Board Games!

[DigoDragon]

It's sorta like saying "I watched this movie where Bruce Willis was shooting people".

Winner of "Best Comparison" award goes too...

After some sleuthing online, I found the game. It was called Republic of Rome.
I'm not very big on political type games, but I found that being silent helps other players forget you're there until you stab them in the back. Also: it's easy for Rome to fall in a war because the players can't agree to fight them cooperatively.

I'd love to give the OotS game a try. Maybe next time I can get to a UKitp meetup I can give it a shot, I think I saw someone with it last time.

I've heard that it's a really long game though.

Not terribly long. Average play time is about two hours when I tried it with a group of four. An interesting thing that cropped up is that while the one of the game's mechanics is to backstab each other to profit, everyone instead prefered working together to share the spoils.

Which is hilarious because my friends were more backstab-happy playing actual D&D than this card game which is a parody of it.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

After some sleuthing online, I found the game. It was called Republic of Rome.
I'm not very big on political type games, but I found that being silent helps other players forget you're there until you stab them in the back. Also: it's easy for Rome to fall in a war because the players can't agree to fight them cooperatively.

Looks nifty! So is Rome falling a pretty substantial threat, then? It reminds me of the Wildling Attack in Game of Thrones, except that in AGoT, the mechanic doesn't kick in frequently (and doesn't have as harsh of a consequence).

[Kerrin]

I always got a headache and felt my stamina drained after playing AGOT, but not with Twilight Imperium, eventhough the game might last longer than AGOT though.

I can agree with you here. AGoT always feels like a close up knife fight. Quite exhausting. TI3 feels like you have more mental space between you and your opponents even though it can vary throughout the game. Still quite draining due to length and complexity though it feels different.

I'm the same with you. Currently, I have three card games. Munchkin, Anima Shadow of Omega, and Dungeoneer. I don't know if they're good enough to recommend, but I'll try to explain Anima and Dungeoneer to you (we don't really need to explain Munchkin anymore do we?)

Thank you for the rundown on these two, I'll definitely check them out!

[Beacon of Chaos]

I will certainly vouch for Kemet! (I haven't been able to play Devastation of Indines.) Kemet is a hyper-aggressive (as in, you have to attack and advance to get victory points) game where you're trying to build up the best combo of powers possible. Also you can get a giant scorpion. The tech tree power combos are probably the best part, since you have to puzzle out what strong power combinations are...and get them before anyone else can.

I'll second Kemet. It really encourages getting out and engaging instead of turtling. Plus the artwork and components are fantastic.

Awesome, definitely going on to my wishlist then. I saw a review of it on SU&SH and the guy in the review loved it. In fact, I think that site is probably my favourite board game review site. Very entertaining.

Also, someone else mentioned Twilight Imperium. I looked that up and seems awesome. Adding it to my wishlist too, even though I know my friends will probably hate it.

Not terribly long. Average play time is about two hours when I tried it with a group of four. An interesting thing that cropped up is that while the one of the game's mechanics is to backstab each other to profit, everyone instead prefered working together to share the spoils.

Which is hilarious because my friends were more backstab-happy playing actual D&D than this card game which is a parody of it.

Ah, that'd be good for my group then. Co-op is always nice.

[DigoDragon]

Looks nifty! So is Rome falling a pretty substantial threat, then? It reminds me of the Wildling Attack in Game of Thrones, except that in AGoT, the mechanic doesn't kick in frequently (and doesn't have as harsh of a consequence).

How I remember it working is that there's a deck of "Event" cards the players draw from. Some events are wars. So it's possible to draw several wars within a short span to where Rome falls and everyone loses.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

How I remember it working is that there's a deck of "Event" cards the players draw from. Some events are wars. So it's possible to draw several wars within a short span to where Rome falls and everyone loses.

Ooooooooh. Ouch.

So, I just played Eminent Domain again after a long spell of not jiggering up enough interest in it. As good as I remembered it. However, I realized that I've been terrible at planning the long game, and the end of the game just sorta sneaks up on you. It's one of the most effective timer mechanisms I've seen.

[Cristo Meyers]

Ooooooooh. Ouch.

So, I just played Eminent Domain again after a long spell of not jiggering up enough interest in it. As good as I remembered it. However, I realized that I've been terrible at planning the long game, and the end of the game just sorta sneaks up on you. It's one of the most effective timer mechanisms I've seen.

I think an expansion for that just came out. I remember seeing something at the store yesterday.

Finally got around to playing Australian Rails last night. Interesting map, should provide a good alternative for two player games between myself and LadyMeyers when we don't feel like playing British Rails (we have Euro and North American too, but those are a little too large for 2 people).

Also played Africana. Really fast-paced, the game was over before I knew it. The moving mechanic really rewards planning and forethought.

And we picked up the Legend of Five Rings edition of Love Letter, should be fun for pickups.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I think an expansion for that just came out. I remember seeing something at the store yesterday.

Yep! I got that via Kickstarter, have been wanting to actually get it played. (We just played the base game last night.) The really cool bit is that the expansion fits in the base box!

And we picked up the Legend of Five Rings edition of Love Letter, should be fun for pickups.

Nice! Which version of the cards does it have, I wonder...the 7-value card changed between the original (Kanai Factory) version of the game and the Tempest retheme. (It changes from a risky card to hold onto to a card that reveals a lot of information about your hand.)

[Kerrin]

Awesome, definitely going on to my wishlist then. I saw a review of it on SU&SH and the guy in the review loved it. In fact, I think that site is probably my favourite board game review site. Very entertaining.

RE: Kemet... I don't know how you prefer to store your game components, but if you end up getting Kemet, check out the tuck boxes I made for the game. I know, a bit of self promotion, but the game had such fantastic artwork it just screamed for something better than plastic bags!

Also, someone else mentioned Twilight Imperium. I looked that up and seems awesome. Adding it to my wishlist too, even though I know my friends will probably hate it.

TI3 is a fantastic game, but yeah, it can be a difficult one to get to the table. If you end up getting TI3, drop me a line and I can send you some materials I found helpful in learning/teaching the game. And, of course, BGG and YouTube are full of helpful stuff too!

[Kerrin]

Been enjoying this thread so much I was rereading the whole thing and noticed something I missed...

Personally, I enjoy playing all sorts of board games. Small World, Ticket to Ride, Nuclear War, Puerto Rico, Carcassonne, King of Tokyo, Smash Up, Ankh Morpork,... There are a lot of good games out there.

Got change for 25 million?

Fun game for its day. Still play it every once in a while.

I'm one of those people who play games because it's fun to play the games rather than always wanting to win. Of course I try to win when I play, but I don't let not winning ruin the game for me.

You sound like my kind of gamer.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

RE: Kemet... I don't know how you prefer to store your game components, but if you end up getting Kemet, check out the tuck boxes I made for the game. I know, a bit of self promotion, but the game had such fantastic artwork it just screamed for something better than plastic bags!

That is seriously rad!

All this awesome!

[Gnoman]

On the topic of game storage, can anyone think of a better solution for most games than simply using tackle boxes? I know a guy who uses those for Star Trek: Attack Wing and Settlers of Catan, and it works extremely well. I'm planning on picking up one for Star Fleet Battles (Finally, I'll be able to organize those pesky counters!) but I figured I'd better see if anyone had an even better idea.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Tackle Boxes are pretty awesome. The only similar thing I know of is sewing boxes, but tackle boxes are made to hold lots more stuff.

[Beacon of Chaos]

RE: Kemet... I don't know how you prefer to store your game components, but if you end up getting Kemet, check out the tuck boxes I made for the game. I know, a bit of self promotion, but the game had such fantastic artwork it just screamed for something better than plastic bags!

Ooh, nice! If I actually get the game, I will consider using these.

TI3 is a fantastic game, but yeah, it can be a difficult one to get to the table. If you end up getting TI3, drop me a line and I can send you some materials I found helpful in learning/teaching the game. And, of course, BGG and YouTube are full of helpful stuff too!

Sounds good, though my regular gaming group is just me and two other guys, neither of them has patience for long, complicated games, and one of them has dyslexia. I think I'd have to find a whole other group to play TI3 with.

[Kerrin]

On the topic of game storage, can anyone think of a better solution for most games than simply using tackle boxes? I know a guy who uses those for Star Trek: Attack Wing and Settlers of Catan, and it works extremely well. I'm planning on picking up one for Star Fleet Battles (Finally, I'll be able to organize those pesky counters!) but I figured I'd better see if anyone had an even better idea.

Aye, I use tackle boxes quite often for game components. The white plastic ones with little, adjustable compartments work great. With a bit of measuring I can usually find ones that'll fit in the game box quite nicely. I especially like the ones where each compartment has the bottom front/back edges that are curved instead of 90 degrees. Makes scooping out chits easier, though such containers are less common.

And ... WOOT ... SFB! I didn't know there was anyone around who still played.

[Kerrin]

That is seriously rad!

All this awesome!

Glad you really like them. They're some of my favorite ones I've done so far.

[Xondoure]

My parents and I hosted the family Boxing Day celebrations this year and at one point I got out King of Tokyo to provide some entertainment, at which point one of my cousins explained the rules to everyone before even I could. This made me realise how, in what some people are calling the golden age of board gaming, 'real' board games and not just Monopoly and Scrabble are approachign closer to the mainstream.

Since there's no thread around here to discuss board games at the moment, and it's the holiday season where a few people may have received some new ones recently, I thought it would be a good diea to start one.

Personally, I've just got Lords of Waterdeep and I'm haivng quite a good time with it, though I feel it might become repetitive after a few plays and the theme is basically non-existent. I ahve heard the expansion does vary things up, though.

I got Lords of Waterdeep this holiday season (largely due to Tabletop.) So far I've listed it under "great intro to gaming" and moved on. Such has been my experience with most of the games I've seen / played on the show. Of the two I saw there first and decided to obtain

Any suggestions folks have for good card games?

We don't really enjoy deck building games or collectible card games so those would pretty much be out. We had a blast playing the heck out of Sentinels of the Multiverse this summer and it's still one of our more favorite recent games.

Any suggestions for other great card games?

Smash Up has by far been my favorite. It's definitely one of the most replayable card games I've encountered due to all the deck combinations and face offs. It does eventually grow a bit stale, but that's where the expansion packs come in.

My favorite games at the moment are probably Eclipse, Le Havre, and Imperial.

Eclipse starts as space exploration and quickly turns to combat (apparently there's only so much universe.) The highlight is definitely ship customization. Racing your opponents to the more potent upgrades, and attempting to counter their fleet by altering your own keeps the game on its toes.

Le Havre is like Agricola (made by the same people) with boats. I generally prefer it because unlike agricola you don't start with a hand, and while there are random cards, they come out into the general use area so the game feels like there's much less luck involved.

Imperial wins for concept. You play as investors who can buy stocks in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Russia during world war I. That is, if you choose to have world war I. Whoever has the largest share of a nation gets to decide what they do. And perhaps there's more profits to be found in Britain attacking france rather than having the Germans do it.

[warty goblin]

Played about five hours of Descent last night. As the Overlord, I actually managed to win a map, which after three consecutive defeats (including one where I didn't even get to act) I was beginning to suspect impossible. Good game, but oh my are some of those monsters completely worthless.

[Fri]

Talking about card games anyone played chrononauts? Is it any fun?

I don't buy big board games with a lot of tidbits, simply because I'm a mess. I know that if I buy something like that, I'll lose a lot of things.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I haven't played it yet, but I love the concept: you set up a timeline, and all the event cards are actually an interconnected network of time-change ripples.

[Binks]

Talking about card games anyone played chrononauts? Is it any fun?

It's a fun game. Usually takes around 15-20m for a round and requires some mental effort to keep track of your different win conditions and where everything is but I have always enjoyed playing it when it's come up. Best with 3-4 player IMHO, 2 turns into a game of 'flip that', 'flip it back' and get stale fast, 3 works pretty well but 4 is the sweet spot in my opinion. Does have the issue of 'wins out of nowhere' though, where you can be working a plan and suddenly the game is over (twilight imperium has a bit of the same problem) so that takes some getting used to.

Honestly most of the fun comes from the fact you're messing with history though. "Will you stop saving Hitler!" "As soon as you stop killing Lincoln!" is not something you're going to hear during many other games :P.

[IthilanorStPete]

Talking about card games anyone played chrononauts? Is it any fun?

I don't buy big board games with a lot of tidbits, simply because I'm a mess. I know that if I buy something like that, I'll lose a lot of things.

Chrononauts is fun, though fairly simple. I imagine it'd be pretty entertaining with a group that really gets into the idea of messing around with history.

[Fri]

Hey, me and my friend is thinking to buy a good board game for two players, any recommendation? We're thinking to just buy an LCG like android netrunner, but I'm not sure about its replayability. I'd rather have a real board game. You know, something like a skirmish game, or a dungeon crawling game, that's good to be played by two players and got a lot of replayability... Any recommendation?

[CarpeGuitarrem]

The Pocket Battles series is a great two-player skirmish game. (Comes in three flavors, Celts vs. Romans is probably the easiest to find.) You build armies out of tiles and then send them at one another in a brutally swift battle.

Claustrophobia is a fantastic two-player dungeon crawler, where one player is the heroes (of a sort) and the other player is the commander of the demons in the caves. Simple, elegant system with a vicious death spiral for the heroes. (Asymmetrical, too--the sides play completely differently.)

[warty goblin]

Hey, me and my friend is thinking to buy a good board game for two players, any recommendation? We're thinking to just buy an LCG like android netrunner, but I'm not sure about its replayability. I'd rather have a real board game. You know, something like a skirmish game, or a dungeon crawling game, that's good to be played by two players and got a lot of replayability... Any recommendation?

Lesse here.

Skirmish wise, I'm fairly fond of Battles of Westeros. It uses the same basic mechanics as a bunch of other Battlelore games, but puts a lot of emphasis on commanders, which I quite like. Plus it comes with a bazillion little plastic dudes; just be ready to spend a couple hours gluing them to their bases.

Dungeon-crawl wise, there are the D&D adventure games if you want co-op. But why use a bastardized version of a dull system in a universe that contains Mice and Mystics? It's also co-op, has gorgeous art, and a pretty good system, which is basically Descent Lite. So if you want player vs DM style dungeon crawl, just play Descent. Mechanically it's everything the D&D adventure game (or D&D for that matter) hopes to be when it grows up and figures out exactly how tedious a d20 really is.

If you're looking for something a bit more grand strategy, War of the Ring is a tremendously good thing, but only if you really like Lord of the Rings. It's not so much a game with a Lord of the Rings theme as it is Lord of the Rings turned into a board, some cards, and a bazillion little plastic dudes. I will neither confirm nor deny yelling 'Ride for Gondor!' at a particular moment in my last game.

For fantasy grand strategy somewhat less bound to a particular novel*, I have gotten a lot of fun out of RuneWars. To a reasonable level of accuracy, it's Age of Wonders the boardgame, which at least for me makes it a strong contender for the best possible use of cardboard hexes and skeleton miniatures. It looks ridiculously complicated since it has something like ten separate decks of those little pintsize cards Fantasy Flight uses, and set-up takes a good bit of time, but it's actually pretty straight-forwards to play. It's also much improved by the expansion, which is worth it just for the alternate units.

If you like Pandemic, but crave dragons and are bothered by occasionally winning, Defenders of the Realm is exactly the game for you. Just so long as you understand you will almost certainly get your ass kicked so hard you taste boot leather, it's excellent.



*If you say Lord of the Rings is a trilogy, I will bite you.

[Ivellius]

*If you say Lord of the Rings is a trilogy, I will bite you.

*this is proper if you mean the films

Heroscape is one of the best skirmish games created, but it's sadly out of print. It plays great with just two but also scales well if you end up with more people.

I've heard really good things about Summoner Wars, which is a card/skirmish game created by one of the Heroscape designers, but I can't say I've played it myself.

[ShadowFighter15]

Hey, me and my friend is thinking to buy a good board game for two players, any recommendation? We're thinking to just buy an LCG like android netrunner, but I'm not sure about its replayability. I'd rather have a real board game. You know, something like a skirmish game, or a dungeon crawling game, that's good to be played by two players and got a lot of replayability... Any recommendation?

If you're fine with super-gluing some minis together (don't worry; very easy to assemble as long as you use the rulebook's photos to work out which bit goes on which body) I'd recommend Dreadball. It's like Blood Bowl (in that it's a board game representing a fictional sport), but to quote the 1d4chan wiki: "is set in space, uses aliens, is played on a hex grid, isn't based on American football and has completely different game mechanics." There's some videos one of the guys from Mantic did with Beasts of War showing how to play it and linked on their website, though the first episode is an hour and a half long (been a while since I watched it and BoW's stuff tends to be unscripted... that and Warren has a tendency to talk a lot).

This is a much shorter video showing how it's played that Mantic made themselves during the game's Kickstarter campaign.

[Balain]

Hey, me and my friend is thinking to buy a good board game for two players, any recommendation? We're thinking to just buy an LCG like android netrunner, but I'm not sure about its replayability. I'd rather have a real board game. You know, something like a skirmish game, or a dungeon crawling game, that's good to be played by two players and got a lot of replayability... Any recommendation?

Tanhauser is designed for two players, two teams. A bunch of expansions for it too.

Carcassone was designed to be ideal for two players but doesn't fit into your style.

simple games like dungeon or the new dungeon work pretty well with two players.

[Avilan the Grey]

A few games I have played that I really enjoy:

Furu Of Dracula - One player plays Dracula, the others are chasing him through Europe as a team.

Battlestar Galactica - The official tabletop game. Actually VERY well done.

Smallworld - and all it's expansions, of course.

Elder Sign - Stop cultists from summoning... something Eldrich.

Cosmic Encounter - Play an unique alien race, and win the colonization race.

[Gandariel]

I've already posted this in another thread about video games, but this is a board game too, so..


Neuroshima Hex!

It's a strategy board game for 2-4 players
Players place hexes on the board represrinting units and supports, and try to destroy the enemy base.
Every race has special powers, units and different playstyles (Red has bulky, slow, ranged units, while for example green is all about mobility)
There are things such as initiative, melee and ranged attacks, but the rules are actually pretty easy to learn and the game lends itself to a lot of strategy and planning.

The fluff is a war between the machines (red) who have taken over the world, although mutants (blue) have just arisen, and a wilderness army force (green) is resisting the machines. Also there's a Kenshiro-like band of motorcyclers (yellow) who... Look badass?

The expansion(s) add new races (I really like Neojungle for its unique mechanics) and game modes.

It's also been released for iPhone and android; the demo is free, and it's definitely worth a try.

Oh, also, Android users can find the full game for free sonewhere (pm me if you can't)