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[AstroLad]

Question - We just started doing family game nights in my house and we were in the mood for a trivia type game so obviously we choose Trivial Pursuit. Well I don't know if we got the wrong version or what .. I think we got the plane jane kind .. but the questions are ridiculous. One of them is like "how many students out of 10 graduate from Harvard with honors". We were hoping for stuff people could actually know without guessing ... like what temperature in celsius does water boil or Wayne Gretzky spent most of his career on what team .. stuff like that. Does anyone have any suggestions for a trivia game with good 'trivia' type questions?

Wits & Wagers from the OP actually has some really good questions imo and is just soooooo much more fun and fast than Trivial Pursuit. All the questions have numerical answers (years, percentages, etc.) but many of them are quite knowable, though you will often have to give your best guess. "How many feet wide is an NFL football field?” "When did the NES debut?" (I knew that one spot on though ) But the closest answer gets some points as well as the people who bet on that person being right.

In terms of pure straightforward trivia that is good for a wide audience, I actually find the Wii game Smarty Pants to be the best I've played. Some really good questions in there and a huge amount too. Almost zero of the types of questions you are referring to, which is rare for a trivia game (even Wits & Wagers does have some of those types of questions).

 

[Vinci]

Carcassonne: We really didn't like this at first. We played one game, thought it was boring, and put it away. I'm so glad we gave it another chance. The problem with the first game was that everyone was off doing his own thing. The next few games, however, we found out how to steal other people's cities and fields. After that it became a lot more fun. The best game we played had me and friend battling over a field. We were both determined to have that field and we had both managed to get two farmers onto it. Then we realized that the field was only worth six points. Meanwhile, my other friend had a field to herself worth nine points. So me and my friend decided to put aside our battle and worked together to add her field to ours. Once we successfully did so it became a race again to see who could add the third farmer to the field. So good.

Carcassonne has, over time, become my gaming group's favorite thing to play. I think because it's so ridiculously simple to play, and it's a helluva lot of fun.

Is there anything else really like Carcassonne while still having different mechanics? Just something that's very basic but enjoyable and a touch deep at the same time?

 

[Chorazin]

Well maybe you will have the expansions out by the time you get to it, which should make it better. The base game is nice, but it's very simple and straight forward. The two factions have lot of similarities and it's a move and shoot game. The game is nice quick ruleset but it needs some more unique units and abilities to flesh it out and make it more interesting at this point.

Yeah, we talked about this before a few pages back. I want to give it a go before I pay any cash for expansions, because if it seems to be no more advanced than Heroscape, I'd rather just spend my cash on that.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I tried a practice session of Power Grid before playing it with the group, so I managed pretty much everything during our run-through. Something about all the bits and the process of the game just annoyed them. I've already asked that we try it once more, so I haven't given up on it yet, but I don't know how the result could change.

As someone who has had mixed success with getting people to play games, if you don't have a group that is gung ho, the key in my mind is just to make sure of a few things:

1. First of all, if you're worried about the temperament of other players, ensure that you understand the mechanics very well. If you find yourself needing to reference the rules for anything but quick clarification nitpicks, then the game shouldn't be busted out with a finicky crowd.

2. Understand the "point" of the game and be able to succinctly explain that to people. Often, this involves strong familiarity with the game's theme, but if the theme is weak, this might also just involve a broad overview of victory conditions and summaries of how to achieve them. Nothing turns people off quicker than feeling like the decisions they need to make are largely aimless, especially when the pace is moving slowly during that learning phase.

3. It's important to make sure that people are in the right frame of mind before going into it. Forcing people around the table and assuring them that they'll have fun isn't the same as getting a group together who is receptive to the notion of playing a strategic game that will require a decent time investment. If people are enjoying a relaxing evening of food, drinks, and pleasant conversation, proceeding to bust out some mind-taxing board game and proclaiming "all right, let's cut the chit chat people, it's game time!" may not go over well.

Edit: The above may have been a complete waste in hindsight. I think I may have misunderstood the problems your group was having with Power Grid (i.e. it may just not be the right game for your group).

 

[BattleMonkey]

Yeah, we talked about this before a few pages back. I want to give it a go before I pay any cash for expansions, because if it seems to be no more advanced than Heroscape, I'd rather just spend my cash on that.

Well tactics wise, it is more complex than heroscape, that's for sure, but still it's a very streamlined "wargame". I think the game has lot of potential but it wont be till the expansions open up the gameplay. Everyone of my wargame buddies who have tried it enjoyed it, but all feel the game needs more meat.

 

[BattleMonkey]

First pics of the figures included in the Star Trek Coop game coming out: http://www.gametrademagazine.com/public/defaultalliancealert.asp?ai=104170

 

[StoOgE]

First pics of the figures included in the Star Trek Coop game coming out: http://www.gametrademagazine.com/public/defaultalliancealert.asp?ai=104170

Knizia?

What kind of wacky triblle related math can he come up with?

 

[distantmantra]

Carcassonne has, over time, become my gaming group's favorite thing to play. I think because it's so ridiculously simple to play, and it's a helluva lot of fun.

Is there anything else really like Carcassonne while still having different mechanics? Just something that's very basic but enjoyable and a touch deep at the same time?

Catan is the only one that comes to mind.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

First pics of the figures included in the Star Trek Coop game coming out: http://www.gametrademagazine.com/public/defaultalliancealert.asp?ai=104170

 

[Chorazin]

Knizia?

What kind of wacky triblle related math can he come up with?

Great, another tacked on theme to the Knizia formula.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Great, another tacked on theme to the Knizia formula.

I don't think Knizia's done a lot of co-op games before has he?

 

[BattleMonkey]

The preview map for the game looked pretty different from anything he has done before, I would expect something more thematic from a heroclix released Star Trek game anyways.

I just hope it has a real game board and not a cheap fold out map like they were using at Gencon and in other Heroclix mini games.

 

[Doublethink]

Carcassonne has, over time, become my gaming group's favorite thing to play. I think because it's so ridiculously simple to play, and it's a helluva lot of fun.

Is there anything else really like Carcassonne while still having different mechanics? Just something that's very basic but enjoyable and a touch deep at the same time?

From what I've played, Catan is the closest thing. It's very simple to understand and enjoyable. I definitely don't think it's as deep as Carcassonne though.

 

[AstroLad]

Catan is the only one that comes to mind.

Ticket to Ride too!

 

[Chorazin]

I don't think Knizia's done a lot of co-op games before has he?

Hmm...you might be right. Maybe it'll be something fresh with the theme in mind.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Hmm...you might be right. Maybe it'll be something fresh with the theme in mind.

Wizkids is also releasing a starship combat game set in Trek as well likely later this year. Though most here won't care likely, as it looks like it will possibly be a collectible miniature game.

 

[Artadius]

My usual boardgame group has successfully transitioned from a once a month thing to a once every other week thing recently due to us making a good effort to include the significant others recently

That meant less Descent (which is fine, the campaign takes too long) and more games that interest them.

This past Saturday I had a much larger turnout than usual due to a friend inviting some friends and family who were down for the holiday so instead of the usual four or so we had eleven! We had to improvise because I don't have any eleven player games lol.

We started the night with an eight player game of Munchkin + three expansions (some folks hadn't arrived yet and my wife isn't in to Munchkin). We played to level eight and it was hilarious fun as always... especially since half the group was pretty new to board/card gaming.

After that, two folks left so we split into two groups, a five player Ticket to Ride game that my wife TROUNCED us all on and a four player Pandemic game with most of the guests which got rave reviews.

I wanted to end the night with our first play of Betrayal at House on the Hill but Munchkin took too much time out of the night so we just played two games of 4 player Forbidden Island. Man, this game is one of the best bang for your buck sets out there. It's VERY inexpensive but the production quality is top notch and its very fun and quick to play. I highly recommend it especially if you like Pandemic.

--------------

Is there a GAF BGG Guild?

 

[AstroLad]

Is there a GAF BGG Guild?

yep!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911

 

[flyover]

Ticket to Ride too!

Yes. For a game that's quick to set up, easy to learn in a single playthrough, fast-paced, and deeper than it seems at first, Ticket to Ride is still the go-to game for me.

Whenever non- or casual gamers want to play something at my house, that's what we default to, and it's always a hit. Pandemic goes over well, too, when you have people who'd rather cooperate than compete.

 

[Artadius]

yep!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911

Joined!

 

[Chorazin]

Joined!

Also joined!

 

[Vinci]

Finally set up a BGG account: V1nc1

Probably should've done that a long time ago.

 

[Artadius]

Anyone ever thought about getting some VASSAL play by email games going? I know they have quite a bit of popular boardgames setup as modules on them... though I don't have personal experience with them. Just heard about it through the grapevine and nosing around their site ( www.vassalengine.org )

I see such games as Arkham, BSG, Puerto Rico, among some other notables. Most of their stuff is wargames it seems.

 

[Chorazin]

Finally set up a BGG account: V1nc1

Probably should've done that a long time ago.

BGG is the bomb, even if it has made me spend more than I wanted too on games. :lol

 

[Vinci]

BGG is the bomb, even if it has made me spend more than I wanted too on games. :lol

Well, I'm pretty strapped when it comes to cash at the moment - at least from a luxuries standpoint. But yes, I'm always interested in finding new things to play.

 

[AstroLad]

I see such games as Arkham, BSG, Puerto Rico, among some other notables. Most of their stuff is wargames it seems.

No, but I really really want to learn how to use it.

 

[fenners]

No, but I really really want to learn how to use it.

VASSAL is a fucking pain in the arse, frankly.

 

[MichaelBD]

For the Memoir 44 fans out there, I just went on a Memoir 44 binge. Using some gift cards and Days of Wonder coupons I had hanging in my account, I bought both the Eastern Front and Mediterranean expansion, the winter/desert board, the Overlord Pack, and one of the Overlord Maps.

I'm hoping to get an Overlord game in mid-month when I get together with some friends.

 

[AstroLad]

VASSAL is a fucking pain in the arse, frankly.

Exactly why I have started to learn it several times and bailed on it. Much like BSW, but even worse.

For the Memoir 44 fans out there, I just went on a Memoir 44 binge. Using some gift cards and Days of Wonder coupons I had hanging in my account, I bought both the Eastern Front and Mediterranean expansion, the winter/desert board, the Overlord Pack, and one of the Overlord Maps.

I'm hoping to get an Overlord game in mid-month when I get together with some friends.

Heh heh so did I! I already have East, Med, and board and put together an M44-centric order at CSI when they were having their 10% off sale:

Memoir 44: Breakthrough Expansion (New, Board Games, Days of Wonder)

Memoir 44: Winter Wars Expansion (New, Board Games, Days of Wonder)

Arkham Horror: The Lurker at the Threshold Expansion (New, Board Games, Fantasy Flight Games)

Agricola: Gamer Deck (New, Board Games, Z-Man Games)

Merchants & Marauders (New, Board Games, Z-Man Games)

 

[BattleMonkey]

VASSAL is a fucking pain in the arse, frankly.

It was basically made to do wargames, and mainly for visuals to replace miniatures. Board games are more complicated as the rules need to be built into it more and it just doesn't work as well for them.

 

[MichaelBD]

Exactly why I have started to learn it several times and bailed on it. Much like BSW, but even worse.


Heh heh so did I! I already have East, Med, and board and put together an M44-centric order at CSI when they were having their 10% off sale:

Memoir 44: Breakthrough Expansion (New, Board Games, Days of Wonder)

Memoir 44: Winter Wars Expansion (New, Board Games, Days of Wonder)

Arkham Horror: The Lurker at the Threshold Expansion (New, Board Games, Fantasy Flight Games)

Agricola: Gamer Deck (New, Board Games, Z-Man Games)

Merchants & Marauders (New, Board Games, Z-Man Games)

I had Merchants and Marauders in my cart but pulled it last minute. I'm confident I'd like it but I really need to play some of the stuff I have now more before I grab anything new.

I'm thinking for M44 I'll snag the Pacific and Air Packs, then the terrain pack, and then I'll start snatching the Overlord maps.

 

[TwiztidElf]

Over the break:

Carcassone at both my parents place (with my sister and bro-in-law), and at my wifes parents place. It went over really well at both.

Ticket to Ride 5 player. My 7yo youngest stomped everyone.

I got Pandemic for Xmas too, we've played 3 games and lost two of them so far. lol. Excellent game though.

 

[Unison]

Played Android with my mom and brother last week. Even though all the pieces make it look daunting, the rules aren't complex - there are just a lot of them. It's really three games in one - plot resolution for each of the characters, uncovering the conspiracy with puzzle pieces, and manipulating evidence to make your hunch character guilty.

Some people don't like that there is no 'true' suspect, but I don't have a problem with that gameplay-wise or thematically. If you do, there are Director's Cut rules (although obviously not by the game designer), which change the game so that there is actually a deduction process.

Things I like - the story, how each player has a different, unique character, the art (for the most part). Each of the three "games" could be easily separated and made into their own small separate games, and they are all pretty intriguing. The evidence game is interesting in how you can manipulate the evidence others have placed on suspects to make them innocent or guilty, and there is also a skill in not revealing who your hunch is (because other players can turn your evidence against you, or worse, try to kill the suspect and nullify all evidence on that person).

I don't have a problem with the length (should be about 2-3 hours if your group knows what they are doing), but there are some turns where you don't quite have any particular goal. The more you know about the game, though, the less often this happens.

My biggest problem is that the interaction between the players and different aspects of the game feel a little loose. You don't get a sense that each card or action is directly tied to a particular strategy - some make the game easier for you or harder, but there are so many different aspects that it feels like a strategy consists of a bunch of 'good' cards, but not so much an interaction between cards that work well with each other. I think with a couple months of streamlining this game could be a lot better, but as it stands, I really enjoy it.

Good to hear... I bought a ding & dent version last year for $20 and haven't had a chance to play it yet (need the right group, the stamina, a chance to learn the rules myself, etc...). This encourages me to give it a shot.

 

[Unison]

I don't think Knizia's done a lot of co-op games before has he?

Well, there's Lord of the Rings, for one...

I like it, for sure... Gives me hope for the Star Trek game. People debate about how much theme LOTR actually has though.

 

[Freest Rolexes]

I don't think Knizia's done a lot of co-op games before has he?

He did the Lord of the Ring co-op games, which are pretty good and felt appropriately thematic. The big difference between those and pandemic, say, is that the card sharing is more important, while there is basically no maintenance (ie no keeping cities germ free or submarine rooms not flooded, like Red November). The LoTR games followed the stories pretty closely, even if some of the mechanics feel a little forced. Overall, I found Knizia's co-ops much more thematic than his normal work. I'm not a big Star Trek fan, though, so I haven't been following that game too closely.

Edit - Wow, I'm a slow typist on my iPhone. Unison beat me to it.

 

[StoOgE]

Also, we could wind up with pastel colored star fleet uniforms.

 

[AstroLad]

i just wanna say that this expansion is some reallly funny shit:

lolwtf

 

[fenners]

i just wanna say that this expansion is some reallly funny shit:

lolwtf

Ok, that rocks. My wife will hate it I'm sure, but I have to add it to our Ticket To Ride collection.

 

[Mashing]

WTF mate?!?! I never would expect that kind of expansion for TTR.

 

[StoOgE]

What the hell is it :lol

 

[AstroLad]

Sounds like a typical small-box expansion (for games like Carc) it seems:

Alvin & Dexter – A Ticket to Ride Monster Expansion can be added to any of the various standalone Ticket to Ride games that designer Alan R. Moon and publisher Days of Wonder have released since 2004.

These monsters stymie players both during the game and once it ends. During play, no routes can be built into or out of a city where Alvin or Dexter are currently nesting, and during the final score tallying, any destination ticket showing a city where either monster stands is worth only half its normal value.

Desperately need to build a route to Seattle, Paris or wherever else a roaming monster has set up shop? Discard one (or two) wild locomotive cards, and you can move the monster up to three (or six) cities away from its current location. Move a monster more than any other player, and you'll pick up an endgame bonus for your role as monster minder.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

What the hell is it :lol

Who cares what it is I want it.

 

[StoOgE]

Other than being amazingly awesome (they even named them!) it actually sounds like it will add something to the game.

Alright.. day 1.

yeeeshh,.. I hope they paint them before release. Otherwise I'm going to have to paint these guys.

 

[StoOgE]

Played Princes of the Renissance last night.

2nd time I've played it now (one of my game group ponied up the near 100 dollars for the game). I really like the games mechanics. It isn't completely dissimilar to Perikles (another Wallace game I own) but the mechanics are very different... but it does scratch the same itch. That said, I think I slightly prefer this to Perikles but given the price difference I'm not sure I would opt to ever actually own this game.

The basic premise is there are 5 cities in the game that have various artists and merchants that live in them. You are a wealthy family that lives outside of the 5 major Italian cities. You bid for control of the various artisans in the cities and buy an army for your family. When the various cities go to war you then bid to represent one of the two cities in the war. As cities win or lose wars that cities prestige goes up or down. Thus the value of the artisans you control in the city fluctuates with them. There is more to the game than this, but it creates intresting mechanics where having a bad army and bidding to be the attacker or defender to intentionally lose a war (thus hurting a city you may have no artisans in, or ensuring victory for one in which you do have artisans).

I came in 3rd and have a better feeling for what is going on, but still can't really develop a coherent strategy for winning. Your best bet seems to be to ally yourself with several other players with large armies and ride their coattails to victory instead of actually waging the wars yourself. Winning the bids to wage wars can really preculde you from buying certain artisans that are critical to game winning.. so you can't fight too many wars.

This was one of my favorite games from BGG-Con and might be my 2nd favorite Wallace game behind Brass at this point. It's very clever, but has that problem where the whole table really needs to know the strategy behind it. There is a way for one player to dominate the game if they are allowed to get too many discounts on bidding to go to war.

Lovely game, looking forward to playing it again.

 

[AstroLad]

I know that is the one thing that bugs me actually is the lack of painting. I think they will just leave them unpainted though to keep costs down. *grumble grumble cheapass gamers*

Much to the delight of neverfade I'm thinking of getting BSG in my next CSI order. The one thing that has kept me away all this time has been the fact that it seems to require 5 and we usually have 4, so I'll probably have to recruit someone else for our gaming group because from the reviews the dropoff in quality does seem pretty substantial based on player #. It helps that I'm on a co-op and check-making kick thanks to my big AH revival over the holidays.

 

[Chorazin]

Played two games of vanilla Dominion last night, and holy crap does this game live up to the hype. It was simple to learn, but after only a few hands it was easy to see it had a deep layer of strategy you could really dig into.

We played the first play layout suggested in the manual, and then the size manipulation layout. They they felt totally different, and we all had to change the way we played from the first game during the second.

So, so good!

 

[Seth C]

Does anyone else play Small World? I picked it up recently and have only had a chance to play one game (2 players) but from what I see, I really enjoyed it. I also had a chance to finally get my family playing a board game (Ticket to Ride) over Christmas and everyone seemed to love it.

 

[StoOgE]

Does anyone else play Small World? I picked it up recently and have only had a chance to play one game (2 players) but from what I see, I really enjoyed it. I also had a chance to finally get my family playing a board game (Ticket to Ride) over Christmas and everyone seemed to love it.

I own Small World and all of the expansions. I swing back and forth between wanting to trade it and kind of liking it.

 

[AstroLad]

I think Small World is a very cool light game if you are into fantasy. The art is really what makes the game for me. That said I sold it because I hate fantasy.

 

[StoOgE]

I think Small World is a very cool light game if you are into fantasy. The art is really what makes the game for me. That said I sold it because I hate fantasy.

That is kind of my problem. The game just *screams* YOU ARE A NERD. Which makes it hard to get my casual friends to play it, and my friends who are into board games would rather play brain burners like the above mentioned Martin Wallace migrane of joy in a box. I think I would have had better luck with Vinci actually.