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[StoOgE]

So report from tonight.

2x Betrayal House on the Hill
1x Carson City

My original plan was 2x Carson City and 1x House on the Hill, but had too much fun with House on the Hill and wanted a 2nd go at it.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a real winner. It has a lot of balance problems, and I think the entire pre-betrayal portion of the game is mostly pointless. I wish there was some kind of goal you were working towards at first or something to do other than flip tiles and wait for the actual game to start.

The 50+ scenarios is a lot of fun, not knowing what the other side is doing. One of them ended quickly because one of our players happened to already have both items we needed to win, so he just had to walk to the necessary room and end the game.

The next one was nuts and involved the betrayer rearranging the entire house and came down to one good guy left standing against the baddie and came down to a die roll. Had a lot of fun with it. It's on my buy list as a fun party/light game.

Carson City - Wow. What an amazingly tight game. Had I not just played Le Havre this would probably have gotten a better reaction, but Le Havre is a better experience when it comes to resource balancing.

That said, the tile placement in this is a lot of fun as well and it has a real Carcassonne like feel of move followed by countermove to try and block what people are trying to set up. The duels happened more often that I imagined they would as several spaces just wound up being the obvious move that turn. I avoided them when possible and would overpay for an item to avoid the duel to ensure I got my action.

That said, it is a brilliant way to bring direct conflict to a game system that already has solid indirect conflict.

 

[BattleMonkey]

One of the main goals of Betrayal before the betrayal is revealed is simply for you to try to buff up and equip your characters, once the plot kicks in it can make a huge difference if you're the bad guy or one of the good guys.

 

[StoOgE]

One of the main goals of Betrayal before the betrayal is revealed is simply for you to try to buff up and equip your characters, once the plot kicks in it can make a huge difference if you're the bad guy or one of the good guys.

yeah, I get that there is a point to it.. you could potentially be next to dead or awesomely powerful. I just wish there was more of a goal towards what is going on. Like, have the betrayer know that they are going to be the badguy already, but only reveal their plans to them later.

I don't know.

Just felt like aimless wandering waiting for the actual game to kick in.

 

[BattleMonkey]

It's thematic, explorations and wandering around a haunted house.

 

[Chorazin]

Bought Neuroshima Hex! for my iPhone last night...that sure is an iPhone boardgame. With ZERO in-game information about units and abilities, you're in the dark half the time. Maybe if I knew the physical copy of the game in and out before this would be super awesome.

Hopefully they release the online patch and in-game unit information soon. At least they say it'll be upgraded to a Universal app in the future.

 

[BattleMonkey]

The info is in the army section, and the rules are universal. Armies don't have unique abilities, it's the same few abilities across all forces. One read through the rulebook and I didn't need to ever reference what the abilities where again.

 

[StoOgE]

It's thematic, explorations and wandering around a haunted house.

Remember, I'm a Eurogamer.

Theme takes a backseat to gameplay for me. I get how it works thematically, just doesn't give me much of a point gameplay wise.

Still enjoyed the game.

Speaking of, are there any more ameritrash games you would recommend for someone who likes LNOE and Betrayal? The themes of both of these are pretty fun but that isn't necessarily what I am after (Betrayal is surprisingly Lovecraftian in tone), but more just semi-mindless roll games without massive amounts of stat or item tracking and similar playtimes?

 

[BattleMonkey]

It's kind of an RPG and card game hybrid, but this was tons of fun when I played it couple weeks ago: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/rpgitem/85370/umlaut-game-of-metal

You create bands, come up with set lists, and you use cards to compete with other bands at the table to become the best. Lot of lulz to be had with rock fans who are creative.

Remember, I'm a Eurogamer.

Theme takes a backseat to gameplay for me. I get how it works thematically, just doesn't give me much of a point gameplay wise.

Still enjoyed the game.

Speaking of, are there any more ameritrash games you would recommend for someone who likes LNOE and Betrayal? The themes of both of these are pretty fun but that isn't necessarily what I am after (Betrayal is surprisingly Lovecraftian in tone), but more just semi-mindless roll games without massive amounts of stat or item tracking and similar playtimes?

Level of theme over gamplay varies greatly with "ameritrash", it all gets lumped together but it varies greatly. What kind of these games didn't you like, and what kind of themes you looking at?

 

[StoOgE]

I would need to avoid more Fantasy themes unless it is from an established franchise. I.E. Lord of the Rings = ok. Warhammer = probably not as much.

Historical/Horror/SciFi would probably work better generally.

The main thing to stress is a relatively quick set up and simple mechanics. I enjoy the light roleplaying experiences these games can give you.. and while I personally would be just fine jumping into a near D&D like experience, my gaming group wouldn't be.

If it takes 20 mintues to set up they are going to lose interest and if there is too much stuff to keep track of they will get bored and/or not play it correctly.

 

[AstroLad]

Bought Neuroshima Hex! for my iPhone last night...that sure is an iPhone boardgame. With ZERO in-game information about units and abilities, you're in the dark half the time. Maybe if I knew the physical copy of the game in and out before this would be super awesome.

Hopefully they release the online patch and in-game unit information soon. At least they say it'll be upgraded to a Universal app in the future.

Yeah they are actually adding that next game. To be clear though, you can get all the info in-game, just pause and go to manual, but it's not nearly as convenient as it could be, especially when you're first playing.

Here's the manual btw: http://www.zmangames.com/boardgames/files/neuroshima_hex/NH_Rules.pdf

Here's the army reference cards too which should help you with your problem for now:
http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/2h8vjf6q58/NH_Army_Ref.PDF?

 

[wayward archer]

The info is in the army section, and the rules are universal. Armies don't have unique abilities, it's the same few abilities across all forces. One read through the rulebook and I didn't need to ever reference what the abilities where again.

Yeah that was my experience as well, read the rulebook once, played a few games, and had the whole thing figured out... the only thing that threw me was the red army has a unit that shoots through multiple enemies and can't receive range attack bonuses (Gauss Cannon). Since nobody else has this ability (it's depicted as a white range attack symbol) it seemed inconsistent with the way the rest of the game was set up but otherwise not a big deal.

 

[Chorazin]

Yeah they are actually adding that next game. To be clear though, you can get all the info in-game, just pause and go to manual, but it's not nearly as convenient as it could be, especially when you're first playing.

Here's the manual btw: http://www.zmangames.com/boardgames/files/neuroshima_hex/NH_Rules.pdf

Here's the army reference cards too which should help you with your problem for now:
http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/2h8vjf6q58/NH_Army_Ref.PDF?

Thanks, I'll check those out. Combat really throws me for a loop.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I would need to avoid more Fantasy themes unless it is from an established franchise. I.E. Lord of the Rings = ok. Warhammer = probably not as much.

Historical/Horror/SciFi would probably work better generally.

The main thing to stress is a relatively quick set up and simple mechanics. I enjoy the light roleplaying experiences these games can give you.. and while I personally would be just fine jumping into a near D&D like experience, my gaming group wouldn't be.

If it takes 20 mintues to set up they are going to lose interest and if there is too much stuff to keep track of they will get bored and/or not play it correctly.

Well it's hard to say for quick games, lot of them have long play times, set ups, or learning periods. Battlestar Galactica is a good one but it's not quick in anyways.

 

[StoOgE]

Well it's hard to say for quick games, lot of them have long play times, set ups, or learning periods. Battlestar Galactica is a good one but it's not quick in anyways.

I'm buying BSG already actually. Picking it up for 20 dollars at BGG-Con because of a split corner on the box. I can deal with a taped inside corner for a 15 dollar discount :lol

I still kind of have my eye on Game of Thrones as well, though I am worried the mechanics may be too much.

I've also gone ahead and ponied up for the entire set of LNOE expansions and web only supplements :lol

I like Zombies way too much to have held off on the game as long as I did.

 

[fenners]

I'm buying BSG already actually. Picking it up for 20 dollars at BGG-Con because of a split corner on the box. I can deal with a taped inside corner for a 15 dollar discount :lol

I still kind of have my eye on Game of Thrones as well, though I am worried the mechanics may be too much.

Keep yer eye away from that one in the flea market thread.

 

[StoOgE]

Keep yer eye away from that one in the flea market thread.

I figure I'll let you have it at 10 if it stays there. If it goes any higher and you aren't winning I'm going to BIN for 25.

 

[Neverfade]

A great injustice has been done in a world where someone would rather have 10 dollars than AGoT boardgame.

 

[StoOgE]

A great injustice has been done in a world where someone would rather have 10 dollars than AGoT boardgame.

Some people in that thread have gone completely nuts selling games.

There was one guy who was selling everything at retail prices, and then yesterday and went and changed his prices to 50-60% below retail on everything.

Some guy bought Cleopatra for 10 dollars today. So many people are just unloading games. Probably people who buy 100 games and only play 10 of them in a year.

 

[fenners]

Some people in that thread have gone completely nuts selling games.

There was one guy who was selling everything at retail prices, and then yesterday and went and changed his prices to 50-60% below retail on everything.

Some guy bought Cleopatra for 10 dollars today. So many people are just unloading games. Probably people who buy 100 games and only play 10 of them in a year.

Yeah, there's also a lot of games that have gone for bargain prices at some point in the last 18 months or so - for example Cleopatra was given away for free by DoW at one point last year. Lots of Tanga games in the list too.

Some insane deals too. Annoyed at missing out on Space Alert & the Memoir package.

And that guy selling Thrones has a BIN of $25 on it. That's what he's expecting (and likely) to get.

 

[StoOgE]

There are a *ton* of people selling Nottingham for 5 dollars as well.

I jumped on one just because 5 bucks for a Uwe Rosenberg game was a no brainer.

 

[fenners]

There are a *ton* of people selling Nottingham for 5 dollars as well.

I jumped on one just because 5 bucks for a Uwe Rosenberg game was a no brainer.

Pretty sure that was a "Tanga Trash" game at some point. Anything that's an uberplay game & cheap was likely a Tanga deal at some point.

Oh yeah, and the FFG "silver line" games like Quicksand etc - FFG routinely clears them on their website for $5 each once a year around Thanksgiving.

 

[GDJustin]

Wife and I finally have had some free time to get a little more Alhambra in.... been crazy busy. The game practically requires at least ~3 of its extensions to be decent.

And probably ~6 of the 20 extensions in the big box are useless.

Still, Alhambra is quickly becoming my favorite Eurogame, edging our Dominion. Granted, I'm still pretty new to the scene. But it is pretty much the EPITOME of "simple, but with tons of depth." It's amazing that such simplistic mechanics can give someone so much to think about. Along that same line, the game seems to cause more analysis paralysis than Dominion or Carcassonne.

I'm normally an anti-AP guy and just play with my gut, but my Alhambra turns are crazy long.

As for extensions, I've found that a good mix is always using the "essentials" (mostly change), and then adding in 1-2 special cards, and 1-2 special tiles. More or less than that is either too dry or too cluttered. So I wouldn't use both the camp tiles and the worker hut tiles, but choosing one or the other plus a special card strikes a good balance.

 

[AstroLad]

Hmm I play Alhambra with zero expansions and like it just fine. My wife in particular loves it. Don't really treat it as a deep game or anything though, just light filler.

 

[BomberMouse]

Some of the modules for Alhambra are pretty good and add some depth to the game, in fact, some of them add too much "depth", they overcomplicate the game (specially those in Expansion #5), I still have to try them all though.

I always play with the diamonds and change, they make it a lot easier to pay the exact changeand make some great combos.

 

[Nyx]

My GF and me are looking for 1 or 2 new boardgames for the winter, she likes Acquire f.e., I like tactical/strategy games.

Shouldn’t be games that take ages, any suggestions ?

Also Arkham Horror looks awesome, but reading a bit of info on the net turned me off as it seems hard to learn, any user-reviews here ?

 

[mrklaw]

Zombies!!!1! or LNoE? Both seem superficially similar. Would need to be 9-year-old safe if that affects anything (one might have a more gory approach than the other)

 

[Stumpokapow]

Arkham has tons and tons of pieces and lasts a very long time, but it's really not hard to learn. Run through one or two solo games and you'l have the rules down pat, and it's absolutely a game you can teach to someone else while playing.

 

[Nyx]

Arkham has tons and tons of pieces and lasts a very long time, but it's absolutely not hard to learn. Run through one or two solo games and you'l have the rules down pat, and it's absolutely a game you can teach to someone else while playing.

Thanks !

 

[BattleMonkey]

Zombies!!!1! or LNoE? Both seem superficially similar. Would need to be 9-year-old safe if that affects anything (one might have a more gory approach than the other)

Both feature mature themes. Zombies is a simpler game that would be better for younger players but the game features lot of gory art on the cards. LNoE is simple but is more complex and maybe too much for a young kid. The art for the most part isn't gory or it's just so vague since it's full of bad photoshop :lol

 

[Bigfoot]

Stratego was just released on the App Store, but no multiplayer yet. I'm waiting for impressions (and maybe a sale ) before I purchase it.

I loved Stratego when I was a kid. I noticed there is a new version at Walmart the other day that gives all units special moves. Has anyone tried it? I'm thinking of getting it one day just to play with my nephews.

 

[BattleMonkey]

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=1712

Feature on upcoming Civ game with gameplay details.

 

[AstroLad]

My GF and me are looking for 1 or 2 new boardgames for the winter, she likes Acquire f.e., I like tactical/strategy games.

Shouldn’t be games that take ages, any suggestions ?

Also Arkham Horror looks awesome, but reading a bit of info on the net turned me off as it seems hard to learn, any user-reviews here ?

how many people are you going to be playing with? how comfortable are they with complexity? length? what themes do they enjoy/despise?

 

[kottila]

I'm sure agricola has been debated in and out, but playing a 5 player game yesterday, I couldn't help but think that it is a little stupid that there are only 4 ovens in the game ( f no players get it as an minor improvemen) that can convert animals to food . Most of the players were rookies, so when I pointed that out, there was a rush to get the remaining ones. It felt a little unfair to the 5th player, since slaughtering is one of the easiest ways to get food and this situation only arises in 5 player games. Of course my girlfriend, without the oven, won the game, but partly only because noone bothered to block her food source (she had a card that gave four food on travelling player square) because it wouldn't be much fun in starving her. Maybe we're just too soft hearted, but blocking that in every round would feel a little too mean.

 

[AstroLad]

I don't think all people should necessarily be entitled to ovens. At that point I don't even see carnivore as that great of a strategy (I'm sure some nerd on BGG has a way to definitively prove or disprove that, but that's just my feeling).

 

[kottila]

I don't think all people should necessarily be entitled to ovens. At that point I don't even see carnivore as that great of a strategy (I'm sure some nerd on BGG has a way to definitively prove or disprove that, but that's just my feeling).

It might just be that as beginners they just didn't reallt plan any food strategies and that's why it was felt as a necessity. but when playing with any other number of players, everyone has a chance of getting one, so why not for 5 players at well? some sort of balancing issue? I was thinking that next time, a solution might be to let the fifth player be allowed to buy one of the (worst) minor improvement ones as a major improvement if he wants one.

edit: I was also thinking to try a game starting with 3 people instead of two, as there is never enough time to complete my plans for the ultimate farm..

 

[AstroLad]

I dunno; I don't really see the number of ovens corresponding the the # of players at all. I mean with 2-3 you have extra ovens right? If ovens are really that key to your strategy, you should be angling for them from your first turn and doing everything you can to get one. And if other people are doing that, chances are they've left some really juicy alternatives open so win-win.

 

[StoOgE]

My haul at BGG-Con (so far)

Blue Moon
Street Car
Intrigue
Perkiles
Last Night on Earth
Herra and Zeus
Nottingham
Battle Star Galactica

All for 125 bucks.

The only one on the list that I'm not sure is going to be a winner is streetcar, but I payed 5 dollars for it.

1 Knizia
1 Richard Borg
1 Martin Wallace
1 Uwe Rosenberg in there as well.

 

[Nyx]

how many people are you going to be playing with? how comfortable are they with complexity? length? what themes do they enjoy/despise?

2-6 players, who probably will be comfortable with some complexity but not ''hours long'' rule explanation. Length could be between 1 and 4 hours tops, theme doesn't matter much though sci-fi might turn some off.

 

[AstroLad]

Yeah Arkham should work then, though it's at the top end of your scale length-wise with 4-5. Arkham is actually very easy to teach, but difficult to learn. Not in the sense that it has a ton of arcane rules, but just that there are a lot of moving parts in the game to keep track of, and a lot of inter-relations to learn. They key with Arkham, always, is to learn it very well yourself (and it's a game that plays well solo so that's a bonus) and then play a "real" game.

 

[Flynn]

I'm sure agricola has been debated in and out, but playing a 5 player game yesterday, I couldn't help but think that it is a little stupid that there are only 4 ovens in the game ( f no players get it as an minor improvemen) that can convert animals to food . Most of the players were rookies, so when I pointed that out, there was a rush to get the remaining ones. It felt a little unfair to the 5th player, since slaughtering is one of the easiest ways to get food and this situation only arises in 5 player games. Of course my girlfriend, without the oven, won the game, but partly only because noone bothered to block her food source (she had a card that gave four food on travelling player square) because it wouldn't be much fun in starving her. Maybe we're just too soft hearted, but blocking that in every round would feel a little too mean.

I'd say the fact that there IS a limiter on ovens means that the shortage is intentional. Being that the game isn't really interactive at all the five-player game adds, I think, an additional feeling of shortage despite the fact that the board expands.

 

[platypotamus]

The lack of ovens is the last of my problems playing Agricola with a lot of players. I have far more trouble with there only really being one effective spot to get Reed, meaning house expansion and remodeling is tough if you don't have the right occupations/minor improvements. Hell, that even sometimes gives me trouble with just 2-3 players.

 

[Flynn]

The lack of ovens is the last of my problems playing Agricola with a lot of players. I have far more trouble with there only really being one effective spot to get Reed, meaning house expansion and remodeling is tough if you don't have the right occupations/minor improvements. Hell, that even sometimes gives me trouble with just 2-3 players.

But don't you only need one reed to convert?

 

[Ferrio]

Agricola was probably one of my biggest disappointments in buying a board game. It crossed over the threshold of being fun to being tedious to me. Much rather playing Puerto if I'm going to play a game of it's type.

 

[platypotamus]

Pfft, like I'm wasting a worker action to take a single reed from that spot. I'm going to need a new room soon, I don't want to have to get reed twice when I can get it once!

(this type of thinking gets me into so much trouble in worker placement games)

 

[Flynn]

Agricola was probably one of my biggest disappointments in buying a board game. It crossed over the threshold of being fun to being tedious to me. Much rather playing Puerto if I'm going to play a game of it's type.

Never play Antiquity.

Though I love Agricola for exactly that reason -- I always feel behind, wishing I had one more resource or worker. Talk about a perfect matching of mechanic and flavor.

 

[platypotamus]

Yep, it really is the perfect "if I only had..." game. Every single round, you're just a little bit shy of being able to do something uber. Even when you win (even by a lot), it still feels like the game kicked your ass.

 

[StoOgE]

Agricola was probably one of my biggest disappointments in buying a board game. It crossed over the threshold of being fun to being tedious to me. Much rather playing Puerto if I'm going to play a game of it's type.

I actually find Puerto Rico to be pretty tedious with it's "only sell one of each good, only put one type of good on a boat, but you must put it on the boat if you can" mechanics.

The entire game feels to abstracted and the roles all seem very disjointed from one another.. nothing flows together elegantly. Compare that to something like Power Grid where you have 3 phases and they are all directly connected to each other in ways that make sense thematically.

Puerto Rico is a good game, but it just feels way too contrived at points.

I much prefer goods have demand tracks that at least explain the reason behind falling (or no) prices.

 

[Ferrio]

I actually find Puerto Rico to be pretty tedious with it's "only sell one of each good, only put one type of good on a boat, but you must put it on the boat if you can" mechanics.

Ah but that what makes the game so great. You have to guess your opponents moves and act accordingly. Pretty much the whole concept of the game.

 

[platypotamus]

I actually find Puerto Rico to be pretty tedious with it's "only sell one of each good, only put one type of good on a boat, but you must put it on the boat if you can" mechanics.

The entire game feels to abstracted and the roles all seem very disjointed from one another.. nothing flows together elegantly. Compare that to something like Power Grid where you have 3 phases and they are all directly connected to each other in ways that make sense thematically.

Puerto Rico is a good game, but it just feels way too contrived at points.

I much prefer goods have demand tracks that at least explain the reason behind falling (or no) prices.

Didn't you just make a post in here recently saying that mechanics were far more important than theme for you? Those mechanics pretty much create the entirety of the experience of puerto rico!

 

[Chorazin]

Got a chance to play my copies of Drakon and Last Night on Earth last night. Loved the simplicity of Drakon and how fun trying to screw the other players while trying to minimize the screwing they do to you is.

Really impressed with LNoE, even though we only got through half the starting scenario due to an emergency at home (my GF called me to let me know the tub cracked, water everywhere but no real damage, thank goodness). The materials are all top notch, from the glossy, vivid cards to the thick stock used on the map pieces, tokens, scenarios and hero cards. Listened to the CD too, cheesy but a nice touch. Game seems pretty balanced too, I never felt like the heroes were totally at a disadvantage (I played as the zombie master) unless it was their own fault. Really looking forward to playing a game of it until the end, which of course will be me eating the delicious brains of the Heroes.

EDIT: I forgot, the ONLY thing that felt cheap about LNoE were the dice, just boring, white die that felt like they weighed nothing. Luckily I had a 32 pack of black, purple, and red mini-D6s with gold pips I got back when I was going to run a Shadowrun game, so I replaced them with those. Just looks nicer!