Board Games!

This forum is specifically for discussing non-Mafia games
(board, card, video, we're not picky)
.
Playing
such games should happen in the Mish Mash forum, of course.
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Post Post #1698 (isolation #0) » Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:21 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Sorry if this has been talked about previously in thread

I want to get some cool board games embedded in my nephew while he's young and he has Christmas and birthday coming up. Turning 7. I was thinking about Junior Catan, but wasn't sure if anyone could recommend other games that might be fun for kid/adult play. I think my brother would appreciate it if the games weren't too terrible. Note that he is fairly advanced logically and seems to love analyzing rule systems, so maybe things a year or two ahead of him would be ok

TIA
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Post Post #1708 (isolation #1) » Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:29 pm

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In post 1705, chamber wrote:My nephew (5) will lose interest in a game if he starts losing. I don't know how to deal with that so I've mostly stopped trying in the hopes he grows out of it.
hah, my wife does that so it might not be grow outable


thanks for the recommendations guys, i will look into them all
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Post Post #3024 (isolation #2) » Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:01 am

Post by shaft.ed »

So I kinda liked Pandemic on the first few playthroughs, but after a while it just feels like complicated Solitaire. Is it any better as a multiplayer game?

@DN, I've been watching a bunch of Table Top recently and one thing I would really like is to see what cards people are drawing. Maybe you can do the table cam like in televised poker games for when such a mechanic is relevant. Also I woiuld avoid roleplaying, it's just awkward and sad to watch.
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Post Post #3028 (isolation #3) » Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:16 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I guess I should get a bit more into why I'm asking. I usually get my nephew a board game or two around Xmas/his birthday and was thinking about Pandemic as it can be played with anywhere from 1,2,3 or 4 players. Also he doesn't have any cooperative games, so I thought it might be interesting for him to not have to lose all the time (his father and I are both too "competitive" to let him win). The things I'd be worried about is we'll just tell him what to do, so he's basically not playing at all, or it gets boring. I'm a little bit worried about the latter because once you've figured out optimal strategy you just follow it and hope your deck is in a favorable order.

Other alternative I was considering at this point is Castles of Mad King Ludwig, but that's mostly because his grandmother loves castles, so I think we might be able to get her interested in playing. As of now she basically only does Ticket to Ride and anything resembling Pictionary/charades.
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Post Post #3077 (isolation #4) » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:27 am

Post by shaft.ed »

So I've got a 9ish yo nephew I was going to buy some games or something similar for Xmas. I know he's super into Minecraft, but his parent/grandparents dont do it. My brother really likes boardgames/card games though. Is there anything meatworld that could bring their two interests together (like Minecraft FLUXX)? I haven't really found anything.

Also I wanted to do a smaller quick game as one of his gifts. I was thinking between Sushi Go, Love Letter and Welcome to the Dungeon. Any favorites among these? Or maybe other suggestions?
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Post Post #3123 (isolation #5) » Mon Feb 26, 2018 3:48 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3114, implosion wrote:Spirit island arrived yesterday
thanks to your post I spent a good chunk of my weekend watching playthroughs of Spirit Island. The game looks amazing. I might actually buy it for myself. It would be the first board game I ever bought myself

diversity of play looks amazing, and I'm still trying to find videos of a few of the spirits. Seems almost everyone plays with a Vital Strength of the Earth Spirit or Thunderspeaker
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Post Post #3128 (isolation #6) » Tue Feb 27, 2018 12:42 am

Post by shaft.ed »

god I hope he's a dispatcher

and every time he dispatches "Dont just sit there, Buster Moove"
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Post Post #3152 (isolation #7) » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:18 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3151, vonflare wrote:I just want a gaming table with slightly raised edges so dice will never roll off
thats what box lids are for
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Post Post #3158 (isolation #8) » Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:19 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3157, Chevre wrote:"my way of having fun is better than yours"
obv
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Post Post #3161 (isolation #9) » Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:24 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Ive found it easier to limit my friends to the size of my furniture
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Post Post #3165 (isolation #10) » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:19 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3164, PJ. wrote:That's actually the less funny answer tbh
wait
we were joking?
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Post Post #3196 (isolation #11) » Sat Mar 24, 2018 3:27 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3191, Faraday wrote:i'm real interested in spirit island tho, since i like co ops and everyone seems to love it
its a bit rules heavy at first, and you WILL make mistakes that alter the course of the game. But once you get used to it, it's quite fun. My only downside is the almost 100% predictability of everything makes me just plan forever (I've only played it as a single player, doubt I would be this anal in coop). The expansion has an event deck that adds randomness, which I think would help alot. It also adds a ton of cards and more spirits. But the downside is even more complexity with 4 added mechanics, which just make my brain hurt.

I haven't tried upping the difficulty up past the base game though, so perhaps I should try going up against some stronger foes to see if that helps.
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Post Post #3199 (isolation #12) » Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:53 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Also I feel like I'm not doing Ocean's Hungry Grasp mechanics right. Is it all you have to do is push/gather stuff into the Ocean tile then they are dead, fear is generated and can be exchanged for energy?

Games are so easy when using them, that this doesn't seem right.
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Post Post #3202 (isolation #13) » Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:45 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Yeah I've tried out Branch and Claw on Vassal and the Event Deck and new Blight cards make the game a lot better
I kinda wish they worked without the token system though, since it makes the game even more complicated
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Post Post #3205 (isolation #14) » Tue Mar 27, 2018 8:51 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3204, TheButtonmen wrote:im really digging a combo of earth vital strength and spreading green in 2p you can ramp up very quickly to exploit earths massive power gain and free passive fortresses

my only issue has been is stage 3 the sheer proliferation of explorers i cant off them quick enough
I find they pair even better with Lightning
Get them an extra token or two out in the early turns and then just obliterate cities as a passive power from then on
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Post Post #3283 (isolation #15) » Wed Aug 08, 2018 8:24 am

Post by shaft.ed »

anyone played ROOT?
it looks interesting
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Post Post #3308 (isolation #16) » Fri Aug 24, 2018 4:56 am

Post by shaft.ed »

So as I continue to live vicariously through my niece and nephew's childhoods, I've already started planning their Xmas boardgame purchases. She's 7 and he's 10 going on 13.
Plan was for the younger one:
Scarabya
Dixit

for the older, I was gonna get Kingdomino and then one of: Clank!, Cyclades or Fury of Dracula. I'm slightly concerned Kingdomino will be too simplistic for him and its also vaguely similar to Scarabya, but it's a lot more likely to be tolerated by the grandparents (my parents retired to the same town as my brother so they are over at least 2-3 times a week). It's good to have a quick play option in there too. Also worried Cyclades might be a tad too advanced and Dracula a tad too 'adult' themed with the horror bits running through it. And without me in town, I really only see him playing either Cyclades and Dracula with his father. Whereas Clank! could probably wrap in his mom and the grandparents, and possibly even his sister.


I'm really looking forward to having a lab. I hope I can recruit grad students that are interested in game night every month or three
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Post Post #3312 (isolation #17) » Mon Aug 27, 2018 6:29 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Thanks for the tips. I guess I'll keep it simple with Clank! Should be a good introduction to deck building concept and I can see my parents playing with them, which is good.

I'll probably get Cyclades or Inis (or both) for my lab.

And I think my Fury of Dracula obsession is really the fault of TableTop. I don't think I really want to play Fury of Dracula. I want to play Fury of Dracula with Will Wheaton, Amy Okuda, Grant Imahara, and Ify Nwadiwe.
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Post Post #3313 (isolation #18) » Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:04 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Actually, what about Betrayal at the House on the Hill?
not sure if age appropriate
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Post Post #3317 (isolation #19) » Mon Aug 27, 2018 10:20 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3316, PJ. wrote:Unclear rules + secret rules, would be my warning.

Sometimes a little long
good to know
this kid loves rules
when he was about 5, he was teaching me how to play some games on his Wii. He spent about 30 minutes reciting the rules for each game we would play in great detail. Sometimes I felt he enjoyed the rules more than the gameplay
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Post Post #3328 (isolation #20) » Mon Nov 26, 2018 11:55 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Boardlandia has 15% off and free shipping over $60
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Post Post #3333 (isolation #21) » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:22 am

Post by shaft.ed »

So Carnival Zombie 2nd Ed has just been announced on Kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/62 ... nd-edition

Anyone ever played 1st Ed? I know it's kind of rare. But I watched a playthrough on GameNight and it looks like loads of fun, though a bit long to play
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Post Post #3396 (isolation #22) » Thu Aug 15, 2019 2:52 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

I finally got my wife to enjoy a board game
but its Code Names in 2 player mode

halp!!
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Post Post #3399 (isolation #23) » Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:28 am

Post by shaft.ed »

but i dont like the genre

how do i move laterally to something that is actually fun to play?
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Post Post #3402 (isolation #24) » Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:42 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3400, GreyICE wrote:Um... is this question "how do you pull a bait and switch?" Or "what games of similar complexities are there in other genres?"
How do I brainwash my wife into liking decent board games

so far my options are:
Scrabble
Code Names
Pictionary (I don't even know how this is supposed to work for two players)


I can't get her to like anything else
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Post Post #3404 (isolation #25) » Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:18 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3403, GreyICE wrote:Play Paperback.

Alternatively, play Scrabble properly so she hates Scrabble.
i can't make her play Scrabble properly
its the worst
she just ignores the score
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Post Post #3412 (isolation #26) » Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:13 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3403, GreyICE wrote:Play Paperback.
this looks like it may work
will get it next time i'm purchasing

thanks
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Post Post #3414 (isolation #27) » Tue Aug 20, 2019 7:24 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Anyone played Pantone?

It looks like it could work, but seem very heavy on popculture references
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Post Post #3425 (isolation #28) » Thu Aug 29, 2019 3:00 am

Post by shaft.ed »

welp I got Paperback and Show & Tile

Paperback was deemed to have too many rules to be fun

Show & Tile (which is basically just Pictionary with a limited set of shapes) was deemed not enough like Pictionary

so I guess I'll go back to giving up
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Post Post #3427 (isolation #29) » Thu Aug 29, 2019 3:53 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3426, Chickadee wrote:Tell us what elements are desired.
basically a two player game with guessing involved and no point systems or rules beyond "do this thing". Core game shouldn't last more than 10-15 minutes, and open to replays

She likes:
Code Names
Scrabble (without points, note I basically refuse to do this anymore)
Pictionary (with just the drawing)

Catch the Moon might work, we've never tried dexterity games
Don't think we can do two player Dixit, although we could probably formulate something with AI?
Hadn't thought of Ice Cool, but I'm not sure if she'd like a flicking game
Machi Koro, although simple, is def still more complicated that she'd want

I was thinking maybe Pantone, but after her not like Show and Tile, I think theyre relatively similar

should probably just give up and try to start a board game group
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Post Post #3432 (isolation #30) » Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:05 am

Post by shaft.ed »

yeah, my plan was always to draft gamers into my lab and have a board game night once a month or two. But I've only managed to draft one thus far.
just need to be more patient I spose

@chick, Thanks for the recs. I'll look into Second Chance and Catch the Moon. I bought Tsuro for my niece and we've played it, she didn't like it too much (wife not niece, niece loved it). I've seen playthroughs of Welcome To... and I don't think it'll work.

On the other hand, I've been playing paperback by myself while I'm brushing my teeth in the morning and the game is pretty cool. I think it would be fun to actually play.
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Post Post #3451 (isolation #31) » Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:58 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3450, hasdgfas wrote:
In post 3448, PJ. wrote:I heard bad things about clank but I heard clank in space fixed it.
Clank is neat. There are some weird things to it, but it's generally over quickly enough that I don't mind its issues.
they somehow made a Clank a legacy game
I have know idea who was asking for that
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Post Post #3455 (isolation #32) » Sat Sep 14, 2019 3:07 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

I wanna do the Betrayal Legacy after watching the playthrough on Game the Game
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Post Post #3472 (isolation #33) » Sat Sep 21, 2019 7:52 am

Post by shaft.ed »

the gameplay vids I've watched of all of those games were some of the more boring ones I've seen
though I don't really like worker placement, and engine building games feel pretty redundant just with a different theme slapped on
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Post Post #3480 (isolation #34) » Thu Oct 17, 2019 7:18 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Spirit Island would be beyond medium

Maybe any of the Forbidden series?

also Yggdrasil, but it's out of print and thus stupid expensive
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Post Post #3484 (isolation #35) » Thu Oct 17, 2019 12:40 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3481, chamber wrote:
In post 3480, shaft.ed wrote:also Yggdrasil, but it's out of print and thus stupid expensive
There is a new version of Yggdrasil at this years essen.
read that's going to be a completely new take on it
which might not be a bad thing since the first version just looks like bag management
still dont know what to feel about the 3-D Tree
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Post Post #3493 (isolation #36) » Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:51 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Anyone know how Clank In Space advances the game relative to the base Clank?

Time to decide on Xmas gifts for the niece (7) and nephew (12) again.
I'm leaning towards Kingdomino and Quacks of Quedlinburg respectively. But not all that sure
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Post Post #3496 (isolation #37) » Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:26 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

Quacks was sold out of most US stores
had to order from Amazon UK
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Post Post #3510 (isolation #38) » Sun Jan 05, 2020 10:35 am

Post by shaft.ed »

got to play a lot of board games visiting the fam

Unfortunately, my nephew has a bit of a cheating problem. He was caught blatantly cheating during games of Quacks of Q and Whitehall Mysteries

I kinda liked Quacks, but the games we played were a bit to luck based for my tastes. A lot of times someone would draw almost every chip besides their whites while someone else would explode within about 5 or 6 pulls. Seemed the amount of setup and effort needed for what felt like a luck heavy game wasn't all that worth it. Also didn't like how people losing towards the end are pretty much forced to push it to the max that last two or three rounds, which 9 times out of 10 just makes them explode and then get spaced further back. I don't know if there would be a way to accelerate the game (we played all rounds with simulataneous bag draws because of the nephews aforementioned cheating).

I really liked Whitehall Mysteries. Fun game with a lot of pins and needles regardless of what side your playing on.

Niece also really enjoyed Kingdomino. She's still a bit young and has more compulsions about finishing her square or matching up tiles instead of optimizing for points. But it has a nice quick play speed and is challenging enough to keep the 'adults' interested

Push was also a great family/filler game. Would recommend if you're looking for a nice 3-6 player filler card game that is exceedingly easy to teach.

Also got a couple more playthroughs of Clank! in. This might be one of my top games currently, although I only have 3 plays on it. Really like the hybrid of board game and deck builder. ALso like how sometimes the game goes really fast because someone tries to get in and out really quick and trap everyone down below, and sometimes we all delve into the depths and pull out obscene point totals. Last play I got knocked out one space from the exit (from time out) and my brother got KO'd two spaces away (clank heavy deck). I still managed to win without the 20 point exit bonus.
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Post Post #3511 (isolation #39) » Sun Jan 05, 2020 10:36 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3508, xRECKONERx wrote:We played Spirit Island last night. Hooooooly shit what a dense game
I still haven't ventured into a game of Spirit Island with other people as I'm terrified of trying a playthrough with someone that isn't up for that kind of density
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Post Post #3518 (isolation #40) » Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:16 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

why not both?
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Post Post #3524 (isolation #41) » Tue Jan 07, 2020 2:59 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3520, Errantparabola wrote:i was thinking of trying the table top simulator for it solo
the table top simulator is WAY better for solo

I started playing on the simulator while I was waiting for the game to arrive
I barely use the physical game because it takes up a lot of time and space for something that works fine on the PC
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Post Post #3528 (isolation #42) » Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:38 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3527, zoraster wrote:also i hate that 5 tribes is max 4 player.
speaking of which
anyone have recs for 6-8 player games?
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Post Post #3573 (isolation #43) » Fri Feb 07, 2020 1:47 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3572, popsofctown wrote:I'm jealous that Vi lives a life where they are playing board games multiple times a week while I play board games multiple times a year :(
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Post Post #3577 (isolation #44) » Fri Mar 06, 2020 4:14 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

So i've organized two boardgame nights here

Both times people have brought Catan, and that ends up taking up the bulk of the playing time
getting kinda meh about it
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Post Post #3579 (isolation #45) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:18 am

Post by shaft.ed »

and how does it take two hours to play a game of Catan?
wtf?
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Post Post #3584 (isolation #46) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 3:23 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

I think the randomness usually comes into light in chosing the winner

Usually a couple people are in a striking position and a couple dice rolls here and there at the end tip the final decision to whoever ends up winning
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Post Post #3588 (isolation #47) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:21 am

Post by shaft.ed »

i think the main issue is the 'group' is a mix of a couple heavy gamers, a couple newbs that basically are familiar with Catan aside from mainstream US boardgames, and a bunch of non-gamers (also the roster has been different each time)

so Catan gets brought out because its familiar to the newbs and thought of as a great intro game for non-gamers

it also is one of the few games we have that goes over 4 players since we have the expansions. Last time we had 11, so a table of 5 and a table of 6.

I guess I either need to lower my expectations, or get a better core group and just invite them instead of having an open invitation. I've been doing a broad department wide invite because I really don't know who likes to game and who doesnt
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Post Post #3591 (isolation #48) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 2:34 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

Reflecting, I think I just really wanted to play Whitehall
*
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*
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Post Post #3595 (isolation #49) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 6:37 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I'm not a big fan of worker placement games

I should check out 7 wonders, and Potion Explosion looks like it could be great for the nephew
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Post Post #3599 (isolation #50) » Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:59 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I might get Clank! as an intro game?

I really enjoyed playing it with my nephew et al, and even my Mom could keep up with it. Not much knowledge needed that can't be figured out while you're playing
The main gameplay (at least visually) is very similar to standard boardgames, ie plop you token around a board
But it sort of tricks you into playing a deck builder, while the core is a well executed press your luck game
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Post Post #3606 (isolation #51) » Sat Mar 14, 2020 7:51 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3604, hasdgfas wrote:
In post 3601, vonflare wrote:if you want a deck builder, dominion is a better intro game imo. Teaches all the core concepts of deckbuilding without any added fluff.

klank! is probably a close second though since the only 'fluff' it adds is a board and movement/combat mechanics
I don't think a no-frills deckbuilder is what he wants. It sounds like the outer trappings of a board game like Clank! are exactly what works for his group.
yeah I think Clank! has a nice mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar
I think it will be my next purchase for the lab game vault
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Post Post #3611 (isolation #52) » Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:27 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3607, PJ. wrote:I've never played Clank, but I've heard that the In Space iteration fixes a lot of problems with the regular iteration.
From what I understand, the problem with vanilla Clank! is that just running in, grabbing the first artifact and running out is a very viable strategy because the game is forced to end 4 turns after the first person get out of the dungeon. This prevents people that want to go deep into the dungeon and push their luck from doing so. I haven't played Clank In Space, but I think they change the game ending mechanic by instead having escape pods that are limited vs the number of people. That way if you're first out, you are definitely safe, but you will limit your scoring and you can't force the rest of the players to be trapped in the dungeon. I've never played Clank! with anyone that just grabbed the first thing and ran, but I could see it being pretty annoying. I could also see it getting fixed pretty easily with some relatively simple house rules.
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Post Post #3613 (isolation #53) » Sun Mar 15, 2020 3:23 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3612, hasdgfas wrote:
In post 3611, shaft.ed wrote:
In post 3607, PJ. wrote:I've never played Clank, but I've heard that the In Space iteration fixes a lot of problems with the regular iteration.
From what I understand, the problem with vanilla Clank! is that just running in, grabbing the first artifact and running out is a very viable strategy because the game is forced to end 4 turns after the first person get out of the dungeon. This prevents people that want to go deep into the dungeon and push their luck from doing so. I haven't played Clank In Space, but I think they change the game ending mechanic by instead having escape pods that are limited vs the number of people. That way if you're first out, you are definitely safe, but you will limit your scoring and you can't force the rest of the players to be trapped in the dungeon. I've never played Clank! with anyone that just grabbed the first thing and ran, but I could see it being pretty annoying. I could also see it getting fixed pretty easily with some relatively simple house rules.
Grab the first thing and get out was my strategy the one time I played Clank! but the game played out in a way that it was my best strategy to try to win, not because I was just trying to cheese it.
For Clank in Space they mitigated this by having artifact acquisition be a multistep process, and first person out just pulls cubes until everyone is dead or out. I think regular Clank! should work fine with the second rule.

And, yeah I've done the grab and go once before, but I took a monkey idol and an artifact while my brother decided he would go all the way to the bottom. He wasted a couple rounds because he couldn't get a multistep movement, and only missed escaping by a single space, so it wasn't that bad.
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Post Post #3615 (isolation #54) » Wed Mar 25, 2020 7:22 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Vassal just recently released a module for Gloomhaven if you find yourself at home with lots of time and not much to do
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Post Post #3618 (isolation #55) » Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:05 am

Post by shaft.ed »

The Vassal version is probably a bit more convoluted, but it's free at least. Took me more than an hour just to find where the different bits were placed. I'm pretty sure I did some City/Road cards wrong and may have deleted other events cards by accident too.
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Post Post #3626 (isolation #56) » Sat May 30, 2020 5:12 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

Clank! has good gameplay, but it's pretty light and the legacy feels a bit of a stretch for the mechanic
Note this comes from watching playthroughs
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Post Post #3628 (isolation #57) » Sat May 30, 2020 5:47 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

separate game
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Post Post #3634 (isolation #58) » Sun May 31, 2020 11:14 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3632, VP Baltar wrote: We do have one player who tends to need assistance with more complex games. When we played Gloomhaven, it was definitely alot of "you sure you want to do that?"
You might consider Clank! actually
It's essentially like the base game, but aspects of your deck get carried through and your board gets bigger as you explore
Not the heaviest of games and as its not co-op it isnt messing up to much for other players if someone is playing suboptimally
Also has legacy mechanics where decisions will impact what becomes available on your board/deck in future games
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Post Post #3639 (isolation #59) » Mon Jun 01, 2020 2:41 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3637, chamber wrote:That's a pretty big rule to miss, but we've had games we played for years that we got minor rules wrong for. One instance would be keyflower, played it for years before realizing green meeples used to bid go back to the general meeple bag rather than the green stock.
it took me about 4 or 5 scenarios of Gloomhaven to realize there was a default Attack 2/Move 2 option for all cards. I was just tossing Lost actions a lot of times because I didn't realize I could chose not to do them.

On the other hand, I played only my second game of Gloomhaven with other people yesterday (Brother and nephew). We were getting creamed in Scenario 2, but I managed to pull a win out of our ass by Immobilizing and Stunning the Bandit Commander for 4 straight rounds using the Mindthief, a Stamina pot and help from the Tinkerer. Then after the game I realized he can't be stunned or immobilized. Don't know what to tell my party about that.
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Post Post #3641 (isolation #60) » Fri Jun 26, 2020 2:40 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I've been Gloomhavening solo a lot recently
While it's fun and engaging, I think the way Personal Quests are implemented leaves a lot to be desired

Spoiler: minor spoilers
Since so many of them are 'kill X number of ys' and in a lot of cases, that monster type is far from plentiful, I find with some characters I'm making decisions based on 'is that more likely to spawn Forest Imps?'. And have even gotten to the point of checking all the scenarios for rewards to figure out which scenarios get unlcoked and chaining down three scenarios in each direction (narrator voice: there were no Forest Imps). It's gotten to the point where I'm essentially ignoring the legacy aspects of the story line because I'm tired of playing a certain class and want to unlock the next, but have no way of doing so. Maybe the forest imp one is a severe case (I've only found two scenarios with them, one I already completed and one that was locked), but have run into similar cases though not as annoying.

In this regard, the only retirement goal I've gotten that felt organic was the 'obtain 15 checks'. I know this is boring from a flavor aspect, but its the only time I didn't feel like I had to hunt around away from the actual lore with player motivations in a bad way. Better yet, it's essentially unavoidable unless you want to gimp your character. I wish (hope) there were more simple Quests like this (ie. spend X gold, drink X potions, enhance X cards, win X scenarios). They're great because you really feel the clock ticking down towards retirement. All of the kill x number of y ones can be annoying gamed to speed up or slow down progress at the expense of the legacy storyline
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Post Post #3643 (isolation #61) » Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:20 am

Post by shaft.ed »

you can play the solo game with as many slots as you like
I'm playing with two, which I think is most common so that you can have interactions, but not needless complication
The only difference is when you retire a character and gain the extra perk for your next one, it is tracked per slot and not per player

Spoiler:
I started with Brute + Scoundrel, and they fed off eachother great. Retired the Brute for an Elementalist, which was horrible. Fortunately the Scoundrel soon retired into a Sunkeeper, which worked well. And after I got bored of the Elementalist is when I started running into the retirement problem. He had the side quests retirement plan, and I just didn't get enough of them, which got tedious. Retired the Elementalist into the Moon guy yesterday. Sunkeeper is the one cursed with Imps and no end in sight.

Another big problem with the retirement goals, is if you haven't played before you just have no idea what its going to take. Which is really cool at first, until you're like "do Forest Imps even exist?".


And yes, the Tinkerer very much feels misadvertised. The name screams some cool inventor type character. But aside from burn cards, you're mostly just doing support.
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Post Post #3648 (isolation #62) » Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:13 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3645, xRECKONERx wrote:it took me FOREVER to do that exact same quest you have, shaft.ed

if it helps, the class you unlock from it is a fucking blast.
i dont think i have the class version
it's one of the lettered envelopes

*
intrigue
*
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Post Post #3649 (isolation #63) » Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:16 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3644, chamber wrote:
Spoiler:
I think I could tell you more scenarios with forest imps if you want
I've read once I get to 4 prosperity the Town Records book will unlock a quest with Imps
I'm about 2 ticks from hitting that
so for now just focusing on having some fun with the new Moon character

I have to say, I am enjoying pumping the monster deck full of curses while simultaneously blessing the crap out of my decks. It's a fulfilling combo when it pays off
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Post Post #3650 (isolation #64) » Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:18 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I mean, I can rerun scenarios to accrue what I need, but like why is that a requirement?
just feels poorly fleshed out
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Post Post #3654 (isolation #65) » Sun Jun 28, 2020 3:12 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3652, xRECKONERx wrote:oooooh wait you're right i think that did unlock an envelope and it's not that interesting honestly
i really wanted to take the other goal
but having a Sunkeeper on a quest to re-awaken a dark god seemed super thematically wrong
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Post Post #3657 (isolation #66) » Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:18 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3655, brassherald wrote:Is Gloomhaven worth the very high price tag?
I would suggest trying it out in computer form first

It's absolutely free via Vassal, and if you already have Table Top Simulator it is free with that. I'm playing it over TTS and think it is actually better digital as physical would be a huge space investment and I wouldn't have anyone to play it with.

There is also a computer version in the works. Pre-release is available on Steam and will include full content when game is out.
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Post Post #3671 (isolation #67) » Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:02 am

Post by shaft.ed »

anyone have suggestions for 5-6 player games? not too heavy
think I might have asked this before, but I've run through most of what I was interested in
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Post Post #3678 (isolation #68) » Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:07 am

Post by shaft.ed »

have you played Blood Bowl?
it's heavy on the luck component
but also quite tactical, both aggressive and defensive
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Post Post #3704 (isolation #69) » Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:36 am

Post by shaft.ed »

it's a good game to straddle the non-gamer/gamer threshold
a lot better than Catan and a bit better than Carcasonne

I think it might be fun to play more cutthroat, but I've only done it with brother/his kids/our parents and we usually take it easy on each other
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Post Post #3708 (isolation #70) » Mon Aug 31, 2020 1:49 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

yeah Ticket to Ride is basically the new gold standard for gateway game
Teaching Catan is always a lot slower than I expect it to be, and newbies usually don't stand much of a chance outside of a lot of dice help
Carcasonne is too points centric
Ticket to Ride is also good because even if you don't get top score, you can feel like you succeeded if you get a route or more completed
Turns are also quite quick even for people with analysis paralysis
That said, I find the game itself rather boring

I've never played Cosmic Encounter
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Post Post #3717 (isolation #71) » Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:41 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3716, Vi wrote:I don't really understand the Carcassonne hate, although I suspect most of the expansions would reduce my enjoyment of the game.
they are usually either gimmicky or add point salad

The River was p good though as it opens up the playing space. This fundamentally changes the way the game plays
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Post Post #3739 (isolation #72) » Wed Sep 02, 2020 3:50 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

played Flamme Rogue for the first time today
It's a strange experience, the middle is really intriguing, the ending is very exciting. But the ending is also completely unfulfilling because you essentially have no decisions to make.
it's weird because while I'm playing the middle bits I really like it. I'm really excited at the end, but I don't like it because there is no agency since you already pretty much determined the end based on your past actions and a bit of luck.

my take away was this really weird mix of 'that was lots of fun' and 'meh'
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Post Post #3754 (isolation #73) » Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:27 am

Post by shaft.ed »

was gonna get Whitehall Mystery for the nephew this Xmas, but it looks like its out of print with a rerun coming at an unknown date in the near future.
not sure if I should hold out or pick up something else.
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Post Post #3766 (isolation #74) » Mon Dec 07, 2020 7:13 am

Post by shaft.ed »

In post 3761, brassherald wrote:Just for clarity's sake, shaft.ed talked about Whitehall.

I did get my niece board games for Christmas this year, but she's three, so I got her Hi Ho Cherry-o Mickey edition, Enchanted Forest, and My First Carcassonne.

I'm definitely just going to be the board game uncle at this point because I have never seen the ukelele I bought her for her birthday which my sister insisted I had to get for her.
I found Tsuro can work for young players too. Gave it to my niece around 5 or 6
i also dont know why anyone would want a noise producing device for their young child



The Whitehall Mystery is pretty specific. I brought my copy to visit last Xmas and that's all he wanted to play.
Letters from Whitechapel or Scotland Yard I think would be the most similar, the former being a lot longer playing time though.
I always just find it weird when a good game can't be purchased anymore.
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Post Post #3771 (isolation #75) » Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:06 am

Post by shaft.ed »

my parents have one of these

the first time I met my niece we were visiting over Xmas and she just activated it continuously
the next year the batteries went missing
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Post Post #3777 (isolation #76) » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:40 am

Post by shaft.ed »

just realized I can give my copy to the nephew for Xmas and just buy myself one once it reprints, which is supposed to be sometime Dec/Jan
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Post Post #3781 (isolation #77) » Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:48 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Vassal also has Gloomhaven, though its not scripted like TTS
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Post Post #3784 (isolation #78) » Tue Dec 29, 2020 7:01 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I sent my nephew Whitehall for Xmas and we played two games over Skype
realized part way through game 1 we had been playing it wrong this whole time
He really likes that game.

also got my niece Heul Doch, and watched the fam play that over Skype. Seem they enjoyed it.
Had ordered Colorful for her as well, but ended up ordering from an Amazon scammer, in the process of getting a refund.
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Post Post #3790 (isolation #79) » Tue Dec 29, 2020 7:51 am

Post by shaft.ed »

The pandemic has actually made our gaming group more reliable
"we" only managed 3 meetups over the previous year.

Now we do every other week, on a rotating schedule for who picks the game. We opted for TTS. Have a core of 4 that is reliable and a 5th that sometimes shows up
For the most part everyone has chosen something different each time they host, except the one guy who always chooses Carcasonne
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Post Post #3810 (isolation #80) » Wed Dec 30, 2020 7:08 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I found Sun/Moon to be a really good combo
also Sun/Scoundrel
Basically the card recovery/blessing power of Sun helps out classes with ridiculous OP attack cards


also,too
I'm playing very intermittently with brother and nephew
Brother is playing the Brute, but doesn't like taking damage
Nephew is playing the Tinkerer, but doesn't like burning cards

it doesn't always go well
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Post Post #3819 (isolation #81) » Tue Jan 05, 2021 11:56 am

Post by shaft.ed »

depends on your random deck draw and how much banter and/or analysis your group goes through
but I'd guess 20 min(ish), maybe 30ish for newbs
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Post Post #3821 (isolation #82) » Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:03 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

you can test out Dominion on https://dominion.games/ if you've never played before to get a feel for game duration
you need to register, but playing the base game is free
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Post Post #3823 (isolation #83) » Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:43 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Played Inis last night in 3 player mode
Was quite interesting and definitely a unique experience
I would describe my first playthrough as playing Marco Polo in a room full of jello wearing ear muffs. Though that haziness may lessen with familiarity.

One thing that really surprised me was that looking at the game, with its 13 constantly the same cards and fighting rules that have no luck involved gives a really false sense of determinism. But every single turn ended up completely not how I expected it. Actually, I think I had one turn that worked out as I planned it. But that was because I was obviously in very last place that I was entirely ignored.

The minor issue I had with it was that the rules feel kind of clunky. They aren't really that complicated, but they are so far away from 'the norm' for standees on a map games that it takes quite some time to remember how everything works and then figure out the best strategy.

Other slightly minor issue is that while most games sort of speed up as you build your engine, Inis completely bogs down. You start the game with 4-5 cards in your hand. There aren't a ton of options and a few map pieces like sanctuaries and citadels. You end the game with hands of 6-10 cards depending on how many territories and Epic Tale cards you've accumulated. Many of which are reactionary with generous text and jargon, which bogs down the already unfamiliar game flow. Obviously some of this would be lessened with more playing time. But when early rounds would be done in 5-10 minutes, later rounds can run up to 30 minutes or more if someone is within reach of winning.

This brings up the major issue I had was the "everyone gang up on the person who is going to win!!" mechanic. You essentially HAVE to attack the player in the lead or lose the game. While this is a good 'balancing' mechanic it really feels like drawing out the game and if someone does overtake the leader, the win feels less deserved. We had a player that was obviously out in front. So two of us had to gang up on them for two rounds straight to keep them from winning. The last round we threw everything we had at them, but every time we thought we had stopped him, an Epic Tale card came out and thwarted our attempt. The hilarious part was that the other player unknowingly gained a win condition in just trying to stop the strongest player. However, I was the Brenn. So per the rules they were tied, which meant we had to play another round. At this point, no one was really up for it so we just called it a draw.
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Post Post #3852 (isolation #84) » Sun Jan 10, 2021 10:28 am

Post by shaft.ed »

that would be the word "defeat" I believe
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Post Post #3856 (isolation #85) » Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:10 am

Post by shaft.ed »

i dont know of an eyeball icon (are you thinking of the eclipse?)
but nope that shouldnt be a starting class
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Post Post #3858 (isolation #86) » Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:51 am

Post by shaft.ed »

thats from the expansion
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Post Post #3870 (isolation #87) » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:55 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

i also read that rule wrong
i thought it was a random class unlock
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Post Post #3872 (isolation #88) » Sun Jan 24, 2021 4:39 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

just play on TTS
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Post Post #3876 (isolation #89) » Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:19 am

Post by shaft.ed »

is it better than the Gloomhaven Steam game?
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Post Post #3881 (isolation #90) » Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:20 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Played Space Base with my group last night
it's a good concept, but I don't think it's very well executed
The way you can choose split or combine dice, you're just always way better buying single dice cards. The cards requiring 2 dice (especially 10,11,12) just aren't powerful enough to bother getting since you hardly ever get their benefits, especially on your own roll. And if they were powerful enough, the game would be too swingy to be enjoyable.
Seems there is just a clearly optimal strategy
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Post Post #3883 (isolation #91) » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:22 am

Post by shaft.ed »

are you doing it on easy?
I've found at base difficulty its p inevitable to win

The important thing is to keep developing your spirits
if you focus too much on keeping everything damage free, you won't scale your power fast enough to overtake the engine
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Post Post #3896 (isolation #92) » Sat Feb 06, 2021 8:22 am

Post by shaft.ed »

add an adversary
they have scaling difficulty levels on their cards
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Post Post #3903 (isolation #93) » Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:25 am

Post by shaft.ed »

played Power Grid with my group
Seems like a fun enough game. I think with serious players, the constant calculations would be a slog and really slow down the gameplay.
The randomness of the powerplant deck kinda sucks though and plays a big role in the outcome
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Post Post #3905 (isolation #94) » Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:28 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I think the experience let me know I don't really like heavy games too much
although the last turn "can" be exciting, I don't think the hope of a good last turn is worth sitting through 2-3 hours of either doing endless predictive math. Or, better still, waiting for other people to finish doing endless predictive math

if your group doesn't take it seriously enough to bother with the math, there are just more fun games out there

I've also come to realize I have issues with 'not playing the game optimally', in that I don't enjoy games much if people aren't making best or near best plays
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Post Post #3908 (isolation #95) » Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:07 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Yeah, I don't mean thinking through a play for 30 minutes to calculate the best value option as if someone had written an AI script.
For me its more like trading with someone in Catan that will essentially win the game so that you can build a town next turn
or letting me have a game winning power plant in Power Grid for 5 above the sticker price (there were 3 people in this auction with me)
or building your engine towards 11 and 12 rolls in a dice game
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Post Post #3912 (isolation #96) » Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:48 am

Post by shaft.ed »

" what do you mean me giving them 3 ore for a brick is a bad idea, how else can I build my road?"
note: person has 4 ore anyway and is just trading to save one versus the bank
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Post Post #3916 (isolation #97) » Wed Mar 03, 2021 4:57 am

Post by shaft.ed »

my teenage nephew still cheats endlessly at Whitehall
which sucks because its a fun game with a lot of potential for edge of your seat excitement
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Post Post #3935 (isolation #98) » Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:31 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Is Camel Up a dice game?
Cause its p good, but trying not to roll dice is about half the gameplay
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Post Post #3948 (isolation #99) » Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:16 am

Post by shaft.ed »

bang is good but needs a larger number of people
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Post Post #3955 (isolation #100) » Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:45 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Betrayal at the House on Hill and 7 Wonders come to mind if you don't have them
they'd target gaming groups at different ends of the spectrum, so perhaps not both
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Post Post #3959 (isolation #101) » Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:04 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Betrayal Legacy caps at 5 though
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Post Post #3960 (isolation #102) » Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:09 am

Post by shaft.ed »

oh and Dixit is another classic that plays ok at 6
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Post Post #3976 (isolation #103) » Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:40 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I'd love to, but I don't usually have the time
also the wife gets upset if I'm gaming too much since it annoys her while we're living in a smallish apartment
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Post Post #3981 (isolation #104) » Sun Mar 14, 2021 1:32 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

started Clank! Legacy with bro and nephew
Couldn't find the rule regarding pulling 4 cubes from the dragon bag after returning to town
so didn't pull cubes and the whole end game felt obviously weird, and we realized it was broken once only one player was left
then i finally found the rule in the Game End and Scoring section of the rulebook

oh well, still was a decent time. And Game 1 is pretty light anyway
i was kinda disappointed because I really wanted to explore, but I ended up getting wrecked and was two health from getting knocked out by the time I had reached an artifact
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Post Post #3983 (isolation #105) » Sun Mar 14, 2021 3:15 pm

Post by shaft.ed »

would playing a game on the current board state before the last legacy installment jog some memories?

First game had a lot of megaturns as 2 to 3 tome entries were read. I think it went well though. Usually no one wants to read flavor text. But this time my brother and even my nephew were both reading aloud and even voicing the speakers.

I think the bigger problem we had was not being familiar with the TTS script. So now that we know how it works, we should have a much better time with the next round. I guess that's a downside of playing over TTS. You have to learn the game itself and you have to learn how to interact with the program.
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Post Post #3986 (isolation #106) » Mon Mar 15, 2021 2:10 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I'm using it a lot
the problem is with scripting (which i don't want to complain about because they are awesome and the people that spend time making them are awesome)
i can log in to test the game by myself, but a lot of scripts don't function with one person on the game board

the Clank script has a button that toggles between "New Game", "Game in Progress, and "Scoring"
Someone mashed this button over to "Scoring" midgame
We should have known something was off because cards in play weren't read by the script, but we weren't aware of the state and impact of this button

We have a bad track record with Clank on TTS
our first non-legacy game was unscripted, but we didn't realize the dragon bag didn't auto-randomize the cubes
so whatever last cubes were put in were the first out. Didn't notice this until my brother pulled about 6 straight of his own color
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Post Post #3989 (isolation #107) » Thu Mar 18, 2021 9:54 am

Post by shaft.ed »

Puerto Rico and Seven Wonders scripts were both somehow broken last night
took about an hour and a half before we even started playing

was somehow one of the more amusing game nights we've had in a while due to some of the silliness of the broken bits
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Post Post #3991 (isolation #108) » Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:22 am

Post by shaft.ed »

played Architects of the West Kingdom
I'm not generally a fan of worker placement, but I liked this more than normal
I think the fact that you are rarely blocked from going anywhere and are just slightly disincentivized from going where you want to go was nice
Gameplay is also super fast once everyone knows whats going on

Downside was pointsalad scoring, which is somewhat unavoidable in these games
Also a few random elements in the game made can make a huge difference. The biggest being building requirements merging with laborer types. We had a game where every laborer was the same 'suit' and certain buildings and bonuses were essentially impossible to get. I guess you could houserule around that if you wanted to
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Post Post #3993 (isolation #109) » Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:31 am

Post by shaft.ed »

if you want more Clank experience
I would suggest Clank Legacy
the Legacy portion is fantastic. And you finish with two new boards of Clank when you're done if you need some variety from standard.
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Post Post #3995 (isolation #110) » Mon Aug 16, 2021 2:43 am

Post by shaft.ed »

I've never played flicking games
but of the ones I've seen online, Flick 'em Up looks the best
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