The Big Board-Gaming Catch-All

Well, if you want to play Lords of Hellas on TTS sometime, I'd be up for that too! And I can probably find some more players if you like. TheWalt and I have played a bunch of games on TTS in the past.

I shall be playing Star Trek: Ascendency for the first time in over 2 years tomorrow. We have three players, as the game was originally designed for that number, so it should not last as long as the 5 player attrition that can bring the game to a shuddering halt.

We are currently in two minds as to let the Borg be present in the game. I'm thinking not as we haven't played the game in so long, but I may be out-voted.

Nice! That game is on my shelf of shame. I want to play it!

Coincidentally, we're picking up our Betrayal Legacy campaign for the first time in two years tonight.

The session of Star Trek Ascendency went very well and my plan to play the Klingons as aggressively as possible was successful, despite some valiant attempts by the Federation to win by cultural domination rather than a military one.

So what recent board games are "the kids" all excited about these days? I don't want to miss out on something good if I get a chance to play it at Tennessee Game Days.

I'd suggest checking out the hotness list on BGG. The most recent game I've played is Dwellings of Eldervale. I know a lot of folks like Dune Imperium and Lost Ruins of Arnak.

People are going gaga over Ark Nova here in the UK, with some paying over the odds for it too. Same everywhere else I wonder?

Bubblefuzz wrote:

People are going gaga over Ark Nova here in the UK, with some paying over the odds for it too. Same everywhere else I wonder?

This is what I was going to suggest too. I have yet to play it, but from what I have seen of it and know, it appears to be a set collecting game similar to Wingspan only much more complex. It's also very competitive with players fighting over access to a small pool of resources.

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

So what recent board games are "the kids" all excited about these days? I don't want to miss out on something good if I get a chance to play it at Tennessee Game Days.

Hey, I'm going to be there too! Want to play some stuff?

I played the first chapter of Now or Never last night (after one non-story mode game to learn the rules).

It's fun! Lots of cool systems to play with, the story bits are fun and often hilarious.

In particular, for Halia the swordswoman (very minor spoiler):

Spoiler:

We quickly were looking forward to what terrible things her magic sword was going to suggest she do.

BUT there are some caveats. 1. It's huge and has lots of pieces to set up. Lots. 2. There's a lot of options, and as you need to optimise, we had a few long turns as people tried to figure out their best move. 3. It's quite long. Our 4-player game started setup at 7.10 and we finished at 11.05. 4. The story bits are a bit unconnected... just little vignettes that mostly weren't much related to anything else.

trichy wrote:
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

So what recent board games are "the kids" all excited about these days? I don't want to miss out on something good if I get a chance to play it at Tennessee Game Days.

Hey, I'm going to be there too! Want to play some stuff?

IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/0yZdrMc/hoodiewoop.jpg)

Social anxiety permitting, yes! I have been away from the geek tribe for too long.

Half of the games in the BGG hotness are from years ago. Thinking back to the last few months in our group:

Mind MGMT
Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
Ankh
Brian Boru
Radlands
Descent: Legends of the Dark
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Paleo
Unfathomable
Merchants of the Dark Road
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
Cryo
Planet Unknown
Ruination
Magnate

It's been a good year.

Can get several of us in this Beyond the Sun asynch tournament? https://boardgamearena.com/tournamen...

Oof, you saw how I did in that last game...

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons? I just got mine a week or two ago, and I've tried it with my wife. It seems quite difficult. We've only ever beat it once. Most times we're put down by the random goblins or minions in the dungeon, or we lose the torch (time tracker) etc. I've checked around and it seems like this is just how it was designed. I can report that after the 10th or so time, when we finally took out the boss the satisfaction was immense. I'll likely try again!

Minotaar wrote:

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons?

It's been sitting on my shelf for a few years now, never played it. Your description makes me want to give it a try, though.

Minotaar wrote:

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons?

Hoping to try it this weekend with my kid. Are there options for difficulty adjustments
should probably just read the rules already

jigsawhc wrote:
Minotaar wrote:

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons?

Hoping to try it this weekend with my kid. Are there options for difficulty adjustments
should probably just read the rules already

The only difficulty adjustments I can think of get called "cheating" in some circles of thought.

Fredrik_S wrote:
Minotaar wrote:

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons?

It's been sitting on my shelf for a few years now, never played it. Your description makes me want to give it a try, though.

Likely you have a different Tiny Epic then, because this was a new kickstarter I just had arrive. Still should try it though!

Bubblefuzz wrote:

People are going gaga over Ark Nova here in the UK, with some paying over the odds for it too. Same everywhere else I wonder?

Love Ark Nova. My copy should be arriving in March. Have played a ton on TTS. Playing again tonight.

bhchrist wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:

People are going gaga over Ark Nova here in the UK, with some paying over the odds for it too. Same everywhere else I wonder?

Love Ark Nova. My copy should be arriving in March. Have played a ton on TTS. Playing again tonight.

Seconded. We've done it on TTS a few times, and it's spectacular - especially when you finally read the rules correctly!

Fredrik_S wrote:
Minotaar wrote:

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons?

It's been sitting on my shelf for a few years now, never played it. Your description makes me want to give it a try, though.

It only came out a couple of weeks ago, so as Minotaar states in a previous post, it's likely you're confusing it with another Tiny Epic game.

I do have a copy, but have yet to try it as my usual gaming group are more into 'dudes on a map' or heavy Euro games than dungeon crawlers. Nevertheless I do hear good things about it with the biggest hurdle being the rule book, which isn't very good apparently.

Aeoringas wrote:
Fredrik_S wrote:
Minotaar wrote:

Has anyone dipped their toes into Tiny Epic Dungeons?

It's been sitting on my shelf for a few years now, never played it. Your description makes me want to give it a try, though.

It only came out a couple of weeks ago, so as Minotaar states in a previous post, it's likely you're confusing it with another Tiny Epic game.

I do have a copy, but have yet to try it as my usual gaming group are more into 'dudes on a map' or heavy Euro games than dungeon crawlers. Nevertheless I do hear good things about it with the biggest hurdle being the rule book, which isn't very good apparently.

Honestly I think the rulebook is quite fine, there's just a lot of rules and iconography. It will definitely take a few failed runs before you're successful (at least, that's what it was for me and the several others I'd discussed with online). It's really well done for a quick and concise dungeon dive.

51st State Ultimate Edition on gamefound

One of my all time favorite engine builder board games by one of my favorite game designers (Ignacy Trzewiczek - Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Detective: A Modern Crime Game, Imperial Settlers) is doing a boosted "get everything" re-issue. The game that led to Imperial Settlers and Empires of the North. Ignacy went back and took what he learned over the years and re-published 51st State with tweaked rules and upgraded components back in 2016, as the original was very bare bones. Made it a better game than Settlers, IMO, but I love the Mad Max aesthetic. Looks like they are doing it again. Worth checking out if you have thought of picking it up or grab the Upgrade kit if you already have the Master Set. I am doing both, and giving my copy + Upgrade kit to my kiddo most likely.

13 days left to get in on it.

bhchrist wrote:

51st State Ultimate Edition on gamefound

One of my all time favorite engine builder board games by one of my favorite game designers (Ignacy Trzewiczek - Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Detective: A Modern Crime Game, Imperial Settlers) is doing a boosted "get everything" re-issue. The game that led to Imperial Settlers and Empires of the North. Ignacy went back and took what he learned over the years and re-published 51st State with tweaked rules and upgraded components back in 2016, as the original was very bare bones. Made it a better game than Settlers, IMO, but I love the Mad Max aesthetic. Looks like they are doing it again. Worth checking out if you have thought of picking it up or grab the Upgrade kit if you already have the Master Set. I am doing both, and giving my copy + Upgrade kit to my kiddo most likely.

13 days left to get in on it.

Thank you for posting this. I've always been interested but never pulled the trigger on any version. I might do that here, esp if it's been re-worked.

Played 3 games of Tiny Epic Dungeons today with the family.
Lost all 3 bug we had a good time overall.
First game we did ok but took a while learning everything and then we let too many enemies hang around.
Second game went very badly and we lost quick - got the wrong rooms at the wrong times.
Third game was going pretty well until a couple turns in a row of pushing our luck on the dice rolls went badly.
There is a fair about of luck because of revealing the tiles and dice rolls, but we all want to try it again
Plus the games are pretty quick so we can get in a few at a time.

jigsawhc wrote:

Played 3 games of Tiny Epic Dungeons today with the family.
Lost all 3 bug we had a good time overall.
First game we did ok but took a while learning everything and then we let too many enemies hang around.
Second game went very badly and we lost quick - got the wrong rooms at the wrong times.
Third game was going pretty well until a couple turns in a row of pushing our luck on the dice rolls went badly.
There is a fair about of luck because of revealing the tiles and dice rolls, but we all want to try it again
Plus the games are pretty quick so we can get in a few at a time.

I've played a bunch of it now, and can win pretty consistently - it did take many losses and understanding both how to use the torch to reveal rooms, when enemies will attack, which rooms you're hunting for due to deck construction, having the right attacks/spells, when to rest, etc.

Are you doing the stories expansion? The epic 3 level dungeon? That's a way to play that helped a lot for me, since it gives more opportunities to move the torch back up.

Minotaar wrote:

I've played a bunch of it now, and can win pretty consistently - it did take many losses and understanding both how to use the torch to reveal rooms, when enemies will attack, which rooms you're hunting for due to deck construction, having the right attacks/spells, when to rest, etc.

Are you doing the stories expansion? The epic 3 level dungeon? That's a way to play that helped a lot for me, since it gives more opportunities to move the torch back up.

No we did just the base game to start with but I'll check that out for next time we play.

Awesome! It's so fun, but it definitely had a few growing pains getting there.

Anyone played Spirit Island on Steam? They just released multiplayer beta, but just wondering how well it plays in general as a solo experience. Plus, it's on sale so I'm even more tempted.