XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Slide 5 or Saboteur?AstroLad said:
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Ignatz Mouse
Banned
Citadel! Bohnanza! Wings of War!
platypotamus
Member
Ignatz Mouse said:
Those were the two I was going to recommend. Highly portable.
If you're into any of the Looney Labs games (Chrononauts or Fluxx), they'd work too.
A friend of ours go my wife into this game recently. She's since gone out and purchased it and a few booster decks. I too, dislike the random winner at the end and didn't care much for the game. Last week, I was guilted into playing with them. So I went about dominating the game so badly that neither of the other players wanted me to play them again.Indigo said:
In the end, I won the game because one of the cards I played allowed me to randomly pick two carrots from another player. One of those two was the winning one.
This is the reason I don't generally like board games. When I play them well, I feel guilty for winning. When I play poorly, I have a miserable time losing.
AstroLad said:
Illuminati is a great game with an enthusiastic group of players willing to cheerfully backstab each other and not take it seriously. It also works best with 4-5 players, so keep that in mind; if it's just you and your wife playing, the game wouldn't really work. On the other hand, the original pocket box edition is incredibly portable, though if you enjoy the game you'd want the current, not terribly large edition for it's recent expansions.
FnordChan
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
Illuminati is one of my favorite games ever, but what FnordChan says is true. It doesn't work well with people who take things personally. It can also last a really long time, it's pretty variable.
The last time I played one of the players developed enough enmity for another halfway through that by the end, nobody was having much fun.
The last time I played one of the players developed enough enmity for another halfway through that by the end, nobody was having much fun.
K0NY said:
But every competitive activity could be characterized like that! Why I like games that have a nice bit of luck to them. If a competent beginner can beat a pro by getting a reasonable amount of luck, I like that. And no one has to ever feel bad, because you can just say, e.g., "damn cards!"
Ignatz Mouse said:
Oh dear god. This would both be amazing for my group of friends and would most definitely tear us apart. We can't even get through a game of Monopoly without massive amounts of swearing.
One of my friends is getting the Battlestar Galactica board game for Christmas because she is crazily obsessed with the show. Has anyone played this? What did you think? The Internet seems mostly favorable to it, so I'm looking forward to it.
watervengeance
Member
ultron87 said:
It does a lot of things well. Especially the tension of trying to figure out who is the cylon. However, for me the game is too long, and because of that I probably won't play it again any time soon, especially with the full complement of people.
Akia said:
If you like a more cutthroat/confrontational Catan-like game, I'd say try Keythedral. It doesn't use dice roll for acquiring resource though.
Thinking about giving Monsterpocalypse a try. Supposed to play pretty well, and I'd love to wash the taste of Monsters Menace America out of my mouse. Only downside is the collectible mature, but apparently you can basically get complete sets by buying pieces individually for not too much. Also like that it's 2p-focused (another defect of MMA).
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
Some of the Heroclix players who were looking to diversify in light of HCs uncertain future were big on this. It appears to have some of the same tactical feel.
Squirrel Killer
Member
I just finished building a piecepack set along with the four seasons expansion. For the main set, everything but the dice has been done for a week or so. Last night, I decided to do the expansion set too. While finishing that set, I decided on a way to do the dice that wouldn't completely suck, so in a final mad flurry completed both sets.
No idea what I'm going to play with it, although Colonists of Natick, an adaptation of the Settlers of Catan card game, looks interesting. Hanging Gardens looks interesting too, but since I did the tiles in paper, scoring would be a bit of a pain. Also, paper tiles stack for shit, Tula was almost unplayable. I might try adapting a game, just so I feel like less of a tool for suggesting to my daughter that we play Littlest Pet Shop (Hey! It's got a mechanic I like!)
One thing about spending time building the game system is that I have a lot of little criticisms of it now. I like the idea of a generic "deck of cards" for boardgames, but I dislike some of the decisions in design. I may do a whole personal "take" on the idea, or I might just lose interest in the whole system.
No idea what I'm going to play with it, although Colonists of Natick, an adaptation of the Settlers of Catan card game, looks interesting. Hanging Gardens looks interesting too, but since I did the tiles in paper, scoring would be a bit of a pain. Also, paper tiles stack for shit, Tula was almost unplayable. I might try adapting a game, just so I feel like less of a tool for suggesting to my daughter that we play Littlest Pet Shop (Hey! It's got a mechanic I like!)
One thing about spending time building the game system is that I have a lot of little criticisms of it now. I like the idea of a generic "deck of cards" for boardgames, but I dislike some of the decisions in design. I may do a whole personal "take" on the idea, or I might just lose interest in the whole system.
I got Agricola the day before Christmas. I bought it myself: asking family or friends for a $50 to $70 board game that's only available on a handful of specialty websites would spell disappointment. This is the first reprint so no animeeples and no extra deck of cards, just the base game... Nothing to complain about though, since the base set of Agricola is very much like the base set and first three expansions of many other board games.
After reading through the rules a couple times and organizing the set into all the little baggies I talked a friend into trying it out with me. We've played three games so far: two sessions of the 2-player family game and one session of the 2-player full game with the E-deck. It's outstanding.
I've been excited about Agricola based on the descriptions of the game on BoardGameGeek: an economic development/resource management game matches up well with the other board games I've enjoyed recently and the ability to scale from 1 to 5 players makes it workable in the groups I play with. The farming theme also appeals to me (unlike many other people, I suspect). I did have some fears, however. I've successfully introduced several games recently to the set of casual gamers I frequently play with (Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne). These have been accepted I think because they're lightweight games with fairly straightforward rules and actions, and all of them have been recommended by gaming sites as introductory games. Agricola was supposed to be on the other end of the scale: a heavy Eurogame with some 700 components and a rulebook in 9-point type, a game with nine resource types and variable gameboards. I'm a gaming hobbyist and relish tackling difficult games but I was worried the complexity of Agricola would scare others away, and I would be left with a good but expensive solitaire game that takes a long time to set up and take down.
In practice, though, it is unexpectedly straightforward to understand, particularly with the family rules. Most of the game's rules are commonsensical (it just makes sense that bigger families need bigger houses, that you have to feed everyone, that you have to plow fields before you can sow crops, that animals require a pasture or stable, and so forth). Others are explained clearly on the action boards and cards. The harvest phase is a little complicated but also explained on the board and seem obvious in the context of the farming theme. There must be one person who understands the game thoroughly to play well. Setting up the game, particularly if you're playing the full rules and have to manage the Occupation and Minor Improvement decks, is really the most difficult part of the endeavor. Overseeing each round's new Action card, prompting people to remember the upcoming Harvests, managing the replenishment phase of each round, and tallying the scores at the end are all complex enough to intimidate casuals, but they can all be done by one industrious player (me) while everyone else concentrates on building their little farms. I would say that the actual turn-by-turn gameplay is no more difficult to understand than basic Settlers of Catan.
My second surprise is that it is a fast game (discounting set up and tear down times). I'm playing with a guy who is very prone to analysis paralysis but the game still moves at a quick pace, even with the full rules. It may take a while to get the game on the table and set up, but once it's down it is possible to blast through multiple games in a night. And it feels fast too: actions are straightforward enough that each player's downtime should be minimal. It's not as sparse in activities-per-turn as Ticket to Ride but each turn is much less protracted than Settlers of Catan.
Which leads me to one of the fundamental strengths of the game: You're always doing something that feels essential to your strategy. There's so much stuff to try to accomplish that you can't possibly do it all, but on the other hand whatever you're doing at the moment has an impact on the game immediately. I never feel like I'm sitting around waiting on the game to give me something to do. It's more of a mad scramble to take advantage of a myriad of strategies that only get pared down as other players take resources or as I construct my farm in specific ways. And there are many ways of constructing a winning farm. So far we've had completed farms with no fields at all; farms with no pastures at all (but multiple types of animals!); farms with no animals at all (but stables!); farms with 4, 5, or 6 room houses made of wood, clay, or stone; all in just three plays and two people, and all the games were strikingly close in score. The "simple" family rules game still has a myriad of possible strategies and enough randomness in action order that it isn't apparently "solvable"; each player must improvise strategies on the fly to win.
We played one session of the full game with the E-Deck. The game is certainly more complex, but still not much beyond basic Catan in my view. In exchange for complexity you gain a vast increase in possible strategies. It's amazing to me that the game has no duplicate cards: across the three base Decks (E for beginner, I for interactive, K for complex) you have some 360 cards and all are unique. I'll probably never hold the same set of 14 cards again that I had last game, and I may never utilize the same set of tools that let me construct a weird but winning strategy of harvesting vegetables into food and turning a clay hut into food without either bothering to plow fields or buy ovens. There seems to be an untold number of other possible paths to victory, though, which unfold with the combinations of cards in your hand from that gigantic pile included in the box. $50 starts to look cheap.
I'm raving about Agricola. If you can get past the farming theme, the cumbersome set up, and the little problem of all the components barely fitting in the box I think it's a fantastic game and not just for hobbyists.
After reading through the rules a couple times and organizing the set into all the little baggies I talked a friend into trying it out with me. We've played three games so far: two sessions of the 2-player family game and one session of the 2-player full game with the E-deck. It's outstanding.
I've been excited about Agricola based on the descriptions of the game on BoardGameGeek: an economic development/resource management game matches up well with the other board games I've enjoyed recently and the ability to scale from 1 to 5 players makes it workable in the groups I play with. The farming theme also appeals to me (unlike many other people, I suspect). I did have some fears, however. I've successfully introduced several games recently to the set of casual gamers I frequently play with (Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne). These have been accepted I think because they're lightweight games with fairly straightforward rules and actions, and all of them have been recommended by gaming sites as introductory games. Agricola was supposed to be on the other end of the scale: a heavy Eurogame with some 700 components and a rulebook in 9-point type, a game with nine resource types and variable gameboards. I'm a gaming hobbyist and relish tackling difficult games but I was worried the complexity of Agricola would scare others away, and I would be left with a good but expensive solitaire game that takes a long time to set up and take down.
In practice, though, it is unexpectedly straightforward to understand, particularly with the family rules. Most of the game's rules are commonsensical (it just makes sense that bigger families need bigger houses, that you have to feed everyone, that you have to plow fields before you can sow crops, that animals require a pasture or stable, and so forth). Others are explained clearly on the action boards and cards. The harvest phase is a little complicated but also explained on the board and seem obvious in the context of the farming theme. There must be one person who understands the game thoroughly to play well. Setting up the game, particularly if you're playing the full rules and have to manage the Occupation and Minor Improvement decks, is really the most difficult part of the endeavor. Overseeing each round's new Action card, prompting people to remember the upcoming Harvests, managing the replenishment phase of each round, and tallying the scores at the end are all complex enough to intimidate casuals, but they can all be done by one industrious player (me) while everyone else concentrates on building their little farms. I would say that the actual turn-by-turn gameplay is no more difficult to understand than basic Settlers of Catan.
My second surprise is that it is a fast game (discounting set up and tear down times). I'm playing with a guy who is very prone to analysis paralysis but the game still moves at a quick pace, even with the full rules. It may take a while to get the game on the table and set up, but once it's down it is possible to blast through multiple games in a night. And it feels fast too: actions are straightforward enough that each player's downtime should be minimal. It's not as sparse in activities-per-turn as Ticket to Ride but each turn is much less protracted than Settlers of Catan.
Which leads me to one of the fundamental strengths of the game: You're always doing something that feels essential to your strategy. There's so much stuff to try to accomplish that you can't possibly do it all, but on the other hand whatever you're doing at the moment has an impact on the game immediately. I never feel like I'm sitting around waiting on the game to give me something to do. It's more of a mad scramble to take advantage of a myriad of strategies that only get pared down as other players take resources or as I construct my farm in specific ways. And there are many ways of constructing a winning farm. So far we've had completed farms with no fields at all; farms with no pastures at all (but multiple types of animals!); farms with no animals at all (but stables!); farms with 4, 5, or 6 room houses made of wood, clay, or stone; all in just three plays and two people, and all the games were strikingly close in score. The "simple" family rules game still has a myriad of possible strategies and enough randomness in action order that it isn't apparently "solvable"; each player must improvise strategies on the fly to win.
We played one session of the full game with the E-Deck. The game is certainly more complex, but still not much beyond basic Catan in my view. In exchange for complexity you gain a vast increase in possible strategies. It's amazing to me that the game has no duplicate cards: across the three base Decks (E for beginner, I for interactive, K for complex) you have some 360 cards and all are unique. I'll probably never hold the same set of 14 cards again that I had last game, and I may never utilize the same set of tools that let me construct a weird but winning strategy of harvesting vegetables into food and turning a clay hut into food without either bothering to plow fields or buy ovens. There seems to be an untold number of other possible paths to victory, though, which unfold with the combinations of cards in your hand from that gigantic pile included in the box. $50 starts to look cheap.
I'm raving about Agricola. If you can get past the farming theme, the cumbersome set up, and the little problem of all the components barely fitting in the box I think it's a fantastic game and not just for hobbyists.
echoshifting
Banned
That's it, I'm buying Agricola today.
I got Race for the Galaxy for Christmas...can't wait to try it, looks really fun.
I got Race for the Galaxy for Christmas...can't wait to try it, looks really fun.
Welcome to the club, Evlar. Agricola really is quite fantastic.
I've posted some pictures from our last board game get together in November.
Check out these custom-made Agricola pieces:
More pictures here.
I've posted some pictures from our last board game get together in November.
Check out these custom-made Agricola pieces:
More pictures here.
echoshifting
Banned
Anybody have any experience with Dust? I'd like to buy a couple of games when I pick up Agricola from Thoughthammer - decided to hold off and buy a few at the same time to save on shipping - and I think this will probably be my obligatory FFG purchase. This or Fury of Dracula. Or maybe both. 
Anyway, impressions would be appreciated.
Anyway, impressions would be appreciated.
echoshifting said:Anybody have any experience with Dust? I'd like to buy a couple of games when I pick up Agricola from Thoughthammer - decided to hold off and buy a few at the same time to save on shipping - and I think this will probably be my obligatory FFG purchase. This or Fury of Dracula. Or maybe both.
Anyway, impressions would be appreciated.
With BGG down, you can listen to The Dice Tower to get an impression of Dust. The link will take you to the episode where the game is discussed if you're interested.
platypotamus
Member
Should be some good board gaming in coming months. One of my gaming partners got Race to the Galaxy for Christmas (thanks to me talking about it near him, thanks to this thread), as well as one called Dominion(s) that he's really excited about (sort of quasi CCG style game, I guess). I got a Reiner Knizia game called Great Wall of China, and it looks like a pretty good, not-to-complex game.
Planning on picking up Agricola and the Catan card game within the next month sometime too.
Planning on picking up Agricola and the Catan card game within the next month sometime too.
Hello! Thought I'd stop lurking to post this!platypotamus said:
I bought Dominion for my wife for Christmas and it's great! Very simple to play (and in fact I think the rules could do with a "summary" paragraph, since they tend to over-complicate it) and once you get into the swing of things it can be extremely strategic.
It's currently doing pretty well on the BGG rankings and from what I can tell there's a lot of buzz about it on the forums.
(Oh and as for being a "quasi-CCG".. only in the sense that you play with just cards, there are no counters or board or dice or anything)
Big recommendation from this small part of England!
Race for the Galaxy is so great. My entire family must have played 25-40 games of it over the holidays. It's wonderful in 4p and really fun in 2p too if you use the advanced rules (each player picks two phases).
Finally got back home and had a chance to crack open the expansion, which I'll be playing tonight or tomorrow.
Finally got back home and had a chance to crack open the expansion, which I'll be playing tonight or tomorrow.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Welcome to the farming club!Evlar said:
Agricola is definitely excellent. As for component storage, I found these little jewlery box holders at a crafts shop that perfectly hold the player-colored pieces (the farmers, fences, and stables), and then I have a larger box to hold the other pieces. Not sure if it's a jewelry box or meant to hold screws or whatever, but it was a perfect size so that it and the other boxes all fit inside. Now I just need to get my lazy ass to make some custom boxes to hold the card decks.It's very interesting watching people get more and more familiar with Agricola, and see how their strategies start progressing and advancing. When playing with people who've played it quite a bit, you start noticing things like alternate plans come into play as they start thinking ahead just in case people take an action they wanted to do, ruining their main plans (yes, one action delay can easily ruin some elaborate schemes!).
Onny said:Hello! Thought I'd stop lurking to post this!
I bought Dominion for my wife for Christmas and it's great! Very simple to play (and in fact I think the rules could do with a "summary" paragraph, since they tend to over-complicate it) and once you get into the swing of things it can be extremely strategic.
It's currently doing pretty well on the BGG rankings and from what I can tell there's a lot of buzz about it on the forums.
(Oh and as for being a "quasi-CCG".. only in the sense that you play with just cards, there are no counters or board or dice or anything)
Big recommendation from this small part of England!
I think the quasi-CCG thing comes from it being a bit like drafting and deck building. But you're playtesting your deck as you build, which is such a cool idea.
platypotamus
Member
Onny said:Hello! Thought I'd stop lurking to post this!
I bought Dominion for my wife for Christmas and it's great! Very simple to play (and in fact I think the rules could do with a "summary" paragraph, since they tend to over-complicate it) and once you get into the swing of things it can be extremely strategic.
It's currently doing pretty well on the BGG rankings and from what I can tell there's a lot of buzz about it on the forums.
(Oh and as for being a "quasi-CCG".. only in the sense that you play with just cards, there are no counters or board or dice or anything)
Big recommendation from this small part of England!
Yup, got to play it last night, and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Sister-in-law explained the rules to my wife in 5 minutes before the first turn. My wife said, "it sounds kinda boring", but like 4 turns later she was hooked. I did terribly (last place, wtf?), but sort of realize what I was doing wrong in the early rounds now. Very excited to play it some more and try out some more cards/card interactions.
I got Dominion too just yesterday.
Broke open Pandemic today. Very fun--just did a 2p game and went from "this is sooo easy" to "oh shit!"
Like The Gathering Storm a lot, even the goals add a nice twist. Can't wait for the other expansions as it's my favorite game right now.
Broke open Pandemic today. Very fun--just did a 2p game and went from "this is sooo easy" to "oh shit!"
Like The Gathering Storm a lot, even the goals add a nice twist. Can't wait for the other expansions as it's my favorite game right now.
I don't usually play boardgames but my friend is huge fan of Axis & Allied series and I have played few times it. It's quite good.
Just for fun here's a shot of the Dominion prototype when we playtested it at Gencon this year.
Valerie Putman, the dev from Rio Grande walked us through the game. We were immediately impressed.
More shots of the prototype in my Gencon 2008 set.
Valerie Putman, the dev from Rio Grande walked us through the game. We were immediately impressed.
More shots of the prototype in my Gencon 2008 set.
platypotamus
Member
LOL at witch prototype card.
I haven't looked through the cards we didn't use yet (including the witch). Throne Room sounds like a winner though.
I haven't looked through the cards we didn't use yet (including the witch). Throne Room sounds like a winner though.
We had five players today and were short of time do we didn't play anything beefy.
Once Upon a Time: Fun, light and social. A story-telling game, really. With cards that can be used as interrupts so other players can step in and take over the story. Not recommended if you have serious rule lawyers in the group. We have one who could have potentially torpedoed the evening.
The Great Dalmuti: Apparently this game is "Asshole" repackaged by Richard Garfield. I'd never played the original game, so didn't fare very well. The game is purposefully unbalanced -- the king and asshole positions are fairly entrenched. Good, competative fun, though. Drinks would make it better.
No Thanks: A Z-man published card game. The light bidding mechanic makes it pretty interesting. I think this may have been the best game of the night.
Once Upon a Time: Fun, light and social. A story-telling game, really. With cards that can be used as interrupts so other players can step in and take over the story. Not recommended if you have serious rule lawyers in the group. We have one who could have potentially torpedoed the evening.
The Great Dalmuti: Apparently this game is "Asshole" repackaged by Richard Garfield. I'd never played the original game, so didn't fare very well. The game is purposefully unbalanced -- the king and asshole positions are fairly entrenched. Good, competative fun, though. Drinks would make it better.
No Thanks: A Z-man published card game. The light bidding mechanic makes it pretty interesting. I think this may have been the best game of the night.
platypotamus
Member
My thought process while reading your post:
Wait... like the drinking game?
Ah ha!
(for the record, drinks only make it better for the first round or two, then they make it very, VERY bad, though your mileage may vary)
Flynn said:
Wait... like the drinking game?
Flynn said:
Ah ha!
(for the record, drinks only make it better for the first round or two, then they make it very, VERY bad, though your mileage may vary)
platypotamus said:
You could very well be right. I'm not the best traditional card player. I suck at betting, so poker is a nightmare for me. But I could see having fun playing Asshole or the Great Dalmudi and just having a good time talking shit, sorting my cards and making a decision ever now and then.
Ashhong said:
Did the same with my niece (4) over the holidays. I didn't let her win, because I think one of the lessons of Chutes and Ladders is to accept fate and lose gracefully. It's basically a game that teaches you to take turns, count and be a decent sport.
We also played Hi Hi Cherry Oh!
Galaxy Trucker was our new game of the week. It was much easier to learn than I thought it would be. The only downside for us is that it's not a great two-player game (also it relies a lot on player honesty (and more importantly, full knowledge of the rules) in the building phase), but the fun you have with 3 & 4 makes up for that.
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
Flynn said:
I was playing a space boardgame with my 4-yr-old over the holidays, and we taught him this exact lesson. One time, when he lost, he cried and said he wanted the other person to lose, and we taught him that when you lose, you say "congratulations" and/or "good game." The next game, he *wanted* to lose! He ended up something in the middle after a few more games.
For the life of me I can't remember the name of this board game, so hopefully GAF can help me out (and maybe where to find one?).
I think the board game is has holes in the shape of a star (maybe not...), with 5 different colors. There are 5 holes (in which you place your 5 marbles) on the outside near the 5 points. There is one die involved. To get your marbles out of the starting area you have to roll either a 6 or a 1. In the case of rolling a 6 you get to go again (you can roll a maximum of 3 6's in a row, if you get a 4th you have to place your marble back in the beginning iirc). The objective is to get your marbles in the 5 holes in the middle of the game. If you land your marble on an opponents marble, it returns to their starting area.
That's about all I can remember for the game, and had lots of fun with it at an ex-gf's house with her family.
I think the board game is has holes in the shape of a star (maybe not...), with 5 different colors. There are 5 holes (in which you place your 5 marbles) on the outside near the 5 points. There is one die involved. To get your marbles out of the starting area you have to roll either a 6 or a 1. In the case of rolling a 6 you get to go again (you can roll a maximum of 3 6's in a row, if you get a 4th you have to place your marble back in the beginning iirc). The objective is to get your marbles in the 5 holes in the middle of the game. If you land your marble on an opponents marble, it returns to their starting area.
That's about all I can remember for the game, and had lots of fun with it at an ex-gf's house with her family.
Davey Cakes
Member
I remember both those games as a kid. Really fun. Chutes and Ladders is especially great.Flynn said:
And yeah, you shouldn't have to let someone else win. The game has a factor of luck to it anyway.
Earthstrike
Member
Just found an online agricola Client. Any gaffers willing to join up and play? The style is do everything yourself. (In other words, its a virtual board, you move the boar yourself, etc).
I think it takes a while to get a game started, however, if we get enough players the ball should be rolling.
http://www.ccom.ucsd.edu/~cdeotte/Games/Board1/Agricola.html
Edit: So you should know how to play before you join.
I think it takes a while to get a game started, however, if we get enough players the ball should be rolling.
http://www.ccom.ucsd.edu/~cdeotte/Games/Board1/Agricola.html
Edit: So you should know how to play before you join.
sonatinas said:
Have you played 1960? What concerns you about the game? It's one of the best two-player games out there. There is a perfect (imo) amount of luck involved with the card draws and the theme is really well integrated into the gameplay if you're into that at all.
sonatinas said:
That is very easy to rectify. Most expert players play with a 3VP starting advantage for the U.S. But I don't think you need to worry about that as a beginner, to most beginners U.S. feels easier to play actually. The game is insanely well balanced at every level and imo much more fun than 1960. 1960 is a beautiful game, and pretty fun for a while, but it's also near broken in some respects (advertising mechanic is useless, and most games degrade into un-fun fights over issues). You'll get sick of 1960 much faster. That being said I own and enjoy both, but I pick TS over 1960 almost every time.
Gameplay update:
Me and the crew played Fantasy Flight's new version of Cosmic Encounter. I thought I'd hate it, but wound up liking it. It's more balanced than it seems at first blush. The "destiny" cards or whatever, that dictate who you engage keeps weaker players from becoming targets.
Me and the crew played Fantasy Flight's new version of Cosmic Encounter. I thought I'd hate it, but wound up liking it. It's more balanced than it seems at first blush. The "destiny" cards or whatever, that dictate who you engage keeps weaker players from becoming targets.
platypotamus
Member
Flynn said:
Cosmic Encounter (the original) is one of those games that I really wanted to love, but just couldn't get in to. Is this one much improved? That destiny thing sounds like it fixes one of the biggest complaints I had about the game: There's little rhyme or reason to the first attack or two, so it tends to get personal rather than be just part of the game.
platypotamus said:
For sure. Attacks are rarely personal -- there are wild cards that let you pick sometimes. What IS personal is whether you chose to support or attack. And that's kinda fun, I think.
The big difference form the original, I'd assume, are all the different aliens. This version uses quite a few of the new-ish ones from the many expansions.
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