Board Games

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I know guys that don't play SC2 that watch the Day[9] daily just for him. I'll say this, the guy knows his stuff.

I am pretty much in the same boat, I rarely play SC2 multiplayer since I find I can only focus on one competitive multiplayer game and play Dots 2 but I love watching professional SC2 matches.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

I actually liked it quite a bit and was introduced to a game I didn't really know much about, that I'm now highly interested in.

+1

I'm not a fan of Wil Wheaton, in fact he seems pretty annoying. But Smallworld looks really cool after watching that, and I enjoyed the time spent. Good show.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Poli

I'm interested in the dungeon crawler. Let me know how it plays.

Delivery date is suppose to be today, but my guess is it will show up tomorrow or so. Minorly annoying that you can only get it from Gifted Vision. Additional "delve" aka expansion packs are $18 + $6 shipping. Stater box is 24.95 + $9.60 shipping. There is a complete set of delve packs for $90 since there is a set of 5 of them. Shipping on the 5 pack might be free. I know orders of $100 are. I'll see how I like the base game before I get too into the delve packs.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

Start your own group.

I don't know anybody that would play games.

I don't know anybody that reads IRL. Or watches the news. I know a lot of freaking stupid rocket scientists.

Side note: there's an app for that? How come nobody brought it up? Anybody have it? Anybody want to play with n00b? That's how I get all my board games.

/tk

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I don't know anybody that would play games.

I don't know anybody that reads IRL. Or watches the news. I know a lot of freaking stupid rocket scientists.

Side note: there's an app for that? How come nobody brought it up? Anybody have it? Anybody want to play with n00b? That's how I get all my board games.

/tk

I'm sure there are people around you (that you don't know) that want to play board games. Find people on Reddit/Craigslist/BoardGamerGeek!

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I don't know anybody that would play games.

I don't know anybody that reads IRL. Or watches the news. I know a lot of freaking stupid rocket scientists.

Side note: there's an app for that? How come nobody brought it up? Anybody have it? Anybody want to play with n00b? That's how I get all my board games.

/tk

Have you asked the rocket scientists? All my engineering (and rocket scientist buddies) play games. All you need to do is find one.

Also, check online for a boardgame community and hit one of their game nights.

My game group got started due to one guy knowing someone else, etc., etc.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

Have you asked the rocket scientists? All my engineering (and rocket scientist buddies) play games. All you need to do is find one.

Well, given that I am one, yes..

But in short, yes, the people I wouldn't mind spending time with outside of work, I've asked around if anybody plays or is interested. Nottin.

Granted, I didn't ask the ones that don't shower. Or don't speak English.

/tk

[dzilla77]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

I'm sure there are people around you (that you don't know) that want to play board games. Find people on Reddit/Craigslist/BoardGamerGeek!

Or better yet, find a local game store. Many of them have board game nights.

[Danny]

There is also meetup.com

[Matthean]

Doing a 4 player Starcarft: The Board Game w/expansion pack marathon this weekend. It takes long enough I figure we might get in 3 games. The guy who owns it does his own tracking of every game that's played via an Excel file. I'm not sure if he does storylines or not. I know he did it for his complete run through of Heroclix. He likes Heroclix the most with some house rules and likes Starcraft best in terms of out-of-box game play. I would have won the last game if my friend hadn't met a condition to win. He was basically toast, and I was ready to steamroll.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by dzilla77

Or better yet, find a local game store. Many of them have board game nights.

Hmm not sure where those are around here, either.

I am not usually the go out and meet up with random people type person. Maybe it's different if you're a dude. Even online dating I try to do super public places. I'm definitely not the type to meet up with people from BGG or Craigslist without knowing someone to start with. Even "Internet know" is iffy for me.

/tk

[Matthean]

Not that hard to look.

Hobby Shops in Ashburn, VA on Yahoo! Local
http://www.yellowpages.com/ashburn-va/collectibles
Game Parlor "the store with every type of game"

[terpkristin]

I'm not disagreeing but it takes more than Yahoo or Google search. And I admit I don't have time to hunt down shops, meet people, find games. Much easier to play online or with people I already know, theoretically those with similar ridiculous work schedules.

None of the people I regularly hang out with plays board games. They don't read either,mwhich is why I do online book clubs. Most of my coworkers are into video games, not board. And movies.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Also, never would have thought to look for Hobby Shops, so thanks for that. The one really close "Hobby Shop" closed a year or so ago, it was mostly model planes. And Wizards hasn't been in the mall in forever, I guess they're online only. I'd love to find an online group to play with, even if it's play h email or forum or via iOS apps. I have a LOT more time for asynchronous play.

/tk

[Barkeep49]

So far my experiments with board games in school has been successful. Based on this experience and lots of reading about what's gone on at other schools, I've decided to start a library board game collection with between $500 and $1000 in a special fund that I need to spend in the next 8 days.

I need to figure out some details but we'll be using it for 6-12 grade students with a special emphasis on 6-8. Games that could be used in the classroom would be a LARGE plus, but not a requirement.

So if you were starting a board game collection from scratch for that age group what would you buy?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

So far my experiments with board games in school has been successful. Based on this experience and lots of reading about what's gone on at other schools, I've decided to start a library board game collection with between $500 and $1000 in a special fund that I need to spend in the next 8 days.

I need to figure out some details but we'll be using it for 6-12 grade students with a special emphasis on 6-8. Games that could be used in the classroom would be a LARGE plus, but not a requirement.

So if you were starting a board game collection from scratch for that age group what would you buy?

I'm very interested in getting this answer as well, since my mom runs a local Boys and Girls Club and I'm interested in getting their teen center some new games that would be a good fit.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

So far my experiments with board games in school has been successful. Based on this experience and lots of reading about what's gone on at other schools, I've decided to start a library board game collection with between $500 and $1000 in a special fund that I need to spend in the next 8 days.

I need to figure out some details but we'll be using it for 6-12 grade students with a special emphasis on 6-8. Games that could be used in the classroom would be a LARGE plus, but not a requirement.

So if you were starting a board game collection from scratch for that age group what would you buy?

Power Grid
Puerto Rico
Settlers of Catan
Nexus Ops
Traders of Genoa
El Grande
Cosmic Encounter (pref. w/expansions)
Primordial Soup

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

Power Grid
Puerto Rico
Settlers of Catan
Nexus Ops
Traders of Genoa
El Grande
Cosmic Encounter (pref. w/expansions)
Primordial Soup

I'd add Pandemic to get some co-op action in.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

So far my experiments with board games in school has been successful. Based on this experience and lots of reading about what's gone on at other schools, I've decided to start a library board game collection with between $500 and $1000 in a special fund that I need to spend in the next 8 days.

I need to figure out some details but we'll be using it for 6-12 grade students with a special emphasis on 6-8. Games that could be used in the classroom would be a LARGE plus, but not a requirement.

So if you were starting a board game collection from scratch for that age group what would you buy?

Recommendations that haven't been mentioned

Some games that work with larger groups:
7 Wonders
Citadels
Quiddler

If 2 player games would fit
Lost Cities (The Card Game)
Battle Line

[Vince, Pt. II]

Dominion would be a pretty good add too, I think. Pretty simple concept with room for lots of strategy.

[BillyNYC]

Re: Starting a collection, sometimes there are Ebay board game bundles that allow you to do just that.

Gf got the following games in one such bundle, for around $90:
Dominion
Carcassonne
Notre Dame
Puerto Rico
Stone Age

Only played the first 2, but have heard good things about the rest. The same bundle's available now even: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rio-Grande-5...item58933a1b47 (along with other bundles)

Also, will second recommendations for Pandemic and Battle Line, both of which we bought prior to the bundle.

[Matthean]

Forbidden Island seems like a decent pick as well since players try to win the game together.

[Danny]

Get 200 copies of UNO

[terpkristin]

Anybody played the tabletop card game Food Fight from Cryptozoic? I saw it at PAX East today, looked kinda cool. I'm contemplating buying the game tomorrow...I did grab the iOS version. I guess there's a new expansion for the RL game coming soon, Food Fight:Snack Attack! (or maybe it was recently released).

Lots of interesting tabletop stuff here. Maybe when the satellite I'm currentliy working on has launched, I'll try to find a game group. Til then, won't have time but for iOS/apps. Speaking of, anybody have any of the apps for various games and wanna play?

/tk

[Matthean]

Dungeon Crawler came in. I haven't really played to it say how well I like it or not. Packaging was ok. The sets of cards needed to be plastic wrapped but weren't. They have a thin cardboard strap that goes around each of the three types of cards but that's it. When I opened the box, cards were everywhere. Nothing was damaged though.

I am impressed with their online resources for learning the game. They have a 40+ minute video walk through for a starter game and then they have a three part interactive starter game. The interactive game isn't a complete game, but it more than covers what is done during each round.

There's three types of games but only solitaire is doable with just a Starter pack. Even to do a "standard" solitaire game requires the Starter + one expansion pack. You can do difficulty settings if you want a quicker or longer game based on the number of quest(1-3) you need to complete to win the game.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Doing a 4 player Starcarft: The Board Game w/expansion pack marathon this weekend. It takes long enough I figure we might get in 3 games. The guy who owns it does his own tracking of every game that's played via an Excel file. I'm not sure if he does storylines or not. I know he did it for his complete run through of Heroclix. He likes Heroclix the most with some house rules and likes Starcraft best in terms of out-of-box game play. I would have won the last game if my friend hadn't met a condition to win. He was basically toast, and I was ready to steamroll.

Scratch the multiple game idea. One game took roughly 11 hours. If one player hadn't won on points, I would have won due to special victory but points were totaled first. The game would have been longer but one player lost his base during the first turn and didn't get back into the game until about mid way through. I like the game, but seriously, 11 freaking hours.

I just went and checked at gameboardgeek and this does seem like an insanely high number of hours for a four person game. All of us have played it once, but I still think we are a ways from being comfortable with it enough to start to cut down the time. Right now I'm playing it about once per four months, and by the time I play it again I forget enough stuff so there needs to be some review.

[DanGarion]

We played Dominion for the first time and it was a blast, friends liked it a lot and the wife loved it. We just started with the 1st game rules, by the second game one of our friends figured out gold farming and took us all to the cleaners in the 3rd game. Once we changed things up and played some of the other suggested card combinations it really opened out eyes to how different the game can be depending on the cards.

Dominion: Seaside was on sale on Amazon this week and I received it yesterday really loved some some of the concepts on the cards I see in it.

I have a question regarding Confusion, has anyone played it? What is your opinion about it?

[tarcone]

I was checking out ebay and came across a game called Risk:Legacy. It seems that the game remembers things you did in previous games and the game changes. It also states there is hidden rules that reveal themselves over time.

Anyone played it or heard any more info on it. It looks intriguing.

[Autumn]

I thought someone had talked about Legacy in thread here, tarcone. It sounds like a cool twist, especially if you play with some of the same people over time.

[Autumn]

Anyone played Marvel Heroscape? I was thinking of picking it up for my soon to be 9 year old.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Autumn

I thought someone had talked about Legacy in thread here, tarcone. It sounds like a cool twist, especially if you play with some of the same people over time.

I bought it, but haven't been able to get the group we're playing with all together just yet.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I bought it, but haven't been able to get the group we're playing with all together just yet.

+1. We're doing a regular Risk game tonight with some maybe players to see if they'd be interested for the long haul.

[Matthean]

King of Tokyo came in way ahead of schedule. I wasn't suppose to get it for 2-3 more weeks. Too bad it came in a shipping day after my friends and I got together.

Another printing of Mage Knight is coming out. Not sure if this is the 2nd or 3rd printing, but the first printing sold out in 20 days. Amazon has it listed as coming out in Nov. with a $109 price tag. I found a couple places with it coming out in April for around $55. CoolStuffInc. is suppose to have it sooner, but one person talked to an employee and others who said to never preorder with them even though somebody else said they had no issue with a previous preorder.

Cardhaus

CoolStuffInc.



On the list of next phase of games to get is Drumroll. You build up a circus and win points based on how well you pull off a performance for people. It's difficult to get a hold of as I think you are almost limited to only getting it from the game makers and the price tag is around $65. They are looking for publishers for the next printing and hopefully an American publisher to help bring down the cost.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I bought it, but haven't been able to get the group we're playing with all together just yet.

Keep me updated if you do. It really sounds like a cool game.

[terpkristin]

Slightly off topic, is it possible to save a YouTube video for offline viewing? I want to give Tabletop another go but will be in a place I can't stream on my phone and can't stream from my work computer for 16 hours the next 4 days...

/tk

[Matthean]

Not seeing the option for downloading the video.

[Danny]

I've preordered with coolstuff probably 6 or 7 times, everything always perfect and they have accommodated any and all order changes I have made (and there have been many)

[Arctus]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I was checking out ebay and came across a game called Risk:Legacy. It seems that the game remembers things you did in previous games and the game changes. It also states there is hidden rules that reveal themselves over time.

Anyone played it or heard any more info on it. It looks intriguing.

I played through 15 games of it. The board and other game components get modified both during and after games. It was fantastic, we are thinking about buying another game and starting over from scratch. The rules complexity will also increase somewhat as the game progresses.

I would recommend that you find a regular group to play with. It doesn't work as well if you are not consistently playing with the same group. My group had a core group of 5, and we played 4 or 5 player games with this group for the most part.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Danny

I've preordered with coolstuff probably 6 or 7 times, everything always perfect and they have accommodated any and all order changes I have made (and there have been many)

Good to know. It will take time before I would play it with others, and I still have three games ahead of it so I don't mind waiting two more weeks.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Arctus

I played through 15 games of it. The board and other game components get modified both during and after games. It was fantastic, we are thinking about buying another game and starting over from scratch. The rules complexity will also increase somewhat as the game progresses.

I would recommend that you find a regular group to play with. It doesn't work as well if you are not consistently playing with the same group. My group had a core group of 5, and we played 4 or 5 player games with this group for the most part.

How long does each game take (ballpark)?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Dola

Put together a 4 person game of Power Grid tonight. I really can't overstate how much I'm loving this game. Played with three of my lawyer buddies who are all hypercompetitive and had never played before. I got bit in the ass by not upgrading from my low-tier wind power plant fast enough, and even though I forced the game to end before the leader wanted it to, it took too much of my money and I ended up finishing 3rd based on money in hand.

Resources were still not really all that scarce even with 4 people, but grid expansion was much more interesting with 4. I also found myself manipulating my position in the turn order more than I had in two and three player games - a couple of times I declined to expand when I had the infrastructure and money to do so to make sure I had cheaper resources down the line. I took one big gamble - with a very nice power plant sitting in the first position on the future market, I let the main threat to my lead take another nice power plant for fairly cheap, hoping to pick up the good power plant at cost...then we flipped over plant 12 from the deck and it never made it to the current market.

[Autumn]

I hate when that happens, you scheme to get a plant and then draw some crap. Grrrr.

[Matthean]

I did a mock play though of a 6 player King of Tokyo just to test things out. Kraken won with a combo of Eater of the Dead and High Altitude Bombing. Kraken was in Tokyo as well. Once I figured out going to really low health was ok with only one other monster outside of Tokyo after the damage happened, it was an easy call. Upkeep + 2 monsters down meant 8 easy victory points and left him at 17. Upkeep + dice roll got him the final needed victory points on his next turn.

I can totally see somebody being at full health and dead within a round, which makes it kind of chaotic but fun. It didn't seem like a lot of cards got played. I think the number of cards played was around 0-2 per monster. With so few played, the higher cost cards come across as game changers. I tried to play it based on what I remember of the rules after a pass through. I'll read them again, and I should be good to go from there.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Autumn

Anyone played Marvel Heroscape? I was thinking of picking it up for my soon to be 9 year old.

I've played it with my 7 year old. It's pretty fun. The battle mechanics are straightforward (roll special dice to determine hits/defense) and there's some basic rules / advanced rules where you incorporate special hero powers.

The game doesn't come with a lot of hero/villains (we were hoping they would release some more eventually ... but don't think they did), but if you're happy w/ what's listed on the box then go for it.

[Matthean]

My friend is looking at a new game.

Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game
BGG Score: 7.50
Price: 65$ although listed at $99
Players: 1-8
Theme: Indiana Jones.

One video review did say he thought it might be a little too random for some people and that's why he preferred co-op versus competitive, but it looks like it fleshed out the Indiana Jones type storyline with a cliffhanger aspect rather well. The posted video review also brings up the random factor as the only real issue with the game.

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Resources were still not really all that scarce even with 4 people, but grid expansion was much more interesting with 4. I also found myself manipulating my position in the turn order more than I had in two and three player games - a couple of times I declined to expand when I had the infrastructure and money to do so to make sure I had cheaper resources down the line. I took one big gamble - with a very nice power plant sitting in the first position on the future market, I let the main threat to my lead take another nice power plant for fairly cheap, hoping to pick up the good power plant at cost...then we flipped over plant 12 from the deck and it never made it to the current market.

Have you played any of the other maps? Unlike other games were expansion maps don't add much, in PG many of them have seemingly minor changes that affect strategy in rather profound ways.

For more scarcity try the China/Korea maps. Korea splits the markets in two with Best Korea being smaller and having no uranium and South Korea being larger and having access to all resources. Each turn you pick one or the other market to buy from and can only by from that market that turn.

China is my favorite map. Resources are also very scarce in the first two phases. The economy is also planned (i.e. plants come out in numerical order until the third phase) which means inefficient plans stay in play longer compounding the scarcity. Really gives a very different experience than the base game.

In the opposite direction the BeNeLux map speeds up game play considerably particularly for games with fewer players!

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I did a mock play though of a 6 player King of Tokyo just to test things out. Kraken won with a combo of Eater of the Dead and High Altitude Bombing. Kraken was in Tokyo as well. Once I figured out going to really low health was ok with only one other monster outside of Tokyo after the damage happened, it was an easy call. Upkeep + 2 monsters down meant 8 easy victory points and left him at 17. Upkeep + dice roll got him the final needed victory points on his next turn.

I can totally see somebody being at full health and dead within a round, which makes it kind of chaotic but fun. It didn't seem like a lot of cards got played. I think the number of cards played was around 0-2 per monster. With so few played, the higher cost cards come across as game changers. I tried to play it based on what I remember of the rules after a pass through. I'll read them again, and I should be good to go from there.

King of Tokyo is a lot of fun. I'd recommend taking a look at some of the rules threads on BGG. I think there is a link to a FAQ there as well. There are a number of things I did wrong the first few plays. Not many of them game changers, but for some reason I found the rules difficult to follow the first time through. Now, they seem pretty clear, what with hind sight and all.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

King of Tokyo is a lot of fun. I'd recommend taking a look at some of the rules threads on BGG. I think there is a link to a FAQ there as well. There are a number of things I did wrong the first few plays. Not many of them game changers, but for some reason I found the rules difficult to follow the first time through. Now, they seem pretty clear, what with hind sight and all.

The rules did seem straightforward. I even wrote them out from my head to a friend. When playing the game it just seemed like I was wondering about certain parts and just went with it. I think the only thing that really tripped me up was a monster in Tokyo being low enough on health that it would be better to leave voluntarily since nobody was attacking him to force him out. I had them leave Tokyo and treated the monster as being outside of Tokyo.

[Arctus]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

How long does each game take (ballpark)?

It varies quite a bit actually. Our fastest was about 30 minutes and our longest was about 4 1/2 hours. The majority of our games lasted around 1 1/2 hours.

You may be thinking that the games start off quickly and take longer the more you play (or vice versa); but this wasn't the case for my group. The rules evolve and the board evolves so the strategies evolve.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

Have you played any of the other maps? Unlike other games were expansion maps don't add much, in PG many of them have seemingly minor changes that affect strategy in rather profound ways.

For more scarcity try the China/Korea maps. Korea splits the markets in two with Best Korea being smaller and having no uranium and South Korea being larger and having access to all resources. Each turn you pick one or the other market to buy from and can only by from that market that turn.

China is my favorite map. Resources are also very scarce in the first two phases. The economy is also planned (i.e. plants come out in numerical order until the third phase) which means inefficient plans stay in play longer compounding the scarcity. Really gives a very different experience than the base game.

In the opposite direction the BeNeLux map speeds up game play considerably particularly for games with fewer players!

I haven't yet. We have the standard version of the game, our board has the US on one side and Germany on the other. We've played four games total - 3 on the US map (2, 3 and 4 players) and one on the German map (2 players).

Originally Posted by Arctus

It varies quite a bit actually. Our fastest was about 30 minutes and our longest was about 4 1/2 hours. The majority of our games lasted around 1 1/2 hours.

You may be thinking that the games start off quickly and take longer the more you play (or vice versa); but this wasn't the case for my group. The rules evolve and the board evolves so the strategies evolve.

Interesting. Trying to plan out a night (or day) for this, and not sure how much time we should set aside. Good to know that things vary and it's not predictable, though that might not help when it comes to scheduling