Board Games!

[Brandi]

Question: if I don't own and have never played Agricola, should I just go straight for Caverna? Because people basically seem to say "Caverna is good but it's just more Agricola", but if I don't own and haven't played either, which should I go for?

It basically puts this thing in a question of {Agricola v Caverna} or Archipelago or Suburbia or Tzolk'in+Expansion.

We just found about $60 in Amazon giftcards so if we did pick up Tzolk'in we'd want to grab the expansion as well.

I don't own Caverna because I can't find it anywhere but I think the general consensus with most who own it (That I've heard from reviewers and such) is that it's better than Agricola.
However if you can actually acquire it then you should go for it because it's in really high demand and I've never heard anything bad said about it.

[Thesp]

I'm also a huge fan of Suburbia. I appreciate that it plays quite differently with any number of players, but is a fantastic game with any of 2, 3, or 4.

On Agricola vs. Caverna, I

think

I like Caverna slightly more, but I think Agricola is a more diverse game over the long haul, simply because of the variety of occupations and minor improvements that aren't present in Caverna. In Caverna, the round cards might have a slightly different order to them, but that's it. In Agricola, you have this as well, plus the variety of Occupations/Minor Improvements. I own Agricola and see no need to own Caverna as well. If I didn't have either, I'd probably pick up Agricola, but would be happy with either.

[BipolarChemist]

Picked up a fairly quick, easy game today! Tsuro of the Seas! Played it before, super fun and simple, but we get super into it and yelly and all that.

Can't wait to break this out tomorrow.

[GreyICE]

Suburbia does sound very interesting, but I've heard that there is a lot of bookkeeping since so many of the tiles can work together and continue to do so throughout turns and thus I'm hesitant about trying it.

It all works so well together that there's minimal bookkeeping. Basically it all just WORKS.

I dunno how else to describe it. Genius.

[Chevre]

I love the concept of Tsuro but I don't think it is worth the price.

[Axxle]

Reck, why haven't you gotten cosmic encounter yet ffs?

[BipolarChemist]

I love the concept of Tsuro but I don't think it is worth the price.

Picked it up for 20 bucks. Definitely worth it!

[quadz08]

Tsuro of the Seas is also slightly more complex than the original Tsuro. Probably more worth a standard board game price tag?

[xRECKONERx]

Picked up a fairly quick, easy game today! Tsuro of the Seas! Played it before, super fun and simple, but we get super into it and yelly and all that.

Can't wait to break this out tomorrow.

Tsuro was such a fun little diversion. I felt really peaceful playing that game, even if it was basically just mindless.

Tsuro of the Seas is the same concept as the original, only with more added randomness. It's prettier, too.

Reck, why haven't you gotten cosmic encounter yet ffs?

I know, I know. I should probably just nut up and buy it. But... I feel like it'd get old with the high randomness of the game. Maybe not, who knows? It does seem pretty perfect for our game group, I'm just not sure it's worth the price tag of $60.

[Thesp]

Reck, why haven't you gotten cosmic encounter yet ffs?

I know, I know. I should probably just nut up and buy it. But... I feel like it'd get old with the high randomness of the game. Maybe not, who knows? It does seem pretty perfect for our game group, I'm just not sure it's worth the price tag of $60.

I would definitely try before you buy on that one. It can be a lot of fun, but it requires the right group and mindset, and it can also fall very flat with the wrong people. (And it's not everyone's cup of tea.)

[Chevre]

That's definitely a good discussion topic: games you need to try with your group before you buy.

Mine is, of course, Stone Age. Loved it when I played it online myself, but my friends could not grasp the complexity of it and I think they are just generally ambivalent about worker placements on the whole (we did play Kingsburg with some success but it definitely wasn't BAHOTH-style "this game is amazing" or even Guillotine-level "that was fun.").

[sthar8]

Tried to teach The Stars Are Right to my group when they were drunk. We won't be revisiting that one, even though I like it.

[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.

[Brandi]

In my experience, Cosmic Encounter is incredibly boring and unfun with more than 2 people. Every single game I've ever played has ended in multiple people hugging and sharing victory.
Oh, I was one of those people hugging to victory, but I mean, why try to be the single person out on top when you can win more easily by making sure everyone is on your side?
Butttt the game as a concept is not bad and I love the diversity of aliens.

[Mr. Flay]

Yeah, the concept is great but really it's a race to somebody's loss, not your win. I agree with zor that it's likely better with friends (we've never played with more than one acquaintance in the mix).

Tsuro is a lovely $15 game. It just usually is marked at $30 or more.

[Axxle]

I agree that Cosmic is very dependent on the playstyles of the people playing. If you have a good group that likes backstabbing and think solo wins are a lot more valuable than shared wins it's a beautiful game. If you have people who don't care if they share a win or not then it gets sorta dull especially if you have couples or other people who agree to team up no matter what.

[Uite]

Tsuro is absolutely lovely. Tsuro of the Seas is definitely nice as well, but I feel like the additional mechanics detract from the sheer elegance of the original.

[quadz08]

Forbidden Island is currently $15 on amazon

[xRECKONERx]

is it any better than Pandemic for people who hate co op games

[Axxle]

Forbidden Island is like Pandemic lite (by the same people IIRC). It's a bit easier to trust people to make their own decisions in FI than Pandemic though so you *can* play it in a way that's not totally feel like multiplayer solitaire. It's not exactly fun in that case, just something you can bear through for the enjoyment of the players who do like co-op games before you play the heavier game. At least that's my experience with the game.

[quadz08]

is it any better than Pandemic for people who hate co op games

I'm going to say 'probably not'

[Faraday]

definitely not

speaking of picked up the on the brink expansion for pandemic, it's pretty fun. (definitely adds a lot of diversity, not sure abt the bioterrorist though 0- haven't tried that yet, but the virulent strain/5th disease/new roles/new events are all add a lot. but yeah if you hate pandemic you'll prob hate FI. Forbidden desert might be a better version of FI anyway, it has a bit more going for it imo.

also got citadels which is fun.


I was meh cosmic the first time, but loved it at the reckoning, mostly due to axxles last minute HEY GUESS WHAT I WIN TOO card. it's random, but the potential to backstab and doublecross is awesome. (also 2 people winning in an 8ish player game doesn't seem a problem as long as they';re willing to also solo win). 5/6 seems a sweet spot or if not turns might take too long to come atround, but at least you've stuff to do on other peoples turns.

[Faraday]

one of the things I didn't like about Agricola was that I needed something of everything or i'd lose victory points, doesn't caverna fix that? (or it's not a rule). ive only played Agricola once though, thought it was "okay". probably needed a few repeat plays.

tsuro is amazing, tsuro of the seas seem to add stuff that isn't necessary imo but it still looks fun, just think the simplicity of the original might be better /speculation

[Thesp]

one of the things I didn't like about Agricola was that I needed something of everything or i'd lose victory points, doesn't caverna fix that? (or it's not a rule). ive only played Agricola once though, thought it was "okay". probably needed a few repeat plays.

There are a few things in Caverna you must have or you'll lose one or two victory points (each type of animal, and unusued spaces cost you), but it's easier to get, and the penalty is significantly less relative to final scores. (In Agricola, winning scores are one-third to half the scores of Caverna.)

[inHimshallibe]

I don't see how that's a negative for Agricola. I guess it leads to bullying/blocking, but just save a VP improvement or something to pick up with Starting Player if you

need

to take an action.