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[AstroLad]

I think Flynn mighta mentioned it but the single-player RFTG program (w/ AI, 2-6 players, and everything customizable) is completely amazing. I mean this thing is basically ready to be ported to XBLA with a little Magic-style glitzing up. The high-res card images are great and the AI is really competitive 9/10.

http://keldon.net/rftg/

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I think Flynn mighta mentioned it but the single-player RFTG program (w/ AI, 2-6 players, and everything customizable) is completely amazing. I mean this thing is basically ready to be ported to XBLA with a little Magic-style glitzing up. The high-res card images are great and the AI is really competitive 9/10.

http://keldon.net/rftg/

I tried this before and even after reading and re-reading the rules I was still hopelessly lost.

Last night my girlfriend and I played Galaxy Trucker. It was a good learning game but I can see where it really shines with more people. I might be able to break it out again this weekend and play with another person or two.

Tonight we tried out Cold War: CIA vs KGB. It's a super light press your luck type game. Some call it a blackjack variant and that's a pretty good way to describe it. We just touched on some of the strategies in the game, especially which agent to choose when. We actually had a pretty good time with it. It's quick, easy, and just enough strategy to keep us interested.

 

[AstroLad]

I tried this before and even after reading and re-reading the rules I was still hopelessly lost.

Do you play RFTG? Yeah it's not necessarily a good learning tool but if you play it's pretty amazing (way better than the multiplayer Genie system, which you really have to know the game to play). I think if you play with just the base game though it could be a decent learning tool; it's Rebel vs. Imperium that seriously gums everything up.

 

[Cyan]

I think Flynn mighta mentioned it but the single-player RFTG program (w/ AI, 2-6 players, and everything customizable) is completely amazing. I mean this thing is basically ready to be ported to XBLA with a little Magic-style glitzing up. The high-res card images are great and the AI is really competitive 9/10.

http://keldon.net/rftg/

Has the Dominion counterpart already been posted?

http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=2366

Good stuff. Removed the official art though, after the game developer got pissed.

 

[AstroLad]

Has the Dominion counterpart already been posted?

http://www.slightlymagic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=2366

Good stuff. Removed the official art though, after the game developer got pissed.

Ah that sucks. Apparently the RTFG guy at first didn't but then did give approval and they got this guy all the high-res art. I can see the reasoning, but let's be honest the only people who are gonna get into these are uber-hardcore dorks who most certainly have the tabletop versions. Just a way of extending the brand really. For example, I've never bothered to learn takeovers but I've learned them with the AI program just now and now I'm a lot more excited about the last expansion.

Thing about the RFTG one is it is real purty, at least as far as these things go.

 

[chicken_ramen]

Both of those are what ultimately convinced me to finally buy the respective games. RFTG was a little hard to get the hang of at first, but if you're familiar with San Juan figuring out the game is pretty easy, even without a rule book. If you don't know San Juan already, I'd imagine that the computerised version of RFTG would be almost completely indecipherable.

 

[Zalasta]

It's not that I despise Euros, I just hate the mix/maxing that so many tend to bring out in gaming. I think someone who makes a mistake should still be able to sweep in and grab a victory. Makes things fun for everyone. I'd rather lose like that, than to play a game where I know I'm going to win as soon as X person does Y mistake.

So basically you like randomness that really doesn't do anything besides to switch up people's position?

Like someone already mentioned, a lot of games these days implement catch up mechanism, but good play is suppose to be rewarding. In any competition, people who is on top of their games are the ones that should and consistently win. Take baseball for example, do you really expect or think it's fair that a team that committed mistakes (errors) to be able to "sweep in and grab a victory" over an opponent that has played better? I sure hope not.

However, I will say that I do prefer close games rather than ones that have a run away leader.

 

[AstroLad]

Both of those are what ultimately convinced me to finally buy the respective games. RFTG was a little hard to get the hang of at first, but if you're familiar with San Juan figuring out the game is pretty easy, even without a rule book. If you don't know San Juan already, I'd imagine that the computerised version of RFTG would be almost completely indecipherable.

True, although the nice thing is that Rio Grande puts all their manuals online. Only thing the game is really lacking is a tutorial. I mean why not take this and make an XBLA/Steam game out of it? Sometimes I feel like board-game publishers undervalue the market for their titles, wind up wonky places that only BGGers know about if anywhere and sort of figure that's the extent of the market. Magic of course had the brand behind it, but it was just a genuinely quality production top-to-bottom and got a lot of new people into the game. Same for Catan actually. Counterpoint: Lost Cities and I think Carcassonne, which didn't do that well. And of course this is limited to the XBLA universe. Put RFTG on Steam for 5-10 bucks and I guarantee it will pique interest in that crowd.

/digression

Rules are up on FFG's website, they are pretty detailed. The only complaint I see from people about the game is that it's a 2 player game. The game is just a reworking of an old Games Workshop game with a bit more detail tossed in.

All the reviews on BGG are pretty glowing too. I'd check it out but theme wouldn't be a hit with my group, and we don't often get the chance to play 2p either.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Have yet to see and decent reviews for this yet to see any decent reviews, yet, all it will take will be one positive review and i'll jump right in.

Rules are up on FFG's website, they are pretty detailed. The only complaint I see from people about the game is that it's a 2 player game. The game is just a reworking of an old Games Workshop game with a bit more detail tossed in.

 

[Neverfade]

So basically you like randomness that really doesn't do anything besides to switch up people's position?

Like someone already mentioned, a lot of games these days implement catch up mechanism, but good play is suppose to be rewarding. In any competition, people who is on top of their games are the ones that should and consistently win. Take baseball for example, do you really expect or think it's fair that a team that committed mistakes (errors) to be able to "sweep in and grab a victory" over an opponent that has played better? I sure hope not.

However, I will say that I do prefer close games rather than ones that have a run away leader.

Please explain how the fuck not min/maxing (and thus allowing for SOME margin of error) means I like wild, unabashed randomness? And what if I did? Do I game with you? Are you inherently affected by my decisions?

And yes, good play SHOULD be rewarding -- but not at the cost of being fucking crushed out of contention if you didn't do a certain 'ideal' action on a single turn. This still does not equate to just random winning.

 

[GDJustin]

Please explain how the fuck not min/maxing (and thus allowing for SOME margin of error) means I like wild, unabashed randomness? And what if I did? Do I game with you? Are you inherently affected by my decisions?

And yes, good play SHOULD be rewarding -- but not at the cost of being fucking crushed out of contention if you didn't do a certain 'ideal' action on a single turn. This still does not equate to just random winning.

Whoa whoa whoa. First of all. I'm new-ish to the BG topic here at GAF but one thing I love about it is the vibe and friendliness. So please check the ugly attitude at the door. Zalasta's post was not at all hostile.

~~~

Anyway, I'm not sure what you're looking for in a game actually exists. Or that you know what you're looking for. If Player A makes a few errors but still generally plays well, he's only going to get crushed by Player B if they don't make those errors. If player B is playing at a similar skill level, they will end the game close to even... which is how it should be. I mean, if one player plays smarter/better than another, they should come out on top, no?

I don't have super extensive euro BG experience, but I've never come across a scenario where one small min/maxing error has cost the game. It seems like you have a specific game or story in mind - care to share?

Lastly, most eurogames do have a strong degree of randomness. They just don't hand their hats on it the way a lot of US games do. Carcassonne and Dominion are the most played games at my house. Yes in Carcassonne a good player will run circles around a new player. But they're still at the mercy of the tile draw, you know? If they draw lots of roads, they're probably going to lose. Ditto for dominion. One time my wife and I had the exact same turns, buying the same stuff, for 3-4 turns in a row. When we both shuffled I got a different draw from my hand than her, allowing me to pull ahead.

~~~~

Bottom line is, to me it sounds like you're blaming the game mechanics for an issue that isn't actually the fault of the game at all. It's the same with fighting games, or FPS. The mechanics are only as good as your competition. If you were to play Street Fighter 4 with some friends you could have lots of back and forth matches and have a great time. But you could enter a tourney and have min/maxers wipe the floor with you.

 

[Neverfade]

Whoa whoa whoa. First of all. I'm new-ish to the BG topic here at GAF but one thing I love about it is the vibe and friendliness. So please check the ugly attitude at the door. Zalasta's post was not at all hostile.

But it was unnecessary. Apologies if my not taking kindly to generalizations is bothering you.

I don't have super extensive euro BG experience, but I've never come across a scenario where one small min/maxing error has cost the game. It seems like you have a specific game or story in mind - care to share?

As much as you've posted in this thread, you don't know what game I'm referring to? There's only one off the top of my head I can claim I really hate.

It just seems like everyone wants to jump on the lynch-train to defend Euros. I'm not even the one who said I dislike Euros.

 

[AstroLad]

Neverfade has Uwe Rosenberg locked up in his basement. Let's just get it out there.

 

[Neverfade]

Neverfade has Uwe Rosenberg locked up in his basement. Let's just get it out there.

:lol

It's true. Man, its difficult for me to even get into a game of Bohnanza these days.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Got Horus Heresy all set up and took some pictures but my laptop will no longer recognise my camera. Oh well.

Aesthetically the game is awesome. It feels very epic and there's definite value for money there. Everything is of typical FFG quality. Not sure how I feel about the plastic bases. While cool in concept they seem to push the board up slightly. That may change in time. Still, can't wait to play it.

 

[Neverfade]

Got Horus Heresy all set up and took some pictures but my laptop will no longer recognise my camera. Oh well.

Aesthetically the game is awesome. It feels very epic and there's definite value for money there. Everything is of typical FFG quality. Not sure how I feel about the plastic bases. While cool in concept they seem to push the board up slightly. That may change in time. Still, can't wait to play it.

My main quip about HH, I think, is going to be the scenarios. Is there one 'base' scenario that the game can 'normally' be played with?

 

[Captain_Spanky]

My main quip about HH, I think, is going to be the scenarios. Is there one 'base' scenario that the game can 'normally' be played with?

The scenarios aren't really scenarios in the way you'd think. The basic one has both armies set up for you, the next lets you place units yourself under a set of restrictions. The third adds in the idea of "dead regions" - sections of the board that are so worn torn that they are impassible and unusable. Each player gets to designate two such areas. No. 4 adds the possibility of the imperial hold out victory becoming a draw. 5 offers the greatest player freedom: each side gets to place units and then collaborate on the games event deck. The sixth mixes all the special rules together and is, in its own words, anarchy and not to everyone's taste.

Interestingly the event deck is used as both a timer and a narrative and I imagine some creative scenarios could be made using that idea. At the moment it's mostly defined by the booklet except in the one case where both players try to manipulate it to their advantage.

 

[Neverfade]

The scenarios aren't really scenarios in the way you'd think. The basic one has both armies set up for you, the next lets you place units yourself under a set of restrictions. The third adds in the idea of "dead regions" - sections of the board that are so worn torn that they are impassible and unusable. Each player gets to designate two such areas. No. 4 adds the possibility of the imperial hold out victory becoming a draw. 5 offers the greatest player freedom: each side gets to place units and then collaborate on the games event deck. The sixth mixes all the special rules together and is, in its own words, anarchy and not to everyone's taste.

Interestingly the event deck is used as both a timer and a narrative and I imagine some creative scenarios could be made using that idea. At the moment it's mostly defined by the booklet except in the one case where both players try to manipulate it to their advantage.

Ah, so they're glorified 'variant' rules? Excellent. I'll have to do some more poking around. I need more great 2 player games in my collection.

P.S. - Whats your username on BGG if you don't mind me asking? I'd like to take a peek at your collection and talk shop. There's not many other here that love the AT like we do. It can be lonely sometimes.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Yeah that's exactly right. On BGG I'm JezUK, but I've not put my collection up. I will now!

 

[Zalasta]

But it was unnecessary. Apologies if my not taking kindly to generalizations is bothering you.

Heh, you made a generalization about Euro's, so...pot and kettle? Not to mention mine was directed as a question, you could've simply refute it, but instead you went on defensive mode. Whatever, I would not play a game with you if you have that kind of attitude.

A lot of Euro is about making an efficiency engine, some more forgiving than others. The better ones have catch up mechanisms that will allow people who've made mistakes to still have a chance. I don't know how extensive your boardgaming experience is, but I feel that your sweeping comment is not completely accurate.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with randomness, some of my favorite games have huge amount of luck involved.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Heh, you made a generalization about Euro's, so...pot and kettle? Not to mention mine was directed as a question, you could've simply refute it, but instead you went on defensive mode. Whatever, I would not play a game with you if you have that kind of attitude.

Jesus dude, kill the snottiness. You sound like a douche.

 

[Neverfade]

Heh, you made a generalization about Euro's, so...pot and kettle?

You're telling me that Euro's DON'T lend themselves to a more mechanic-driven system where there's fewer right things to do? Really?!

 

[GDJustin]

As much as you've posted in this thread, you don't know what game I'm referring to? There's only one off the top of my head I can claim I really hate.

It just seems like everyone wants to jump on the lynch-train to defend Euros. I'm not even the one who said I dislike Euros.

No, I don't. I don't know what you're talking about, to be honest.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Here's some pictures of Horus Heresy set up for the starting scenario.

The whole board

A factory with a platoon of World Eaters outside, along with their champion

The emperor's palace, with the Death Guard in green storming the outer wall .

The strategic map. Playing order cards on here delays their action but reduces their cost and gives other bonuses

The Vengeful Spirit HOME TO THE FILTHY TRAITOR HORUS HIMSELF.

 

[AstroLad]

That little piece of land on the bottom always reminds me of a Genesis controller.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Now I cannot unsee it

 

[Neverfade]

Now I cannot unsee it

Same!

Those cardboard dudes are kinda disappointing given there's figures for all the other units. Boooooo!

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Naw, I like the way they tower over everything, and the portraits give them a kind of...statuesque quality. Considering they represent the champions and heroes I think that fits.

 

[Neverfade]

Naw, I like the way they tower over everything, and the portraits give them a kind of...statuesque quality. Considering they represent the champions and heroes I think that fits.

They could have just used bigger, more colorful minis!

 

[Captain_Spanky]

Yeah but it wouldn't have had the same amount of colour and detail. I like having their portrait and banner like that. Courses for horses though

 

[AstroLad]

RFTG digression since I'm obsessed again.

Hidden fortress is an amazing, amazing card. One of my better military outings there. Pretty looking forward to the new expansion myself now, but maybe just for vs. CPU because all my friends have a tenuous understanding of the base game (and my wife has a good understanding, but doesn't know about takeovers either, plus takeovers are just silly with 2).

Takeovers are hilarious though. I've played about 15 games and focused specifically on military since obviously that's what RvI is all about. And I had two takeovers total in those games. Not even big ones.

The bitch about military strategy, especially with the expansions, is you really need a nice mana curve in military-strength cards.

 

[biggyfries]

SUCCESS!

the wife played Ticket to Ride this weekend...and loved it. We played with very simple rules, as the kids were with us--most points win.

She sees how good of a "screw 'em" game it could be, and wants to play again.

Since I have passed this hurdle, is there a recommednation for the next game?

I was thinking Campaign Manager, as she likes politics, and screwing your neighbor/competitor, but the rules seem to be complicated. Are they that bad, or would 1960 be a bit easier?

Also have Bang! and Illuminati to try out.

 

[AstroLad]

Are you looking for a two-player game or more (the latter part would indicate more but dunno if that's related to your request). Any themes or mechanics she loves or hates?

 

[biggyfries]

Are you looking for a two-player game or more (the latter part would indicate more but dunno if that's related to your request). Any themes or mechanics she loves or hates?

Probably a 2-player game, for now. we have enough family games, and I think TtR would be the farthest her sisters/mother/aunt would go.

as for themes, she doesnt like space, fantasy, or deck-building, to name a few off the top of my head.

Bang! is a suggestion, since her family might like it, as it is not that far-fetched.

Illuminati is an idea, as long as it is the Deluxe edition. NWO and Sub Genius would make her walk out of the room upon mention. :lol

I have Campaign Manager, but very unsure of the rule complication. Will need to read it more, and see what happens.

She does like Fluxx.

I had Pandemic out one time, doing a 1-player game and learning it, and she rolled her eyes. Granted, that was at least 6 months ago, so maybe she has changed.

It seems to be either board or card games.

Games that are out:
Dominion
Race for the Galaxy
Settlers of Catan (i dont like this, either)


Here is my collection. I dont keep up-to-date play stats, but will at least acknowledge the first play of a game.

 

[AstroLad]

I don't have personal experience with CM, but it seems that it's fairly mediumweight and the reviews are pretty good. 1960 itself is really a borderline gateway game; I still think it's too heavy for most casuals but if someone is a history or political buff they can usually weather the storm of learning the gameplay.

One of my favorites, which takes literally five minutes to learn and costs ten bucks at most, but nevertheless has tons of really interesting strategy and back and forth (as long as you play with the "advanced" rule of only claiming flags at the beginning of a turn) is Battle Line. If she's into TTR, Nordic Countries is definitely worth getting as it's tailored to 2-3 (max is actually 3) and throws in some new mechanics. Stone Age is actually pretty good with two and it scales up to 4. Basic but fun worker placement, and a really beautiful game.

 

[Jasconius]

AstroLad or anyone, do you play RftG online either on Genie, this other implementation, or anywhere else? (sorry if it's been discussed already, I'm pretty behind reading through the thread)

I've only tried playing on genie in the last few days and it's really fun to get to play between my somewhat infrequent board game days with friends here in town, even if the games tend to be really slow. I was just wondering if people would be interested in playing sometime in the next few days, especially if people would be interested in trying that one at flexboardgames out since it seems like it would be a lot faster than genie is but no one seems to use it very often.

I have most of the next couple days free if anyone is interested, just drop me a PM or post here.

 

[AstroLad]

Yep we used to play genie all the time. Never tried that other one but I created a 2p advanced game with base+gs no goals if you wanna join. (flexboard) wanna check it out

 

[Jasconius]

I joined. Took me a minute to see you posted. ^^

 

[AstroLad]

Cool I'm there. Which one is better?

edit: hmmm looks like this one is. no f5ing whoo

 

[biggyfries]

I don't have personal experience with CM, but it seems that it's fairly mediumweight and the reviews are pretty good. 1960 itself is really a borderline gateway game; I still think it's too heavy for most casuals but if someone is a history or political buff they can usually weather the storm of learning the gameplay.

One of my favorites, which takes literally five minutes to learn and costs ten bucks at most, but nevertheless has tons of really interesting strategy and back and forth (as long as you play with the "advanced" rule of only claiming flags at the beginning of a turn) is Battle Line. If she's into TTR, Nordic Countries is definitely worth getting as it's tailored to 2-3 (max is actually 3) and throws in some new mechanics. Stone Age is actually pretty good with two and it scales up to 4. Basic but fun worker placement, and a really beautiful game.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I was looking at Nordic Countries, and will probably bite, when it is re-released.

I will look into Stone Age; it seems pretty fun, but might not have enough of a "f*ck-em-all" vibe. :lol

Battle Line will be iffy. She's not too hip on the Egyptian theme, but it seems that she would like the premise itself.

 

[AstroLad]

Yeah, Battle Line is very much an abstract game. Not into the theme myself but it's quite elegant for a cheapo title.

 

[platypotamus]

:lol

It's true. Man, its difficult for me to even get into a game of Bohnanza these days.

You're a monster too! All this time I thought you and Astrolad were stand up guys, but he hasn't played TTA, and you don't even like Bohnanza now? This is terrible. What other dark secrets will I uncover in this thread?

 

[AstroLad]

Anyone up for some RFTG in the next few hours?

woot woot RFTG-online-age back in the house

edit: holy crap just played possibly the lowest-scoring 2p game ever 19-17 won it and closed it out with the ol 0-cost 2 VP pilgrimage world as my second settle (improved logistics, 0 cards in hand at end)

 

[FnordChan]

Bang! is a suggestion, since her family might like it, as it is not that far-fetched.

Bang! is a fun party/group sort of game, so long as no one takes it too seriously, while at the same time people are ready for something more complicated than, say, Uno. Be sure you're only playing with the base set, as the expansions do nothing but make it drag on interminably.

Illuminati is an idea, as long as it is the Deluxe edition.

I dearly love Illuminati, but if you're looking for two-player games with your wife, this is not it. Illuminati really needs at least 4 people to work properly.

She does like Fluxx.

If she's a Flux fan you may want to give Chrononauts a shot.

FnordChan

 

[AstroLad]

also alchemy finally comes out next week

 

[Stumpokapow]

Played my first game of Bohnanza last night, six players. Everyone had a great time, but I don't think any of us really formed anything resembling a coherent strategy. At the end of the game when we were tallying scores, no one had a clue who was going to win. Also, I think we all donated a bit too much--I'm not sure if that's a result of overly friendly gameplay or just poor min/maxing. Also most of us had very small hand sizes which to me implies that we were trading away too many cards for too few in return. We did play the variant listed at the end of the rules--discard cocoa and green(?), third field costs two coins, draw four cards instead of three at the end of the turn.

Played another game of Kill Doctor Lucky. Six players. Shortest play ever. Fourth murder attempt succeeded. The initial hand distribution was pretty low on failure cards and high on the right balance of weapons and movement cards, so by everyone's second turn existing murder attempts had run down the failure cards. I'm not sure if this was just a weird coincidence, or if six players all abusing turn chaining just accelerates gameplay unduly.

Also got the local geek store to place an order for Chrononauts because pretty much everyone in our social circle expressed some interest in the concept and being just the size of a pack of cards, it seems like it'd be pretty portable.

 

[platypotamus]

So that single player rftg is pretty hot. The AI IS brutal.

I've learned that I shouldn't just jump into RvI to try it without knowing anything about it, too.

 

[slayn]

of my two previous purchases: Chaos in the Old World and Game of Thrones, Chaos seems by far the btter game.

Game of Thrones... we played it once and I'm not really inclined to play it again. It felt like we spent the majority of the time fiddling with pieces and moving things around instead of *playing*. The total time wasn't bad, but the play time vs upkeep time kind of turned me off. The end was also extremely anti-climactic. I ended up losing at the last second because of a minor detail, even though in the end I was easily in the strongest position.

I strongly dislike the fact that its about occupying castles rather than crushing everyone else.

Chaos in the old world though... love it. Fun, fun game. I don't even know anything about warhammer but I love the theme. The fact that all 4 people play by different rules but yet the game seems very well balanced gets a huge thumbs up from me. I've played it 3 times now and am looking forward to more.

---

Next purchase I've decided is going to be Carson City. It wasn't on my list of potentials that I've gathered from reccomendations in this thread, but I just happened across it and felt compelled to buy it immediately.

 

[platypotamus]

Next purchase I've decided is going to be Carson City. It wasn't on my list of potentials that I've gathered from reccomendations in this thread, but I just happened across it and felt compelled to buy it immediately.

Seems that that game is getting mentioned a bit all of a sudden... but my innate hatred of Nevada has thus far kept me from looking into it.

However, since I'm supposed to be working right now...

*off to BGG*

 

[BattleMonkey]

Chaos in the old world though... love it. Fun, fun game. I don't even know anything about warhammer but I love the theme. The fact that all 4 people play by different rules but yet the game seems very well balanced gets a huge thumbs up from me. I've played it 3 times now and am looking forward to more..

Even if you don't know the universe that well, they included pretty good background info.

The whole warpstone and skaven stuff I think is the only stuff that would leave most non fans clueless to meaning.