2 player OOTS board game- need advice

[saraswati]

I understand that the game is designed for a larger group. However, the rules indicate it is possible for 2 players.

I've field - tested the game a couple of times with a friend and we seem to be having a hugely difficult time defeating monsters, and we are using the NPC's to assist us.

It could be that we were randomly drawing the less fighty characters (V, Haley, Elan mostly). But even so, some of the game mechancis, like PvP, just don't seem to work too well with only two players.

I'm wondering if the 2-player mode was playtested a lot? And if so, if either the playtesters or my fellow players want to give any advice on best strategies for 2-player games.

Again, I totally understand this game was desgined mostly for a larger group, but I don't get my gaming group together as often as I'd like and would love to play the smalller game in between times.

Thanks!

[CherryTree]

I'd also like to hear more discussion of the 2-player version of the game. My husband and I have played the game 3x now, only once did we finish a full game though-- the first two times it took us a long time just to figure out all the rules and to understand some of the mechanics.

So far we've really enjoyed the two player version, although I think it introduces into the game certain difficulties.

One of the biggest has been PVP battles-- made especially difficult when one of us is playing Belkar, who needs to be able to attack other players. It really wasn't fun for the other player to be negotiating these attacks (although this may be in part related to our own play styles and not so much to a problem with Belkar in 2-player games).

It definitely seems like the game would be more fun--and more dynamic/complex--with more people, though, getting folks to walk through the dungeons and open up more monster possibilities.

We did not do much with ranged attacks (not sure if this is a 2-player thing or just related to our own playstyles); we are also relying heavily on NPCs for help in resolving a number of battles.

[Dinubabear]

I've found in 2 player games, you should first remove Belkar from available characters. A 2 player game with Belkar totally changes the goal of the game, though you could duplicate the strip where Belkar is trying to get more XP if the other player is Elan. ;)

And you're going to burn through treasure really fast, hiring the characters not there to aid in battle (and causing the other player to go down to the same level so they can bribe aid as well).

If you use a short game variant the scores are usually close (we had a few ties, with the better combatant winning because they killed Xykon, breaking the tie).

Ranged combat doesn't seem to be the most used option in large games, so it's about the same in small games. It's used mainly to pick off larger monsters safely, though the other person usually gets the first pick of loot. You're giving up getting 2 Loots for combat if you range attack.

[mac13eth]

The first 2-player game we had was Elan vs Durkon. That worked great. We only PvPed to try to get out of the dungeon first.

Another thing that helped was polite monster playing, at least early on. We tried to play easy monsters until we each had a schtick boosted.

I can see how Roy or Haley would work in a 2-player game, but I agree that Belkar and V wouldn't work so well.

[Jefepato]

The first 2-player game we had was Elan vs Durkon. That worked great. We only PvPed to try to get out of the dungeon first.

Same here, except we never actually PvPed at all. (That might have changed if we hadn't been learning the rules as we went, I don't know.)

I will say one thing, though: Wacky Hijinks is just dumb in a 2-player game. (I doubt I'd enjoy the mechanic in a game of any size, but at least it's possible to avoid it.)

[chibibar]

I usually allow the other player to set all the monsters for MY encounter and vice versa.. it work out great :) (2 player game)

[jeffk]

My wife and I tried a 2 player game last night, I was Balkar and she was V. It didn't go very well, we got one room into level 2, but we weren't getting enough loot to unlock new shticks, and our base shticks weren't powerful enough to fight one, not to mention 2 attack 13 monsters. Eventually we just gave up. Hopefully it'll be easier with more people.

[chibibar]

I notice that some characters are having a hard time when playing with two. What I recommend is "tweak" the rule a bit.

You still start off with 3 Red Schtick and then draw 2-3 extra (I recommend 3) at least this way you have a good start. Even with 6 starting schtick it will still be hard as you get closer to Xykon (I think it is level 3 + 1 right?)

[apegamer]

Just a couple of thoughts on a 2-player game.


Be sure to look at the 2-player rules in the back of the book that describe carrying an NPC along with you. When you do this, you'll always have a character to give loot to (assuming you have loot), even if everyone else is on another level.
Related to the above point, the fewer players you have, the more important it is that all players stay on the same level.
True, Belkar is geared to PVP, but is also not completely ineffective against monsters. The trick to using him is to Hide when moving into a room, then hit the monster on the next turn with Twin Daggers of Doom and Leaping Attack (giving him a +4!) Some chars are better at defense (Elan, Durkon) and others are just better at battles in general (Roy, Haley) while V and Belkar are better at Attacking.
Sometimes when you run out of loot and things are looking grim, move back to first level and whack on one monster at a time for awhile.

[Tharj TreeSmiter]

Games of this type always seem to drag on and on, just like all the Munchkin games, although I would say that the OOTS game is better than the munchkin games.

[jeffk]

My wife and I played it again last night with Elan and Durkon respectively, and it went a lot better. We probably spent two and a half hours and only got three rooms into level two, but it was a lot less difficult.

[Toriko]

I've only played one 2-player game and it was really rough. We played Roy-Elan and Elan could never get enough loot or monster exp to go downstairs. Roy began giving Elan pity loot so he could trade it in for Schtiks (Yeah I know its a lone demon roach but could you assist me Elan?).

We're going to try some modified rules suggestions tonight and I'll let you know how it goes.

We've decied to only use 2 levels of dungeon before we hit the boss level and lower the requirements to get in there rather than giving us more schticks to start with. This is mainly because we don't have much time to play tonight.

Since there were some concerns about him, if someone plays Belkar we will roll a die to see if any one of the NPCs is randomly resting.

For a longer version of the two man game we might try playing two charachter teams against one another. For example V and Haley vs. Roy and Belkar.