Board Games

[mckerney]

Played a 6 player game of Game of Thrones for the first time and have to say it is much better when you have a full game. It was the first time we'd played where the game went to the end of the tenth turn and 5 of the 6 players were in position to have a chance to win on the final turn. Previous games had been fun but usually we would have one or two people running away with the lead and have it end by turn 7.

I thought I was finished on turn 8 so on turn 9 I decided to just get revenge on the Starks who had caused most of my losses and took Winterfell after he left it undefended. I got a bit lucky since he could have taken out all my ships I had to use to transport my troops to Winterfell, but thankfully I managed to make him think I was after one of his castles and then I was able to wreck his 4 stack of ships while attacking. It left me with only though it left me with only 2 victory points since I had to abandon a castle to take it while the leader had 5 at the start of turn 10. Thankfully I was able to take back the castle I had abandoned while no one else was able to move towards it and was also lucky enough to take a stronghold from the leader who tried and failed to take 3 different castles on the final turn leaving a 4 way tie with 4 victory points which I then won by having 3 strongholds.

Love when a 4 hour game can come down to the last 5 minutes, something that had unfortunately never happened when we played with 4 or 5 people.

[Coffee Warlord]

So back for Christmas, my wife bought me a bunch of different games (basically she got Mage Knight + a couple dirt cheap games in a bundle).

We tried one of them last night. Hidden Conflict.

I have a one word review for Hidden Conflict: Horrid.

[Marc Vaughan]

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

Samurai is awesome - although I have to admit I've only ever played the iOS version of it (I'd recommend that heartily).

[mckerney]

Have only played the board game and agree Samurai is great.

[Matthean]

Had my game night and knew it was going to be a mighty low turn out as people kept mentioning having plans and one person posted the day of being in Traverse City in the hospital with his grandmother. Well, nobody showed up, no room was unlocked, and driving home I found out I had a flat tire. Today I find out the power point slides announcing when our next game night is saying it is Dec. 22nd, which isn't even a Friday. I swear I'm never leading anything else ever again.

[tarcone]

GoT should only be played with 6.

[Matthean]

I think people on BGG say it is 5-6, but it does seem to benefit from having the most play. It is another reason I don't get it.

[Vince, Pt. II]

5 isn't bad for GoT. 4 or fewer and it suffers from major balance issues.

[Autumn]

Just had a game night and played Race for the Galaxy and Notre Dame, two of my favorites. Race is incredibly hard to figure out the first itme - the icons on the cards are nuts. but once you crack it I find it's a ton of fun with a lot of replay value. Notre Dame I've only played a few times but I really enjoy it.

[Glengoyne]

We did a game night to celebrate my B-day yesterday. Mainly to get Eclipse on the table again. 5 hours for a six player game...a bit longer than expected. Plus two of us were effectively out at the three hour mark. I'm not good at this game, but I love it. I can score well, but if anything goes wrong, I really struggle.

We did get Love letter on the table. It is a great quick filler that is very accessible, and fun. there are eight different cards in the game, each with a different power/rule as well as a numeric value. Some of the powers knock another player out of the game if used properly, others just grant you a temporary advantage. Anyone left in play after drawing through the 16 card deck compares cards, and the player with the highest ranked card wins the round. You play until someone wins a set number of rounds. We player to four with four players. It was quite a bit of fun, and will be hitting the table again.

Also picked up Fleet and played it. We butchered the rules a bit, but I think it has potential. A little euro that plays quickly, and seems to offer some depth of play and strategy. I'm looking forward to trying it again.

[cschex]

Really enjoyed playing Love Letter with my wife and 6 yr old daughter. Super quick to pick up but a lot of fun. Of course my daughter won, she schools me at all cards games (wins about 2/3rds of the time at Jaipur).

I'm really interested in getting Eclipse to the table as I picked it up on clearance at B & N last week for 35 bucks after half off and another 30% off coupon.

[tarcone]

Picked up Empires of the Void. I have Eclipse, but it is a little to euro for me. Im hoping that this game scratches my sci-fi game itch a little better. Looks like a really fun game with war and politics.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I got Escape! The Curse of the Temple.
My family played it several times. Very intense and fun. My daughters enjoyed as did my wife. I may get some good play out of this one.

It is a good ten minutes of chaotic fun.

Just ordered Escape: The Curse of the Temple from Amazon. Looking forward to playing chaotic fun

How's it play solo?

[tarcone]

I havent played it solo. I imagine it will be very difficult. When you roll black masks that locks that die. You can borrow dice from other players if you are in the same room. So not having that will hurt badly.
There is a rule that allows having 3 gems on the side that will unlock your dice but you have to add it to the pile of gems to eliminate. Which would make it more difficult.

[mckerney]

Love this game.

Also excited that from the preview at the end it looks like next time H to the usky Husky is going to be on the show.

[Danny]

Resistance is easily one of my top 10 games. I own 4 copies at the moment.

Also, want to plug a fantastic looking (IMO) tactical fantasy dungeon crawl / minis game that is on kickstarter.

Myth

[CleBrownsfan]

Resistance looks like a real fun party game... I love watching Table Top vids

[Vince, Pt. II]

Resistance is pretty awesome. Usually it takes people until the second or third mission of their first game to really get it, but once they do it's hard to put the game away.

[Flasch186]

First Table Top Vid Ive watched and wow, im impressed. thats some high quality shit there.

[Matthean]

While all games are to a point, The Resistance seems to depend on what kind of group you are playing with more so than others.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Matthean

While all games are to a point, The Resistance seems to depend on what kind of group you are playing with more so than others.

This is true, but I've had success with The Resistance with an incredibly diverse set of groups. Many people who aren't at all "gamers" love this game.

[britrock88]

Hey, we play something like The Resistance here... over in the Werewolf forum!

[Autumn]

In fact ... there's a game in signups right now!

[Autumn]

I'm looking for a game to do with a largish crowd (10-12) of casual gamers this summer. We do an event every summer, a geek pentathlon, with lots of crazy shit like atlatls and samurai swords. But we alwyas end with a sit down sort of game. In the past we've played Munchkin, Formula D, a miniatures battle.

What would be a good board/card game for this purpose? We were actually thinking Resistance but we need to be able to rank the winners and assign points. Any thoughts? Something that wouldn't take a long time, and that tired casual gamers can play.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'm an OG Werewolf guy - my work makes my daily schedule completely unpredictable though, so I can't reliably commit anymore.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Autumn

I'm looking for a game to do with a largish crowd (10-12) of casual gamers this summer. We do an event every summer, a geek pentathlon, with lots of crazy shit like atlatls and samurai swords. But we alwyas end with a sit down sort of game. In the past we've played Munchkin, Formula D, a miniatures battle.

What would be a good board/card game for this purpose? We were actually thinking Resistance but we need to be able to rank the winners and assign points. Any thoughts? Something that wouldn't take a long time, and that tired casual gamers can play.

Small World might be a good option. Sort of Risk-lite, without the huge time commitment. The scoring system is straight points, so rankings are easy.

[oykib]

I've been playing Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer on the iPhone. It's addictive as hell.

[Alan T]

Yes I love ascension on the iPhone better than the actual card game

[tarcone]

Oh my.
I dont know if there are any Supremacy fans on the board. It was a game from the 80s. It is a war game that is more in depth than A&A. It had a lot of expansions. It was a great game that my group of that time enjoyed tremendously. We had several of the expansions. Today, you would pay around $120 for the game. It has been OOP for a long time. I have always wanted to purchase it, as my friend owned it and his wife made him throw it out a few years ago. I found that out when I called him to see if he still had it.
WELL, guess what I just found on KS? Supremacy 2020. A redesign of that great game. I am already drooling. Unfortunately it has a $70 price tag on KS. Im not sure if I can swing that right now. There are 28 days left. And I just dropped money on Empires of the Void. I have to play my cards right with my wife.
Here is the link if anyone is interested.

SUPREMACY 2020 –Superpower Game of Nuclear Brinksmanship by Command Post Games — Kickstarter

[rockboy70]

Eclipse is out for iOS (ipad only)!

[Solecismic]

Our group has been into Suburbia lately. Interesting tile placement/city building game.

Tried San Juan. I like the mechanics, but it seems too tied to card-drawing luck.

At home, taught my son Citadels. That's a nice, light game - also a lot of luck, but really good for bluffing - especially in the two-player version.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by rockboy70

Eclipse is out for iOS (ipad only)!

Never heard of this, what is it?

/tk

[Danny]

One of the most awesome board games ever

[rockboy70]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Never heard of this, what is it?

/tk

4X space themed board game with worker placement & resource management elements. And I agree with Danny

[tarcone]

Eclipse is more of a euro type game with a little bit of battle. While a really fun game, not in my greatest category. Its a little too Euro for me.
But I will pick it up for the ipad. Good stuff.

[tarcone]

I WON A GAME!
Over at BGG there is a guy who has a contest. I answered some questions he posed and put in the game I wanted and then re-entered every month I didnt win. Well, I finally won. I never win. But I cant say that now.

I won the game Dominant Species.

I am so excited.

[cschex]

Awesome, tarcone. I've always wanted to play that but don't have a regular game group so i haven't acquired it. I hope you like it.

I snagged a copy of Tzolk'in the other day when it was half off MSRP on CSI. Can't wait to play that, I don't own a solid worker placement game

[Danny]

Tzolkin is a really good one

[Fidatelo]

I got to play Cards Against Humanity last night, that was a blast. I imagine it wears a little thin after a couple plays and the shock factor of some of the cards wears off, but it sure is fun the first time!

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by rockboy70

Eclipse is out for iOS (ipad only)!

[Fidatelo]

I bought Eclipse on Tuesday night, played the tutorial a bit. The next morning my 2 year old poured a glass of milk on our iPad.

[Racer]

FWI, for anyone interested in picking up Alien Frontiers (it seems to be an extremely hard find?), it's back on kickstarter along with an expansion pack.

Alien Frontiers 4th Edition by Springboard ... Powered by Game Salute — Kickstarter

[CleBrownsfan]

Just played two games of Sentinels of the Universe with a buddy( playing two heroes each). We beat Baron Blade pretty handily in the 1st game and got beat down by Rogue Rat in the 2nd. This is my favorite game ATM solo or with others...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Just played two games of Sentinels of the Universe with a buddy( playing two heroes each). We beat Baron Blade pretty handily in the 1st game and got beat down by Rogue Rat in the 2nd. This is my favorite game ATM solo or with others...

I've played this a few different times as well of late. I, too, really enjoy it. Super fun game (pun not intended).

[cschex]

Plague Rat is the hardest difficulty 2 villain, IMO, primarily because he hits hard and fast. Glad you're enjoying Sentinels, I've been pushing this pretty hard to friends and local gamers and everyone who has played really enjoys it

[Matthean]

I played another game of Legendary. It just hasn't clicked for me despite the theme. Other people enjoy it, and I have yet to be on a team that has lost but every time I get the fewest points without hitting the main villain. I keep trying different things but nothing really works. I take out mostly mid level guys on the street and that's it. I feel like I'm building towards mediocrity and that's not that fun. This likely reconfirms me needing to play a character versus a mash up of a bunch of heroes.

I played four more games of The Resistance and while I liked my initial plays, it didn't quite stick. This time things clicked much better. I need to play with more people since 5-player games tend to reveal nothing in 2-player missions. Outside of that, this is moving up on my list.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by cschex

Plague Rat is the hardest difficulty 2 villain, IMO, primarily because he hits hard and fast. Glad you're enjoying Sentinels, I've been pushing this pretty hard to friends and local gamers and everyone who has played really enjoys it

And then you fight Iron Legacy. And wonder why you ever thought anyone else was hard.

[cschex]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

And then you fight Iron Legacy. And wonder why you ever thought anyone else was hard.

No kidding. Playing IL is for when I only have 20 minutes and want to play SotM, because it'll be over one way or the other in that time

[Matthean]

One of the two main gaming stores and likely the nicest one is closing down. I'm not sure what happens if the other goes. The Lansing Board Game group would have to seek out a new place to play. There's only a small store that might be able to pick up the slack. There might be another comic book shop, but I have never been there so I don't know if they are set up for it. It might get to the point where I offer to be a place to host games since I host game nights at my church.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I played another game of Legendary. It just hasn't clicked for me despite the theme. Other people enjoy it, and I have yet to be on a team that has lost but every time I get the fewest points without hitting the main villain. I keep trying different things but nothing really works. I take out mostly mid level guys on the street and that's it. I feel like I'm building towards mediocrity and that's not that fun. This likely reconfirms me needing to play a character versus a mash up of a bunch of heroes.

I played four more games of The Resistance and while I liked my initial plays, it didn't quite stick. This time things clicked much better. I need to play with more people since 5-player games tend to reveal nothing in 2-player missions. Outside of that, this is moving up on my list.

When it comes to Legendary, I've had the best success going with one hero and getting one or two of a second hero who has some synergy. If you diversify, you can't really make any of the heroes shine.