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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
- Thread starter AstroLad
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platypotamus
Member
AstroLad said:
Keep that around for the "Hey that's my fish game". Also for every game of campaign manager you ever play.
Played Princes of Florence last night.
Giant Yawn.
The game is way too luck dependent and there just aren't enough choices to be made. You are basically left with one very obvious path to maximizing points at any given point.
Came in a very close 2nd, and the game came down to me drawing a completely worthless prestige and bonus card on my last turn.
Giant Yawn.
The game is way too luck dependent and there just aren't enough choices to be made. You are basically left with one very obvious path to maximizing points at any given point.
Came in a very close 2nd, and the game came down to me drawing a completely worthless prestige and bonus card on my last turn.
platypotamus
Member
Ok fenners, you've got some invites, and don't worry too much about how often you take turns. I think most of us only get around to checking the site a couple times a day, unless the day works out really well 
And I don't remember Princes being that luck dependent, but I admit to not having played in some time.
And I don't remember Princes being that luck dependent, but I admit to not having played in some time.
Mashing said:
It isn't 100% luck dependent. Playing the game well is key to winning, but in our game there were 3 players that all made pretty much the most optimal moves when given the chance and it came down to me doing two card draws that came up completely worthless.
Any time you do a card draw you take 5 cards which is their attempt at mitigating luck, but I whiffed on my card draws at the end of the game and got two cards that did nothing for me.
Had my bonus card done well I would have gotten the best work which would have been a 8 point swing roughly (3 point bonus for me, the winner loses the 3 point bonus he got, and I would have received at least 2 more VP for scoring my work)
Had the prestige I had drawn been one of the two that had given me 8 points that also would have been enough for me to win the game.
So, in my game at least all the strategy and planning that went into it and it came down to luck of the draw. I'm not saying it's Candy Land where the winner is predetermined by the card draw, but luck is enough of a factor to determine who wins.
I guess there is an argument for doing the card draws early in the game and building towards them instead of hoping you already met the conditions for a card draw.. but on the last turns bidding round there is very little available that is worth anything. 2 points for a jester isn't worth much if you are only turning in 1 or 2 works. the builder is completely worthless with only one turn left. The recruiting deck is empty, and the odds that you have much room left on your mat for landscapes just isn't that great.
BattleMonkey
Member
Preview of the new Space version of Battleship: http://www.purplepawn.com/2011/02/first-look-at-battleship-galaxies/
Looks like a pretty big departure from Battleship but they explain the one thing that remains of the original somewhat.
Looks like a pretty big departure from Battleship but they explain the one thing that remains of the original somewhat.
AstroLad said:vggs of campaign manager guys
FUUUUUUU
I ran out of econ cards and was praying you didn't have a +1 econ +1 issue shift in your hand.
If I had just one move where I didn't have to play defense on the economy I had you. Could have locked up defense and then moved it to the majority issue.
really close game.
McCain needs to be able to win on econ or defense and just win whatever the majority issue is with a few issue shift cards. Also seems like McCain = big state strategy and let Obama win the smaller ones without too much of a fight.
yeah,
It wound up being closer than it should have. I probably should have tried to take MO while you were focused on North Carolina and then went after Indiana since it was a bit stronger for McCain.
Not sure I could have won given the hand-size disparity, but pretty happy with the result after the whipping I took in the first game.
It wound up being closer than it should have. I probably should have tried to take MO while you were focused on North Carolina and then went after Indiana since it was a bit stronger for McCain.
Not sure I could have won given the hand-size disparity, but pretty happy with the result after the whipping I took in the first game.
the more i play this game and get a better sense of the strategy, the stronger i think the theme comes through in the mechanics. before yucata used to think it was just a basic abstract -- you get a dot, i get a dot, you get some cards, etc. the mechanics are simple but it's very cool how the theme comes through in them
yeah,
I think next time I play I'm going to pick the states I want to try my best to win, a few backup plan states and get some key demo cards for those states alone. I didn't use any this last game, and want to see how good they can be when they are used strategically.
I think next time I play I'm going to pick the states I want to try my best to win, a few backup plan states and get some key demo cards for those states alone. I didn't use any this last game, and want to see how good they can be when they are used strategically.
platypotamus
Member
StoOgE said:
Be ready to draw them in your hand at times when they are completely fucking worthless.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I finally got to play Puzzle Strike today. I was in a small tourney at the con and came in second. The game was actually really fun. Don't hate me but I actually might like it better than Dominion.
So after my first couple of Caylus sessions... I love it. And luckily my regular hardcore gaming group seems to agree.
Sadly they didn't partake in my first play of Caylus. That one was kind of disastrous. After studying the manual for 2 hours, that group gave up midway through. Mainly due to frustrations of being repeatedly blocked from actually having the placed workers do anything.
I guess I shouldn't unleash games like these without being clear with the rules and gameplay myself first. At least that way I could have explained that to them and probably avoided that frustration on some level.
Oh well... next time I guess. Also then we might not keep our group of 8 around the same table split in 4 teams.
Oh well, at least promises of food made them stick around and enjoy the first quarter of the Superbowl with me before calling it a night.
Sadly they didn't partake in my first play of Caylus. That one was kind of disastrous. After studying the manual for 2 hours, that group gave up midway through. Mainly due to frustrations of being repeatedly blocked from actually having the placed workers do anything.
I guess I shouldn't unleash games like these without being clear with the rules and gameplay myself first. At least that way I could have explained that to them and probably avoided that frustration on some level.
Oh well... next time I guess. Also then we might not keep our group of 8 around the same table split in 4 teams.
Oh well, at least promises of food made them stick around and enjoy the first quarter of the Superbowl with me before calling it a night.
cooljeanius
Member
Tried playing Twilight Imperium for the first time tonight. The group I was playing with made the Imperial strategy card thing only give 1 victory point thing instead of the normal 2, so the game took pretty long (4 hours). I lost, but it was my first time, so whatever. Also on Friday they taught me how to play Dominion, but I didn't think to post about that because it's more of a card game.
We introduced another friend to MODERN BOARD GAMING tonight. She actually beat us at TtR+1910 which is straight jacked no kinghomer.gif for me. We then played some Pandemic, which is almost getting to the point of being too easy with three; I think we will start using Virulent Strain whenever we have 3, really like that difficulty level. Still cool with base with four though.
We have another friend coming into town next week to indoctrinate so lots of gateway gaming for me which I never mind and which I will likely balance out at PAX.
We have another friend coming into town next week to indoctrinate so lots of gateway gaming for me which I never mind and which I will likely balance out at PAX.
platypotamus
Member
dogbert said:
Indeed, I now know the power of the draw deck, and ye, it is glorious!
BomberMouse
Member
I'm back from my trip, sorry for taking so long on yucata. Feel free to invite me to any game, there are a lot of games on Yucata I'd love to learn (CM08, The Speicherstadt, Egizia, Balloon Cup, etc.) or replay (Fearsome Floors, Carc H&G, etc.)
EDIT: Hive for the iOS is free right now, in case someone else was waiting for it.
EDIT: Hive for the iOS is free right now, in case someone else was waiting for it.
TwiztidElf
Member
Good weekend of gaming right there.
Carcassone X2 (New convert to the fold - Scrabble fan had eyes opened and loved it).
Ticket to Ride
Citadels
Pandemic X2 (both wins)
and a healthy dose of Marvel V Capcom 3 on top.
Carcassone X2 (New convert to the fold - Scrabble fan had eyes opened and loved it).
Ticket to Ride
Citadels
Pandemic X2 (both wins)
and a healthy dose of Marvel V Capcom 3 on top.
narcosis219
Member
Just got a Memoir '44, Carcassonne, and Space Alert for my birthday.
Reading Break is over and I have school tmr. NO TIEM TO PLAY WHYYYYY
I want to play memoir and space alert so bad
Reading Break is over and I have school tmr. NO TIEM TO PLAY WHYYYYY
I want to play memoir and space alert so bad
Me and a buddy started a play by email game of Twilight Struggle. We're straddling Cyberboard and ACTS to make it happen, but so far its working. I expect the game to last as long as the cold war did.
echoshifting
Banned
New RtfG arc details :O
Can't. Fucking. Wait. I suppose it could turn out to be RtfG's Alchemy but I choose optimism! On the other side of the glass, though, sounds like it's a year away...
edit: Here's the discussion thread. Lehmann notes further down that combining base + arc1 + arc2 is unsupported and just in general would be a bad idea. This is sad for me but news which will delight my better half.
Tom Lehmann said:
Can't. Fucking. Wait. I suppose it could turn out to be RtfG's Alchemy but I choose optimism! On the other side of the glass, though, sounds like it's a year away...
edit: Here's the discussion thread. Lehmann notes further down that combining base + arc1 + arc2 is unsupported and just in general would be a bad idea. This is sad for me but news which will delight my better half.
BattleMonkey
Member
So for those that play RftG alot, do you use the last expansion always? After it came out it kind of just seemed to ruin the game for us when we tried it several times as it basically made the prestige mechanic the way to always win the game. We decided to stop using the last expansion for the time being but we haven't played since either way.
BattleMonkey
Member
Qaz Kwaz said:
From what I understand the game involves some random elements like Betrayal so that each game will usually play out differently.
I'm excited to give it a try, we love Arkham but rarely play it because the game usually lasts forever when we do. Hoping this is something good and more manageable for time.
Cyan said:
Use the first two expansions fine, the takeovers are not popular with the group because yes, the rules for it are awkward, but that is optional. We just didn't care for what expansion 3 did.
Long time lurker here - NeoGAF finally validated my account. Figured I would introduce myself here as one of my first posts.
I've been into board games since 2007 when I found Settlers of Catan at a thrift store for $0.99. From there, I've amassed quite a collection of games, although I unfortunately do not play them as often as I'd like. My friends used to get together often to play games, but lately they haven't been too interested in trying new games. My friend and I have recently joined a local game group that gets together every Thursday as well as for the occasional all-day Saturday event.
My BGG username is MrMan2k3.
If anyone is looking for someone to play some board games online with, my usernames are:
XBLA: MrMan2k7 (Catan, Carcassonne)
Yucata.de: MrMan2k7 - I usually check a few times a day to take my turns
DaysOfWonder.com: MrMan2k3 (All TTR maps)
I've been into board games since 2007 when I found Settlers of Catan at a thrift store for $0.99. From there, I've amassed quite a collection of games, although I unfortunately do not play them as often as I'd like. My friends used to get together often to play games, but lately they haven't been too interested in trying new games. My friend and I have recently joined a local game group that gets together every Thursday as well as for the occasional all-day Saturday event.
My BGG username is MrMan2k3.
If anyone is looking for someone to play some board games online with, my usernames are:
XBLA: MrMan2k7 (Catan, Carcassonne)
Yucata.de: MrMan2k7 - I usually check a few times a day to take my turns
DaysOfWonder.com: MrMan2k3 (All TTR maps)
echoshifting
Banned
RtfG is perfect for most advanced groups with the first two expansions. Takeover really isn't a big deal even with all three; it's just so hard to do. I like having it there, though, just so there's a small element of risk in the "peaceful" military world strategies.
BoW is for nutters (like me!); there are two obvious problems (and one that's less apparent) that have kept it off the shelf for many people:
1) Deck size. This one is obvious. It's a huge, huge pain to shuffle with such a large deck. As long as there's at least one fanatic in the group this really isn't a problem, and compared to most game setup it's still a breeze (even Dominion + any one expansion imho).
2) Prestige. Prestige makes the game really, really fucking hard. If you don't "understand" the mechanic, it feels too swingy - whoever takes the early lead is going to win. If you DO understand it, you adopt a huge advantage over the other players, because you can usually assess how much you're going to need it to win and there's no way around exploiting that fact pretty heavily. I don't think it has anything to do with "smarts," merely playing a lot of RtfG and having the capacity to make tough, intuitive decisions. This has always been pretty important in RtfG but prestige kicks it up exponentially.
3) Adapting. This kinda plays into the "tough decisions" mentioned above but it's surprising to me how much it throws people off. With base+1/2 you typically know what you're doing within the first two or three turns - you can put together a solid strategy and stick with it for the rest of the game. This is how my wife prefers to play, and with the full arc it's almost never a good idea. You have to be willing to change it up from turn to turn to win, which makes for a very different play experience.
The real problem with all this is that once one person in a group has prestige figured out it seems to me that this individual will win virtually every game. In a highly experienced group of players it is a blast. For day-to-day casual play it isn't worth it, and I can't imagine TL will ever go quite this complex again.
I was very adamant about playing with the full arc when we first got it; my wife hates prestige soooooo much, though. So much. When it's just the two of us it's typically base+1/2. I'm hoping that she'll be happy with a rotation of 1st partial/1st complete/2nd arc after this hits...
BoW is for nutters (like me!); there are two obvious problems (and one that's less apparent) that have kept it off the shelf for many people:
1) Deck size. This one is obvious. It's a huge, huge pain to shuffle with such a large deck. As long as there's at least one fanatic in the group this really isn't a problem, and compared to most game setup it's still a breeze (even Dominion + any one expansion imho).
2) Prestige. Prestige makes the game really, really fucking hard. If you don't "understand" the mechanic, it feels too swingy - whoever takes the early lead is going to win. If you DO understand it, you adopt a huge advantage over the other players, because you can usually assess how much you're going to need it to win and there's no way around exploiting that fact pretty heavily. I don't think it has anything to do with "smarts," merely playing a lot of RtfG and having the capacity to make tough, intuitive decisions. This has always been pretty important in RtfG but prestige kicks it up exponentially.
3) Adapting. This kinda plays into the "tough decisions" mentioned above but it's surprising to me how much it throws people off. With base+1/2 you typically know what you're doing within the first two or three turns - you can put together a solid strategy and stick with it for the rest of the game. This is how my wife prefers to play, and with the full arc it's almost never a good idea. You have to be willing to change it up from turn to turn to win, which makes for a very different play experience.
The real problem with all this is that once one person in a group has prestige figured out it seems to me that this individual will win virtually every game. In a highly experienced group of players it is a blast. For day-to-day casual play it isn't worth it, and I can't imagine TL will ever go quite this complex again.
I was very adamant about playing with the full arc when we first got it; my wife hates prestige soooooo much, though. So much. When it's just the two of us it's typically base+1/2. I'm hoping that she'll be happy with a rotation of 1st partial/1st complete/2nd arc after this hits...
platypotamus
Member
Any particular games you play on yucata?
Anyone interested in another Arkadia game? I don't have any going anymore.
Anyone interested in another Arkadia game? I don't have any going anymore.
Thanks to this thread, I recently got into board games. As a result, I have bought Dominion, Carcassonne, and Rivals for Catan.
I am not going to buy many more (at least I keep telling myself that) but feel that there are two likely games that I am going to buy. Ticket to Ride and Race for the Galaxy. The only thing holding me back from Race for the Galaxy is the fact that I am not sure that my wife will have the patience to learn how to play. Reading through the rules and trying to play Keldon's AI program gives me a headache enough as it is. I don't want to have to buy San Juan as a stepping stone since I think we would just always play RFTG anyway after learning them.
I also am thinking of getting Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper, just because my wife and I love rummy games (Rummikub is one of our favorite games to play together). Anybody have experience with any of the Mystery Rummy games?
I am not going to buy many more (at least I keep telling myself that) but feel that there are two likely games that I am going to buy. Ticket to Ride and Race for the Galaxy. The only thing holding me back from Race for the Galaxy is the fact that I am not sure that my wife will have the patience to learn how to play. Reading through the rules and trying to play Keldon's AI program gives me a headache enough as it is. I don't want to have to buy San Juan as a stepping stone since I think we would just always play RFTG anyway after learning them.
I also am thinking of getting Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper, just because my wife and I love rummy games (Rummikub is one of our favorite games to play together). Anybody have experience with any of the Mystery Rummy games?
BomberMouse
Member
@Astrolad, you really mopped the floor with me on CM08. I had no idea what I was doing while building my deck but after that first game, now I get it. If anyone wants to play, please invite me (carno on yucata)
Me
Good luck with that. Ticket to Ride is an excellent game.
platypotamus said:
Me
Yaboosh said:
Good luck with that. Ticket to Ride is an excellent game.
echoshifting
Banned
Yaboosh said:
I would just wait until she learns Dominion. It doesn't have much in common with RftG, but it's easier to learn and she'll have more fun if she's prepared for that kind of "game think." My wife picked up RftG after a couple games - at the time we had already played several "modern" games, true, but she's not a huge gamer. It quickly became a favorite.
Just don't try to teach more than the base game. With Dominion, it really doesn't matter all that much, but RftG will overwhelm you if you get the expansions too quickly.
Playing with "real" people is a much, much different experience from Keldon. Don't let it intimidate you too much.
Doublethink
Banned
Introduced a couple of my friends to Euro-style board gaming over the weekend.
Carcassonne: Didn't go over as well as I thought it would, though they didn't really give it a chance. We played one game and both thought it was "okay" but didn't want to play a second game, even though I kept explaining to them that the game becomes a lot more fun when you get the hang of it.
Ticket to Ride: This was a big hit. My friends had a lot of fun guessing which tickets we all had and trying to block the most direct routes.
Power Grid: I was worried about introducing this at first since it's a lot more complicated than the other games but it ended up being our favorite game of the weekend. We loved driving up the prices of the auctions and hording the resources. I did get an important rule wrong (for some reason I thought you could only build one city a turn) so it ended up being a non-game.
Betrayal at House on the Hill: Not a Euro but one of my other friends brought it over. I thought it was a fun game and I loved being the traitor and trying to take down my friends. The only thing I didn't like was that it's possible for a player to get eliminated early on.
Carcassonne: Didn't go over as well as I thought it would, though they didn't really give it a chance. We played one game and both thought it was "okay" but didn't want to play a second game, even though I kept explaining to them that the game becomes a lot more fun when you get the hang of it.
Ticket to Ride: This was a big hit. My friends had a lot of fun guessing which tickets we all had and trying to block the most direct routes.
Power Grid: I was worried about introducing this at first since it's a lot more complicated than the other games but it ended up being our favorite game of the weekend. We loved driving up the prices of the auctions and hording the resources. I did get an important rule wrong (for some reason I thought you could only build one city a turn) so it ended up being a non-game.
Betrayal at House on the Hill: Not a Euro but one of my other friends brought it over. I thought it was a fun game and I loved being the traitor and trying to take down my friends. The only thing I didn't like was that it's possible for a player to get eliminated early on.
Yaboosh said:
Might I suggest Puerto Rico instead of RFTG if you are worried about the symbols?
They are essentially the same game, but Puerto Rico is much less abstracted than RFTG. It doesn't "officially" support 2p and takes longer to play. In pretty much every other way it is a better game. and this is coming from someone who loves RFTG.
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