Board Games

[Vince, Pt. II]

I should really get into solo gaming...I just can't for some reason. I have a ton of great options even without going out to purchase more (Tapestry, Scythe, Gloomhaven, Terraforming Mars, Mage Knight, The 7th Continent, Spirit Island), but I just have a hard time getting into them playing by myself.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

My Bro-in-Law is a huge Halloween guy. Biggest day of the year for him, etc.

And so sometime in the season, he'll have a Halloween party that centers around Arkham Horror. Makes a playlist, serves themed snacks, etc. It's a grand time.

I've also, however, played a game of Eldrich Horror where we all got our ass kicked so hard and so quickly that we decided that the game was really the scene in the first ten minutes of an adventure movie showing how the Earth fell, and then the screen goes to black and you see the words "500 years later . . ."

I guess what I am saying is that they are amazing games, but I think of them almost more as interactive stories than board games.

This is how I feel about Nemesis, the new Alien hidden-role game. The Shut Up & Sit Down review of it was spot on, and made me wish I had a friend that owned the game: 15% or so of people are going to actively hate this game, and you might spend two hours being frustrated at not being able to get what you want to get done, done...but at the end, it will make for an incredible story.

I would love to play that game...not sure I want to own or teach that game.

[tarcone]

Arkham Horror is a fun game. Though my friend and my first play was too easy.

We need to play a tougher scenario. Fun game though.

[Thomkal]

Vince when this virus is over with, I'm coming to your house to play board games I play board games solo, and am very happy to see a lot of them go digital cause the price for most I'm interested in are just way too expensive and there's no setup/cleanup. Have you tried any to play solo?


I just saw that Charterstone, which I didn't even know was going digital, now has a digital version. Have you played that?

[tarcone]

I will ask this and am not expecting a whole lot, but, hey, you never know.

Anyone want to get together on VASSAL and play a game? Id be down for a game of Arkham Horror, or anything really. I am isolating myself because of my medical issue and am getting bored.

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Vince when this virus is over with, I'm coming to your house to play board games I play board games solo, and am very happy to see a lot of them go digital cause the price for most I'm interested in are just way too expensive and there's no setup/cleanup. Have you tried any to play solo?


I just saw that Charterstone, which I didn't even know was going digital, now has a digital version. Have you played that?

Would love to have you over, Thomkal! I've managed to amass quite a collection, even after the culling I've been through recently.

I have played through an entire campaign of Charterstone. It's...decent. It has a few parts that I absolutely love, and one mechanic in particular that made one of our 10 games incredible - like, I'm going to talk about it for years incredible - but overall it's just kinda ok. The story is a let-down, the gameplay is good-but-not-great, and there was really only one moment of "oh, wow!" in the entire box. A lot of the decision-making during the campaign (so between games) feels like it's building up to a nice, juicy payoff...and it fell really flat in the end for our group. Of the Legacy games I've played (Risk: Legacy an almost embarrassing number of times and we're halfway through our first play of Pandemic: Legacy Season 1) it's easily the weakest.

Overall, I think I'd still probably recommend it as a fun time for the legacy version. I think the let-down is less that it was a bad ending and more that it didn't meet its own expectations that were built up during play.

If you were looking just to play it for the game itself, and not the campaign/Legacy aspect, I'd say you can do much better for a light-to-medium weight worker placement game.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I will ask this and am not expecting a whole lot, but, hey, you never know.

Anyone want to get together on VASSAL and play a game? Id be down for a game of Arkham Horror, or anything really. I am isolating myself because of my medical issue and am getting bored.

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN

As mentioned before - I'd love to, but my schedule is still all over the place. Fortunately/unfortunately I'm still working during the quarantine, so I wouldn't be available during the day.

[Vince, Pt. II]

For the triple-dola, I have a hard time even setting one up to play solo; I feel like when I'm by myself, a video game is a much better time. I really need to give some of my games a whirl solo just to see if I like it once I start actually playing them.

[tarcone]

Just picked up a game called Campaign Trail from Cosmic Wombat Games.

Reviewers loved it.

Its a card driven presidential campaign game. Plays 1-6.

$55 with free shipping to USA.

Home | cosmicwombatgames

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I will ask this and am not expecting a whole lot, but, hey, you never know.

Anyone want to get together on VASSAL and play a game? Id be down for a game of Arkham Horror, or anything really. I am isolating myself because of my medical issue and am getting bored.

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN

only game I played via vassal was Thunder alley and I loved it! Is there a mechanism to play it live?

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I will ask this and am not expecting a whole lot, but, hey, you never know.

Anyone want to get together on VASSAL and play a game? Id be down for a game of Arkham Horror, or anything really. I am isolating myself because of my medical issue and am getting bored.

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN

I've never done VASSAL. But consider me curious.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

only game I played via vassal was Thunder alley and I loved it! Is there a mechanism to play it live?

I played with you, remember?

There is a way to play games live. I played a game of Lincoln against a guy once.

I have not been on VASSAL since those Thunder ALley games, but we could figure it out.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I played with you, remember?

There is a way to play games live. I played a game of Lincoln against a guy once.

I have not been on VASSAL since those Thunder ALley games, but we could figure it out.

If we could do it live count me in.

[albionmoonlight]

Post details here

Does it have to be a game we all own? Or is it all done online?

[tarcone]

Online. We need to discuss what game we want to play. VASSAL has a ton of board games.

If one owns it and can explain the rules that is our best bet.

Sounds like we have 4.

So it comes down to what game we want to play, when we want to meet to play and who can teach it.

[albionmoonlight]

Count me in.

Let me check with Mrs. A about availability. Evening will work best for me because I am fortunate enough to still be able to work full time from home

I'll kick around VASSAL and see what's there.

[Flasch186]

i vote thunder alley of course, my fave

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Count me in.

Let me check with Mrs. A about availability. Evening will work best for me because I am fortunate enough to still be able to work full time from home

I'll kick around VASSAL and see what's there.

+1. Happy to teach if I know the game.

[SirFozzie]

Another option is games with a digital conversion:

D&D Lords of Waterdeep on Steam

Perhaps this one (5 player?)

[spleen1015]

Hey guys. I am looking for some suggestions since we are under a stay-at-home order I thought maybe it was a good time to get into a more complex board game. I have no idea what I am doing here.

I want a board game or two that I can play with my wife and daughter. Some background on them.

My daughter is up for a little strategy gaming. She's not afraid to play a game that makes you think too much.

My wife on the other hand hates Monopoly, Risk, etc. She won't even play Clue with me because of the 'strategy' involved.

So, I am looking for a game that the 3 of us could play together. Maybe something that is co-op?

I would love to play a game that is simple that doesn't take a ton of strategy and the game changes as you play it.

Looking for any suggestions.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Hey guys. I am looking for some suggestions since we are under a stay-at-home order I thought maybe it was a good time to get into a more complex board game. I have no idea what I am doing here.

I want a board game or two that I can play with my wife and daughter. Some background on them.

My daughter is up for a little strategy gaming. She's not afraid to play a game that makes you think too much.

My wife on the other hand hates Monopoly, Risk, etc. She won't even play Clue with me because of the 'strategy' involved.

So, I am looking for a game that the 3 of us could play together. Maybe something that is co-op?

I would love to play a game that is simple that doesn't take a ton of strategy and the game changes as you play it.

Looking for any suggestions.

While this may be a little on the nose, Pandemic is a great co-op game that doesn't take a lot of strategy and has a lot of re-playability. It tends to be my go-to for people who haven't played a lot of board games as an intro to co-op games.

Heroes of the Multi-verse is a fun, co-op super hero card game.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Hey guys. I am looking for some suggestions since we are under a stay-at-home order I thought maybe it was a good time to get into a more complex board game. I have no idea what I am doing here.

I want a board game or two that I can play with my wife and daughter. Some background on them.

My daughter is up for a little strategy gaming. She's not afraid to play a game that makes you think too much.

My wife on the other hand hates Monopoly, Risk, etc. She won't even play Clue with me because of the 'strategy' involved.

So, I am looking for a game that the 3 of us could play together. Maybe something that is co-op?

I would love to play a game that is simple that doesn't take a ton of strategy and the game changes as you play it.

Looking for any suggestions.

I honestly don't see a game that could be called a strategy game that would have less strategy than Clue or Monopoly.

But one that might fit the bill would be Ticket to Ride. The overall strategy is pretty simple (every player is a railroad tycoon. You collect cards that let you build train routes, and you get points for completing certain routes, building longer routes, etc). It has enough strategy to keep people engaged, but it is considered a light strategy game.

It is also available on Steam, and you can play it pass-and-play, so you don't have to deal with all the pieces, etc.

Settlers of Catan is another great introduction strategy game, but it has a bit more going on that Ticket to Ride, and it might be a bit much for your wife.

Exploding Kittens is another fun family game by the guy who writes The Oatmeal. It is very easy to pick up, and we've enjoyed it the last couple of weeks.

[albionmoonlight]

dola: neither of the ones I suggested are co-op.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

While this may be a little on the nose, Pandemic is a great co-op game that doesn't take a lot of strategy and has a lot of re-playability. It tends to be my go-to for people who haven't played a lot of board games as an intro to co-op games.

Heroes of the Multi-verse is a fun, co-op super hero card game.

Both excellent suggestions.

I will also shill for Wingspan here - it's deceptively simple (on your turn, do one of four very simple actions) but there is a lot of depth to how you can make it work.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

While this may be a little on the nose, Pandemic is a great co-op game that doesn't take a lot of strategy and has a lot of re-playability. It tends to be my go-to for people who haven't played a lot of board games as an intro to co-op games.

Heroes of the Multi-verse is a fun, co-op super hero card game.

I agree about pandemic. And I have the first version if you want it. Played a few times. But not so much in the last few years. I will send it to you.

I didnt like Heroes of the multi-verse. It was way to mathy for me.

But I would say the DC deck building game is a real good game. Lots of different ways to win. Very fun and easy game. Not coop, but has expansions that allow it to be. Card game by the way.
This is also a super hero game set in the CD comic world.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Another option is games with a digital conversion:

D&D Lords of Waterdeep on Steam

Perhaps this one (5 player?)

I think I have this one sitting around unplayed in my steam library somewhere.

[Breeze]

Several months ago I went to an antique store and found the original Sports Illustrated College Football flat box game. The game was later released as Bowl Bound. Last night Bear finally played a game with me. I liked it. The teams we had to choose from were the first set teams, I'm sure I'll enjoy it more when I play more modern teams.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Hey guys. I am looking for some suggestions since we are under a stay-at-home order I thought maybe it was a good time to get into a more complex board game. I have no idea what I am doing here.

I want a board game or two that I can play with my wife and daughter. Some background on them.

My daughter is up for a little strategy gaming. She's not afraid to play a game that makes you think too much.

My wife on the other hand hates Monopoly, Risk, etc. She won't even play Clue with me because of the 'strategy' involved.

So, I am looking for a game that the 3 of us could play together. Maybe something that is co-op?

I would love to play a game that is simple that doesn't take a ton of strategy and the game changes as you play it.

Looking for any suggestions.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle is a good co-op deckbuilder with theme. The initial gameplay offers the basic deckbuilder mechanics, and as you progress into later games, new cards and more complex mechanics are introduced.

[Galaril]

I just got my shipping notice that my Everdell kickstarter collectors edition with Pearlbrook Expansion, Base Game Collector's Edition with solo variant and Spirecrest Expansion are on the way with delvery expected tomorrow

[Galaril]

I will recommend for any sports fans to check out the excellent sports board games at Plaay.com. They are most well known for Second Season Football and History Maker Baseball but they have an excellent NASCAR game with historical real and fictional driver sets, a soccer game, lacrosse, game , bowling game, and excellent ice hockey games. They even have a hybrid cricket/ baseball game and a rollerball meets the XFL game.
They also have a new free game that just came out called Averix 37 that is a free thru today for download version. It is a simple game that allows you to play out the Amelia Earhart global flight and see if you can finish it.

Welcome to PLAAY.com Sports Simulation Board Games

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Several months ago I went to an antique store and found the original Sports Illustrated College Football flat box game. The game was later released as Bowl Bound. Last night Bear finally played a game with me. I liked it. The teams we had to choose from were the first set teams, I'm sure I'll enjoy it more when I play more modern teams.

I just bought a copy of Bowl Bound of a guy on BGG. Should be here soon.

Want to get together over Skype or Zoom and play a game?

And do you know there is a guy who put together sets of teams. About $25-$35 per set. He also has a digital version available on his site.

BOWL BOUND/PAYDIRT ITEMS

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Another option is games with a digital conversion:

D&D Lords of Waterdeep on Steam

Perhaps this one (5 player?)

I would be down for this. Have to purchase the game.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Hey guys. I am looking for some suggestions since we are under a stay-at-home order I thought maybe it was a good time to get into a more complex board game. I have no idea what I am doing here.

I want a board game or two that I can play with my wife and daughter. Some background on them.

My daughter is up for a little strategy gaming. She's not afraid to play a game that makes you think too much.

My wife on the other hand hates Monopoly, Risk, etc. She won't even play Clue with me because of the 'strategy' involved.

So, I am looking for a game that the 3 of us could play together. Maybe something that is co-op?

I would love to play a game that is simple that doesn't take a ton of strategy and the game changes as you play it.

Looking for any suggestions.

Dont know if you saw my post or not. But I have the 1st edition of pandemic played a few times that I will give to you. Just PM if interested.

[spleen1015]

I saw all of the replies. I appreciate it, everyone.

I'll PM you tarcone.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I just bought a copy of Bowl Bound of a guy on BGG. Should be here soon.

Want to get together over Skype or Zoom and play a game?

And do you know there is a guy who put together sets of teams. About $25-$35 per set. He also has a digital version available on his site.

BOWL BOUND/PAYDIRT ITEMS

Hey thanks for the link. I'll check it out. And we can absolutely set up a game at some point...

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I saw all of the replies. I appreciate it, everyone.

I'll PM you tarcone.

I'll add Carcassonne. It is inexpensive and is as strategic as you want to make it. It plays 3, and there are additional expansions if you want to add to the fun. It was my youngest's first real game and he started playing at 3. It is a tile laying game, city tile next to another city tile, road needs to connect to a road, etc. Controlling each board type is where you score points, and how to take control of someone else's city, road, etc., is where the strategy comes in.

[NobodyHere]

Anyone ready for a sequel to Gloomhaven?

Frosthaven Kickstarter

I've been meaning to get to Gloomhaven but I'm working through Journeys in Middle Earth at the moment

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I'll add Carcassonne. It is inexpensive and is as strategic as you want to make it. It plays 3, and there are additional expansions if you want to add to the fun. It was my youngest's first real game and he started playing at 3. It is a tile laying game, city tile next to another city tile, road needs to connect to a road, etc. Controlling each board type is where you score points, and how to take control of someone else's city, road, etc., is where the strategy comes in.

Carcassone is another fantastic suggestion.

[Glengoyne]

Spleen

My family and I have been playing a lot of quacks of quedlinburg. It is simple accessible family friendly push your luck game that offers a bit of strategy to boot.

[revrew]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

While this may be a little on the nose, Pandemic is a great co-op game that doesn't take a lot of strategy and has a lot of re-playability. It tends to be my go-to for people who haven't played a lot of board games as an intro to co-op games.

Heroes of the Multi-verse is a fun, co-op super hero card game.

If his wife is really as strategy-averse as he says she is, I would fear Pandemic is too deep (though playing it on the easy level might alleviate some of that).

However, Pandemic does have a simpler, "little brother" in the co-op game Forbidden Island. It's quicker, easier, the map changes every time you play. More kid friendly. And it doesn't have the whole disease thing, which might be a little sensitive to some at this time. Plus, you can get it for $15-$20.

If the fam likes it and wants more of a challenge, then you could step up to Pandemic.

[spleen1015]

Thanks everyone again for their suggestions.

Tarcone sent me a copy of Pandemic that I received today. We're going to play it tonight.

I think with the game being co-op, my wife will be okay.

You guys are awesome.

[spleen1015]

Played 2 games of Pandemic. We figured out that we weren't trading cards enough. We were too focused on keeping spots low on disease.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Played 2 games of Pandemic. We figured out that we weren't trading cards enough. We were too focused on keeping spots low on disease.

Did you like it?

[PilotMan]

I love pandemic. That's very cool of you tarcone.

[spleen1015]

I like it, the daughter likes it. Not sure about my wife. She'll play it with us some more though. Gonna play tomorrow.

[Vince, Pt. II]

So I finally got to play some Gloomhaven; been using Tabletop Simulator with the Gloomhaven Fantasy mod. The UI and controls for Tabletop Simulator are a little bit wonky, but the fact that it has scripting to set up the scenarios and manage the monsters and initiative is a huge advantage.

The game is incredible; it hits on a bunch of different sweet spots for me. The hand management / action selection is an amazing puzzle, and the dynamic nature of the game means that the puzzle isn't finished once you've chosen your cards because the situation has likely changed by the time it's your turn. The imperfect information between the group really captures the feeling of a band of mercenaries working loosely together while keeping their own personal goals in mind. It's also a fun dungeon crawl type romp!

I'm intrigued by both the overarching story and the character progression built in through customizing my character while leveling up and working to unlock new classes. I've actually got two campaigns going concurrently, so I'm delving into two of the starter classes right off the bat. The Cragheart is an interesting hybrid who has a very versatile starting deck; I can stand back at ranged and hurl boulders at people, step up into melee range and soak up some damage, an even support my teammates with some heals here or there. The Mindthief, on the other hand, is a melee glass cannon; I have very little health, but I hit very hard and have a nice mix of both high and low initiative cards so I can hang back and act last in one round, then act first in the next round. This lets me get off four consecutive actions to scurry in, attack a couple of times, then scurry back away to safety so the monsters can't squash me.

If I had more time, I'd recommend a campaign here...unfortunately the baby is due next Friday, so I might have to hold off a bit until things settle down to try and run yet another campaign

[Thomkal]

So will the baby be named Cragheart then Vince? Congrats on the upcoming birth! I have the digital version on Steam, which has a ways to go still to duplicate the board game. It started out with 4 starter classes, and added a couple more since including the mindthief, the one I was most interested in when I heard about the board game.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Both excellent suggestions.

I will also shill for Wingspan here - it's deceptively simple (on your turn, do one of four very simple actions) but there is a lot of depth to how you can make it work.

Mrs. Bobble is big into bird watching so I got her Wingspan for a birthday present. We haven't gotten to play yet. I think I'm more excited to get into it than she is.

My plan is to claim her favorite birds and hold them hostage for an exorbitant amount of Power Pellets (or whatever -- we haven't read the rules yet).

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

So I finally got to play some Gloomhaven; been using Tabletop Simulator with the Gloomhaven Fantasy mod. The UI and controls for Tabletop Simulator are a little bit wonky, but the fact that it has scripting to set up the scenarios and manage the monsters and initiative is a huge advantage.

The game is incredible; it hits on a bunch of different sweet spots for me. The hand management / action selection is an amazing puzzle, and the dynamic nature of the game means that the puzzle isn't finished once you've chosen your cards because the situation has likely changed by the time it's your turn. The imperfect information between the group really captures the feeling of a band of mercenaries working loosely together while keeping their own personal goals in mind. It's also a fun dungeon crawl type romp!

I'm intrigued by both the overarching story and the character progression built in through customizing my character while leveling up and working to unlock new classes. I've actually got two campaigns going concurrently, so I'm delving into two of the starter classes right off the bat. The Cragheart is an interesting hybrid who has a very versatile starting deck; I can stand back at ranged and hurl boulders at people, step up into melee range and soak up some damage, an even support my teammates with some heals here or there. The Mindthief, on the other hand, is a melee glass cannon; I have very little health, but I hit very hard and have a nice mix of both high and low initiative cards so I can hang back and act last in one round, then act first in the next round. This lets me get off four consecutive actions to scurry in, attack a couple of times, then scurry back away to safety so the monsters can't squash me.

If I had more time, I'd recommend a campaign here...unfortunately the baby is due next Friday, so I might have to hold off a bit until things settle down to try and run yet another campaign

Good stuff! I love this game. So, so good.

Good luck with the baby!

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Bobble

Mrs. Bobble is big into bird watching so I got her Wingspan for a birthday present. We haven't gotten to play yet. I think I'm more excited to get into it than she is.

My plan is to claim her favorite birds and hold them hostage for an exorbitant amount of Power Pellets (or whatever -- we haven't read the rules yet).

Sounds like a divorce is heading your way, sorry about that.