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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)

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Phthisis

Member
Just picked up Fluxx and Lost Cities today. Can't wait to open them up after the kids go to bed. Have Seven Dragons, Zombie Dice and Forbidden Island in the mail as we speak.

Surely this will liven up game night a bit for the next few months. Been playing Harry Potter TCG, BaKong and and Fireball Island way too much lately.

I am Excite!

Let me know how Seven Dragons is. I like the art.
 

TwiztidElf

Member
Ticket to Ride is one of the only games in my collection I can get non gamers to play.
Carc is always my go to game with mental midgets. Just match a side! Then put a guy on it if you want! Fields are too hard? Ok, we'll turn them off, they are super-complex after all.....
Ah, you can't put that piece in that corner! You have to match both sides...ffs!
 
I like to start off with a short version of the story of the game to set the mood; I'll often embellish it as well. I feel like I can wrangle in all the individual minds and once I have everyone's full attention, I finish and move onto the objective and rules.

Just like when I teach The Resistance, I always start off with my spiel about it's a dystopian future and we're overthrowing the oppressive govt, we're real close but there's spies among us, etc.

Shit, I don't go that far with the resistance. I've brought it out with non-gamers and if I told them that we would never play. With them I dumb it down like crazy.

"There are two teams a red team and a blue team. The first to three points wins." yadda yadda.

I might put a little more effort in the story with gamers but ultimately there really isn't a need to do so. The game is pretty abstracted and there is no real feel that you are actually going on missions.

With other games I will put a little more story to it, and with really thematic games I'll put more effort into setting the mood.
 

Hero

Member
I like to start off with a short version of the story of the game to set the mood; I'll often embellish it as well. I feel like I can wrangle in all the individual minds and once I have everyone's full attention, I finish and move onto the objective and rules.

Just like when I teach The Resistance, I always start off with my spiel about it's a dystopian future and we're overthrowing the oppressive govt, we're real close but there's spies among us, etc.

Yeah setting the mood is fun and can definitely add to the atmosphere. There are certain people we know that just into game mechanics and rules without explaining what the objective or goal is and it makes it hard to follow I think.

Shit, I don't go that far with the resistance. I've brought it out with non-gamers and if I told them that we would never play. With them I dumb it down like crazy.

"There are two teams a red team and a blue team. The first to three points wins." yadda yadda.

I might put a little more effort in the story with gamers but ultimately there really isn't a need to do so. The game is pretty abstracted and there is no real feel that you are actually going on missions.

With other games I will put a little more story to it, and with really thematic games I'll put more effort into setting the mood.

Haha, red versus blue always and forever.
 

besada

Banned
Man, I am getting my ass kicked repeatedly by Astrolad at A Few Acres of Snowon Yuacata. I can't tell if he's really good or I just really suck. Granted, this is my second game, but I don't think I'm even making him sweat:)
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Man, I am getting my ass kicked repeatedly by Astrolad at A Few Acres of Snowon Yuacata. I can't tell if he's really good or I just really suck. Granted, this is my second game, but I don't think I'm even making him sweat:)

Nah it's definitely the experience disadvantage. Once you play five games or so though it's pretty even. Same with Campaign Manager 08 actually.
 
Man, I am getting my ass kicked repeatedly by Astrolad at A Few Acres of Snowon Yuacata. I can't tell if he's really good or I just really suck. Granted, this is my second game, but I don't think I'm even making him sweat:)

Invite me to a game, I keep losing that one too, to both Astro and superrobot. They even got me demoted :(
 

Neverfade

Member
Good news: Started a new boardgame group at my place tonight,

Bad news: We spent the whole time playing lighter fare to get the newer folks acquainted with games. So no Nexus Ops, Wiz War, or Dungeon Pets. Oh well, next week!
 

Xater

Member
Ok so I played my first 2 games of Power Grid and I really like it. The rules are quite simple but the game still has lots of depth. I like that. Makes it easy to teach and I still get my deeper gaming experience.

The Stone Age expansion is also quite nice. It just as one simple new mechanic with the trading but it changes the dynamic quite a bit. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys this game.
 
I played Space Empires:4x last night. Good game but for the first hour I had no fucking clue what I was doing. By the time I got a handle on the game it was too late and we lost. It's a pretty neat game you star off with a basic home world and tech and slowly through out the game you can purchase upgrades to your ships and colonize new planets which will get you more cash to buy even more stuff.
 

Cathcart

Member
<3 Power Grid.
One of the only big name board games I don't have on the iPad is on sale at the moment (only a dollar off, but still). Any yays or nays for Tigris & Euphrates? I've loved pretty much every board game I've picked up so far, but the screens on this one aren't really grabbing me.
Not sure if you already bought it yet but I'd recommend it. I think it looks pretty good and it's a solid implementation of a pretty complex game. It also includes a pretty thorough tutorial, which was nice because I hadn't actually played it before and the AI is a good challenge for a beginner. I've bought and played the board game since the iOS app came out but since I'm not sure how often I'll get to play it with my group I'm glad I've got both versions.
 
I wouldn't mind playing a game of A Few Acres of Snow. I own the game, but haven't played it yet, but I've read the rules. Name on Yucata is flashburn.
 
Guys, Smallworld is really great.

Except for Merchant Elves, which are fucking broken as shit

Smallworld always runs into a few overpowered combos from time to time. Just part of the nature of the game, luckily the randomization keeps the same combos from coming up too often. I love it for the strict turn limit so that you can always know approximately how close to the end of the game you are.
 
Can anyone here comment on Alien Frontiers? This game was on my radar, off when they said B&M stores only for 3rd print, and back on my radar now.
 
Can anyone here comment on Alien Frontiers? This game was on my radar, off when they said B&M stores only for 3rd print, and back on my radar now.
It's an awesome game. It's a worker placement game where depending on what you roll it will dictate where you can go. You can modify the dice roll through alien techs and benefits from territories. The game can go a little long with people who are prone to AP but if not, you can knock out a 4 player game in 90 minutes or so.

Speaking of Alien Frontiers, I got invited to the private beta of Alien Frontiers online. I haven't tried it yet because you need to invite people to the game. Problem is I don't know anybody else who got an invite. Did anyone of you guys get one? I got mine through kickstarting the Alien Frontiers expansion.
 
^sweet deal, thanks for the tip. this will probably find it's way into my home real soon.

enablers, all of you!!! :)
It's funny cuz I just got a new bookshelf for my games and it's already full

Instead of hoping to find good prices on games at PAX East, I think I'm going to place an online order beforehand and just bring all those new games with me. I always find myself comparing vendor prices against Amazon or CSI so I might as well just save myself the trouble
 
It's an awesome game. It's a worker placement game where depending on what you roll it will dictate where you can go. You can modify the dice roll through alien techs and benefits from territories. The game can go a little long with people who are prone to AP but if not, you can knock out a 4 player game in 90 minutes or so.

Speaking of Alien Frontiers, I got invited to the private beta of Alien Frontiers online. I haven't tried it yet because you need to invite people to the game. Problem is I don't know anybody else who got an invite. Did anyone of you guys get one? I got mine through kickstarting the Alien Frontiers expansion.

I got an invitation the same way but I haven't even bothered logging on the site. Anyone else got one? AF as a 2P game is not that good IMHO,
 
This thread always makes me sad I don't have people to play board games with.

Everybody has said this at least once in this thread. The solution, turn friends into gamers. Everybody has played a boardgame at least once in their life. People are only hesitant because the games they played when they were younger always lasted forever and got boring. Some of the gateway games can last 90 minutes max and are super simple to teach and play.

Take a look at Ticket to Ride, for instance, really easy game to play that has a theme that won't scare people away. It can even be found in Target so it's readily available.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Everybody has said this at least once in this thread. The solution, turn friends into gamers. Everybody has played a boardgame at least once in their life. People are only hesitant because the games they played when they were younger always lasted forever and got boring. Some of the gateway games can last 90 minutes max and are super simple to teach and play.

Take a look at Ticket to Ride, for instance, really easy game to play that has a theme that won't scare people away. It can even be found in Target so it's readily available.

Yeah this is a great way to go. Even co-workers if you can pull of a game night or even game lunch once a week.

Worst case there is BGG where you can find people which seems to be quite good actually just based on the experiences I've seen.
 
Everybody has said this at least once in this thread. The solution, turn friends into gamers. Everybody has played a boardgame at least once in their life. People are only hesitant because the games they played when they were younger always lasted forever and got boring. Some of the gateway games can last 90 minutes max and are super simple to teach and play.

Take a look at Ticket to Ride, for instance, really easy game to play that has a theme that won't scare people away. It can even be found in Target so it's readily available.

Ya, and I'm sure some would like it if they gave it a shot but so many people just don't even want to try. :(
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
imo you usually have to take the initiative. even just having a few people over who seem open to it for dinner & games (gateway games mind you). this is easier if you can do couples b/c couples gaming is such an obvious (and fun) thing

but yeah bring board games to some big gathering where no one knows anything about them that's dicier.
 

Mashing

Member
It's an awesome game. It's a worker placement game where depending on what you roll it will dictate where you can go. You can modify the dice roll through alien techs and benefits from territories. The game can go a little long with people who are prone to AP but if not, you can knock out a 4 player game in 90 minutes or so.

I own this game, but apparently I lost my copy. A shame, I liked the game and I had it preordered for what seemed like ages. I don't see myself buying it again though.
 

Kwixotik

Member
I played my first board game since I was a kid last night. My friend from high school invited me to his house for a "get together". He didn't say what we were doing, but I got there at 4 and there were 6 people total setting up Arkham Horror. So we played it and I was bored for two hours until I picked up the rules and got really into it. It was awesome. We finally ended, and actually won even though 3 of us had never played before, at around 10 or 11.

Then we played drunken Munchkin (Cthulhu version, of course) and Settlers of Catan, my second board game since I was a kid. It was fun, but I got my ass kicked because I'd never played before and didn't really have a strategy. Anyway, it was a good time. I may have picked up a new hobby.
 
Hey guys. My friend bought Settlers of Catan and we played it a couple of times with some people; had a blast. We're interested in grabbing an expansion, any recommendations on which one?
 

Jeddumars

Neo Member
Hey Guys another board gamer here.

I've pretty satisfied with the collection of games I have with me right now. I just want to add one dice game, and one more party game.

For the dice game I'm thinking either Quarriors or Kings of Tokyo.

As for the party game either Resistance or Telestrations. *I already have dixit, timesup, and wits and wagers.
 
Hey Guys another board gamer here.

I've pretty satisfied with the collection of games I have with me right now. I just want to add one dice game, and one more party game.

For the dice game I'm thinking either Quarriors or Kings of Tokyo.

As for the party game either Resistance or Telestrations. *I already have dixit, timesup, and wits and wagers.

omg Telestrations is amazing. There's an 8 player version and Barnes and Nobles has an exclusive 12 player version. People have told me that their faces hurt from laughing so much after playing this game. Like most people, we have thrown scoring out the window and just play it as an activity now. This is kind of surprising because of my group but this game is so silly you can't really "win" at it.

Resistance is fun but I think Ultimate Werewolf has replaced it in my group. How many players do you usually have? Resistance is probably best with I guess 8 and under? Werewolf is best with a TON of players. Resistance can be had at like $15 so if you've got the money, why not

KoT is great, it hits the table every game night because it is so fun and easy. I have not played Quarriors but it got rather lukewarm reviews and opinions here on GAF; in fact if you go back like 4-5 pages you'll see.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Man, some of you guys got saddled with sucky girlfriends. My wife is always down for learning a new game and can usually pick it up on the first read through. At times I might have to do the point calculations or run the upkeep portion for her but as far as tactics goes, she can figure it out quickly.

But since she has never read the instructions to any game, she can't TEACH a game to save her life! Something about reading instructions gives you the sense of order and flow, if you just learn every game from experience you miss out on that.

I played Quarriors for the first time a few days back. I like it so far, though like many card driven games there are lots of questions about the order of events or how things should work. I think I have a decent grasp on it, will introduce it to my casual gaming group next week. Also go the Red Dragon Inn game, for the same casual group. I still think King of Tokyo is one of the best casual games out there, fast enough to just teach as you play, simple enough for even the densest clod to understand, and thematic enough for the lightbulb to flicker on in even the most unimaginative player. I play too aggressive though, I'm almost always knocked out early.

If you don't have much of a game group, check out the solitaire games. Most of the co-ops can be played alone, as can most open info wargames (and even lots of simpler ones like C&C) and there are plenty of solitaire only games, check out VPG and DVG. Of course in the internet age there isn't much reason for playing alone, but I have a hard time wanting to play boardgames electronically, not sure why.
 

GTI Guy

Member
Hey Guys another board gamer here.

I've pretty satisfied with the collection of games I have with me right now. I just want to add one dice game, and one more party game.

For the dice game I'm thinking either Quarriors or Kings of Tokyo.

As for the party game either Resistance or Telestrations. *I already have dixit, timesup, and wits and wagers.

Hey if you can find Kings of Tokyo for a good price please PM me. :)

It seems to be out of stock everywhere I've looked. :(
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Hey guys. My friend bought Settlers of Catan and we played it a couple of times with some people; had a blast. We're interested in grabbing an expansion, any recommendations on which one?

Heyo new Catan gamers!

In terms of expansions, Cities & Knights is the preferred one among serious Cataners, though it does add a decent amount of complexity. There's also Rivals of Catan which is a neat little 2P version that's actually a fair bit different from the base game. And Star Trek Catan is coming out if you are a Trek fan. Also Mega Man Catan but that never came out in the states. :p
 
Hey guys. My friend bought Settlers of Catan and we played it a couple of times with some people; had a blast. We're interested in grabbing an expansion, any recommendations on which one?

I've just bought Seafarers as my first expansion. It doesn't really add much more complexity, and it really ups the variation of the board with multiple scenarios and it rewards people for spreading out and exploring rather than sticking to incredibly competitive resource-rich tiles. I'd definitely say it's a great first expansion.
 

Jeddumars

Neo Member
Thanks guys, Telestrations it is then. Hopefully the single copy I tracked down is still there.
Also decided on KoT. Although that one won't arrived till a month or so it seems.

As for gaming groups, I rarely have that problem here. We usually have a meet up every Tuesdays and Saturdays usually were about 5-10 people. We all bring different games though so often we bust out the party game as the last game of the day.

We even have open house type events monthly. Where we invite people to try to play a game or two.

I'm really going to miss my gaming group though as I'll be moving out of the country soon. Luckily though it seems Aussie has a healthy board gamer group.

I just played a game of Power Grid first sparks for two players. Game was great. Alot faster than Power Grid and pretty balanced. Well pretty balanced except for the Intelligence technology :p. That kind of ruined late game for us. For people who've played it, does the intelligence tech also allow you to control the placement of the third player even when your ahead?

*Edit* For some reason I also call Power Grid Power Plant.
 

Fewr

Member
Mystery of the Abbey vs. Mystery Express

I'm leaning towards Abbey because it looks much simpler. I mostly play with family and workmates, and they all prefer easy games.
 

Kwixotik

Member
Man, some of you guys got saddled with sucky girlfriends. My wife is always down for learning a new game and can usually pick it up on the first read through. At times I might have to do the point calculations or run the upkeep portion for her but as far as tactics goes, she can figure it out quickly.

But since she has never read the instructions to any game, she can't TEACH a game to save her life! Something about reading instructions gives you the sense of order and flow, if you just learn every game from experience you miss out on that.

Haha, I was thinking the same thing looking at the OP. My girlfriend plays a lot of fantasy/sci-fi RPGs (video games, never tabletop) so I told her next time I go to play Arkham Horror she has to come with me. I told her the basic plot of the game and she was like "That's... weird. But I'm excited to get to play games with you!"

She tried to get into a D&D group a couple years ago, but they weren't okay with a woman joining for some reason. I don't really know why. She's definitely not a grrl gamer or anything of that sort.

Anyway, can you guys think of good games for couples (2 players) that are fantasy or sci-fi based? Medium difficulty preferred.
 

Neverfade

Member
So the designer of BSG Express is one of my good friends. I just got off the phone with him. In addition to some awesome news I can't reveal yet, he also got invited to the Gathering of Friends, which to those not in the know is like the Bohemian Grove of boardgame cons. :)
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
So the designer of BSG Express is one of my good friends. I just got off the phone with him. In addition to some awesome news I can't reveal yet, he also got invited to the Gathering of Friends, which to those not in the know is like the Bohemian Grove of boardgame cons. :)

oh nice didn't know that. i've checked out that game on bgg seems quite cool
 

Flynn

Member
So the designer of BSG Express is one of my good friends. I just got off the phone with him. In addition to some awesome news I can't reveal yet, he also got invited to the Gathering of Friends, which to those not in the know is like the Bohemian Grove of boardgame cons. :)

I would love to get an invite to that. I'm secretly hoping if I write enough about board games for Kill Screen that I'll make the cut.
 

fenners

Member
I would love to get an invite to that. I'm secretly hoping if I write enough about board games for Kill Screen that I'll make the cut.

I've got friends that have been invited for years... It really is all about knowing people on the inside from what I can tell. Unless you do something to "catch the eye" of Alan Moon, it's all about being referred.

At the end of the day though, it's a small cliquey con, just with a lot of "important names". A few friends just go to BGG.Con instead of it now.
 
Heyo new Catan gamers!

In terms of expansions, Cities & Knights is the preferred one among serious Cataners, though it does add a decent amount of complexity. There's also Rivals of Catan which is a neat little 2P version that's actually a fair bit different from the base game. And Star Trek Catan is coming out if you are a Trek fan. Also Mega Man Catan but that never came out in the states. :p

Hahaha OK thank you! Will try Cities & Knights then.
 
Mystery of the Abbey vs. Mystery Express

I'm leaning towards Abbey because it looks much simpler. I mostly play with family and workmates, and they all prefer easy games.

I haven't played Abbey, but I do own Mystery Express. Honestly, Mystery Express plays a lot like Advanced Clue. There are two of every card instead of one, there are more categories, and the best part, no roll and move mechanic. The game has a set ending as well so you don't spin your wheels trying to figure it out. At the end players just need to have the most correct guesses and they do not need to be 100% correct.

If you group is comfortable with Clue they should have no problems with Mystery Express.
 

eznark

Banned
Just played Blood Bowl again tonight. I think it's my new favorite. It's definitely my favorite two person game.

We kept the matchup rules the same (only used the first two that had cards on them) but kept it to five weeks. We also shuffled in some highlight cards that weren't tournaments. It came down to a thrilling fight for the Blood Bowl, which my wife won. I still won by 4 fans!

Game is so freaking good. Dwarfs v. Orcs was brutal.
 
Yea did BB yesterday and it was a hit. 3 players, really didn't seem to take as long as I expected to with all the comments people have made. Maybe just used to longer games.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Yea did BB yesterday and it was a hit. 3 players, really didn't seem to take as long as I expected to with all the comments people have made. Maybe just used to longer games.

It's not overlong with 3, especially if people move quickly. I think 3 is the perfect number for the game actually.
 

yamo

Member
Just had my first session of Descent last night. Previously coming from games like Talisman it's quite a bit more rules and setup, which I don't mind. I'm not sure however if I really like the co-operative game style, with a bunch of people fighting one guy as the overlord. For me gaming is a lot about the emotions that winning or losing brings forth, the bitterness in defeat or the sweetness in victory. Feels to me playing as a team just lessens these feeling. I suppose it might be good for people that are not very competitive and hate losing.

Guess I have to play some more adventures out of the intro adventure before giving a final verdict though.

By the way, I joined the BGG guild for fun. Is there any purpose to it or just a way to monitor what kind of games other GAF:ers play?
 
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