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Mycelia Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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14 Jan 2015 22:32 - 14 Jan 2015 22:36 #195172 by OldHippy

JonJacob wrote:

Mr. White wrote:

JonJacob wrote: I have a tattoo on my back of the AD&D dungeon masters guide


Forget what we've been playing, buying, spending...I gotta see a pic of this!


It's 20 years old and in bad shape... I've been meaning to get it fixed up but what the hell... I'll try to take one later and post it. That should inspire me to get the new work done.


Wow, embarrassing, I was right, it hasn't aged well. I've been saving up to get it cleaned up.... but you asked for it so there you go.

Attachment oldtattoo.JPG not found




Also, why is it sideways??
Attachments:
Last edit: 14 Jan 2015 22:36 by OldHippy.
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15 Jan 2015 09:33 #195196 by Black Barney
shave that neck, hippie!

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15 Jan 2015 10:29 #195212 by Egg Shen
Suburbia is one of the most lifeless and boring games I've eve come across. It's just not enjoyable at all.

Castle of Mad King Ludwig looks like more of the same. I enjoy Euros...but not games like Suburbia. I don't get the hype and love that either of these games get.
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17 Jan 2015 19:53 #195340 by repoman
Josh Look, Flim Flam, The Nemesis, and I sat down to a full game of Fire in the Lake. My second time playing and I still have the same impression.

It's too much. What I mean by that is that there are so many options and potential on each and every turn that it is near overwhelming. The vastness of the potentialities looking out one turn or two let alone three or four makes my head swim. In the end this makes strategic play impossible for me and the game becomes one of turn by turn tactical play.

Perhaps greater minds than mine may be able to handle all the wheels within wheels of this game.

For me though, the promise of a deep strategic game is just a whisper in the dark. It is an illusion.

It is well designed, an interesting theme, has a fine rule book and plays smooth.

But for me, I prefer the somewhat simpler and less convoluted Andean Abyss.
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17 Jan 2015 21:23 - 17 Jan 2015 21:25 #195348 by bfkiller
I've played Cuba Libre and recently picked up A Distant Plain in a trade. Anyone with some in-depth experience with the COIN system mind ranking them in terms of ease to learn / play well? (Maybe in a separate thread / article / blog entry.) Thanks in advance.
Last edit: 17 Jan 2015 21:25 by bfkiller.

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17 Jan 2015 22:05 #195349 by Pugnax555
I've played Cuba Libre and Andean Abyss a few times each, but haven't played the last two. Cuba Libre is definitely the "lightest" of all of them, mostly due to the small map size. Aside from that one, it seems to be generally agreed that each game is heavier than the ones before. So Andean Abyss, A Distant Plain, with Fire in the Lake being heaviest.

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17 Jan 2015 22:06 - 18 Jan 2015 06:52 #195350 by ThirstyMan
Don't listen to Repo. He's a wimp. There are clear long term strategies for each of the players in FiTL.

Cuba Libre is easier to learn (by far). In ADP one of the players (Coalition) needs to use another players (Government) resources (with or without permission) this makes for good interplay but the complexity rises because of it. The Coalition is recruiting for the Government (in effect).

I would recommend Cuba Libre as a start then move to ADP if you like it. The AI can take over a player in both of them in case a player drops out mid game to the point where it can be played solo.
Last edit: 18 Jan 2015 06:52 by ThirstyMan.

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17 Jan 2015 22:31 #195352 by Chaz
I'd love to have an opinion about the COIN games, but the only one I've managed to get hold of is FitL, and I have no idea when I'll even be able to get in a solo game of that, let alone an actual game with people.

I was made to play Cranium with my wife's family tonight. I really don't like Cranium. I'm fantastic at the 30% that involve words and facts that a reasonable person can know. I'm absolutely hopeless at anything involving drawing, sculpting, or acting out, and I haven't known the last half dozen of the songs I was supposed to hum. Instead, I drink copiously while playing. Not sure if that helps, but it gives me something to do.

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18 Jan 2015 06:57 #195355 by ThirstyMan

Pugnax555 wrote: I've played Cuba Libre and Andean Abyss a few times each, but haven't played the last two. Cuba Libre is definitely the "lightest" of all of them, mostly due to the small map size. Aside from that one, it seems to be generally agreed that each game is heavier than the ones before. So Andean Abyss, A Distant Plain, with Fire in the Lake being heaviest.


Yeah, I'm not sure I agree with this. I think ADP is actually more complex than FiTL mainly because of the interdependence between Coalition and Government. There are are specific strategies the Government needs to use or it will pump the victory of the Coalition player at the expense of it's own. This makes it very hard to see long term strategies. FiTL is a lot easier to see what your goals are and how to stymie everyone else.

100% Cuba Libre is easier to see your way through than either of them.

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18 Jan 2015 07:15 #195357 by repoman
Now be honest, do you think the complexity and variability increases when playing vs. live opponents as opposed to the AI?

I haven't played them using the automated factions so understand this is a legit question.

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18 Jan 2015 08:00 #195358 by stormseeker75
Played Relic Runners and Ingenious last night. Relic Runners is great, even with 2. Barnes should look at this. It's basically an introductory pick-up-and-deliver route building game in disguise. Lots of fun and plays fast. I love it.
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18 Jan 2015 09:35 #195359 by ThirstyMan

repoman wrote: Now be honest, do you think the complexity and variability increases when playing vs. live opponents as opposed to the AI?

I haven't played them using the automated factions so understand this is a legit question.


Yes, I do because of the element of bluff and counter bluff but the long term strategies are still there.

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18 Jan 2015 11:11 #195363 by stoic

stormseeker75 wrote: Played Relic Runners and Ingenious last night. Relic Runners is great, even with 2. Barnes should look at this. It's basically an introductory pick-up-and-deliver route building game in disguise. Lots of fun and plays fast. I love it.


Knizia's Ingenious has an interesting game mechanic. It creates a steady current that pushes you along its stream to the end: you must raise your lowest scoring colors by playing combinations of those lower colors to move ahead in victory points. This creates such a smooth and floating ride for an abstract. I thrifted my copy for $3--it's FFG's first printing. The box was rough, but the components were unplayed--I couldn't believe that someone gave away this game.
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18 Jan 2015 13:20 - 18 Jan 2015 14:49 #195368 by Gary Sax
So... I bought Fields or Arle and played it a couple times this morning with my wife.

I'm trying to figure out how to articulate this... Fields of Arle is a bad game. Certainly much worse than Agricola, which is halfway decent as a game. FoA has like 10 different resources that have various stages of refinement, random buildings, and the most horrific VP salad to end. The blocking placement spots that can make Agricola a bit tense with passive aggression... a good portion of that is gone with the addition of an "action copy" space for some extra cost. There's also no tension about feeding your family or any of that shit. You are virtually always, every time, going to feed your family super easily. This makes it a terrible competitive game. Like, I would never, in a million years, imagine playing this with people who actually came over for a game night. The thought makes me laugh.

On the other hand, I think it might be the best Rosenberg design. Because, for me, Rosenberg games are a multiplayer solitaire puzzle I play with my wife while we talk. By that standard, it's his best game---it's the best puzzle, it's NEVER punitive, and you get points for everything. There's no direction from the designer on what you have to do (e.g. GET MORE FAMILY MEMBERS NOW in Agricola). It's more intricate, there's tons to do. The overhead of Agricola is mostly gone. It's 1 player or 2 player at most, which strongly reinforces my view that this is what Rosenberg was going for.

So, laughably bad game, the most Rosenberg Rosenberg game. But a fun puzzle if you don't give a shit. It's like the logical endpoint of Rosenberg's design, further and further to a non-game. I like it.
Last edit: 18 Jan 2015 14:49 by Gary Sax.
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18 Jan 2015 16:26 #195379 by jeb

Gary Sax wrote: So... I bought Fields or Arle and played it a couple times this morning with my wife.
...
So, laughably bad game, the most Rosenberg Rosenberg game. But a fun puzzle if you don't give a shit. It's like the logical endpoint of Rosenberg's design, further and further to a non-game. I like it.

Setup looks like a bear though! Is it? We have AGRICOLA: THAT SMALL ONE FOR TWO PEOPLE game. Does that scratch the same itch? Have you tried that? I love Rosenberg games. We have AGRICOLA, AGRICOLA JR OR WHATEVER, LE HAVRE, BOHNANZA--it's always a good time. But this looks samey. I am not eager to pick up CAVERNA for the same reason.

Over here, we played MAGICAL ATHELETE, and the best moment was Cultist kidnapping a Gladiator to start a fight and get two spaces closer to the end (from 6 away). Gladiator rolls a 1 for the fight. Cultist rolls a 1! Hahaha, good time. Then rolls a 6 for the move and wins anyway.

Did a quick ELDRITCH HORROR game too. Just two investigators, and I lucked into the Grotesque Statue on turn 2. That's five clues! We were able to clear out the first two mysteries pretty quick as a result, and the last one held on for a while, but there were still 5 doom tokens away from losing when we wrapped it up.

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