The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

jrralls wrote:

My seven-year-old is going absolutely crazy over Castle Panic. Once the rules was explained he got it instantly, and I think the cooperative nature of it also really appeals to him.

Any game recommendations for similar games to Castle Panic?

Similar in that it is cooperative = Forbidden Island is probably a good fit for that age. I think my youngest was 6 or 7 when he learned it and was able to handle it fine.

King of Tokyo is also a good one for the young 'uns.

Boudreaux wrote:
jrralls wrote:

My seven-year-old is going absolutely crazy over Castle Panic. Once the rules was explained he got it instantly, and I think the cooperative nature of it also really appeals to him.

Any game recommendations for similar games to Castle Panic?

I can't think of anything similar, but it does have the Wizard's Tower expansion which is really good. It increases the complexity a bit but in a good way.

My 8 year old is a big fan too.

Yep, I'd recommend the Wizard's Tower expansion too, it adds a lot of cool stuff and so more replay value to the game.

Oh and Forbidden Island tip from jigsawhc just popped on new page, I'd agree on that one.

I picked up Pandemic because the boy liked Castle Panic so much, but Pandemic was just a smidge too involved to keep his interest. So we moved on and tried Forbidden Island instead, it's simpler and was a hit, maybe not as big a hit as Castle Panic but Forbidden Island is a lot quicker to play!

Tyops wrote:

the wife and I completed our first scenario of Gloomhaven last night.

Early in but so far this was really impressive. The box is enormous but if you pull out only what you need, it doesnt take up that much table space.

The hand management mechanic really works for me and at least early on it's been very good at presenting interesting choices every turn. Having read/heard about how heavy this game was on the admin, I was actually surprised at how smooth the gameplay was from turn to turn. There really isnt a lot of number crunching etc. for the combat. I suppose what takes up more time is the setup and tear down. Hasnt been too bad so far but we're also unlikely to play more than one scenario at a time. I think it might get a it more challenging if you're doing multiple scenarios back to back.

I wish the scenario book were a little different. It feels a little "cheaty" to be able to to see exactly what's coming from room to room. I think I read that they addressed in the expansion's scenario book which makes you flip around from page to page choose your adventure style. Not sure if that's better.

Looks like we'll be getting some of the first info on Gloomhaven 2 later this week. I think this is going to be an auto-buy for me.

Tyops, what did you do for storage?

El-Producto wrote:

Tyops, what did you do for storage?

At the time, nothing. I punched out strictly what I needed and left everything else in the boards. That didn't take much space. I picked up the broken token organizer since then...

It's great but not as good as I had hoped. I might need to look into a hybrid solution. I don't think any of the laser cut wood solutions are perfect. Might still need to go with good ole Plano boxes and an accordion folder for the map tiles.

I'm a big Euro guy and I just came back from PaxU with games like Maracaibo, Bus, Cooper Island, etc. But the big surprise of the show was a dexterity tennis flicking game called Set & Match.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/270847/set-match

Man does it capture the feel of tennis. Serves, aces, rallies, etc...all in a friendly tabletop flicking game!

If you are a fan of tennis or flickers at all, you need to check it out. My son and I had a blast playing as soon as I got home, and while I know I'll love the others, this one was a super-stealth surprise hit!

Some game play details on Return to Dark Tower

webdanzer wrote:

I'm a big Euro guy and I just came back from PaxU with games like Maracaibo, Bus, Cooper Island, etc. But the big surprise of the show was a dexterity tennis flicking game called Set & Match.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/270847/set-match

Man does it capture the feel of tennis. Serves, aces, rallies, etc...all in a friendly tabletop flicking game!

If you are a fan of tennis or flickers at all, you need to check it out. My son and I had a blast playing as soon as I got home, and while I know I'll love the others, this one was a super-stealth surprise hit!

I’m not the biggest tennis fan but I’m intrigued by the idea of flicker games. Do you have any other favorites that you might recommend?

That Dark Tower game looks fantastic. Never played the original.

RawkGWJ wrote:

I’m not the biggest tennis fan but I’m intrigued by the idea of flicker games. Do you have any other favorites that you might recommend?

Flicking in dexterity games is a pretty popular mechanic. Some games of note:

Carrom - A classic. Never played, but would love to try.
Crokinole - Also a classic game, but different then Carrom. Some people go a bit crazy over their custom boards.
Catacombs - Looks pretty, never played. Some people go absolutely crazy over it. At one point it was noted for its coffin box if I remember correctly.
Flick'em Up Cowboy flicking fun. Comes in wood or plastic. Lots of fun. There is also a Dead of Winter version that seems nifty.
Ice Cool My kids love it. Penguins play tag at school. Can be had for the great price point of $20 or less, well worth it.
Pitch Car - Amazing. Can be a huge money sink. Components are amazing. With enough expansions you can have a multi room spanning game. I've only done multi table games. Can accommodate large groups if you have enough car disks.
Terror in Meeple City (Rampage) - Used to be called rampage because well, it is the old video game Rampage but in board game format. Lot's of fun. Have played a good dozen+ games and would play again.

Igneus wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:

I’m not the biggest tennis fan but I’m intrigued by the idea of flicker games. Do you have any other favorites that you might recommend?

Flicking in dexterity games is a pretty popular mechanic. Some games of note:

Carrom - A classic. Never played, but would love to try.
Crokinole - Also a classic game, but different then Carrom. Some people go a bit crazy over their custom boards.
Catacombs - Looks pretty, never played. Some people go absolutely crazy over it. At one point it was noted for its coffin box if I remember correctly.
Flick'em Up Cowboy flicking fun. Comes in wood or plastic. Lots of fun. There is also a Dead of Winter version that seems nifty.
Ice Cool My kids love it. Penguins play tag at school. Can be had for the great price point of $20 or less, well worth it.
Pitch Car - Amazing. Can be a huge money sink. Components are amazing. With enough expansions you can have a multi room spanning game. I've only done multi table games. Can accommodate large groups if you have enough car disks.
Terror in Meeple City (Rampage) - Used to be called rampage because well, it is the old video game Rampage but in board game format. Lot's of fun. Have played a good dozen+ games and would play again.

Cheers for the reminder, been meaning to order Ice Cool for Christmas!

We have a carrom board, belongs to my tother half who has had it for 20+ years. Bought some powder and been playing it quite a bit this year. I say playing, we don't really stick to the full rules for long, it's a tricky game. When the boy is playing we almost always ends up just setting up silly trick shots, good fun.

Oh I remember playing Carom as a kid at the Boys Club. That sounds promising. Thanks.

Whoa dang, I'd forgotten Carrom existed. I used to play a ton of it with my highschool girlfriend's father. Good times. You kind of need the powder, but it's easier to put away than a pool table.

Also slide a bit of foamex on there and Carrom board makes quite a handy gaming coffee table topper.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/DcVGLR8.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/G84iCw5.jpg)

Sorry, I may have posted this before about a year ago

Got a chance to try Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon last weekend. A wonderful choose your own adventure/RPG mash-up with a really nifty battle system and a completely persistent world. Wonderful minis as well as a fantastic and logical insert for the box. Glad I Kickstarted it.

Minotaar wrote:

Got a chance to try Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon last weekend. A wonderful choose your own adventure/RPG mash-up with a really nifty battle system and a completely persistent world. Wonderful minis as well as a fantastic and logical insert for the box. Glad I Kickstarted it.

Oh, it is yours? Super nice. Heard great things about it. Very atmospheric as I recall from the reviews.

bhchrist wrote:
Minotaar wrote:

Got a chance to try Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon last weekend. A wonderful choose your own adventure/RPG mash-up with a really nifty battle system and a completely persistent world. Wonderful minis as well as a fantastic and logical insert for the box. Glad I Kickstarted it.

Oh, it is yours? Super nice. Heard great things about it. Very atmospheric as I recall from the reviews.

I did the one shipping option. Can't wait to play it! See if I can nail out some of my other campaign solo games before it arrives.

I can't wait to get mine. Tom Vassal's review was pretty positive, saying that the story really shined.

Minotaar wrote:

Got a chance to try Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon last weekend. A wonderful choose your own adventure/RPG mash-up with a really nifty battle system and a completely persistent world. Wonderful minis as well as a fantastic and logical insert for the box. Glad I Kickstarted it.

I really want it. Rumor has it that they will take more orders from backers in January, and I backed it for a dollar.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Minotaar wrote:

Got a chance to try Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon last weekend. A wonderful choose your own adventure/RPG mash-up with a really nifty battle system and a completely persistent world. Wonderful minis as well as a fantastic and logical insert for the box. Glad I Kickstarted it.

I really want it. Rumor has it that they will take more orders from backers in January, and I backed it for a dollar.

I never realized what a good idea that could be - just to save a place.

I’ve been looking into solo board gaming a lot lately as a potential alternative to video games. Growing increasingly concerned about the wear on my arms between being on the PC all day at work and coming home and even using a controller.

It’s pretty exciting how many games are out there these days that can be played solo or co-op duo (as my wife has some interest but won’t want to play as often as me).

steinkrug wrote:

I’ve been looking into solo board gaming a lot lately as a potential alternative to video games. Growing increasingly concerned about the wear on my arms between being on the PC all day at work and coming home and even using a controller.

It’s pretty exciting how many games are out there these days that can be played solo or co-op duo (as my wife has some interest but won’t want to play as often as me).

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/pkTyCKz.jpg)

We have a small cupboard of multiplayer only, mostly family games downstairs. In my office though I have a small collection of soloable games* that's been growing over the last 18 months or so. I say soloable because in the most part that's what I prefer rather than 1 player only games, for those occasions when I can actually get out to a meet up or something I am starting to get comfy with now... a game night round our place!

There are a couple unopened games there, but on the whole am finding it far easier to play board games owned than video games on the pile. Big boxes and limited space help with this!

*Forbidden Island and Pandemic, though I do play solo should probably shift down to the family cupboard, a question of space.

I’m probably going to just play the Arkham Horror card game solo. The rules seem a bit crunchy and daunting. I had planned to play it with fellow Goodjer Forbes, but we took one look at the rule book and decided to play Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective instead. In hind sight we clearly made the better choice.

So what Solo or solitaire board games do you all like best?

RawkGWJ wrote:

I’m probably going to just play the Arkham Horror card game solo. The rules seem a bit crunchy and daunting. I had planned to play it with fellow Goodjer Forbes, but we took one look at the rule book and decided to play Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective instead. In hind sight we clearly made the better choice.

So what Solo or solitaire board games do you all like best?

Ooh, that one is missing from shelf and downstairs getting played at the moment, I'm just getting into the core box again after not quite clicking with it myself a year or so ago. I think I have the rules down now with one character but think am going to restart and play two.

On the above shelves the games have enjoyed solo the most recently are Spirit Island and Roll Player (I have yet to add Monsters & Minions into the mix). Pandemic Iberia double handed and I think I'll always have a soft spot for Onirim, some folk don't like all the shuffling but it's great when I am in a fidgeting mood and need a distraction. Some print & plays not shown above but also enjoyed solo are Orchard and Desolate.

Edit - Oh and Journeys in Middle Earth is also downstairs getting painted, another side of the hobby am getting sucked into.

Gloomhaven is probably my favorite solo game right now. If I go solo, I want something big and crunchy and not many games can pass Gloomhaven in that. Playing cooperative games like Pandemic solo is fine but I can easily get people to play with me and have a better experience. Gloomhaven on the the other hand... it's just easier to play whenever you want solo. Luckily I have solo and multi player campaign going at once.

I can’t speak from personal experience but I watched a bunch of top solo games lists lately and here are some that have been mentioned more than once:

Friday, Oniriim, Robinson Crusoe, Spirit Island, Mage Knight, 7th Continent, Race for the Galaxy with Gathering Storm expansion, Gloomhaven, Sentinels of the Multiverse

I got this for a friend of mine who really enjoys soloing games and he likes it:
Deep Space D6

Crockpot wrote:

Gloomhaven is probably my favorite solo game right now. If I go solo, I want something big and crunchy and not many games can pass Gloomhaven in that. Playing cooperative games like Pandemic solo is fine but I can easily get people to play with me and have a better experience. Gloomhaven on the the other hand... it's just easier to play whenever you want solo. Luckily I have solo and multi player campaign going at once.

I'm probably the opposite, in that managed to get out to different game groups maybe 4 times in November none of whom are that keen on co-ops. I played super dry euros at one, lighter fare like Quacks and mini games like blood rage at another and skirmish game Frostgrave at another.

I had a good time and happy to play all those, but solo I enjoy the light puzzling of simpler co-ops like Pandemic and as my tastes are evolving the likes of Spirit Island that are heavier but can play pretty quickly. Roll Player might not be co-op but again it's a quick to play puzzle.

I've got Journeys, but that is more of a painting challenge than an urge to play an adventure game and I bought because it's a relatively short campaign made up of short scenarios.

I was tempted by Gloomhaven in recent sale, but I just wouldn't get to play it enough or have the discipline to make even a lil dent in the content.

Nevin73 wrote:

I got this for a friend of mine who really enjoys soloing games and he likes it:
Deep Space D6

You can PnP the freebie early version of this to give it a try, good game. I reskinned the ship on there as Starbug from red dwarf. Just the ship graphic for the mo, I want to try and tweak the ship rules for it before submitting to bgg page.