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[echoshifting]

Holy crap this thread moves a lot faster now, how am I to keep up! :lol

Thanks for the notes on your time with Lehman, Flynn...arrrrrrgh I want DotG/expac 4 info right f'in now but there isn't anything out there. I can't even catch a result on Google for DotG.

Sounds like they are sticking to the concept of "expansion arcs" though for RftG. Stacking more cards in there without taking some old ones out would really be pushing it.

I wish I could say I'm interested in the new Civ game. The bits are gorgeous. 3 hours is just too long though. And I'd rather try the tried-and-true Through the Ages first I think...

Picked up Zombie Dice & Cthulhu Dice today...first time I've actually managed to spot 'em in-store so I couldn't take a chance on buying just one. The dice are hilarious and high quality. Definitely doesn't compare to our normal fare but it'll serve its purpose...that being keeping my player group from getting too bored while we wait on stragglers...and possibility cross-generational play as well. I bet my 3 y/o daughter could play these.

 

[AstroLad]

Yeah let me definitely add that there have been a ton of good impressions in this thread. #1 rule of GAF for me is when you make a good long post don't think people aren't reading and enjoying it just b/c they're not replying. (Though I do try to reply to good posts, sometimes just don't have anything to add or I just neglect to.) Keep 'em coming!

 

[Neverfade]

Holy crap this thread moves a lot faster now, how am I to keep up! :lol

Thanks for the notes on your time with Lehman, Flynn...arrrrrrgh I want DotG/expac 4 info right f'in now but there isn't anything out there. I can't even catch a result on Google for DotG.

Sounds like they are sticking to the concept of "expansion arcs" though for RftG. Stacking more cards in there without taking some old ones out would really be pushing it.

I wish I could say I'm interested in the new Civ game. The bits are gorgeous. 3 hours is just too long though. And I'd rather try the tried-and-true Through the Ages first I think...

I wouldn't go expecting Through the Ages to play much quicker. It's meaty.

 

[Vanillalite]

First off, there is a section of the OP dedicated to 2P wife/girlfriend play.

Second off, read this: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/9900/the-quintessential-wife-girlfriend-and-spouse-reco

Third, I think I can help. I play board games *mostly* with my wife, but *occasionally* with others. So we need games that work well with 2, but also scale up nicely. A tough challenge! So far we've really enjoyed:

- Lost Cities (2P only)
- Caracassone
- Dominion
- Pandemic (co-op)

All four meet your criteria and are noob-friendly. If you're worried about your GF being turned off by a "nerdy" fantasy theme, start with Lost Cities. That's what I did.

I persoally haven't played the titles below, but they're well-regarded on GAF and on BoardGameGeek:

- The Settles of Catan Card Game
- Alhambra
- Balloon Cup

Thanks for the post. I'll definitely look over all of that. My GF doesn't mind the fantasy thing that much so something like LOTR wouldn't be out of the question. Also she's hella smart so I was thinking this would be something fun for us to do.

Now consider me an idiot but would we be better of doing something co-op or something mp competitive?

 

[echoshifting]

It's a shame Civ will be shipping without official solo rules. I'm sure the brainiacs on bbg are already hard at work on some good attempts but I like it better when the bits are designed for solo without any extra work on my part. There's no way my wife would play it with me but I can see myself sinking a lazy afternoon into it.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

What does BSW mean?

And does anyone have any thoughts on Small World, just as a side discussion. It seems very evenly split between people who love it and people who think it's dull and boring.

 

[echoshifting]

I wouldn't go expecting Through the Ages to play much quicker. It's meaty.

Oh hey look at that 240 minutes! Ha ha ha. Wellllll maybe. I have been hyping the wife up for it the past couple months. I bet she'd at least take a crack at it. Might be a good idea to let 'er win the first play.

 

[Neverfade]

What does BSW?

And does anyone have any thoughts on Small World, just as a side discussion. It seems very evenly split between people who love it and people who think it's dull and boring.

Coming from someone here who probably has the most similar tastes as you, it's droll.

 

[echoshifting]

Thanks for the post. I'll definitely look over all of that. My GF doesn't mind the fantasy thing that much so something like LOTR wouldn't be out of the question. Also she's hella smart so I was thinking this would be something fun for us to do.

Now consider me an idiot but would we be better of doing something co-op or something mp competitive?

It totally depends on you and your wife. My wife and I play both, though I think we typically enjoy competitive games more. It takes a really good coop game to see regular play on our table; Pandemic is the only one to fit the bill in years. We used to play LotR every now and then but it's way more fun with four.

My recommendation would be to get a game where the competition is limited to a race against time or towards the highest point total. Some recommendations along those lines - Lost Cities, Race for the Galaxy, Runebound if you want a fantasy adventure game, as there is very little interaction between player characters in the base game. Dominion can also play this way if you exclude the attack cards, though the game just generally *feels* competitive so it might not be a good first pick. If you are wary of what your in-game relationship might be like, do NOT start with Carcassonne. It would not surprise me in the least to see "STOLE my 8 tile city two years ago" listed as a grievance in a stack of some poor bastard's divorce papers.

 

[ToddG15]

Oh yah - BGG name: ToddG

 

[AstroLad]

Now consider me an idiot but would we be better of doing something co-op or something mp competitive?

Competitive imo. Co-op just generally is a little bit harder to understand for new players and "feels" less gamey generally. Co-op games are actually good "next step" games. I also agree with what echo said (except I don't even like Pandemic all that much, even though I recognize it's widely believed). I find Jaipur to be a great recent gem because it's easy to learn and understand and very pretty.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

I'm JezUK on BGG

 

[Vanillalite]

Race for the Galaxy seems intriguing, but it was rated hard by the OP. Think out of all of this all signs point to just get Lost Cities and go from there.

 

[Neverfade]

Race for the Galaxy seems intriguing, but it was rated hard by the OP. Think out of all of this all signs point to just get Lost Cities and go from there.

Pony up the 20 extra and get both.
Eat ramen for a couple nights. Priorities, man!

 

[Arkaerial]

Yeah, I have Arkham Horror and for board games it's my favorite. I will say if you do get a full 8 people add a couple expansions like The King in Yellow and the Dunwhich Horror since the base game is very easy to beat with a full party.

 

[deadbeef]

Yeah, I have Arkham Horror and for board games it's my favorite. I will say if you do get a full 8 people add a couple expansions like The King in Yellow and the Dunwhich Horror since the base game is very easy to beat with a full party.

I'm watching some guy's tutorial on Arkham Horror on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJrM7lwChaQ

Looks like quite the production! My girlfriend would never play that with me :lol

 

[platypotamus]

Oh hey look at that 240 minutes! Ha ha ha. Wellllll maybe. I have been hyping the wife up for it the past couple months. I bet she'd at least take a crack at it. Might be a good idea to let 'er win the first play.

It's the longest one I play regularly actually. Closely tied with Le Havre and Twilight Struggle, I suppose.

My wife and I, playing 2P can get through the game in about 2 and a half hours, if we kinda chug. More players, of course, means more time.

She seems to be coming down with the PAX Flu, but in theory, we're supposed to be trying At the Gates of Loyang Thursday. We both really love Agricola and Le Havre, so going in with pretty high expectations.

 

[Qaz Kwaz]

I havent played Zombies but from eveything I hear it is pretty bad. Get Last Night on Earth instead.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29368/last-night-on-earth-the-zombie-game

I agree. I started off with Zombies!!!, and it was fun, but once you step up to a higher level game like LNOE there's no going back. LNOE is a lot of fun. It's got a great theme, great rules, loads of interactivity, co-op, interchangeable board pieces, different scenarios... love it.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Zombies is really nothing like LNOE and think they both are good. Zombies is more easy game to play with much more douchebag competitiveness going on, and the expansions offer lots of alternate play options. LNOE is great, but Zombies is a classic, it by no way is a bad game.

 

[GDJustin]

Now consider me an idiot but would we be better of doing something co-op or something mp competitive?

Well, not all competitive games are equal in how competitive they are. Some have a much bigger "fuck your opponent" factor than others. ie there might be direct player interaction that allows you to steal things of theirs, or whatever.

Others are much lighter on interaction. The only way you could do something to make your opponent "mad" is to take card/tile/whatever that you know they wanted.

Carcassone is by far the most-played game between my wife and I and it's her favorite, but I notice we now play it *much less* since I got pretty adept at placing tiles in a way that allowed me to steal her big cities :lol . She liked the game much more when we both just kind of did our own thing and totaled up who had more points at the end.

Anyway, Lost Cities, Carcassone, and Dominion are all (fairly) tame on that scale. You're doing your own thing and racing to the finish, for the most part.

 

[AstroLad]

And Battle Line if you really want to screw each other big time.

 

[platypotamus]

Carcassone is by far the most-played game between my wife and I and it's her favorite, but I notice we now play it *much less* since I got pretty adept at placing tiles in a way that allowed me to steal her big cities :lol . She liked the game much more when we both just kind of did our own thing and totaled up who had more points at the end..

Sounds like she'd love RftG.

 

[AstroLad]

GAF GUILD APPROVED!

Everyone join up and we'll figure out cool stuff to do with it at some point.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911 (911!)

 

[Petrie]

GAF GUILD APPROVED!

Everyone join up and we'll figure out cool stuff to do with it at some point.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911 (911!)

Joined!

 

[GDJustin]

Sounds like she'd love RftG.

Yeah... I'd like to get us there eventually. We're not ready for that much of a learning curve yet.

Anyway, re: Carcassone - I keep telling her that 1) She can try to steal my cities in the same way and 2) It's her own fault for not using her big meeple. My logic doesn't sway her. She just won't play now :lol

 

[Petrie]

Yeah... I'd like to get us there eventually. We're not ready for that much of a learning curve yet.

Anyway, re: Carcassone - I keep telling her that 1) She can try to steal my cities in the same way and 2) It's her own fault for not using her big meeple. My logic doesn't sway her. She just won't play now :lol

If you aren't trying to steal cities and such, I just don't see the point to the game. Might as well be playing solo.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I just realized my BGG profile isn't listed here yet.

Here ya go Astro.

 

[Sasquatch]

I'm not sure why everyone is so hyped on the new Civ board game. The old one isn't very good (it's on my trade list on BGG if anyone wants it!), and you've already got Through the Ages, which I've been thinking about making my first 10 rated game over on BGG. I mean, I'm willing to give this game a shot, but I can't imagine it being as good as Through the Ages, I really can't.

Anyway, since everyone's all Civ-ed out, here's five reasons you should check out Through the Ages:

1. The Timestream - As you play, cards from the appropriate age are used to populate the timestream. These are things you can use actions to acquire, and could be new leaders, techs, actions, or wonders. They are shuffled each game, and when they show up in the timestream has dramatic effect as to their efficacy. Even the really powerful cards (Michaelangelo is a ridiculous culture leader) might be near worthless if they come at a bad time in the timestream.

2. Tough Choices - You cannot possibly (even come close) to doing everything you want to do with your civ in this game. Some aspects of your civ are going to fall behind of others, the economy is just balanced this way. Want to improve production? You're falling behind on research, or culture, or military. Or you don't have enough food to feed the people working in production. Or you have a shitty government. You can't possibly do it all, and due to the timestream above, and other factors, each game your choices will be different.

3. Interaction - Even in a 2player game (no diplomacy options, since there's only two players), there's a lot of interactivity. Militarily, you can directly attack other players. Worse? You can pay extra actions to grab something far ahead on the timestream, because otherwise, an opponent would get it. You can totally force the player to change the direction their civ is going in, just because they can't afford to fall too far behind in X (whether X is research, military, culture...). At the same time, your plans for next turn go out the window immediately they try to settle a new colony (and you end up "winning" the colony by sacrificing some of your military, which is now very weak).

4. Multiple Viable Paths - While your Civ will be lacking somehow at the end of the game, you can still end up kicking ass over all. I've seen the winner of the game still be mining Iron (rather than coal or oil). I've seen the winner come from a massive deficit by essentially ignoring culture to build up their infrastructure, and then switch gears. I've seen an entire game go with essentially zero military build up.

5. Corruption Done Right - You cannot be a hoarder in this game. If your civ has a bunch of standing wealth sitting around, you lose some of it to corruption. This (coupled with a well thought out economic system) works first as a nice negative feedback loop, preventing a runaway lead. It also forces you into some of those tough choices above. Building a wonder requires a bit of hoarding. You may really want the (usually significant!) advantage of a wonder, but is it worth corruption eating up some of your resources? You may really need a larger army, but you can't really grow it without corruption/famine... unless you demolish a temple or a library...?

6. BONUS SIXTH REASON: EVENTS - Aside from the timestream, there's also event cards. You play one of these into a small stack at the start of your turn. In doing this, you are seeding the future events pile. You won't know when exactly this event will come up, but it WILL come up. It can be anything from a new colony to settle to a bonus/penalty to the civ strongest/weakest in some area. Ooh, a new colony just showed up, should you bid for it? You really want it, but not quite as much as the colony YOU put in the event list, and that'll come up in a few turns. Can you go for both? Can you bid some more military just to raise the price on your opponent(s), but without winning? Or worse... you put a card in there that gives a big bonus to the player with the biggest military... and bidding on this colony puts you in danger of losing that bonus to an opponent. Is the colony's bonus worth it?


*WHEW*

Anyway, this game is amazing.

Thanks for this post. I've been meaning to check this game out, and you really make it sound great. I've only played Roll Through the Ages on the iPhone (great btw), so I've been wondering about the big meaty version.

 

[platypotamus]

The second time I ever saw my future wife was a board game party at Troika (that's how we met actually too).

We had enough people that we split into two groups. Myself, the lead programmer (Andrew), and her were on Ticket to Ride (with one other person, can't remember who). She has two disconnected trains moving to each other, and makes the rookie mistake of leaving a single car-length spot between them (Omaha to Kansas City).

Anyway, I say to Andrew (his turn) "If you put a car on that track, I'll do the same on my turn, and we'll totally screw her over". So he did. Then I did.

Boy was she mad...

Spoiler

She still ended up winning

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

GAF GUILD APPROVED!

Everyone join up and we'll figure out cool stuff to do with it at some point.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911 (911!)

Nice, just joined. I mentioned it earlier, but I am Differential over at BGG.

 

[AstroLad]

I'm tempted to hit up BGG Con (My friend who games [The one who bought me Pandemic] lives near where its held and I live in Austin) but that price is pretty prohibitive. Will they eventually have single day passes or something?

I think they're totally sold out and don't do one-day passes. :\ There is a waiting list though on the forum.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

GAF GUILD APPROVED!

Everyone join up and we'll figure out cool stuff to do with it at some point.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911 (911!)

Excellent, joined.

 

[AstroLad]

Anyone feel like some text-based Dominion?
http://dominion.isotropic.org/

Or some Agricola?
http://www.agricolaonline.com

 

[Brashnir]

I agree. I started off with Zombies!!!, and it was fun, but once you step up to a higher level game like LNOE there's no going back. LNOE is a lot of fun. It's got a great theme, great rules, loads of interactivity, co-op, interchangeable board pieces, different scenarios... love it.

LNOE is really cool. The game has a really strange immersive quality to it. It seems like every game I play, some random occurrence happens that is either straight out of a zombie flick or would be the perfect premise for a zombie flick. You know they nailed the theme when even the gamey randomness of it still manages to fit into the setting.

 

[StoOgE]

Also, If anyone wants Arkham Horror, Caylus, Power Grid, or Colosseum, I'm trying to get these bad boys out the door. They all have a single play (except AH) and all are in top condition. They're just not my style. Make me an offer.

You need/want a copy of Memoir 44?

The guy on BGG seems to have flaked on our trade.

 

[AstroLad]

It had been a while since I played it, but Agricola Online is pretty cool. Feel like the game is complex enough that you'd have to have played a good 4-5 times just in order to learn the interface properly, but it has a nice Undo feature which can remedy potentially game-changing mistakes.

Man up BG GAF and let's play a game some time! I'd be pretty interested in trying out drafting since we always play straight Draw 7/7.

 

[Neverfade]

You need/want a copy of Memoir 44?

The guy on BGG seems to have flaked on our trade.

Sorry, I've already ridden and gotten off that train!

 

[caromelo]

I'm new to the boardgaming scene and I want to explore it even further to scratch my geeky itch. I joined the guild but is there anyone living in Sydney that wouldn't mind showing me the ropes?

 

[Petrie]

Also, If anyone wants Arkham Horror, Caylus, Power Grid, or Colosseum, I'm trying to get these bad boys out the door. They all have a single play (except AH) and all are in top condition. They're just not my style. Make me an offer.

I sent you a PM about this, would love to take Power Grid and Arkham off your hands.

 

[Feep]

I bought Revolution at PAX; I would classify it as "Gateway". Plenty of fun, though it has a hard limit of four players.

A six-player-playable expansion is coming out in October, though I think I'll abstain.

Other games I played for the first time at PAX: Race for the Galaxy/Puerto Rico (NOT impressed. There is almost zero player v. player in these games, which, to me, is the heart of competitive gaming. It's why I hate golf), Zombie Dice (almost all luck), Cthulthu Dice (almost all luck), Wits and Wagers (fun!), Fictionaire, Warmachine (holy fucking shit my brain)

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Dominion just arrived in the post but my girlfriend is at an interview/assessment day and I have work in an hour

 

[mrklaw]

how about Forbidden Island? It was recommended as a 'lighter' alternative to pandemic. is it worth getting first to try out coop games? Thinking also it might be more approachable for the younger members of the family rather than four deadly diseases wiping out humanity

 

[Magicked]

I bought Revolution at PAX; I would classify it as "Gateway". Plenty of fun, though it has a hard limit of four players.

A six-player-playable expansion is coming out in October, though I think I'll abstain.

Other games I played for the first time at PAX: Race for the Galaxy/Puerto Rico (NOT impressed. There is almost zero player v. player in these games, which, to me, is the heart of competitive gaming. It's why I hate golf), Zombie Dice (almost all luck), Cthulthu Dice (almost all luck), Wits and Wagers (fun!), Fictionaire, Warmachine (holy fucking shit my brain)

I'm slowly getting started with Warmachine. I have two starter sets and the MkII rulebook, but I have yet to play an actual game. It's killing me! I just don't have the time right now.

 

[StoOgE]

Sorry, I've already ridden and gotten off that train!

I figured as much. You like the giant overly complicated war games. I figured Memoir 44 is like riding a tricycle to you. :lol

 

[AstroLad]

how about Forbidden Island? It was recommended as a 'lighter' alternative to pandemic. is it worth getting first to try out coop games? Thinking also it might be more approachable for the younger members of the family rather than four deadly diseases wiping out humanity

Yep, the comparison to Pandemic is apt since it's by the same designer and shares many of the same mechanics (special roles, card trading, running around putting out fires), while being quite a bit simpler. I think it would make a great game to play with kids.

I'm new to the boardgaming scene and I want to explore it even further to scratch my geeky itch. I joined the guild but is there anyone living in Sydney that wouldn't mind showing me the ropes? [/url]

If you don't find someone here, I'd definitely suggest checking out BGG's game-groups section, which I'm certain could help you find a group or people to game with: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/95/boardgamegeek/australia. (Alternately, you could just make a post in the BGG General forum.)

 

[BomberMouse]

Or some Agricola?
http://www.agricolaonline.com

NOOOO, D: the site just closed

 

[BattleMonkey]

I figured as much. You like the giant overly complicated war games. I figured Memoir 44 is like riding a tricycle to you. :lol

Play something like Advanced Squad Leader and Memoir 44 seems like a game of Candyland.

 

[ultron87]

Joined the guild, though I still need to update my collection on BGG.

Here.

 

[AstroLad]

GAF Guild has 20 people already -- wowza! Might start posting gaming pics and stuff on there.

NOOOO, D: the site just closed

shiiiiiiit fuuuuuck talk about a jinx :lol

oh well time to update the OP :/ i'll dig around BGG to see if i can add anything good on there to take its place.

 

[Stumpokapow]

My local shop doesn't get BTTF in until Friday but he did get the Chrononauts expansions in for me so that should satiate my burning time travel desire in the mean time.

BTTF looks like a pretty solid rethemed and streamlined version of Chrononauts. There's some concern on BGG that the end-game can stalemate pretty badly. In Chrononauts, there are three victory conditions, so if you keep getting blocked on the main victory condition, you go for one of the other ones. Moreover, the third way to win basically just involves playing for long enough, so someone will eventually win. Apparently BTTF ditches both of the alternate victory conditions and makes it easier to reverse actions taken by other players, so it's pretty feasible to get into a loop where no one is getting any closer to their objective. Still, the cards look nice and I love the series.