Board Games!

This forum is specifically for discussing non-Mafia games
(board, card, video, we're not picky)
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Playing
such games should happen in the Mish Mash forum, of course.
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Post Post #3575 (ISO) » Sat Feb 08, 2020 2:44 am

Post by Vi »

In post 3574, Chickadee wrote:So I got a Burgle Bros tattoo
Stupid but honest question: On your body, or...?

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shaft.ed wrote:
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 :(
#workingwithnerds
If it weren't for that I would have to cajole people at the local board game community events into playing my games instead of stuff like Pandemic or Trajan.
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Post Post #3576 (ISO) » Sat Feb 08, 2020 4:55 pm

Post by Chickadee »

In post 3575, Vi wrote:
In post 3574, Chickadee wrote:So I got a Burgle Bros tattoo
Stupid but honest question: On your body, or...?
Yeesss
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Post Post #3577 (ISO) » 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 #3578 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 12:11 am

Post by PJ. »

Welcome to board game nights where you let people being things
Last edited by PJ. on Sat Mar 07, 2020 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post Post #3579 (ISO) » 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 #3580 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:20 am

Post by Something_Smart »

If the players are very aggressive traders and/or very indecisive in figuring out what to build, I could see that. Also maybe with expansions.
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Post Post #3581 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 1:07 pm

Post by Xtoxm »

every time i play catan it feels frustratingly high random
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Post Post #3582 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 1:14 pm

Post by popsofctown »

I think Catan's not that random compared to plenty of games it just feels bad because it has so few nontrivial decisions, besides trading being very complex but in a game theory way instead of a strategy way
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Post Post #3583 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 3:17 pm

Post by vonflare »

Even mechanically, the randomness in catan isn't brutal. Sure the dice play a large role in the game but there are many ways to
mitigate
the randomness. Putting all your settlements on 6's and 8's might seem mathematically sound but it means that you're getting your resources in big bursts while other players get a lesser but consistent stream that allows them to wheel and deal while you twiddle your thumbs waiting for that magic 6 that will give you 2 wood, a clay, and an ore. Not diversifying your numbers can make randomness feel more impactful.

You might also be undervaluing ports, I know I did when I was new to catan. It's another way of mitigating randomness, allowing you to change resources you don't want into resources you do. And finally, having deeper game knowledge that comes with just playing more games will also help. If there's a mountain and a pasture right beside each other with a 5 and an 8, and you confidently slam your settlement between them in the setup phase because 5s are good and 8s are really good, 4 turns later when you want to expand you are going to be thinking to yourself "man I need to build a road but I never get any clay, I'm having some bad RNG."

Knowing what resources are valuable in different stages of the game can help you manage your expectations regarding the RNG. and if all else fails, you can use the Catan Event Cards (sold separately within the Traders & Barbarians expansion) which simulate a die roll but guarantee equal distribution because it's a deck of cards with evenly weighted die results on them.
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Post Post #3584 (ISO) » 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 #3585 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 3:46 pm

Post by vonflare »

if the players are all evenly skilled then yes, randomness plays a major role, I'd say just as large a role as your skill in negotiating trades.

But my definition of "frustratingly high random" is that the randomness plays a consistent role in deciding the outcome between a good player and a bad player, which is simply not the case.
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Post Post #3586 (ISO) » Sat Mar 07, 2020 7:01 pm

Post by chamber »

I think the bigger issues with Catan are about how the robber works and how there is no variety in strategy. Randomness is third. I'll never play the game again after doubling up on a 10 in my opening placement and a 10 never being rolled for the whole game.
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Post Post #3587 (ISO) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 5:28 am

Post by PJ. »

I dont understand why anyone would play Catan when Colosseum exists.
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Post Post #3588 (ISO) » 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 #3589 (ISO) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:59 am

Post by implosion »

Assuming you have table space, 11 can be two 4-player games and a 3-player game. Like two games of catan and something else for the people who want to play something else (or would be willing to play something else, if you're the only one who's getting tired of it).

You could bring out something more medium-weight, maybe something that's alluring (just, that looks nice) to those newbies who might want to try more things, if you want to try to convert them to the dark side. Something like Everdell (which, by the way, I need to write some kind of large post praising, this game is REALLY good). Or Wingspan. Or even something that isn't even heavier like Azul, or 7 wonders (which notably plays well up to 7 players), or something. But if there are other people who want to play heavier games you could try to suss out exactly who those people are and bring something to teach.
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Post Post #3590 (ISO) » Sun Mar 08, 2020 9:22 am

Post by vonflare »

7 wonders is a better intro to the hobby of tabletop games than catan imo. Other intro games I recommend are Dominion, Lords of Waterdeep, and Boss Monster.
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Post Post #3591 (ISO) » 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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Post Post #3592 (ISO) » Wed Mar 11, 2020 5:22 pm

Post by bugspray »

Azull, Betrayal at whichever version you bought, and Castles are pretty fun

i hate when boardgames end up being "perfect information" (or close to that with maybe like a deck of cards that is used to fill a pool of things the players can all interact with) but everyone has their own little board and each personal board has almost too much info for a single player to understand. usually i'll play these kind of worker placements once and end up with 2nd most points by the end by doing weird stuff that i think will give me more victory points than it intutiviely should. honestly worker placement games that have too much shit going on (Architects, Dino Island) are just not fun for me.
the main exception to "ugh another worker placement game where each player gets a side board" for me is Pie Town but only because you can glance at another player's board and understand very quickly the gamestate
also azull gives each player their own board but the personal boards have that glance value going on and also i love how the drafting works in that game
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Post Post #3593 (ISO) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 5:43 am

Post by PJ. »

7 wonders is pretty great, intro or otherwise.

Mysterium is a fun party game.

Potion Explosion is probably an under talked about and underutilized light weigh/ intro game. It's perfect for people who like video games, especially something like puyo puyo or bubble bobble.
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Post Post #3594 (ISO) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 5:50 am

Post by PJ. »

I'd try to get lords of waterdeep or one of it's knock offs to the table too. Maybe the DnD branding might help.

Also, again, colosseum is just better Catan and I don't understand why anyone has played Catan since 2007.
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Post Post #3595 (ISO) » 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 #3596 (ISO) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:49 am

Post by implosion »

In post 3590, vonflare wrote:7 wonders is a better intro to the hobby of tabletop games than catan imo.
i'd guess that a very solid majority of people in the hobby who have played both would agree with this statement. It makes you despise your friends less, has less frustrating randomness and mechanics in general, and is just generally smooth because of simultaneous play. Only real downside I can think of in terms of introduction to the hobby is having to deal with iconography but it's not too bad.
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Post Post #3597 (ISO) » Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:51 am

Post by popsofctown »

7 Wonders doesn't look like farmland monopoly and people want monopoly. That's why it's always Catan.
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Post Post #3598 (ISO) » Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:25 am

Post by chamber »

I think a big issue with 7 wonders as an intro game is the amount of hidden information. Makes it hard for new players to ask questions.
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Post Post #3599 (ISO) » 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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