Love at First Sight

Posts by others have jogged my memory:

Neuroshima Hex, Napoleon's Triumph and 2 de Mayo. Those are definitely on my list.

I'll also add Summoner Wars and Imperial.

Fortress America
Battlestar Galactica
Power Grid
Age of Steam
Silverton
Risk: Star Wars Original Trilogy

Last Night on Earth

When I got back into board games through Settlers of Catan (see: Love at Second Sight) and discovered TOS, it was right at the time that Last Night on Earth was coming out, so the hype for that was pretty heavy. And after loving Settlers I saw that and thought, wow, that looks really cool, and it seemed to be more in line thematically and tactically with some of the games I played and loved back in the 90's (Axis & Allies, Samurai Swords, etc.). The idea of characters and scenarios and a game that played out cinematically was very appealing. But in the actual games I was playing (online and with a local game group), it was mostly Euros for quite a while and so I kind of forgot about LNOE.

But I went to a convention while in Utah one day and was playing a very slow game of Pillars of the Earth, and a group sat right next to me and played LNOE. After a while, with their cheering and laughing and dice rolling and general excitement, and me wrapped up in the elegant tedium of Pillars of the Earth, I began to feel like a kid taking piano lessons on a beautiful summer day when his friends are all outside playing street hockey and climbing trees. I believe I officially became a F:ATtie at that moment. I knew I had to have that game and bought it the next chance I could... and haven't regretted it ever since. I think it still holds up really well, even with just the base game (though the expansions add a lot) and while it's not a perfect design or anything, I have had some of the best gaming experiences playing LNOE, both in terms of the gameplay and the social fun of it.

Black Barney wrote:

Yeah, i forgot D&D. Oh, and obviously Ken B.


General, Puerto Rico is my favourite board game right now. But I don't see how it can be a love-at-first-sight game. I mean, it doesn't look interesting at all. it looks very much like Princes of Florence, for instance. But it IS really fun in the end, i just don't know how you can love it by looking at it. Help me understand how you loved it immediately.

I started playing "modern" games with Cities & Knights of Catan and Carcassonne. Played them each literally over a hundred times, then Puerto Rico came out and it's what we played next. That game made me interested in board games, which is why I believe the concept of a "gateway game" is bullshit. Any game -- or, if you prefer, no game -- is a gateway game.

I don't know what's so awesome about Puerto Rico. I've played it over a hundred times since being introduced to it and it's still a favourite of mine.

Schweig! wrote:

Ambush! I loved this game from when I read the box back.

Yes I forgot that one. I played the hell out of mine.

generalpf wrote:

I don't know what's so awesome about Puerto Rico. I've played it over a hundred times since being introduced to it and it's still a favourite of mine.

Yeah, I can't put my finger on it either. I don't understand why I never have identical games. I figured it would happen at least once in a while but it never does.

Loved at first sight:

Dogfight
Awful Green Things from Outer Space
Divine Right
Vampyre
Asteroid
Slasher Flick: the Revenge of the Boogeyman
original Arkham Horror ('87 Chaosium edition)
Jyhad
Shadowfist
Slasher: the Final Cut
The Hills Rise Wild
Zombies!!!

But love can fade. I have played a lot of games of everything on the list above, with the exception of Zombies!!! and Slasher Flick, and I am now aware of the flaws of each game.

I don't believe in love at first sight any more.

But, Dungeons & Dragons probably fits the bill in gaming terms. I was 10 when I first saw those polyhedrals and 1st edition Player's Handbook and they stirred something inside of me.

Space Hulk - wish I had more 2player game loving friends.
WOTR - best game. EVER.
TI3 - the big daddy
Dune - please don't fuck up the remake, FFG
Cutthroat - have not played a game where we did not end up laughing uncontrollably at one point, needs more table time
MtG - I love it, still visit their website regularly to get updated, but I will never play this game again (as in buying singles/boosters and making optimized efficient decks)
LNOE - this looks like my real Arkham killer

kookoobah wrote:

LNOE - this looks like my real Arkham killer

Shouldn't that be a touch of evil?

Mine: Battle for Eternia.

Black Barney wrote:

generalpf wrote:

I don't know what's so awesome about Puerto Rico. I've played it over a hundred times since being introduced to it and it's still a favourite of mine.

Yeah, I can't put my finger on it either. I don't understand why I never have identical games. I figured it would happen at least once in a while but it never does.

The plantation draw is a subtle but effective random seed for the game. You'd think it wouldn't make a big difference but it really does. If nobody gets to Settle corn in a 3-player game you'll only have the original corn seat (sorry, guys) buy the Small Market, but if someone gets corn from the Settler, they'll probably both get bought.

How did the designer manage to produce two brilliant games in a row (PR and SJ) and then produce a bunch of shit (TuT and Airships)?

generalpf wrote:

How did the designer manage to produce two brilliant games in a row (PR and SJ) and then produce a bunch of shit (TuT and Airships)?

Maybe he sold out?

There is a game store in the suburbs of Chicago I had been going to for years as a kid. When I went back to Chicago for my graduate school, I found out that they were having a "rummage sale." You could donate items and they would give you in store credit.

I rounded up all the Dragon magazines and D&D sets and modules which had been sitting in my parents basement and dropped them off. I didn't want them at my apartment and I couldn't justify keeping them at my parents, especially since I was giving them such a hard time about cleaning out and getting rid of junk they didn't use.

As it would turn out I got a ton of store credit. I was genuinely surprised. I was just getting into board games as a proxy for the RPGs I had played through my college years. I thought I should buy my own copies of a couple of games that I had been introduced to by some people I met while in graduate school. I bought Carcassone (definitely lost its luster), Settlers of Catan with the 5/6 player expansion, Cities and Knights of Catan (also with expansion)-both of which I still adore, and Game of Thrones.

I felt buyer's remorse for Game of Thrones as soon as I left the store having used up every penny of store credit. I felt like I had bought a setting I liked but had no idea about the game. It had been a whim.

A week or so later a group of us got together and played it. I loved it, absolutely loved it. I loved the order mechanic. I loved the cut throat negotiations, I liked how all the randomness came from the players and how they interacted.

I could only get the damned game to the table 2 more times during the next several years I lived in Chicago. I still love that game. Moving to central Illinois I was amazed to find a group of people with whom to play board games. I introduced them to GoT and it is still a special event and frequently requested game.

I have carried a torch for Arkham Horror ever since I played it the first time. I bought my own copy but have played my copy only once.

Risk 2210 never fails to deliver a great time. Never had a bad game of it and we loved it from the first play. Going nuclear and a set five turn play time made incredible improvements over the games of regular Risk from my youth.

I really like Puerto Rico but I have so much other stuff in my closest I have been buying but haven't played I would like a break.

I love Settlers but prefer Cities and Knights when I have a more game oriented crowd. Casual gaming with the family gets out Settlers. My mother in law liked it enough, I bought her a copy for Christmas a couple of years ago. She was so happy.

Blood Bowl!

Oh MAN I can still see the tiny game shop in a small town called Mackay while on tour. Cane smoke hung in the air from the sugar burn and every gig was a redneck nightmare...but walked into this most unlikely shop just as they were hefting the 3rd Ed boxes onto the shelves. The clash between Morg and Griff was all I needed to see!

The only other one I remember a surge of OMG was when I first went to a local game group day at a mates house and walked into Railroad Tycoon sprawling all over the table!

There are still tingles about certain games when I first see them...but nothing like those 2 games right there!

AToE looks too brown. LNOE feels like a fun adventure, and isn't that fiddly. Fiddly-ness is sooooo 2004.