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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
- Thread starter AstroLad
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Oh you guys finally got it? Yeah It still love the game. Easy to play, pretty quick,works with all player counts and still lots of decision making. For me it's a real winner. I would have given it the Kennerspiel. I liked it best out of all the nominations.
Okay so contrary to my expectations I found Hanabi to be much better than Escape. Hanabi's such a clever simple game especially with just 2 or 3 players and it could very well overtake Bohnanza as my personal go-to family card-game.
Played a 4 player game of Pathfinder on Thursday. It was a hit and now I'm trying to track down the 5-6 player add on as others in the group want to play next time. I knew I should of pre-ordered it with the base game.
Edit: I went ahead and subscribed to the adventure packs on paizo.com. Works out to be cheaper than anywhere else online (as nothing available locally) plus I get the associated promo card free with every pack.
Edit: I went ahead and subscribed to the adventure packs on paizo.com. Works out to be cheaper than anywhere else online (as nothing available locally) plus I get the associated promo card free with every pack.
I've been looking at other 'party' games along the lines of The Resistance (which is great). Something with simple mechanics that are easy for a group of 5-10 to pick up, involving bluffing or some other creativity on the player's part. What do you guys recommend? I've looked at Mascarade, Coup, Dixit, and Shadow Hunters.
platypotamus
Member
I can't say enough good things about Dixit. It's obviously a lot less cutthroart than Resistance, it's creative but not so much so as to be offputting, it's casual and kid friendly, and the art is incredibly charming.
Can totally recommend Mascarade. Very fun and easy party game. That no one really knows who is who really adds to the fun.
2nd'ing Xater. Mascarade is the winner by a fair margin out of all of those. And it's cheap.
Are these like autocad files? How much ram do you need lol.
Pandemic
Pathfinder
Defenders of the Realm
Arkham Horror
Elder Sign
Gears of War
Space Alert
Escape
Ghost Stories
Space Hulk: Death Angel
Atlantis Rising
Take your pick.
Elder Sign sucks. Arkham Horror takes forever and also kinda sucks. I would add Flashpoint to this list.
The game about the island you played was Forbidden Island and there is another version with some more mechanics called Forbidden Desert.
For me Escape is the only coop game that stuck. The chaos of it makes it a blast and it's super quick.
If he's really coming from Forbidden Island, I wouldn't recommend huge complexity/theme spikes.
My pick goes to Pandemic or Flash Point.
Escape and Hanabi are very accessible cooperative games for pretty much all ages. Flash Point and Pandemic are a small step up from Forbidden Island in terms of complexity (wrt rules and mechanics). Gears of War and Robinson Crusoe are quite a bit more complex but really great games and Arkham Horror has a steep learning curve but in terms of strategy and tactics it's easier than GoW and RC.
Still, I second Smiley90 and suggest either Flash Point or Pandemic. I'd say that Flash Point leans slightly more to the tactical (moment to moment decisions) side whereas Pandemic is more strategic (long term decisions) due to the way fire/virusses behave. Flash Point is a little more accessible and has a family mode, on the other hand there are more interesting expansions for Pandemic.
Still, I second Smiley90 and suggest either Flash Point or Pandemic. I'd say that Flash Point leans slightly more to the tactical (moment to moment decisions) side whereas Pandemic is more strategic (long term decisions) due to the way fire/virusses behave. Flash Point is a little more accessible and has a family mode, on the other hand there are more interesting expansions for Pandemic.
My 2 player "me vs. girlfriend" recommendation:
From BGG: "Morels, a strategic card game for two players, uses two decks: a Day Deck (84 cards) that includes ten different types of mushrooms as well as baskets, cider, butter, pans, and moons, and a smaller Night Deck (8 cards) of mushrooms to be foraged by moonlight. Each mushroom card has two values: one for selling and one for cooking. Selling two or more like mushrooms grants foraging sticks that expand your options in the forest (that is, the running tableau of eight face-up cards on the table), enabling offensive or defensive plays that change with every game played. Cooking sets of three or more like mushrooms – sizzling in butter or cider if the set is large enough – earns points toward winning the game. With poisonous mushrooms wielding their wrath and a hand-size limit to manage, card selection is a tricky proposition at every turn.
Following each turn, one card from the forest moves into a decay pile that is available for only a short time. The Day Deck then refills the forest from the back, creating the effect of a walk in the woods in which some strategic morsels are collected, some are passed by, and others lay ahead."
From BGG: "Morels, a strategic card game for two players, uses two decks: a Day Deck (84 cards) that includes ten different types of mushrooms as well as baskets, cider, butter, pans, and moons, and a smaller Night Deck (8 cards) of mushrooms to be foraged by moonlight. Each mushroom card has two values: one for selling and one for cooking. Selling two or more like mushrooms grants foraging sticks that expand your options in the forest (that is, the running tableau of eight face-up cards on the table), enabling offensive or defensive plays that change with every game played. Cooking sets of three or more like mushrooms – sizzling in butter or cider if the set is large enough – earns points toward winning the game. With poisonous mushrooms wielding their wrath and a hand-size limit to manage, card selection is a tricky proposition at every turn.
Following each turn, one card from the forest moves into a decay pile that is available for only a short time. The Day Deck then refills the forest from the back, creating the effect of a walk in the woods in which some strategic morsels are collected, some are passed by, and others lay ahead."
Affeinvasion
Member
What a bizarre theme. Games are awesome.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
It's a tough game to win but it is doable. I can usually win about 60% of the time but each of those wins were uphill battles. If you start adding in some of the extra cards (especially the Tyranid pack) you are looking at a very difficult fight. Fun game though and a good solitaire experience.
Oh yeah, that reminds me: which do you think are the most worthwhile expansions? It looks like the Mission Pack adds some more variety to the scenarios, as where the one that adds more marines are just... more marines.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Tyranid pack is good if you want a harder game.
Mission pack are just different rooms and locations. Not harder or easier, just different.
Space Marines your most essential pack. I would consider picking this up as your first one. Some of the expansion teams are just too good to pass up.
The cards are good quality but a different texture than what comes in the game. The game cards have a linen finish but the PoD ones are slick. It doesn't matter that they are different texture because, besides the Space Marine pack, you don't mix together the expansions with the base game. BTW, if you were wondering the Space Marine pack comes with team cards for all teams so it's easy to randomize.
If I were to list them in order from "must have" to "get it if you really want more" I'd say,
Space Marine
Mission Pack
Tyranid Pack
The packs I picked up recently at GenCon are closer to the original card finish. Haven't had a chance to play them.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
That's interesting, the ones I have are slick. But then again, I did buy them years ago so they may have changed the printing method.
BattleMonkey
Member
The quality tends to constantly change on their pod products.
Hydranockz
Member
The Anniversary Edition of Galaxy Trucker looks like a good deal on the expansions. I can't find the base game anywhere locally though.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Doesn't the anniversary edition contain everything, including the base game?
BattleMonkey
Member
Yea it's the base game and the two big expansions.
Hydranockz
Member
Yeah, but my local guys are having trouble getting that in too. They just have expansions to taunt me with.
platypotamus
Member
I hated Thunderstone when I played it live, but then love it on yucata. I'm interested in giving it another shot with Thunderstone Advanced, which looks improved in some ways.
Ascension I enjoy quite a bit more than Thunderstone.
Ascension I enjoy quite a bit more than Thunderstone.
I'm with you there, although I've only played Advance.
I also don't like how you can bypass monsters in the higher levels of the dungeon and just go straight to the bottom to fight the others if you have enough light. Makes zero sense thematically.
BattleMonkey
Member
Arctic Scavengers is a good deck builder that has quite a bit of player interaction if your wanting to have a bit more back and forth with other player.
Nightfall is interesting mechanics and is a deck builder that's all about fighting the other players at the table, but it's also one of the more complex deck builders.
Thunderstone is similar to dominion, players don't interact with each so much as it's simply a race to see who kills most monsters. Variations released with Advanced such as the Forest give you more monsters to kill and get rid of heavy light penalties, so Forest mode moves a lot faster than standard dungeon based Thunderstone. There is also a new COOP mode that was added in the third expansion of Advanced and it's actually pretty fun.
Rune Age This one has every player start with a unique pool of cards to buy and deck build with, unlike most deckbuilders that have a central pool everyone shares. Pretty good thematic game that has several different ways to play it out of the box, only issue to me is that the game is kinda limited in variety and not tons of expansions like other deck builders.
So many other deck builders, all with varying degrees of player interaction. When it comes to simplicity and overall best design it's hard to beat Dominion. Most thematic deckbuilders while adding some interesting twists also seem to suffer for various reasons largely due to them sticking to the theme.
I was also talking about the Advance version. It just seems to drag on for too long for what it is. I'd rather play Dominion.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Man, I really like Copycat. It's a deckbuilder with Agricola styled worker placement. If you are looking for interactivity this game has it.
Core Worlds is also really good deckbuilder with solid player interaction. It feels a lot like an empire building game too. The idea is you are recruiting people or equipment in order to colonize planets. It's a more interesting game than Emminant Domain, which has the same theme. Downside is, it's a really long game and to really get the full experience you have to get the expansion.
As far as pure deckbuilders that have player interaction? I think Nightfall is decent. Probably better if you grab an expansion or two and you are playing with less than four.
Eaten By Zombies is flawed (really flawed) but there is something about it that I kind of like. The idea behind that one is you are building a deck just to last a little bit longer than your opponents. The biggest problem with the game is the rulebook. It's terrible and the attempts to fix it have also been less than stellar.
A lot of people really like trains too.
I think the theme is pretty dry.
I like the idea of briefcase, but haven't played it.
I think the real problem with Deck Builders is Dominion did it first, and best. The most you can hope for from any of these is a nicer theme or interesting twist.
For the most part every time I've falled in with a new deckbuilder I find myself about 4-5 plays just wishing I was playing dominion.
I think the theme is pretty dry.
I like the idea of briefcase, but haven't played it.
I think the real problem with Deck Builders is Dominion did it first, and best. The most you can hope for from any of these is a nicer theme or interesting twist.
For the most part every time I've falled in with a new deckbuilder I find myself about 4-5 plays just wishing I was playing dominion.
BattleMonkey
Member
Did you play the Forest side version on the other side? It greatly speeds up the game with an extra available monster to slay and less light penalties, so everyone gets to killing much quicker.
I actually really like Tanto Cuore. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone due to thematic issues that people might have, but purely as a game I rate it above Dominion.
In terms of gameplay, it's virtually identical to Dominion except for the addition of a "Private Quarters" section where you can send your cards to get them out of your deck, but keep earning the points from them. There's also a stack of unique cards that you can acquire directly into your Quarters which have ongoing game effects, which can then in turn be the traget of direct attack cards to render them useless.
On the other hand, some people might object to hiring anime maids in slightly risque outfits, and paying with Love.
Also, unless you buy all three sets, there just aren't enough cards to provide a decent variety of games.
JetBlackPanda
Member
My group loves fantasy settings and we play some pnp role playing games with some people in the group (the others don't play when we do this) I am trying to find a good adventure board game with a fantasy setting that everyone can play.
first thing that comes to mind is Talisman?!?
what do you guys think?
first thing that comes to mind is Talisman?!?
what do you guys think?
BattleMonkey
Member
Well Talisman is popular but it's not for everyone so it's hard to say. It's a fun push you luck dice chucker, lot of randomness involved which can put folks off who are into more strategic games.
If they like RPG like games, then Descent or Mice and Mystics are all good choices.
I honestly can't remember. I played two games and it completely turned me off the game. When comes to deck building the only thing I saw recently that interests me is Trains.
Yeah I would look at games like that ad well before Talisman. That game always looks like terrible game design to me.
JetBlackPanda
Member
TumblingHippo
Member
With how expansion-heavy this industry is, it's still such a shame that Earth Reborn will never see a single expansion.
The stories that game can create, like for a mission, having a guy using a jetpack to just get to the bathroom (and score points for it), or a huge mecha breaking through the walls and slowly destroying an entire complex just to keep the opponent from creating more zombies.
Speaking of stories, got to try my first game of Arabian Nights. What an experience. Story spoilers?
The stories that game can create, like for a mission, having a guy using a jetpack to just get to the bathroom (and score points for it), or a huge mecha breaking through the walls and slowly destroying an entire complex just to keep the opponent from creating more zombies.
Speaking of stories, got to try my first game of Arabian Nights. What an experience. Story spoilers?
Happened on meeting a maiden and getting straight-up married in the first turn, which made me feel I was going to have a dull game. That was, until a djinn's curse transformed me and I had to find a fellow magic user to reverse the curse, all the while never learning my lesson and trying to steal every treasure I could find.
Ended up getting wounded when I went to go cheat on the wife, but had second thoughts, and had to slowly make my way back to report to her, ending up in having an ugly baby that made me grief-stricken.
Ended up getting wounded when I went to go cheat on the wife, but had second thoughts, and had to slowly make my way back to report to her, ending up in having an ugly baby that made me grief-stricken.
Pathfinder ACG came in yesterday but the molding on my box insert is screwed up in 2 slots. Basically the plastic didn't melt completely into the mold or something so I'm going to have to cut out the plastic if I want cards to fit in those slots. :< On the bright side it's only the roles and scenarios slots so for the moment they can all fit somewhere else (like the henchmen slot) and are easily removed from another set of cards due to their dual backs.
I'm holding off on Pathfinder ACG until the hype is over, I'm definitely interested based on pretty much unanimous praise but I'm not really seeing the fun yet. Almost bought Shadows over Camelot but the store owner warned me that it's probably not for me (I'm really into difficult games) and in the end I walked away with the Dunwich Horror expansion for AH which hopefully makes AH significantly more difficult. .
Check out Death Angel if you like hard, punishing games
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