Board Games!

[xRECKONERx]

No it probably means you dislike this type of game. >_>

If you find this inaccessible or too complex, it's probably the simplest one as far as getting information goes. Game of Thrones is like this one on steroids with the complexity, and there's way more information to take in... the only thing you'd have to know in this one is what each power tile does and I think that'd come with time (especially since you can generally know "creatures give buffs, there's a Hand of God tile in each color, there's a VP tile in each color" etc). Smallworld is probably the closest thing to being "kind of sort of like Kemet but not really" that I think you enjoy.

The one thing I disliked about Kemet was that it felt like nothing really mattered... I couldn't see the advantage in long-term holdings or trying to plan elaborate troop movements, and upon reflection that's because it's not a war game/troop movement game. The map/board placement is there for window dressing, but this is essentially a resource management game with a combat minigame mixed in, and that's not a bad thing, it's just not what I was expecting on first glance.

[xRECKONERx]

tldr: With Kemet, I was expecting Game of Thrones with Egyptian Gods, and what I got was something closer to Terra Mystica, where board control is incidental to your engine building/economic strategy.

[quadz08]

Fair enough, you'd know better than me.

I think dislike might have been a strong word; 'ambivalent' might be better. It's not my first choice, but if the other 4 people I was hanging out with really wanted to play, I wouldn't turn it down, I guess. Similar to Seven Wonders in that way for me.

[xRECKONERx]

Man you like weird games. Nobody dislikes 7 Wonders!

[chamber]

My whole group dislikes 7 wonders now more or less. Game play got very boring very fast.

[Sudo_Nym]

I really like 7 Wonders, but I've only played it 3-4 times, so maybe the repetitiveness hasn't gotten to me?

[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.

[Chevre]

How true is it that everyone likes seven wonders? I've been considering it forever but I have yet to bite the bullet and just buy it. My group likes Settlers, TtR and Tobago, and Kingsburg also got a rating of "OK."

[Sudo_Nym]

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.

[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.

[Sudo_Nym]

Well, somebody who likes Settlers and TtR is probably just into games, and 7 Wonders is a well-designed one; they're likely to like it on that grounds, even if the games are not mechanically similar.

[hitogoroshi]

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

Also worth noting that the most important part of the expansion (solider tokens) is easy enough to hack together on your own. Not that I'm saying the expansion isn't worth it - it definitely is - but if you happen to only have Kingsburg base you can still have a fine time playing it by using playing cards as solider tokens.

[xRECKONERx]

Kingsburg still sees play every once in awhile, even two years after I bought it.

Played another round of Kemet last night, went for a different strategy this time... and everyone in this game was WAY more willing to start assaulting people right out of the gate, which made the whole game very intense. I also like combat in this game, because it's not like you think this person is a dick for attacking you... it's just like, "Oh, nice play!" and you move on.

[Thesp]

Big fan of both Kingsburg and 7 Wonders here. Expansions also great.

Also, the more I play Concordia, the more I love it.

[Gammagooey]

Is anyone on the east coast going to GenCon? It seems like a pretty awesome thing to go to but I really don't want to do a solo 10 hour drive there and back.

[Anatole Kuragin]

I'd suggest Twilight Strategy for Twilight Struggle. It's a blog that has been condensed into one PDF and covers all relevant topics in the game.

https://leanpub.com/twilightstrategy

edit: nevermind i was apparently on page 1 and responded to a question from 2012

[xRECKONERx]

I would 100% go to GenCon if we weren't moving

[sthar8]

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.

[Chevre]

Welp, after a long purchase-less summer, I finally committed and bought 7 Wonders, Lifeboats, and Primordial Soup. All three were in my top ten wishlist for the holidays, so I think now I only have Kingsburg, Bazaar, Dragon's Gold, and Pluckin' Pairs left from that, lol.

[Elmo TeH AzN]

Picked up Zombicide to play with me and the lady

[penguin_alien]

How true is it that everyone likes seven wonders? I've been considering it forever but I have yet to bite the bullet and just buy it. My group likes Settlers, TtR and Tobago, and Kingsburg also got a rating of "OK."

I'll play it if other people bring it out, but I'll almost never propose it myself. Not sure why; I think it's an elegant game with nice variety. Maybe the lack of investment in what all the other players are doing? I know one has to watch what cards are being played to know what's still likely available/feasible, but there's not the same investment in using one's turn to counter moves from the opposition. It's more a matter of damage control.

Played Small World for the first time a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it far more than I anticipated. Damage Report has been a lot of fun too, although my short-term attention span has issues with the sand timers.

Really looking forward to the release of The King's Armory; I went with the Kickstarter campaign, and everything I've seen looks like a nice upgrade from things like Castle Panic.

[Chevre]

I forgot to say that 7 Wonders actually went over really well. Of course the initial hurdle is all the symbolization but once that's learned it's a great game.

I also got to play Lifeboats with a full compliment of six, and I guess small-town midwesterners are just too nice for deceptive strategy games of alliance and such? It was neat but it didn't really go over well because no one was willing to get mean.

What are people's opinions on Smash Up and it's expansions?

[GreyICE]

Played some Pixel Tactics today. Good game, a little rough around the edges, but made me want my Argent and War kickstarters even harder.

In other news, Mage Knight hit the table again. Remains a brain burner, in a good way.

[Anatole Kuragin]

This may not count as a board game, but does anyone have recommendations for a sci-fi pen and paper RPG system? Looking for something more hard scifi with out too much goofy stuff like changing bodies. Traveller and Diaspora seem like the frontrunners.