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platypotamus
Member
Also, RftG won't click for you until a few games in. You have to kind of know the deck, and mechanics as a whole to really get much out of it.
But yeah, pretty solitairish.
But yeah, pretty solitairish.
BattleMonkey said:
RFTG is a great game, but it is multiplayer solitare to a point.
Look at it as a multiplayer game of Civilization without the war path to victory. Other players can affect what you do, but there isn't any direct conflict.
Role selection is really interesting because you don't know you will get all the roles like you do with a game of Puerto Rico.. so you do have to figure out which roles you think your opponents are apt to select to make sure you take care of your needs for that turn.
You also have to know the deck pretty well to know what is worth building and what isn't.
BattleMonkey
Member
Sounds like it's not something the group will care to play much more of. Was hoping the expansions would make it more interesting to us, I think I'll just shelve it for use with other people or some casual play when we got only a little time.
BattleMonkey
Member
Not really all about douchery, but more player competition and interaction. As said already, the game is kind of like multiplayer solitaire.
BattleMonkey
Member
I had different impression of what it was supposed to be like :lol
I've done lot of blind game buys, I don't mind the game really, but it's not something my normal gaming group was particularly fond of.
So no one uses the expansions? Saw that the 2nd one added objectives players compete for and the third added rules for military conquests of your opponents worlds.
I've done lot of blind game buys, I don't mind the game really, but it's not something my normal gaming group was particularly fond of.
So no one uses the expansions? Saw that the 2nd one added objectives players compete for and the third added rules for military conquests of your opponents worlds.
The first expansion is really good (imo), and really fleshes out the game well, all strategies really (alien, military, production) and even adds a few new strategies (genes, if you're lucky). I can't really consider going back to just base, which feels pretty empty to me now (though I loved it at the time). It also adds goals (e.g., first to five VP chips, strongest military, they are randomly chosen but you get to see them before your initial discard). The goals are nice and add even more to the already strong "race" feeling of the game.BattleMonkey said:
The second expansion adds a lot too. I felt it a bit too cluttered at first, but after putting some time into it I like it a lot more now. It has a takeover mechanic, which does add conflict, but the situations in which you can execute a takeover are generally rare. New expansion came out yesterday; don't know much about it as it's coming in tomorrow for me but supposedly it adds more conflict among other things.
BattleMonkey
Member
coldvein said:
Heh, I detest that game. I dunno, just found the mechanics silly. Heard its better with the expansion though and that the base game is pretty bare without the extra stuff.
Big order from CSI has arrived (I'm not home to play anything yet). Dominion Seaside and Alchemy are on the agenda for tonight- my wife loves Dominion. Runewars will probably have to wait for a few weeks.
The Plan is to run one or two of the recommended Seaside tables, then slip in Alchemy either by running one of its recommended tables or just mixing in two or three cards into randomized base game/Seaside. Good idea?
The Plan is to run one or two of the recommended Seaside tables, then slip in Alchemy either by running one of its recommended tables or just mixing in two or three cards into randomized base game/Seaside. Good idea?
It's really lowly rated so I'm guessing it's probably not the greatest game (see: www.boardgamegeek.com). I'm sure you could get them into some good games--how many players? what themes are they into?coldvein said:
BattleMonkey
Member
Played some more Rftg with a buddy who is a "true gamer" and loves everything, did a 2 player and we enjoyed it, but agreed it's not something our other gamer pals would easily take too. Just got to keep it for those special occassions with different gamers.
Anyways anyone play the Age of Conan game? Been reading the original old Conan short stories and it's gotten me really into the setting again and always wondered about the board game.
Anyways anyone play the Age of Conan game? Been reading the original old Conan short stories and it's gotten me really into the setting again and always wondered about the board game.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Battlestar Galactica.coldvein said:
alright, kind of REALLY annoyed here. CSI put up the new Small World expansion for pre-order for $9.99.. great! However instead of putting up the other two expansion reprints for pre-order, they just put more back in stock and are still charging $30 each for them.......
looks like I'm pre-ordering the whole thing directly from DoW. Tsk tsk CSI, tsk tsk.... granted I'll be paying $15 for the new expansion, but paying only 1/3 of what they want for the other two........
looks like I'm pre-ordering the whole thing directly from DoW. Tsk tsk CSI, tsk tsk.... granted I'll be paying $15 for the new expansion, but paying only 1/3 of what they want for the other two........
Played Race for the Galaxy for the first time today. It was decent enough, but I think the simultaneous turns hurt it more than help it. For the explore phase I think having a 'card pool' of face up cards and giving the player the option of taking a face up card or a card from the top of the pile would make the game a lot more interesting.
I also played Europa for the second time (The first time was ages ago). This time we had 5 people instead of just 3 and it really changes the dynamic a lot. I sort of screwed everyone in the 3rd round by rolling tons of war and not helping to solve it. The game does a great job of being both competitive and co-operative at the same time and I enjoyed it a lot more with 5 people than I did with 3.
I also played Europa for the second time (The first time was ages ago). This time we had 5 people instead of just 3 and it really changes the dynamic a lot. I sort of screwed everyone in the 3rd round by rolling tons of war and not helping to solve it. The game does a great job of being both competitive and co-operative at the same time and I enjoyed it a lot more with 5 people than I did with 3.
What kind of game could i get that i could play with my girlfriend? (just the 2 of us) She's only somewhat into geeky stuff so a lot of games might be a hard sell. I did get her addicted to World of Warcraft though 
I'd like to play something either sci-fi or fantasy based. I really dig Fantasy flight games even though i haven't played most of their games. I did buy the A Game of Thrones LCG though.
I'd like to play something either sci-fi or fantasy based. I really dig Fantasy flight games even though i haven't played most of their games. I did buy the A Game of Thrones LCG though.
Looks like BGG.con is completely sold out now. Amazing to me how early that happens each year. This is my one DEFINITE convention of the year. Going with wife and two friends. Signed up for GenCon as well (w/ wife) but still deciding on that one.
Couple recommendations based on play with my wife.
Battle Line: Deviously simple (and cheap) card game where you try to make hands to capture flags. Strategy in this game can get very interesting though as there are special cards that act as any number, destroy hands already made, etc. The level of screwage can be intense and very fun. Also plays quickly. No fantasy sci-fi theme though.
Race for the Galaxy: Sci-fi up the wazoo. An amazing 2p game (IMO, haters) when you play with the advanced rules (two roles per turn). Rather complex at first though, but then again most sci-fi and fantasy games will be.
WAAThoverX said:
Couple recommendations based on play with my wife.
Battle Line: Deviously simple (and cheap) card game where you try to make hands to capture flags. Strategy in this game can get very interesting though as there are special cards that act as any number, destroy hands already made, etc. The level of screwage can be intense and very fun. Also plays quickly. No fantasy sci-fi theme though.
Race for the Galaxy: Sci-fi up the wazoo. An amazing 2p game (IMO, haters) when you play with the advanced rules (two roles per turn). Rather complex at first though, but then again most sci-fi and fantasy games will be.
BomberMouse
Member
hoverX said:What kind of game could i get that i could play with my girlfriend? (just the 2 of us) She's only somewhat into geeky stuff so a lot of games might be a hard sell. I did get her addicted to World of Warcraft though
I'd like to play something either sci-fi or fantasy based. I really dig Fantasy flight games even though i haven't played most of their games. I did buy the A Game of Thrones LCG though.
My wife is the complete opposite, she hates fantasy stuff, so maybe these are anti-recommendations? :lol
She loves Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne: Hunterers and Gatherers and Alhambra, the only geeky game she likes is The Last Night on Earth so that might help you (it works with two but I think it's better with more).
Appart from the obvious WoW games, I heard Dungeon Lords and Galaxy Trucker have a strong fantasy/sci-fi theme and work fine with 2 (though somewhat complicated)
BattleMonkey
Member
coldvein said:
Well strategy/war game type stuff and they like WW2, if you want something with nice production values that can potentially wow them and is easy to play, try 'Tide of Iron'. It's WW2 game that focuses more on specific battles and not global domination like Attack! does. Very nice production quality, good figures, and very scalable.
Neverfade said:
But I hate LOTR! :lol
Whifflebat
Member
What kind of game could i get that i could play with my girlfriend? (just the 2 of us) She's only somewhat into geeky stuff so a lot of games might be a hard sell. I did get her addicted to World of Warcraft though
My wife and I play a bunch of two player games and she isn't a fan of sci-fi/fantasy based games at all. We play the following titles fairly regularly.
- Lost Cities (this is kind of the go-to game, since it's plays lightning quick)
- Puerto Rico (the 2 player variant outlined on BGG works great)
- Carcasonne
- Catan: The Card Game (have the all the expansions as well, we both really like this game)
I'm looking to pick up Agricola in the next couple of weeks as well as a game I can play with my main group and my wife.
platypotamus
Member
So my sister-in-law scored the single highest RftG score I've ever seen last night: 72. This is with the first two expansions, not the third one. She almost doubled the second place score of 38. I had 37 :\
echoshifting
Banned
Been awhile since I posted in this thread...
Gents, if you haven't gotten exp. 3 for RtfG (Brink of War)...go get it. Now. It's in stores and it's easily the best expansion produced for the game. My wife and I chatter endlessly about all the possibilities it opens up. I don't see any impressions here so here goes...
My favorite addition is the search/prestige card, a new action card that can be played once per game. If you play it as a "search" card, you are allowed to search the deck for one type of card you declare before searching (and you declare you are using search/prestige before other actions are revealed). Some of the examples you can go after: an alien world, a 1 or 2 cost windfall world, an uplift world, a 6+ development...etc. There are 9 possible searches, and most are pretty well tailored to strategies that require specific cards to win. You turn cards over one at a time so everyone can see what's headed for the discard, and what you end up with. If you don't like the first card that turns up, you can go for another one, but that one you must keep (you can't go back to the first if you like it better).
I didn't think I was going to like it, but it's basically an essential option now that the deck has gotten so big (and it can be a bit unwieldy to shuffle with all 3 expansions). It can help prevent those frustrating situations where your tableau simply never comes together...and for our game group that was becoming something of a problem with the first 2 expansions shuffled in.
Just in general, this expansion is a huge boost to those "fringe" strategies that might work out every once in awhile but rarely do, like alien and uplift. Those strats seem to have gotten the lion's share of the new cards (there are two 9-cost alien settlements) and Lehmann has done a marvelous job bringing them into their own, especially the uplift. I don't think we ever saw an uplift tableau win before this expansion, and I won with uplift the second time we played...both my start world and another world I managed to draw both granted 1 military per uplift world, which made for pretty ridiculous military strength by the end of the game.
Obviously, though, the big gamechanger here is prestige...and it's a doozy. Prestige will completely change the game, though in my opinion it vastly improves it. Note that prestige is NOT an optional addition like takeover; you must use it if you play with this expansion. Here's how it works:
-You set up a prestige pool similar to the VP pool at the start of the game (and the VP pool itself is slightly larger...5 points...to accomodate prestige).
-Prestige can be earned in a similar fashion to VP, although it is much harder to set up a prestige "machine" similar to standard consume tableaus (though it is possible). Certain cards net you a point just for playing them, in fact you already have some of these cards (any card with a pink circle in the upper left awards 1 point when you play it).
-When you earn a prestige point, you take a chip. If this means you now have the most prestige points out of all players, you take the prestige leader token and place it in front of you with the chip you just earned on top of it (if another player becomes the leader later in the round, you take any chips you have on top of the leader token and put them in your pile before handing it over).
-If you are the prestige leader at the top of a turn, you get a free victory point. If two or more players are tied, they each get a victory point.
-If you are the prestige leader AND you have a chip on top of the leader token, you also get to draw a card, although you remove any chips on the token and add them to your total (in other words, you only get a card for being the leader if you earned at least one point on your last turn).
-Each prestige point is worth 1 vp when the game ends.
This is simplifying things just a tad but you get the idea.
Now, I have always been of the opinion that RtfG becomes much less of a "group solitaire" game when you learn how to play at a more advanced level, but even that is nothing next to the interaction brought to the table by prestige. The effect here is that you need to constantly track your opponent's ability to earn prestige and weigh a whole new option among your many strategic choices...is it better to produce a prestige and take back prestige leader or go for 2 VPs instead? Do I just give up on prestige and try to end the game before the leader accrues too many vps with it (it IS possible to win without incorporating prestige into your tableau, of course)? It adds a layer of depth and interaction to the game that longtime players of the game will appreciate a great deal.
You can also spend one of your prestige points to utilize the other option on the prestige/search card...its prestige function (obviously). Just like search, you announce you're using prestige and what phase you will be using it for before actions are revealed. Unlike search, however, it acts just like a normal action phase card, though you must choose which phase it will act as. In exchange for the chip you spent, you gain a significant bonus to the normal benefit of whichever action card it's acting as. So, for example, if it's standing in for Consume 2xvps, you get triple vps. If it's standing in as develop, you get -3 to placement cost. Produce, you get to draw three cards and produce an extra windfall good. Every benefit could be a gamechanger, though you have to carefully weigh the risk of falling behind on prestige (and giving up your search option) before playing it.
There are also the standard additions on top of all of this...lots of great, interesting new cards (most focused around the prestige mechanic, so if you don't think it's for you, don't buy this)...some very cool new start worlds...great new goals...etc. Everything you'd want is here. Here are a few of my favorite new cards for the 10 or so games I've played so far...these have all seen table time; there are some very cool looking ones that haven't entered our play environment yet:
-Galactic Scavengers: blue windfall 2/0 (start world). When you place a development or a settlement, you put one of the cards you spent to pay for it under this card. During produce, you may draw all of the cards under this card into your hand.
-Rebel Freedom Fighters: rebel military 3/1 (start world). +1 explore. Gain 1 PP (prestige point) when you place a rebel development or rebel settlement. +1 military, which becomes -2 military if you have an imperium card in your tableau.
-Retrofit & Salvage, Inc: 2/1 production world. -1 develop. Produces a blue good. Round End: after discarding, take all other players' discards into your hand and keep them.
-Psi-Crystal World: 5/3 brown windfall (prestige). +1 explore. -1 military. Round Start: select your action after all other players turn up their action cards
-Federation Capital: 3/? gray world. Gain 1 prestige after placing a 6-cost development. Consume: 1 good (any) for 1 PP. ? is equal to the number of prestige points you have at the end of the game.
-Universal Peace Institute: 6/? development (prestige). -2 to settle cost, -2 military. Consume: two goods (any) for 1 PP, 1 VP and 1 card. ? = total negative military. +1 for each military world. +2 for Pan-Galactic Mediator.
I'm dying to come up with an effective tableau for that last one. It is my personal RtfG goal right now.
I'm focusing on "new toys" here, rest assured there are plenty of "solid" cards that will back up old strategies, like:
Galactic Markets: 4/2 development (prestige). Draw a card after placing a world. Consume: discard up to 3 goods (any) for 1 vp apiece. Produce: draw 1 card.
or
Rebel Sneak Attack: 2/1 rebel development. Explore: combine draw w/hand. Settle: may discard from tableau after settling to place a military world. May discard from tableau to take over a military world from an imperium tableau, adding 2 military for each rebel world in your tableau.
All that said, this is NOT an expansion for newbies. The cards introduced to the game here are, for the most part, substantially more complex than those in the base game and the first two expansions...indeed, this exp. actually requires exp 1 & 2 (2 did not require 1) to function properly. It may be tempting to introduce it right away to groups desiring a more competitive game...do not do this. It's hard enough to learn to play this game; all three expansions will overwhelm even the most patient group.
For you veterans though, this is must-have. I need to spend some more time with it, but right now RtfG feels like it's finally complete. All the holes in various strategies have been filled, and the game can no longer be called a glorified version of solitaire.
Did I mention there's a death star? Cuz there's a death star.
Can't wait to hear impressions from some of the other RtfG junkies here...feelin' the love now, Astrolad? eff the haters.
Gents, if you haven't gotten exp. 3 for RtfG (Brink of War)...go get it. Now. It's in stores and it's easily the best expansion produced for the game. My wife and I chatter endlessly about all the possibilities it opens up. I don't see any impressions here so here goes...
My favorite addition is the search/prestige card, a new action card that can be played once per game. If you play it as a "search" card, you are allowed to search the deck for one type of card you declare before searching (and you declare you are using search/prestige before other actions are revealed). Some of the examples you can go after: an alien world, a 1 or 2 cost windfall world, an uplift world, a 6+ development...etc. There are 9 possible searches, and most are pretty well tailored to strategies that require specific cards to win. You turn cards over one at a time so everyone can see what's headed for the discard, and what you end up with. If you don't like the first card that turns up, you can go for another one, but that one you must keep (you can't go back to the first if you like it better).
I didn't think I was going to like it, but it's basically an essential option now that the deck has gotten so big (and it can be a bit unwieldy to shuffle with all 3 expansions). It can help prevent those frustrating situations where your tableau simply never comes together...and for our game group that was becoming something of a problem with the first 2 expansions shuffled in.
Just in general, this expansion is a huge boost to those "fringe" strategies that might work out every once in awhile but rarely do, like alien and uplift. Those strats seem to have gotten the lion's share of the new cards (there are two 9-cost alien settlements) and Lehmann has done a marvelous job bringing them into their own, especially the uplift. I don't think we ever saw an uplift tableau win before this expansion, and I won with uplift the second time we played...both my start world and another world I managed to draw both granted 1 military per uplift world, which made for pretty ridiculous military strength by the end of the game.
Obviously, though, the big gamechanger here is prestige...and it's a doozy. Prestige will completely change the game, though in my opinion it vastly improves it. Note that prestige is NOT an optional addition like takeover; you must use it if you play with this expansion. Here's how it works:
-You set up a prestige pool similar to the VP pool at the start of the game (and the VP pool itself is slightly larger...5 points...to accomodate prestige).
-Prestige can be earned in a similar fashion to VP, although it is much harder to set up a prestige "machine" similar to standard consume tableaus (though it is possible). Certain cards net you a point just for playing them, in fact you already have some of these cards (any card with a pink circle in the upper left awards 1 point when you play it).
-When you earn a prestige point, you take a chip. If this means you now have the most prestige points out of all players, you take the prestige leader token and place it in front of you with the chip you just earned on top of it (if another player becomes the leader later in the round, you take any chips you have on top of the leader token and put them in your pile before handing it over).
-If you are the prestige leader at the top of a turn, you get a free victory point. If two or more players are tied, they each get a victory point.
-If you are the prestige leader AND you have a chip on top of the leader token, you also get to draw a card, although you remove any chips on the token and add them to your total (in other words, you only get a card for being the leader if you earned at least one point on your last turn).
-Each prestige point is worth 1 vp when the game ends.
This is simplifying things just a tad but you get the idea.
Now, I have always been of the opinion that RtfG becomes much less of a "group solitaire" game when you learn how to play at a more advanced level, but even that is nothing next to the interaction brought to the table by prestige. The effect here is that you need to constantly track your opponent's ability to earn prestige and weigh a whole new option among your many strategic choices...is it better to produce a prestige and take back prestige leader or go for 2 VPs instead? Do I just give up on prestige and try to end the game before the leader accrues too many vps with it (it IS possible to win without incorporating prestige into your tableau, of course)? It adds a layer of depth and interaction to the game that longtime players of the game will appreciate a great deal.
You can also spend one of your prestige points to utilize the other option on the prestige/search card...its prestige function (obviously). Just like search, you announce you're using prestige and what phase you will be using it for before actions are revealed. Unlike search, however, it acts just like a normal action phase card, though you must choose which phase it will act as. In exchange for the chip you spent, you gain a significant bonus to the normal benefit of whichever action card it's acting as. So, for example, if it's standing in for Consume 2xvps, you get triple vps. If it's standing in as develop, you get -3 to placement cost. Produce, you get to draw three cards and produce an extra windfall good. Every benefit could be a gamechanger, though you have to carefully weigh the risk of falling behind on prestige (and giving up your search option) before playing it.
There are also the standard additions on top of all of this...lots of great, interesting new cards (most focused around the prestige mechanic, so if you don't think it's for you, don't buy this)...some very cool new start worlds...great new goals...etc. Everything you'd want is here. Here are a few of my favorite new cards for the 10 or so games I've played so far...these have all seen table time; there are some very cool looking ones that haven't entered our play environment yet:
-Galactic Scavengers: blue windfall 2/0 (start world). When you place a development or a settlement, you put one of the cards you spent to pay for it under this card. During produce, you may draw all of the cards under this card into your hand.
-Rebel Freedom Fighters: rebel military 3/1 (start world). +1 explore. Gain 1 PP (prestige point) when you place a rebel development or rebel settlement. +1 military, which becomes -2 military if you have an imperium card in your tableau.
-Retrofit & Salvage, Inc: 2/1 production world. -1 develop. Produces a blue good. Round End: after discarding, take all other players' discards into your hand and keep them.
-Psi-Crystal World: 5/3 brown windfall (prestige). +1 explore. -1 military. Round Start: select your action after all other players turn up their action cards
-Federation Capital: 3/? gray world. Gain 1 prestige after placing a 6-cost development. Consume: 1 good (any) for 1 PP. ? is equal to the number of prestige points you have at the end of the game.
-Universal Peace Institute: 6/? development (prestige). -2 to settle cost, -2 military. Consume: two goods (any) for 1 PP, 1 VP and 1 card. ? = total negative military. +1 for each military world. +2 for Pan-Galactic Mediator.
I'm dying to come up with an effective tableau for that last one. It is my personal RtfG goal right now.
I'm focusing on "new toys" here, rest assured there are plenty of "solid" cards that will back up old strategies, like:
Galactic Markets: 4/2 development (prestige). Draw a card after placing a world. Consume: discard up to 3 goods (any) for 1 vp apiece. Produce: draw 1 card.
or
Rebel Sneak Attack: 2/1 rebel development. Explore: combine draw w/hand. Settle: may discard from tableau after settling to place a military world. May discard from tableau to take over a military world from an imperium tableau, adding 2 military for each rebel world in your tableau.
All that said, this is NOT an expansion for newbies. The cards introduced to the game here are, for the most part, substantially more complex than those in the base game and the first two expansions...indeed, this exp. actually requires exp 1 & 2 (2 did not require 1) to function properly. It may be tempting to introduce it right away to groups desiring a more competitive game...do not do this. It's hard enough to learn to play this game; all three expansions will overwhelm even the most patient group.
For you veterans though, this is must-have. I need to spend some more time with it, but right now RtfG feels like it's finally complete. All the holes in various strategies have been filled, and the game can no longer be called a glorified version of solitaire.
Did I mention there's a death star? Cuz there's a death star.
Can't wait to hear impressions from some of the other RtfG junkies here...feelin' the love now, Astrolad? eff the haters.
platypotamus
Member
Wow. Want to play so bad.
Great impressions. Going to have to try it out. Just got back from a cruise with my wife and we brought our usual giant bag o' games including that, but we played with a lot of people we met so didn't get a chance to break out RFTG+3 expansions.
Did however play:
Lost Cities: Didn't like this game very much anymore but it became the surprise hit of the trip for 2p action. Can't really explain why we started liking it again other than it's nice and portable, pretty heavy on luck and pushing your luck, with just enough strategy to keep it from being stupid. Also plays incredibly quickly.
San Juan: This was our gateway game for new people gaming with us. Had been a really long time for both of us, so it was nice to re-explore San Juan after having sort of written it off once we got into RFTG years ago.
Memoir '44: Another eff the haters game! Played about six scenarios. In particular ran into someone who I taught the game who just loved it and again it plays quickly, relies on luck, very nice casual game if you're into the theme.
Dominion+Seaside: Obviously a hit with the group, as Dominion almost always is. Played 3-4 rounds and would have done more but for the fact that it's a bit of a chore to lug around both games vs. say San Juan (our go-to game), Battle Line, Lost Cities, etc.
En Garde: Only got to play this once. Seems fun and the parts are really nice. For once a Knizia game that doesn't feel like it has a pasted-on theme. It really does a good job of creating a back-and-forth battle with flurries of activity.
Did however play:
Lost Cities: Didn't like this game very much anymore but it became the surprise hit of the trip for 2p action. Can't really explain why we started liking it again other than it's nice and portable, pretty heavy on luck and pushing your luck, with just enough strategy to keep it from being stupid. Also plays incredibly quickly.
San Juan: This was our gateway game for new people gaming with us. Had been a really long time for both of us, so it was nice to re-explore San Juan after having sort of written it off once we got into RFTG years ago.
Memoir '44: Another eff the haters game! Played about six scenarios. In particular ran into someone who I taught the game who just loved it and again it plays quickly, relies on luck, very nice casual game if you're into the theme.
Dominion+Seaside: Obviously a hit with the group, as Dominion almost always is. Played 3-4 rounds and would have done more but for the fact that it's a bit of a chore to lug around both games vs. say San Juan (our go-to game), Battle Line, Lost Cities, etc.
En Garde: Only got to play this once. Seems fun and the parts are really nice. For once a Knizia game that doesn't feel like it has a pasted-on theme. It really does a good job of creating a back-and-forth battle with flurries of activity.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
We're driving across the province for a board game weekend. I think the only thing we're picking up for the occasion is Mystery Express. We're bringing Chrononauts, Lost Cities, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, the 360 with Scene It 2 and Trivial Pursuit, Carcassonne, Cardcassonne and Mystery Express. We'll see what our hosts have.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
So what are everybody's plans for the weekend? I'm having a BBQ on Sunday and a bunch of people are coming through. Mostly non-gamers but a few people who know what's up. I plan on breaking out Bang! for the first time and hopefully Last Night on Earth. I'm sure we will squeeze in a game or two of Wits and Wagers somewhere in there as well. As for the other days, I hope to be able to get a game of Twilight Struggle in with my girlfriend and possibly another game or two of Agricola. I'm going to enjoy my long weekend damn it!
BattleMonkey
Member
Going do a game of Horus Heresy now that we got it all set up. Also got a group to go to for some RFTG and Last Night on Earth this weekend.
Wife and I have a five-day weekend.joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
Have a friend coming over tonight -- will play a few quick rounds of Dominion. Tomorrow probably some M44 with the wife. Saturday will do some Kingsburg with the To Forge A Realm expansion and probably some more Dominion.echoshifting
Banned
Well lots of RtfG: Brink of War hopefully.
Going to try to have some neighbors over on Memorial Day to play Pandemic...been awhile since I taught a game to the non-gamer crowd but this one seems like a good choice. We've had fun with it the few times we've played it and it seemed easy to pick up.
Going to try to have some neighbors over on Memorial Day to play Pandemic...been awhile since I taught a game to the non-gamer crowd but this one seems like a good choice. We've had fun with it the few times we've played it and it seemed easy to pick up.
I played San Juan for the first time today. I thought Race for the Galaxy was very similar to Puerto Rico, but I was wrong. It's more like San Juan+ (though I prefer San Juan to Race for the Galaxy).
I still haven't a chance to play Ra even though I've had access to it for like 3 weeks now. Maybe I'll convince some people to play it tomorrow.
I still haven't a chance to play Ra even though I've had access to it for like 3 weeks now. Maybe I'll convince some people to play it tomorrow.
My brother is visiting from Seattle this weekend so we'll be breaking out Mystery Express (he loves Clue: Master Detective). I'll attempt to introduce Dominion; unfortunately, since we don't have Intrigue, we're limited to 4 players which is not quite enough unless someone is willing to sit out. I'm still waiting to put together a Runewars session with the regular gaming group but things will be too busy over Memorial Day to do it.
platypotamus
Member
AstroLad said:
I absolutely love the fact that you busted out the board games on a cruise. Seriously.
As far as my weekend goes, I've already got some Dominion in (no Alchemy yet though). Played some two player with my mom, up here visiting, and she killed me once, we tied once, and I got her twice. Also hoping to try some Stone Age with my folks for the first time, I think they'd enjoy it.
Not sure if it'll happen though, since between my family, my wife's family, and my brother-in-law's family, we have like 20 guests in town this weekend .
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Gaming weekend:
- Chrononauts; war of attrition, one player won by drawing ten cards.
- Ticket to Ride; 4 player, first round was a massive clusterfuck in the Northeast. Second round was my all-time worst performance ever. I had -1 points from routes! Two unfinished 20+ point routes that I was completely blocked from finishing. Wow.
- Guillotine; pretty harmless card game about executing french nobles. It was my first time playing. Good potential for backstabbing and screwing, lots of random luck, good strong theme. I'll probably buy this.
- Scene It 2--360; Microsoft retroactively patched this game to contain in-game advertising for a bank. Disgusting.
- Red Dragon Inn; random fun as usual, I played the cheating sneak guy. Got totally rich and lost by getting too drunk. Managed to bankrupt my girlfriend as I lost.
- Kill Doctor Lucky; fun, but I'm starting to run into a few problems with the game. There aren't enough failure cards. Out of the ten-ish games I've played of this, I've felt like it prematurely ended maybe 7 or 8 times. It's too easy to get one of the 7+ power murder weapons within 2-3 rounds and just burn through everyone's failure cards. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this balance issue.
- Mystery Express; hoooo daddy. God damn does this ever last a long time, especially at first. Tons of reading required because you always have several move choices and all the moves are complicated enough to require repeated explanation. Hard to get a good table setup because you're constantly passing cards around and you don't want to reveal them to anyone. Great presentation, typical of Days of Wonder. As a deduction game, this absolutely spanks Clue. Real brain buster. Incredible memory required. I felt like the "passenger" mechanic doesn't really work at all (it's too minor), and the "time" cards are all hype; the instruction manual repeatedly points out how OMGHARD it is to get the time cards right, but I found it very easy and there are obvious strategies that would be 100% effective. We ended in a 3-way tie with 4/5 crime categories correct. I'll definitely play this again, but it's reaaaally reallly long and has a huge learning curve.
On tap for tomorrow:
- Catan
- Quo Vadis? (Knizia; I fully expect a pasted on Roman senate theme)
- Torres
- More TTR
- Trivial Pursuit 360
- maybe some Lost Cities.
- Chrononauts; war of attrition, one player won by drawing ten cards.
- Ticket to Ride; 4 player, first round was a massive clusterfuck in the Northeast. Second round was my all-time worst performance ever. I had -1 points from routes! Two unfinished 20+ point routes that I was completely blocked from finishing. Wow.
- Guillotine; pretty harmless card game about executing french nobles. It was my first time playing. Good potential for backstabbing and screwing, lots of random luck, good strong theme. I'll probably buy this.
- Scene It 2--360; Microsoft retroactively patched this game to contain in-game advertising for a bank. Disgusting.
- Red Dragon Inn; random fun as usual, I played the cheating sneak guy. Got totally rich and lost by getting too drunk. Managed to bankrupt my girlfriend as I lost.
- Kill Doctor Lucky; fun, but I'm starting to run into a few problems with the game. There aren't enough failure cards. Out of the ten-ish games I've played of this, I've felt like it prematurely ended maybe 7 or 8 times. It's too easy to get one of the 7+ power murder weapons within 2-3 rounds and just burn through everyone's failure cards. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this balance issue.
- Mystery Express; hoooo daddy. God damn does this ever last a long time, especially at first. Tons of reading required because you always have several move choices and all the moves are complicated enough to require repeated explanation. Hard to get a good table setup because you're constantly passing cards around and you don't want to reveal them to anyone. Great presentation, typical of Days of Wonder. As a deduction game, this absolutely spanks Clue. Real brain buster. Incredible memory required. I felt like the "passenger" mechanic doesn't really work at all (it's too minor), and the "time" cards are all hype; the instruction manual repeatedly points out how OMGHARD it is to get the time cards right, but I found it very easy and there are obvious strategies that would be 100% effective. We ended in a 3-way tie with 4/5 crime categories correct. I'll definitely play this again, but it's reaaaally reallly long and has a huge learning curve.
On tap for tomorrow:
- Catan
- Quo Vadis? (Knizia; I fully expect a pasted on Roman senate theme)
- Torres
- More TTR
- Trivial Pursuit 360
- maybe some Lost Cities.
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Mystery Express' play time picks up dramatically when ever you get used to the different choices. Even then my first game only took an hour and a half. I'm surprised it dragged so much for you.Stumpokapow said:
Finally got to play Galaxy Trucker with 3 players today. 2-player doesn't do it justice - if you need to play with 2 people at least take out a handful or two pieces to make it interesting. I think it would be even better with 4 people.
Really a great game, but if you play with people of varying levels of engineering/puzzle sense, it can take awhile before the skill levels balance out.
Really a great game, but if you play with people of varying levels of engineering/puzzle sense, it can take awhile before the skill levels balance out.
BattleMonkey
Member
So does everyone play Rftg with the takeover rules on or off? We tried using them several times and in 3 games no one ever had the cards or were capable of performing it. It seems like a whole bunch of stuff and rules for a mechanic that rarely comes into play.
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