas.
Oooooh that is good to know. Thanks! it was kind of unclear because it seemed in the rules like it was part of the influence section.
Yeah more stuff is good, but in this game I feel at this point that I have enough in the base game. The only thing I might be interested in is the alliances and that looks like I could just read the rules. The alliance markers are not really necessary for it to work.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Game night last night was fun. I got to play Cyclades, San Juan, Frankendie, and Magical Athlete. I hadn't played Cycles in a long time. Really fun game and even with 5 players (four being new) we were able to finish the game in 90 minutes.
It was my first time playing San Juan, really good game. I don't know why it took so long for me to play it before but I had a great time with it.
Magical Athlete was stupid fun. The game is broken up into two phases, the draft and the race. During the draft you are drafting characters you will use during the race. Each character has a special ability that will manipulate the race. The race itself is just roll and move, but the fun comes in the different combos of athletes that are racing. I was surprised at how fun it was considering how stupid simple the game is. The only down side is this game is uglier than shit.
I mean just look at this board:
It looks worse in person, trust me. The character art is ok, I guess, but it still has a low budget anime look to it.
Frankendie is a party game I got from kickstarter recently. The goal of the game is to build your monster one piece at a time and once built you need to zap it with lightening in order to win. The way it works is there is a grave yard button in the middle of the table. One person rolls the dice which have various body parts on them. The players then need to slap their hands down on the button and call out the correct number of a type of body part. For example, if the dice results showed three legs, you would slap the button and say three legs. The first two players who are correct get the body part they called. It was fun, but not very deep. It would be made better with copious amounts of booze.
It was my first time playing San Juan, really good game. I don't know why it took so long for me to play it before but I had a great time with it.
Magical Athlete was stupid fun. The game is broken up into two phases, the draft and the race. During the draft you are drafting characters you will use during the race. Each character has a special ability that will manipulate the race. The race itself is just roll and move, but the fun comes in the different combos of athletes that are racing. I was surprised at how fun it was considering how stupid simple the game is. The only down side is this game is uglier than shit.
I mean just look at this board:
It looks worse in person, trust me. The character art is ok, I guess, but it still has a low budget anime look to it.
Frankendie is a party game I got from kickstarter recently. The goal of the game is to build your monster one piece at a time and once built you need to zap it with lightening in order to win. The way it works is there is a grave yard button in the middle of the table. One person rolls the dice which have various body parts on them. The players then need to slap their hands down on the button and call out the correct number of a type of body part. For example, if the dice results showed three legs, you would slap the button and say three legs. The first two players who are correct get the body part they called. It was fun, but not very deep. It would be made better with copious amounts of booze.
I like the expansion, but then again I've played Eclipse a few times. The new techs are fun and I love the new races.
I really like San Juan, but for whatever reason the people I play with are terrible at checking what they have already built. The result is tha tit ends up being a terrible experience for them.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I don't know if I'm 100% sold on the alliances. You are only scored for the average of your two points. It might not be enough to actually win the game. I also tend to play with 4 players so that may skew my feelings on the rule. They might work better in a bigger game. One other thing I'm not down with in the expansion is the 9 player game. That seems like insanity to me, even with the simultaneous actions.
I don't see the value of alliances in 4 or less either, and I doubt my group will use them. I want to do a big 9 player game at least once, but it'll be a while until I do. And it'll only be with experienced players for sure.
RaySpencer
Member
One thing in Eclipse that seems weird, or maybe we were just doing stuff really wrong, was that we would rarely ever pick the influence choice. Since you get to place influence on hexes you explore, and on hexes you win from combat, it didnt seem necessary most of the time. Plus you can even remove influence (and the cubes) from hexes you own at the end of your turn to bring the cost of your turn down if you have to.
We are probably just doing stuff wrong though, haha.
We are probably just doing stuff wrong though, haha.
Influence action /is/ rarely used. Don't think you're doing it wrong. Two 2 player games last night, it got used twice total across them.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
It's completely situational and it's not the most used space in our game either. We typically use it when we desperately need colony ships (since you can flip two over) and when we went bankrupt and need to take a space over again.
It's also good for moving influence from least desirable hexes (1 point hexes with only a discovery token on it) to more desirable hexes.
That's exactly how I used it today. For that it is really useful, but in my game it also got only used twice.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
How is San Juan with 2? I know my wife will like it but I have no idea how it plays with two players.
JetBlackPanda
Member
I have almost bought Lord Of The Rings LCG like 5 times and I always put it down.
how is the game playing alone?
how is the game playing alone?
RaySpencer
Member
Well it's good to hear we weren't using it wrong.
It has its uses for sure, we've used it to help rebuild after combat, or moving to more usefull hexes, but other than that it hasn't gotten used much.
I'm hoping I can get myself a copy of the expansion today. Pretty excited to try the new races mostly!
timetokill
Banned
We use influence a lot at the end of the game. Mostly to consolidate discs on the big-point hexes, and buy a couple extra moves for important attacks/defenses.
Our final turns are always giant bloodbaths of 10v10 ships and stuff though.
Decent. I think it's better with more than 2.
The early stuff is fine. I hear this new shit is impossible solo though.
Anyway, should you want in, you should buy my collection from me
I DO like the game but I personally can't justify keeping up with 3 LCGs.
I have a core and the entire Mirkwood cycle if anyone's interested.
RaySpencer
Member
got home from the boardgame shop, and got my Eclipse expansion yay! pretty excited to add this one in.
Also picked up Eminent Domain! I love space games, and I love deck Builders...and I already had Race for the Galaxy, so this one was a no brainer. I havent played it at all, and barely read up on how to play it, but ive heard enough good things about it that I had to have it.
Whats your guys take on Eminent Domain?
Also picked up Eminent Domain! I love space games, and I love deck Builders...and I already had Race for the Galaxy, so this one was a no brainer. I havent played it at all, and barely read up on how to play it, but ive heard enough good things about it that I had to have it.
Whats your guys take on Eminent Domain?
platypotamus
Member
Strange, we just started a lunch game of Eclipse at work, and I was just looking at a coworker's copy of Eminent Domain.
RaySpencer
Member
ED has the same ships as Eclipse, it through me off when I opened the box, haha.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
ED is pretty good. It's a mix of Glory to Rome (if you are familiar with that game) and a deck builder. Players will play a card or cards that will allow them to do an action and other players can either follow (perform the action minus the bonuses) or dissent (draw a card). It's fun but not something mind blowing. It works really well with two players and that's always a plus in my book.
RaySpencer
Member
I have a copy! I dont need 2 !
quick question about the Eclipse expansion, can I mix everything in to my base game without any issues? or is there some reason to keep them separate? other than the possibility of just wanting to play the base game.
quick question about the Eclipse expansion, can I mix everything in to my base game without any issues? or is there some reason to keep them separate? other than the possibility of just wanting to play the base game.
platypotamus
Member
I have a copy! I dont need 2 !
quick question about the Eclipse expansion, can I mix everything in to my base game without any issues? or is there some reason to keep them separate? other than the possibility of just wanting to play the base game.
Well, the expansion is modular, so you can add/remove parts of it at will. If you think you're likely to do that, you may want to keep them separate. The pieces all have an identifier though, so they can fairly easily be separated back out.
RaySpencer
Member
Hmmm...I really just wanna keep it in one box to bring to my friends house if possible. So I will probably just merge them. Like you say, it has identifiers to separate later anyway.
On a similar note as this Eclipse talk, I just backed Hegemonic on Kickstarter, it looks pretty rad.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/miniongames/hegemonic-4x-space-board-game
It seems to take a LOT from Eclipse, so im down for that. Haha.
BomberMouse
Member
It's pretty fun the first time and a big laugh, but if you are playing it more seriously it seems to drag on forever.
You should take a look at Smallworld and Ticket to Ride (both have episodes on tabletop).
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Before mixing every piece of the eclipse expansion, remove the extra tech tiles. They are only used in 7+ games.
RaySpencer
Member
Yeah, I noticed the tech tiles and the vp tokens have a little person icon on them, so I figured they were for bigger games.
I tried to combine stuff, but it would be hard to fit all in one box anyway, so I just added the extra ship part tiles in, since more of those don't matter. And I'm just keeping everything else in the expansion box, I just separated the tile types into there own bags so I can add them into new games easy.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
The 2 player Agricola is back in stock at CSI. I just placed an order for that, Alea Iacta Est, San Juan, and Takenoko.
BomberMouse
Member
Thanks for the heads up.
I'm ordering that + the expansion + carc + all the minis, still have $25 left for the $100 threshold. I need to rebuild my gaming collection! Any good game released in 2012 that works great 2p?
I'm thinking about buying the Lord of the Rings LCG because I'm looking for board games for one player or more.
How long does it usually take to beat the core set and how long does it take to beat the expansion sets?
Do you guys recommend to complete a set first or doesn't it matter at all?
Also which games can you recommend for one player?
How long does it usually take to beat the core set and how long does it take to beat the expansion sets?
Do you guys recommend to complete a set first or doesn't it matter at all?
Also which games can you recommend for one player?
That 2 player Le Havre that came out?
Honestly not sure on new 2 player games. We tend to stick to Jaipur and Lost Cities for a quick 2 player game.
Nope... really only skips the cards.
BomberMouse
Member
SillyEskimo
Member
Death Angel is a great single player game.
so i bought ticket to ride because i keep hearing alot about it and i see everyone here likes it too and you know what i loved it and now i just discovered all the amazing games out there, oh my fucking god i want so many damn games now lol.
what is everyone's take on small world? the colorful map and tokens and just the overall production value intrigues me. i used to play alot of DnD back in the day so games like descent makes me giddy to one day buy it but i have no one to really play with just me and my girlfriend but she isnt as into it as i am right now
what is everyone's take on small world? the colorful map and tokens and just the overall production value intrigues me. i used to play alot of DnD back in the day so games like descent makes me giddy to one day buy it but i have no one to really play with just me and my girlfriend but she isnt as into it as i am right now
Owlowiscious
Member
Uh, put together and played super dungeon explore just now. Um, it's quite terrible? Super complicated with no good documentation of anything. Anyone have any opinions on the game?
Icefire1424
Member
Interesting, I heard of this one, but didn't know it could be a single player game - I've been looking for something like this actually, might have to check it out. Was hoping the Star Wars LCG had the potential for single player as well, but not so lucky there.
Now either just need a single player wargame, or more friends!
Icefire1424
Member
... i just discovered all the amazing games out there, oh my fucking god i want so many damn games now lol.
..i have no one to really play with just me and my girlfriend but she isnt as into it as i am right now
Sorry for the posts back to back, but this hit pretty close to home, and I felt compelled to respond since I'm definitely in the same boat. I was more of a "casual" gamer back in high school (Warhammer, Hero Quest, Star Wars CCG, etc.) who only got back into it in the last few years. Started innocently enough with some basic games like Stratego and Risk, but after picking up Catan and Memoir '44, I was hooked again. The wife was never a gamer (except tiddly winks, seriously), but she has enjoyed the last few games of Memoir we've played, so that's something.
I'm obviously still pretty new here (the "Junior" should be a dead giveaway), but this thread has steered me right more than a few times. From my experience though, if you're looking to get the girlfriend playing, the gateway games in the OP and mentioned throughout are excellent choices. Ticket to Ride is probably the one to do it - finally got a chance to play, and I absolutely see the draw.
Good luck getting the gf hooked!
BattleMonkey
Member
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