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[platypotamus]

I made a single player Chrononauts game for my senior project in college, with AI players and such. I'm still pretty proud of it. The AI players could have various personalities, which dictated which of the various victory conditions they tried the hardest to win with (Timeline, Artifacts, or Hand Size).

The two other aspects of their personalities were "Attention Span" (I like to think of it more as a bluff chance though... the odds of taking an action that had nothing to do with any of their goals) and "Opportunism", which was their propensity for changing priorities based on game state (Personality doesn't care much about timeline, but another player's actions just made that victory a lot easier).

Aced the class, and was generally considered one of the two best projects (my competition was a traffic simulator that could be used by city planners to simulate light timings and such).


Anyway, like I keep telling Astrolad, I kind of want to do a Flash version of Roborally sometime soon, but am suffering from too-many-projects syndrome.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Did some 'Last Night on Earth' last night due to last minute pull out from our Warhammer RPG group. Fun game but we drew randomly the Zombie Apocalypse scenario and really it was lame. It's just completely unfair scenario for the hero players mainly because of so many cards that will auto take over buildings.

 

[AstroLad]

all set for (new expansion!) game night gonna try out farmers of the moor first then of course dig in to some alchemy

 

[Stumpokapow]

I made a single player Chrononauts game for my senior project in college, with AI players and such. I'm still pretty proud of it. The AI players could have various personalities, which dictated which of the various victory conditions they tried the hardest to win with (Timeline, Artifacts, or Hand Size).

The two other aspects of their personalities were "Attention Span" (I like to think of it more as a bluff chance though... the odds of taking an action that had nothing to do with any of their goals) and "Opportunism", which was their propensity for changing priorities based on game state (Personality doesn't care much about timeline, but another player's actions just made that victory a lot easier).

Awesome, I also did CS. Every time I play a board game half my mental power is used dreaming up how an AI for the game would work

So far, I would figure that bluffing would be almost strictly counterproductive, especially in >2 player games. In a 4 player game with no overlapping lynchpins on ID cards, literally any lynchpin flip that doesn't help you hurts you. Even playing non-required artifacts when you don't plan to sac them immediately makes you vulnerable to artifact theft. Of course, discarding has that kind of opportunity cost too since the discard pile can be raided.

Which AI won, by the way?

 

[platypotamus]

Well, playing with the "dumb" AIs that never change their strategy relative to the game-state, and that bluff more than they should (keep in mind that I consider it to be bluffing just to play an artifact that's worthless to you into your collection... literally any card that doesn't directly move you towards the goal you are focused on is counted as a bluff here, and since I rarely had them discard, it meant they were technically bluffing nearly any time they couldn't advance their goal)... the hand size goal AI (named Mr. Burns, IIRC) was by far the most dangerous. The other AI's wouldn't actively seek to patch the timeline often, and would be stuck with a tiny hand size, so their strategy didn't snowball as much as his would.

Playing with more the AI personalities that adapted, or cared about multiple goals, it still seems like the AI focused on the timeline was the loser most often (UNLESS he drew the character that wins with 13 paradoxes. Then he wins a lot). I mostly tested with myself and 3 AI players, and mostly was working towards the goal of having my win percentage being less than 50% with those numbers, which I succeeded at.

The big limitation preventing them from being more beastly is that they never actually start to build a model of what objectives other players are trying to achieve. I as a human will know pretty quickly that AI#1 needs Kennedy alive, for example, and can actively seek to thwart that, whether or not it matters to me. They never care about that sort of thing. When they play cards like New Mission or Your Parents Never Met, they do only the most rudimentary of figuring to decide who to target (New Mission they just go by Artifact count, they don't even know which Artifacts pair together except for their own goal).

 

[AstroLad]

Impressions from the weekend.

Dominion: Alchemy: We played I think the first recommended Intrigue/Alchemy set -- "Servants." A super action-friendly set. Lets you dig around for actions and play them for free, lets you get VPs per action card, etc. Whenever we have new cards we mostly play around with them rather than focusing on boring winning. So this game took forever, especially when you add in the fairly time-consuming Possession, which 2/3 of us bought 2-3 of. I won b/c the person to my left was just focusing on money mostly, so I got to buy a ton of Provinces that way. Seems like it could be fun, but I'm not sure this was the best set. Would be cool if they had some recommended Alchemy+Seaside sets since Intrigue is my least favorite of all the sets, so that may have been a part of it.
7/10

Agricola: Farmers of the Moor: This game took forever as well (but it's Agricola, so we knew that going in) but I really loved it. Added some great variety to the game. We played the "normal" level, which has improvements (all new) but no occupations. I focused pretty heavily on horses and ultimately got my highest score yet. Think we will alternate between base and this pretty consistently. The Farmers + Improvements + Occupations variants seems like a bit much.
9/10

 

[emomoonbase]

Playing historicals can be annoying as it often just turns into a big history buff knowledge fest. A history dick measuring contest. I dunno, it's just my experience any time I would get involved in a historical game with the old beardy types.

Hah, this is true even with axis and allies and squad leader I've noticed depending on who you play with. Usually if I'm winning I'll get something like "Well, if this was a real war the Russians would never do that..." Wtf, this isn't a role playing recreation...

 

[BomberMouse]

All those impressions on Agricola really makes me want to try it but it's OOS everywhere.

Has anyone played Catacombs? Is it kid friendly? I'd love to hear some impressions, all that flicking can't be boring although the art seems a bit bland

I need to choose between Zooloretto and O Zoo le mio, I'm deciding between one of them as a present for one of my sisters (11 yo), has anyone played those?

 

[AMUSIX]

Chrononauts;LotsOStuff.

A few notes on Chrononauts....

First, I love the game, but it definitely shines with 3 or 4 players. There a LOT more chaos in the time stream.

Second, the 13 paradoxes don't come up too often, they exist mostly as a last-resport temination for a game going nowhere. That said, int he expansion (which I would strongly suggest picking up) there is one character who's win requirement is to have the 13 paradoxes happen. They're a bit difficult to detect at first, and, once someone realizes he's in play, it becomes a bit of a rush to shut him down.

Finally, we have tried a few rule variations. The one that seemed to work nicely for four or five people was the 'two moves per turn' with only one Yellow OR Patch card allowed per turn.

 

[borghe]

All those impressions on Agricola really makes me want to try it but it's OOS everywhere.

currently out of print from z-man games. amazon has the most recent printing in stock for retail ($70). Otherwise the next printing from z-man should be within the next month or two and goes for $45 on CSI. Would definitely pre-order it though. Pretty sure the last printing went OOP within 6 months or so.

 

[Stumpokapow]

A few notes on Chrononauts....

First, I love the game, but it definitely shines with 3 or 4 players. There a LOT more chaos in the time stream.

Second, the 13 paradoxes don't come up too often, they exist mostly as a last-resport temination for a game going nowhere. That said, int he expansion (which I would strongly suggest picking up) there is one character who's win requirement is to have the 13 paradoxes happen. They're a bit difficult to detect at first, and, once someone realizes he's in play, it becomes a bit of a rush to shut him down.

We played with 4 players the weekend and while they were nublets, I can see how a) it's much easier to be stopped and b) it's much easier to inadvertently help someone with four players.

I ended up winning by using a Memo to cancel another player's artifact lay (she had Real Mona Lisa and Excellent Forgery and tried to lay Poor Forgery, I knew exactly what the fuck was up). Then, when my turn rolled around, I used Get Their First to steal Real Mona Lisa, so she went from being about to win the game to being nowhere close. Next turn I ended up getting the patch I needed and winning.

We've got the local nerd store to order in both Early American Chrononauts and The Gore Years, since both are cheap. He didn't have a SKU for Lost Identities but I'll check that one out too if possible. Unfortunately I live in Nowhere, Canada and shipping online tends to be pretty brutal, so unless we're doing a huge order it's better to go through the local shops.

Finally, we have tried a few rule variations. The one that seemed to work nicely for four or five people was the 'two moves per turn' with only one Yellow OR Patch card allowed per turn.

I'm definitely going to check BGG for any house rules or variations. I know I was having much more fun once I got the Gadget that allowed for a bonus Inverter per turn because it felt like I could really rig up some good combos (or alternatively use Patches I have but don't need and then re-flip the Lynch-pin as a way of turbo-drawing cards without helping anyone else).

 

[Yeef]

Dominion: Alchemy: We played I think the first recommended Intrigue/Alchemy set -- "Servants." A super action-friendly set. Lets you dig around for actions and play them for free, lets you get VPs per action card, etc. Whenever we have new cards we mostly play around with them rather than focusing on boring winning. So this game took forever, especially when you add in the fairly time-consuming Possession, which 2/3 of us bought 2-3 of. I won b/c the person to my left was just focusing on money mostly, so I got to buy a ton of Provinces that way. Seems like it could be fun, but I'm not sure this was the best set. Would be cool if they had some recommended Alchemy+Seaside sets since Intrigue is my least favorite of all the sets, so that may have been a part of it.
7/10

I love alchemy. I think it plays best when you have 4~6 Alchemy cards in the set. So many of the cards have great synergy with one another (Alchemists + Herbalists had me drawing my entire deck pretty much every turn in the second game we played). Possession is extremely annoying, especially when you're on the receiving end. In one game we were playing with Throne Room as well and 3 or 4 times I got possessed for two consecutive turns, one of which ended up giving away a province AND a Duchy which was really painful when it turned out that I lost by like 4 points.

We never play any of the recommended card sets in the manuals though. We just take all of the randomizer cards from whichever sets we feel like playing with, shuffle them and turn over the top 10. Then, going once around starting with the player that's going first, each player gets to veto a card that they don't want. If there's any cards that everyone playing unanimously agrees to veto (like Saboteur ) it doesn't count toward any single player's veto limit. If we're playing more than one game in a session all cards that were used a game are ineligible for use in the rest of that session.

Occasionally, we design themed sets to use. We played one game that was all victory cards and cards that are affected by victory cards (Scout, Baron, etc.). That one was a lot of fun. I think everyone ended up with 70+ points. We did one that was all attack cards (easily the most annoying game ever). We've done a few others but I can't recall what the themes were offhand.

 

[AstroLad]

That's what I usually do, but before throwing cards into the mix I like to do two or three of the recommended sets. Usually works out pretty well.

 

[AstroLad]

Kind of funny BG-related news:

DreamWorks acquires Monsterpocalypse for possible Tim Burton film
by Sean O'Neal May 12, 2010 Having recently begun developing Robopocalypse, DreamWorks is apparently seeking to shore up its credentials as the premier source of end-of-the-world entertainment with Monsterpocalypse, based on the popular board game where various kaiju monsters do battle while wreaking havoc on various cityscapes. The studio has acquired the film rights and is said to be courting Tim Burton to help them develop it.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/dreamworks-acquires-monsterpocalypse-for-possible,41076/

Anyone here ever played it? I was turned off by the whole collectible nature of the game and buying packs of monsters like a CCG, then saw you could relatively cheaply get full sets on ebay, but it just seemed like a pain. That said, I always thought the game looked cool and I could certainly always use a good monster game since Monsters Menace America is a terrible, terrible game.

 

[platypotamus]

I never played, but they had a display set up at PAX last year, and damned if their miniatures aren't some of the most beautiful things I've ever laid eyes on.

 

[biggyfries]

Anyone here ever played it? I was turned off by the whole collectible nature of the game and buying packs of monsters like a CCG, then saw you could relatively cheaply get full sets on ebay, but it just seemed like a pain. That said, I always thought the game looked cool and I could certainly always use a good monster game since Monsters Menace America is a terrible, terrible game.

Ive been wanting to get into this, but cant bite the bullet, just because it can be pretty expensive. Still dont know if I want to blow ~$60 on ebay for a set or two to play.

I didnt know that MMA was such a bad game. should I remove from my wishlist? :lol

 

[BattleMonkey]

Kind of funny BG-related news:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/dreamworks-acquires-monsterpocalypse-for-possible,41076/

Anyone here ever played it? I was turned off by the whole collectible nature of the game and buying packs of monsters like a CCG, then saw you could relatively cheaply get full sets on ebay, but it just seemed like a pain. That said, I always thought the game looked cool and I could certainly always use a good monster game since Monsters Menace America is a terrible, terrible game.

I used to run organized play for quite a few months of Monsterpocalypse before the local shop closed down for not paying taxes

It is a very good game. It's a miniature game not really a board game though it has very strategic elements to it. Compared to lot of other CMG's on the market it probably is the most complex of all of them, though the rules are very simple. Complexity comes from tactical planning of combat.

Your monster is your main hitter and generally the key to your force, but you have a force of up to 15 units who give you support. For example you can use your tanks to create a screen of units that block another monster from charging your own.

Collecting the game really is not all that expensive because the game actually uses faction play. Unlike games like Heroclix or most CMG's, you don't simply collect a bunch of good stuff and use it, you simply stick to a faction. You can buy the single figs sometimes for about a buck each while some rarer ones go for more, they are not always needed, and even some rare ones aren't that good and just costly due to rareness.

The most expensive part of the game is the buildings. Each player is recommended to bring about 12 buildings with them to a game, each player after choosing a game mat to play on takes turn placing one of their buildings to they fill it up, and this is your battleground. What buildings you use is a major part of the games strategy as well as some buildings are helpful to you, or harmful to an opponent.

But really when it comes to miniature games or collectible ones at that, it is one of the cheaper options on the market. Ebay sets are a nice way to get a quick cheap force, or a cheaper method often is just to learn the game and then pick the figures you want and buy them individually from a site like miniaturemarket.com or such.

 

[AstroLad]

Thanks for the impressions, sounds pretty interesting.

Ive been wanting to get into this, but cant bite the bullet, just because it can be pretty expensive. Still dont know if I want to blow ~$60 on ebay for a set or two to play.

I didnt know that MMA was such a bad game. should I remove from my wishlist? :lol

Yes! It's a really rough game. Tons of fiddly pieces and then the big battle at the end is just a long dicefest. SUPER anti-climactic. The entire game is basically just to determine how much HP you'll have at the end. Then you roll dice against each other. Really cute art, but outside of that very poor mechanics.

 

[biggyfries]

Yes! It's a really rough game. Tons of fiddly pieces and then the big battle at the end is just a long dicefest. SUPER anti-climactic. The entire game is basically just to determine how much HP you'll have at the end. Then you roll dice against each other. Really cute art, but outside of that very poor mechanics.

sounds like Killer Bunnies+12 expansions. :lol

Edit: thanks for the MonPoc info/impression, BM. I would like to get into this, but was afraid of needing alot of pcs. Since it is faction-based, that will my my wallet not cry as much. :lol

Time to read up on BGG!

 

[BattleMonkey]

An army for monsterpoc just needs a monster fig, and up to 15 of the smaller unit figs, though you can use less if you want, 15 is max.

The more expensive part is buildings which you need to have about 4-12 of.

I know quite a few people who bought their force online in singles and rarely ever bought anything else and are competitive. You can also change your entire strategy and force by simply swapping out your main monster fig.

 

[AstroLad]

You almost got me to put in another order with your 5%-off sale CSI, you clever bastards.

On tap for weekend gamin:

-Memoir 44: My wife got really pissed the last time we played though so maybe not; she is a terrible loser :lol

-Dominion Base+Alchemy: Gotta give Alchemy another shot or two after a lackluster first play. No Possession this time!

-Kingsburg: Don't want to get too burned out on Gric so we'll play this worker-placement dicefest instead.

 

[Evlar]

You almost got me to put in another order with your 5%-off sale CSI, you clever bastards.

On tap for weekend gamin:

-Memoir 44: My wife got really pissed the last time we played though so maybe not; she is a terrible loser :lol

-Dominion Base+Alchemy: Gotta give Alchemy another shot or two after a lackluster first play. No Possession this time!

-Kingsburg: Don't want to get too burned out on Gric so we'll play this worker-placement dicefest instead.

5% off on CSI? How do you get it? Is it a coupon code?

 

[AstroLad]

Yes, got it via email:

Now through Sunday take 5% off any of our board games with code 'BG5' - Use it as many times as you want, but it won't last forever!

 

[Evlar]

Yes, got it via email:

Now through Sunday take 5% off any of our board games with code 'BG5' - Use it as many times as you want, but it won't last forever!

Thanks! Just used this and pulled the trigger on an order I've been dithering over for a week. Getting Runewars + Diminion Seaside + Alchemy.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Played Incan Gold last night.

You have a deck of 30 cards. 15 are worth gems. 15 are hazard cards (3 of each of 5 types). You shuffle and draw a card. If you draw gems, every player equally divides the gems. If it's not evenly divided, the remainder goes in a middle pile. If you draw a hazard card, you're fine until you draw another hazard card of the same type. After each draw, players decide between cashing out their share or continuing. Everyone independently decides and makes their decision known simultaneously. If you draw the second hazard card of a given type, take one of the hazard cards out of the deck for subsequent rounds and toss all the gems, you get nothing. Basically, press your luck.

Besides that, there's only one mechanic. Each round, you add an artifact card into the deck. Once the artifact card has been drawn and played, player decisions impacts who gets the artifact. If everyone continues on, the artifact stays on the board. If exactly one person quits, they take the artifact. If two or more people quit, no one gets the artifact. Artifacts are worth 5 points.

Play 5 rounds. Winner has the most gems at the end. After a given round, you put your gems inside a tent so that you can't see other people's scores.

The theme is nice, the artwork is ok, the little tents are cute.

Basically it's strictly playing the odds. There are 27 cards left. One hazard has appeared. That means 2/27 cards can end it. There are 23 cards left. Three hazard types have appeared. 6/23 cards can end it. There are 18 cards left. All five hazard types have appeared. 10/18 cards can end it. This round, we removed a fire card, so now there are only two left in the deck.

So you can either play without discussing the odds, in which case the game is basically "Who is capable of doing basic mental math?"--and basic is key, the formula is literally (number of remaining hazard cards of the types that are face up on the board) / (number of cards in deck - number of visible cards)--or you play while discussing the odds, in which case the game is basically "What is your risk tolerance?".

The only other mechanic there really is is whether or not your risk tolerance should increase if you need to catch up to other players, but since there's only 5 rounds, it's very easy to keep track of everyone's relative position mentally and decide this question.

Artifacts are neat enough, I guess, you get a kind of prisoner's dilemma situation, but their overall value is fairly low compared to just playing the game.

 

[ianp622]

Can't believe my mom and I just spent $30 on Chessex dice yesterday. But they are SO COOL. Maybe I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.

 

[platypotamus]

You almost got me to put in another order with your 5%-off sale CSI, you clever bastards.

You and me both, but I've promised the wife I won't buy anything new until after my birthday.

 

[AstroLad]

Maybe I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.

Go for it never stops me :lol

 

[Yeef]

Played Incan Gold last night.

That's from an entire line Gryphon Games put out that's meant to appeal to a more casual crowd called the Bookshelf Series. [Insert Wii joke here]. I haven't played them all, but of the ones I've played I liked Gem Dealer the best. Master's Gallery is just a poor man's Modern Art and I didn't really care for Incan Gold or Roll Through the Ages too much.

I played Thurn & Taxis for the first time a couple of days ago. It's sort of like a cross between Elfenland and Ticket to Ride. I played it with one other person, but I feel like it's the sort of game that is most fun with three or more people.

 

[Stumpokapow]

That's from an entire line Gryphon Games put out that's meant to appeal to a more casual crowd called the Bookshelf Series. [Insert Wii joke here]. I haven't played them all, but of the ones I've played I liked Gem Dealer the best. Master's Gallery is just a poor man's Modern Art and I didn't really care for Incan Gold or Roll Through the Ages too much.

I'd heard a number of recommendations from otherwise non-casuals for "For Sale", which is part of the same line and Dice Tower / Tom Vasal gave Incan Gold a good review, so despite the description of the game as a "Press Your Luck" type I assumed it'd be a little more... substantial than it was.

I mean, it was fun because it was well constructed and fast paced, but it's clearly not much of a game. :/

 

[BattleMonkey]

FFG just announced a new card game set in the 40k universe. It's apparently Space Hulk, but in a card game format. It's a cooperative card game for up to 6 players. Be interesting to see what they do with that in comparison to the two player versus board game.

 

[AstroLad]

Kingsburg is a lot of fun. Going to pick up the expansion for that. Really nice light worker-placement game with a lot of luck built in that you can mitigate a bit.

I couldn't resist the CSI sale after all! Didn't need much of an excuse with Brink of War coming out Monday and the fact that we have a vacation coming up next week so also picked up Catacombs (flicking!), Neuroshima Hex (1v1 light battlefield goodness), M44: Eastern Front (eat it haters! played again this weekend and we enjoyed ourselves!), and En Garde (seems like a really fun light game, and I used to fence a lot so bonus).

 

[Neverfade]

Fuck Golem. What a pace-killer. I don't even want to try Possession. Not digging Alchemy so far.

 

[AstroLad]

Fuck Golem. What a pace-killer. I don't even want to try Possession. Not digging Alchemy so far.

Yes, Possession is waaay worse of a pace-killer. Especially when people start asking questions like wait what happens when I Possess a Possession or almost any other semi-complex card. I actually like Golem but so far no one else in my group does. First game we had BOTH and it was brutal. Last night we had Golem and no Possession and I thought it went a lot smoother.

 

[Neverfade]

I also want no part of that card that requires you to count your deck each time.

Apothecary is pretty tasty though.

 

[borghe]

woot!!!

http://blog.daysofwonder.com/?p=1357&language=en

Cursed and Grand Dames are going back into print. Timed to coincide with the Tales & Legends expansion. Waiting to see if CSI will have the pre-order up, but $35 if you want all three expansions directly from DoW.

 

[platypotamus]

woot!!!

http://blog.daysofwonder.com/?p=1357&language=en

Cursed and Grand Dames are going back into print. Timed to coincide with the Tales & Legends expansion. Waiting to see if CSI will have the pre-order up, but $35 if you want all three expansions directly from DoW.

FYI: Those are expansions for Small World, for those as clueless as I was at first


Hoping to get some good board gaming action this Friday, but I don't know if it'll happen.

 

[borghe]

fwiw I didn't clarify because we were JUST talking about it further up the page

did get some gaming in this weekend. got a four player ticket to ride... screwed up BIG TIME by not taking Vancouver to Seattle right away.. you snooze you lose.

then we played Mystery Express... didn't go over well but it was the first time ANY of us played it. the passenger car I swear is one of the most overly complicated game mechanics I've come across in recent years. by the end some of us warmed up to it a bit more (including myself) but it's going to be a tough sell again with that particular lineup of players.

did play my first ever game of Dominion last weekend. Like you'd imagine, I loved it. My brother enjoyed it but didn't "love it". Though I think with him how well he does in a game his first time plays a large part on his first impression. Needless to say, he didn't catch on that I was buying victory cards as early as he should have or that he needed to switch gears as well.. Still, by his own words he would be up for playing it again... still, would like to get a 3+ player game going.

got the green light to place another reasonably sized order with CSI next week. Thinking about what to put in there. Probably one high-priced game (thinking Horus Heresy or Catacombs) and an expansion or few for current games.

 

[Whifflebat]

Had some good gaming sessions recently. Introduced Descent, along with the Alter of Despair expansion, to the gaming group and everyone really enjoyed it. Printed off some player and overlord mats this weekend which should hopefully make our next session go a little quicker.

I see that Agricola is apparantly getting another print run in May (according to Z-Man Games) and the group has been a little interested in maybe trying it out. We have three regular players and my local store will have it for $69.99. We're intermediate/advanced players who have Dominion, RoboRally, Chaos in the Old World, MtG, Star Wars Minis and Catan in the regular rotation. Would Agricola make a good fit? Also, how long does an average 3-4 player game take?

 

[AstroLad]

I see that Agricola is apparantly getting another print run in May (according to Z-Man Games) and the group has been a little interested in maybe trying it out. We have three regular players and my local store will have it for $69.99. We're intermediate/advanced players who have Dominion, RoboRally, Chaos in the Old World, MtG, Star Wars Minis and Catan in the regular rotation. Would Agricola make a good fit? Also, how long does an average 3-4 player game take?

Some quick hits on Agricola:
-Can be a bit overwhelming at first. In the regular game you have 7 occupation cards and seven minor improvements in your hand, not to mention the board of major improvements available to everyone. One of those games I'd suggest learning by yourself then teaching slowly to everyone if you don't usually do that.
-As with most worker-placement games, only general direct conflict is in choosing roles and thus preventing others from choosing those roles. Conflict isn't really a plus or minus in my group, but some feel that a lack of conflict is a negative.
-With 3-4 new players, I'd say a game should take about two hours. We're all fairly experienced (10+ plays) by now, but our games still take 1.5-2.5 hours for 3-4.
-All that said, it's probably our favorite game at the moment. Just so many combinations with the different decks (easy, medium, and hard basically, you can mix them but I'd suggest not) and the many different kinds of improvements and occupations. While it's a fairly long game, it doesn't feel long to us because we're always worried about our next turns. Again, for some people lack of conflict will bore them to tears regardless of the game, but for us it's really an edge-of-your-seat game as you're always worried about people starving, not having any animals/stables/pastures/etc. -- the game penalizes you for ignoring certain areas entirely, and outmaneuvering opponents in terms of role selection.

 

[borghe]

oh, I should mention that the biggest problem with Mystery Express for us was that it seemingly has a pretty steep learning curve. Not a particularly long learning curve, but figuring out the point of the actions available in the cars took a bit, and like I said, it probably took like 3-4 times in the passenger car to get the hang of it, and part of that involved going with a house rule there and then. with all of that I think the setup and first turn came in somewhere around 2 hours......... :\ rest of the game went for maybe another 90-120 minutes but by that point we were already on 4 hours and that was AFTER the TtR game. Next game (with different people) should go better as I know how to play, but man... easily the most complicated DoW game I've played.. much more so next to games like TtR, Small World, Pirate's Cove, etc.

 

[Whifflebat]

Thanks, Astrolad. To me Agricola sounds awesome (the choosing of roles reminds me a little of Puerto Rico). One member in our group does really like conflict, but I don't think it would be a problem. I watched a video explanation of the rules at BGG which was very helpful. I'll probably pick it up once my game store finally gets more copies in. Even if the game group isn't into it, I bet my wife would play a farming game (especially if I grab the animeeples pack!).

This recent gaming itch of mine is starting to get expensive...

 

[Ferrio]

Thanks, Astrolad. To me Agricola sounds awesome (the choosing of roles reminds me a little of Puerto Rico). One member in our group does really like conflict, but I don't think it would be a problem. I watched a video explanation of the rules at BGG which was very helpful. I'll probably pick it up once my game store finally gets more copies in. Even if the game group isn't into it, I bet my wife would play a farming game (especially if I grab the animeeples pack!).

This recent gaming itch of mine is starting to get expensive...

I got agricola because I liked puerto rico so much.... but agricola... eh didn't click with me.

The upkeep between rounds is horrible, and setup is just a pain in the ass. Seems like 25% of the game is fumbling with wooden pieces.

 

[AstroLad]

I got agricola because I liked puerto rico so much.... but agricola... eh didn't click with me.

The upkeep between rounds is horrible, and setup is just a pain in the ass. Seems like 25% of the game is fumbling with wooden pieces.

Not once you get used to it. If everyone has a role (one person does resources, one does animals, other does food and cards) it shouldn't take more than 15 seconds between rounds. Setup itself can be a bit long (5-15m depending how organized you keep your box), but we usually play Gric first if we are playing Gric, so I just set it up before people come over like I do with AH (it's not half as cumbersome to setup or fiddly as AH though, but they're in the same ballpark). Only thing that can make the game drag at all in my experience is the AP very early (when people are still formulating strategies) and very late (when there are a lot of options and people are having to trim the fat on their strategies and face the endgame) but it rarely bothers me because I'm usually thinking about my own moves.

 

[platypotamus]

Maybe it's just the Le Havre and Through the Ages talking, but I don't find the setup for Agricola so bad.

Also, is it just me, or is it almost a relief when you have crappy occupations in your hand?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Maybe it's just the Le Havre and Through the Ages talking, but I don't find the setup for Agricola so bad.

Also, is it just me, or is it almost a relief when you have crappy occupations in your hand?

Only if you're prone to analysis paralysis.

Much rather have a bunch of good occupations than none if it gives me decent plan B and C options in case someone else beats me to the necessary plan A resources and screws up my early build order plans.

 

[platypotamus]

Only if you're prone to analysis paralysis.

Much rather have a bunch of good occupations than none if it gives me decent plan B and C options in case someone else beats me to the necessary plan A resources and screws up my early build order plans.

It's not the paralysis, it's the "I can get get a minor improvement + some other benefit for a turn, but an occupation is my whole action" thing.

 

[BattleMonkey]

So starting up Race for the Galaxy. Group was not too hot on it, guess expected more from all the hype it seems to get. Do the expansions add more complexity and bit more competitiveness in the form of more player conflict?

Don't know, it just seems we are all just drawing cards and playing whatever we can by luck of draw for hopes of getting highest vp by end, strategy was not that huge a factor. Guess we were hoping for more direct douchery like Twilight Imperium but in card format.

 

[Cyan]

So starting up Race for the Galaxy. Group was not too hot on it, guess expected more from all the hype it seems to get. Do the expansions add more complexity and bit more competitiveness in the form of more player conflict?

Don't know, it just seems we are all just drawing cards and playing whatever we can by luck of draw for hopes of getting highest vp by end, strategy was not that huge a factor. Guess we were hoping for more direct douchery like Twilight Imperium but in card format.

The conflict is pretty much all in the role selection. If you want more interaction, well... better play a different game.

But as far as strategy goes, give it a few more plays. It's an incredibly strategic game once you've got a better grasp of it.

 

[BattleMonkey]

The conflict is pretty much all in the role selection. If you want more interaction, well... better play a different game.

But as far as strategy goes, give it a few more plays. It's an incredibly strategic game once you've got a better grasp of it.

I dunno, it just seems like we are all sitting their doing our own thing and not so much playing against each other.