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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Dec 29, 2017 16:40:31 GMT -5
I got Carcassone for Christmas and it hits my board game sweet spot of "actually requires some strategy and engagement" and "doesn't require a flippin' hour to just explain the basic gameplay to somebody". Even my dad, who can get a little frustrated keeping track of rules for new games, picked it up quickly the first time we played. I'm curious, are the expansions really worth it? Do they add a level of complexity that is going to require a group of only experienced players to be worthwhile? The crew that I (sadly, very rarely) play with worships at the altar of more, so they always want to play with every expansion available, but I like Carcassone's base game the best. The expansions do add layers of complexity, more things to think about every turn, new objectives, but one of the great things about Carcassone is just what you said: there's strategy, but it's zen simple to get into and understand. I'm not saying don't try the expansions, but if you're concerned about losing your audience, you might be happier just where you are. Caveat: I like Carcassone, but it's not a favorite. There's nothing flawed in the design, but for me it takes too damn long to play.Really? Maybe we were doing it wrong, but I thought the game went really fast. Like, quicker than Catan or something like that. Do the expansions stretch things out substantially with additional tiles adding more turns to the game? |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Dec 29, 2017 20:24:43 GMT -5
Superb Owl 🦉 I doubt you were doing anything wrong. It's probably a few factors specific to my group. The expansions do add tiles, so there are more turns, but this is the least of it for me. More important would be a couple things. One, every play feels about the same. Sure, depending on what's happened, the dynamics might have changed a little, but ultimately it's the same basic decision every time. The repetition/tedium makes it feel longer to me. And two, I'm the kind of player who decides what to do in less than 5 seconds. Always. My play is determined within 5 seconds of my last one, and if that gets blocked or whatever, I can easily decide the next play within another 5 seconds. And another guy in my group is just like that. Meanwhile, we play with a couple of hardcore thinkers. You know the type. Some real "mull it over" motherfuckers. They have to consider every possible play - and the 5 possible plays that may come after it - every turn. And it feels like they haven't even looked at the board until their turn arrives. So while a game of Carcassone lasts, what, 45 minutes? I, me, the player named Snape, spends about 90 seconds actually playing the game. A lot of this is on me and is by no means unique to Carcassone. I really do think it's a good, fun and balanced game.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Dec 29, 2017 20:58:41 GMT -5
LazBro aw, I gotcha. We have similar frustrations with slow gameplay
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Jan 5, 2018 11:44:28 GMT -5
I got Carcassone for Christmas and it hits my board game sweet spot of "actually requires some strategy and engagement" and "doesn't require a flippin' hour to just explain the basic gameplay to somebody". Even my dad, who can get a little frustrated keeping track of rules for new games, picked it up quickly the first time we played. I'm curious, are the expansions really worth it? Do they add a level of complexity that is going to require a group of only experienced players to be worthwhile? I've only played with the River, but like how it sets the tone for the rest of the game. Here's a run-down of what each one adds, though, which might be helpful! I played Carcassone on Wednesday night as part of a program at my library to start lending out board games to customers. A woman who comes to a lot of library programs but who's sort of a weirdo sat down to play with me, and picked Carcassone out of the stack of boxes I'd brought over. She never played before, so I started to explain the rules. "Did you used to be a teacher?!" she asked. I said no, and she said, "Well, you're really good at teaching!" (I'm not.) We started playing and she completed a city (by accident). I carefully explained how I was counting up the points she scored from her 3-tile city. "Did you used to be an accountant?!" she asked. Me, "Uh.. no." Her: "You're so good with numbers!" (I'm not. I'm really, really not.) She started losing interest really quickly, and completely ditched the concepts of a) taking turns and b) drawing one tile and then playing it. She just starting turning them all over to find one that might fit where she wanted it to go. That would have been infuriating enough on its own, but she never grasped the notion that the tiles only fit certain ways, that roads had to end in a terminus, not just in an open city tile or field. It wasn't worth trying to correct her, but it was still totally annoying. Until, that is, a little girl I'd never met before saw us and was all, "I've never played that before!" She sat down and had a blast. Just as the first woman decided to leave, a guy in his early 20s who's been coming to the library for years and year but who I've never really talked to much walked by and decided he wanted to play, too. Can I tell you how utterly delightful and life-affirming it is to find yourself (a 40-ish white woman) sitting down at a table to play a gentle tile-laying game with a seven-year-old black girl and a 20-something Orthodox Jewish guy, where you're all laughing about mishearing the word "meeple" as "meatball"? The little kid ending up leaving to join the kids department dance party, so I played out the game with the guy, chatting all about his grad studies. Then another regular customer I never talked to came over to play me in Spot It, and he ended up joking with me about old episodes of Cheers. He had previously only talked to me to ask for library materials and to complain about the security guards mistreating him (they weren't), but here he was all smiles and light. I'm so excited that this is happening in my library! Table top games really are a great way to bring a community together, little bits at a time! My heart is growing two times bigger just thinking about it! (That said, don't even play Carcassone with someone who doesn't get it. SIGH.) |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Jan 5, 2018 12:41:45 GMT -5
I got Carcassone for Christmas and it hits my board game sweet spot of "actually requires some strategy and engagement" and "doesn't require a flippin' hour to just explain the basic gameplay to somebody". Even my dad, who can get a little frustrated keeping track of rules for new games, picked it up quickly the first time we played. I'm curious, are the expansions really worth it? Do they add a level of complexity that is going to require a group of only experienced players to be worthwhile? I've only played with the River, but like how it sets the tone for the rest of the game. Here's a run-down of what each one adds, though, which might be helpful! I played Carcassone on Wednesday night as part of a program at my library to start lending out board games to customers. A woman who comes to a lot of library programs but who's sort of a weirdo sat down to play with me, and picked Carcassone out of the stack of boxes I'd brought over. She never played before, so I started to explain the rules. "Did you used to be a teacher?!" she asked. I said no, and she said, "Well, you're really good at teaching!" (I'm not.) We started playing and she completed a city (by accident). I carefully explained how I was counting up the points she scored from her 3-tile city. "Did you used to be an accountant?!" she asked. Me, "Uh.. no." Her: "You're so good with numbers!" (I'm not. I'm really, really not.) She started losing interest really quickly, and completely ditched the concepts of a) taking turns and b) drawing one tile and then playing it. She just starting turning them all over to find one that might fit where she wanted it to go. That would have been infuriating enough on its own, but she never grasped the notion that the tiles only fit certain ways, that roads had to end in a terminus, not just in an open city tile or field. It wasn't worth trying to correct her, but it was still totally annoying. Until, that is, a little girl I'd never met before saw us and was all, "I've never played that before!" She sat down and had a blast. Just as the first woman decided to leave, a guy in his early 20s who's been coming to the library for years and year but who I've never really talked to much walked by and decided he wanted to play, too. Can I tell you how utterly delightful and life-affirming it is to find yourself (a 40-ish white woman) sitting down at a table to play a gentle tile-laying game with a seven-year-old black girl and a 20-something Orthodox Jewish guy, where you're all laughing about mishearing the word "meeple" as "meatball"? The little kid ending up leaving to join the kids department dance party, so I played out the game with the guy, chatting all about his grad studies. Then another regular customer I never talked to came over to play me in Spot It, and he ended up joking with me about old episodes of Cheers. He had previously only talked to me to ask for library materials and to complain about the security guards mistreating him (they weren't), but here he was all smiles and light. I'm so excited that this is happening in my library! Table top games really are a great way to bring a community together, little bits at a time! My heart is growing two times bigger just thinking about it! (That said, don't even play Carcassone with someone who doesn't get it. SIGH.) That is delightful (and I'm already plotting how to plant the seeds of such a thing at our neighborhood library branch...like I'm a person who has time for doing things). Our starter game came with "the river" (as well as the abbot). I agree that it is a superior why of starting the game compared to the default start tile. |
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Post by sarapen on Jan 15, 2018 13:59:18 GMT -5
Regarding tabletop RPGs: is there a website that gives you standard stats for monsters and encounters so you don't have to spend time crafting each thing? Maybe some kind of random encounter generator?
I'm asking because my friend and I are using the Mythic GM Emulator, which I've mentioned before, to run our campaign for us. However, we're playing Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition and every time you fight someone you need all their statistics down to their shoe size and the time and date of their first menstruation. I really wish we were using Dungeon World rules as I hate all the numbers you have to juggle but it was the 3.5 rulebooks that she got for Christmas so that's what we're sticking with. I swear I spent half an hour figuring out how to disarm someone my character was grappling with.
Anyway, the Mythic GM Emulator is pretty good when you're just doing roleplaying but then when we get to fighting we need stats for our opponents and googling this every time slows the game down. Any tools out there that people are using for this?
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Jan 16, 2018 14:00:01 GMT -5
The much-anticipated Great Western Trail arrived, finally, at stately Dick n Hisses Manor, and this weekend we busted it out to give it a try. Hugs did her usual diligent research, reading up on gameplay and watching some videos. She and Boomer nibbled on a bit of a trial run on Sunday afternoon, and then yesterday the three of us sat down for a full play-through. It was great fun, although it seemed to me to have some weird issues of imbalance. The pacing of asset accumulation and deck building seemed a bit awkward, and didn't seem entirely to mesh with the goals of the game. It was fine, though. Like I said, we had great fun. And then, moments from the end of the game, Hugs realized something: we'd been playing huge aspects of it completely wrong. Further research ensued. Okay, you know what? We'd been playing the entirety of it wrong. We basically invented our own game hinging on the basics of Great Western Trail's design, that had very little to do with the actual way you're supposed to play it. Whoops! Well, I have high hopes that we'll figure it out eventually, and it'll be a lot better then.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 22:57:44 GMT -5
Finished painting the first group of six minis for Gloomhaven for my friend:  |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Jan 22, 2018 12:04:19 GMT -5
The much-anticipated Great Western Trail arrived. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this one. It's on my list. |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Jan 22, 2018 14:04:33 GMT -5
The much-anticipated Great Western Trail arrived. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this one. It's one my list. After the disastrous "got every single rule but one wrong" playthrough, I did some further researching (like, you know, actually reading the rule book again and watching a 2+ hour playthrough on YouTube). I played a 2-player game of it this weekend and can attest to it being much better when you play correctly. Who knew?! Seriously, though, it's awesome. There's a lot to think about, but it moves at a really, really steady clip. On each turn you really only have 2 or 3 choices to make, so there's not that much time for anyone to get analysis paralysis. The choices you're deciding between are almost always fun. The rule book is actually really well-written (I fucked up the rules because I didn't want to be that person who was playing with their nose in the rule book the whole time, not because the rules were even remotely unclear), and the iconography of the game is well-done. The components are really good quality and it's fun to look at (the box art doesn't do it justice at all). I think my favorite thing about it, though, is that the mechanics randomize so well that I don't think one player would be able to always win with the same strategy. It's really up my alley since I love deck-building and worker placement. My only complaints are: 1. both times I played I felt it ended too soon despite taking over 2 hours to play and 2. it's literally too big for my table. (I think if I had to choose between Feast for Odin and GWT, though, I'd go with Feast. I think it has just a wee bit more going on, and I'm a wimp who doesn't like any negative player interaction at all, so the whole "placing buildings to fuck other people up" in GWT isn't my jam.) |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Jan 22, 2018 14:20:41 GMT -5
Curse you for introducing me to SUSD. I've been watching reviews all day and my Amazon wishlist has gone berserk. HAHAHAHAHAHA! You're welcome! I cannot tell you how much joy SUSD has brought me, and yes, how much my bank account has emptied thanks to them. Their podcast is consistently wonderful, too. So this weird thing keeps happening. I'll get stoned and watch SUSD and five days later a box appears on my doorstep. It's uncanny. Seriously, I want to thank you for being the unintentional MVP of my holiday season. I've been wanting to get back into board games for a while but would just lament that I didn't really have enough people to play with. After watching most of SUSD's back catalog I put together a three step program to force my family and friends to start playing more games. My three criteria were: It had to involve an actual board, the rules explanation had to be something I could easily cover in a short amount of time, and it had to involve a subject that wouldn't scare people away. I ended up with: Ticket to Ride Europe: Introduce everyone to cards instead of dice and the victory points track. Lords of Vegas: More complex but with lots of gambling and action. Plus many of my friends like to gamble so, seemed like a good fit. Concordia: I'll be honest, that was for me. I love history, maps, and am a sucker for good design. I had an Amazon gift card I had been sitting on so I picked them all up before Christmas. Played Ticket to Ride with my family on Christmas day. It was the most fun I'd had with my family in a while. I had actually been dreading Christmas a little bit this year. Instead of political talk, I got to see my 49 year old brother acting like a little kid. I have my wife up to Lords of Vegas. We've played that the last couple weekends and are enjoying it a lot. Looking forward to playing it with four people. I've only had a chance to play Concordia once, but I've played several test games solo because I'm fascinated by how well balanced the scoring opportunities are. That and it is just a pleasure to set up and look at. On top of that, i won my fantasy football league this year so I have money just sitting there in PayPal. I cruise Ebay until a good offer presents itself. I ordered Pandemic so I have a co-op game and grabbed Resistance: Avalon for the Super Bowl party in two weeks because there will be plenty of people with no interest in watching the game. Myself included. |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Jan 22, 2018 14:33:13 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to hearing more about this one. It's one my list. both times I played I felt it ended too soon despite taking over 2 hours to play. That's how I feel about Concordia. Just as you start to get things churning and you're feeling good about production, the last card pops up on the card track and then there is a run on cards. I'm tempted to get a replacement deck and add a select few to the usable deck. I know that would throw scoring off, but as much as I enjoy testing the game, it would be a fun experiment to see how. My goal is to get my wife to a point where she would be down for GWT. She has this affinity for cows and I think that's my in. "Honey, there are cattle cards in this game." |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Jan 22, 2018 14:40:50 GMT -5
HAHAHAHAHAHA! You're welcome! I cannot tell you how much joy SUSD has brought me, and yes, how much my bank account has emptied thanks to them. Their podcast is consistently wonderful, too. So this weird thing keeps happening. I'll get stoned and watch SUSD and five days later a box appears on my doorstep. It's uncanny. Seriously, I want to thank you for being the unintentional MVP of my holiday season. YAY! I'm so glad! Also, how great is it to introduce people to the joy of modern boardgaming?! I think your choices sound perfect (although I haven't played any of them! -- I really should look into Concordia) and I'm glad they went over well! (And yeah, I have the same problem with SUSD. They've yet to let me down in terms of games I've bought based on their recommendation. I'm curious to see what this year of SUSD is going to bring, what with their commitment to highlighting older games that might be overlooked instead of contributing to the Cult of New. As someone who only got into the hobby about two years ago, I'm excited to see what treasures I've missed out on! Also, I love those guys [and sometimes girls] so much that I'll watch them talk about any game, even ones I know I'm not interested in. They're just so funny!) |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Jan 22, 2018 14:48:55 GMT -5
I don't know if I've mentioned it on this thread, but we house ruled Dominion so that we play with double stacks of Colonies and Provinces in pretty much every game. And we refuse to end the game on empty supply piles. It definitely screws up scoring, and I'm sure anyone would say it's completely breaking the game, but it's just more fun to have that many more hands to enjoy the cards you've got! I suspect we'll end up tinkering with GWT to allow for more turns, "breaking the game" be damned! Having never played Concordia, I say, just play with both decks! Moar cards! Moar turns! Moar moar moar!!! (Also, you can tell your wife the cow cards are really cute! She could name each and every one of them! And get ribbons for her cows being better than everyone else's!) |
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Post by sarapen on Jan 25, 2018 8:47:21 GMT -5
So my regular group played the Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game last night. It works like a season of Buffy - the board is Sunnydale with each square a location from the show (The Bronze, Sunnydale High, etc.), you each play a member of the Scooby gang with different special powers for each one, there's a Big Bad who's only revealed after you defeat 3 Monsters of the Week, there are Plots that make the game harder unless you stop them, and meanwhile you're running around stopping the demons and vampires that pop up everywhere who threaten the townies. Every time a townie dies or a member of the Scooby gang gets hurt the Apocalypse Track increases by 1 point, and when enough points accumulate then the apocalypse happens and you lose.
The rules aren't overly confusing but it takes a bit to get the hang of it. Our first round was taken up with arguing so we can consider that to be the season 6 of our version of the show, but by the second round we had figured out how to do things. What's neat is that you can get Artifacts that are usually helpful but can also screw you over - our Giles found the Gem of Amara, which made vampires impossible to kill for the entire round, whereas our Angel found that glove that shoots lightning that the bad Watcher used from that one episode. Some of the Monsters of the Week I don't remember at all. I mean, who the hell are Machida and Rack?
Also, in our game Xander was the one who killed Dracula and Giles killed Machida while the main characters killed minor demons and vampires so it seems the plot of our version of the show was more like that episode where Xander was running around with zombies and losing his virginity to Faith. Maybe a third of the time we were just sharing gossip about the cast members. Did you know that Sarah Michelle Gellar is a giant Republican and that Eliza Dushku was a huge Baptist and initially had trouble playing a promiscuous bad girl?
Anyway, it was getting pretty late so we had to stop after round 2. However, we did manage to save more people than we got killed so we declared it "mission accomplished". We'll try doing a full game on our next gaming session. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2018 12:17:29 GMT -5
So my regular group played the Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game last night. It works like a season of Buffy - the board is Sunnydale with each square a location from the show (The Bronze, Sunnydale High, etc.), you each play a member of the Scooby gang with different special powers for each one, there's a Big Bad who's only revealed after you defeat 3 Monsters of the Week, there are Plots that make the game harder unless you stop them, and meanwhile you're running around stopping the demons and vampires that pop up everywhere who threaten the townies. Every time a townie dies or a member of the Scooby gang gets hurt the Apocalypse Track increases by 1 point, and when enough points accumulate then the apocalypse happens and you lose.
The rules aren't overly confusing but it takes a bit to get the hang of it. Our first round was taken up with arguing so we can consider that to be the season 6 of our version of the show, but by the second round we had figured out how to do things. What's neat is that you can get Artifacts that are usually helpful but can also screw you over - our Giles found the Gem of Amara, which made vampires impossible to kill for the entire round, whereas our Angel found that glove that shoots lightning that the bad Watcher used from that one episode. Some of the Monsters of the Week I don't remember at all. I mean, who the hell are Machida and Rack?
Also, in our game Xander was the one who killed Dracula and Giles killed Machida while the main characters killed minor demons and vampires so it seems the plot of our version of the show was more like that episode where Xander was running around with zombies and losing his virginity to Faith. Maybe a third of the time we were just sharing gossip about the cast members. Did you know that Sarah Michelle Gellar is a giant Republican and that Eliza Dushku was a huge Baptist and initially had trouble playing a promiscuous bad girl?
Anyway, it was getting pretty late so we had to stop after round 2. However, we did manage to save more people than we got killed so we declared it "mission accomplished". We'll try doing a full game on our next gaming session. Dushku was raised a Mormon, actually, but didn't stay with that crap long. That game sounds like fun! Rack is the "magic drug dealer" from the "Willow becomes a spokesperson for anti-drug campaign storyline". Ugh. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 16:55:48 GMT -5
Has anyone ever played Necromunda from Games Workshop? I have vague memories of trying it out about 20-22 years ago (holy shit). There's a new version out now and I'm considering saving up for it. It's a miniatures battle game, but focuses on small groups of gang members on a planet full of ruined machinery. Like small-scale Warhammer 40K but with the potential for 3D battlegrounds.  (Of course, in the usual Games Workshop style, you have to buy the Gang War addon book for $30 more to get the rules for 3D terrain and campaigns, and there are only two of the gangs available so far, with four more to be released this year, one per quarter.) If you've played the old version OR this new one, please share your thoughts. I'm interested. |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Feb 1, 2018 13:48:02 GMT -5
After reading a thread on the Shut Up & Sit Down forums about people doing the challenge to play each of their games at least once in this calendar year, I decided I'm going to keep an eye on how close I get to that without going out of my way to meet that specific goal. I made a spreadsheet of the games I own and was surprised to find out I have almost 30! I really thought I was keeping a better lid on having a lean and mean collection, but I guess not! One month into the year, I've already played 6 of 29 games. Not bad! I think I might actually be able to hit this 2018x1 goal!
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Feb 2, 2018 15:31:02 GMT -5
After reading a thread on the Shut Up & Sit Down forums about people doing the challenge to play each of their games at least once in this calendar year, I decided I'm going to keep an eye on how close I get to that without going out of my way to meet that specific goal. I made a spreadsheet of the games I own and was surprised to find out I have almost 30! I really thought I was keeping a better lid on having a lean and mean collection, but I guess not! One month into the year, I've already played 6 of 29 games. Not bad! I think I might actually be able to hit this 2018x1 goal! This shouldn't be too hard for me as I don't have that many games yet. I could conceivably wrap this up by the end of the month. I introduced a couple of friends to Pandemic. I have their attention. If you haven't seen it, Rails North expansion coming for GWT: boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/245744/great-western-trail-rails-northI thought I was done with my game buying for a while, but after doing some research on the best solo games I came across a card based game called Leaving Earth that puts you in charge of a space agency tasked with achieving the milestones of the space race from 1956-1976. The reviews are good, the rules seem straightforward and well put together, and I really like the art. I will probably break down and get the base game the next time Mrs. Weasel heads out of town for work. |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Feb 5, 2018 12:22:14 GMT -5
The Spice Weasel Thanks for the heads up on the GWT expansion! So excited! And that's awesome that you've sucked some people in with Pandemic. One of us! One of us! As for my grand 2018x1 plans, I miscounted and left about 10 games off my list. ::gulp:: I think it's still doable, though, as I got two more crossed off this weekend (Feast for Odin and GWT).
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Post by ganews on Feb 19, 2018 15:55:31 GMT -5
On Saturday night we had dinner with friends and played Kingdomino and Vye. Both were fun and simple. In Kingdomino you build contiguous lands like dominoes and multiply their value, but the lands available for expansion come up randomly and are chosen by position. Vye is a thing where cards are laid out on a table, and cards are captured by lying adjacent to matches. Everybody gets special one-use wild cards that can do multiple captures, but you have to know when to use them without being able to tell precisely when the game will end (meaning huge point swings can happen right before your turn and it's suddenly over). |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2018 23:13:26 GMT -5
I realize this is a long shot, but...I am desperate! I need to buy more better-quality paints for my new miniatures, and my wife has curbed my spending on them for now, so if I can sell some of my old stuff instead, that will work out.
If anyone is interested, I have a bunch of old out of print D&D Miniatures for sale.
81 minis total, 10 rares including Dragonborn Myrmidon, Shadow Hulk, Angel of Retribution, Lady Vol and Wulfgar! I believe that most of the cards are included, but the packages are unopened so I can't guarantee this.
Hoping to get $350, but I would much rather get an offer from someone who could use them than have them sit in my closet so please make an offer if you want.
More details in this Imgur link: imgur.com/a/ZkMjh
 EDIT - Took these to my local comic and game shop, and they gave me $210 in store credit! WOOHOO, shopping spree! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 11:01:59 GMT -5
With the aforementioned store credit at the game store, I bought my wife Mansions of Madness, Second Edition:  Not only is this game fun (I played first edition a few months ago), but it has 31 miniatures that I plan on painting. It ALSO now has a free downloadable app to run the villains/monsters side of the game so people can play the good guys/investigators without worrying about all of the fiddly mechanics of the enemy! |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Mar 4, 2018 17:48:04 GMT -5
Introduced Mrs. Weasel to Concordia on Friday night. It was fun to watch the look on her face transition over the course of 60 minutes from "WTF are these rules that you're trying to explain to me" to "I have a plan and I'm going to win." I'm glad she liked it because it's my favorite of the ones I own. It also means that GWT just moved closer to the top of my wishlist as it seems like the next logical step.
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Apr 6, 2018 12:04:29 GMT -5
Stumbled across this at BGG. It's a solo game called Unbroken. You play as the lone survivor of a failed expedition and you have to fight your way out of the dungeon you were hoping to loot. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/225885/unbrokenA friend gave me a copy of Dungeon Roll a few years ago, and while I enjoy that game, Unbroken seems to be more refined and intense. I backed it on Kickstarter after watching Rahdo's review because I knew that I'd like it and the price was right. Downloaded the print & play version. May take a crack at that this weekend. On another note, Amazon has Azul back in stock and it is currently selling for less than retail while supplies last. I had already backed Unbroken when I saw that otherwise I would have ordered it immediately. It will just have to wait no matter how badly I want to get my hands on those tiles. |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Apr 6, 2018 14:04:19 GMT -5
On another note, Amazon has Azul back in stock and it is currently selling for less than retail while supplies last. I had already backed Unbroken when I saw that otherwise I would have ordered it immediately. It will just have to wait no matter how badly I want to get my hands on those tiles. I've mentioned here that I do a regular gaming program at my library. We have one loyal customer who shows up every time (a fellow SU&SD fan, actually) and who often brings his own games. I alternate with other staff members who plays the games and who has to do the boring, real library work. One night, I drew the boring straw. I was sitting at the reference desk across the library when I heard the regular customer say "I brought Azul. Let's play that!" I spent the next hour seething with jealousy that I wasn't playing Azul and dying to get my grimy paws on those sweet, sweet Azul tiles I've heard so much about. There was finally a lull in the real library work action so I darted over to the gaming table, anxious to see what all the Azul fuss was about. Only, it turned out the customer had made his own homemade version with scrap lined paper and off-brand Lego bits. Which, on the one hand, more power to him! On the other, what a disappointment. I think I'm destined to never find out how nice Azul is in person. I picked up Sagrada last year and feel like, while Azul seems like a better game, I don't really need both of them. (She says having just picked up Century: Spice Road while still having Splendor in active rotation.) |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Apr 6, 2018 14:44:22 GMT -5
On another note, Amazon has Azul back in stock and it is currently selling for less than retail while supplies last. I had already backed Unbroken when I saw that otherwise I would have ordered it immediately. It will just have to wait no matter how badly I want to get my hands on those tiles. I think I'm destined to never find out how nice Azul is in person. I picked up Sagrada last year and feel like, while Azul seems like a better game, I don't really need both of them. (She says having just picked up Century: Spice Road while still having Splendor in active rotation.) How's Sagrada? I'm always on the lookout for good 2 player games for me & Mrs. Weasel. Hence my focus on Azul. Speaking of good 2 player games, I can't recommend Patchwork enough. We've played that several times and are split pretty evenly between who wins. |
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Apr 6, 2018 15:14:59 GMT -5
I think I'm destined to never find out how nice Azul is in person. I picked up Sagrada last year and feel like, while Azul seems like a better game, I don't really need both of them. (She says having just picked up Century: Spice Road while still having Splendor in active rotation.) How's Sagrada? I'm always on the lookout for good 2 player games for me & Mrs. Weasel. Hence my focus on Azul. Speaking of good 2 player games, I can't recommend Patchwork enough. We've played that several times and are split pretty evenly between who wins. Sagrada is good, but not great, in my opinion. It looks beautiful, and is a nice little brainburner, but I don't sit around thinking about wanting to play it, you know? I've found it's really nice as a filler-outside-of-gaming-time game. Not, like filler in between other games on a game night, but filler as in "dinner's the oven and we have 25 minutes to kill before we eat it" filler. It's a nice decompression-after-work game. I suspect, based on what I've seen and read, Azul might be a more gratifying choice. I love Patchwork in the ipad, but don't get it to the table very often. My go-to 2 player games are Jaipur, Lost Cities, and Flip City. |
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Post by The Spice Weasel on Apr 11, 2018 19:38:28 GMT -5
Here's my quick little review of Unbroken.
I’ve played about 7 or 8 games. I didn’t get far in my first play through before discovering I interpreted a rule wrong and gave myself a massive advantage. Scrapped that and started over.
There are a lot of things to keep track of and it took a couple times through for it all to stick. It’s not that any one thing is complicated, it’s just remembering what to do and when. They have a turn flow chart that helps with decisions.
While the instructions and actions described on the cards are pretty intuitive, questions do come up regarding things like “how does this particular action work with this particular skill”. Fortunately, the designer is active and responsive on BGG and finding answers to rules questions is pretty easy.
After my fourth play through I had it down pretty well and can now sit down and play without having to look things up.
I love it. It’s a great little solo game that doesn’t suck up too much time(20-30min). It is difficult. Out of those 8 plays I’ve won once. When you lose you don’t feel cheated and when you win, eventually, you feel like you accomplished something. And when I say difficult, I mean hard to win not hard to play. So many times you think you have adequately prepared and then the one thing that needs to go wrong does.
The tension fits the theme and there is tension as you try to prepare and time ticks down to your encounter with each monster, and then again while fighting the monster and hoping you can outlast the beast.
If you like solo games and enjoy the theme I’d recommend it. It is also a very well run Kickstarter. They seem to have their act together.
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Post by ganews on Apr 23, 2018 10:47:16 GMT -5
We went to our local tabletop game cafe for the first time in a while on Friday.
First up was Bunny World, chosen specifically because it was on the "popular for sale" shelf and because bunnies. We weren't playing by the rules right at first, but we liked it enough to buy it and get it right. The game has a gridboard, and you select random cards to build property and harvest resources. You can't use every card you are dealt, you have to trade them with opponents, so there is an element of defensive play. You also save up wild cards for use at the end. I'm looking forward to playing this with four people.
Next was Santorini, which Wifemate had heard of and wanted to try. 2-3 player game themed with Greek mythology. You have two figures to move and build towers to climb them to the top; it sort of reminds me of Connect 4. Also there are "god cards" that have various special movement and building capabilities. Pretty good.
Also All Creatures Great and Small, the two-player version of Agricola, where you build a farm and raise livestock competitively. One of these days I am going to surprise Wifemate with it for a birthday or something.
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