Byron Center, MI
So if I knock out 3 games this weekend, it will make just enough room to put the 3 not pictured on it to fill in those holes. Trickerion, Wavelength, and one other escapes my memory atm.
(Topic ID: 175208)
I went to my local board game shop to see if they had either Scythe or Spirit Island. If they had both I figured I'd make an impulse decision between the two. As it turns out, they had neither.
They also told me they don't price match. I'm happy to check there first, and I'm also happy to toss them a few extra dollars for a game.... but if a game is 90 there when I can buy it for 60 on amazon? I just can't do that. I guess I'll check with them in those instances, but that's a little uncomfortable.
Anyway, I got home and ordered Spirit Island since it wasn't available. No chance to play it tonight, but we did get in a round of Trivial Pursuit (for shits) and then Photosynthesis.
It was our first play with Photosynthesis. It's a really good looking game. It didn't play bad with 2 players, but you're very actively working against one another, which isn't necessarily a play style I enjoy. I had a rare win in such a game, and I'd give it another play, but I'm not in a hurry to bust it out tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, I think we may give LOTR LCG a play, or maybe Basesball 2045.
pasted_image (resized).pngWell we knocked out 2 games, both Red Raven games, Roam and The Ancient World. Roam is now in our rotation of light games and is pretty cool. The Ancient World needs a few more plays to smooth out the learning but looks to be a keeper.
Just picked up Beastgrave and Nightvault to try and get my Daughter interested. Have my fingers crossed, she likes the way the figures remind her of Chronicles Of Narnia characters
Villejuif
Quoted from HoakyPoaky: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.
Dune is a superb game - but rules are complicated, and there is a long learning curve... Game is best played with 6 players.
1 month later
I've been knocking out games faster than I can buy them for a change! I'll have some holes in my need to play shelf here shortly.
As mentioned before, Roam and Ancient World are great games. Keepers! We've also knocked out Reef, Lost Temple, Empires of the North, and Imperial Settlers. All 4 of those are going on the consignment shelf at my FLGS. Reef seemed cool at first but amounted to not much. The Imperial Settlers games seemed okay, but a little too simple for our group as was Lost Temple.
We also knocked out Endeavor, Age of Sail which was a very good one and we're excited to try it with the new expansion that came with the latest version. This game may actually take up some of our weekly Tapestry time. Punched and walked through Egizia, but too much fiddling with the rules called it early and will tackle on Friday after a complete rules read. Also played Watergate several times and that game is really fun as well. Starting our Kingdom Death: Monster campaign over so that may hinder some new games played for the next few weeks.
1 week later
Knocked out a few more this weekend. Forbidden Sky was a decent little game, very similar to it's predecessors. May or may not keep, not sure yet. We did play Egizia Shifting Sands and think we'll get some good play out of that one. Explorers of the North Sea was decent as well and we'll play again in the North Sea Rune Saga once we get Shipwrights learned and played. Going to try out Brass Lancashire and Trickerion this weekend I think as we put Tapestry away for a month. Went from scoring my highest with 385 / Militants to having a terrible 5 player score.
1 week later
We’ve been trying out a few games my kids got for Christmas, my 6 and 8 year olds love Dragon Wood and the adults have found it enjoyable as well.
I also got 7 Wonders and Horrified for my birthday last week, looking forward to trying them out.
Does anyone have any recommendations for good games to play over video chat? Trying to figure out things to play with the family on game night and we are spread out.
Quoted from wamoc:Does anyone have any recommendations for good games to play over video chat? Trying to figure out things to play with the family on game night and we are spread out.
We had a great time playing Code Names with another couple over FaceTime. Both ends need to own a copy of the game. Use the video to show your faces and txt a pic of the board after ever turn (unless you’ve got a rig to hold your phone steady over the board, you don’t want to be holding it while someone takes a 2 min turn), sounds cumbersome but worked well. We’re definitely doing it again.
Quoted from wamoc:Does anyone have any recommendations for good games to play over video chat? Trying to figure out things to play with the family on game night and we are spread out.
We've been playing games using online platforms, and then also getting a video chat going and that has been fun. Onlinetichu.com is a personal favorite but Tichu needs exactly 4 players. We've also played Castles of Burgandy on this site: https://www.yucata.de/en/GameInfo/CastlesOfBurgundy and that's been working well.
Was also thinking about how Carcassonne might be a good one to play over video chat if one person sets up the board at their place and then the other participants can just describe where they want the piece to be placed, but have not done it yet.
I haven't played around with it too much, but Tabletop Simulator seems like a really good option for playing games remotely. The core games comes with classic stuff you would expect. While you can buy "expansions", there are full fledged versions of modern games available through the community.
I know it's not a board game, it's on Steam for the PC, but try "Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes".
Something you can do over the phone, skype, etc. If anything, doing the game that way may actually make it more entertaining.
There are also a LOT of wargames that still do a "play by email" system. I've always immensely enjoyed the Combat Mission series.
If anybody out there does PBEM style stuff, I'm all for buying a new title and getting a couple going.
-Hans
Horrified is a lot like Pandemic in the mechanics. The variety in the monsters is really cool as well as the difficulty scalability.
My FLGS closed on Monday due to the stay at home order. It was nice to see the people in there buying stuff to help support them and get some new entertainment as well. I dropped a few bucks for sure and added to my to be played list. Grabbed Land Sea and Air, Underwater Cities, and Expedition to Newdale. Grabbed a 5000 piece puzzle as well that barely fits on my pool table!
Frosthaven kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frosthaven/frosthaven
It looks really cool. I've always wanted to give Gloomhaven a try, but it's probably just too complicated for myself and friends. I really like to play games that have a pretty low setup time.
Just backed Frosthaven for $1. I honestly can't find much of a reason to back it fully on Kickstarter. No exclusives and it's already funded so it's not like they need the help. Still for $1 it's worth it to have access to the Pledge Manager.
We put a lot of time into Gloomhaven when we got it from the 2nd Kickstarter. Went all in this time as the organizer was well worth it. After slowing down after the story and midway through some personal quests I think we're going to just auto-complete them to get the last couple boxes open and do the expansion before Frosthaven hits. We'll call it a Blizzard WOW upgrade for now. Buy the expansion, get a level 100 toon, or whatever the cap is now.
Tested out some Fibbage and Drawful today. Going to have a virtual gathering of friends on Friday. Any other games that work well over Zoom?
Quoted from lpeters82:Tested out some Fibbage and Drawful today. Going to have a virtual gathering of friends on Friday. Any other games that work well over Zoom?
We are trying out Carcassonne with friends who also know the rules. Our thought is to take turns on which house is in charge of the pieces and game movement.
The Scythe: Digital Edition is on sale for $10 on Steam. I tried the tabletopia edition once and I still have nightmares. However, The digital edition is designed for computer play, supports remote play (one person owns the game and several can play) and is lots of fun if you know how to play the game already. Not sure I would recommend it for those unfamiliar with Scythe.
A couple of good ideas from here https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/03/board-games-video-chat-codenames.html
I played Arkham Horror (second ed) over Zoom last Friday. If all the participants own the game and you keep the boards synchronized, it feels more like a board game. We failed and we were devoured by Yog-Sothoth... Good times.
Quoted from BMore-Pinball:Same, I mostly play 2 player with my wife
What are some of her favorites?
Fox in the Forest is a quick, easy and fun 2-player card game. A lot of good strategies as well. It’s about $10-15 so it’s worth it even if you play a night or two.
Quoted from JRBBRJ:We are trying out Carcassonne with friends who also know the rules. Our thought is to take turns on which house is in charge of the pieces and game movement.
Carcassone is part of the same Steam sale and it's like $4. (no, I don't work in sales at Valve)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/598810/Carcassonne__Tiles__Tactics/
With being off of work I'm having way too much time to watch reviews and catch deals on games. I've bought six or so in the past two weeks. Sad though as until this is over I don't have anyone to play them with so I'm just staring at them on the shelf.
Quoted from Triggerfish:Sad though as until this is over I don't have anyone to play them with so I'm just staring at them on the shelf.
Check if you can find players online on BGA (board game arena) https://boardgamearena.com
Registering is free, and you can join most "open" games online.
To create a table on some games you need a premium account (a few $ per month).
I have tried Spyrium (good) and Keyflower (OK) online with friends. Works fine, and you can have a chat session limited to the game you are playing.
Beware : server may be overloaded with 20,000 + players online.
Quoted from Deaconblooze:Frosthaven kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frosthaven/frosthaven
It looks really cool. I've always wanted to give Gloomhaven a try, but it's probably just too complicated for myself and friends. I really like to play games that have a pretty low setup time.
The game play itself isn't that complicated. The set up time does suck though. I've been told there are a few apps that help decrease it a bit.
Quoted from lpeters82:Just backed Frosthaven for $1. I honestly can't find much of a reason to back it fully on Kickstarter. No exclusives and it's already funded so it's not like they need the help. Still for $1 it's worth it to have access to the Pledge Manager.
I think you'll save a few bucks since the game with retail around 150 and you can purchase on kickstarter for $100 plus shipping. Bot not a huge difference. Hopefully the print enough copies for retail and there isn't a shortage like with gloomhaven right away
Why wife and I have started playing Sherlock Holmes consulting detective. We are really enjoying it. Works just fine with 2 players.
My daughter and I just played our first full-blown game of Age of Sigmar yesterday. I hadn't played any 40k or AoS in quite a while, and this was her first game. She caught on to the rules pretty quickly for an 11 year old and really pulled ahead at the beginning. I eeked through a win but just barely.
We play a few games of Beastgrave every week and she beats me about 75% of the time or more.
-Hans
I’ve really enjoyed playing Terraforming Mars as a one player/solo game. Does anyone have any recommendations for games with a similar complexity weight that are also excellent one player/solo games? Thanks in advance for the help!
Scythe is pretty good and one of the few I do play solo. Nemo’s War is the best solo board game experience I’ve had but it is designed as a one player. Roll Player is intriguing solo, just haven’t had the time to set it up.
Dominion now has a web app that you can play online with friends. Me and some coworkers played today and it works pretty well. https://www.dominion.games/
Quoted from Krupps4:I’ve really enjoyed playing Terraforming Mars as a one player/solo game. Does anyone have any recommendations for games with a similar complexity weight that are also excellent one player/solo games? Thanks in advance for the help!
I know I sound like a broken record on gloomhaven but it's amazing. I play solo with a few characters. The game is so huge it will easily get you through the pandemic
Quoted from captainadam_21:I know I sound like a broken record on gloomhaven but it's amazing. I play solo with a few characters. The game is so huge it will easily get you through the pandemic
It’s funny you mention Gloomhaven. I spent some time reading about it last night. It looks absolutely amazing. My guess is you need a dedicated game space so you don’t need to continue to set up and tear it down. Do you feel the rules are somewhat easily understood? I don’t mind spending some time digesting rules and working through a bit of a learning curve but I’ve played a couple of games where the rules were just so complex it took too much enjoyment away from the game. Thanks in advance.
Kitchener, ON
Quoted from Krupps4:It’s funny you mention Gloomhaven. I spent some time reading about it last night. It looks absolutely amazing. My guess is you need a dedicated game space so you don’t need to continue to set up and tear it down. Do you feel the rules are somewhat easily understood? I don’t mind spending some time digesting rules and working through a bit of a learning curve but I’ve played a couple of games where the rules were just so complex it took too much enjoyment away from the game. Thanks in advance.
I started playing GH recently and there is a bit of a learning curve we had to work through initially. Consulting bgg for rules explanations etc periodically. But once you get the hang of the rules and the flow of the game, it's super fun! My buddy and i are having a hell of a time beating the 2nd level so far but we've been having a blast playing it--especially now that we've got the rules down well enough. I don't think you'll have too much trouble getting into it if you've gotten into other complex games.
Quoted from frunch:I started playing GH recently and there is a bit of a learning curve we had to work through initially. Consulting bgg for rules explanations etc periodically. But once you get the hang of the rules and the flow of the game, it's super fun! My buddy and i are having a hell of a time beating the 2nd level so far but we've been having a blast playing it--especially now that we've got the rules down well enough. I don't think you'll have too much trouble getting into it if you've gotten into other complex games.
I’m sold! It does look like such an awesome game and most everyone seems to love it. Thanks for the additional info.
Without scrolling back through 15 pages, please toss out some fun 2-player or even 3-player games that are easy to setup and learn, and only take about 30 minutes to play. Fiance isn't too interested in Munchkins, or anything that has a D&D feel to it.
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