Board Games!

[zoraster]

Is anyone keeping a list on BGGcon? I think my Fiancee and I may go.

[zoraster]

So talking to a few friends as work thinking about starting to play some Board games. Not sure what to play though /sigh

what type of games do you guys have experience with? do you think they're more of a "theme" game player or a mechanic game player?

[zoraster]

Anyone have any opinion on Tigris and Euphrates? It looks pretty sweet.

Been a while since I played it. Great game. A bit fiddly at times (though you're a fantasy flight nerd, which automatically makes fiddly relative). It's got direct conflict. It and El Grande are sort of the start of the new wave of games, and I think deservedly so.

[zoraster]

BSG is a good coop game as is Shadows Over Camelot, although the latter is pretty tough to win the first time a group plays the game.

[zoraster]

If you have an iphone, the Ticket to Ride app is phenomenal as well. I don't think much of the Catan app as it doesn't allow playing against others (not to mention Catan isn't a favorite of mine). The Carcasonne app is good, but is quite expensive compared to others ($10 for the base game another $2 for an expansion to make the game good)

ze. I think the problem with Catan is that people are drawn to numbers that are "supposed" to be rolled often, like the 6s and 8s, rather than cho

It's a great game, especially if you're introducing it to others. It takes about 5 minutes to explain, and people immediately "get it." But it offers enough variety and strategy to continue to be interesting over many many plays. It's the first game I turn to when my friends who have only played games like monopoly, etc. come over to play because it has never failed to be successful and fun.

It also has great component quality, although the little cards are a bit hard to shuffle.

Finally it's a well TIMED game. I don't know why gamers don't spend more effort discussing how long it takes to play a game of something unless it's to revel in how long it is (looking at you, Twilight Imperium lovers). A game of TTR lasts about 60 minutes give or take a little depending on how many people you have playing. That's enough time that it feels like you've gotten a "meaty" game (rather than games that are great but tend to blend together like Dominion and 7Wonders), but it's not so long that you kind of have to plan around the game .

[zoraster]

I'm pretty sure I'll be going this year at least for the weekend portion of it.

[zoraster]

All right. I've registered but haven't paid as I need to check to make sure my fiancee and father still want to come.

My fiancee (who will be my wife at that point) would probably be down for some mafia. As this will likely be the first time we go out of town after our wedding, we'll call this our honeymoon. Right?

[zoraster]

holy crap mith. you are WAY better at keeping track of your BGG games. I've probably only put down 5% or so of the ones I've done.

[zoraster]

It's possible by the following year's BGG we'll have bought a townhouse and I could probably convince my fiancee to let us host a few people, which would at least cut down on hotel costs for people.

[zoraster]

Texas wouldn't be ideal, although Austin is cool. Dallas is kind of a generic big city with huge suburban sprawl, but with pockets of "new urbanism". The cities don't tend to be as backwards as other areas.

Where were you hoping to move?

[zoraster]

I used to live in DC, and my sister works there now. I worked for a congresswoman on capitol hill. Lots of jobs in DC that aren't being a politician. Still, can't hurt to clean up your online presence.

Have you considered the West Coast?

[zoraster]

I live next to Barton Springs' back entrance (Zilker Park). So South Austinish. I work at 6th and Congress.

[zoraster]

Working for congress is a lot of fun. Most everyone is young, ambitious, and (generally) attractive. It's a good way to make connections, and it has a SUPER fast advancement rate due to how much turnover there is. Start as a Staff Assistant and if you're good you'll probably be an LA (Legislative Aid) within a year or so. At least that's true on the House side, Senate a little less so.

That said, it's not really a "career" for the vast majority of people. With the exception of a very few people like Chiefs of Staff that can make fairly good (though not astounding, due to the cap of not being paid more than a congressperson) money, you'll be vastly underpaid. But the experience is generally worth it for people.

[zoraster]

Family Vacation Dominion battle

[zoraster]

In addition to featuring updated graphics and a clarified ruleset, this second edition of A Game of Thrones includes elements from the A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords expansions, including ports, garrisons, Wildling cards, and Siege engines, while introducing welcome new innovations like player screens and Tides of Battle cards.

$60 is a pretty standard price for a board game from a shop for a game of that quality (both game wise and component) and size. You can likely save 5-10 dollars if you buy online new, maybe even up to 20 if you buy used.

[zoraster]

race/power combinations vary heavily on where you are in the game (turn primarily), somewhat on how many people are playing (as this changes the map, potential attacks by turn, and most importantly number of turns). Sorcerers, for example, are amazing with 5 players but kind of suck with just two. Trolls can be pretty darn good opening race because they're so damn hard to get rid of. Seafaring is another good opener because you can take a sea tile that will never be taken from you. The spirit ability is an awesome, awesome second ability if you can plan for it and get it before anyone else. it works as a first ability too, but you're inflexibly put in a corner of quick declining, and other players will gang up on your declined race.

Abilities like wealthy are terrible except in the end game where they're amazing.

going first in small world is a significant advantage.

[zoraster]

I don't suppose anyone is going to the Austin Board Game Bash this weekend?

[zoraster]

No no no no no no no. Going first advantage is about the LAST TURN advantage. Picking first is fine, whatever. Maybe it's a big advantage if a huge power combination comes up, but that's context dependent whereas the last turn advantage exists in practically every game you'll play.

But it's a BIG advantage to go first the last turn because every time someone conquers your territory, YOU DON'T LOSE A POINT because you've already gained all the points you're going to get from the game. Compare that to if you're last in a 5p game where every time EVERY OTHER PLAYER conquers your territory, you are placed at a disadvantage. In a close game, that's really very significant. Furthermore because everyone knows that their advantage in targetting you versus the already scored players, they will pick your territories to go after all other things equal.

Think about it. You've got two people to attack. One if you take them out will gain you a point. The other one will get you a point AND take away a point from the other person. No brainer.

And there's really nothing that offsets that. I mean, yeah... technically in the first round people could conquer your territories when they couldn't conquer someone who went later, but that's a pretty negligible thing given the way the board is set up unless someone manages to get a super power combination and people feel the need to immediately gang up on them. And whereas final turn you likely have some races in decline (i.e. races that can only give you points if they aren't conquered), the first round doesn't carry that risk.

[zoraster]

How is it not a consistent advantage?

And I feel fairly certain that, like chess, the more strategy, etc. involved, the more likely the first person advantage is. I think the truth is that if you treat Small World as a fun game, but not really a tournament worthy game, you're in the right place mentally.

[zoraster]

yuck

[zoraster]

If you like Euro games, Agricola and Puerto Rico are both pretty solid buys. Have you ever played a "worker" game before?

[zoraster]

If you like games where interaction is limited (but by no means unimportant), and the focus is to build your own stuff up in the most optimal way, Puerto Rico is a good choice. If you want more interaction on every move of the game, Agricola is a better choice.

By the way, if you like interaction heavy territory games, I love El Grande. I don't think it gets enough love. Agricola uses a somewhat similar turn order design as El Grande.

[zoraster]

Agricola doesn't take that long. Last time I played at my board game group we played with 5, 3 of whom were new and it took us no more than 3 hours. 2 hours with fewer people who have played before is probably the norm.

I mean, if you're used to Dominion or something, it's long.

[zoraster]

I don't know. I think if he liked Puerto Rico, the chances of him liking Agricola are pretty good.

[zoraster]

It's not the same game exactly by any means, but I'd say it has some similarities in feel. For one, it's also a farming game. For another, it rewards having a strategy that you follow through with. It doesn't involve much luck outside of whether other players screw you over unintentionally or not.

[zoraster]

I like Agricola, but there's something about fences that both bores me and makes me really angry as a game concept.

[zoraster]

oh, i don't mind that. I specifically hate the

fences

. I don't know why. It's clearly irrational.


But I almost always go for the animal route as the crop thing seems tedious.

[zoraster]

i view games like arkham/mansion as sort of a choose your own adventure game.

[zoraster]

Blood Bowl Team Manager is sort of a card game version of it that's pretty fun.

[zoraster]

I think 7 wonders is okay. I've never thought much of catan, honestly. Ticket to Ride has always seemed a far superior gateway game.

[zoraster]

not really. It's not like I've ever said to myself, "gosh. I'd like to play Steam now that I've played TTR"

[zoraster]

you're endlessly boring

[zoraster]

ew.

[zoraster]

i dunno. never seemed a problem to me as long as the people you're playing with don't have AP.

[zoraster]

So THAT'S why he was bitching about TTR being "just card drawing and luck" last night.

[zoraster]

I've probably played a couple hundred games of TTR over the years, and I still sometimes go to Nashville and think I've completed my ticket when I really needed to go to Atlanta. Usually this happens when I'm taking new tickets and I think something like "all right! I've already got this one complete." only to realize after the game ends that I've screwed myself.

[zoraster]

speaking of gaming up in dallas, do you game just with friends or what type of gaming group scene is there?

[zoraster]

Which is...?

[zoraster]

Well yeah there's one dominant strategy, it's to use tickets to get points.

TTR is a tactical game, not a strategic one. Not an especially deep tactical game, but more than nothing. Talking about the strategy of it is like saying there's a 'strategy' for Yahtzee. They're not really strategy games, its about mentally estimating probabilities. The difference is that TTR involves other people so it's a little less solvable.

Comparing TTR to Yahtzee is ridiculous. And saying "the dominant strategy is to get tickets to get points" is a little like saying "the object of football is to score touchdowns." It's "correct" insofar as it goes... the person who uses tickets to get points is going to win in most games just like the team that scores more touchdowns wins most games. But it's not really a strategy.

No, TTR isn't chess. It has an element of luck, and there are certainly better and worse ways to approach the game (duh?). It has both tactical and strategic elements, though it certainly leans tactical. But there are a lot of things going on. It's less "solvable" than a lot of worker games, for example. It's less "solvable" than Dominion or other deck building games. Scarcity of resources (tickets, cards, and routes) plays a huge part in any game where people know what they're doing. You have to be, to a large degree, flexible in the game.

[zoraster]

Carcassone or Ticket to Ride

[zoraster]

i know lots of people love Settlers, and I admit a bias against it, but I don't actually think it's that great a game to introduce to a wide range of people. but it's not a BAD one to introduce.

[zoraster]

Having introduced TTR in multiple groups and contexts, I can only say this: that has not remotely been my experience.

[zoraster]

Mystery of the Abbey is a pretty good one too. It feels familiar to those who have played Clue, but more interesting. People in my family (even the not very game loving ones) have liked Dominion. Wits and Wagers is a pretty fun party game if your family likes guessing trivia.

[zoraster]

blockus is a great game

[zoraster]

agree with Sudo. unless it's halloween time.

[zoraster]

yeah we played a ton of 7 wonders this christmas. A great game for a medium size group too. Played with my sister's new puppy:

[zoraster]

7 wonders would be your game at that player range (6p) and time. There aren't that many that will fit both those criteria. 4p alone would open you up to more games (dominion for example), and if you move up to 1-2 hours you get a lot more games. lots of games top out at 5p though

[zoraster]

reck: when i checked out 7 wonders on the ipad it just showed me a bejeweled game and a 7 wonders helper? or is the helper what you mean?

[zoraster]

jesus.

[zoraster]

it's not a game i would get to play as a two player

[zoraster]

and don't listen to reck on TTR. He has a bizarre dislike for TTR that isn't shared by many/most people.

[zoraster]

so? My experienced game group still plays TTR.

[zoraster]

I prefer TTR to both of those game, honestly, and I like both of those games. I don't much care for Catan. But as in every case, knowing the people you're playing with makes a big difference. For instance, my family plays a lot of games, but I'd never introduce Ameritrash games to them as they wouldn't really care for them.

[zoraster]

i dont' think that's an illegal science build, but this was also her first game of 7 wonders. losing war twice isn't particularly bad though.

[zoraster]

it was a 4 player game, and i don't think I would have allowed her to play two scriptorium cards, though it's possible it slipped by.

[zoraster]

assuming it was Age I anyway. Possible it slipped by, but oh well!

[zoraster]

have you played it before?

[zoraster]

I think it's an interesting game that becomes more interesting as you play more. But it is one of those games where if everyone else doesn't want you to win and that becomes their primary goal, you'll lose. My gaming group plays it monthly, but I usually beg off.

[zoraster]

I'm not familiar with that game and can't find it on BGG. Is that Cosmic Encounters?

Assuming yes: After a few games it should very rarely happen that someone wins before everyone has a turn because people will start to figure out when to ally with defense vs. attack, not to mention people will more naturally keep track of how many bases are on which worlds. With more experienced players, games can often last quite a while. Quick games generally involve as much inattention as they do skill or luck.

Assuming no: sorry for talking about a game that you didn't mean.

[zoraster]

Right. But players should have plenty of control over this. When someone has 3 colonies, you do NOT ask them to help you on offense.

The way cosmic encounter kinda balances despite having such different roles is that it leans HEAVILY on balance of power ala Europe 19th Century. But that can only really work when people know at least kind of what they're doing.

Still, there are certainly times in CE that a power or luck simply allows one player to win quickly. But those aren't the norm.

[zoraster]

i've played both leaders and cities. i think cities is the far more interesting expansion.

and yes, i've played knights over camelot. i find that the balance on it isn't quite as good as battlestar gallactica (being fairly heavily traitor weighted), but it's still a lot of fun.

[zoraster]

Blood Bowl Team Manager (aka Blood Bowl: the card game) might work for your purposes, though i think it tops out at 4 people.

[zoraster]

I assume you've thought about Race for the Galaxy and munchkin?

[zoraster]

for team manager.

[zoraster]

I was going to go with LoW but the YouTube "how to play" video I saw made it seem super boring.

I didn't think I'd be a fan of it as a worker placement type game but it's flavored well; it's no 7 Wonders but I'd rather play it when compared to Smallworld.

~

Anyone else play Sentinels of the Multiverse?

I was only a moderate fan of Smallworld until I started playing Smallworld Realms. It really adds additional elements to the game in either the scenario function or the tile laying function.

[zoraster]

Shadows Over Camelot is up to 7 and has the traitor element. It lasts only about half as long as BSG, although until you get the hang of it, it's pretty darn hard to win.

The problem with games over 7 or 8 is you need to basically go for just pure party games because people's attention spans and the like just won't be there, and it'll be a frustrating experience. Even Apples to Apples gets frustrating when you get past 12 or so people. That's when things like Mafia and (though I've never played it) The Resistance is a great fit.

[zoraster]

So these are probably too expensive to seriously consider unless you do a TON of gaming, especially gaming involving models (which I don't), but I thought these were super cool: http://www.geekchichq.com/#category-furniture

I love the idea of a regular, functional table that you can easily flip into a game one that has railing along the side so you don't lose pieces and such.

Spoiler: image

[zoraster]

holy cow. Not really useful as a game table... or really any table that could fit in my house, but damn cool.

[zoraster]

that too. I think the problem you have is that it's circular. Having a circular table myself, they're actually pretty crummy for many games (though good for games like 7 Wonders or poker).

Plus, doesn't Arkham Horror play up to 8 or some such? That table is meant for like 16 people. You'd need one of those sticks that war games people use

[zoraster]

I know what you could use that game for: Shadows Over Camelot.

[zoraster]

As I've mentioned before, I'm moving to Dallas in July. Which means I'll be there during BGG Con. I know there are a few here who have gone to this. What should I expect? If I'm working and only go Saturday and Sunday will that make my experience not worth it?

[zoraster]

Google hangout would be a better option. I haven't used it because I don't play add but perhaps roll20 could be used for that purpose?

[zoraster]

Carcassone is only a light strategy game without expansions (though its fun that most people can compete) adding traders and builders and/or inns and cathedrals makes it a much more robust game, as well as making games a little more satisfying in length. Inns and cathedrals is the expansion I'd get first as its mechanics don't change the game greatly, while traders and builders introduces the builder which introduces an a game changing element. Both, however, have tiles that break up farms, which is a good thing. Stay away from the "silly" expansions like the catapult if you're looking for strategy.

[zoraster]

Monopoly is terrible but anyone who thinks auctions change the game is wrong. Properties are incredibly underpriced. No sense in no buying something

[zoraster]

risk is one of those games that takes forever yet the majority of people are eliminated in fact or in essence. it's an okay game if you're just an individual who wants to take a game seriously, but it kind of sucks as a game for a

group

to enjoy.

I don't know anything about legacy though, so maybe that's different?

for what it's worth, my least favorite thing about risk is how everyone and their mother thinks they're some kind of genius at the game.

[zoraster]

i don't think it's really breakable. There are just more dominant strategies, and that can make it less fun after 20+ games. 1910 is a good grab.

Ticket to Ride is a great game for getting a wide group of non-gamers to play. I like it considerably more than Catan.

[zoraster]

still here to disagree wholeheartedly.

[zoraster]

7 wonders

[zoraster]

why would people care what you buy? it's not like they can't buy the exact same things.

[zoraster]

you can do better than pure big money in base, even in the absence of chapel.

[zoraster]

if you're only going to ever have one terminal card, why EVER buy a village?

[zoraster]

Playing boring but effective makes you a competitive person and the game is at fault. Playing boring but ineffective makes you thoughtless or a jerk and you're at fault.

Don't get me wrong. I understand the wonderful feeling of cycling through a deck. In the base set, Lab+Chapel is basically the dominant strategy if available. Just saying that if you're going to annoy your friends, at least do it in a way that helps you beat them.

[zoraster]

[zoraster]

Wouldn't you prefer a good game of Chess?

[zoraster]

It's lonely at the top!

[zoraster]

cosmic encounter is a good game if you like games where teaming up against people is kind of the point, not just something to avoid. it's also great because it has so much variety. it's also more fun (I think) with at least 5 playing. it's not a great game if you purely want to prove who's the smartest. the roles vary a lot in strength and people can pretty effectively maintain the balance of power so to speak.

[zoraster]

yeah. definitely skeptical that the dice are weighted.

[zoraster]

play 7 wonders

just kidding

[zoraster]

do you think leaders is better than cities? I prefer cities just because the leaders mechanic is kind of eh

[zoraster]

i like power grid but i find it a little too fiddly. just so many tiny resource tokens to count out each time and everything.

[zoraster]

fwiw: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/691370/ ... -7-wonders is pretty exhaustive.

[zoraster]

has anyone tried Smallworld 2 on the ipad? how is it different?

[zoraster]

careful. you'll summoned reck and his irrational TTR hatred.

Anyone played the new days of wonder game, Relic Runners? It seems a little childish at first glance to me, but i usually trust DOW to put out an entertaining game.

[zoraster]

careful. you'll summoned reck and his irrational TTR hatred.

As it was prophesized, so it has come to pass.

[zoraster]

my grandfather wants to get and have us play shadows over camelot this thanksgiving. going to be a long holiday. he saw it being played on geek and sundry and decided it would be fun. which it IS, but with my grandfather, who takes approximately 30 minutes to play his round in smallworld, i foresee frustration.

[zoraster]

we play mystery at the abbey a fair amount as a family. i've wanted to try mystery express but felt like i had better things to spend my money on than another deduction game.

[zoraster]

is it wrong that i really want to play cones of dunshire?

[zoraster]

is it wrong that i really want to play cones of dunshire?

for reference

and no, i want to play that too

It actually really captured how I feel sometimes when I try to introduce someone who doesn't play board games to too advanced a game.

[zoraster]

a friend sent us King Of Tokyo a week or so ago. It's a fun if pretty light game

[zoraster]

Does it matter? TTR is a great game, and so what if it can be rethemed? When I play TTR, I still think I'm laying track and can imagine trains running back and forth between them.

If you want Steam, you buy Steam.
If you want Ticket to Ride, you buy Ticket to Ride.

[zoraster]

Rocking it since 600 BC

[zoraster]

Not really. Dominion isn't the same game as TTR isn't the same game as Alhambra

[zoraster]

I wouldn't expect a board games award to cater any more to your personal preferences than you would the Oscars, Emmys, etc.

[zoraster]

I agree with that. And as a buyer of games, that makes it pretty useful. You don't go to Spiel der Jarles if you want an Ameritrash games, for example.

But that's a pretty different than "completely summarize what you'll be getting."

[zoraster]

right. i agreed with that. But that's not a particularly complete summary. What if I don't like that mechanic? Because the mechanics differ quite a bit. Reck doesn't like TTR, which he compulsively has to mention each time the game is brought up. I don't like Settlers of Catan. These both fit the typical Spiel game (and that description of it), but doesn't provide sufficient (and thus complete) information about the game.

[zoraster]

i mean, that's pretty accurate (the objectives aren't random, but you have to play a fair amount to know them).

[zoraster]

So, who's going to BGG.Con this year? I know of a few people who are going that have been on these boards in the past. Who else is in? It's always the highlight of my year - my wife and I make it a point to go every time. (This will be our 7th year, I think.)

meaning to make it this year as i live in dallas but it's been hectic the past couple and haven't gotten the chance.

[zoraster]

even if everyone knows what they're doing, Shadows can be pretty challenging for the knights if you don't have the full 7 (or 6 probably). If you don't guess at the traitor, you have to get 9 white swords and end the game, which is quite a few. The biggest things that keeps it from being broken are (1) if you get through the major quests fast, it just means you're adding more siege engines and (2) even if you get a majority of white swords and even if you identify the traitor, you still have to end the game, which means angling to lose a quick quest, which means drawing more black cards which likely means adding more siege engines. You can fight the siege engines each turn, but that's going to be hard to keep up permanently.

[zoraster]

Traitor making it to the end undiscovered turns two white swords black, IIRC.

Yeah. You need 9 because if traitor makes it to the end, he flips 2 to black. So having 7 or 8 makes it 5 or 6 white swords, which aren't enough to win.

But if you get 7 swords on the board, and you have it narrowed to 2, you should accuse both. In this way, you'll end up with 7 or 8 white swords. Even if you narrow it to three, you probably should accuse each anyway if it's getting toward the end. You have a 67% chance of getting 7 or 8 swords and only a 33% chance of ending up with 6. That's better than reaching the end and having 5 white swords.

[zoraster]

i see the appeal of Cosmic Encounter, but I never really enjoyed it. When I was in Austin, the gaming group i'd go to played it monthly. Which was probably about 8 or 9 times more times a year than I'd want to play with acquaintances. With friends, I think it'd be a bit more satisfying. Because a huge part of the game is king maker, and that makes the inevitable betrayal of a player sting far more than if some random guy does it.

[zoraster]

I mean a lot of people have watched The Guild.

[zoraster]

I feel too young to comment on this thread but I really want to get into board games like these...except I think I missed out on the generation that had it here in Australia. I don't think there are many that go about and I don't think there would be any shops that sell them and even less people I know who would want to play them. ._.

I think this thread is pretty cool though. ^_^/

I don't know how old you are, but there are usually weeklyish board game groups. If you're old enough to do things on your own, you're probably old enough to try the groups.

If you're in Melbourne, for example, here are some meetup groups: http://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups= ... ter=mysugg , this one seems to be the biggest: http://www.meetup.com/Boardgames-group- ... egy-games/

Same goes, I'm sure, for other cities in Australia.

Board gamers are usually eager to teach people new games, so I wouldn't worry about that. You might try to start with some of the less complex ("gateway" is the term usually used) games.

[zoraster]

Here's kind of my objection to Dominion: the more expansions I bought, the less I played it. Not because the expansions weren't fun -- they add a lot! -- but because every time we discussed playing Dominion it became more and more "well, we have to bring like 8 boxes" and even when I consolidated them into a box it meant rooting around to find the right cards.

[zoraster]

i'll buy you dark ages if you put all mine into a binder like that

[zoraster]

i like 7 wonders for larger groups because the amount of time is only marginally increased over smaller ones (since the time it takes is entirely based on the slowest player). Although tallying up points takes a bit.

[zoraster]

my family uses the ipad app to keep track, which is nice because it keeps stats across all games and you can see trends and stuff. It makes it faster, but there's no getting around 7 people saying "18 gold, 3 minus 1s, a three, a five. Blues: a 2, two 4s..." etc

[zoraster]

awesome. kind of like playing the board games on one of those german websites.

[zoraster]

7 wonders is great. I think the cities expansion offers a lot of additional variety though. the leaders expansion kind of does too, but in a less essential way that makes the game a little longer.

[zoraster]

Pretty true. Or at least that it's an accessible game that everyone at least kind of likes. I've found most really take to it. More serious gamers may grow bored of it eventually, but that's usually not the case for a number of rounds. In game groups it's often used as a quick "filler" game waiting for people to show up or whatever.

[zoraster]

7 Wonders isn't really like any of those games, from my experience. It's much more similar to Notre Dame or a MTG draft, really. I would say the only real similarity is that it requires you to be considering what your opponents can do with the hand you're about to pass them.

By the way, Kingsburg is okay, but it gets way better with the expansion.

I think the likelihood of someone who likes Settlers and TTR liking 7 wonders is just as high as someone who does MTG if not higher.

[zoraster]

Battlestar is probably my favorite traitor game, but it's one I don't play that often because it can easily be a three+ hour game.

[zoraster]

for what it's worth, oman, the memoir 44 online game is really well done (not a german language cheapo site). you can try it to make sure you want to buy the board game. I think you get a certain number of games for free: http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44-online/en/

[zoraster]

BGG.Con in Dallas is coming up in about a month. It would be awesome if we could get an even larger contingent of scummers to go next year. (Is anyone here going this year? I know of 6 offhand going this year if you count myself and kristocker.)

last i looked it was sold out

[zoraster]

hmmm maybe i'll put myself on the waitlist then. I don't need a hotel after all.

[zoraster]

you have summoned reck

[zoraster]

there are few games where the fun is determined by the people you're playing with more than Cosmic.

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that pronunciation. not like i haven't mispronounced my fair share of games. Agricola.

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Chink Weh Ter Reh

Italian is nice because the pronunciation basically is the same no matter what. The confusing thing to English speakers is that Ch is basically the opposite of english (in other words, it makes the C sound hard rather than soft).

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you might be able to find the CD-ROM version somewhere online. I played that as a kid.

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i've played a ton of mystery of the abbey because it's one game I can consistently get my mom to play (the other, weirdly enough, is dominion), and it is very like clue, but with a few changes. It reduces randomization because you don't have dice rolls, but it introduces it in other areas (mass cards that come up every 4/3 rounds, "scriptorum" cards that vary in effect, and "biblioteca" cards that vary from not that great to game changing. I don't know, it's not really what I'd think of as the perfect deduction/poe game, but it is fun.

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anyone played among the stars? considering getting it as people seem to think it's an improved 7 wonders, and 7 wonders is easily my family's favorite game.

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I had help with last night's game.

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Yes indeed! although we hadn't scored the third ages' yet there and i only tried once in age 2 and none in age 1.

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got 5 tribes and Castles of Mad King Ludwig. Really enjoyed both.

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Memoir 44 is a great light tactical war game. Assuming you don't want to go heavy into true war games?

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carcassonne is the kind of game I somehow keep playing but don't see the point of. There seems to be so little judgement to it

There's a pretty good degree of control over winning, particularly if you add an expansion or two (the basic ones, not the weird ones).

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7 wonders duel is so fucking good.

I just got on Friday and am excited to try it out

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carcassonne is the kind of game I somehow keep playing but don't see the point of. There seems to be so little judgement to it

There's a pretty good degree of control over winning, particularly if you add an expansion or two (the basic ones, not the weird ones).

This.
More than the random element of who flips which tiles, it's largely a game of speculation over how the game will expand.

Must admit that I only play "a" base game but between hijacking places other people have created and building your own, it feels like there are often right and wrong decisions, but not many murky "well this is sort of mediocre but I'll make it work?".

like, how much can you fiddle about your overall strategy game per game, and how much is just finding the best places for pieces every time?

Pretty often. One of the big things the "Basic" expansions do is provide farm-dividing cities, which creates more opportunities for farms.

One easy way to increase the "skill" of it is to play 3-in-hand, where you keep 3 tiles in your hand at all times and play one of those at a time.

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My thing is I don't like games with zero player interaction.

I like having interaction, even if it's not directly. Five Tribes is kind of my ideal board game for that very reason.

I'm a big fan of five tribes, but have one major complaint: a game that has five in it only allows four players. which is sad.

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i played puerto rico for the first time in a few years a couple of weeks ago. I remembered liking it a lot more than I did this time.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who cringes whenever this thread goes on about how either of these is great.

I don't recall many people who've made that argument. At best you get "Carcassone is a fine introductory game that's better with some expansions."

Anyway, 7 Wonders Duel is probably my favorite for my wife and I to play together alone as it's just really well designed for two players.

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It's sad because farms are frequently the thing that make people go "ugh" about carcasonne, but they're also the biggest part that adds any strategy (particularly with a basic expansion or two added as those are designed to break up farms).

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Forbidden Island/Desert just seem like puzzles to me. Group solved puzzles. And if there's someone who's good at puzzles, they'll tend to dominate. Lots of collaborative games have this problem too, but the Forbidden games particularly seem like that. Any game where it basically doesn't matter that "you're" a particular character.

That's why I prefer collaborative games with a traitor element (surprising on a mafia forum, no?) because at least then there's a risk that someone is providing bad advice on purpose.

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Looking for a suggestion for my family's yearly week long vacation. Need to add a

5 player game

(6 players is also great, but 5 is our most normal number of players). We play a lot of board games while on vacation, but it's been sort of particular on what games have found major success.

Here have been games that we've ended up playing a lot of:
1. 7 Wonders. By far our most played game, it involves strategy, the concurrently playing mechanic works nicely, it never feels too much like any individual player is "out of it,"
2. Ticket to Ride. We don't play this one any more because we overplayed it, but it was a good match.
3. Castles of Mad King Ludwig. In particular my wife likes this game.
4. Dominion. We've had fun with this, but even with 4 players it really moves too slowly.
5. Five Tribes. Inexplicably doesn't have five players.

We've played a lot of games that have been enjoyable but haven't really caught on like Smallworld.


Types of games that won't work:
1. Cooperative games. If the game ever risks having a quarterback, it won't work, with or without a traitor.
2. Thematic games (games that rely on their theme, story telling, etc. to make the game fun.)
3. "Silly" games like party games. It has to have some element of strategy.
4. Games that last longer than 2 hours, and it'd preferably be 60 or fewer minutes though it's not required.
5. Non-repeatable games. Likely goes along with thematic
6. Preferably no games with shifting alliances. I don't want to hear my father and his brother try and convince us to gang up on the other the entire game (e.g. no cosmic encounter).

I've thought about adding a worker placement game, but not sure that's the best road to go down.

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Are semi cooperative games where there's a single winner but a death means everyone loses of interest?

uh probably not but maybe? what were you thinking?

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thanks! lots of suggestions to look through. I'll be sure to post which I go with (or if i have more questions).

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Looking for a suggestion for my family's yearly week long vacation. Need to add a

5 player game

(6 players is also great, but 5 is our most normal number of players). We play a lot of board games while on vacation, but it's been sort of particular on what games have found major success.

As long as you have a table for it, Galaxy Trucker is perfect. You need the first expansion to play 5p, but you may as well get the whole big box, it's all great.

Seems big enough probably? Only played Galaxy Trucker once and many years ago, but I'm not sure if the older people would love the real time nature (as I recall it)

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it is. it's also the only game i specifically said wouldn't work for us

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like just a podcast where you chat or where you play?

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if you ever listen to wil wheaton talk about their selection process and how they produce it, it makes a lot of sense. Obviously there's room for a more serious board game podcast/video/etc. but I think a lot of the same things hold true even playing live. You could certainly talk to MoS though who literally is twitch.tv/boardgames.

To my eyes, for a successful broadcast of games you EITHER need to pick games that are quick to explain (even live doing a pre-cut explanation video is a good idea) OR you need to pick a game that a lot of people are familiar with and that has replayability OR you need to gloss over the nitty-gritty of the "game" aspect to get to a story aspect (for story-based games). I find Acquisitions Inc. and Harmonquest to be enjoyable even though I've never played D&D in my life in part because to differing levels they gloss past what I suspect to be a lot of mechanical stuff in the game (particularly true of Harmonquest).

That said, having a "hook" where games with celebrities (even or perhaps especially niche celebrities) play gives a lot more room to breathe on those things.

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do people have tickets to bggcon?

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i know, but didn't know if tickets had been sold yet. It can be difficult to get them particularly if people miss the first sale date.

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I'm almost done with the first box of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. I highly recommend it. I hear the second box is alright, but that the third box is amazing! Really looking forward to playing them through.

The other night, we got a 50 on one of them. We were super proud of ourselves. Still didn't beat Sherlock, but it's never really been high on our priority list.

Is this similar to the game that I played as a kid on CD-ROM?

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I'm gonna highly recommend Set A Watch. We played it this past weekend and it's a blast. It's the right kind of co-op and it forces you to make real, interesting choices. And I think the classes are different/varied enough that it prevents quarterbacking.

can you elaborate on the prevention of quarterbacking? That's always the major weakness to coop games to me, so any without a traitor element tends to fail the test. But if there's a way to avoid it that a game has figured out, that's great.

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Four of us played Twilight Imperium 4E today, and there was plenty of conflict to go around toward the end of the game. That said, with three of us being new to 4E, it took us ten hours to clear the game.

4 player is also the least conflict-prone, due to the relative map sizes (it's the same size as six player, everyone gets more space). Six player usually has squabbles very quickly. Usually no one wants to commit their entire army, or commit to wiping someone out (there's always better ways to do things) but big fights happen. It does usually follow a trajectory of rounds 2-3 are petty squabbles where a few ships die, 4 is when shit starts heating up, and 5-6 is when people try to take homeworlds and throw huge armies at Mecatol.

What factions were in the game?

Well, it was furthered by two of the factions being Hacan and Xxcha, though it ended in a blaze of fury. I played Naalu, equinox played Sol. A concerted final effort and some magical dice rolls managed to reduce me down to just 3 production so I couldn't win on the final status (also kept hito from winning by taking his homeworld), leading to an Xxcha win.

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If it's longer than 90 minutes, it's too long

any game shorter than 120 minutes does not feel like a game was played.

Well boy howdy do I have a suggestion for a game to play again, Equinox!

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5 tribes is a game that is even more prone than most to analysis paralysis. It has the potential to be a 60 minute game, but there are just so many options and part of the game is just identifying options out on the board that it tends to drag on.

also i hate that 5 tribes is max 4 player. What's with that!

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I know it's become a little passe, but 7 Wonders remains my recommendation for 6-7 players. It's just hard to get a semi-serious game with that many players down into 45-60 minutes because normal mechanics have people take turns, but 7 wonders is played simultaneously so you just play as fast as your slowest person rather than the cumulative speed of everyone. I think the "ideal" number of players for 7 wonders is more like 4 or 5 (because 7 players tends to make it very hard to track or do anything about what people at the other end of the table are doing), but there are lots of options for games of that size and few that I think succeed as well as 7 Wonders at that size.

There are games that are fine to play with 6 players if everyone knows the game well and plays quickly, but that's hard to find when you're talking about 6+ people (at least one is going to be new to the game).

At a certain point you're better off going with party games or splitting into multiple games, honestly.

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Twilight Imperium 4th Edition (It's getting an expansion soon!)

exactly what it needed?

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I think Dominion was good, but it has some serious flaws. First and foremost, it pretends to be a 2-4 player game when it is only good as a 2 player game. The game just takes too long as a 3+ player game, but also the things that you do with dominion are okay in 2 player (e.g. cantrip-based engines) but are just boring to watch in a 3+ player game.

Second, what it had in replayable deckbuilding was the right balance of simplicity and complexity. But after an expansion or two (and it kind of doesn't matter which expansion) it gets to be unwieldy with the interactions between cards.

Because it was a great game as a filler game or if you wanted to be flexible with how much time to spend or whatever, but once you add more than one or two expansions it stops being that for anyone but the most experienced players of it. Not to mention fishing out cards from like 5-6 different expansions takes forever.

Online it could redeem itself somewhat, but then it becomes one of those games where people have to play just a ton of it to be any good, just like collectible card games. That's okay, but then it's in a very different category.