I have only played Cities and Knights once, but it completely turned me off from playing that expansion ever again. We actually stopped before finishing the game, because everyone could tell I was so clearly hating the experience so much. I don't even completely remember why, I think it was because something handicapped me on my first turn and it felt like I couldn't actually do anything after that.
jdodge1019: hasjghsalghsakljghs is from vermont
jdodge1019: vermont is made of liberal freaks and cows
jdodge1019: he's not a liberal
jdodge1019: thus he is a cow
I'm in the camp that prefers C&K to the base game; I feel like there's more to do, and more in the way of viable strategies.
One time, back in 'nam, Sudo was set upon by an entire squadron of charlies. He challenged them all to a game of Pictionary, which he won resoundingly. The charlies were forced to not only surrender the skirmish, but also their world-famous chili recipe, which Sudo sold to Texas for a hefty profit. Sudo is a master of diplomacy.
Played Dead of Winter again; This time the the betrayer won - he happened to get a double turn right before the last round and it was trivial for him to tank our morale. He had multiple ways to do it and He didn't need both turns anyway, but since he was last we couldn't respond to anything he did and resources were tight enough that even though we accounted for the crisis and food without his actions (which were to be to assist in gathering food for next round), its was extremely easy for him to screw us.
In my 2 plays, I have to say while I enjoy the how the theme is integrated with the game, and streamlined mechanics (compared to say Battlestar galactica) I really don't like how luck driven the game seems. Exposure dice can be mitigated with guns+Fuel but there are simply not enough resources to avoid them entirely so getting bit multiple times in a game can easily happen. We had a scenario that required tons of food and one player lost the farmer first turn (Which helps gathering food). Personal objectives require specific items from decks and I actually like how this forces you to choose between helped the main objective and getting your personal objectives done but in practice this is another highly luck based activity. Even if you go somewhere where a good is common and make noise it may not be enough even with 5+ Searches, and requesting it doesn't let you put it in your hand. The rolls you get at the start of each round can limit you to barricading or taking out trash (The latter of which is not needed in excess, and the former only is needed sometimes). There are no ways to guarantee getting new survivors (there are uncommon in all decks) so anything requiring specific skills or more survivors again requires a lot of luck. Even player position it turns out can be a huge swing in the game (the betrayer getting a double turn on the last round in a scenario where we are trying to survive 5 rounds).
Both of our scenarios were "Short" scenarios (although its not like the duration was that short compared to other board games) so its possible some of this luck might be mitigated with the increased # of rounds a longer game would have -- but for me if I'm playing a longer game with a a coop w/ a traitor mechanic and resource management I'm going to stick with battlestar galactica.
In post 2103, Sudo_Nym wrote:I'm in the camp that prefers C&K to the base game; I feel like there's more to do, and more in the way of viable strategies.
I'm in the same camp; although I prefer other games now entirely.
for the first time, on Boardgame Arena. Was pretty fun. Top of the mountain gets surprisingly tense - not sure how often I'd want to play it, but it's actually pretty simple and easy to learn. Enjoyed it, wouldn't be adverse to trying it with more players too, might be more fun/cut-throat/blocky.
are you thinking of me when you're with somebody else?
. This is a boardgame (resources/worker style) set in the same nightmare world as their RPG
Don't Rest Your Head
. It looks like it's about to fund in the next 48h and they've just reduced the threshold on some stretch goals, so if you want it, get it. The art is amazing and I absolutely love the setting, plus I trust Fred Hicks to make a rock-solid product.
for the first time yesterday and really, really enjoyed it despite coming dead last thanks to some bad decisions and bad luck. One of my fellow players described it as "Risk for adults", which is a little over-simplistic but does most of the descriptive heavy lifting. Strongly recommended.
Got back from the game store. Picked up Cities & Knights for my Catan loving cousins, as well as Forbidden Desert.
One time, back in 'nam, Sudo was set upon by an entire squadron of charlies. He challenged them all to a game of Pictionary, which he won resoundingly. The charlies were forced to not only surrender the skirmish, but also their world-famous chili recipe, which Sudo sold to Texas for a hefty profit. Sudo is a master of diplomacy.
The start up was really slow and repetitive, but the mid and endgame was quite fun. We started with 5 players but one lost interest fast. Can definitely tell this isn't for people with short attention spans. The game has some cases where playing somewhat co-operative is wise. Certain scoring items force you to also grant a score to another player.
is really the best worker placement game ever made. Mostly because it takes the rather stale "ah, you have taken a space that I want, that was interaction" concept and replaces it with "ah, you have taken a space that I want, I am going to burn your face with a fireball so your worker is in the hospital and take that space right back." Ever get tired of someone taking your reeds or squatting on the good buildings? Take the Nature mage, who just stomps them out of the way, or the dragon who banishes them with a wave of his hand. Don't want this? Play the angel who can just regenerate her injured mages (and gets 2 magic-immune divine mages in her starting worker pool). Or just play the head of the student council, who gets crappy mages, but can conjure up more of them!
Your workers have powers! You have spells! You can get magical treasures and recruit supporters! It's just amazing. Great flavor, great character, great everything. Level 99 is moving into position as my favorite game company. Helps BattleCON is also the best game ever.
Vassal is more of an overview than a review. I really dislikes how he goes over some things that should be saved for later plays, like how there's an alternative set of abilities for your workers. It's just a little confusing. Not terrible, but not the best.
I think Vassal is more for playing games online! I agree though, but he has so much content it's still very useful. Watch it played have made me super excited for my specter ops pre-order though.
Oh, debating getting
Witness
. Only 4 players means it might be hard to get played, but it just looks so fun I think it's worth the risk. Saw CDB praise it earlier, and it looks like something I'd enjoy.
are you thinking of me when you're with somebody else?
is really spectacular - I am super-interested in playing this game.
That was an episode with Grant Imahara.
It's funny that in that episode he mentioned that he liked playing Mafia. Most board gamers in general know the game as "werewolf" or other variants that are in boardgame form.
Mafia is oddly specific.
What if he is secretly a member of this site, playing mafia games under a psudeonym?
hey it's not completely unlikely don't look at me like I'm a conspiracy theorist