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What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

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15 Feb 2015 10:47 #197719 by Gary Sax
I played Railroad Tycoon last night. Provided a simple, good time in a reasonable amount of time. Like it always does.

Then we played Magical Athlete. I'm not sure I want to live in a world where Magical Athlete is only available for like 70 dollars used.

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15 Feb 2015 11:12 #197721 by Scott_F
Played Xia again, this time with 5 players. And will never play Xia with 5 players now. We should've brought small two player games to keep up with the down times between turns. The game ended after the lucky player rolled another natural d20 to go with the prior one he rolled last round. That rule is garbage and now that most people I know have played the game I'm voting it out in the future. Still a fun game but it really should just say 3-4 on the side of the box so people don't even attempt 5 players.

Also played SmallWorld Realms. Never played Realms before, only the original. I didn't like it much although I can't say why. My top games include Chaos in the Old World/Kemet/Nexus Ops so this kinda felt like those games except with all the fun taken out. Its an area control game without the fun of attacking other people directly or building an army. I wasn't bothered that I didn't win nor did I think back and try and figure out what I could've done better and thats a problem for me. It played fast though with 5 and everyone else seemed to enjoy it, even the two new people, one of whom won the game. Thats also part of my beef too, if you have a brand new person play the game and win fairly easily against a couple of veteran players (not me in this case) why would I want to play the game more often - playing it more should give insight or strategy or something over a newbie. Just very meh on the game and the love it gets when I meet different people I guess.

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15 Feb 2015 11:14 #197722 by charlest
Yeah Xia is best 3, with 4 being ok if you have 2.5 hours. We always play to 10-12 Fame to keep the game relatively short.

Playing with 5 is like trying to play Merchants and Marauders with 5, which it doesn't even support. It'd be miserable.

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15 Feb 2015 14:31 #197726 by Erik Twice
Went to a geek convention and played a couple games.

Carcassone is good. This was actually my second time playing it and I really find it pleasurable. It's true that it's too simple for my tastes (I always think I would enjoy it more with the expansions) but I really like playing it, it's nice.

Shrimp was not so nice. It's pretty much a Jungle Speed clone in which cards are easy to tell apart (eg. French, American, Japanese flags) and match far more often. I thought it lacked the mental tension of Jungle Speed and see no reason to play it over its obvious inspiration. Really, I kept thinking "Man, I wish we were playing Jungle Speed instead". That's really bad.

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15 Feb 2015 18:17 - 15 Feb 2015 18:23 #197732 by Wetworks
I played a game of Fallen today. It's a surprisingly good 2 player game. One player plays the overlord and another the hero. The hero is tasked to enter the overlord's dungeon and slay the overlord over the course of 3 story cards. The game is a mix between a choose your own adventure book and a dice game.

The hero has armor, weapons, items, skills and power cards to "tap" to gain extra dice for each encounter. The overlord uses monsters, omen cards and power cards to modify his dice pool. Each story card has about 4 encounters in which the overlord and hero must roll to win, whoever has the higher number of successes is the winner and is treated with various rewards.

There is one thematic disconnect, in that the overlord's monsters are never actually in the battle. For example, an encounter might be that the hero must choose to pick the lock of a door or bust the door down. If he chooses to pick the lock the overlord might use a dragon to modify his dice pool. This doesn't make a lot of sense thematically unless you imagine that a dragon roar from deep below startled the hero as he was picking the lock thus causing him to fail.

Overall though the game is a lot of fun and has tons of replayability, especially if you have the kickstarter version. The kickstarter edition has nearly double the content of the base game.

I also played Escape: Curse of the Temple Big Box Edition with 3 players. This was my first time playing and it was a blast. We used the treasure, curses and illusions modules. Our stack was made from 20 tiles and 11 gems. We lost the first 3 games and finally won on our 4th attempt.
Last edit: 15 Feb 2015 18:23 by Wetworks.

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15 Feb 2015 20:30 #197734 by Ancient_of_MuMu

Scott_F wrote: Also played SmallWorld Realms. Never played Realms before, only the original. I didn't like it much although I can't say why. My top games include Chaos in the Old World/Kemet/Nexus Ops so this kinda felt like those games except with all the fun taken out. Its an area control game without the fun of attacking other people directly or building an army. I wasn't bothered that I didn't win nor did I think back and try and figure out what I could've done better and thats a problem for me. It played fast though with 5 and everyone else seemed to enjoy it, even the two new people, one of whom won the game. Thats also part of my beef too, if you have a brand new person play the game and win fairly easily against a couple of veteran players (not me in this case) why would I want to play the game more often - playing it more should give insight or strategy or something over a newbie. Just very meh on the game and the love it gets when I meet different people I guess.


I had an almost identical reaction to Small World initially (I won my first game against experienced players and that put me off it), but now I enjoy it but I struggle to work out what changed in my attitude to the game. I think it came down to not caring who won and who lost and just enjoying the game play. I think the fun is in assessing the races and seeing how the combos play out, rather than plotting against other players.

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15 Feb 2015 21:10 #197736 by randyo
Went to DunDraCon yesterday in San Ramon, CA. Got to play a prototype of "Birds of a Feather", which is a friend's quick card game about bird watching! Each card is a bird in one of 5 regions. You play one card per turn face down, then everyone flips, and you gain points for other birds in the same region as you. So if you play a bird in the Wetlands, you see all other Wetlands bird this round and any from the last. Once all but a couple cards are played, whoever has seen the most birds wins.

Certain birds are rarer and worth more points, some worth none, but you get bonus points seeing all the birds from a region. It also comes with a little notepad full of player sheets to let you cross off what you've seen. Each region also has a "raptor" card that will scare away other birds in that region.

Takes 5-10 minutes a round. It's not the most complex game, but it's quite relaxing and pleasant. Since I doubt it's possible to get a perfect score, it's just an enjoyable diversion with a refreshing theme. No real pressure, just birds, with an occasional raptor to scare away the others.

nothingsacredgames.com/games/birds-of-a-feather/
Teale (the designer) and his brother (the artist) are apparently big into bird watching.

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16 Feb 2015 11:02 #197765 by Legomancer
A nice, snowy game day. Started with Cockroach Poker while we waited for a fourth. Fourth arrived, and while we waited for the fifth, we played Tekeli-li, a weird, Japanese, Cthulhu-flavored trick-taking game. I like TT games and this one did some interesting stuff, but I'd stick with the ones I have.

The was 5-player Roll for the Galaxy. Not as much dice manipulation in this game, which I was really again thankful for. It looks like my first game, in which many of the dice were no longer actually dice by, like, round 4, was atypical. It's still RFTG though, still has extremely limited interaction or interest beyond your own tableau, and still doesn't do much that the card game doesn't do, other than -- so far -- get played. So I'm still on the fence about it.

Finally, Ground Floor, which is an overlooked -- probably deservedly so -- worker placement game that doesn't do anything special but I nevertheless kind of like.

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16 Feb 2015 12:09 - 16 Feb 2015 15:20 #197773 by Egg Shen
Out of the blue some of my wife's girlfriends wanted to make plans for Friday the 13th. The gameplan was to watch a scary movie and maybe play a game like Clue. We'll the evening got scheduled at my house so I order up some bakery pizza and sold everyone on Mystery of the Abbey. We had six people and nobody except my wife would be anyone I would consider a gaming enthusiast. I figured Mystery of the Abbey would be right in their wheelhouse. And I was right. Days of Wonder excels at making games that are family friendly and look beautiful. All of my guests were "oohing and ahhhhing" over the fancy board and components. After a quick rules explanation we were off. Man, I forgot how much fun this simple deduction game can be. The crux of the game is asking questions...but you have to be able to ask stuff that only helps you. It's tricky and easily the most difficult thing to nail down. Still the game has random events and special cards that fuck with your best laid plans. A couple of hours later it ended as a the culprit was narrowed down by a few people. A mad dash to chapter hall ensued to reveal the murderer first. A very fun game that probably hasn't seen a play in 5 years or so. Glad to see it get dusted off and earn it's spot on the ol' shelf. Afterwards we watched a couple of episodes of Are you Afraid of the Dark. Man, time has NOT been kind to that old TV show lol.

So I've been digging into Pathfinder: TACG and I'm really enjoying it. With two players it seems to scale pretty well....but damn is it important to make sure you have some synergy between characters. One game we tried the Bard and the Rogue. Death came quickly and cruelly to both. Then we tried Harsk and Melisk (some dwarf bard). This didn't go too well either. Harsk preferred to be alone. The dwarf bard was just tagging along with him smoking cigars and talking too much. Eventually Harsk spotted the villain Jubrayl...and told Melisk to go fight him. After some bickering ensued he went and encounter the master bandit. He launched a force missile that must have exploded in his face the minute it left his fingertips. He blew up in a magical explosion and was never heard from again. Harsk was happily alone again. Sadly he died not too long afterwards as well.

It wasn't until we played as Seoni and Merisiel that a win against those bandits occurred. Sadly I was playing Seoni and died roughly 1/3rd of the way into the game. Merisiel then soloed the shit out of the rest of the locations and won. Fuck it...I'd take it as I was glad to finally be done with those bandits. The next scenerio I changed into Kyra the Cleric and I've been fairing much better ever since. We easily thwarted that corrupt alchemist and then eventually we took down Black Fang. So far I really enjoy the game. It's difficult has been pretty fair and we've lost about half the games we've played. Still I love recreating your deck after each mission and gaining feats adds a nice sense of progression. I'm very much looking forward to diving into the Burnt Offerings Adventure.
Last edit: 16 Feb 2015 15:20 by Egg Shen.

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16 Feb 2015 13:17 #197778 by JEM
Pandemic: In the Lab, my wife came out with me to the meetup this weekend, so we were playing games she knew. Everyone was in a game when we got there, so we ate and played a game of this. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this game, it always brings surprises. We struggled for a while with our research tracks blocked up while the cards we were pulling were for the other colours, but it all came around in the end and we won.

Elder Sign with the Unseen Forces expansion. Four of us tackled this. It started out pretty tame, but soon we had those dice locks scattered around and some punishing midnight effects. Two investigators were devoured but we kept it going, and started hauling in the elder signs with a nice set of investigators and some good rolls. The two guys who joined us are also poker players, and I think they liked the odds calculations in the game. I'm looking forward to getting Gates of Arkham.

Yedo, due to some confusion about the bar closing at midnight, we adjusted to call this game after nine rounds instead of the full eleven, but it was still a good, tight game with a full set of five players. New players always kvetch about the difficulty in getting missions completed, but I came in second by a point after being screwed on missions for the whole game.

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16 Feb 2015 14:56 #197784 by wadenels
Had family in town over the long weekend. Drank a lot of beer and played a bunch of games. Liar's Dice, Pinochle, Tumblin' Dice, Cockroach Poker, Skull & Roses, One Night Werewolf, Frank's Zoo, Love Letter, The Great Dalmuti, Winner's Circle, Pandemic, Lifeboat, and Cash & Guns all got played a bunch. Great weekend of lighter gaming and shenanigans.
The following user(s) said Thank You: scrumpyjack, JEM

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16 Feb 2015 17:33 #197788 by gorm
Good little game night with the crew last night! Played Dead of Winter - a game I wasn't really to interested in at the start. But what a surprisingly good game, despite the Zombie theme. Love the exposure (frostbite) rule and the Crossroads cards are really interesting. Plus, I liked the look of the standees, which is something I wish more games would do (less plastic, more colorful standees). Perfect night for this game as we were in the midst of a little snow storm here in the Midwest, might have to snag a copy. Oh, and BSG, you're fired.

We then played my new copy of Greed. If you are not playing this game, stop what you are doing and pick this up. The first game was slow as the gang had to learn the cards and the flow. The second game though, was nasty and the game really sang! My group loves cutthroat games and this one delivered. I had a huge lead in cash but someone played the Arson card and I went from riches to rags. Love the theme, every game plays differently definitely going to be a favorite going forward. Thanks to everyone here that talked it up - I never would have known. THIS is why I read these forums - for little gems like this game.

Also, finalized our boys weekend down at the lake - 4/10, 11 & 12. Games, booze, bad for you food and guns - should be a hoot...

Steve G.

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17 Feb 2015 02:15 #197794 by Cranberries

randyo wrote: Went to DunDraCon yesterday in San Ramon, CA. Got to play a prototype of "Birds of a Feather", which is a friend's quick card game about bird watching! Each card is a bird in one of 5 regions. You play one card per turn face down, then everyone flips, and you gain points for other birds in the same region as you. So if you play a bird in the Wetlands, you see all other Wetlands bird this round and any from the last. Once all but a couple cards are played, whoever has seen the most birds wins.


The cool thing about this is you would eventually learn to identify all these different birds. I thought about trying to photograph more birds, but the lenses you need would require a second mortgage.

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17 Feb 2015 11:06 #197819 by VonTush
Played with nephew and daughter: Rampage without all the stupid rules about teeth and cards. Two games and had an absolute blast. TransAmerica at this point my daughter was ready to go screw around with her cousin so he started to horse ass around (she was also disappointed that there wasn't enough fiber in the DoggieDoo doo so he kept getting stopped up). I ended up winning but my nephew was having a great time with the game.

Played with the wife: Elder Sign with Gates of Arkham. Our first spin with the new expansion and I still don't know what to think. What I liked about Unseen Forces is that it bolsters decks and the blessed/cursed mechanic makes a more complete game. GoA in a way makes for a whole new game. What it changed I like and it does make it feel a bit more like a game with some more interesting decisions to make. But I also think that's why the original ES was liked by my wife, that it didn't have a whole lot of things to consider, that it was just fun dice rolling. So at this point I'm still undecided.

Played with the game group: Merchants and Marauders. I taught two players this game, and has been a while since I played, so everyone started off with a merchant strategy. A few turns in I decided to sell my flute for a sloop and attempt to go pirating to show them some of those mechanics, but I didn't consider that the NPC warships were surrounding me and right when I got out of their areas the pirate frigate attacked and killed off my crew and captain. At that point we were about two hours in and I drew what was clearly a merchant captain. So I grabbed a flute, upgraded my cargo hold and proceeded to finish a mission and sell 4 goods that were in demand three times, and stash that gold for the win which ended up being about one turn before one player and two turns before the other player.

I forgot how great that game is and how nice it is to play once people understand the port actions and can blow through those in a minute or so. I'll be bringing that up sooner rather than later because the rules are fresh in my mind. My only gripe about the game is just how the game ends. It never really feels that it comes to a compelling conclusion, it is a continuous build and then...it ends. There is a bit of suspense, never fully sure where people are and holding your breath to see if the Glory they're gaining is their last. I just don't know if that's better though than seeing a conclusion take shape in the narrative.
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17 Feb 2015 12:29 #197833 by JoelCFC25
My gaming continues to be confined to PBEM (2x Here I Stand, Virgin Queen) and a handful Netrunner games on jinteki.net per day, where almost 2/3 of the card pool works now and more functionality is arriving every week.

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