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Kevin Klemme
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Mycelia Board Game Review

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River Wild Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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17 Feb 2015 16:16 #197869 by scrumpyjack

VonTush wrote: 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.


I haven't played Merchants in quite a while so I'm struggling to remember the rules, but is it possible to change things so that banked gold and glory are open information to all? Presumably it would slow down the game as people go for the leader, but would also increase awareness that a player is coming close to finishing the game and put the pressure on everyone else.

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17 Feb 2015 16:24 #197871 by charlest
It would be interesting if each player had some type of mission they were working towards with an end game encounter/process.

So like, your guy is trying to win the Govenor's daughter's favor, and I'm trying to get revenge on a pirate, while Jim is trying to locate some long lost buried treasure.

These missions could unlock when you hit 8 or so Glory and then would require maybe a couple steps to finish the game.

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17 Feb 2015 16:32 #197874 by VonTush
@Charles - That would be fun. The end game has always been the part that sticks in my craw a bit with its abruptness. It'd be neat if it was a tiered process like what they do in Firefly.

@Scrumpy - I think like you mention it is trading one issue out for another. Thinking about it some more it is almost like a race to 5 Glory and you assume that someone will have 50 Gold stashed.

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17 Feb 2015 17:25 #197879 by stoic
We played a three-player game of Castles of Burgundy. I don't know why I like this game, but, I do. On the surface, it appears to be a very boring Euro game with too many chits. It's graphic design is truly awful. But, there's some satisfaction in rolling your two dice, taking actions, and building up your estate. This game was worth the $20 that I paid for it at B&N's Clearance sale.

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17 Feb 2015 18:16 #197882 by Frohike
I've been playing the living crap out of Gears of War since I got it last week. Anything I have to say about it would be a reiteration of Gary's review of the game so I'll refrain from that sort of repetition. I do feel like it has inoculated me against further cooperative dudes-in-a-corridor games (my lingering interest for Shadows of Brimstone is effectively gone), and I hope that some of the seemingly simple but effective design decisions live on in some other IP. The system certainly deserves to outlive some of the crap designs in this genre that seem to be crawling out of the Kickstarter woodwork.
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17 Feb 2015 20:34 #197888 by Gary Sax

Frohike wrote: \I do feel like it has inoculated me against further cooperative dudes-in-a-corridor games (my lingering interest for Shadows of Brimstone is effectively gone), and I hope that some of the seemingly simple but effective design decisions live on in some other IP.


Yes, EXACTLY. I have no need for a warhammer quest clone anymore after playing this. I'm on the mission with the Kantus.

This evening we played yet another game of Fields of Arle. This game I went all in on agriculture and converted it to points using Ovens and linen weaving. Good fun still, I recommend it if you know what you're getting into.

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18 Feb 2015 08:34 #197910 by Da Bid Dabid
Last night got together with a few buddies and ended up playing a couple games because the basketball game was so bad.

Spartacus with 6 - House Batiatus all of a sudden had like 6 gladiators and a handful of intrigue to boost influence... not sure how he pulled it off under the radar, perhaps people were still in awe of everyone else's single very strong solo tricked out gladiator step to the plate and get curb stomped by Seppius' Spartacus wielding a ball and chain. I think this officially is my favorite game for a backstabbing playgroup that enjoys screwing each other more than actually winning. Always good times.

Luchador! - After Sparactus we were down to 5 players so we set up a mini wrestling tournament. Sparactus winner won the tourney. His prize was to guest referee the tag match between all the losers. There was much yelling, taunting, holding tiny championship belts above heads and on shoulders, and standing on furniture. I think I got home at 2 am which means today going to be miserable. Worth it.
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18 Feb 2015 08:57 #197911 by stormseeker75
If I buy Homeland, can I coax your sexy self to come play it and SoA? I can wrangle some peeps if need be or come down your way. I've definitely got one other person who will play.

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18 Feb 2015 09:30 #197914 by hotseatgames
I've been watching season 4 of Spartacus and it is definitely making me want to get the game back to the table soon. One of my all-time favorites.

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18 Feb 2015 09:34 #197915 by Legomancer
Played the recent faves last night, first night the Tuesday group has met in a while, as the host's been out of town. RollFTG, Cockroach Poker, Castles of Mad King Ludwig.

Enjoyed them all but I don't know how much longer I'll be wanting to play with this group. Just having a hard time with the host.

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18 Feb 2015 10:30 #197922 by Chaz
I've been making slow progress in my solo learning game of Fire in the Lake, playing all four sides. It's starting to come together, but doing it this way is kind of a bitch. All the sides have very different goals, and changing mindsets constantly is difficult. It's been quite a roller coaster though, and I'm digging the hell out of it. I really want to try this face to face at some point, but I don't know when that'll happen. Sucker's long if you play the full game.
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18 Feb 2015 10:56 #197925 by JEM
I still only played through the playbook example so far. I think VASSAL is my most likely chance of playing it with actual people.

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18 Feb 2015 12:54 #197938 by ThirstyMan
I'm in an Andean Abyss VASSAL game and its chugging along pretty well. I'm quite sure FitL would be fine with VASSAL.

We are not playing live which suits all of us as we don't have a block of time available.

Dropbox works fine.
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18 Feb 2015 13:50 #197940 by Chaz
How fast do the COIN games flow via PBEM? It seems like they'd take a while, especially if each person is taking 1 turn per day. I could totally be wrong about that though. I've also got a terrible attention span, and mult-month PBEM games haven't worked out super well for me when I've tried them.

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18 Feb 2015 15:16 - 18 Feb 2015 16:23 #197941 by bfkiller
A friend of mine (BGG's Bixby) hosts a "convention" for friends and family at his place each year on the February long weekend (this past Monday was Family Day in Saskatchewan). I skipped out on Saturday to spend Valentine's Day with the wife, but here's what I played on the Friday, Sunday and Monday:

Friday evening

I played in a few eight-player sessions of BANG! The Dice Game. I think I like it a bit better than the original BANG! because it doesn't overstay its welcome but, as far as Yahtzee variants go, I much prefer King of Tokyo.

I got in my third game of Dominant Species in the last two months. My score benefitted from playing with three new players who were trying to get a handle on the rules, let alone the fairly obtuse strategies. Plus I was also able to do a devastating Blight action on the only other experienced player, completely wiping him off the map and giving me about a third of the map (including two sea zones) all to myself. I ended up with a runaway score that was about 80 points higher than second place (I had 215 points).

I took part in a western-themed game of Fiasco. ... What happens in Fiasco stays in Fiasco...

Sunday

I played both Cyclades (at the start of the day) and Kemet (at the end of the day). For both we used that expansion which allows some of the elements to be mixed (I released the Kraken into the Nile, for example). In both games, every single player was at some point in a position to possibly claim victory. Fun stuff.

I tried out Turfmaster in an eight-player game and managed to pull out the victory by scoring in all three races. Neat game of hand management. I think I prefer Ave Caesar, though, because it's basically a quicker, streamlined version of the same thing.

I took part in a five-player game of Merchant of Venus on a pimped out print & play version of the original. We used a hard time stop rather than play to $X since the host likes to adhere pretty closely to the timeslots of the pre-scheduled games. I'd like to play again soon using the proper end-game since most of the time was used exploring rather than exploiting the revealed trade routes. Great game, though.

I played a three-player game of El Grande, finishing in second place. This is still probably the tightest design I've ever played. Not an ounce of fat on it. Just a well-olied machine. Three players isn't optimal, but still an excellent game.

I tried The Bridges of Shangri-La. The rules are very simple but, for some reason, it took me half the game to understand what the hell was going on. I really liked it by the end, though. It's like a dozen simultaneous Mexican stand-offs. I hope to play this one again.

I taught a seven-player game of Cosmic Encounter. I was Animal, with the power of throwing a hearty party. The game dragged a lot, partly because with seven you start to stretch the seams on this one (we only made it around the table once before the game was over, but that still took a long time) and partly because some of the players at the table weren't paying attention so kept having to be prodded everytime it came to alliances, reinforcement cards, etc. I'd like the play it again soon and often, but only if I can handpick the players.

Monday

I was taught ZÈRTZ from the Project GIPF label. Its heritage is definitely Checkers, but with a few unique spins on that: a) the board diminishes in size as you play, and b) not every chip (or, in this case, marble) has equal value to the players. It's a clever design that enables the players to be clever (or stupid). I'd love to become more familiar with this one and to try others in the GIPF line. I tend to neglect pure abstracts but I usually enjoy them.

I played in a three-player game of Tigris & Euphrates . I hadn't played this in almost seven years. Such a fantastic design. Even better than I remembered. So many considerations to make with every decision.

Great frigging weekend.
Last edit: 18 Feb 2015 16:23 by bfkiller.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Michael Barnes, Dr. Mabuse, scrumpyjack, charlest, Gregarius

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