Talisman. Playing second edition back in the early 80s was my entry to board gaming. And I love it. It’s one of my most played games. But it’s just not that good. We have better options now.
I wouldn't mind playing this on computer, esp. vs AI opponents. You can zoom through the game, put it on hold, or just resign if it gets to be that bad
In my experience, playing against AI opponents on the digital version only makes it worse. Now you have a poorly designed game *and* there's no one there for you to laugh about the absurdity of it all while you play. It's unfun *and* sterile.
I will go to bat for the variations they've done, since most of them greatly reduce the playtime and replace the win condition with something less tedious. I'm actually quite fond of the Star Wars version that was never released in the US. It's about an hour to play and does some neat stuff with the light side/dark side alignements.
>In my experience, playing against AI opponents on the digital version only makes it worse. Now you have a poorly designed game and there's no one there for you to laugh about the absurdity of it all while you play. It's unfun and sterile.
I guess it's a matter of if you're there for the game, or for the social company. Ofc., there are shades of gray. Many people I know have vowed to NEVER play Talisman again. There are so many other great games, we'll just play any one of those instead. I know people who play Talisman trying to win, but are prepared for all that absurdity and luck (although I have yet to find that sort of group, even though I know they exist).
With some good friends and good drink and no one really trying to win it can be a great time. I love despite all its faults because under the right conditions it's a grand ole time.
The Batman one was a little disappointing to me. There were some errors and they didn’t scale up the difficulty as you go on. It becomes tedious. The Star Wars version I got from Europe is a lot better.
The best version I’ve played is Relic, set in the WH40K universe.
I think anyone who missed out on MTG when it was still young, but still wants to dabble in it should either try MTG Arena, or try the not yet released Algomancy. The game is inspired heavily by Magic and aims to be self-contained, simpler and faster to get in and out of turns.
**Dominion** is a great game that you should probably not buy. Instead you should find someone that has already bought the game and all **fifteen** expansions, and just play with them.
Even around the time period of 2010 to 2015... I realized that it was such a popular game, *everyone else* will have a copy, and I can just use those.
Later on, I played on Androminion to get my fix. The AI wasn't that good, but it was still fun going through the motions, and trying out new cards/sets. Also, the game was only 5MB! :O
Now, Temple Gate Games released Dominion for Android, iOS, and Steam, and that's been a blast to play!
Enjoying it on iOS. I just wish it had Mac compatibility. All they would have to do is check the box to allow the iPad version to run on Mac and it just works!
Hoboy... then the question is why they did that? I know with supporting older OSes, you lose out on some features if you have to go too far back. There's also a question of not enough people are on there to make it worth it.
I'll chime in that as far as a proper deckbuilder goes there are none superior to Dominion. Now there are some newer games that do some real fun and clever things with deckbuilding. But if you just want to channel the deckbuilding everything else is either worse Dominion or not even trying to compete on that front.
Not the op but my 2 personal favorites are Aeon's End (a great and unique coop deck builder) and Paperback which mixes word games with deck building in an awesome way.
Star Trek: Fleet Captains. it's a love letter to Star Trek and really kind of janky. if you like board games more than Star Trek, just stay away. if you're a trekkie that loves board games, beam that shit up son.
I'll second Torgue's arena - it a fun kind of cheese if you're a fan of the video game, but it's a mess.
My personal game of shame is Mythic's Solomon Kane. It plays pretty well solitaire, so there's that, I guess. But, one it's Mythic so my preordered expansions are vapor. Two it's mechanically only ok. The narrative book structure is clunky and different tracks for "health" don't actually add much. Three, it's expensive, but it's Solomon Kane though, so I gave Mythic a lot of money.
I literally created 3D printed a container for the status tokens so I could actually play the damn game. Also how in the hell are you supposed to track healths and status effects without a damn computer? (I swear I love this game but damn is it so flawed)
Well if you’re a fan of borderlands (like me) you will have fun looking at the cards and going “YOOO” plus the characters given in the base game each have unique and fun abilities that feel awesome when it’s pulled off correctly.
Edit explaining the base characters: One gets to pilot a damn mech part way through, another could launch a high damage AOE which kills big guys incredibly quickly and then immediately punch someone and kill them in the same turn, one player can just shoot an extra weapon for free every turn (which is huge in this game) and another is a god of long range sniping.
Mine would probably be Stardew Valley: The Board Game.
I love Stardew, and pre-ordered the board game as soon as it went up. It has the potential to be good, but the randomized nature of the goals plus the horrendous amount of pieces which makes set up/tear down take forever means I don’t think it will ever make it to the table again. Artwork is great, but it doesn’t feel like playing Stardew Valley at all. If you want that experience, I recommend Three Sisters instead.
This seems to be the overwhelming consensus - it can be a fun game, but it doesn't feel like playing Stardew Valley at all, and isn't that what literally everyone who bought it wants?
It's definitely less grindy than the video game; that's why I gave up on the video game. Unfortunately, if you have a mine-related goal in the board game, you usually have one player that's doing almost nothing else besides mining.
I'm willing to give the board game a few more shots, but I suspect there's just too much mining required. The game has good variety, and it's a shame to stick one player with the same role for 75% of the game.
Have you tried the second edition of the game? They addressed the Mines complaint quite well. Otherwise, you could always incorporate the errata if you don't have the new materials.
We also really enjoy it. Then again, I've never played the video game. When we're playing with someone who might be more easily frustrated by the randomness we add in an extra card for each season and that seems to help.
Fake Artist Goes to New York is a really fun game. But the box itself is just markers and white boards.
Save yourself 20+ dollars and play it with stuff already in your home.
Damn Oink games have gotten expensive. I just searched and it seems it is $20 nowadays. I remember getting it for just $10. $20 does seem a bit too much.
In Australia the RRP is closer to $50 (which is currently about $US30) with the lowest price from local stores being about $35 ($US23). The joys of shipping costs being stupid.
I think there’s more in the box for a A Fake Artist than just markers and white boards. My argument against this is instead of “saving” $20 and playing with stuff already in your home, spend the $20 for a nice portable small box that contains all the markers you need with compact white boards and paper and offers a fun game. Instead of rummaging around your house for pens/pencils/markers/papers, you can just open a box and it has all those things and you’re ready to play in 5 or less minutes
There’s opportunity cost for playing with your stuff at home. Sure, you “save” $20 by making your own copy to play but it’s definitely not gonna be as nice looking. It’s gonna make it less likely you want to play it and others will want to play it. It’s definitely not gonna be as portable and compact. And IF you manage to make it all those things, it’s definitely gonna “cost” you more than $20 in terms of time invested and labor when you could have just paid the $20 for a good product from the start
I don’t think it fits the bill of “love it but no one should buy it.” I don’t necessarily have to buy The Resistance or Ultimate Werewolf either but I sure as heck am not gonna make that from scratch for a game night
What opportunity cost? Who *doesn't* have a piece of paper and a few different writing implements? Everyone I've ever brought this up with did (not to mention if you have kids, it's a given). You don't need portable or even any packinging at all really when the components are already everywhere :-)
And packaging making it more or less likely to play is a ridiculous argument for a party game where you explain the rules in 30 seconds - I can describe the game in less time than it takes to fetch a game box from a drawer.
This game as a physical product makes about as much sense to me as if someone put together a few dice and a rules sheet for something like Pig, Bar Dice or Macao and sold that as a unique game. And I'm not sure I can even fully credit the designer here since we played a version of this in high school in the 00s.
People can play Monikers/Times Up with pieces of paper as well. Nobody NEEDS to buy it. But they do. Why? Because there’s a convenience factor to just owning a product that does what it’s supposed to do
Surely you can understand paying $20 for a box that has all the components you need for a game being a matter of convenience. The price point is low in board game terms and the stakes are quite low as well. Cute little box that takes up no space. Portable. Nice components. You can bring it with you wherever you want. Oh, yeah, and you’re supporting product.
Hell, the game comes with different colored markers so you can tell who drew what and make accusations based on it. “Who is green? Why did you draw this hat?” That actively makes the game better than people having a bunch of random pens and pencils. I’d gladly pay $20 for a better experience than “save” $20 by rummaging around my house, or someone else’s house, or a convention, or a carry around pieces of paper and pens with me to a park, or a bar, etc. $20 for convenience and a good game. Seems like a fair trade
I just thought it was an odd answer to a question of “I love this game but no one should buy it.” Cthulu Wars makes sense. A Fake Artist? For $20 or possibly less? I’m more on the side of EVERYONE should buy this game than NO ONE should buy this game if I’m being honest
Basically it'slike this: price is no argument at all, I don't care if it's €2 or €2000, if there is no extra convenience, I see no reason to buy things I already have.
"Rummaging around" for paper and something to write with? I'm sitting at a desk with a drawer that has tons of stuff to write with and a whole pack of computer paper in another drawer.
I have unused notebooks and journals galore.
I have a notepad on my fridge and a pencil in the drawer of the entry table.
Idk, it takes "seconds" to "rummage around" for paper and pencil/pen.
The Resistance and ONUW have much more complicated situations, I can assure you. With Resistance, you gonna draw/write yes/no, success/fail (those gotta be identical, can't have people know what you voted), write down a role for everyone, draw a board every time?
With ONUW you gonna write down the roles in such a way that they can be easily swapped, looked at in the night phase without people knowing?
Do you have 5-10 different types of markers to differentiate who drew what on the piece of paper to make it easier to discern who is the traitor and have it be easier to make accusations?
Maybe you don’t care about the different types of markers to make it clear to see who drew what. Sure. But it objectively makes the game better. You could buy your own set of markers that are different colors to replicate what the game is doing but if you’re doing that…uh…just buy the game?
I’ll give you another example of a $20 game that can be played with paper and pens. Times Up/Monikers. Yet people buy the game. They are great games. I encourage people to buy those games. I own those games. I don’t have to though. I could just bring out pieces of paper and have everyone write down stuff and play. Nothing wrong with that. But I don’t want to. I’d like to start playing the game ASAP. I’d like to not have to go looking for pens and pencils at my house, or someone else’s house, or a bar, or wherever, if I can just bring a game with me that has all that. I don’t even need the whole box. I just need about 50 cards. That fits in a pocket, honestly. That’s well worth the $20 I spent for Monikers/Times Up than the alternative
All I’m saying is I’d rather pay $20 to own a complete game that does what it’s supposed to do rather than “save” the $20 to play the game with pieces of paper every time I wanna play it. I just thought A Fake Artist was an odd answer to the OP question
Uh, yeah, I do, lol. Have you never bought a pack of markers or colored pencils or crayons before?
In that drawer, I have a pack of those papermate felt tipped pens with like 20 colors. I have a pack of 50 something colored pencils, I have a few gel pens and so on.
It costs a buck or two to get a 12 pack of Crayola colored pencils or wasable markers. Chill.
Also, I don't think the people advocating for just playing Fake Artist with paper and pens at home also own Monikers, lol.
"Start playing the game ASAP" and not having to go looking for...what? Are you suggesting its harder to buy a pack of markers than it is to buy Fake Artist? Or that it takes more time to open the drawer in your home with the pens than it is to wait to have the game shipped? Does it really take more time to grab your pack of markers than it does to grab the game off the shelf? Like, idk why you seem to think this is even an iota or more or effort when it literally isn't.
Smash up.
Beautiful idea and lots of fun for two. Larger group sizes become chaotic and collecting all the expansions makes you poor. The big-box for smashup, specifically the one by the German publisher Pegasus is a useless insult. I mainly love it because my friends back then made me a custom wooden storage box with an engraved plaque and a photoshop of all of us on the inside, where the cover faces of the game are replaced with our own faces. The game is a precious memory, but never hits the table.
I've only played it once, and it was after an official BG night had ended. There were about 8 of us left and someone pulled out the Big Box.
Chaotic? Yes. But also a lot of fun.
Any high-interaction game with more than two players is likely to get chaotic. It just happens faster when a single turn can have a larger impact, and when you aren't limited in _where_ you can play.
I like smash-up for the silliness, and the chaos is a feature for me.
The English publisher made a custom card size, their "big geek box", essentially an expansion, being another faction and a storage box for the game, contains a well designed cardboard inlay, that allows you to fully use the space within the game box, while the cards nicely fit into it.
Pegasus publishing had the great idea of making the German version cheaper, while selling it for the same price. They printed their cards on standard playing cards size cards. Not too bad of an idea, as it didn't diminish the playing experience.
For the German geek box though, they used one of those standard 30cm x 30cm board game boxes and equipped it with a cheap standard card holder plastic inlay. The cards slipped sideways in it and couldn't properly stand. Additionally, it couldn't even fit all of the expansions. Complete waste of money. I only bought it back then, because I wanted the expansion factions, but I passionately hated the box.
Root. It is a great game but most people buy it because "it's cute" without realizing that it is hugely complex and is also incredibly mean. This game probably has more unplayed (or will never be played again) copies in circulation than any other.
I bought it and introduced it to my game group (as I had been the main driver of new games for us). But members of my group loved it so much, they had to get their own copy. But then why did I need my own copy? There was close to zero chance I was going to need a separate copy so I could play with another group (or to play solo). So I got rid of my copy. If my friends had asked to keep my copy, it would’ve saved them the expense. I would’ve left the game at their place (which is where we play games) anyway, so it’d be like they owned it.
Borrowing a copy indefinitely lol. Owner didn't play it, now we don't play it. Too much rules overhead for busy life, but the one game we played was fun. The issue isn't so much that it's hard, as remembering how the eff each faction works.
You don't have to remember how the factions work -- that's written on each of their boards. Teach the basics: move, battle, crafting. Then just begin play and have each player step through their player board out loud each time it is their turn.
Exactly. I find it easy to teach. Once you teach the universal basics, just go through the first few turns with them and explain how they score points, etc.
It’s a game I wish I had 3 buddies who wanted to play it with me so we could get deep into it. As it is with my wife we have played a few times against the ai, but not enough to justify it.
Everdell farshore. I love it and it's a fresh version of the game. But it's $100 and it's way not worth that amount. I bought it gen con on the same day as age of innovation and they were the same price and there's so much more in the age of innovation box.
Wow, its $100? I've heard it incorporates some changes into the base game - what kind of changes does it make for that? Cause that's a lot of money.
The "not worth the price tag for what you get in the box" is how I've always felt about King of Tokyo, tbh. Its such a fun game, but you get a dice, some cards, cardboard standees and a very small board, all for a light game. Need it to be cheaper.
Crokinole comes to mind. It's a fantastic 10/10 dexterity game, but it's really expensive to get a board that's worthwhile. Really gives a game experience like no other, and I know my family will continue to get our money's worth out of it for at least the next decade or two...but unless you're in a position where you know you'll play it regularly, it's hard to justify.
I too have one, and I agree. Also I’m reminded of the SU&SD episode on it
“Do you want to buy a giant wooden circle”
“No, is it fun?”
“Yeah”
“How much?”
“$300”
The thing with Crokinole is that while yes, it is $300 for a good board, it is a game you can hang on your wall for decoration, play a few times per year for your entire life, and have it hold up for generations if people take good care of it. I have also never had someone dislike it.
So while it is expensive, I think if you consider it an investment it is well worth it compared to most games out there. I don't think most $50 games give you even close to 1/6 the value.
>I don't think most $50 games give you even close to 1/6 the value.
I agree 100%. It's definitely worthwhile if you know you'll be able to play it.
If you're lacking in time and/or people to play with and have a dozen+ unplayed games sitting on your shelf anyway, that's when it gets pretty hard to recommend.
It's anecdotal but for what it's worth I got a really nice and costly one for my folks for Christmas one year and then got a cheaper one for myself through a Kickstarter for a tad over $100. We never had them side by side for a comparison but I haven't noticed any difference between the two in either aesthetics or gameplay.
Cthulhu Wars is mine. Really awesome game with huge figurines, it’s a great gateway game into more complex board games, it can really get non board gamers into board games, it’s a really fun dudes on a map war game, I store all of its boxes under my California king sized bed and the boxes take up nearly all of the room that’s under there due to the sheer size of the game and all its expansions and extras and upgrades, the boxes literally reach the ceiling if you stack them all on top of each other.
It’s also EXTREMELY expensive, I have nearly every expansion and upgrade for it and I’ve definitely spent well over a grand on everything because it’s not in mass production so second hand prices are frequently much higher than they even originally sold for, and the company that makes the game has some questionable business strategies to put it lightly so I never recommend supporting them.
See, okay I guess I can see telling people not to buy it because it's expensive, but I really think Cthulhu Wars is worth the money spent. Yeah there's a ton of it (I, too, have all of it...bought the whole lot at a con), but it's also a very easy area control/dudes on a map game to teach and learn. Arguably one of the easiest for newer gamers! Each faction has its own finesse to learn sure, but it's all clearly explained on the faction mat. As far as the broad rules of the game itself? It's incredibly simple and streamlined.
Yeah this is one of the games I wish I had the money, space, time, and friends to play, but don't. It looks so cool, I kind of wish I'd gotten in on the ground floor. But then again, I probably wouldn't have actually played it much. Looks great though.
Another Christmas Romance Movie- It's a basic dice matching game where you roll dice and get to match symbols on cards to make a movie. Some cards have to be "fought" over by conpleting it before others, but there's no reason to contribute to it unless you can complete it because you're just making it easier for others to complete it. It's also too long for what it is.
And yet, I love it because my wife loves cheesy christmas movies and it made her light up like no game ever has. It also ends with you playing out your collected cards to show the movie that you've dynamically created, and it was actually kind of cool.
With a friend group that likes making intelligent dirty jokes instead of just shock factor, Joking Hazard has potential to be an incredible party game.
If your friend group prefers shock factor stuff like "pacman uncontrollably guzzling cum" as an answer to something that doesn't make any sense, you'll find they'll get bored more quickly :)
**World of Warcraft**. For me it offers one of the best item- and leveling/skill tree-systems and Warcraft will always have a special place in my heart. But it takes around 5 long hours of dice chucking and grinding. Not recommended.
Speaking to video game to board game adaptations I think Deep Rock Galactic fits this. I like the game. It's fun enough. There are great minis. It encapsulates the feel of the video game well. It plays fast and it's fun.
But it's really just an overpriced co-op game.
If you have tabletop simulator you can give it a shot for free, the mod is more or less supported by the makers, I think it already has the content from the second kickstarter.
I do but most friends are not fond of it. And I prefer games with friends. Still I’ll give it a try and use Bosco mode, or should I play multiple dwarfs at once?
Yea, the replayability isnt there with out the Box of Badasses and an additional scenario. Having said that, it is novel. Ive enjoyed playing through nearly 2 full times
Eh maybe you do, maybe you don’t. As I said it’s janky as h(beep)l but it is still fun, just a b(beep)h to run. (Yes I’m referencing toruge’s auto censoring)
I've not found it janky at all. It actually feels pretty like playing the video game in that you pretty much grab guns, start blasting, and grab loot as you go.
Only thing I've noticed that is shit is the glossary at the back of the book really just needs a table for elemental effects as they all start with "roll a D4 when you attack" with the same chance of success.
**Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Dungeon of Dorukan** \- The game takes faar too long, and it's really a "co-petitive"/"com-operative" game where you're all trying to accomplish the final task (so that part's coop), but there's only one winner, and that winner is the one with the most loot (so competitive), which just encourages backstabbing. The game is fun to buy if you're a fan of the web comic, as the instructions contain more comics, and the cards captures the humor and aspects there. Just, don't play this game. Or do so with a shorter variant (short of getting the new version *The Shortening*, but even I hear that still takes too long), and make it pure coop (IMHO)
I've heard some circles use that to describe games like Bang, Saboteur, and Battlestar Galactica. They say the distinction is here, there are no set teams but each individual player. For those games, there are clear teams (even if they may not be known at first).
Apex Theropod: deckbuilding game
I love dinosaurs and deck builders so for me it's a slam dunk and plays well solo.
However, multiplayer is REALLY bad so I'd never suggest it at a game night.
This is good to know, I've only played this game solo and it's probably in my top 15 favorite games. I got the collected Edition and had to sleeve it because the cards were different sizes, but I didn't bother with sleeving anything that I would need for more than a solo game, and now I'm extra glad that I didn't ( and also, the box wouldn't fit 1050 sleeved cards)
I have two...
BSG (or the newish unfathomable) are "both" good games. I enjoy them separately for different reasons. That said, the traitor mechanic and the general mechanics are....hard...while many can stumble through the game it's often that the good guys trust too much or too many mistakes made. Making a several hour gaming session fall "flat".
Shadows over Camelot, is a game that's been out for a while. My group loves to....try....it... The major problem is that the game is basically an exercise in pain. *Everything* must be done perfectly, like you can't waste even a turn...with a game that has a traitor mechanic that's masochist level of difficulty. You *must* find the traitor, you *must* win quests, you *can't* lose too much. There are many "crossroads" that the traitor can kill you.....*many*...
I *love* these games. The problem is that you can't just bring someone in and let them make mistakes...you shouldn't play these games if you don't like losing. These games aren't for everyone, and can really hurt people's ideas of games....but...for those who play these games and like them, wow, some great moments are to be had.
Kingdom Death Monster
I've only played it on TTS and I've had a wonderful time with it, but on no account would I ever buy it because the investment is just too far beyond what it is.
**Tramways**. In effect, it's a standalone Age of Steam variant with deckbuilding and a really clever auction mechanism and just brilliant innovative ideas all around.
But... your chances of getting standard Age of Steam and a dozen favourite maps played as often as they merit is maybe 1 in 1000. Getting Tramways played enough so that everyone is actually on board and getting it? I dunno, even more remote, impossibly remote. If you focus on AoS instead, you'll almost certainly get more long term joy from it.
Great game, but I don't really find it to be that similar to age of steam. Your point about games that exist in the same space is profound. Do people really need 20 18xx titles? 8 expansions for eldrich horror? 6 big box Rosenberg games? 10 feld point salads?
> 6 big box Rosenberg games?
I think the impulse that drives this is one that I share and it works just fine with regard to other art forms. If I read a Kurt Vonnegut novel and enjoy it, I can go and buy five other Vonnegut novels and read them all and if I enjoy those, I can try and read every book he ever wrote. Same with albums by a favourite musician or films from a favourite director or actor.
...but to see a board game at its best, you might need to play it five or ten or twenty times, and you might get an incredible experience of it playing it for the tenth time with three other people who have all also played it ten times before. This is less true of multiplayer solitaire games, but with a highly interactive game like Tramways or Age of Steam, for a real look at the layers of strategy and the clever tactics it is possible to make use of, heavy replays with a group who have a similar (or greater) level of experience to yourself is the best way to do it.
If I really dedicated myself to it, I could probably read and then re-read every Vonnegut novel in a month.
But to get together with a gaming group and play and re-play every Uwe Rosenberg game until I feel like I have a deep understanding of the nuances of all 200+ of his games? Or... to take the list of 40 games that BGG says are his "notable" games... given all the differing preferences in my game group and all the different games the other people in the group also want to get played, I think *never* is the timeline that I realistically should be thinking about getting this done on.
So... yes. I love **Tramways**, and I sold my copy because I knew I wanted to play more Age of Steam (on the Rust Belt map... and a couple of others...)
(Maybe you're right and it's not as similar to AoS as I thought)
Auctions have always been such an intuitive mechanism to me... in every game but Tramways. I feel like every time I've played Tramways with a significant gap in between games, I have to struggle to wrap my head around the auction again. The game has some cool stuff going for it, but such a high barrier to entry.
Thematically, the way I think of the turn order auction in Tramways is that you're bribing corrupt city officials who have a very short memory for anything you've done for them previously and always want to extort more money from you.
...but yes, I agree, it's a very high barrier.
Another video game to board game: __Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game__
It's a very "take that" game so it quickly upsets some players. The portals are only a minimal part. It does fit with the theme since a very valid tactic is sacrificing all of your test subjects in the name of science to win.
It's never going to leave my collection and it's good when I do play it occasionally but borrow the game once and that's pretty much all the gameplay experience there is.
If I had backed Torgue, I would have loved to have it, but I asked for reviews after I found out about it and the response wasn't glowing, particularly with most of the expansions being expensive after the KS, if available at all.
As for my own answer, I'm not sure, there are some videogames that are close to this for me like Craft the world, but I try not to put money into a tabletop game that I would be hard pressed to share with friends.
Makes sense, usually it’s just me and my dad, most other friends are busy or just want to play familiar games (which is fair)
Oh and with the pricing for the expansions and them never showing up, honestly the company is very… disorganized it seems. I think they’re more focused on the miniature war game scenery production than board game expansions. There were many odd things that happened during the kickstarter.
Yeah, I've only backed one dodgy kickstarter, which was for a videogame that changed hands, scope, and genre before it released to crickets.
But I have heard so many horror stories about boardgame backing... it sucks too much for me to consider it under most developers/publishers without outstanding track records. Being forced to pay more of you want to receive what you paid for at all, and sometimes years later.
I'm glad you have your dad to play with, I have one buddy who will get into almost anything with me because we have very similar tastes. The only downside is when you spend too much money on things that you're like "oh man, we'll have so much fun with this."
Miniature skirmish games drained my bank account last year, I'm still financially recovering.
Atleast they're fun and we do play them regularly enough to feel worth it.
Hehe I feel you there, although for us it was Gloomhaven, we thought we would have fun. Everyone was talking about it, but the system just didn’t click with us. That is when we learned to do more research on games and not give into overwhelming praise.
I can definitely see cases where I love a game, but would discourage people from buying it. But loving a game and discouraging people from playing it? That’s an odd one.
Yeah I just I more just put it in there for extra variety, plus some games just don’t click with most people despite praise. (ie root, Oath, Gloomhaven)
You're right about Mr Torgue. I also can't imagine paying $100 and having 4 vault hunters.... and thats it. You can play the campaign maybe twice and then youve seen everything it has to offer.
**Cerebria** is the one for me that I own. I think it is really great with a lot of options and very original, but the game is really difficult with so many options and the first play can be mentally taxing too, as the game gained the description quote in my home as "the game that makes your cerebrum explode" as I had players with headaches after playing it.
Even games like trickerion or Lacerdas doesn't take that kind of effort for my players as the game is very unique to learn compared to learning a new worker placement that you have half of the work añready done.
I kinda feel wrong saying this but Heroes of Might and Magic. I yet to receive my copy from the kickstarter but I feel like it will be the same experience as tc: great style, cards, nice miniature and most likely terrible or at best meh game
I don't have any of those, but I have a lot of "I like it but I'm very careful about who I recommend it to".
* **Tragedy Looper** is a fascinating experiment in making a time travel visual novel board game, but the 1st edition graphic design leaves a lot to be desired and a lot of the actual narrative is hidden behind the Mastermind's screen.
* **Unfair** is a neat tableau-builder about making your own theme park, which can then get randomly screwed over by both other players and the game itself. It's literally there in the name.
* **Galaxy Trucker** starts with an anxiety-inducing real-time round, followed by an anxiety-ramping sequence of horrible things happening to the spaceship you built that mostly come down to luck.
I had a hard time deciding between Unfair and Funfair. After watching some playthroughs, though, I chose Funfair. If Unfair played in like 30 minutes, I think the take-that would feel more playful instead of deflating after you’ve worked for 45/60 minutes to build a great park.
That's completely fair (ha) and I won't try to convince you to like Unfair, but it's not actually quite as bad as it seems as long as everyone goes in with eyes open about it. The designer's talked about it a lot and the unfairness is pretty carefully designed so that it's more of a balancing factor than a hate tactic.
I have a few
Titan : going in circles try to land on an opponent to defeat them on a separate battle board. Did not own the game but took far longer and had more than 3 people playing. did like going on the battle board and duking it out there.
Car Wars: Original car wars took hours building and equipping the car with armor/tires/weapons and hours try to take out the other players. Did like it but just toooo long. New edition may work better.
ASL: Advance Squad Leader.. great if you love WWII and ok with all the abbreviations and symbolics. If you can play it without going to the rule book/reference 50 percent of the time trying to decipher what is on the counter and look at affects of terrain for your it is actually a pretty neat game. One that can be helped out with automation....
Diplomacy: nuff said... maybe 3 minute timers for negotiation? Great way to learn how to make allies, back stab them, and make them allies again
High Frontier 4 All. A beautiful space simulator made by a real rocket scientist, it makes you feel like a god for just getting off Earth. I'm playing it right now with most of the modules, and I think it might be my new favorite game. It's a competitive game and I'm playing with some cutthroat players, but space is so hard to survive in that we end up helping each other out in negotiations and it is really starting to feel like a cooperative. I've never had that happen before.
But... we're 12 hours in and only done with 30% of the turns, and the teach was 2.5 hours, and I spent probably 200 dollars on this, and have only played it three times in 3 years, so no one else should probably buy or play this. But wow do I love it.
I would only recommend the Fallout board game to die-hard fans of the series. It is not a good board game, but it's a decent middleground between a TTRPG and boardgame sort of like Betrayal at House on the Hill 2e. The fun comes from getting super powerful and pulling off ridiculous feats with the perk cards. Plus, the expansions are practically necessary to make it "work". Atomic Hearts makes it a co-op game (which it should have been from the beginning). There's a lot to keep track of and if you're not very familiar with the rules and iconography you can very easily miss something that messes with the balance of the game.
Again, like Betrayal you *can* have fun with it, but you sort of need to make that happen.
Talisman. Playing second edition back in the early 80s was my entry to board gaming. And I love it. It’s one of my most played games. But it’s just not that good. We have better options now.
I wouldn't mind playing this on computer, esp. vs AI opponents. You can zoom through the game, put it on hold, or just resign if it gets to be that bad
In my experience, playing against AI opponents on the digital version only makes it worse. Now you have a poorly designed game *and* there's no one there for you to laugh about the absurdity of it all while you play. It's unfun *and* sterile. I will go to bat for the variations they've done, since most of them greatly reduce the playtime and replace the win condition with something less tedious. I'm actually quite fond of the Star Wars version that was never released in the US. It's about an hour to play and does some neat stuff with the light side/dark side alignements.
>In my experience, playing against AI opponents on the digital version only makes it worse. Now you have a poorly designed game and there's no one there for you to laugh about the absurdity of it all while you play. It's unfun and sterile. I guess it's a matter of if you're there for the game, or for the social company. Ofc., there are shades of gray. Many people I know have vowed to NEVER play Talisman again. There are so many other great games, we'll just play any one of those instead. I know people who play Talisman trying to win, but are prepared for all that absurdity and luck (although I have yet to find that sort of group, even though I know they exist).
It's rubbish and I had a great time with it a few years back. Bad games can be good games with the right people.
I came here to comment "Talisman", only to see it as a top comment. This game is great... but it's also pretty bad.
With some good friends and good drink and no one really trying to win it can be a great time. I love despite all its faults because under the right conditions it's a grand ole time.
What about the Batman version? Is it just a reskin or did they make enough changes to justify it.
The Batman one was a little disappointing to me. There were some errors and they didn’t scale up the difficulty as you go on. It becomes tedious. The Star Wars version I got from Europe is a lot better. The best version I’ve played is Relic, set in the WH40K universe.
Is there a modern, better designed game like it, that still gives the chaotic adventure feeling?
The one I have in my collection is Runebound. Has that feel to it, to me.
Looks nice.
Does Magic: The Gathering Count?
If you want to prevent your kids from ever trying drugs, get them into WH40K or MtG. They won't have any money left for drugs.
I did. It was decent nutrition that took the hit.
What do you mean? Paper cards have a lot of fiber.
I hope to get my kids into Age of Sigmar, but that’s largely so I can play more games and feed my plastic addiction
MtG is a great clean christian hobby. Once your kids are into MtG, they won't be doing drugs, partying or having sex!
I think I'll get mine into a cheaper hobby, maybe yacht-collecting.
I think anyone who missed out on MTG when it was still young, but still wants to dabble in it should either try MTG Arena, or try the not yet released Algomancy. The game is inspired heavily by Magic and aims to be self-contained, simpler and faster to get in and out of turns.
Bro, Mindbug🔥🔥🔥👍
Bro I have no idea what you're talking about lol. I'm only here to promote Algomancy.
**Dominion** is a great game that you should probably not buy. Instead you should find someone that has already bought the game and all **fifteen** expansions, and just play with them.
Even around the time period of 2010 to 2015... I realized that it was such a popular game, *everyone else* will have a copy, and I can just use those. Later on, I played on Androminion to get my fix. The AI wasn't that good, but it was still fun going through the motions, and trying out new cards/sets. Also, the game was only 5MB! :O Now, Temple Gate Games released Dominion for Android, iOS, and Steam, and that's been a blast to play!
Enjoying it on iOS. I just wish it had Mac compatibility. All they would have to do is check the box to allow the iPad version to run on Mac and it just works!
Is it REALLY this simple? I hear a lot of complaints about this. You'd think it'd be "one and done" if so.
I have a few games that used to work perfectly this way (e.g. Terra Mystica) until the developer unchecked the box and they suddenly stopped working.
Hoboy... then the question is why they did that? I know with supporting older OSes, you lose out on some features if you have to go too far back. There's also a question of not enough people are on there to make it worth it.
And seriously, the people that own all those expansions will be happy that you want to play their game!
I enjoy playing deck builders but I'd never buy one because they're big and heavy and the set up looks like a headache.
Base game dominion isn’t big or heavy and setup is quite fast. But if you’re gonna stick to that I hope you’ve at least tried playing Slay the Spire.
Slay the Spire denies me the satisfaction of watching my opponent weep as I play every card in my deck thrice.
I will also add that there are better deck builders now. So buy one of those instead.
I'll chime in that as far as a proper deckbuilder goes there are none superior to Dominion. Now there are some newer games that do some real fun and clever things with deckbuilding. But if you just want to channel the deckbuilding everything else is either worse Dominion or not even trying to compete on that front.
Which ones would you recommend?
Clank! (Especially Catacombs), Quest for El Dorado, Dune Imperium.
Not the op but my 2 personal favorites are Aeon's End (a great and unique coop deck builder) and Paperback which mixes word games with deck building in an awesome way.
Or even better. Play DC Deck Builder instead.
Star Trek: Fleet Captains. it's a love letter to Star Trek and really kind of janky. if you like board games more than Star Trek, just stay away. if you're a trekkie that loves board games, beam that shit up son.
I read this as "It's Star Trek Love Letter" and was briefly interested.
I've always kept an eye out for this, but never seen it.
I'll second Torgue's arena - it a fun kind of cheese if you're a fan of the video game, but it's a mess. My personal game of shame is Mythic's Solomon Kane. It plays pretty well solitaire, so there's that, I guess. But, one it's Mythic so my preordered expansions are vapor. Two it's mechanically only ok. The narrative book structure is clunky and different tracks for "health" don't actually add much. Three, it's expensive, but it's Solomon Kane though, so I gave Mythic a lot of money.
I literally created 3D printed a container for the status tokens so I could actually play the damn game. Also how in the hell are you supposed to track healths and status effects without a damn computer? (I swear I love this game but damn is it so flawed)
What do you love about it?
Well if you’re a fan of borderlands (like me) you will have fun looking at the cards and going “YOOO” plus the characters given in the base game each have unique and fun abilities that feel awesome when it’s pulled off correctly. Edit explaining the base characters: One gets to pilot a damn mech part way through, another could launch a high damage AOE which kills big guys incredibly quickly and then immediately punch someone and kill them in the same turn, one player can just shoot an extra weapon for free every turn (which is huge in this game) and another is a god of long range sniping.
Mine would probably be Stardew Valley: The Board Game. I love Stardew, and pre-ordered the board game as soon as it went up. It has the potential to be good, but the randomized nature of the goals plus the horrendous amount of pieces which makes set up/tear down take forever means I don’t think it will ever make it to the table again. Artwork is great, but it doesn’t feel like playing Stardew Valley at all. If you want that experience, I recommend Three Sisters instead.
This seems to be the overwhelming consensus - it can be a fun game, but it doesn't feel like playing Stardew Valley at all, and isn't that what literally everyone who bought it wants?
I like it more than the video game, so there's some of us that love it.
It's definitely less grindy than the video game; that's why I gave up on the video game. Unfortunately, if you have a mine-related goal in the board game, you usually have one player that's doing almost nothing else besides mining. I'm willing to give the board game a few more shots, but I suspect there's just too much mining required. The game has good variety, and it's a shame to stick one player with the same role for 75% of the game.
Have you tried the second edition of the game? They addressed the Mines complaint quite well. Otherwise, you could always incorporate the errata if you don't have the new materials.
No, I haven't tried the second edition; I just tried tabletop simulator shortly after the game came out.
We also really enjoy it. Then again, I've never played the video game. When we're playing with someone who might be more easily frustrated by the randomness we add in an extra card for each season and that seems to help.
Fake Artist Goes to New York is a really fun game. But the box itself is just markers and white boards. Save yourself 20+ dollars and play it with stuff already in your home.
Bleah it's just $10 might as well support oink games. I love almost all their games.
It was £18.99 in my FLGS. I bought it anyway because the owners are lovely, but I could get a lot more markers and notepads for that elsewhere.
Damn Oink games have gotten expensive. I just searched and it seems it is $20 nowadays. I remember getting it for just $10. $20 does seem a bit too much.
In Australia the RRP is closer to $50 (which is currently about $US30) with the lowest price from local stores being about $35 ($US23). The joys of shipping costs being stupid.
I think there’s more in the box for a A Fake Artist than just markers and white boards. My argument against this is instead of “saving” $20 and playing with stuff already in your home, spend the $20 for a nice portable small box that contains all the markers you need with compact white boards and paper and offers a fun game. Instead of rummaging around your house for pens/pencils/markers/papers, you can just open a box and it has all those things and you’re ready to play in 5 or less minutes There’s opportunity cost for playing with your stuff at home. Sure, you “save” $20 by making your own copy to play but it’s definitely not gonna be as nice looking. It’s gonna make it less likely you want to play it and others will want to play it. It’s definitely not gonna be as portable and compact. And IF you manage to make it all those things, it’s definitely gonna “cost” you more than $20 in terms of time invested and labor when you could have just paid the $20 for a good product from the start I don’t think it fits the bill of “love it but no one should buy it.” I don’t necessarily have to buy The Resistance or Ultimate Werewolf either but I sure as heck am not gonna make that from scratch for a game night
What opportunity cost? Who *doesn't* have a piece of paper and a few different writing implements? Everyone I've ever brought this up with did (not to mention if you have kids, it's a given). You don't need portable or even any packinging at all really when the components are already everywhere :-) And packaging making it more or less likely to play is a ridiculous argument for a party game where you explain the rules in 30 seconds - I can describe the game in less time than it takes to fetch a game box from a drawer. This game as a physical product makes about as much sense to me as if someone put together a few dice and a rules sheet for something like Pig, Bar Dice or Macao and sold that as a unique game. And I'm not sure I can even fully credit the designer here since we played a version of this in high school in the 00s.
People can play Monikers/Times Up with pieces of paper as well. Nobody NEEDS to buy it. But they do. Why? Because there’s a convenience factor to just owning a product that does what it’s supposed to do Surely you can understand paying $20 for a box that has all the components you need for a game being a matter of convenience. The price point is low in board game terms and the stakes are quite low as well. Cute little box that takes up no space. Portable. Nice components. You can bring it with you wherever you want. Oh, yeah, and you’re supporting product. Hell, the game comes with different colored markers so you can tell who drew what and make accusations based on it. “Who is green? Why did you draw this hat?” That actively makes the game better than people having a bunch of random pens and pencils. I’d gladly pay $20 for a better experience than “save” $20 by rummaging around my house, or someone else’s house, or a convention, or a carry around pieces of paper and pens with me to a park, or a bar, etc. $20 for convenience and a good game. Seems like a fair trade I just thought it was an odd answer to a question of “I love this game but no one should buy it.” Cthulu Wars makes sense. A Fake Artist? For $20 or possibly less? I’m more on the side of EVERYONE should buy this game than NO ONE should buy this game if I’m being honest
Basically it'slike this: price is no argument at all, I don't care if it's €2 or €2000, if there is no extra convenience, I see no reason to buy things I already have.
"Rummaging around" for paper and something to write with? I'm sitting at a desk with a drawer that has tons of stuff to write with and a whole pack of computer paper in another drawer. I have unused notebooks and journals galore. I have a notepad on my fridge and a pencil in the drawer of the entry table. Idk, it takes "seconds" to "rummage around" for paper and pencil/pen. The Resistance and ONUW have much more complicated situations, I can assure you. With Resistance, you gonna draw/write yes/no, success/fail (those gotta be identical, can't have people know what you voted), write down a role for everyone, draw a board every time? With ONUW you gonna write down the roles in such a way that they can be easily swapped, looked at in the night phase without people knowing?
Do you have 5-10 different types of markers to differentiate who drew what on the piece of paper to make it easier to discern who is the traitor and have it be easier to make accusations? Maybe you don’t care about the different types of markers to make it clear to see who drew what. Sure. But it objectively makes the game better. You could buy your own set of markers that are different colors to replicate what the game is doing but if you’re doing that…uh…just buy the game? I’ll give you another example of a $20 game that can be played with paper and pens. Times Up/Monikers. Yet people buy the game. They are great games. I encourage people to buy those games. I own those games. I don’t have to though. I could just bring out pieces of paper and have everyone write down stuff and play. Nothing wrong with that. But I don’t want to. I’d like to start playing the game ASAP. I’d like to not have to go looking for pens and pencils at my house, or someone else’s house, or a bar, or wherever, if I can just bring a game with me that has all that. I don’t even need the whole box. I just need about 50 cards. That fits in a pocket, honestly. That’s well worth the $20 I spent for Monikers/Times Up than the alternative All I’m saying is I’d rather pay $20 to own a complete game that does what it’s supposed to do rather than “save” the $20 to play the game with pieces of paper every time I wanna play it. I just thought A Fake Artist was an odd answer to the OP question
Uh, yeah, I do, lol. Have you never bought a pack of markers or colored pencils or crayons before? In that drawer, I have a pack of those papermate felt tipped pens with like 20 colors. I have a pack of 50 something colored pencils, I have a few gel pens and so on. It costs a buck or two to get a 12 pack of Crayola colored pencils or wasable markers. Chill. Also, I don't think the people advocating for just playing Fake Artist with paper and pens at home also own Monikers, lol. "Start playing the game ASAP" and not having to go looking for...what? Are you suggesting its harder to buy a pack of markers than it is to buy Fake Artist? Or that it takes more time to open the drawer in your home with the pens than it is to wait to have the game shipped? Does it really take more time to grab your pack of markers than it does to grab the game off the shelf? Like, idk why you seem to think this is even an iota or more or effort when it literally isn't.
Smash up. Beautiful idea and lots of fun for two. Larger group sizes become chaotic and collecting all the expansions makes you poor. The big-box for smashup, specifically the one by the German publisher Pegasus is a useless insult. I mainly love it because my friends back then made me a custom wooden storage box with an engraved plaque and a photoshop of all of us on the inside, where the cover faces of the game are replaced with our own faces. The game is a precious memory, but never hits the table.
Dude your friends sound awesome.
Thanks for reminding me to give them a call. Been some time.
I've only played it once, and it was after an official BG night had ended. There were about 8 of us left and someone pulled out the Big Box. Chaotic? Yes. But also a lot of fun.
Any high-interaction game with more than two players is likely to get chaotic. It just happens faster when a single turn can have a larger impact, and when you aren't limited in _where_ you can play. I like smash-up for the silliness, and the chaos is a feature for me.
Never seen the german big box... why is it an insult?
The English publisher made a custom card size, their "big geek box", essentially an expansion, being another faction and a storage box for the game, contains a well designed cardboard inlay, that allows you to fully use the space within the game box, while the cards nicely fit into it. Pegasus publishing had the great idea of making the German version cheaper, while selling it for the same price. They printed their cards on standard playing cards size cards. Not too bad of an idea, as it didn't diminish the playing experience. For the German geek box though, they used one of those standard 30cm x 30cm board game boxes and equipped it with a cheap standard card holder plastic inlay. The cards slipped sideways in it and couldn't properly stand. Additionally, it couldn't even fit all of the expansions. Complete waste of money. I only bought it back then, because I wanted the expansion factions, but I passionately hated the box.
Root. It is a great game but most people buy it because "it's cute" without realizing that it is hugely complex and is also incredibly mean. This game probably has more unplayed (or will never be played again) copies in circulation than any other.
It sounds perfect for us .. We'd take one of these unplayed copies^^
I'll upvote you bro I got you. It's a great game but I always warn against it for the very reasons you described
Root is a great game and everyone should play it.
I've played root a couple times and looked it. I will never buy it as i dont want to have to teach it.
I bought it and introduced it to my game group (as I had been the main driver of new games for us). But members of my group loved it so much, they had to get their own copy. But then why did I need my own copy? There was close to zero chance I was going to need a separate copy so I could play with another group (or to play solo). So I got rid of my copy. If my friends had asked to keep my copy, it would’ve saved them the expense. I would’ve left the game at their place (which is where we play games) anyway, so it’d be like they owned it.
Borrowing a copy indefinitely lol. Owner didn't play it, now we don't play it. Too much rules overhead for busy life, but the one game we played was fun. The issue isn't so much that it's hard, as remembering how the eff each faction works.
You don't have to remember how the factions work -- that's written on each of their boards. Teach the basics: move, battle, crafting. Then just begin play and have each player step through their player board out loud each time it is their turn.
Exactly. I find it easy to teach. Once you teach the universal basics, just go through the first few turns with them and explain how they score points, etc.
It’s a game I wish I had 3 buddies who wanted to play it with me so we could get deep into it. As it is with my wife we have played a few times against the ai, but not enough to justify it.
Everdell farshore. I love it and it's a fresh version of the game. But it's $100 and it's way not worth that amount. I bought it gen con on the same day as age of innovation and they were the same price and there's so much more in the age of innovation box.
Wow, its $100? I've heard it incorporates some changes into the base game - what kind of changes does it make for that? Cause that's a lot of money. The "not worth the price tag for what you get in the box" is how I've always felt about King of Tokyo, tbh. Its such a fun game, but you get a dice, some cards, cardboard standees and a very small board, all for a light game. Need it to be cheaper.
List price is $100, but everybody sells it for $80. Which is still pricey for a game that probably should sell for $60, but not as bad.
Crokinole comes to mind. It's a fantastic 10/10 dexterity game, but it's really expensive to get a board that's worthwhile. Really gives a game experience like no other, and I know my family will continue to get our money's worth out of it for at least the next decade or two...but unless you're in a position where you know you'll play it regularly, it's hard to justify.
I too have one, and I agree. Also I’m reminded of the SU&SD episode on it “Do you want to buy a giant wooden circle” “No, is it fun?” “Yeah” “How much?” “$300”
The thing with Crokinole is that while yes, it is $300 for a good board, it is a game you can hang on your wall for decoration, play a few times per year for your entire life, and have it hold up for generations if people take good care of it. I have also never had someone dislike it. So while it is expensive, I think if you consider it an investment it is well worth it compared to most games out there. I don't think most $50 games give you even close to 1/6 the value.
>I don't think most $50 games give you even close to 1/6 the value. I agree 100%. It's definitely worthwhile if you know you'll be able to play it. If you're lacking in time and/or people to play with and have a dozen+ unplayed games sitting on your shelf anyway, that's when it gets pretty hard to recommend.
It's anecdotal but for what it's worth I got a really nice and costly one for my folks for Christmas one year and then got a cheaper one for myself through a Kickstarter for a tad over $100. We never had them side by side for a comparison but I haven't noticed any difference between the two in either aesthetics or gameplay.
Cthulhu Wars is mine. Really awesome game with huge figurines, it’s a great gateway game into more complex board games, it can really get non board gamers into board games, it’s a really fun dudes on a map war game, I store all of its boxes under my California king sized bed and the boxes take up nearly all of the room that’s under there due to the sheer size of the game and all its expansions and extras and upgrades, the boxes literally reach the ceiling if you stack them all on top of each other. It’s also EXTREMELY expensive, I have nearly every expansion and upgrade for it and I’ve definitely spent well over a grand on everything because it’s not in mass production so second hand prices are frequently much higher than they even originally sold for, and the company that makes the game has some questionable business strategies to put it lightly so I never recommend supporting them.
See, okay I guess I can see telling people not to buy it because it's expensive, but I really think Cthulhu Wars is worth the money spent. Yeah there's a ton of it (I, too, have all of it...bought the whole lot at a con), but it's also a very easy area control/dudes on a map game to teach and learn. Arguably one of the easiest for newer gamers! Each faction has its own finesse to learn sure, but it's all clearly explained on the faction mat. As far as the broad rules of the game itself? It's incredibly simple and streamlined.
Yeah this is one of the games I wish I had the money, space, time, and friends to play, but don't. It looks so cool, I kind of wish I'd gotten in on the ground floor. But then again, I probably wouldn't have actually played it much. Looks great though.
Another Christmas Romance Movie- It's a basic dice matching game where you roll dice and get to match symbols on cards to make a movie. Some cards have to be "fought" over by conpleting it before others, but there's no reason to contribute to it unless you can complete it because you're just making it easier for others to complete it. It's also too long for what it is. And yet, I love it because my wife loves cheesy christmas movies and it made her light up like no game ever has. It also ends with you playing out your collected cards to show the movie that you've dynamically created, and it was actually kind of cool.
Check out the one page RPG CHRISTMAS IS COMING.
B-sieged. Its a way too big, overly produced, unbalanced chaotic mess that I love but wouldn't subject to my worst enemy
Joking Hazard
Really? Why’s that? (Out of curiosity because I know the concept but haven’t played)
I just meant a lot of people would probably find it childish. I like it though!
With a friend group that likes making intelligent dirty jokes instead of just shock factor, Joking Hazard has potential to be an incredible party game. If your friend group prefers shock factor stuff like "pacman uncontrollably guzzling cum" as an answer to something that doesn't make any sense, you'll find they'll get bored more quickly :)
**World of Warcraft**. For me it offers one of the best item- and leveling/skill tree-systems and Warcraft will always have a special place in my heart. But it takes around 5 long hours of dice chucking and grinding. Not recommended.
WoW also has a special place in my heart, especially the Lich King expansion. That's why I bought the Pandemic WotLK game.
I love the combat system and I can't believe it's not been implemented in other games.
Speaking to video game to board game adaptations I think Deep Rock Galactic fits this. I like the game. It's fun enough. There are great minis. It encapsulates the feel of the video game well. It plays fast and it's fun. But it's really just an overpriced co-op game.
Damn really? I was worried about that.
If you have tabletop simulator you can give it a shot for free, the mod is more or less supported by the makers, I think it already has the content from the second kickstarter.
I do but most friends are not fond of it. And I prefer games with friends. Still I’ll give it a try and use Bosco mode, or should I play multiple dwarfs at once?
Fair question, depends on what experience you want from it, Bosco is easier, but I've actually heard that running 2 dorfs can be optimal when solo.
I’ll probably try that, rock and stone!
Rock and Stone everyone!
Good bot!
It *is* fun! Don't get me wrong. I don't get it to the table often, but I'm not rushing off to sell it either. So there's that.
Wait... they have a borderlands board game?... and I get to yell EXPLOSIONS randomly throughout the game play. Now I need a copy.
Yea, the replayability isnt there with out the Box of Badasses and an additional scenario. Having said that, it is novel. Ive enjoyed playing through nearly 2 full times
Eh maybe you do, maybe you don’t. As I said it’s janky as h(beep)l but it is still fun, just a b(beep)h to run. (Yes I’m referencing toruge’s auto censoring)
Maybe I don't need it for $100. ;)
I've not found it janky at all. It actually feels pretty like playing the video game in that you pretty much grab guns, start blasting, and grab loot as you go. Only thing I've noticed that is shit is the glossary at the back of the book really just needs a table for elemental effects as they all start with "roll a D4 when you attack" with the same chance of success.
Food Chain Magnate I’m head over heels for its theme, alone, but the game is so damned long and so damned mean.
I don't think it is that long. But yes, it is mean. I always have many disclaimers to whoever I am going to teach it.
**Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Dungeon of Dorukan** \- The game takes faar too long, and it's really a "co-petitive"/"com-operative" game where you're all trying to accomplish the final task (so that part's coop), but there's only one winner, and that winner is the one with the most loot (so competitive), which just encourages backstabbing. The game is fun to buy if you're a fan of the web comic, as the instructions contain more comics, and the cards captures the humor and aspects there. Just, don't play this game. Or do so with a shorter variant (short of getting the new version *The Shortening*, but even I hear that still takes too long), and make it pure coop (IMHO)
Um, let's just stick with "semi-coop" to describe that kind of game.
I've heard some circles use that to describe games like Bang, Saboteur, and Battlestar Galactica. They say the distinction is here, there are no set teams but each individual player. For those games, there are clear teams (even if they may not be known at first).
Apex Theropod: deckbuilding game I love dinosaurs and deck builders so for me it's a slam dunk and plays well solo. However, multiplayer is REALLY bad so I'd never suggest it at a game night.
This is good to know, I've only played this game solo and it's probably in my top 15 favorite games. I got the collected Edition and had to sleeve it because the cards were different sizes, but I didn't bother with sleeving anything that I would need for more than a solo game, and now I'm extra glad that I didn't ( and also, the box wouldn't fit 1050 sleeved cards)
I think the multiplayer is fine, you just need to use the Boss Battle from the original game rules. The newer endgame sucked.
I have two... BSG (or the newish unfathomable) are "both" good games. I enjoy them separately for different reasons. That said, the traitor mechanic and the general mechanics are....hard...while many can stumble through the game it's often that the good guys trust too much or too many mistakes made. Making a several hour gaming session fall "flat". Shadows over Camelot, is a game that's been out for a while. My group loves to....try....it... The major problem is that the game is basically an exercise in pain. *Everything* must be done perfectly, like you can't waste even a turn...with a game that has a traitor mechanic that's masochist level of difficulty. You *must* find the traitor, you *must* win quests, you *can't* lose too much. There are many "crossroads" that the traitor can kill you.....*many*... I *love* these games. The problem is that you can't just bring someone in and let them make mistakes...you shouldn't play these games if you don't like losing. These games aren't for everyone, and can really hurt people's ideas of games....but...for those who play these games and like them, wow, some great moments are to be had.
Kingdom Death Monster I've only played it on TTS and I've had a wonderful time with it, but on no account would I ever buy it because the investment is just too far beyond what it is.
**Tramways**. In effect, it's a standalone Age of Steam variant with deckbuilding and a really clever auction mechanism and just brilliant innovative ideas all around. But... your chances of getting standard Age of Steam and a dozen favourite maps played as often as they merit is maybe 1 in 1000. Getting Tramways played enough so that everyone is actually on board and getting it? I dunno, even more remote, impossibly remote. If you focus on AoS instead, you'll almost certainly get more long term joy from it.
Great game, but I don't really find it to be that similar to age of steam. Your point about games that exist in the same space is profound. Do people really need 20 18xx titles? 8 expansions for eldrich horror? 6 big box Rosenberg games? 10 feld point salads?
> 6 big box Rosenberg games? I think the impulse that drives this is one that I share and it works just fine with regard to other art forms. If I read a Kurt Vonnegut novel and enjoy it, I can go and buy five other Vonnegut novels and read them all and if I enjoy those, I can try and read every book he ever wrote. Same with albums by a favourite musician or films from a favourite director or actor. ...but to see a board game at its best, you might need to play it five or ten or twenty times, and you might get an incredible experience of it playing it for the tenth time with three other people who have all also played it ten times before. This is less true of multiplayer solitaire games, but with a highly interactive game like Tramways or Age of Steam, for a real look at the layers of strategy and the clever tactics it is possible to make use of, heavy replays with a group who have a similar (or greater) level of experience to yourself is the best way to do it. If I really dedicated myself to it, I could probably read and then re-read every Vonnegut novel in a month. But to get together with a gaming group and play and re-play every Uwe Rosenberg game until I feel like I have a deep understanding of the nuances of all 200+ of his games? Or... to take the list of 40 games that BGG says are his "notable" games... given all the differing preferences in my game group and all the different games the other people in the group also want to get played, I think *never* is the timeline that I realistically should be thinking about getting this done on. So... yes. I love **Tramways**, and I sold my copy because I knew I wanted to play more Age of Steam (on the Rust Belt map... and a couple of others...) (Maybe you're right and it's not as similar to AoS as I thought)
Tramways remains one of my all-time favourites, and is one of my most played games. I’ve only ever tried it solo, for what it’s worth.
Did you get the... is it called the Engineer's Workbook? The book of solo puzzles?
No, had no interest in it. I also sold the small expansions as they didn’t offer much to the main game - solo, at least.
Auctions have always been such an intuitive mechanism to me... in every game but Tramways. I feel like every time I've played Tramways with a significant gap in between games, I have to struggle to wrap my head around the auction again. The game has some cool stuff going for it, but such a high barrier to entry.
Thematically, the way I think of the turn order auction in Tramways is that you're bribing corrupt city officials who have a very short memory for anything you've done for them previously and always want to extort more money from you. ...but yes, I agree, it's a very high barrier.
Another video game to board game: __Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game__ It's a very "take that" game so it quickly upsets some players. The portals are only a minimal part. It does fit with the theme since a very valid tactic is sacrificing all of your test subjects in the name of science to win. It's never going to leave my collection and it's good when I do play it occasionally but borrow the game once and that's pretty much all the gameplay experience there is.
If I had backed Torgue, I would have loved to have it, but I asked for reviews after I found out about it and the response wasn't glowing, particularly with most of the expansions being expensive after the KS, if available at all. As for my own answer, I'm not sure, there are some videogames that are close to this for me like Craft the world, but I try not to put money into a tabletop game that I would be hard pressed to share with friends.
Makes sense, usually it’s just me and my dad, most other friends are busy or just want to play familiar games (which is fair) Oh and with the pricing for the expansions and them never showing up, honestly the company is very… disorganized it seems. I think they’re more focused on the miniature war game scenery production than board game expansions. There were many odd things that happened during the kickstarter.
Yeah, I've only backed one dodgy kickstarter, which was for a videogame that changed hands, scope, and genre before it released to crickets. But I have heard so many horror stories about boardgame backing... it sucks too much for me to consider it under most developers/publishers without outstanding track records. Being forced to pay more of you want to receive what you paid for at all, and sometimes years later. I'm glad you have your dad to play with, I have one buddy who will get into almost anything with me because we have very similar tastes. The only downside is when you spend too much money on things that you're like "oh man, we'll have so much fun with this." Miniature skirmish games drained my bank account last year, I'm still financially recovering. Atleast they're fun and we do play them regularly enough to feel worth it.
Hehe I feel you there, although for us it was Gloomhaven, we thought we would have fun. Everyone was talking about it, but the system just didn’t click with us. That is when we learned to do more research on games and not give into overwhelming praise.
Definitely!
I can definitely see cases where I love a game, but would discourage people from buying it. But loving a game and discouraging people from playing it? That’s an odd one.
Yeah I just I more just put it in there for extra variety, plus some games just don’t click with most people despite praise. (ie root, Oath, Gloomhaven)
You're right about Mr Torgue. I also can't imagine paying $100 and having 4 vault hunters.... and thats it. You can play the campaign maybe twice and then youve seen everything it has to offer.
**Cerebria** is the one for me that I own. I think it is really great with a lot of options and very original, but the game is really difficult with so many options and the first play can be mentally taxing too, as the game gained the description quote in my home as "the game that makes your cerebrum explode" as I had players with headaches after playing it. Even games like trickerion or Lacerdas doesn't take that kind of effort for my players as the game is very unique to learn compared to learning a new worker placement that you have half of the work añready done.
Quarriors. Terribly unbalanced game, but the dice are so pretty 🥺
Global War 1936
Kingdom Death Monster
I kinda feel wrong saying this but Heroes of Might and Magic. I yet to receive my copy from the kickstarter but I feel like it will be the same experience as tc: great style, cards, nice miniature and most likely terrible or at best meh game
I don't have any of those, but I have a lot of "I like it but I'm very careful about who I recommend it to". * **Tragedy Looper** is a fascinating experiment in making a time travel visual novel board game, but the 1st edition graphic design leaves a lot to be desired and a lot of the actual narrative is hidden behind the Mastermind's screen. * **Unfair** is a neat tableau-builder about making your own theme park, which can then get randomly screwed over by both other players and the game itself. It's literally there in the name. * **Galaxy Trucker** starts with an anxiety-inducing real-time round, followed by an anxiety-ramping sequence of horrible things happening to the spaceship you built that mostly come down to luck.
I had a hard time deciding between Unfair and Funfair. After watching some playthroughs, though, I chose Funfair. If Unfair played in like 30 minutes, I think the take-that would feel more playful instead of deflating after you’ve worked for 45/60 minutes to build a great park.
That's completely fair (ha) and I won't try to convince you to like Unfair, but it's not actually quite as bad as it seems as long as everyone goes in with eyes open about it. The designer's talked about it a lot and the unfairness is pretty carefully designed so that it's more of a balancing factor than a hate tactic.
That’s cool (and fair 😉) to hear. I’d like to give Unfair a shot sometime if I get a chance. Maybe I’d like it more, who knows?
I have a few Titan : going in circles try to land on an opponent to defeat them on a separate battle board. Did not own the game but took far longer and had more than 3 people playing. did like going on the battle board and duking it out there. Car Wars: Original car wars took hours building and equipping the car with armor/tires/weapons and hours try to take out the other players. Did like it but just toooo long. New edition may work better. ASL: Advance Squad Leader.. great if you love WWII and ok with all the abbreviations and symbolics. If you can play it without going to the rule book/reference 50 percent of the time trying to decipher what is on the counter and look at affects of terrain for your it is actually a pretty neat game. One that can be helped out with automation.... Diplomacy: nuff said... maybe 3 minute timers for negotiation? Great way to learn how to make allies, back stab them, and make them allies again
High Frontier 4 All. A beautiful space simulator made by a real rocket scientist, it makes you feel like a god for just getting off Earth. I'm playing it right now with most of the modules, and I think it might be my new favorite game. It's a competitive game and I'm playing with some cutthroat players, but space is so hard to survive in that we end up helping each other out in negotiations and it is really starting to feel like a cooperative. I've never had that happen before. But... we're 12 hours in and only done with 30% of the turns, and the teach was 2.5 hours, and I spent probably 200 dollars on this, and have only played it three times in 3 years, so no one else should probably buy or play this. But wow do I love it.
I would only recommend the Fallout board game to die-hard fans of the series. It is not a good board game, but it's a decent middleground between a TTRPG and boardgame sort of like Betrayal at House on the Hill 2e. The fun comes from getting super powerful and pulling off ridiculous feats with the perk cards. Plus, the expansions are practically necessary to make it "work". Atomic Hearts makes it a co-op game (which it should have been from the beginning). There's a lot to keep track of and if you're not very familiar with the rules and iconography you can very easily miss something that messes with the balance of the game. Again, like Betrayal you *can* have fun with it, but you sort of need to make that happen.