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[StoOgE]

And as for Settlers, all my friend bought was the base game. In what order should he get expansions? What is up with adding 5th and 6th players?

I wouldn't. Catan has far too much downtime for a 5th or 6th player between your turns and the robber is that much more likely to get you.

Some people like seafarers and the other two expansions add some complexity.. but at the price they cost I would grab some other gateway games to get more variety in your collection.

FWIW, from what I understand the cities and knights is the most streamlined expansion that basically creates a tech tree for upgrading your cities. So if you are looking for a more advanced version of Catan, that is probably the one to get.

 

[AstroLad]

Cities & Knights. Check out Citadels if you are into the screwage/interaction factor of Catan too.

 

[ultron87]

Cities and Knights makes Catan more complex and adds more ways to win. And it actually extends the base game.

Seafarers (from my experience so far) gives you a bunch of games that are pretty much Catan, but are really just about convincing you to build some boats.

 

[StoOgE]

and I believe Traders and Barbarian's is more a collection of a bunch of Catan mini-expansions.

 

[platypotamus]

Psst Stooge, your turn on yucata. Possibly in multiple games.

 

[Mashing]

Check out the limited edition that Mike Doyle did. Big improvement.

Yes, I know about that... but the guy I game with actually like the other board's layout better.

 

[StoOgE]

Psst Stooge, your turn on yucata. Possibly in multiple games.

oh yeah, forgot about that.

 

[AstroLad]

Yeah playing on Yucata really makes me miss the pop-up notifications of Carc on the iPhone. They have email notifications but it's kind of annoying to get an email every single time it's your turn. Would be cool if they could set it such that if it's been your turn for a day you get an email. Ah well I'm screwed in all my games I think since I was trying out new (read: bad) strategies.

 

[Omikron]

Anyone got some recommendations for co-op and/or games that work with 2-players?

Been smashing Carcassonne, Pandemic and Race for the Galaxy and need something new.

 

[AstroLad]

Forbidden Island is quite simple but it works well with two.
Arkham Horror is very complex and it also works well with two (each player takes the role of two investigators, which is manageable imo).

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I wouldn't. Catan has far too much downtime for a 5th or 6th player between your turns and the robber is that much more likely to get you.

The 5 and 6 player expansion includes a weird rule where everybody has a chance to build something in between turns to combat the possibility for the robber to be thrown. Also the downtime kind of negligible in Catan as you are always in the mix. Be it trading with players or receiving goods Catan does a good job of keeping people interested in the outcome of a players turn and roll of the dice.

That being said, I'll play the 5-6 player expansion but I prefer the game with 3 or 4 players.

And as for Settlers, all my friend bought was the base game. In what order should he get expansions? What is up with adding 5th and 6th players?

Cities and Knights is my favorite. There isn't much to Seafarers besides the ships and the bigger map. Cities and Knights is also how we prefer to play Catan. The base game just doesn't do it for us anymore.

 

[Omikron]

Forbidden Island is quite simple but it works well with two.
Arkham Horror is very complex and it also works well with two (each player takes the role of two investigators, which is manageable imo).

Arkham Horror looks interesting... do you know much about the expansions?

 

[AstroLad]

Arkham Horror looks interesting... do you know much about the expansions?

yes i have them all :lol

you should see if the base game appeals to you first -- it's definitely not for everyone, but if you are into the horror theme, willing to spend about a day learning the rules (it's much easier to teach than it is to learn though thankfully) and don't mind a three-hour playtime then it could be just the thing.

the expansions all add different stuff to the game. three of them add new cities and new items, encounters, characters, and there are five "small box" ones that have a theme and cards to go along with it. they also each add one or more new mechanics, usually making the game harder. if you are into it, with the expansions there's almost an endless amount of content there.

 

[Omikron]

yes i have them all :lol

you should see if the base game appeals to you first -- it's definitely not for everyone, but if you are into the horror theme, willing to spend about a day learning the rules (it's much easier to teach than it is to learn though thankfully) and don't mind a three-hour playtime then it could be just the thing.

the expansions all add different stuff to the game. three of them add new cities and new items, encounters, characters, and there are five "small box" ones that have a theme and cards to go along with it. they also each add one or more new mechanics, usually making the game harder. if you are into it, with the expansions there's almost an endless amount of content there.

Hahah ok then, I need to find someone here with a copy and give it a run.

Play time doesn't particularly bother me either, as long as it can be played on a fairly normal sized coffee table and doesn't need a ridiculous amount of room etc. :lol

 

[AstroLad]

Play time doesn't particularly bother me either, as long as it can be played on a fairly normal sized coffee table and doesn't need a ridiculous amount of room etc. :lol

uh yeahhhhhhhh . . . about that

 

[Omikron]

uh yeahhhhhhhh . . . about that

:lol

Fucking hell. Might need a re-think!

 

[StoOgE]

speaking of, I upgraded my kitchen table.

It's now 3.5' in diameter with a built in leaf that gets it to 6.5x3.5' oval.

My girlfriend commented on how much nicer the table is than the old one and when I showed her the awesome built in leaf she exclaimed 'that will be perfect for board games'.

Didn't bother telling her that is why I bought the thing :lol

I put Power Grid out on it and the map looked tiny compared to the table.. so plenty of room for beers and bits at the table now.

and I bought these awesome little plastic bowls that are perfect for wooden bits and chits so that everything can stay nice and organized during play.

 

[Doublethink]

uh yeahhhhhhhh . . . about that

I'm so tempted to get Arkham Horror but then I see stuff like this see and all I think about is how long and unfun it is to set something like that up. Must resist the temptation.

 

[fenners]

:lol

Fucking hell. Might need a re-think!

And that's without the "big" expansions that add another (smaller) section of board

 

[BattleMonkey]

I'm so tempted to get Arkham Horror but then I see stuff like this see and all I think about is how long and unfun it is to set something like that up. Must resist the temptation.

That's not even the game including a bunch of the extra stuff from expansions.

 

[narcosis219]

Not the biggest fan of this game. Part of it is my bias against fantasy. But the production values are really low imo. I'm finicky about that kind of stuff but the cards have this weird sandy cheap-feeling quality and the board is a paper foldout. Now that is all fairly understandable for the low pricepoint but I value aesthetics a lot more than cheapness so take that fwiw. I played it a couple times with my wife and neither of us really got into the gameplay that much. It is pretty standard Heroscapelike stuff except here you move cards around a board trying to get the big baddie on the other side. It just felt really uninspired to me. But then again there are tons of people on BGG that swear by it so just one man's opinion.

Well, I don't have any room in my house to actually set up a heroscape scenario, so I think this should suffice!

 

[AstroLad]

I'm so tempted to get Arkham Horror but then I see stuff like this see and all I think about is how long and unfun it is to set something like that up. Must resist the temptation.

It looks intidating I know but really the only dealbreaker part of it is that you do need a big table to play it comfortably, especially with the expansions. But once you know what you're doing it's like any other big game -- maybe 15-20m setup. And that's if you do it by yourself. The setup time really shouldn't be the deciding factor, because it's a lot easier than it looks. Most of what you see there is just a bunch of decks that you just separate and lay out. And also the characters who have their items dealt out at the beginning (usually randomly). You don't even have to shuffle the encounter decks initially because you just shuffle them during each encounter.

edit: oh yeah i almost forgot about ghost stories. heard it plays fairly well with two

 

[Doublethink]

It looks intidating I know but really the only dealbreaker part of it is that you do need a big table to play it comfortably, especially with the expansions. But once you know what you're doing it's like any other big game -- maybe 15-20m setup. And that's if you do it by yourself. The setup time really shouldn't be the deciding factor, because it's a lot easier than it looks. Most of what you see there is just a bunch of decks that you just separate and lay out. And also the characters who have their items dealt out at the beginning (usually randomly). You don't even have to shuffle the encounter decks initially because you just shuffle them during each encounter.

edit: oh yeah i almost forgot about ghost stories. heard it plays fairly well with two

I guess that's not too bad of a set up time. But is the game length always going to be around three hours? Or does it differ depending on the amount of people playing?

 

[AstroLad]

Well I usually play with 3-4, but yeah you can probably add 30m for each player above that. It sometimes plays in under 3 too.

 

[Mashing]

and I bought these awesome little plastic bowls that are perfect for wooden bits and chits so that everything can stay nice and organized during play.

We take a bunch of those from our Cafe Express meets. They have a ton of them at the salad bar.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Sounds like you need to move up to Dominion STAT!

LOL we just had ONE session, relax dude

 

[Chorazin]

Well, I don't have any room in my house to actually set up a heroscape scenario, so I think this should suffice!

Sir, you need a bigger house ASAP. Make room for the awesomeness of Heroscape!

 

[StoOgE]

Board game night was a blast.

Played a game of Goa.. really really good game. It's an Auction game meets civ building game. Really really enjoyed it. Luckily I know 2 people who own the game now, so I can play it without ponying up the 150+ dollars it goes for.

Also played a 4 player game of Small World. I am so hot and cold on this game. Namely, whenever I play it I remember I really really like the game. But I never want to play the game. It's really weird. I enjoy it but don't want to play it :lol

 

[platypotamus]

Also played a 4 player game of Small World. I am so hot and cold on this game. Namely, whenever I play it I remember I really really like the game. But I never want to play the game. It's really weird. I enjoy it but don't want to play it :lol

I have games like that. Someone chooses them at game night and I kinda groan inwardly, but then onnce they start I have a great time. Caylus is one of those for me.

 

[echoshifting]

Hey, setting up Arkham Horror is half the fun! Am I alone in this?! I love setting all those tiny piles of cards all around the board. I can't wait until I finally get a board expansion, one of these days...though I'm still not sure it will actually fit on any surface in my house.

Anyway, Omi, if you enjoy RtfG you should just try Dominion. I know we sound like a broken record with that one but the game really is that good. The level of direct interaction with the other player is roughly the same as Galaxy - maybe a little more depending on how many attack cards you end up drawing, though this is relatively easy to circumvent. Definitely less than carc.

Game gets even better once you add in any of the expansions, as the action cards in the other three sets are much more interesting than the base (my fave is still Seaside but my wife adores Prosperity), and variety is the name of this game. If you think no two games of RtfG are alike (as my wife and I did), wait until you try Dominion...

Anyway, you listed off our other three favorites (Carc, Pandemic and RtfG) as your regulars...those were the games we played on a very regular basis BEFORE we got Dominion. Nowadays we still play those other games from time to time but Dominion...well, Dominion has already been out three times this week and it's Wednesday. So even though it's seen plenty of chatter the past few pages it seemed worth yet another recommendation. It's even easier to teach than Carc or Pandemic, and of course much, much easier than RtfG. Once you have the rules down, you can teach just about anyone to play Dominion in 5-10 minutes.

 

[Merino]

Board game night was a blast.

Played a game of Goa.. really really good game. It's an Auction game meets civ building game. Really really enjoyed it. Luckily I know 2 people who own the game now, so I can play it without ponying up the 150+ dollars it goes for.

Also played a 4 player game of Small World. I am so hot and cold on this game. Namely, whenever I play it I remember I really really like the game. But I never want to play the game. It's really weird. I enjoy it but don't want to play it :lol

I've never understood that Goa is so rare and expensive right now.
Last month Dutch copy's where being sold for only 10e at pretty much every webstore I know of.

 

[narcosis219]

Sir, you need a bigger house ASAP. Make room for the awesomeness of Heroscape!

They need to make a deluxe edition with a house pack-in. I love heroscape (the 2 times I played it) but I need mo space =(

 

[Chorazin]

They need to make a deluxe edition with a house pack-in. I love heroscape (the 2 times I played it) but I need mo space =(

Really, most maps I've played on take up half of a normal sized dinner table.

Now, STORING it is an entirely different matter. I have a giant rubbermade tote for all my terrain (5 mastersets plus a bunch of expansion terrain) and a tacklebox for my figures which is almost full already, and I've only been into Heroscape for a few months.

 

[Seth C]

I think I'm going to attend the local gaming night this evening. It's at a nerd shop called The Rusty Scabbard. Hopefully I survive.

 

[fenners]

I've never understood that Goa is so rare and expensive right now.
Last month Dutch copy's where being sold for only 10e at pretty much every webstore I know of.

That's in Europe, right? There's a number of US games that are rare but easy to pick up in Europe - Mare Nostrum, Union Pacific, Stephenson's Rocket spring to mind. These games aren't "in print" in the US, so they're hard to find new & retailers don't usually import the games.

 

[Chorazin]

I think I'm going to attend the local gaming night this evening. It's at a nerd shop called The Rusty Scabbard. Hopefully I survive.

Well with that attitude you might not! Embrace the geek inside.

 

[Seth C]

Well with that attitude you might not! Embrace the geek inside.

Oh I'm a geek and proud, but I've been in this store and it is darker, dirtier, and creepier than any comic book shop in town. I've also seen gathering of people in the back playing games, and they were obviously lacking in social skills.

 

[AstroLad]

Oh I'm a geek and proud, but I've been in this store and it is darker, dirtier, and creepier than any comic book shop in town. I've also seen gathering of people in the back playing games, and they were obviously lacking in social skills.

this is why i stay away from game stores

you might luck out but imo BGG/meetup are probably better places to find groups for gaming (just to give you alternatives in case the trip doesn't work out)

 

[StoOgE]

I've never understood that Goa is so rare and expensive right now.
Last month Dutch copy's where being sold for only 10e at pretty much every webstore I know of.

It's out of print in the US and has been for some time. Though, word on the street is Rio Grande is going to do a reprint soonish.

From what I can tell it is the English language printing of Goa that is OOP not just in the states. Even the English and Canadian sellers are looking for insane prices.

 

[MichaelBD]

this is why i stay away from game stores

you might luck out but imo BGG/meetup are probably better places to find groups for gaming (just to give you alternatives in case the trip doesn't work out)

I'll second using BGG as a resource to find game groups. When it became painfully obvious my family wasn't as interested in gaming as I was, I had to seek my fix elsewhere. Ten minutes on BGG and I found a group that meets every week next town over. I've been attending for almost a year now.

 

[Seth C]

this is why i stay away from game stores

you might luck out but imo BGG/meetup are probably better places to find groups for gaming (just to give you alternatives in case the trip doesn't work out)

Well, they have this meetup every Wednesday, and it is part of the "meetup" system so it may be handy. Hopefully they are actually somewhere in the middle between normal and completely socially awkward. I'll take that! There is actually another gaming shop that has what sounds like a great meetup on Saturdays. The shop is newer, and it is very clean, professional, and bright. However it is on the other side of town and on Saturday (less convenient) so I'm starting with this one. I'm sure I will check the other one out eventually.

 

[StoOgE]

Well, they have this meetup every Wednesday, and it is part of the "meetup" system so it may be handy. Hopefully they are actually somewhere in the middle between normal and completely socially awkward. I'll take that! There is actually another gaming shop that has what sounds like a great meetup on Saturdays. The shop is newer, and it is very clean, professional, and bright. However it is on the other side of town and on Saturday (less convenient) so I'm starting with this one. I'm sure I will check the other one out eventually.

worst case scenario is it sucks and you move along. But it could be a lot of fun. Plus, if it's a nice game store they probably have a bunch of loner games you can play as well as from the members collections.

I started with my group about 4-5 months ago and couldn't be happier. It was also nice that a ton of them went to BGG-Con so I had other people to hang out with there and now that I've been there long enough I have "friends" that I can invite over to play and have been invited over a few times as well.

Super nice since I can't get much past gateway games with my real friends.

Of course, mine is at a bar that serves pretty decent pizza and a real good beer selection so it makes it awesome.

 

[Seth C]

worst case scenario is it sucks and you move along. But it could be a lot of fun. Plus, if it's a nice game store they probably have a bunch of loner games you can play as well as from the members collections.

I started with my group about 4-5 months ago and couldn't be happier. It was also nice that a ton of them went to BGG-Con so I had other people to hang out with there and now that I've been there long enough I have "friends" that I can invite over to play and have been invited over a few times as well.

Super nice since I can't get much past gateway games with my real friends.

Of course, mine is at a bar that serves pretty decent pizza and a real good beer selection so it makes it awesome.

Yeah. That's a totally different experience. The only food on hand at this shindig will be Doritos and Mountain Dew. When I was in London I went to a board game meetup at a bar. Just a different experience. I may bring up that idea at the meetup tonight. Hmmm.

I also have some friends who do a gaming night once or twice a month at one of our homes. They are fine with Catan, Ticket to Ride, or Dominion. So I'm not without options either way. I have another friends who go to GenCon every year but they are exclusively Dungeons & Dragons players.

 

[Unison]

One obvious but crucial tip about gaming with a new group... definitely do what is in your power to start out with a shorter game (i.e. something that runs less than 90 minutes or so). If you end up gaming with someone you absolutely can't stand, for whatever reason, you really don't want to be tied up in a 4+-hour epic game that you can't quit without ruining the experience for a bunch of other people.

Even though I probably enjoy heavier games like Le Havre on the whole, if there's a chance that I'll be playing with new people, even if it's new people in my regular group, I'll generally try to throw a shorter, easier to explain game out first (Ra is a particularly great game for this, provided you have some player mats that explain the scoring). For one, you can't assume anything about the mental capacity / tolerance for rules of anyone. For another, having an exit strategy is always great.

:lol

 

[Artadius]

Yay, Arkham Horror arrived today a full three days earlier than the expected deliver date (from Funagain Games via Amazon.com).

Time to clear off my second desk in my home office to play through a solo game or two and get the rules down

 

[Unison]

Yay, Arkham Horror arrived today a full three days earlier than the expected deliver date (from Funagain Games via Amazon.com).

Time to clear off my second desk in my home office to play through a solo game or two and get the rules down

I'm not sure of your level of experience, but some of the player aids at BoardGameGeek.com can be invaluable. I use player mats to track my health and sanity (thereby needing one token instead of a half-dozen), and the turn order flowcharts are great for learning the game.

From the files section on the game's page ( http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15987/arkham-horror ), I'd strongly recommend:

Universal Head ARKHAM HORROR Rules Summary & Reference - Submitted By: UniversalHead
Player Mats for Arkham Horror and all expansions - Submitted By: refinery
Arkham Horror:: Arkham Horror - Turn Flowchart.pdf - Submitted By: Hallway Orchard

Hugely helpful while learning the game!

 

[AstroLad]

the flowchart is nice. 90% of questions that come up can be answered by simply: follow the phases

 

[StoOgE]

I lost my copies of Citadels and Intrigue to water damage

Two of my favorite light party games to take to peoples houses. They were in my truck.. girlfriend left the window cracked. Disaster ensued today when I went to my truck at lunch

At least they were cheapies.. and intrigue might be for the best. It was a cuthroat little game.

 

[platypotamus]

Who was it around here that was obsessed with Glory to Rome for awhile? Neverfade? Still liking it? Is Innovation good?

Both are contending to be in my next order, which may not be that far off at this point.

 

[Flynn]

this is why i stay away from game stores

You can get lucky. The Source in Minneapolis, apart from having one of the best stocked board game selections I've ever seen, is where I met some of my best board gaming friends.

I say go once and if the smell of farts overpowers the quality of the people don't go back.

EDIT: Also "The Rusty Scabard" is an AWESOME name for a shop. It rivals our Last Grenadier out here in So. Cal.