Board Games

[Vince, Pt. II]

The end of last week (and this weekend) illustrated to me that I probably shouldn't be playing a game where people could end up stuck waiting on me

I'll pass for now, but I'll look into it in the future. I'm supposed to transfer to a different workstation starting next week, cutting out an hour of commute every day. If that happens, I'll totally be down for the next game.

[Warhammer]

I'd prefer the map without the Western Extension, but you really need Babylon in. With 6, the map will be awfully loose with the whole thing.

[Passacaglia]

Well if Vince is out and we're down to 5, we're probably better off without Babylon, then we've got Iberia, Illyria, Thrace, Asia/Assyria, Egypt, Africa, and Crete to choose from.

[Warhammer]

I can scrounge at least one if you want, non-fofc'er though.

[Passacaglia]

Works for me.

[Matthean]

CSI has Brass in for $38.99. Still done for the year in terms of new games unless something changes, but it's nice to see a classic reprinted.

[Warhammer]

OK, one of my buds said he could probably do it, one said he has questions about the interface. So I guess that is one and a maybe. The one that said he would did not give a timeframe for being up and running. I'll keep you guys posted.

[Glengoyne]

Hey get all of this Diplomacy Online stuff out of my board game thread!

All right not mine, but I keep seeing this thread get bumped and have to check it out. Only to find that it has nothing to do with the goodness that makes me keep an eye on this thread in the first place.

[tarcone]

Sentinels of the Multiverse enhanced edition is out. Im wanting this one.
But I want to back that Exodus game, so I am kind of in the same boat as Mathean on new game purchases.

[Autumn]

Recommendations for a fairly affordable board game I can put on my wish list? Ideally it woudl be something that could be playable two-player, so my wife and I can play, but expanding to more would be good. Things I have and/or like:

Puerto Rico
Pandemic
Seven Wonders
Dominion
Agricola

So we really enjoy the Euro style things. An example of what I'll put on the list is San Juan, but any other thoughts would be great. Most of the games I'm wishing for are either expensive or not great 2-player.

[Danny]

Seasons looks to be a very good and fun game, I have a copy coming on Friday. Plays 2-4, has card drafting, dice rolling, card combo building.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Autumn

Recommendations for a fairly affordable board game I can put on my wish list? Ideally it woudl be something that could be playable two-player, so my wife and I can play, but expanding to more would be good. Things I have and/or like:

Puerto Rico
Pandemic
Seven Wonders
Dominion
Agricola

So we really enjoy the Euro style things. An example of what I'll put on the list is San Juan, but any other thoughts would be great. Most of the games I'm wishing for are either expensive or not great 2-player.

Puerto Rico needs a variant to handle two player. Pandemic might just need players to add in another role or two if you are playing two player. I haven't tried with that configuration though. 3-4 players seems to be the sweet spot. IIRC, 7 Wonders works with two, but it would definitely plays better with more players since you can build a buffer from other players. Dominion and Agricola both should work.

An option for a cheaper 2-player euro that can with more would The Castles of Burgundy if you don't already have it.

Originally Posted by Danny

Seasons looks to be a very good and fun game, I have a copy coming on Friday. Plays 2-4, has card drafting, dice rolling, card combo building.

From what I am seeing it plays best with two but has positive feedback overall.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Matthean

From what I am seeing it plays best with two but has positive feedback overall.

I'd say it depends on who is playing it. It is more chaotic with 3 and especially 4, so your typical euro gamer will critique that player count, but if you don't mind a little more chaos then I think it should be really with 3 and 4 too. That said, I will play it mostly two player

[Danny]

Castles of Burgundy is a very very good game, though a bit a plain to look at with mediocre components.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Autumn

Recommendations for a fairly affordable board game I can put on my wish list? Ideally it woudl be something that could be playable two-player, so my wife and I can play, but expanding to more would be good. Things I have and/or like:

Puerto Rico
Pandemic
Seven Wonders
Dominion
Agricola

So we really enjoy the Euro style things. An example of what I'll put on the list is San Juan, but any other thoughts would be great. Most of the games I'm wishing for are either expensive or not great 2-player.

My wife and I love Kingdom Builder. It plays well two player, and goes to four. I think the expansion takes it to five, but I've never played with more than four.

I stayed away from it because there are a lot of gamers that have panned it in reviews. Once I played, I found it fun. I investigated what the negative reviewers said, which was mainly that the game "plays itself" and that you often only have a single play to make on your turn with no choices. Also a bad run of luck with the cards can be quite detrimental. There are variants that help you avoid this issue, but after playing this game a lot I stick to the original.

In my opinion many of the negative reviewers have only played the game a handful of times. The above things do happen to inexperienced players. My wife and I have played a number of times now, and I definitely don't believe that the game "plays itself". I find myself making meaningful and often difficult decisions every play. Bad luck can happen to anyone, but you can play to minimize the impact of unluckily drawing the same terrain type for placing your settlements over and over again. Or the opposite problem of simply not drawing a desired type, possibly for the entire or nearly the entire game.

The game is light enough to be a gateway game, but heavy enough with a little experience to be very rewarding. Plus the play time of ~30 minutes for two is perfect. I'll add that the games in your list above are among the games I play the most with my family, as my wife especially favors the lighter euro titles.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Danny

I'd say it depends on who is playing it. It is more chaotic with 3 and especially 4, so your typical euro gamer will critique that player count, but if you don't mind a little more chaos then I think it should be really with 3 and 4 too. That said, I will play it mostly two player

Based on who made the comment, I'm not surprised that would be true. I do tend to prefer things on the strategy side. I don't mind more random/tactical stuff, but I prefer it not dominate the game.

[Vince, Pt. II]

If you're looking for a 2 player game, I'll recommend Balloon Cup very highly. Jim brought it up a while back, and I managed to get my hands on a copy. It's a fantastic little strategy game that is two player only. It has a little bit of "screw you" in it, but the concept is quite simple and there's a lot of room for strategy.

Might be tough to find, as it's currently out of print, I believe.

[Autumn]

Thanks guys, I'll check these out.

[Glengoyne]

Although not a Euro at all, Claustrophobia is a great two player game. If you think that a handful of humans versus a demonic horde will go over with you and your wife. The demon player rolls dice each turn and places them strategically to determine his/her actions for the turn. Each action has die/dice requirements such as even, odd, higher than X, lower than Y for one or more dice. My kids love playing it.

Oh and I'll second Balloon Cup, a great game that my wife unfortunately doesn't care for.

[Matthean]

Started to create a mass wishlist at CSI for kicks and giggles when I saw King of Tokyo: Power Up is $13.99 with shipping. Since my Eclipse expansion pack is on preorder there, I don't think I can resist skipping on the shipping part and getting a much needed expansion for one of my favorite games at that price. I'm looking to add some GMT trays in there since it will help me get past bagging so much stuff and my games will be organized better. I know at least Lords of Waterdeep and Eclipse will benefit.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I can scrounge at least one if you want, non-fofc'er though.

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Works for me.

Got his info, thanks! So we've got 6, adn the game has begun. Check my sig for the dynasty.

[Warhammer]

My turn is in. Say hello to the new Pharoah, same as the old Pharoah.

[bob]

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

Here are three that my gaming group plays:

Munchkin

Dead Fellas

Guillotine

[tarcone]

I won an auction over at GGG for a guys kickstarter edition of Tammany Hall.
It is on the boat now. I will be getting it in November.
I am so excited to get this game. It looks amazing. Here is a video review. It has a 15 second ad. But check out the game. It is a winner.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

I don't think there are many card games that have much longetivity past the first couple plays, especially the comedy ones. But if I had to pick a favorite I'd go Family Business and Guillotine.

Lord of the Rings Card game seems to get high marks on boardgamegeek.com

Check out that site for other ideas.

[tarcone]

A card game I really enjoy, if you can call it a card game is Black Angel the Space Hulk card game. So I guess you can call it a card game.

The one has tons of replayability. It can be played by 1 to 6 people. It is tense and exciting.
I highly recommend this one.

[Danny]

Death Angel is decent, I liked it less than most of my other co-ops so I got rid of it.

[Matthean]

Since I'm working on my computer science degree and I'm not exactly patiently waiting for Band of Brothers: Screaming Eagles to come in, I'm seeing how much of the rules I can convert it into C++ code. I still need to get to into the Visual C++ aspect before it becomes even remotely worth a damn but one step at a time I guess.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

Cards Against Humanity. Released under creative commons, if you have a printer and desire to print/cut cards, you can have it for free/cost of materials and labor. Cards Against Humanity I think the boxed game is about $40.

/tk

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

How do you like Chrononauts, Bob? I was thinking of picking that one up.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Autumn

How do you like Chrononauts, Bob? I was thinking of picking that one up.

I've played it a couple times and enjoyed it, but it's been years and I can't remember much about it.

[bob]

Originally Posted by Autumn

How do you like Chrononauts, Bob? I was thinking of picking that one up.

We've only played twice - Tough to explain, but the timeline piece seems too hard to win. Too much one person changes the timeline on one turn, the next person changes the timeline back on their next turn. We only had wins with the more Fluxx-like method of collecting cards to meet the goal.

We have also only played with 2 players, so maybe its better with more players.

[Matthean]

As somebody who will be playing a number of three player games over time, I've been desperately looking for something some of my friends would like to play in order to steer away from Starcraft all the time. Nuklear Winter '68 looks like it would work. Plays 1-2 player as well for times when all three of us can't get together. I'm still thinking 2013 for it though.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Played Brass for the first time tonight - I picked it up when it went back in print recently. Extremely solid game. Even though we didn't know what we were doing and were figuring things out as we went, we had a good time playing. Getting a handle on how supply and demand influence the game is huge, and balancing developing your industry with not spending a ton so you can play early enough to get the good spaces on future turns is a lot of fun.

[tarcone]

Whats the learning curve on Brass. Im thinking of getting it, but Im not the sharpest tool in the shed and have a terrible memory.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

Saboteur.

Not exactly a card game, but it is ALWAYS a winner when it gets to the table.

Also, Bohnanza.

[Matthean]

I haven't played either, but I think Saboteur is improved upon when Saboteur 2 is involved based on what people have said.

[bob]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Saboteur.

Not exactly a card game, but it is ALWAYS a winner when it gets to the table.

Also, Bohnanza.

Bohnanza it is... thanks. Should have probably noted that my oldest kid is 5 so something like Saboteur or Resistance isn't in the cards yet.

Thanks everyone!!!

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by bob

Bohnanza it is... thanks. Should have probably noted that my oldest kid is 5 so something like Saboteur or Resistance isn't in the cards yet.

Thanks everyone!!!

Saboteur is probably closer than you think. Take a look the concept is straight forward. I've played with six year olds and seventy year olds. It is very accessible, and not too complex.

It is a far cry from the Resistance.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-AG1100-L...pr_product_top

Awesome Catholic school girl fighting game.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-AG1100-L...pr_product_top

Awesome Catholic school girl fighting game.

This made me look up how old that game is. 1996. Sounds about right.

I really need to weed through my wishlist. It keeps growing to the point I would double my collection if I added all of it.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by bob

Can anyone recommend a card game that runs about $10 or so? I have a promotional $10 at Amazon that will expire this week. We already have Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Loot, Spot It, Family Business, Lost Cities, Chrononauts, and Forbidden Island.

Amazon.com: The Great Dalmuti: Toys & Games

Wonderful, simple, fun game for multiple players.

[SirFozzie]

So, I filled out my Dreadball survey to get all my goodies, hoepfully it will be here next month.

The only bad thing is that I looked into how much it would cost to get my minis painted.. Eek!.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

So, I filled out my Dreadball survey to get all my goodies, hoepfully it will be here next month.

The only bad thing is that I looked into how much it would cost to get my minis painted.. Eek!.

There is no such thing as cheaply painted minis.

[Matthean]

Just reworked my wishlist and had no intention of this despite some good hype on it. *sigh*

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Whats the learning curve on Brass. Im thinking of getting it, but Im not the sharpest tool in the shed and have a terrible memory.

Generally speaking, the game is pretty straightforward - there's 5 different actions you can do on every turn, and you perform two of them every turn. You can perform the same action twice, and you have the option to combine both actions into one to build in any location on the board - ordinarily you have to have specific cards to build in specific locations, but combining actions allows you to build anywhere on the board. It's really only the strategy that is hard to grasp, and even that isn't too crazy difficult (it's basically supply and demand).

I'd say on a scale of 1-10 it's a 6 for learning curve (1 being easiest, 10 being most difficult).

Edit: to be a little more in depth about the strategy - your goal is to acquire victory points, and you do this by building and developing your industry (the game is set at the beginning of the industrial revolution in England). You can build five different tiles: coal mines, iron works, cotton mills, ports and ships. When you build these structures, they go on the board face up. The point of the game is to "flip" these tiles, in order to increase your revenue and your victory points. Each tile is flipped by different means - coal mines and iron works represent resources, and they flip once all their resources have been spent. Ports and cotton mills flip together when someone uses the "Sell Cotton" action. Ships flip immediately upon being placed, as they are 'sold'. They can be worth an awful lot of points, but are typically very expensive. What makes the game extremely strategic is that once something is placed, anyone can use it. So if you are building a cotton mill that requires coal, you don't need to have a coal mine on the board - you can use another player's coal. The warning there, however, is that you will then be getting another player's tile closer to being flipped, earning them income and points. If there's no coal on the board, you can pull from the coal supply on the board at a cost. When the coal supply isn't full however, placing a new coal mine will immediately allow it to put some of the coal into the supply, getting the mine closer to being flipped, if not flipping it immediately. So a savvy player can play off what his opponents are doing and use it to his or her own advantage.

[Warhammer]

Were we going to get another Adv. Civ game going or just the one?

[Autumn]

I've only played Brass online, which makes it easier since it doesn't allow you to break the rules. But it was a tun of fun. A really tight deep strategy game. I like playing it online since it gives me the time to count and recount and consider my moves.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

Were we going to get another Adv. Civ game going or just the one?

We're doing a second -- just waiting on furrball to let me know if he's in.