Board Games!

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I don't get how co-op games are enjoyable

A LOT Of co-op games suffer from "everyone do what that ONE GUY says and we all win, no making your own decisions because they might not be the most efficient, wow we won that was easy, YAY!" syndrome.
Pandemic is a huge offender, and IMO is one of the worst co op games out there.

When we're selling or reviewing games, we call that 'quarterbacking.' It's a serious flaw in many team and co-op games. I've heard that one of the Pandemic expansions adds an eco-terrorist that plays against the group win condition. That should help fix the problem.

Red November also has a mechanic that combats quarterbacking. At some point, one player can decide to screw the team and attempt to win alone.

Has anybody played Ghost Stories? We've played like 15 times and never won.

How about Level99's Minigames Library? I've played all six games with both the kids' group (9-17) and the adult group (acts like they're 9-17). Some of the rules are a little complicated and the player numbers are very specific and awkward, but they're almost universally well received.

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OhMyGod fuck letters. That game exists to make me want to murder my brother. Also I think there's a breaking strategy. And the setup app is almost necessary.

The kids are playing Infinity Dungeon in the back of the store right now, and the youngest just ran up to tell me "Keith died because he tried to rescue me in a helicopter but it ran out of fuel and he hit a brick wall and it exploded because it was full of dynamite but I escaped and now he's a postman." No breaths, it was adorable.

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Yes.

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Aww I've heard awesome things about space cadets. I'm trying to con somebody else into buying it so I can try it out.

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Trains is a genre. I have a 'train games' shelf in the store.

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Acceptable. Ticket to ride is on my "Tabletop" shelf anyway.

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We got shorted on our Caverna order. Looks like they didn't print enough.

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Thesp have you played TI, Fortune and Glory, or Talisman?

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New Talisman is a throwback to the original, but much more balanced. Last time we played with all of the available expansions the game took ~10 hours.

Fortune and Glory is spectacularly cool. You can play coop or competetive, simple or complex, and you can choose between like five archvillains. Just don't bother with the soundtrack.

TI gets way more balanced with the second expansion. And you should check out TI:Rex for a standalone conquest game. I hear the rules are very similar to the old Dune boardgame.

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I haven't. I used to play the miniatures game and I wasn't super excited about a flavor reboot. One of my game buddies has a copy and I'll probly check it out at some point when we get back to adventure games. We're on a limited information kick right now, which obviously pleases me.

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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.

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Because Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day are famous. DUH FLAY.

Yeah yeah, I'm sure I'm not a Real Geek^TM because I've never seen FD in

anything

.

I hate both of them. But, they make me money. It's a conundrum.

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And it's made by the devil. Although knowing that the cards are made from the pulped flesh of the damned makes the price point a bit more palatable.

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None of them. Don't get any of them. Munchkin is a shitty, shitty game.

truth _{though i sell shitloads of it.}

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I hated avalon due to the whole merlin thing, found it super unfun.

Yeah the roles seemed to be balanced primarily around cancelling each other out, so it adds a ton of time-consuming complexity for no gain. Plus IIRC a couple seemed very abusable. One of my game guys told me I was being too picky and that "not everybody's gonna try breaking the game," but I maintain that

someone

will, and in that game it'll ruin it for everybody.

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Suburbia is awaiting restock from the manufacturer jsyk. Doesn't mean your store won't have a copy, but it might take a while to order if it's out.

Anybody played the Shadows over Camelot card game?

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Reck, Wizkids was supposed to get a shipment like a week ago. Assuming it wasn't held up in customs, starters should be back on the shelves within a month. Boosters might not be until August sometime.

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We all do.

Between the Marvel dice screwup, the War of Light chase dickery, and the CIYS hucksterism, somebody at Wizkids has gotta be chasing the horse.

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Shadows Over Camelot is good if you're not playing with kids.

Disagree. We had a game with two 13 year olds who don't play boardgames that was hilariously fun. Maybe it's kid-dependent?

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IME, which is extensive, they love it. One of our best one night/ resistance players is 9.

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jingle says he might just be a sociopath though.

most of the kids love the traitor games, usually more than the adults do.

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Chev SO's tend to hate traitor games just about as often as kids like them.

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Did you get it through a store? We still haven't seen the restock.

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I hate you all; I'll be working.

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We played BraveRats for three hours at a bar the other night. Super simple, easy to learn, bluffing game. Lots of WIFOM.

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Tsuro!

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See, I don't consider Tsuro a "microgame" because it's like $40. I've played it, I love it, but I don't "full price board game" love it.

???
$26 plus tax on my shelf. You're getting robbed.

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BRAVE RATS

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Love Letter, Poo, and Great Dalmuti. Also Citadels.

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I would 100% go to GenCon if I could get the time off. A friend of mine is up for like 5 Ennies and he offered me a free ride and company hotel room, but he doesn't fly so it's 2 weeks with drive time.

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Savage Worlds is, of course, the best universal rpg system. And that is in no way a paid endorsement.

Also the new Firefly book just came out, and Dark Heresy got a new core book.

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I'm not normally one to bitch about the math too hard, but Savage Worlds has one of the least intuitive systems ever for GMs. There is no fucking way that gaining more skill should make a task HARDER to complete, but Savage Worlds.

I disagree that this is true in any meaningful sense. And it probably wouldn't affect my enjoyment of the system if it were. But of course, YMMV.

Eclipse is pretty great too.

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Reck, GreyIce is referring to the fact that with the SW dice system there is a slight (read around 2%) advantage to rolling a smaller die type when looking for a specific number. For example, if your target number is a 6, rolling a d4 gives you a tiny advantage over rolling a d6. If the target number is an 8 you want a d6 and so on. Of course, that only matters for that specific number, and rolling a 6 is easier on a d8 than on a d4. Plus it ignores any ability bonuses and prerequisites for weapons or abilities.

He also thinks that leveling feels meaningless, but afaict he's looking at upping ability scores, where you should generally be upping attributes or taking new edges. That'll give you a much higher impact on regular gameplay.

Flay's issue is one I've encountered much more frequently in d20 than in SW, honestly. I dunno if it's a playstyle thing or what, it's just not something I've encountered.

FATE is another good simple system, although I personally hate it for irrational reasons.

If you're looking for a premade campaign, I would suggest the Deadlands Noir adventures for SW. If you want to play something a little closer to DnD, Pathfinder does an excellent job with their adventure paths.

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I'm getting ready to run another game in person - which would your recommend between Cyberpunk or Shadowrun 5/e? I could also just say screw it and run a Numenera campaign instead.

On an unrelated note, anyone going to PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend and want to meet up for a board game or two?

Numenera is very visually appealing to me.

I'm a sucker for the Shadowrun setting but DICE POOLS.

I haven't played Cyberpunk in long enough that I don't remember the system.

All my gays are going to PAX, but I don't get to. You might be able to find them: look for a medium herd of mostly overweight man children in either obscure costumes or internet t-shirts. There will be a lot of inappropriate laughter and in-jokes, as well as disproportionate excitement over dumb things.

They love board games.

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Maybe. I do have more free time now.

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look for a medium herd of mostly overweight man children in either obscure costumes or internet t-shirts. There will be a lot of inappropriate laughter and in-jokes, as well as disproportionate excitement over dumb things.

uh did you literally just describe 90% of a convention population

yes that was the joke.

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Thursday nights

What time?

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Ghost stories, hanabi, red november, shadows over camelot, forbidden island, Dead Panic, castle panic, myth, fortune and glory, elder sign, descent, any of the D&D games.

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imo Dead of Winter is pretty great. But I think the most fun Co-Op game I've played is Myth.

I love myth but nobody will play it with me!

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Oh man there were a bunch of minis from that I wanted to paint.

Dammit.