The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

Roll and write apps? You jerks. There goes my freetime.

Every time Tabletop Simulator goes on sale I think I should get it, but never do. Little bit intimidated by it to be honest, needing to know the rules to a game because the game doesn't run em... that correct?

Anyhow it's on sale again, should I bite this time and have a go? Are there many folk here who use it? Finally, I'm sure I saw a thread for it somewhere but can't find it with a search now, nudge in the right direction appreciated.

Hey gang, I need some help. A few departments here are merging and I've been tasked with finding an icebreaker style game to help everyone get to know each other. Problem is, I need a game that works for about 30 to 40 people.

So far I've got:

Right now I'm leaning towards the bingo game, but I'm all ears for other suggestions. I've always wanted to play Two Rooms and a Boom but I'm worried it's too complicated for a large group of non-gamers who may or may not be up for something that off the wall.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

Every time Tabletop Simulator goes on sale I think I should get it, but never do. Little bit intimidated by it to be honest, needing to know the rules to a game because the game doesn't run em... that correct?

Anyhow it's on sale again, should I bite this time and have a go? Are there many folk here who use it? Finally, I'm sure I saw a thread for it somewhere but can't find it with a search now, nudge in the right direction appreciated.

I'd say no. I tried to play Acquire with a friend, a game we both know the rules very well, and it was really painful. Either we don't know how to use Tabletop Simulator or it just isn't a very good tool.

Trachalio wrote:

Hey gang, I need some help. A few departments here are merging and I've been tasked with finding an icebreaker style game to help everyone get to know each other. Problem is, I need a game that works for about 30 to 40 people.

So far I've got:

Right now I'm leaning towards the bingo game, but I'm all ears for other suggestions. I've always wanted to play Two Rooms and a Boom but I'm worried it's too complicated for a large group of non-gamers who may or may not be up for something that off the wall.

Codenames? Or does that not work well with groups that big?

bighoppa wrote:

Codenames? Or does that not work well with groups that big?

I thought about Codenames, but I think having two teams of 15 to 20 people might be a little unwieldy

Does it have to be one big game? Could you split into two games? 7-10 a team, seems more manageable game. Play a game of something then swap so all the teams get to play each other. Play for the Codenames Cup or whatever.

As unpopular a suggestion this may be, there's always Werewolf. With 30-40 players, it'll DEFINITELY take awhile, but it could work (don't @ me)

That said, I got the last copy of Clank! that B&N had locally, though I haven't played it because I owe a buddy of mine the $32 he spent to get it for me. I've never played it before, so does anyone have suggestions or good house rules they use?

Crockpot wrote:

I just played The Mind for the third time but this time with family members and it went way better. We even played with zero talking and it was a blast. This game is much better with people you know really well.

The creators just launched a new Kickstarter for a party game called Wavelength. I got to play it for the KS video and had a total blast. Definitely worth checking out. Especially if you're like me and not usually a fan of party games.

Nevin73 wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:

Every time Tabletop Simulator goes on sale I think I should get it, but never do. Little bit intimidated by it to be honest, needing to know the rules to a game because the game doesn't run em... that correct?

Anyhow it's on sale again, should I bite this time and have a go? Are there many folk here who use it? Finally, I'm sure I saw a thread for it somewhere but can't find it with a search now, nudge in the right direction appreciated.

I'd say no. I tried to play Acquire with a friend, a game we both know the rules very well, and it was really painful. Either we don't know how to use Tabletop Simulator or it just isn't a very good tool.

While I'm with Nevin in that my one experience with Tabletop Simulator was painful, I feel the need to say that it is probably about as good as you can ask for in terms of a game simulator. That is, it has tools for just about everything that are intuitive and straightforward. But it's just agonizing to point and click and drag and drop to move and handle everything that you would handle on the board in real life, i.e., cards, dice, plastic pieces, etc. But then again, I played Twilight Imperium , which is a game that is already incredibly complicated to play and has a million pieces and cards and things to keep track of. So, take it for what its worth, but I literally got a headache from playing that lasted until the next morning.

easy sunday wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:

Every time Tabletop Simulator goes on sale I think I should get it, but never do. Little bit intimidated by it to be honest, needing to know the rules to a game because the game doesn't run em... that correct?

Anyhow it's on sale again, should I bite this time and have a go? Are there many folk here who use it? Finally, I'm sure I saw a thread for it somewhere but can't find it with a search now, nudge in the right direction appreciated.

I'd say no. I tried to play Acquire with a friend, a game we both know the rules very well, and it was really painful. Either we don't know how to use Tabletop Simulator or it just isn't a very good tool.

While I'm with Nevin in that my one experience with Tabletop Simulator was painful, I feel the need to say that it is probably about as good as you can ask for in terms of a game simulator. That is, it has tools for just about everything that are intuitive and straightforward. But it's just agonizing to point and click and drag and drop to move and handle everything that you would handle on the board in real life, i.e., cards, dice, plastic pieces, etc. But then again, I played Twilight Imperium , which is a game that is already incredibly complicated to play and has a million pieces and cards and things to keep track of. So, take it for what its worth, but I literally got a headache from playing that lasted until the next morning.

I just picked it up myself yesterday because I heard there was a decently good Arkham Horror LCG mod you can play. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet, though. Are there any fans of the platform in here? Any particular implementations you'd recommend so I can get my $10 worth at least?

I have it, and have played a couple of good games with it. I recommend Stuffed, Who Goes There, Cards Against Humanity, Brass: Lancashire and Brass: Birmingham, Arkham Horror LCG, Spirit Island (Scripted) and Terraforming Mars.

At some point, I'm gonna have to try one of these games.

There is a group of us on the forums who play Tabletop Simulator very regularly (weekly D&D games and lots of board and card games). And I think it is fantastic if you're willing to spend a little bit of time learning the user interface. It is never going to replace in-person gaming, but I'm spending more time tabletop gaming than I have in years thanks to TTS.

It does have some advantages over IRL gaming as well. There is very little setup and no clean up. You can very easily save your game and pick up where you left off. If you need an extra die or counter or fig it is super easy to copy paste one into existence. And I can play with people who live all over the world. I think it is totally worth it.

Trying out Tabletop Simulator tonight with my regular gaming group, one of whom moved out to Indiana this past year. Trying to keep him involved. We're going to play Medici – 6 players. Will report back about the fun/pain ratio tomorrow.

lostlobster wrote:

Trying out Tabletop Simulator tonight with my regular gaming group, one of whom moved out to Indiana this past year. Trying to keep him involved. We're going to play Medici – 6 players. Will report back about the fun/pain ratio tomorrow.

I highly recommend watching the tutorial videos here.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

Does it have to be one big game? Could you split into two games? 7-10 a team, seems more manageable game. Play a game of something then swap so all the teams get to play each other. Play for the Codenames Cup or whatever.

This. I regularly run a game night at work. No games work well with 30 people. No one gets to know each other. It's just a giant crowd with a game whose rules are stretched to the breaking point.

Organize it into three or four smaller games and rotate. It'll make everyone happier.

I've got some board games I'm looking to sell on ebay, but I figured I'd much rather give some GWJ folks first crack at them. Is it appropriate to post them here? I wouldn't want to violate a rule that I'm not aware of, lol.

Laarrs wrote:

I've got some board games I'm looking to sell on ebay, but I figured I'd much rather give some GWJ folks first crack at them. Is it appropriate to post them here? I wouldn't want to violate a rule that I'm not aware of, lol.

Might try the trading thread and link to it from this post?

Not the last module. They’re basically for a lack of a better word they’re “rebooting” Time Stories. No base game required after Madame.

They already announce two more time Stories after madam in their new “blue cycle”.

EriktheRed wrote:
lostlobster wrote:

Trying out Tabletop Simulator tonight with my regular gaming group, one of whom moved out to Indiana this past year. Trying to keep him involved. We're going to play Medici – 6 players. Will report back about the fun/pain ratio tomorrow.

I highly recommend watching the tutorial videos here.

Thanks for the link. Didn't see it until this morning, and will check it out. Didn't find the controls too difficult, although, in some cases counter-intuitive.

We couldn't play Medici. The only playable version we could find had a bug that wouldn't allow all six of us to be seated. So, we ended up playing 7 Wonders, instead. It went fine, for the most part. Definitely got easier the more we played. I do worry that playing something with too many fiddly bits would be much more difficult. The biggest pain for me was how difficult it was to see other people's play areas. You can do it, but it takes some time/effort for something that, in person, is a glance.

But, overall, it was workable and a great way for us to spend some virtual time with a distant gamer friend. We will definitely be doing more of it in the future.

The biggest pain for me was how difficult it was to see other people's play areas.

I find going to the topdown view and using the alt key to hover over things very useful for this purpose. You can also create some save camera positions for different player areas to hop around the table quickly.

In case anyone is interested in Gloomhaven but not bought it yet, keep an eye on Miniature Market's new daily deal, The Drop. Gloomhaven was added yesterday, its price will drop 8% each day while supplies last. Currently at $99.96. It's basically a Dutch auction - price keeps dropping until the allocated quantities sell out, which is unknown.

I haven't bought in yet, but this might tempt me.

OutFoxed has been recommended here before as a good kids' game for younger kids. Would it work for a 4-year old? A wise-beyond her years 7-yo?

Feegle wrote:

OutFoxed has been recommended here before as a good kids' game for younger kids. Would it work for a 4-year old? A wise-beyond her years 7-yo?

I tried it with my kids at that age and it was a huge fail. They didn't understand at all the concept and how the game played. Not sure if we just had a bad day, but I would not recommend it.

Re: Tabletop Simulator

If you are a fan of the game, Roll for the Galaxy, I just happen to know that a Workshop Module was released last night that permits you to play against an honest to goodness AI opponent!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil...

SamF7

Feegle wrote:

OutFoxed has been recommended here before as a good kids' game for younger kids. Would it work for a 4-year old? A wise-beyond her years 7-yo?

My son was 4, almost 5 when we got Outfoxed and it was a hit. Dad drove most of the mechanical aspects and the elimination of suspects though and Son rolled dice and moved and checked the display for coloured dots.

I would like to recommend a game. I got Chickapig for Christmas and just got around to playing it. It is quite good. My kids 10, and12 have picked it up pretty easily and it is fun for adults too.

IMAGE(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/911rfQm3eoL._SL1500_.jpg)

Any more Roll and Write game recommendations? We bought Ganz Schon Clever. Doppelt So Clever doesn't seem to be on Amazon yet but I did find the web app here. It's very good.

We love Railroad Ink. Roll through the Ages qualifies, I think, and I like that one but I think its pretty unbalanced.