What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

I've been awfully busy lately, so there hasn't been a lot of time to play much. I did get in a solo game of Death Angel for the first time in months the other day. I even won!

But then this afternoon I got in a four-player game of Duel Of Ages II, and it was just sublime. Boot Jet Girl got taken down by the Berserker, who happened to be really good with a machete. Beowulf was for some reason better at using a handgun than an enchanted sword. The same Unicorn kept getting in Black's base and breaking the vortex. There was also a fancy royal ball that no one was classy enough to attend.

I realize the "mad-lib" nature of the game doesn't appeal to everyone, but I still love it. We played for 3.5 hours, which is a good length. Much shorter and it feels like it's ending prematurely. Much longer and I think you need to really expand the board and bring in more characters to keep it from burning out too quickly. Not as much combat in this game, since no one was great at melee and there weren't a whole bunch of ranged weapons. As we gathered items it started coming together though, and we had a really good arc to the game.

A couple more observations:

- It's the best kind of complex game, the kind where you basically explain the systems up front and people can learn more as they go. Having at least one experienced playing on each team helps it a lot, since there isn't that "I need to know this rule but I'm trying to beat you" aspect going on. It's actually not nearly as complex as it looks at that.

- It does require a certain amount of buy-in for people to really dig into it. We had a four playing triad game, and the two new players really "got" it. I think this gets easier the more I learn about the game and the more I'm able to adjust people's expectations. It almost functions as the world's most complex party game for really nerdy people.

- I still really love it. Going back to school soon means that I'll have to not buy or play a lot of new stuff, but this is the kind of game that makes me alright with that.

Had a great day of gaming today.

We started off with Trains and Stations. After sitting on my shelf for a while it finally made it to the table and I'm happy I tacked it onto an online order a few months ago. I screwed up the rules on triggering deliveries with more than two cities and I really wish the rules had an example for that situation because that would have clarified everything really quick. It is a deceptive dice game, it moves quick like a dice game should, but has more going on than your average dice game.

After two games of T&S we moved on the DC Deck Building Game. I am not really a fan of deck building, but this one was surprising. There isn't a lot too it at all but that to be honest is what was most appealing. It was flavorful but didn't really convey the theme, there were some cards that didn't make sense but others that had a thematic tie. I was surprised though at how quickly you're able to get into the game and how quickly it was to pickup. I had Green Lantern and ended up curb-stomping the others. This one went onto my buy list.

Then was a rousing game of Love Letter. The more I play the game the less game I think there is. To be honest, I was reading the rules to Ave Caesar while playing. It is a game that is falling down in favor for me.

We then finished up with Ave Caesar. I'm really happy to have picked this up, lots of screwing with people, tons of excitement at the entrance of Caesar and a highlight when the person in the lead stalled out a few spaced from the finish line with a hand full of 6's. We played with 4 which worked, but 5 or 6 really seems to be where the game will shine. That extra player or two would just add to the amount of blockage and screwage. A winner from the ERP I have to say.

EDIT: I knew I was forgetting something, we also threw in a game of Deadwood, the one from FFG. This is a hidden gem as far as I'm concerned. A western themed worker placement game but you can get into shootouts. There's part of me that says screw the ERP with older games, there are plenty of games that fit that style that have come out but overlooked and this is one of them.

Played half a game of Terra Mystica tonight. Not sure what I think about it honestly. There is alot going on in the game to learn at first and I can never pay attention to a rules explanation once it goes beyond 15 minutes. I give it points for having a map though, that is an instant plus for me. Assymetric sides to play is a plus too, but not so much if you don't understand what the hell your specialty is...

My brother-in-law and nephew are visiting, and they're not experienced with board games. We played Small World, which I thought they'd like. Once again, this is a game that gets a lot of hate from the "meaningful decisions" crowd, but they can suck it. It's fun, and we had a great time.

As a long time wargamer I find Small World simply does not work as it should in my brain. I want to establish a line of defense, reinforce positions, maintain a reserve in a central location. The next player just takes my stuff and hands it to me.

It's like watching Australian Rules football -- shit just happens that I don't understand.

S.

VonTush wrote:
EDIT: I knew I was forgetting something, we also threw in a game of Deadwood, the one from FFG. This is a hidden gem as far as I'm concerned. A western themed worker placement game but you can get into shootouts. There's part of me that says screw the ERP with older games, there are plenty of games that fit that style that have come out but overlooked and this is one of them.

A big YES to to this!

How does it compare Carson City (another Western Themed worker placement with shootouts game_?

Never played Carson City...I looked into it at one point, watched a video or two, but looked too dry and Euroy for me. Deadwood appealed to my lighter AT roots so that's the one I pulled the trigger on.

Here's a few quotes from people on my GeekBuddy list at BGG that turned me off:
"Heavier game than I expected. Lots of downtime while people figure out how to optimize their moves - and then reoptimize when someone does something unexpected."

"Outstanding worker placement game, like Caylus but quicker and easier."

"This game pushes the Caylus model into something with more direct conflict."


Those weren't really ringing endorsements for me.

Carson City was boring and dry. If you lose a duel, you are FUCKED. That makes it not worth doing. Much easier to bounce back in Deadwood.

Played my first game of Sekigahara tonight. Has anyone played this much? We struggled for most of the game trying to put together meaningful moves. Seems like the rules that force you to play a card to move units and then discard half your hand at the end of the round really inhibit you from attacking in any meaningful way. Instead it felt like a game of destroying a few meaningless units for each of us and ending the game in a tie. Hopefully I'm wrong since this was only the first play, I want to like the game.