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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)

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tm24

Member
Finally picked up the Asia expansion for TTR and preordered the first 2 second summoner decks for Summoner Wars. Hyped!
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Lost Cities... the board game or the card game? Is there a difference?

board game seats 3-4; card game is only 2. I haven't played the BG but it seems there are fairly mixed opinions on it. Seems to have many elements from the CG but also missing some of the risky stuff like investment cards. I'm a very big fan of the CG -- maybe my top light 2P game actually.

This review and thread hammers out some of the differences, but lots of conflicting views and only one I can vouch for is the CG.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/373302/a-review-from-one-who-enjoys-lost-cities-the-card
 
board game seats 3-4; card game is only 2. I haven't played the BG but it seems there are fairly mixed opinions on it. Seems to have many elements from the CG but also missing some of the risky stuff like investment cards. I'm a very big fan of the CG -- maybe my top light 2P game actually.

This review and thread hammers out some of the differences, but lots of conflicting views and only one I can vouch for is the CG.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/373302/a-review-from-one-who-enjoys-lost-cities-the-card

The board game is a nice gateway game (light on rules, but there's at least elements of strategy in it). It's great for getting players to play board games or, like we did this past weekend, have a change of pace after a 3-hour long Civ game (all hail Bismarck, who suckered the world into attacking the Egyptians!)
 

Neverfade

Member
Got my Ground Floor kickstarter today.

Single handedly, without question, the best cardboard components I've ever seen. FFG doesn't even make cardboard this good.

Then they put the Skyline bonus INSIDE the fucking game box, and thusly, the kickstarter box is goddamn huge. It's like.. FFG coffin box tall. And now that I've taken Skyline out, theres all this room for 1) my components to bang around and get fucked up and 2) take up way too much damn room on a shelf.

Hopefully the game is great.
 
So, I watched ShutUp&SitDowns review of Memoir '44. Whats BoardGAFs opinion of it? It seems pretty fun.

Little late on this but I love memoir '44!

It's a great two player battle game, ala stratego or even chess.

If you have an interest in history it's even better.
 

Korey

Member
board game seats 3-4; card game is only 2. I haven't played the BG but it seems there are fairly mixed opinions on it. Seems to have many elements from the CG but also missing some of the risky stuff like investment cards. I'm a very big fan of the CG -- maybe my top light 2P game actually.

This review and thread hammers out some of the differences, but lots of conflicting views and only one I can vouch for is the CG.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/373302/a-review-from-one-who-enjoys-lost-cities-the-card

Ok, got the cg, thanks.
 
Guys, Rolling Freight is pretty awesome. Simple pick up and deliver game with route building thrown in. The dice have an element of luck, obviously, but that luck can be mitigated somewhat by leaving yourself open to options.

Fantasy Flight has updated info about the forthcoming expansion for Blood Bowl: Team Manager, Sudden Death. The expansion looks like a healthy addition to an already great game.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=3911
Posted a few posts up, but yeah it looks awesome. Really looking forward to it.
 

Neverfade

Member
Guys, Rolling Freight is pretty awesome. Simple pick up and deliver game with route building thrown in. The dice have an element of luck, obviously, but that luck can be mitigated somewhat by leaving yourself open to options.

Does it stay pretty light? I took a look at it after the Dice Tower guys were all gaga for it, but couldn't really put my finger on what I thought of it. I'd love to find a replacement for TTR my girlfriend could play (ala something not too heavy - i realize its a different genre really, but the likeness in theme of her favorite game might help), and Airlines: Europe, while I personally prefer it, didn't do the trick.
 

Slacker

Member
ordered power grid yesterday after the positive reviews, will see how it plays!

One of my personal favs! If you like medium-weight Euro-type games you should have a good time. My only warning is that the way the resource limitation system works makes it a more-the-merrier kind of game, so it's not quite as compelling with two as it is with more players (less players means less competition over limited resources). Mind you it's still fun with two, but it really shines with 4/5/6.
 
Does anyone know of any games that would be similar to Descent or even I guess zombicide, but set in space / scifi theme?

I want a good coop space game with a modular board, scenarios, levelling up and if at all possible Zombicides style of NPCs (where the 'bad guys' play themselves based on rules rather than someone having to play as the bad guys).

I just hate how nearly all the games like this are fantasy setting.
 
Does anyone know of any games that would be similar to Descent or even I guess zombicide, but set in space / scifi theme?

I want a good coop space game with a modular board, scenarios, levelling up and if at all possible Zombicides style of NPCs (where the 'bad guys' play themselves based on rules rather than someone having to play as the bad guys).

I just hate how nearly all the games like this are fantasy setting.

Nothing really like that for sci fi like setting.
 
Does it stay pretty light? I took a look at it after the Dice Tower guys were all gaga for it, but couldn't really put my finger on what I thought of it. I'd love to find a replacement for TTR my girlfriend could play (ala something not too heavy - i realize its a different genre really, but the likeness in theme of her favorite game might help), and Airlines: Europe, while I personally prefer it, didn't do the trick.
I would say so. We played with someone who's only experience with boardgames is Monopoly and they had no problem keeping up. The rules are pretty light, you roll the dice and use the dice to perform different actions like shipping goods, building tracks, and buying cards. The demand with shipping goods is really straight forward and building tracks is as easy as spending a die of the color of track you want to build. It's just a hair more involved than Ticket to Ride, but it's easier than Airlines Europe.
 

Helmholtz

Member
Just wanted to pop into this thread after asking for advice on a new game to play with friends. Settled on Agricola and have played 10+ games of it over the past couple months. I like it a lot, and it's replaced Catan for me in terms of preference. The reliance of luck of the dice in Catan was really bothering me after playing countless games of it, so Agricola's focus on more strategic and thought provoking play is refreshing. Took us a while to learn how to play properly due to the shit rule book, but after that it was smooth sailing.
 

Slacker

Member
Just wanted to pop into this thread after asking for advice on a new game to play with friends. Settled on Agricola and have played 10+ games of it over the past couple months. I like it a lot, and it's replaced Catan for me in terms of preference. The reliance of luck of the dice in Catan was really bothering me after playing countless games of it, so Agricola's focus on more strategic and thought provoking play is refreshing. Took us a while to learn how to play properly due to the shit rule book, but after that it was smooth sailing.

Have any guidance on what you might be looking for? Light/Medium/Heavy complexity? Any particular theme or mechanics?

Without anything else to go on I'll toss out one of my personal favorites Puerto Rico. It's complex but not brutally so, and if you're finding the time to play Agricola that often you'd probably have fun learning the strategies to PR.
 

Evlar

Banned
Does anyone know of any games that would be similar to Descent or even I guess zombicide, but set in space / scifi theme?

I want a good coop space game with a modular board, scenarios, levelling up and if at all possible Zombicides style of NPCs (where the 'bad guys' play themselves based on rules rather than someone having to play as the bad guys).

I just hate how nearly all the games like this are fantasy setting.
The only thing I can think of that comes remotely close is Space Hulk: Death Angel, but only in a few ways. It's cooperative (1 to 6), it has rules-controlled enemies (ruthless bastards), and it's set in the 40K sci-fi universe.

In every other way it's nothing like Descent. There is no board (it's a card game), no leveling, no loot, and "scenarios" are very limited.

I still recommend it as a coop, though. It is fairly luck driven, though decisions certainly have consequences; it is evocative of the setting despite depending only on cards to represent monsters and obstacles, it's brutally difficult, and with the right group a lot of fun.

Cheap and portable, too. It's the most portable 6 player coop game I know.
 
They aren't coop but closest would be something like Space Hulk, and Project Pandora. But they also don't have leveling up and such usually, just singular scenario based play.


The only thing I can think of that comes remotely close is Space Hulk: Death Angel, but only in a few ways. It's cooperative (1 to 6), it has rules-controlled enemies (ruthless bastards), and it's set in the 40K sci-fi universe.

In every other way it's nothing like Descent. There is no board (it's a card game), no leveling, no loot, and "scenarios" are very limited.

I still recommend it as a coop, though. It is fairly luck driven, though decisions certainly have consequences; it is evocative of the setting despite depending only on cards to represent monsters and obstacles, it's brutally difficult, and with the right group a lot of fun.

Cheap and portable, too. It's the most portable 6 player coop game I know.


Thanks, I guess im SOL. Leveling/character upgrading and modular board were the big reasons why I like Zombicide and Descent.
 
Does anyone know of any games that would be similar to Descent or even I guess zombicide, but set in space / scifi theme?

I want a good coop space game with a modular board, scenarios, levelling up and if at all possible Zombicides style of NPCs (where the 'bad guys' play themselves based on rules rather than someone having to play as the bad guys).

I just hate how nearly all the games like this are fantasy setting.

The Doom board game would fit that description. It's rules were the basis for Descent, FYI. It's OOP but you can still find it for under $100.

The Space Hulk board game sounds perfect for you, but it's also OOP. It's rare and expensive to boot. At it's peak it was selling for $300, but if you watch for a deal you can snag one on Ebay for 150-175ish. It's my favorite game.

Finally, the Gears of War board game by Fantasy Flight may fit the bill. That is team based or solo play. I have not played this personally but read the rules when it was released and I think it's worth passing on for you to read up on. Plus, it's actually still available, lol!
 
The Doom board game would fit that description. It's rules were the basis for Descent, FYI. It's OOP but you can still find it for under $100.

The Space Hulk board game sounds perfect for you, but it's also OOP. It's rare and expensive to boot. At it's peak it was selling for $300, but if you watch for a deal you can snag one on Ebay for 150-175ish. It's my favorite game.

Finally, the Gears of War board game by Fantasy Flight may fit the bill. That is team based or solo play. I have not played this personally but read the rules when it was released and I think it's worth passing on for you to read up on. Plus, it's actually still available, lol!

DOOM and Gears of War don't really have leveling up though. But GoW is full coop game and pretty darn good too.
 
Two outta three ain't bad.

True, Gears of War would be best match for what hes looking for.

DOOM though has one player who controls the bad guys which he said he was looking for game where npcs control themselves.... course he likes Descent which has an overlord player too *shrug*.
 
The NPC thing is better if it is there but wasnt necessary, I most just want a coop scenario game with a tile based board and levelling/gear progression.

Does Doom or gears have weapon progression at least? I will look into doom and gears, since I think space hulk is too much money :p
 
The NPC thing is better if it is there but wasnt necessary, I most just want a coop scenario game with a tile based board and levelling/gear progression.

Does Doom or gears have weapon progression at least? I will look into doom and gears, since I think space hulk is too much money :p

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=167&esem=4

Read the Gears support page for details. There is a link to DL a pdf of the rules as well as a video overview.
 
The NPC thing is better if it is there but wasnt necessary, I most just want a coop scenario game with a tile based board and levelling/gear progression.

Does Doom or gears have weapon progression at least? I will look into doom and gears, since I think space hulk is too much money :p

You can bet different weapons during a game of Gears, but its not to the extent of gear upgrades found in Decent or Zombicide. Not much in form of looting.
 

Keasar

Member
I liked Descent 2.0 at the start, the first 3-4 quests, now I fucking hate it. Playing Overlord in this is a piece of fucking shit.

4 quests in a row now the heroes have won and by won I mean completely obliterate me. They have one wildlander who can speed across the entire fucking map in one round, a necromancer who can murder everything in sight who isnt a dragon, etin or whatever and a dwarf BERSERKER who can TANK everything I throw at him.

This has just snowballed and snowballed for them so much that now in the final encounter they murdered two dragons with just two heroes in the very first round and then proceeded to kill all the others in the second round who happened to be in the same room.

Fuck this game so much. Its a game not supposed to be played in a campaign, ONE encounter where stuff is balanced. Not fucking 9 quests where either the heroes or the overlord keeps winning and winning until it gets out of hand and someone just snowballs the all the board.

Edit: Just played the final quest, they manage to murder the endboss before I had any chance to do any damage to them. Fun... I am never taking this game out again. It is a complete waste of time and patience.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I tell yah, a sci-fi version of Descent, themed for MASS EFFECT, printing money!!!!

How has this not happened? The ME license has been whored out to everything but the most logical license. Heck, I'd even take a Twilight Imperium themed Descent.

I have DOOM and GoW though. Missed out on the DOOM expansion, dammit.
 
I liked Descent 2.0 at the start, the first 3-4 quests, now I fucking hate it. Playing Overlord in this is a piece of fucking shit.

4 quests in a row now the heroes have won and by won I mean completely obliterate me. They have one wildlander who can speed across the entire fucking map in one round, a necromancer who can murder everything in sight who isnt a dragon, etin or whatever and a dwarf BERSERKER who can TANK everything I throw at him.

This has just snowballed and snowballed for them so much that now in the final encounter they murdered two dragons with just two heroes in the very first round and then proceeded to kill all the others in the second round who happened to be in the same room.

Fuck this game so much. Its a game not supposed to be played in a campaign, ONE encounter where stuff is balanced. Not fucking 9 quests where either the heroes or the overlord keeps winning and winning until it gets out of hand and someone just snowballs the all the board.

Edit: Just played the final quest, they manage to murder the endboss before I had any chance to do any damage to them. Fun... I am never taking this game out again. It is a complete waste of time and patience.

Yea the more we've played Descent 2.0, the more we have began to dislike it. The simplified rules just lead to so much silly stuff and abuse, and it just feels sloppy. Descent 1.0 while being heavier game and sometimes off balance, was a much more solid feeling game.

I have on idea why D2 is so well rated on BGG, course it was highly rated before the game even came out because "omg game play is so fast nowz!". And the whole change to make defense a random thing? Such a stupid idea. Yea you could game the system before with set defense values, but now the complete randomness is just awful. Oh your uber equipped warrior just had a piece of shit goblin murder you. lolz

When I introduced the game to our group thats played 1.0 alot, they all were like... "that's it?!"

Game really feels like it was made more for new players to get in who want something quicker, but not really for the folks who loved the old game.
 

Slacker

Member
For the parent-gamers out there, River Dragons is a cool little game. Players select five cards to play in order, then you go around the table and resolve each one in turn order. The cards add stones to the river, add planks between the stones, move your character, etc. It's tricky because you need to anticipate what other players are doing when picking your five cards.

Video review here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q-Q-h7ZrgA

Great little addition to Kids Game Night around here (which of course happens much more often than regular game night, so I'll take anything I can get).
 
I tell yah, a sci-fi version of Descent, themed for MASS EFFECT, printing money!!!!

How has this not happened? The ME license has been whored out to everything but the most logical license. Heck, I'd even take a Twilight Imperium themed Descent.

I have DOOM and GoW though. Missed out on the DOOM expansion, dammit.

Thats actually exactly what I thought of right before I went to bed last night. Haha. Now I've been thinking about how that would work all day.

I might have to write down a bunch of things and drive over to bioware and pitch it. Haha.

Gears sounds like a decent game, and I like the gears video games, I just don't think I want a board game themed around gears of war. Haha. Doom on the other hand isn't a video game I enjoy, but I think it's a generic enough game that it would be a fine theme for a board game. Haha. I'd much rather run around as Mr.DoomMan rather than Marcus and Dom.

I think I will have to give up on my search, there is good options, but nothing that's exactly what I want :(
 

Neverfade

Member
With EA owning the ME license, you'd be lucky to get a mass-market Hasbro piece of shit churned out.

A shame. I can imagine a blend of FFG's Starcraft and some other corridor shooter game to make for a cool combination.
 

Helmholtz

Member
Have any guidance on what you might be looking for? Light/Medium/Heavy complexity? Any particular theme or mechanics?

Without anything else to go on I'll toss out one of my personal favorites Puerto Rico. It's complex but not brutally so, and if you're finding the time to play Agricola that often you'd probably have fun learning the strategies to PR.
Oh I wasn't looking for advice, I was just following up after having received advice in this thread before. Puerto Rico also looks good and I might get it someday in the future.
 
So I'm hooked on BGs now.

Just ordered: Police Precinct, Descent 2.0 + LotW, Netrunner + Trace Amount and What Lies Ahead and Suburbia.

Thinking about also picking up Dominant Species, Eclipse, Seasons & Sentinels of the Multiverse. Damn Exodus Proxima Centauri looks awesome too. Shit so many games....
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Cool, once you have a 100 or so then you can transition to the "just the GOOD games" phase. Once you clear 250 games you'll move into the "trade NIW games for other NIW games", then the inevitable "EVERYTHING MUST GO" firesale, the reacquisition of all the games you just sold, the hunt for every childhood game, the obsessive niche game collecting based on some obscure theme, the move to a larger house to hold the collection...

And eventually you just say fuck it and get an offsite storage unit so the wife stops complaining and you can both live in peace :)
 
Cool, once you have a 100 or so then you can transition to the "just the GOOD games" phase. Once you clear 250 games you'll move into the "trade NIW games for other NIW games", then the inevitable "EVERYTHING MUST GO" firesale, the reacquisition of all the games you just sold, the hunt for every childhood game, the obsessive niche game collecting based on some obscure theme, the move to a larger house to hold the collection...

And eventually you just say fuck it and get an offsite storage unit so the wife stops complaining and you can both live in peace :)

Sounds absolutely right, but I think the same can be said with most other hobbies. The only difference is that we rarely get big sales and BG take way too much space. This wouldn't be a problem if publishers actually made smaller boxes!
 

Omikron

Member
Sounds absolutely right, but I think the same can be said with most other hobbies. The only difference is that we rarely get big sales and BG take way too much space. This wouldn't be a problem if publishers actually made smaller boxes!

Smaller boxes = no room for the expansions! ;)
 
Smaller boxes = no room for the expansions! ;)

I know but some boxes are huge, Queen's box for Thebes is ridiculous. DoW boxes are big but at least they come with a nice insert. Some of them are stupidly proportioned too, like most Friedemann Friese games.
 

Omikron

Member
I know but some boxes are huge, Queen's box for Thebes is ridiculous. DoW boxes are big but at least the com with a nice insert.

Yeah... it is true.

Speaking of boxes / storage though, I have been pondering a better way to store Small World. The original game box + mini expansions just doesn't work with the insert (plus I hate the original token tray, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the tokens out cleanly).

Thinking of 2 x cloth bags to randomise the powers/races, then maybe just bagging the rest of the tokens and labelling. Anyone with better a idea?
 
Inserts are nice until the expansions come out, then I got to dump em. I hate having tons of boxes for one single game so I always got to consolidate. Mage Knight is now currently going insertless due to Lost Legion.
 

fenners

Member
Queen uses one size of box for all their games & it's ridiculously huge - Chicago Express is another big offender. but it's easier/cheaper for Queen to use one size instead of custom tooling for each game.
 
Inserts are nice until the expansions come out, then I got to dump em. I hate having tons of boxes for one single game so I always got to consolidate. Mage Knight is now currently going insertless due to Lost Legion.

Yep, I only have mixed feelings with good inserts. I don't know what to do with small world :/
 
So after I couldn't find a coop game I wanted, I've moved on to Civ games.


What are all the good Civilization games? Should I just get the Sid Civ? The bits look kinda dumb, little flags are boring. Clash of Cultures has an awesome looking city thing and better looking tiles. But there isn't any difference with the teams right? Then there is through the ages, but it doesn't have a map.

What do you guys think? Any other games I should know about?
 

fenners

Member
So after I couldn't find a coop game I wanted, I've moved on to Civ games.


What are all the good Civilization games? Should I just get the Sid Civ? The bits look kinda dumb, little flags are boring. Clash of Cultures has an awesome looking city thing and better looking tiles. But there isn't any difference with the teams right? Then there is through the ages, but it doesn't have a map.

What do you guys think? Any other games I should know about?

Through The Ages is the best Civ game evar. It has all the build-up, the military conflict & the tech tree you'd want. It just doesn't have a board, as you say ;) It really is a fantastic game & through the fantastic online implmentation, it's become one of my most played games.
 

Neverfade

Member
So after I couldn't find a coop game I wanted, I've moved on to Civ games.


What are all the good Civilization games? Should I just get the Sid Civ? The bits look kinda dumb, little flags are boring. Clash of Cultures has an awesome looking city thing and better looking tiles. But there isn't any difference with the teams right? Then there is through the ages, but it doesn't have a map.

What do you guys think? Any other games I should know about?
l

In contrast to the above post, anything but TTA. Ugh.
 
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