JetBlackPanda
Member
What do you guys suggest is the best expansion to pick up after base Dominion?
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The New Board Game Thread (Newcomer Friendly)
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Seaside or prosperity.
JetBlackPanda
Member
Thanks!
I was trying to do some math for my board game column -- it has been a long time since I touched this kind of stuff.
Maybe I can get you guys to check my math?
In Dominion you're taking 10 kingdom cards from a group of 25.
So to calculate the number of potential configurations of the game that's a binomial distribution. 10 taken from a group of 25 with no repetition.
That is, rounded, 3.2 million potential variations.
Dominion with expansions (152 Kingdom cards)
is 10 taken from 152 no repetition: 1,340,705,736,329,960 combinations.
Further I calculated how long it would take to play every variation of the original box (at 30 minutes per game) -- 182 years.
With expansions: around 76 billion years.
Does that seem crazy?
Maybe I can get you guys to check my math?
In Dominion you're taking 10 kingdom cards from a group of 25.
So to calculate the number of potential configurations of the game that's a binomial distribution. 10 taken from a group of 25 with no repetition.
That is, rounded, 3.2 million potential variations.
Dominion with expansions (152 Kingdom cards)
is 10 taken from 152 no repetition: 1,340,705,736,329,960 combinations.
Further I calculated how long it would take to play every variation of the original box (at 30 minutes per game) -- 182 years.
With expansions: around 76 billion years.
Does that seem crazy?
narcosis219
Member
probably mathematically correct, but it only takes about 40 games to get bored of the game.
I got 186 years and 76.5 billion years.
But yeah, close enough.
Thanks for the math check!
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Just a heads up, Ticket to Ride Pocket is free right now on the App store for iOS devices. They updated the app recently to add Async Multiplayer so it's extra awesome now.
Argh! I bought it the day they added async, even though I already owned the iPad version.
Had the 2nd board game night at the IGN office. Ended up playing some Zombies!!! towards the end:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2471/zombies
Had a ton of fun - a great reminder to me that I shouldn't be a board game snob. Even games with low ratings can totally be very enjoyable. And I've had games with high ratings fall flat (Stone Age). Just depends on the make-up of the group.
I can see why it isn't rated highly (balance issues, especially at the end, too much downtime), but I'd argue that it's a better "social" game than hits like Ticket to Ride.
Plus, it's cheap-ish at $22 / $12 expansions.
I'm not saying people should buy it. I'm just sayin... my only Eurogame exposure has been meticulous combing BGG top lists and picking up only top-rated stuff, when sometimes fun is as simple as rolling dice and killing zombies.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2471/zombies
Had a ton of fun - a great reminder to me that I shouldn't be a board game snob. Even games with low ratings can totally be very enjoyable. And I've had games with high ratings fall flat (Stone Age). Just depends on the make-up of the group.
I can see why it isn't rated highly (balance issues, especially at the end, too much downtime), but I'd argue that it's a better "social" game than hits like Ticket to Ride.
Plus, it's cheap-ish at $22 / $12 expansions.
I'm not saying people should buy it. I'm just sayin... my only Eurogame exposure has been meticulous combing BGG top lists and picking up only top-rated stuff, when sometimes fun is as simple as rolling dice and killing zombies.
yeah that's why you need to come here for really specific recommendations
Had my first game of Small World, can't believe how long it took me to actually try and play that game. I loved it.
I bought Elder Sign mainly for my girlfriend because she loves Yahtzee and I hate it. This was a good compromise, we played about 10 games in a single week so I guess I can say that she enjoys it. I love it too, but I find it way too easy. We never lost a single game even after adding house rules found on BGG.
I also got to try Mage Knight, and let me tell you; it's freaking amazing. It's like a dozen of great mechanics are put together and it just fits. I can't wait to get a copy once it's reprinted.
I bought Elder Sign mainly for my girlfriend because she loves Yahtzee and I hate it. This was a good compromise, we played about 10 games in a single week so I guess I can say that she enjoys it. I love it too, but I find it way too easy. We never lost a single game even after adding house rules found on BGG.
I also got to try Mage Knight, and let me tell you; it's freaking amazing. It's like a dozen of great mechanics are put together and it just fits. I can't wait to get a copy once it's reprinted.
My Smallworld Underground is missing the dice.
Can someone tell me if I can replace it somehow with a normal dice until Days of Wonder sends me correct one?
Makes me glad I canceled my Elder Sign pre-order and got Smallworld instead. If only the dice was not missing..
Can someone tell me if I can replace it somehow with a normal dice until Days of Wonder sends me correct one?
Makes me glad I canceled my Elder Sign pre-order and got Smallworld instead. If only the dice was not missing..
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Flynn, your math is right. Google actually has probabilistic stuff build into the calculator, you can google 25 choose 10 and 152 choose 10 to confirm your math
superrobot
Member
Flynn, your math is right. Google actually has probabilistic stuff build into the calculator, you can google 25 choose 10 and 152 choose 10 to confirm your math
Cool tool.
Pendants' Corner:
Are you taking into consideration the optional Platinums and Colonies?
My Smallworld Underground is missing the dice.
Can someone tell me if I can replace it somehow with a normal dice until Days of Wonder sends me correct one?
Makes me glad I canceled my Elder Sign pre-order and got Smallworld instead. If only the dice was not missing..
Yeah, you can use a normal dice for now. The Small World dice has three blank faces, and a single face for each 1, 2, and 3. On the regular dice, just consider 4, 5, and 6 as the 'blank' faces.
Thank you! Now I can try the game out yay!
Fun Casual games usually get ripped apart on BGG. Now, some of them are actually awful, others I find to be very fun.
Bang! for instance is one of the most fun games in my collection. That said, it's not a very "good" game in the balance department.
Also, games that require players to "self balance" or gang up on the leader to keep them in check usually don't fair well either.
BattleMonkey
Member
BGG is full of boring people, play what looks like fun and not what is top rated is what I do.
Hive is free for iOS...don't know how long it will be free though!
http://itunes.apple.com/app/hive/id493894488?ign-mpt=uo=4
http://itunes.apple.com/app/hive/id493894488?ign-mpt=uo=4
goldlion054
Member
Busted out Black Gold again for the first time in close to a year thanks to a tweet from Eznark. Still just as fun. We had 4 people this time, so the bidding was alot more intense than the usual 2-3. We also listened to the, "There Will be Blood" soundtrack while playing. Made the game 1000x times better
Good light games generally get good scores and lots of praise. They probably won't crack the Top 10 but I don't think that's unfair for an enthusiast site to preference mechanically heavier games. I mean board games as an activity are often just fun. How many of us enjoyed relatively terrible mainstream games when we were younger just for the pleasure of rolling dice and sitting around the table talking trash? I don't think that those games are owed higher scores though just because they work in some very specific contexts, Pop-o-Matic Bubble or no. Not to mention if you dig around a little (or just post a thread in Recommendations) you'll usually find a game with a similar theme or mechanic that's much better than the one that BGG "trashed."
Hey... speaking of pop-matic bubbles... Do they mak one you can "load" with your own dice? That way people with small tables or big games don't have the die flying across the board and knocking shit over ever?
In other news, Dominion is now officially my favorite game. My friend got me Cornucopia for Christmas and I just ordered Intrigue, but that ties into a bigger problem I have.
I constantly find myself bummed out when we have game nights, because there are so many people who like to come, but that condemns us to playing "party" games. Aside from Formula D (and maybe Robo Rally after some people leave) we rarely get to play anything with meat.
This comes up every so often... Once a group is at a critical mass of 6 or more, you have to bite the bullet & run two tables instead of trying to keep everyone in the same group. There's just not enough games for 6+ people that work for repeated plays.
UpperCaseN
Member
truth be told, the pop-o-matic bubble used in Trouble isn't very good. it's awesome because it's a pop-o-matic bubble, but it doesn't really roll the dice that well.
I bought Trouble for my sister, Xmas a few years ago, it was like $8 or something. It was mostly so I could talk mad trash, we're all in the 25-30 age range mind you. A lot of fun with the amount of rampage I put into it, we're talking like football levels of trash talk and victory dances, but I did notice that the bubble kind of sucks. The best it does is roll the die from 1 side to the next, rather than rolling/tumbling them.
I think best option if you have a small table problem is a dice cup. I tried a dice tray before and they take too much table space, and I dislike the idea of dice boots; they're a little too passive. When I roll that natural 20, I want to feel like it was me that did it. I don't think there's any other alternatives... you might just have to deal with rolling dice on the table, which is super gratifying mind you. I have a big table, though.
Yeah I find myself in this predicament a lot too. I don't mind party games but I feel like it's a wasted opportunity when all we do is play party games. Since our gaming group can be pretty big we can't fit advanced or games that require more investment very often. Like I can tell you we've only played games like Talisman and Battlestar Galactica exactly twice in the past year but games like Cranium and Apples to Apples I couldn't tell you how often we play them to the point where I loathe them just for taking away opportunity time to play real games.
At least recently we started playing Resistance and Werewolf which are party games where I feel actually have worthiness and enjoyment to them rather than just random little mini-game assignments over and over.
UpperCaseN
Member
It helps if there's another person in your group that can moderate/teach the other game. if that person is typically you, which I assume, is there anyone that could or would take the wheel at table 2?
BattleMonkey
Member
We basically adopted a separate game night for the "hardcore" gamers who wanted to play the complex stuff, while another casual night that just played whatever depending on who showed, and included the party game peeps.
I'm sorry but your friends sound kind of unreasonable. It's fine to play a big game that'll accommodate everyone at the beginning and/or the end of the night, but it makes more sense to split into different groups once you have 6 or more. Teaching shouldn't matter either, as long as one group play something they are familiar with.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Our weekly game night splits up into groups. However, we generally have enough people for three different games so having one group would never work anyway. #lucky
With my friends it's a different story, usually we only get about 4-6 players at a time so it's never an issue. #nowimjustbragging
With my friends it's a different story, usually we only get about 4-6 players at a time so it's never an issue. #nowimjustbragging
What about a dice tower? I want one but just can't decide.
Here's a cool one made of legos!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VTE6ErZ3EQ
narcosis219
Member
Isn't a dice boot the same as a dice tower?
His best alternative is like... a smaller dice tray. If you want to "feel" your rolls, then the only way to do it is to do it into a tray or cup.
4 is a great number for gaming!
Yeah our group is 4 (sometimes 5) works out fabulously.
flashburn2012
Member
Flash Point plays pretty good solo. You can play with multiple fire fighters too. We usually play with 2 each when its just 2 of us.
TwiztidElf
Member
I solo Pandemic around once a month. It's fantastic for it. Very satisfying. I only play as two players though.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Co-ops are the easiest to solo since the goal is the same and wins are shared. You would just deal yourself a couple of hands and go. I normally just play for two since it's easier to manage and takes up less space on the table.
So tonight is looking like Merchants and Marauders. I haven't played it in a long time so I'm super excited to get that to the table.
protonion
Member
Ah yes. I saw the dicetower review and it seemed really good. I actually prefer the theme too. But Pandemic is probably a safer choice.
I wish I could buy them all but I cannot play very often. My collection has to be small...
UpperCaseN
Member
I want Flash Point, it's like 1 out of 3 on the very top of my want list right now
We had six last night and wound up playing Fluxx and Small World (with six on the five map). Since two potentials didn't show up we're about to have the "too many gamers" problem. At six you can do most card games, TtR teams, Heimlich and Co, and a few others, but once you get to the seven and eight range, the number of available games begins to dwindle.
I hear that Shadows over Camelot will run eight with the expansion. Any GAF opinions regarding the game or playing it with eight players?
I hear that Shadows over Camelot will run eight with the expansion. Any GAF opinions regarding the game or playing it with eight players?
Eight is a great number! Two 4 player games!
It's what you need to do, I'm sorry to say. I love Shadows, but I'd hate to play it with that many players.
Hydranockz
Member
Recently I've been playing Betrayal at House on the Hill with some friends of mine and I have really enjoyed it so far. Up to 6 players explore a house using tiles so the layout changes everytime. Exploring rooms revelas bad omens, events or items and eventually enough omens will occur to trigger the Haunt where one of the players becomes a traitor. Really cool dynamic and a lot of fun. Any of ye guys play it?
Dixit is a really awesome game too. It's very similar to Apples-to-Apples in that it has a lot to do with knowing the judge but at the same time it has many differences. The main one being the really cool art. Cards are just illustrations. Looks very childish but some of the pictures can convey so many different things and it has been a very nice alternative to Apples-to-Apples. Only problem is that it only gives enough voting counters for six players but there are nifty ways of getting around that.
Pirate's Cove is my personal favourite at the moment. Love the mechanic of moving at the same time which ends up in conflict if there are many players playing. Some nice RPG elements (I guess) with the stats of your ship effecting various parts of the game. Love the board and artwork too.
Any of ye play these games recently?
Dixit is a really awesome game too. It's very similar to Apples-to-Apples in that it has a lot to do with knowing the judge but at the same time it has many differences. The main one being the really cool art. Cards are just illustrations. Looks very childish but some of the pictures can convey so many different things and it has been a very nice alternative to Apples-to-Apples. Only problem is that it only gives enough voting counters for six players but there are nifty ways of getting around that.
Pirate's Cove is my personal favourite at the moment. Love the mechanic of moving at the same time which ends up in conflict if there are many players playing. Some nice RPG elements (I guess) with the stats of your ship effecting various parts of the game. Love the board and artwork too.
Any of ye play these games recently?
At more than 6 there is just way too much downtime to play anything that is more than a filler or a party game. Shadows is still a decent coop (with a traitor element) but there are much newer and better implementations available. 7 players would be my limit but I think the sweet spot is 5.
Here is a list of 6 player (strategy) games that I think people should consider for their collection: Power Grid, Railroad Tycoon, Acquire, Alhambra, 7 Wonders, Medici, Imperial, History of the World, Union Pacific, Showmanager, RoboRally.
Exactly. For example King of Tokyo seems to be a really fun game I am keeping an eye on.
Eight is a great number! Two 4 player games!
I can't remember if I saw it here or at Ars, but I love this idea for 8 people playing Dominion: Split up the group 4 and 4 and set up each group with a different set of kingdom cards. Have everyone play through the game and record their scores. Then have the two groups switch and play with the other set of kingdom cards they didn't play with the first time. After that round add up the scores from both games and declare a winner. Sounds fun. although my group is a solid four so I'll never be able to put it into play.
I've said it before, and will say it again - Risk Legacy is so good. My group is six games in now, and we're already taking about buying another copy so we can play through the 15 games again after we finish this one off. I can't wait to see what surprises are still on the way.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
So how awesome is Merchants and Marauders? Crazy awesome, that's how much. I absolutely crushed it last night while playing as a Merchant. Well, actually being "forced" to play as a merchant. I was just drawing really good cargo cards and being a merchant just made sense. By the time it was close to the end of the game I just need one more Glory Point and stash 50 gold and I was done. I ended up drawing four like goods that were in demand at my home port so that was that.
In other news, I have Startup Fever and Glory to Rome up for trade or sale, if anybody is interested. Startup Fever includes the Venture Capital expansion and has only been played once.
Glory to Rome is the I.V edition that I got from a previous math trade. It's been played a few times but still in really good shape. I really like the game, but I have the Black Box edition on order so I have no need for the I.V edition.
In other news, I have Startup Fever and Glory to Rome up for trade or sale, if anybody is interested. Startup Fever includes the Venture Capital expansion and has only been played once.
Glory to Rome is the I.V edition that I got from a previous math trade. It's been played a few times but still in really good shape. I really like the game, but I have the Black Box edition on order so I have no need for the I.V edition.
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