The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

Fedaykin98 wrote:

We're playing My Little Scythe right now, which I gave my daughter for Christmas - so thank you, whoever recommended that several pages back! Despite being a Scythe AND Euro hater, I'm really enjoying this cute game, although my daughter says that might only be because I'm playing with my kids. (

That was me:) So glad you are liking it, I think I like it more than Scythe, I’ve certainly played it more.

My wife bought me Dunwich Legacy for Arkham LCG and the lil Dwellers in the Dark figures expansion for Journeys in Middle Earth.

I bought us New York Zoo for family play and Skulk Hollow to play with the boy.

Oh and my Secret Stanta did good gifting Marvel Champions.

Nintendo Switch crossover.

IMAGE(https://cdn.dekudeals.com/images/1813531efdbdc31017773143e930a527d98633b2/w500.jpg)
“Best new board game of the last several years” Wingspan just released for Switch. Great game for people who haven’t already been sucked into that hobby. If you’re already pro at Terraforming Mars, Scythe, etc., it might be a bit light for you. It’s 10% off through January 11.
https://www.dekudeals.com/items/wing...

Is that the version that's on Steam?

My kids (who are HUGE minecraft fans) got a minecraft card game that I didn't know existed. It's a pretty basic draft and craft system, but perfectly suited for them. We played once and both of them enjoyed it.

Fredrik_S wrote:

My kids (who are HUGE minecraft fans) got a minecraft card game that I didn't know existed. It's a pretty basic draft and craft system, but perfectly suited for them. We played once and both of them enjoyed it.

With square cards? I don't dig it, but many games of that have been played at my house.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Fredrik_S wrote:

My kids (who are HUGE minecraft fans) got a minecraft card game that I didn't know existed. It's a pretty basic draft and craft system, but perfectly suited for them. We played once and both of them enjoyed it.

With square cards? I don't dig it, but many games of that have been played at my house.

That's the one. It's not great, but they had a ton of fun with it.

Vargen wrote:

Is that the version that's on Steam?

Probably. Dunno, sorry, I rarely follow games on my PC nowadays.

Fredrik_S wrote:

My kids (who are HUGE minecraft fans) got a minecraft card game that I didn't know existed. It's a pretty basic draft and craft system, but perfectly suited for them. We played once and both of them enjoyed it.

IMAGE(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91buf2c3a1L._AC_SL1500_.jpg)

Conversely, and not the game to which you’re referring, I recently received the expansion to Ravensburger’s Minecraft board game. Hoping to run through it myself, but online the discussion is that it’s a workable expansion that capably somewhat complicates the game, which it needed.

IMAGE(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81YOMzo-TOL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)

...I’ve just read the last several pages of this discussion—spanning eurogames and determinism and online tabletopping and holiday recommendations and impressions—and am sad no one discussed either of two of my favorite games, Through the Ages and Evolution. Both are incredibly challenging/rewarding with high skill ceilings (TTA’s is probably much higher). Both are easy and well-adapted to online play with their dedicated apps. I guess everyone else commenting here must have already moved on to newer games. But wouldn’t you rather be doing this move?

IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/Rbk4Cyg/A7-B75595-B62-C-4-DB3-88-BB-47-D00-D165-FF7.jpg)

Keithustus wrote:

...I’ve just read the last several pages of this discussion—spanning eurogames and determinism and online tabletopping and holiday recommendations and impressions—and am sad no one discussed either of two of my favorite games, Through the Ages and Evolution.

My son and I have played and enjoyed some Evolution on the app, picked up for free at launch I think. We also borrowed and had a good time with the physical copy of simpler version Evolution The Beginning. I've played Evolution Climate a few times at game group last couple years, again had fun. You've reminded me how much I like this series, maybe i should be investing in Oceans or Flight iterations in readiness for 2021 and hopefully game group reunions.

Through the ages, sits on my app pile of opportunity.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

Evolution on the app...Evolution The Beginning....Evolution Climate...Oceans or Flight...

I’ve found my audience!

I’ve not played Evolution The Beginning but from my experience with Evolution and Climate and then reading The Beginning’s rules and cards, it seems excellent.

Oceans is a very different game. I was deeply involved in the playtesting and even played with the designer at his office once. If it’s the card-driven adaptation you like about Evolution, you’ll love it, particularly as there is a special deck just of unique cards with OP abilities—“everyone gets an OP!”. However, Oceans is far less punitive or vindictive than Evolution, since it’s very hard to extinct a species and the game’s focus is about building and better understanding the ecosystem of all the species on the table rather than rock-paper-scissors / boom-turtle-rush beating your opponents. I love Evolution but still haven’t decided whether I truly enjoy Oceans; Evolution to me is about that reading your opponents and manipulating the food supply.

The Evolution app (mobile, PC) is very different than at launch, and I don’t just mean that it’s far more stable and less likely to lock up in multiplayer. Check it out now and I bet you’ll be impressed with how it operates now.

Flight was an attempt at an Evolution expansion but it isn’t well regarded, at least compared to Climate. You can actually combine Climate with Flight but not officially, and special rules exist on BGG about which cards to use, not use, or replace. Doing so is alright but definitely not for Evolution novices.

Climate I think is actually a bit more involved than I prefer. I played a variant whereby the impending climate event was facedown so unknown, and that seems a bit more thematic to me, but I still prefer that Evolution plays quite a bit faster than climate.

Don’t forget that in Evolution there are a lot of promo cards you can swap in and out to really stretch your experience.
IMAGE(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NJAAAOSwRDNeTaHO/s-l400.jpg)
source with readable text https://www.ebay.com/itm/Evolution-G...

Lastly, Through the Ages (the newish one) is a long-respected game still in the BGG top 10. It’s Sid Meier’s Civilization but without a map. Take a look at a review or two, please. I caution you that it does have a higher learning curve than anything in the Evolution series. It’s even more fantastic with the expansion. Excellent, excellent app in which I mostly play asynchronous and currently have...32...games ongoing.

Cheers for all the Evolution info Keithustus, looks like I might have to try Oceans, that sounds really intriguing. I'm pretty sure the folks I played Climate with and from whom we borrowed Beginning are going to have a copy of Oceans I might be able to give a spin.

I'll have another look at the app, it's been quite a while since we played by passing tablet back and forth.

Through the Ages is now ready and primed to play on the tablet

Edit: wrong thread, sorry.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

I'll have another look at the app, it's been quite a while since we played by passing tablet back and forth.

There’s some kind of trial/demo access so that people can play online games with friends before buying, so everyone can use their own device. Maybe just on mobile, not PC.

Thanks for those who (long ago) recommended The Crew and Azul. I bought The Crew for my boys and my sister. We’ve loved it so far.

I put Azul on my Amazon wishlist to remind me to get it sometime, and my mother got it for me. We’re really enjoying it.

jonnypolite wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

We're playing My Little Scythe right now, which I gave my daughter for Christmas - so thank you, whoever recommended that several pages back! Despite being a Scythe AND Euro hater, I'm really enjoying this cute game, although my daughter says that might only be because I'm playing with my kids. (

That was me:) So glad you are liking it, I think I like it more than Scythe, I’ve certainly played it more.

We had our second game today, which I won! The first game was won by my eight year old son. Thanks again for the great recommendation, and for always being such a positive member of this community for so many years!

firesloth wrote:

Thanks for those who (long ago) recommended The Crew and Azul. I bought The Crew for my boys and my sister. We’ve loved it so far.

I put Azul on my Amazon wishlist to remind me to get it sometime, and my mother got it for me. We’re really enjoying it.

The Crew was my GotY. It was just awesome. Having the perfect group helped. I played Azul either early 2020 or late 2019. I enjoyed it and think Kit will really like it. I can't decide which version to get, but will probably go with the original.

-BEP

Fedaykin98 wrote:
jonnypolite wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

We're playing My Little Scythe right now, which I gave my daughter for Christmas - so thank you, whoever recommended that several pages back! Despite being a Scythe AND Euro hater, I'm really enjoying this cute game, although my daughter says that might only be because I'm playing with my kids. (

That was me:) So glad you are liking it, I think I like it more than Scythe, I’ve certainly played it more.

We had our second game today, which I won! The first game was won by my eight year old son. Thanks again for the great recommendation, and for always being such a positive member of this community for so many years! :D

No worries, always psyched when a game I recommend to someone works out:)

We got a copy of My City for Christmas, Reiner Knizia's light Euro take on a legacy game. It is designed to be played over 8 "chapters" with each chapter consisting of 3 "episodes". Each episode is about 30 minutes, so all told it's roughly 12 hours of gaming to get through all 8 chapters?

The game itself is just placing buildings (polyominoes) on your player board and trying to follow placement/scoring rules as efficiently as possible. There is a new twist or wrinkle every episode, and some of them change things up interestingly but it's never difficult. Just lots of thinking ahead a few moves to try to get everything to fit the way you want.

We're up through Episode 14 and it's a lot of fun. I don't know if we'll keep it once we're done (there is an option to play single standalone games) but at only $25 from OLGS it's a great family game to play for a few weeks.

Arg, Sleeping Gods arrived today. Just as my days off work have finished

I looove Imperial, but it's probably the #1 game on my 'games you love but are really pretty bad at' list.

Can never quite figure it out.

EDIT: LOL, somehow commented on a first page post from 2011!

Okay, well then...curious to see what games you folks have on your 'games you love but are really pretty bad at' lists...

I'll add Barrage to Imperial.

Sleeping Gods update: I played a good chunk in the evening. Really enjoyed it, lots of great story in there. Probably would be a bit better with two players over solo (just for discussion of events). Difficult but allows you respite fairly easily, rather than setbacks turning into a death spiral.

Sleeping Gods update #2. After three evenings of play, finished a first solo game. I did not get the best ending, but it seemed pretty okay. Unlocked two new cards to use in subsequent games, which I look forward to trying (but I'll leave it a while before I jump back in). Also looking at my map and notes... I explored only 20% of the world, and didn't get to every location in those areas.

Really fun, highly enjoyed it. Similar feel to 7th Continent but its a bit more forgiving and feels more like an adventure story than a survival story. Also it is extremely pretty, and the components are really nice (especially the coins, maps, and item cards).

Anyone here played Search for Planet X? It's an app-driven deduction-style game with a space theme in which each player is a "telescope" searching for celestial objects that include Planet X. in the "standard" mode there are 12 sectors to the board, each with a unique celestial object (asteroids, comets, and others) you need to identify over time using surveys, search, and targeted scans that are done via the app. Each object has a set quantity and ruleset that aid your deductions... for example, there will always be 4 asteroids in each game, with a requirement that each asteroid will be adjacent to at least one other asteroid.

The board has a rotating mechanism in which only half of the 12 sectors are in "visible sky" at any point. All targets/surveys can only take place in the portion of sky that is visible on your turn. Players move clockwise around this board based on time units consumed by their activities (e.g., surveying 6 sectors uses 3 time units), with the current turn always being the player who is farthest behind on the time track.

At set points during the game, players can submit theories regarding the identities of the celestial objects. Correct theories (confirmed later via peer review) score points based on the object identified while incorrect guesses cause a slight loss of time. The game ends when one player has correctly located Planet X.

Scoring is based on the number of correct theories (with identification of the rarest celestial objects being worth the most points), with an extra bonus point awarded for the first player to correctly place a theory in each of the 12 sectors. The biggest chunk of points is awarded to the player who located Planet X, but all other players typically get the opportunity to score some additional points last-second by placing 1-2 additional theories or trying to locate Planet X themselves. You can still win without being the first one to find Planet X (or even find it at all).

The experience is really configurable, with an 18-sector mode and a difficulty setting that allows you to customize how much information you're given at the beginning of the game.

I've played this 3 times on TTS and have been having a blast with it. A 2-player game runs in about an hour, maybe 90 minutes, depending on the level of AP. I'm not sure how the game is with 3 or 4 (the max) players yet but my only potential concern is a significant amount of downtime between turns.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in learning this on TTS I'd be willing to teach.

Thanks Jow for the game and teach of Search for Planet X, It's a good game and a lot of fun searching for that elusive planet! I Will definitely play it again.

Neutrino wrote:

Thanks Jow for the game and teach of Search for Planet X, It's a good game and a lot of fun searching for that elusive planet! I Will definitely play it again.

Oy, my pleasure! Hopefully you got a full sense of the process from start to Planet X despite the game ending earlier than you expected. Let me know when you'd like to give it another whirl (or anything else for that matter). Peace!

I'd say never try to play The Crew: Search for Planet X with more than 4 players - we find it way too difficult. I think I might like to play around the stage 10-15 level with 4: we're finding it gets a bit too tricky (and too dependent on card distribution) after that point.

DudleySmith wrote:

I'd say never try to play The Crew: Search for Planet X with more than 4 players - we find it way too difficult. I think I might like to play around the stage 10-15 level with 4: we're finding it gets a bit too tricky (and too dependent on card distribution) after that point.

Note: Search for Planet X is not the same game as The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine.

Thanks, Mike. I think it's one of those word salad titles that I'll always get sort of close to, but never get right.

The Crew is almost perfect for asynchronous play on Board Game Arena.

Has anyone here played Space Base? I tried it out at last week's board gaming meetup and enjoyed it quite a bit. It plays a little like a deck-builder, only using dice rolls instead of the shuffling of a deck to create the randomness that a deck-builder requires. The guy who brought it referred to it as a game about building an "economic engine"; I'm not sure if that's a commonly-understood term or just a descriptive one that he came up with.

The only problem that I had with it was that there was this one card-- as far as I can tell, the only one like it in the entire game-- that when triggered, caused every opponent to lose Victory Points. There's no counterplay, no way of removing cards that an opponent has in play, which mostly isn't a problem since your opponents aren't playing cards that directly affect you... except for that one card. Everyone at the table agreed that it was unbalanced and against the feel of the game and that we should probably just remove it from the deck in future.

Other than that, it was very enjoyable, though. I got beaten soundly, but I could see exactly why it was happening and what I would try to do differently next time.

Speaking of terms that I'm not sure if they're commonly understood, another guy used a very evocative term to describe another game we tried, called Roll Player: he called it a "point salad" to describe that phase at the end of that and similar games where you tally up a bunch of victory points from disparate sources so you could find out who won (because it was impossible to tell who was winning up until then due to obfuscating complexity). I wound up winning that one, not because I did anything clever, but because there was an obscure wrinkle to the scoring that no one, not even the guy who brought the game and had played before, remembered until the very end.

Anyway, "point salad" might be the closest I've come to a simple term that describes the kind of game I dislike and want to avoid.