I would perhaps give it another go and make sure you have the Dispatcher and Researcher. Those two roles combined really make exchanging cards much easier. I view the Dispatcher as the strongest role in the game. Also make sure you take advantage of your flight options, especially the Shuttle Flight, once you've built up a few research centers.

I just sold Forbidden Island because it wasn't getting played. The two pure cooperative games I've kept were Pandemic and Flash Point: Fire Rescue.

Maybe, I played it with my kids and I just though it was a poor family game with poor dexterity elements. I'd much rather play a game like Rhino Hero which has similar elements. We sold it pretty quickly.

EDIT: With that said, I'm glad you enjoy it. It's just one of the few games where I really don't get the hype at all.

That makes sense it is as clunky as the one from the 80’s. There is a definite nostalgia factor in play. That will always increase the hype. I’ll check out rhino hero haven’t played it.

Didn’t see any responses to my Unsolved Case Files game, but I ordered it and me and the fiancé plan on playing it this weekend.

Not sure I've posted this here since my last updates. I'm still working on a Pandemic retheme.

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I'd HIGHLY recommend Mansions of Madness (2nd Edition) or Dead of Winter. Love them both, and they're both mostly co-op (although some things in Dead of Winter may strain that relationship ).

Did anyone here join the Board Game Geek Secret Santa? I signed up this year after having so much fun with the Pinside one, so we'll see how it goes.

Mansions of Madness and Dead of Winter are two of my favorites. Can't go wrong have either in your collection. These guys have some recommendations too: coopboardgames.com/rankings/top-40-cooperative-board-games

The BGG one looks massive. I thought about it, waffled as I just lurk there, and missed the deadline. Maybe next year.

I've always just lurked as well, but made an account specifically for the SS. Yeah, it's pretty big, but really the number of people doesn't matter -- you get one Santa who buys you stuff, and one Santee who you buy stuff for, that's it. They have a cool interface too where you can click a button to send an anonymous message to your Santa/Santee to ask for more information or taunt them or whatever. My people aren't very talkative though, but at least they've responded

I was too intimidated to try the Reddit one though.

Me and the fiancé busted out a murder mystery dinner game tonight called Unsolved Case Files. Had to bust out the Blanton’s, some aged cheese, and the balsamic drizzle glaze!

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Here is a quick recap of the Unsolved Case Files game, NO SPOILERS included. The game is recommended to be played with 2-8 players. You can't really split up into groups or race against other couples (unless you have 2 full copies of the game), so if you play with a group know that you will all be working together to solve the case. Estimated times to finish the case is between 2-6 hours.

Once you open the package you have your initial crime scene photos, photos of the victim, etc. From there all of the materials is packaged in order, so you shouldn't open up everything and spread it out until you've gone through the material. NOTE - If you plan on reselling this game or giving to someone else to enjoy, it's very important to try and keep all the documents in order. All of the materials included are high quality and reproduced with accuracy (for example the newspaper clipping was just like a real newspaper).

It took me and my fiance a little more than 1 hour to read through and digest ALL of the content. From there you visit a website with your first objective in the case. This objective took us over an hour to get through, mainly because the game isn't super easy and we only took hints when we hit a wall.

Once you complete objective 1, you have a bonus envelope to open which gives you more content to review and it also assigns you objective #2. Again this took us almost an hour to complete because you have to be so thorough.

After completing objective #2, you are giving another bonus envelope and you are assigned objective #3. Once you complete objective #3 you are left with solving the case.

Total time spent solving the case was about 3.5 hours. We were in no hurry, we sipped on alcohol and nibbled on cheese and crackers and had a good time working on this together. This is perfect for a date night game or even to have a couple of friends over to try and help solve. We will be ordering another case in the future to work on.

Anybody have/play Fog of Love?
Seems like it may be a cool couples game

https://www.fogoflove.com/

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Pulled a game off the shelf that we haven't played in years and while playing wound up thinking about this thread, for what I hope is an obvious reason. It's a fun game especially if you're a fan of Groo The Wanderer. It does have some odd play mechanics that threw us for the first few turns, two draw phases each turn plus the possibility of playing cards during your opponents turn. I think it would've been more fun with more players, but for fans of the comic it would be worth tracking down a reasonably priced copy. And I won

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Saw it at Gencon, but did not fit my interests. The Shut Up and Sit Down guys sure liked it though.

I've taken a pretty deep dive into board games in the last year. Most of the time I play 2-player games with my wife.

Right now I'm looking to start something a little heavier with her. I already have Mage Knight, but it was pretty complex when I tried learning the solo play. I gave it a couple of hours, and still didn't really piece it all together. I have a really basic understanding, but if she doesn't like the theme (I'm thinking she won't), I may just move onto something else. She's looking into it, and I told her to also check out Spirit Island, Scythe, and Terraforming Mars.

We also had a game night with some of my cousins that live nearby recently. We tried Dead of Winter, and that was really fun. My cousins are pretty new to that level of game, and I think we just barely got through the instructions before losing their attention. Once we got to playing though everyone was really into it. It's probably going to be a staple for future game nights.

I also got on the list for Wingspan at my local game shop. It's really popular right now, and also between prints. I'm excited to try that one out, as I think it will be a really fun and thinky casual-ish game.

Same, I mostly play 2 player with my wife
What are some of her favorites?

Lost Cities
Splendor
Patchwork
Forbidden Island (co-op)

She really kicks my ass at all of those, but they're still all pretty fun.

We also got an "Exit" game for xmas that was fun - it's like an escape room type puzzle. The problem with those are you can pretty much only do each on once, because you'll know the puzzles, and because you may have to destroy cards (I tried very hard not to do this, but I was still forced to bend some). She liked it enough that she ordered 3-4 more of them. I'm not convinced that they won't all be similar, but the first one was pretty clever and made for a good time. I'll keep you posted on how bad the marginal returns are on another one. There are some that are about $10 on amazon right now. It's a bit of a bummer they're basically disposable, but we figure it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a night out (especially when you factor in a babysitter).

My wife's favorite games are 7 Wonder and 7 Wonders: Duel.

My wife's favorite game, by far, is Ticket to Ride -- and she absolutely DOMINATES it every time.

We also really like Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, although we play with 3-4 people, not 2 (not sure how it would play with only 2). It's really good though, as is House on Haunted Hill (they're similar).

I want to try Mage Knight - I own it - but it seems so intimidating. LOL

Yeah, I can't really recommend it based on my one attempt to play solo. I had a night to myself and dedicated myself to trying to figure it out. I tired out before learning, and left it setup on the pool table for quite a while. I think it would be cool if you can get past the initial complexity, but right now I'm considering just finding something else that scratches that same itch.

The community loves it though, and reviews it as the best solo game available. I might give it another go now that I have some other games under my belt. If it doesn't take, I think it will be up for sale.

I play Mage Knight with friends and sometimes solo. Amazing game but lots of rules and bits. Gameplay is long so we don’t play it as much as we used to. Check out Ricky Royal’s videos if you’re interested. He does great tutorials and play through of a lot of solo games.

Mage Knight is on the list of games I'm hoping to get around to playing some day...

I've been really digging Everdell lately.

New stuff

Christmas was game heavy and even with the monthly Cardboard League gaming day that I host, the list of games I want to hit the table grows longer than what I have time to play!

Gen Con registration opens on Sunday!

Azul and either Race or Roll for the Galaxy have been on my list. Interested to hear your pros/cons for those.

My wife is in on something new for this weekend - either Scythe or Spirit Island. I'm probably going to grab each of those at some point anyway, so I guess I'll just decide how I'm feeling tomorrow and grab one.

I've been playing Azul lately. Anyone else?

If anyone is looking for a easy to learn card game that plays very quickly, you might want to check out Ringmaster: Welcome to the Big Top. If you are playing it with two people, it is possible to do 5 or 6 games in half an hour. You basically draw one card of 4 different types of cards, and play one, either to yourself, your opponent, or the discard pile. The win condition can change during the game, depending on what you decide to play. It has a great "Take that!" element to it. Everyone that I have played it with wanted to play it over and over. Really cool game that is well worth the small price tag.

I see you have Forbidden Sky. I could not wait for that game to come out. I have not touched it yet. I have vowed to start playing some of the 50 games that I have yet to try. I have no idea where to start either.

Root seemed pretty interesting to me. Let us know what you think of that when you get some plays in.

Never played Spirit Island, but wife and I both love Scythe. Only surprise was you have these big mechs and you don't actually kill anyone! Lol

Yes, we have.
Love the new Summer Pavilion version as well.

Santorini or Reef.
Both great but simple to learn, ease your pain a bit.

I've got a few general comments based on the last few posts.

Scythe is great. One of my favorites. The Rise of Fenris expansion is phenomenal if you like Scythe.

Cthuthu: Death May Die is a blast too. Much easier and way more two-fisted pulpy than the Arkham Horror Fantasy Flight games in the genre. That one is hitting the table tonight!

Azul just feels like a classic board game. Simple, fun rules and mechanics with no story or setup. Not too much interaction with other players. Besides for some tile picking shenanigans, you mostly are just doing your own thing on your own board.

I want to like Root more than I do, it's just difficult to take out unless it's always with the same people because every faction is playing with entirely different rules and objectives. Makes it a pain to teach.

Can't wait to start Clank Legacy, just need to find more players with a set schedule. My monthly gaming group (The Cardboard League) that I host is more of an open house around 7-15 people on the third Saturday with little continuity in attendance each month and so it's not really conducive to legacy games.

I've been debating picking up a copy of the re-issued, long-out-print Dune from 1979. I've heard so many good things about this game. Complex but well balanced design. The story is well represented, but unfolds uniquely every time you play it. It's hard core gaming, with sessions that can stretch anywhere from 2 to 6 hours. Lots of alliance formation & frequent backstabbing. Throughout it all the spice must flow

So yeah I really would like to buy it, but it would probably be another title that would just collect dust on the shelf. But with Dennis Villeneuve's version of Dune hitting theaters in late 2020, I'm guessing this game will eventually be hard to find once again.

If you do manage to pull it off your shelf & play, post something here. I'm curious.

How is the learning curve on Scythe? I really want to give it a try, but I'm afraid of getting burnt out before we even start.

I really love the art on that one, it looks phenomenal.

I haven't heard of that one. I will check it out.

I have played the original and I own the stained glass version.

Played Dune a few weeks ago and it was fun, but like Twilight Imperium, it's going to take a couple of plays to get the rules and strategy down.

The alliance building is a treat and each faction's powers are interesting, different, and game changing. Movement is frustrating and leader assassination in combat really means that you never really know who is going to win a battle and that really fits the theme.

It's definitely not Candy Land. Takes a bit to set everything up and can take awhile to play. It is a complex game, but the rules are well written and the game boards are intuitive and descriptive enough to help you along. I would recommend watching a few videos to get the gist before skimming though the rules.

Just don't go into it looking for a mech fighting game, as combat is a part of it, but far from the dominant factor.

I do normally check out videos first, it just helps ground the text in something relatable. There's also normally a point where I say "screw it, let's just start playing". That normally works for me, assuming I have at least a basic understanding of the rules.

The setup does give me a little pause. Tedious setup of games bothers me. It's the reason I sort of gave up on X-Wing. Although, I did recently get a 3d printer. The amount of stuff that you can make to get games to the table easier is really impressive.

It's not too tedious. Each player gets a couple player mats and a set of meeples, blocks, and mechs to arrange. A few decks of cards and some coins are set out.

My family is really into Forbidden Island, and the kids gave me Forbidden Sky for my birthday. The game mechanics are similar to Forbidden Island so it definitely has a sequel feel. There are more elements to keep track of -- each player has a health and rope meter to look out for, and you're building the board as you go and there's some strategy to optimizing the build so you can complete your goals faster. I haven't played enough to draw any final conclusions, but so far I've enjoyed it, but I still prefer Forbidden Island. Sometimes added complexity doesn't add to the fun, I guess (especially if you're playing with a 6 and 8 year old). That said, the rocket and circuit-building elements are mechanically cool, and a good hook for new players.

Who you kidding? If you're like most of us, you will buy more stuff for that shelf faster than you shrink it down.

got it still in the wrapper

You need to open that sucker up. It's a good game.