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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)

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Put Edge of World into my H-B megaserver deck. So excited. :)

ffg_edge-of-world-cyber-exodus.png
Jesus, that's rough.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
shit man, even I still haven't gotten Tammany! And I backed it as soon as he put it up! :)

hopefully it'll show up soonish. Also got the ground floor kickstarter recently but who knows when that will get played.
 

mercviper

Member
Are there even any ways to prevent or heal brain damage yet? That seems a bit fucking much.

At the same time, you can't advance it so it just sits behind a server doing nothing and not being a threat. I don't think I'd run on it unless I was hard pressed to make something happen in the game.
 

Deadstar

Member
The new mage wars expansion is out if anyone is interested. Includes two new mages. Still haven't played a game yet but am really into summoner wars.
 

Neverfade

Member
At the same time, you can't advance it so it just sits behind a server doing nothing and not being a threat. I don't think I'd run on it unless I was hard pressed to make something happen in the game.

With trick of light, that end of world is now an agenda. It's still risky letting it sit.

Edit: in a Schrödinger's cat way, not literally being an agenda.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
At the same time, you can't advance it so it just sits behind a server doing nothing and not being a threat. I don't think I'd run on it unless I was hard pressed to make something happen in the game.

Except there are tons of 3-advance agendas now. I have six in my deck for example. :) So don't run but then I'll score an ABT on you next turn.

Are there even any ways to prevent or heal brain damage yet? That seems a bit fucking much.
Not yet, no. But there's always Infiltration, Lemuria Codecracker, and now Satellite Uplink. Always thought Infiltration was too cheap, which helped make Jinteki so weak to start with. But traps are starting to look quite nice, especially in decks where you might not expect them.
 

daevv

Member
Played my first game of Lords of Waterdeep yesterday and the group liked it. We mostly play Catan so this wasn't too different. The 4 different adventurers and gold are your resources that you use to complete quests and get victory points for rewards. Weird playing a dice-less game. :)

I also got my Star Trek Catan in the mail yesterday. It's new, in mint condition, and still shrink wrapped. I debating on opening it as they sell for a lot. Maybe I'll look for a cheap used copy to play with. It's only 3-4 players and our group usually has 5-6 each night so It won't get much play.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
The 3-cost agendas now available really are starting to make traps awesome. As does Trick of Light and really anything that lets you bring a card from zero to scored in one turn.
 

Mikor

Member
Well, I have fallen into the hobby...hard. In the past 6 weeks, I have acquired:

  • Ticket To Ride (+ Asia)
  • Small World (+ Underground)
  • Dominon (+ Intrigue, Prosperity, Hinterlands, Dark Ages)
  • Lords of Waterdeep
  • Risk: Legacy
  • Arkham Horror
  • 7 Wonders
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Agricola
  • Space Cadets
  • Pandemic (new version)
  • Mage Wars
  • Mage Knight: Board Game
  • Descent 2nd Edition
  • Android: Netrunner LCG

Absolutely overwhelmed with new stuff to dive into, only have managed to get about half of these to the table. Some have gone over better than others, of course, but I can't wait to try the rest. Any "must haves" that anyone sees missing in this list? Tax return coming, and I've budgeted a couple hundred towards filling out any "holes" in the collection.

I love this hobby.
 

Piano

Banned
Since we're on the topic of Android: Netrunner.

I recently picked up the game. It's a load of fun. There's one thing my girlfriend and I can't figure out, and I've googled everywhere and read through the instructions several times...

What are viruses? What do they do? I understand the function of tags, but everywhere I look refers to viruses as if I'm just supposed to know. And so far we haven't had any come into play.
 
Since we're on the topic of Android: Netrunner.

I recently picked up the game. It's a load of fun. There's one thing my girlfriend and I can't figure out, and I've googled everywhere and read through the instructions several times...

What are viruses? What do they do? I understand the function of tags, but everywhere I look refers to viruses as if I'm just supposed to know. And so far we haven't had any come into play.
Virus programs will often have some interaction with virus counters, which can build up on them in some way and allow for some nasty side effects. Usually it will say "Program: Virus" on the card's type to indicate that.

Parasite is an example of a virus card that's pretty mean. It builds up on virus counters and eventually destroys whatever it's infected, along with itself.

As the corp, you can always spend 3 clicks to get rid of all virus counters in play. So if your Wall of Thorns had a Parasite on it with 4 virus counters on it, it would only have a strength of 1 left, and would be destroyed on the runner's upcoming turn. What you could do is spend 3 clicks (which would pretty much be all actions available to you during your turn) to clear all virus counters in play, including the ones on the Parasite. Doing so brings your Wall of Thorns back up to 5 strength and also prevents the Parasite from killing your Wall of Thorns.

This purging wouldn't be just for the Parasite though; if the runner had stuff like Datasucker or Medium in play, any virus counters on those cards would be gone too. Sometimes losing your entire turn to get rid of all those counters is worth it, depending on how dangerous the virus cards have become.

Edit: And some cards have special interactions with virus cards. For instance Deja Vu will let you pick up a single non-virus card from your heap, which could be something like a Diesel, or pick up 2 virus cards from your heap, which means if there were 2 Parasites in your heap, or 1 Parasite and 1 Datasucker, you could put them both back into your hand with Deja Vu.
 

MikeDip

God bless all my old friends/And god bless me too, why pretend?
Well, I have fallen into the hobby...hard. In the past 6 weeks, I have acquired:

  • Ticket To Ride (+ Asia)
  • Small World (+ Underground)
  • Dominon (+ Intrigue, Prosperity, Hinterlands, Dark Ages)
  • Lords of Waterdeep
  • Risk: Legacy
  • Arkham Horror
  • 7 Wonders
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Agricola
  • Space Cadets
  • Pandemic (new version)
  • Mage Wars
  • Mage Knight: Board Game
  • Descent 2nd Edition
  • Android: Netrunner LCG

Absolutely overwhelmed with new stuff to dive into, only have managed to get about half of these to the table. Some have gone over better than others, of course, but I can't wait to try the rest. Any "must haves" that anyone sees missing in this list? Tax return coming, and I've budgeted a couple hundred towards filling out any "holes" in the collection.

I love this hobby.

Honestly, that's a fantastic list. What I would do is play them all to get more of a sense of the type of games you like. You have a nice selection(worker placement, coop, dungeon crawler, card building, etc) so once you decide what boardgame features you like best you can buy more according to that.
Although if you just want more reccomendations, I do like Powergrid and Kingsburg. There are also print and play games you can make at home for free. I highly suggest Dead of night, a fantastic zombie game.
 
Well, I have fallen into the hobby...hard. In the past 6 weeks, I have acquired:

  • Ticket To Ride (+ Asia)
  • Small World (+ Underground)
  • Dominon (+ Intrigue, Prosperity, Hinterlands, Dark Ages)
  • Lords of Waterdeep
  • Risk: Legacy
  • Arkham Horror
  • 7 Wonders
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Agricola
  • Space Cadets
  • Pandemic (new version)
  • Mage Wars
  • Mage Knight: Board Game
  • Descent 2nd Edition
  • Android: Netrunner LCG

Absolutely overwhelmed with new stuff to dive into, only have managed to get about half of these to the table. Some have gone over better than others, of course, but I can't wait to try the rest. Any "must haves" that anyone sees missing in this list? Tax return coming, and I've budgeted a couple hundred towards filling out any "holes" in the collection.

I love this hobby.


ECLIPSE!!

That's a pretty solid list though, I've been playing a bunch of zombicide too and I would recommend that as well. Then the classics like Puerto Rico would be a good one as well.

But really just buy eclipse.
 
Well, I have fallen into the hobby...hard. In the past 6 weeks, I have acquired:

  • Ticket To Ride (+ Asia)
  • Small World (+ Underground)
  • Dominon (+ Intrigue, Prosperity, Hinterlands, Dark Ages)
  • Lords of Waterdeep
  • Risk: Legacy
  • Arkham Horror
  • 7 Wonders
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • Agricola
  • Space Cadets
  • Pandemic (new version)
  • Mage Wars
  • Mage Knight: Board Game
  • Descent 2nd Edition
  • Android: Netrunner LCG

Absolutely overwhelmed with new stuff to dive into, only have managed to get about half of these to the table. Some have gone over better than others, of course, but I can't wait to try the rest. Any "must haves" that anyone sees missing in this list? Tax return coming, and I've budgeted a couple hundred towards filling out any "holes" in the collection.

I love this hobby.

I have the opposite advice: Figure out what your group plays. You have a great mixture of gateway & intensive games, Euro and cooperative (+/- secret traitors too).

Now's the time to find out what works. I'm not saying other types won't work. I actually game at a local store once a week too, but you done good. Play what you have!
 

Mikor

Member
Thanks for the feedback so far, guys.

I really just have/had the spare funds to splurge, hence the list. It will surely take a few weeks at a minimum to actually get each of these games to the table more than once and get a real solid opinion on them.

RaySpencer: Yes, Eclipse was one I had originally planned to grab, but watching some reviews and plays showed me that its a bit more Euro than other 4X boardgames. Since then, I've been looking at Exodus: Proxima Centauri to fill that niche. Any thoughts on that title?

Gaming Truth: One of the reasons I purchased such an eclectic mix of games within a relatively short time frame was for that very reason - trying to determine which sorts of themes and mechanics we like best. It's been hard to gauge so far, and opinions of each game have been mixed based on the player. I realize it seems somewhat silly to continue to purchase games at this point in time, but...let's just say I have my reasons ;) . Appreciate the feedback!

MikeDip: I've heard amazing things about Power Grid. Seems like a meatier, more strategic Ticket to Ride, is that correct? Any expansions you could recommend to make the game better for 2p? (half the time I'm at home gaming with just the wife)


Thanks again for all the feedback guys. Look forward to future participation in the thread :), subbed.
 
Thanks for the feedback so far, guys.

I really just have/had the spare funds to splurge, hence the list. It will surely take a few weeks at a minimum to actually get each of these games to the table more than once and get a real solid opinion on them.

RaySpencer: Yes, Eclipse was one I had originally planned to grab, but watching some reviews and plays showed me that its a bit more Euro than other 4X boardgames. Since then, I've been looking at Exodus: Proxima Centauri to fill that niche. Any thoughts on that title?

Gaming Truth: One of the reasons I purchased such an eclectic mix of games within a relatively short time frame was for that very reason - trying to determine which sorts of themes and mechanics we like best. It's been hard to gauge so far, and opinions of each game have been mixed based on the player. I realize it seems somewhat silly to continue to purchase games at this point in time, but...let's just say I have my reasons ;) . Appreciate the feedback!

MikeDip: I've heard amazing things about Power Grid. Seems like a meatier, more strategic Ticket to Ride, is that correct? Any expansions you could recommend to make the game better for 2p? (half the time I'm at home gaming with just the wife)


Thanks again for all the feedback guys. Look forward to future participation in the thread :), subbed.



I dont really know much about what makes things a Euro or ameritrash or whatever, actually I dont even know what 4x really is, beyond the 'eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate' but I would say it fits that really well. You explore the galaxy dropping down new hexes, you expand into them by influencing them with your discs which gets you more resources to build more things, you attack each other and roll lots of dice destroying shit, and I choosing what you research for your ships and how you set them up is the exploit part I guess? Honestly the only thing I think its missing is a politcal part.


I just know ive played it with a pretty diverse group of people, and they all loved the hell out of it. But obviously its not for everyone, hell even Tom Vassal aka Mr Boardgame doesnt even really enjoy it. so who knows!


This Exodus game looks fucking crazy though, I will be looking in to that for sure. Though I did just purchase Twilight Imperium, and backed Hegemonic on Kickstarter.... I probably dont need Eclipse, TI, Hegemonic and Exodus. haha.
 
It's been too long since I've actually posted in here, since I really haven't been getting any specific new boardgames outside of the last powergrid expansion (somewhat recommended only if you're heavily invested in the series)

Just want stop by at mention about http://www.boardgamejam.com that is happing in Toronto, a 2 day boardgame making jam. A few friends and I are planning to whip something up, so if you're near and have free time, it's an open house session after 7 on sunday for people to stop by and try out stuff. I haven't even started thinking about ideas on what to make, but I guess this is probably good practice to push me to finish prototyping (and eventually finish that game I said I was making a few months ago).

MikeDip: I've heard amazing things about Power Grid. Seems like a meatier, more strategic Ticket to Ride, is that correct? Any expansions you could recommend to make the game better for 2p? (half the time I'm at home gaming with just the wife)
There are some similarities (as far as having a map goes), but Powergrid has quite a bit more "moving" pieces compared to ticket to ride (which I guess is what you're looking for in "meatier, more strategic").
 

MikeDip

God bless all my old friends/And god bless me too, why pretend?
There are some similarities (as far as having a map goes), but Powergrid has quite a bit more "moving" pieces compared to ticket to ride (which I guess is what you're looking for in "meatier, more strategic").

Yeah, pretty much this.
Also, if you are mostly going to be playing 2p games, there are many games designed solely for two players that might fit your needs (I can't recommend any because I almost never play 2p only, sorry)
 

Mikor

Member
I just know ive played it with a pretty diverse group of people, and they all loved the hell out of it. But obviously its not for everyone, hell even Tom Vassal aka Mr Boardgame doesnt even really enjoy it. so who knows!


This Exodus game looks fucking crazy though, I will be looking in to that for sure. Though I did just purchase Twilight Imperium, and backed Hegemonic on Kickstarter.... I probably dont need Eclipse, TI, Hegemonic and Exodus. haha.

Damnit Mikor!! Ive watched some stuff on Exodus, and now I have to buy it!!

Yeah, looks like TI3 but playable within a reasonable timeframe. You'll have to let me know if you end up picking it up, I've gotta give my wallet a rest for at least a couple of weeks, heh.

There are some similarities (as far as having a map goes), but Powergrid has quite a bit more "moving" pieces compared to ticket to ride (which I guess is what you're looking for in "meatier, more strategic").

Yeah, that's basically what I meant. Ticket to Ride is a pretty "simple" game, in that you're drawing cards and playing matching colors to either connect routes or block others' routes. Not much more to it than that. Power Grid, as I understand it, has a lot more strategy and complexity to the game.

Yeah, pretty much this.
Also, if you are mostly going to be playing 2p games, there are many games designed solely for two players that might fit your needs (I can't recommend any because I almost never play 2p only, sorry)

Maybe its closer to 50%, really. It's a lot easier to take a game off the shelf and play with the wife in spare time than it is to get the gaming group together ;)
 
Random Question. In Ticket to Ride are you supposed to keep your "mission cards" (the routes, I don't remember what they're called) hidden? I think in the instructions it says you're supposed to but it seems like the game would be more strategic if you knew where exactly people were trying to go.
 

fulsome

Member
Random Question. In Ticket to Ride are you supposed to keep your "mission cards" (the routes, I don't remember what they're called) hidden? I think in the instructions it says you're supposed to but it seems like the game would be more strategic if you knew where exactly people were trying to go.

Yes, you are supposed to keep them hidden. If revealed, you could easily block one another.
 

Mikor

Member
Random Question. In Ticket to Ride are you supposed to keep your "mission cards" (the routes, I don't remember what they're called) hidden? I think in the instructions it says you're supposed to but it seems like the game would be more strategic if you knew where exactly people were trying to go.

All that would happen if the destination tickets were revealed is everyone would play for blocks. Blocks are supposed to be risky plays, you're draining train cards/train minis from your pool for the sake of *maybe* blocking another players' route. Playing the destination tickets face up would ruin half the game, in my opinion.
 
So the Innovation expansion Figures in the Sand is pretty neat. It could just be because we haven't played Innovation in about a year, but I feel like it made the game a bit heavier. I think the new rules for organizing the cards by expansion and drawing in a prescribed manner are an improvement too.

Apparently, even with the new expansion, my wife will continue mercilessly destroying me at the game.
 

t-ramp

Member
Anybody else get the PC version of Ticket to Ride from Amazon today? $2.25 with a code via Slickdeals. Activates on Steam.

So far I've played four games online and it's worked well. Unfortunately, only the base USA map is included, so it's not the complete experience without buying the additional content separate.
 

Neverfade

Member
Unfortunately, only the base USA map is included, so it's not the complete experience without buying the additional content separate.

This is par for the course. You don't get other maps in any other implementation of TTR without buying them separately ,either.
 
Finally got Tammany Hall to the table tonight. I think the theme makes the game a bit dense for people. It's not actually complicated but the theme kind of gives that impression.

In the end we pretty much all really enjoyed it. It's funny how heated people get over some pretty small moves though :p
 

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
Hey Board Game GAF! I was wondering if you guys could recommend some new games for me and my group, we have a rotation of a couple games going when we meet, but could always have more. We tend to favor more strategic games, our rotation:
  • Cosmic Encounter: By far our most played and my personal favorite.
  • Risk: Though this was the game we started with, we have slowly moved away from it. Probably because of the long playtime.
  • Settlers of Catan: Second most played game, a good standby. I prefer something with more player interaction though.
  • Pandemic: Fun, different type of game from the rest. Would be open to more co-op games.
  • Ticket to Ride: Newest addition to the rotation, but we all find it very fun.

I always go into shops and can never really tell if a game would be up our ally or not just by looking at the box. I recently looked at Descent and King of Tokyo though, those two seem like they could be fun. The group ranges from 3-5 players.
 
Hey Board Game GAF! I was wondering if you guys could recommend some new games for me and my group, we have a rotation of a couple games going when we meet, but could always have more. We tend to favor more strategic games, our rotation:
  • Cosmic Encounter: By far our most played and my personal favorite.
  • Risk: Though this was the game we started with, we have slowly moved away from it. Probably because of the long playtime.
  • Settlers of Catan: Second most played game, a good standby. I prefer something with more player interaction though.
  • Pandemic: Fun, different type of game from the rest. Would be open to more co-op games.
  • Ticket to Ride: Newest addition to the rotation, but we all find it very fun.

I always go into shops and can never really tell if a game would be up our ally or not just by looking at the box. I recently looked at Descent and King of Tokyo though, those two seem like they could be fun. The group ranges from 3-5 players.

- Battlestar Galactica is a must for 5 players. Absolutely brilliant game.
- King of Tokyo is a great buy. Plays quick and easy, and everyone always enjoys it.
- Blood Bowl Team Manager is fantastic for 4 players. Don't be turned away by the supposed "football" theme. It's really nothing to do with the sport and my group absolutely adores it, even though I'm the only one who actually likes football.
- Dominion is always good and usually popular for groups.
- Eclipse is an amazingly good strategic game but can get a little long. It also seems extremely complicated at first glance. Notice I said "seems" -- it's actually very elegantly designed and easy to understand once you're playing. But it is intimidating.

- I would recommend AGAINST Descent. It was overly complicated and long-winded for our group. If you're worried about long playtime I wouldn't really suggest it.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Descent 2nd Ed isn't really that complicated or long though. And if you have a consistent group it is fun to play the campaign. 'Cause really, you are recommending BSG, yet bagging on Descent?

I recommend Lords of Waterdeep. Great intro to worker placement games and your group will like the fantasy theme.
 
Yea BSG easily takes longer to play Descent 2nd edition and even 4 player games of Blood Bowl can go very long too.

Though I wouldn't recommend D2 just because it's a piss poor game :p

D1 4 lyfe!
 
Hey guys, I come in search of help. Having a get toether this weekend with about 10 peeps and I'm curious if there are any good group games you could recommend. What was that Werewolf-esque game that involved freedom fighters? Was it called Resistance or something? I have Catan (6-player exp.), King of Tokyo, Pirate's Cove and stuff like that but is there any makeshift way you can think of for getting the group playing together?
 

Angst

Member
Hey guys, I come in search of help. Having a get toether this weekend with about 10 peeps and I'm curious if there are any good group games you could recommend. What was that Werewolf-esque game that involved freedom fighters? Was it called Resistance or something? I have Catan (6-player exp.), King of Tokyo, Pirate's Cove and stuff like that but is there any makeshift way you can think of for getting the group playing together?

Having 10 players play one game sounds like setting things up for massive down times and very long duration. I don't know of any game that supports up to ten players - you're probably better off splitting it into two groups. You could do it as a mini-tournament where the three best guys from each game face off in a final round.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Hey guys, I come in search of help. Having a get toether this weekend with about 10 peeps and I'm curious if there are any good group games you could recommend. What was that Werewolf-esque game that involved freedom fighters? Was it called Resistance or something? I have Catan (6-player exp.), King of Tokyo, Pirate's Cove and stuff like that but is there any makeshift way you can think of for getting the group playing together?

Games like The Resistance, Saboteur, Nimmnt 5/Category 5/Slide 5, Formula D, Apples to Apples, and Cards Against Humanity all go up to 10 players. Downtime isn't really an issue with those kinds of games, aside from maybe Formula D with a full crew using the full ruleset.

Other than those kinds of games though, what our group ends up doing if we have 8 or more on a given night is have people pair up into teams and play a heavier strategic game or something a lot of people haven't played before so that we can get more people familiar with the game without having to play twice. You often see an interesting dynamic play out as people try to decide how best to proceed on their turn. It may not work well with your group dynamic though if there are players who tend to dominate things a great deal.
 
Descent 2nd Ed isn't really that complicated or long though. And if you have a consistent group it is fun to play the campaign. 'Cause really, you are recommending BSG, yet bagging on Descent?

I recommend Lords of Waterdeep. Great intro to worker placement games and your group will like the fantasy theme.

Yea BSG easily takes longer to play Descent 2nd edition and even 4 player games of Blood Bowl can go very long too.

Though I wouldn't recommend D2 just because it's a piss poor game :p

D1 4 lyfe!


I fully admit it could just be my group. But BSG is an extremely straightforward game, and most of the interesting stuff happens in the discussions around it. Your actions are all very simple. The fun is really in how everyone interacts.

Descent is a mess where even something as simple as moving could be using "move points" or "stamina" and oh hey, which dice do I roll right now, oh right I have this ability, do I have line of sight here, treat this figure as a hero except the 50 ways in which they are nothing like a hero, etc. The heroes spend 15 minutes each round before their turn just discussing every possible permutation of the moves they could take this round. Then if anything goes wrong, it's another 10 minutes of discussion. Oh did you realize you could use your Heroic here? Oh shit, okay then what if I did that and.... *cue another 5 minutes* It was also very unbalanced for our group. We played the Intro, 3 First Acts, Interlude, and 1 Second Act, and only 1 of them was close. The others were landslide victories for one side or the other, which made it extremely boring for the losing side especially.

Descent also ran way longer for our group than any other game we play. To get through a single quest (two encounters) we would run upwards of 6 hours, with 5 being the most common. At the end, we're all exhausted. We get through a BSG game in 3 hours, easily, and then people want to wrap up with Tokyo or Waterdeep or something.

Our 4-player Blood Bowl games are 2 hours long. I'm not sure how you would possibly make that game take anywhere near Descent length.
 
Our 4-player Blood Bowl games are 2 hours long. I'm not sure how you would possibly make that game take anywhere near Descent length.

Depends on scenario, but D2 2 encounters, we can often run through in under 2 hours. 4 player Blood Bowl we've had drag at times, we prefer 3 player for it because of that.
 
Depends on scenario, but D2 2 encounters, we can often run through in under 2 hours. 4 player Blood Bowl we've had drag at times, we prefer 3 player for it because of that.

I honestly can't even imagine running through 2 encounters in under 2 hours. It takes 20 minutes just to set up each encounter, finding the pieces, explaining the custom rules for this encounter, choosing the best monsters, where to place them, placing the search tokens, etc. Then you have the encounter itself, then disassembling it, assembling the next one, etc. In the end you're telling me you "play through" each encounter in about 30 minutes. That sounds absurd to me.
 
Played D1 for years which is far more work so D2 is quite easy to set up and everyone knows the game well. Plus all the components I got organized for quick deployment which we learned was required after dealing with D1. Players know how to automatically set up their own stuff and get ready to play while I usually the overlord know quickly to toss down the game. This is of course non campaign play though which would add quite a bit more time to every aspect of setup. But in regular one off scenario play, can easily get it on the table in 10 min or less.

Some scenarios in the book though can take much longer though
 

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
- Battlestar Galactica is a must for 5 players. Absolutely brilliant game.
- King of Tokyo is a great buy. Plays quick and easy, and everyone always enjoys it.
- Blood Bowl Team Manager is fantastic for 4 players. Don't be turned away by the supposed "football" theme. It's really nothing to do with the sport and my group absolutely adores it, even though I'm the only one who actually likes football.
- Dominion is always good and usually popular for groups.
- Eclipse is an amazingly good strategic game but can get a little long. It also seems extremely complicated at first glance. Notice I said "seems" -- it's actually very elegantly designed and easy to understand once you're playing. But it is intimidating.

- I would recommend AGAINST Descent. It was overly complicated and long-winded for our group. If you're worried about long playtime I wouldn't really suggest it.

Thanks! King of Tokyo is pretty cheap, so I'll probably pick that up almost immediately and look into the rest.

Descent 2nd Ed isn't really that complicated or long though. And if you have a consistent group it is fun to play the campaign. 'Cause really, you are recommending BSG, yet bagging on Descent?

I recommend Lords of Waterdeep. Great intro to worker placement games and your group will like the fantasy theme.

I forgot I also saw Lords of Waterdeep in the shop I was in, will check it out.

I fully admit it could just be my group. But BSG is an extremely straightforward game, and most of the interesting stuff happens in the discussions around it. Your actions are all very simple. The fun is really in how everyone interacts.

Descent is a mess where even something as simple as moving could be using "move points" or "stamina" and oh hey, which dice do I roll right now, oh right I have this ability, do I have line of sight here, treat this figure as a hero except the 50 ways in which they are nothing like a hero, etc. The heroes spend 15 minutes each round before their turn just discussing every possible permutation of the moves they could take this round. Then if anything goes wrong, it's another 10 minutes of discussion. Oh did you realize you could use your Heroic here? Oh shit, okay then what if I did that and.... *cue another 5 minutes* It was also very unbalanced for our group. We played the Intro, 3 First Acts, Interlude, and 1 Second Act, and only 1 of them was close. The others were landslide victories for one side or the other, which made it extremely boring for the losing side especially.

Descent also ran way longer for our group than any other game we play. To get through a single quest (two encounters) we would run upwards of 6 hours, with 5 being the most common. At the end, we're all exhausted. We get through a BSG game in 3 hours, easily, and then people want to wrap up with Tokyo or Waterdeep or something.

Our 4-player Blood Bowl games are 2 hours long. I'm not sure how you would possibly make that game take anywhere near Descent length.

The bold excites me, as Cosmic Encounters is my favorite for this reason, so I will definitely pursue BSG, and probably stay away from Descent.

Thanks again everyone who had input.
 
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