Board Games

[Matthean]

Played three new games.

Coloretto. End of the night filler. It's OK. Not a bad game but very bottom of the barrel that I would play.

Legendary. I found it odd that between me and another player we both own about 450 games and yet the new player who had never played a deck builder won. I could never recruit the top cards. I could never build up enough to hit Loki, but I could clean house on pretty much any villain. I was trying to do as much Hulk as possible, but I added in some other stuff as well for combos. I have 7 or so games ranked as an 8, and I would put this in there initially. It's still outside my Top 10, but it has lots of room to move due to being in that pack of 8s.

Hanabi. Until further notice, I think this is the best gateway co-op. There is serious debate if I should rank this over Castles of Burgundy simply due the the gateway factor and knowing I'll play it more. Since I'm lazy, I'll copy my comments on the game from BGG, and I'll add more when there is the geek list for "new to me" for the month.

The Goal: To sort 5 different suites of cards into piles numbered 1-5 with no gaps or repeated numbers.

The Problem: You can't look at your cards. Ever.

Player's Turn: Play a card, discard a card, or use one of the limited clue tokens and give a clue to another player. Clues are either they have card(s) with a specific number, "These two cards are fours," or color, "These three cards are red." If a player makes an illegal play, the players earn one strike. Three strikes and the game ends with a score of zero. Players can earn clue tokens back by discarding or completing a stack.

But is it fun? The games that separate themselves are the games with dynamic moments. Like a player showing their initial hand and reviling 3 green 1s. The two other players laughing and the person holding the cards going, "What?" Two clues later and everybody is laughing.

The moment when there is a stack of green cards with a 2 on top. You and another player have a green 3. Both know they have a green or a 3 and see the other players green 3. The one player discards his and you suddenly know you have a green 3 and play it.

Knowing only one thing about a single card out of the hand you have and deciding it is worth playing since if it was worth discarding you would have hoped the other players would have clued you in. You play it successfully.

Asking a person what they know about their hand, finding out they are wrong about two of them, you only have one clue to give if that, and you can't correct them. There's only two copies of fours. Was one of the cards they had wrong a four? Yes, yes it was.

The ultimate fun one, there's no clues to give so you have to play, and you literally know nothing about any of your cards. And yes, this will happen often. Good luck.

[Carman Bulldog]

Looking for thoughts on the following games for play with family (ages 8 & 11) and spouse...

Survive: Escape from Atlantis
Escape: Curse of the Temple
Ingenious
For Sale
Lost Cities
Hey! That's my Fish!
Power Up! Expansion for King of Tokyo

As well, has anyone played the solitaire game Friday?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Last week, I ordered Sentinels of the Multiverse and (I believe) all of its expansions.

It seemed like a no-brainer. I love super heroes and co-op games.

It should be delivered today!

[Honolulu_Blue]

We have another game night set for this Saturday. It's one of my buddy's girlfriend's birthday and she has requested an Arkham night.

Given that Saturday is March 16th, our plan is to drink Guinness, eat green colored food and try to play on Irish characters. I think there will be five of us and, so far, we identified five Irish characters: Michael McGlenn (the gangster), Skids O'Toole (the ex-convict), Rex Murphy (the Reporter), Finn Edwards (the bootleger) and Sister Mary (the nun). The last one is a bit of a stretch, but she's Catholic and her name is Mary, so...

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

Looking for thoughts on the following games for play with family (ages 8 & 11) and spouse...

Survive: Escape from Atlantis
Escape: Curse of the Temple
Ingenious
For Sale
Lost Cities
Hey! That's my Fish!
Power Up! Expansion for King of Tokyo

As well, has anyone played the solitaire game Friday?

Survive rocks. Very good for family too. I played the 80s version when I was a kid and loved it, then picked up the remake as an adult, and love it still. It's not a game to obsess over, like a certain railroad building game, but it is really strong.

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

Looking for thoughts on the following games for play with family (ages 8 & 11) and spouse...

Survive: Escape from Atlantis
Escape: Curse of the Temple
Ingenious
For Sale
Lost Cities
Hey! That's my Fish!
Power Up! Expansion for King of Tokyo

As well, has anyone played the solitaire game Friday?

Lost Cities is a fun, light game, only for two players. My wife and I enjoy it, my sister liked it too and she's not a big strategy gamer or anything. It's a rather simple card game though compared to most games in this thread, but it has a fun strategy to it.

[cschex]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Last week, I ordered Sentinels of the Multiverse and (I believe) all of its expansions.

It seemed like a no-brainer. I love super heroes and co-op games.

It should be delivered today!

Sentinels is my current favorite game. Did you get the Shattered Timelines expansion that just came out or just the first two? Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Cracked is a bunch of hipsters now?

Apparently.

Ripping on Risk -- without acknowledging its place among the gaming Mt Rushmore along with its flaws -- is pretty much the end of any credibility for that particular writer.

And it doesn't speak well for Cracked's editorial staff that they ran a basically holier-than-thou hipster piece.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Apparently.

Ripping on Risk -- without acknowledging its place among the gaming Mt Rushmore along with its flaws -- is pretty much the end of any credibility for that particular writer.

And it doesn't speak well for Cracked's editorial staff that they ran a basically holier-than-thou hipster piece.

I thought the point of hipsters was to stop liking/rip on things because they were popular? The writer actually makes some pretty good points in that almost all of the games he rips on are pretty terrible at being games. Risk is easily the one that fits the bill least, but to be fair it's not exactly the pinnacle of strategy.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by cschex

Sentinels is my current favorite game. Did you get the Shattered Timelines expansion that just came out or just the first two? Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

One of the designers is working on a new game so I'm partly hoping Sentinels won't be expanded much more just in case Plaid Hat Games's superhero game ends up being lacking, and I want to get Sentinels instead. I'm behind enough, I don't need more expansions. I think there's at least one more, but not sure beyond that. I liked Legendary more than I thought I would, but I know somebody who owns it.

Keyflower should be sent by Thursday.

[Warhammer]

Just played Summoner Wars for the first time. I played PE vs TO and really enjoyed the balance of the game. I esPecially liked that not all big units were overpowered.

[cschex]

Originally Posted by Matthean

One of the designers is working on a new game so I'm partly hoping Sentinels won't be expanded much more just in case Plaid Hat Games's superhero game ends up being lacking, and I want to get Sentinels instead. I'm behind enough, I don't need more expansions. I think there's at least one more, but not sure beyond that. I liked Legendary more than I thought I would, but I know somebody who owns it.

Keyflower should be sent by Thursday.

Even with the new card game they are developing, SotM will most likely have at least 3 more expansions; 1 bigger one coming out this fall and probably a couple more of the current size. Since the creators have already developed the entire story before coming out with the game, there is a a definite number of expansions in mind and they will not be kickstarting SotM again.

I wouldn't bet on the Plaid Hat game sucking, especially since Colby Dauch is designing it. It'll probably mean I just own another superhero game

[tarcone]

Had a game day at my house today with 3 other guys.
We played Tammany Hall twice. What a fantastic game. Very strategic. Very fun. Lots of table talk and possible back stabbing. Everyone really liked this game. I highly recommend it. I finished 3rd, then 1st.
Then we played a game of Munchkin. We were running out of time.

Really enjoyed the day.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

We have another game night set for this Saturday. It's one of my buddy's girlfriend's birthday and she has requested an Arkham night.

Given that Saturday is March 16th, our plan is to drink Guinness, eat green colored food and try to play on Irish characters. I think there will be five of us and, so far, we identified five Irish characters: Michael McGlenn (the gangster), Skids O'Toole (the ex-convict), Rex Murphy (the Reporter), Finn Edwards (the bootleger) and Sister Mary (the nun). The last one is a bit of a stretch, but she's Catholic and her name is Mary, so...

We did end up playing Arkham Horror on Saturday. It was the longest game of Arkham Horror I think I have ever played. It clocked in at around 6 hours and 30 minutes.

The game never felt all that long. We had 5 players and everyone was very active and did things, but we kept getting knocked off track.

We had a number of monster surges, a number of times gates didn't open because of Elder Signs, we had an Elder Sign that removed one doom counter, two tomes that removed a doom counter and we killed Barnabus March, which removes a doom counter. So, we kept the game going thanks to that.

We eventually won, but it was pretty exhausting.

Oh, Glaaki...

On Sunday I finally cracked open Sentinels of the Multiverse. Me and a friend tried it. We played twice and got horrible beaten both times.

First time, I had Haaka and he had Wraith and we were up against the Plague Rat. That didn't go well.

Second time, I had Bunker and he had Ex-Patriette and we were up against Baron Blade. That didn't go any better.

[Danny]

HB, you can't win at Sentinels only playing two heroes. You need 3 bare minimum and really 4 to have a shot at winning. When playing two players, each person can control two heroes. Ive done it that way and it isnt too bad to manage.

[Matthean]

I thought they changed the game to offer better scaling?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Danny

HB, you can't win at Sentinels only playing two heroes. You need 3 bare minimum and really 4 to have a shot at winning. When playing two players, each person can control two heroes. Ive done it that way and it isnt too bad to manage.

Thanks!

Good to know. I wasn't sure if we were doing something wrong - not understanding the rules (which are pretty basic) - or what, but we really weren't even close to winning either game.

[CleBrownsfan]

Sounds like a great game of Arkham HB!!! My buddy and I have been playing (two investigators each) the past few Friday nights and I know a 3-4 hour game flies by!

Great game!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Sounds like a great game of Arkham HB!!! My buddy and I have been playing (two investigators each) the past few Friday nights and I know a 3-4 hour game flies by!

Great game!

It was fun. We were all pretty brutalized. One player had 3 madnesses and an unjury, I had two madnesses and an injury, and another player had a madness.

We also played with the Tulzcha herald card, which makes Cultists elusive - which is trickier than we anticpated - and makes them move towards elder signs and if they start the mythos phase in a location with an elder sign they remove it. That happened once in the game. In fact, we only had one character who had a high enough sneak to even find them.

[oykib]

I've been playing Sentinels solo since I got it a couple of weeks ago. I really like it. I'm working my way up to the more complex heroes.

I just got Mage Knight this weekend. I was too busy to play it. I'm looking forward to cracking it open soon.

[cschex]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I thought they changed the game to offer better scaling?

They did, but the scaling is for 2-5 heroes. If you have two players, it's best to either both control two heroes or do a variant where you each take one active hero and one on the incapacitated side.

Glad more people are getting SotM. I'm quite obsessed with it at the moment and it just gets deeper the more I play.

[CleBrownsfan]

How's Sentinels of the Multiverse solo? I don't have many opportunities to play board games with a group...

[Matthean]

Had a jam packed day yesterday but it ended with a nice turn out for game night. If one person who had said they were coming would have shown up we would of have tied for second most people showing up. One new couple said they liked euros, co-ops, and games from RGG, so I was happy to add somebody with a gaming history. I played the usual games so nothing new. I mostly got my butt kicked, but my role isn't really to win the games. Yeah, that's it.

[oykib]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

How's Sentinels of the Multiverse solo? I don't have many opportunities to play board games with a group...

It's pretty good. It has a lot to keep track of at first. But the combinations once you pick up the expansions are pretty diverse. The team you put together really changes how the game is played. I've played five or six games, and they've all played differently.

I think you can pick up the game and all its expansions for less than $80 at miniature market, that includes all the extra characters that were part of Kickstarter promotions.

I just picked up Mage Knight and Pandemic. I figure that putting those two in the rotation with Sentinels will increase the replayability of all of them.

[cschex]

Originally Posted by oykib

It's pretty good. It has a lot to keep track of at first. But the combinations once you pick up the expansions are pretty diverse. The team you put together really changes how the game is played. I've played five or six games, and they've all played differently.

I think you can pick up the game and all its expansions for less than $80 at miniature market, that includes all the extra characters that were part of Kickstarter promotions.

I just picked up Mage Knight and Pandemic. I figure that putting those two in the rotation with Sentinels will increase the replayability of all of them.

To add to this, it works really well solo though I'd recommend either the app or one the spreadsheets floating around for HP tracking (or some other device) because there is indeed a lot to keep track of.

There's also a lot of replay-ability in the core set and each expansion adds new mechanics and a different feel. Rook City is gritty heroes and the toughest villains in the game, infernal relics is complex mystical heroes and unique but easier villains, and Shattered Timelines (my favorite so far) is all about time travel/alternate reality and I think the best mix of awesome heroes and fun new villains to play. So if you don't want to get everything in one feel swoop, you can get the core + 1 expansion for less than 40.

[CleBrownsfan]

Thanks for the replies... Ill keep that in mind about the app. I ordered the enhanced core set and 3 expansions. Should come in this week - looking forward to trying it out.

[Warhammer]

So this weekend we had one of our game conventions. The GoH was Steve Jackson. My 11 year old runs into him at the bathroom and says, "You're Steve Jackson. My dad loves your games! You made Power Grid, right?"

[Coffee Warlord]

Speaking of Sentinels...Omnitron X is my new favorite hero.

[Racer]

Anyone ever play Jamaica?

It has the most amazing art work for a game I've ever seen, but it sounds like it might be a bit to light/random and more of a family game then a game you'd play with friends.

[Glengoyne]

We played Shogun this weekend along with Le Havre and 7-Wonders. Seven hours of gaming spread around a dinner, and I just realized that I came in second in all three games.

Le Havre is just a great game for this group, but I hadn't played it with five in so long that I didn't realize it was going to be as tight as it was. We had a bunch of terrible scores, most of us just breaking 100. I typically go for shipping, and one guy literally built the first ship and then shipped one load. He then left his playing piece on the shipping line until the second to last turn of the game, only taking the goods offers. He completely foiled the shipping strategy for me. He had a pretty decent strategy for converting everything to finished goods for a big final turn trip over the bridge to Seine, but fell short of the win. For my part I didn't realize he was going to actively block shipping for the whole game until too late. So I didn't switch to building soon enough to get the win. No shipping also prevented me from wiping out my debt easily. This, like Eclipse, is a great game that I love, and am coincidentally terrible at.

One has to love the cube tower mechanic in Shogun and Wallenstein. You just really never know how a combat is going to go.

[oykib]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Speaking of Sentinels...Omnitron X is my new favorite hero.

I got Shattered Timelines last Friday. I haven't tried Omitron-X yet though. I didn't much care for Chrono Ranger, even though his Bounties really made taking out La Capitan easier.

Tempest is still probably my favorite Hero to have in a team.

[cschex]

Played Omnitron X tonight vs the Dreamer, got plating and component-ed up pretty quick and proceeded to be awesome. After Dreamer flipped I was using my base power to pull her projections faster because we were burning them down.

I like Chrono Ranger a lot, but he is dependent on at least one damage boost to be really good

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by oykib

I got Shattered Timelines last Friday. I haven't tried Omitron-X yet though. I didn't much care for Chrono Ranger, even though his Bounties really made taking out La Capitan easier.

Tempest is still probably my favorite Hero to have in a team.

Tempest is still up there for my favorite people to play as well.

I'm digging the new villains as well, if only for one reason: They balanced out the cards that kill hero ongoings/equipment. What always drove me nuts is the fact that certain characters (Argent Adept comes to mind first and foremost) are utterly pointless against certain villain/environment combos, because of a constant stream of 'remove all hero ongoing' cards. It's no fun when you can do absolutely nothing the entire game.

[kmbgolf]

android netrunner.....................that is all

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by kmbgolf

android netrunner.....................that is all

Is that just a two player game?

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Is that just a two player game?

I think there's a multiplayer variant, but you need multiple copies of the game. It really is a two player game though.

[terpkristin]

I saw these at PAX East. Will be supporting DQ3's indiegogo and looking for local people to play some of the S&D games.

Drinking Quest: The Original Drinking RPG
Smirk and Dagger Games

/tk

[Matthean]

Plaid Hat Games put up the Bioshock Infinite board game for preorder. Of course, about the only thing that is known about the game is that it's based on the Bioshock Infinite game. Tons of miniatures but even the presale price is $59.99 with a $25 discount. Yeah, if they want me interested they are going to have to work for this one.

[CleBrownsfan]

Just played a solo game of Sentinels of the Multiverse and I have a quick question. When a hero has an attack modifier (ie.,+2 attack)- does he get the +2 bonus when he/she plays a card for damage (one shot, ect.) AND his/her damage from power? I was playing where they get bonuses from both but not sure if that is correct.

BTW - great game. I played solo controlling 4 heroes. It took about 3 hours to complete (I beat Apostate) but sure didn't feel like 3 hours!!

[cschex]

Yup, the damage modifies each instance of damage. For example, a hero like Haka would get +1 do his base damage of two from his power in addition to any other damage he dealt. However, Fanatic's base power is to deal 2 instances of 1 damage each, so that would be 2 and 2 with the damage boost

[CleBrownsfan]

Thanks for the clarification. Makes me feel a little better that I didn't have to "cheat" to beat Apostate

[Matthean]

Parents gave me money for my forthcoming birthday so I used some of it for games. I grabbed Samurai and Suburbia. I haven't played Samurai yet as I can't motivate myself to play it solo playing more than one player. Suburbia has two solo variants so I went and tried the one where you try to get as high of a score as possible against no bot but you have a high penalty for growth. I'll likely play against the bot for future solo plays. It felt like a little too loose with just the one restriction. Case in point, grab a Fancy Restaurant and then never play any of the other restaurants.

I had held off on Suburbia due to some component issues, but I finally caved. The issues weren't as bad as I had feared, but they were there. The printing of the ink for the money and investment tokens was off at the rate to where if it was right, it looked wrong. Some boards did offer tearing issues but the pieces tended to rip outward so it was mostly trimming the excess off. Only one piece really created an issues, and I Super Glued the torn piece to where it was hardly noticeable.

I got some Planos to get a couple more game organized. The stuff for Mage Knight I have to 100% put away because right now it seems like some of the pieces are going to be a pain to get out if they go where I think they do. Merchants and Marauders works near perfectly since the cover sits a little high now.

[cschex]

You'll have to let me know what you think of Samurai. I'm a big fan of older Knezia games (Ra, Through the Desert) and I've had my eye on that for a while

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

I can vouch for Blood Bowl Team Manager being a fun game.

The Sudden Death expansion arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. There's some new stuff (rules and variables) in there, that I haven't even fully examined yet. The important stuff probably are the new teams, though.

[Marc Vaughan]

Been playing Zombicide a fair bit in the last few weeks; definitely a fun game - especially if you've a pack of players ... its basically Left4Dead in board game format ..

Zombicide | A zombie havoc boardgame by Guillotine Games

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by cschex

You'll have to let me know what you think of Samurai. I'm a big fan of older Knezia games (Ra, Through the Desert) and I've had my eye on that for a while

I research the heck out of games and aim to only buy games I would consider 8.5-9.5 type of games. I'll likely just say why I like it versus if it is good or bad.

I played another game of Suburbia versus the bot this time. I got a middle range score and beat the bot decently. Without the bot, the game is quicker but you have less potential for a higher score. It is a solid game, but this one is going to really need players to play against so there's some actual tension going on. I will say I cracked up seeing the low income housing type tile pop up. It gives you like -2 or -3 rep but +10 population, which is huge from one tile. Your rep gives you population at the end of your turn so you have to desperately want that tile to combo with others like schools, stadiums, etc.

[Racer]

I have a friend who is really into board games that has gotten me into the hobby recently. Anyways, over the last two months I ordered:

Agricola – All Creatures Big and Small - my favorite two player game
Carcassonne - haven't had a chance to play this one yet. I want to though.
Dominion
Evo (2nd edition) - Designed by the same person who designed Small World. At its heart, it's an auction game where you bid for evolution genes for your herd of dinosaurs. Along the way you must move your herd around the board to account for changes in climate while possibly having to fight rival dinosaurs for habitable ground. Just ordered it yesterday, but it's supposed to play in about an hour.
Forbidden Island
For Sale
King of Tokyo + PowerUp! Expansion - It's not a particularly deep game, but I have a blast every time I play it.
Lords of Waterdeep - I love Stone Age and Argicola: ACB&S so I decided to include this game in my most recent order.
Lost Cities Haven't played it yet, but added it to one of my orders to get over $100 since it's been recommended by several in this thread.
7 Wonders
Stone Age - my favorite game right now
The Boss - I just ordered this game as well. It's a deduction/auction mix mafia themed game with some potentially neat game mechanics such as your mafia (auctioning pieces) being sent to jail, the hospital, or even being killed. As far as I can tell, it isn't well known. The game intrigued me though based on the video I watched of it on BGG.

[tarcone]

Welcome to the hobby.
I see you are in Indiana. I would recommend going to Gencon in Indianapolis. It is something you must see and be a part of.

[oykib]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Welcome to the life.
I see you are in Indiana. I would recommend going to the Players' Ball in Indianapolis. It is something you must see and be a part of.

Fixed

[Racer]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Welcome to the hobby.
I see you are in Indiana. I would recommend going to Gencon in Indianapolis. It is something you must see and be a part of.

I might have to check it out. My friend who introduced me to some of the Euro games beyond Settlers and TtR lives in Indy actually. I only live about 90 minutes away (Louisville area).