What sort of Board Games do you Play (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

I sent Gamewright a complaint today about the duplicate player marker we received and the different card sizes. The different size cards are mostly the new cards added to make "Party" with the original Sushi Go! cards, other than chopsticks, all the same size. I'll post any reply if I receive one.

**UPDATE**
Gamewright responded very quickly. They are sending replacement player tokens and cards. Hopefully the new cards will be cut properly. That's a 10-14 day process so I'll update once they arrive.

My house copy came in a couple of days ago and I can't decide if I want to open it or not... Partly due to expecting issues with the card sizes and partly because I normally don't open a new game until I'm about to play it.

 

[DaveF]

“Ars Technica’s ultimate board game gift guide, 2019 edition | Ars Technica”

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/12/ars-technicas-ultimate-board-game-gift-guide-2019-edition/

 

[DaveF]

I haven’t played much the past four weeks. Our regular gaming couple, who we’ve known and been playing with at least monthly for six years, moved to Oregon last month. Happy for them in this life choice, but sad for us. And between that and work and life, haven’t had the energy or interest in getting to the gaming group or playing at home recently.

Probably get back into it after the holidays.

 

[Tino]

Just got the card game “Cards Against Humanity”.

Anyone play it? Any good?

 

[DaveF]

Just got the card game “Cards Against Humanity”.

Anyone play it? Any good?

It’s a party game, meant for silliness and laughs, not for “gaming”. It’s like an NC-17 version of Apples to Apples. Its schtick is being offensive. It has its fans. I’ve played it. It’s not my thing.

 

[BobO'Link]

Horrified came in late last week. I spent the weekend at my son's house my youngest grandson's 6th birthday so didn't get a chance to play. BUT - my son, a gamer, pulled out Tsuro and Splendor saying "Pick one..." - well... I really don't care so throw the decision back to him. I've played Splendor, and enjoy it, but have never played Tsuro. He picks Tsuro.

That an interesting and fun game. A couple of years back he'd recommended it and I chose to purchase "San Fransisco Cable Car" instead thinking it was very similar with more involving game play. After playing Tsuro I'd say it's the same but quite different. There's room for both in my collection so Tsuro (or Tsuro of the Seas) goes on my wish list.

Best part about his selection is I beat him 4 out of 4 games. That's a rarity. He's a pretty good strategist but just doesn't see that board and possibilities like I do. It supports up to 8(!) on that board. It looks to be fairly tight even with 4 so I'd imagine with 8 it's a *very* tight game.

A few other games and expansions also came in:

"Terror Below" - I really like the Tremors movies and this is an unofficial board game version of the movies. Partly Ameritrash and partly Euro. Looks to be quite fun.

After finally playing Scythe with my son a few weeks back I purchased The Wind Gambit:

Can't wait to get this to the table! And I'm looking hard at "Invaders from Afar" - not for more players but for the different mats/abilities/colors.

The expansion for Imhotep - "A New Dynasty" (and I still need to get Imhotep to the table):

The Deus expansion "Deus: Egypt" (yet another I need to get to the table). I purchased this as it's hard to find and a bit expensive - I stumbled upon a copy at a good price (and it's a big box for what's inside - at least it looks like it'll all fit in the main box):

 

[Sam Posten]

Terror below is really fun. You must play it as evil towards the other players as possible tho =)

 

[BobO'Link]

I played Horrified today - once by myself and once with my 16yo grandson. It's an enjoyable game and surprised both of us by being a coop game we both enjoy. We've tried a couple of coop games and they just don't ding our bells (for the record: Forbidden Island and Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters and I've played The Grizzled with my son). Until Horrified there's not a single one of those I'd choose to play and will typically argue against them.

I first played a solo game and was pleased with how well it works. It plays fairly quickly and offered enough of a challenge on the "first game" selection of monsters to not feel like a cake walk. When my grandson and I played I selected a couple of monsters at random. We beat it but just barely. Had there been 3 monsters, the "normal" game, I think we'd have lost. The telling thing was him saying "I really like that one even though it's a coop!"

My son's home for a week for the Holidays. Along with Terror Below I hope to get this one on the table.

 

[Sam Posten]

Tried heaven and ale today. Took a bit to understand the economics but we really
Likednit

 

[DaveF]

“The 8 best board game apps of 2019 | Ars Technica”

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/12/the-8-best-board-game-apps-of-2019/

 

[DaveF]

Just played “Monopoly Gamer: MARIO Kart”

And it’s...hmmm...well...a kids game. This is really not my thing. I guess it’s not bad, but it’s really frustrating in that it’s a starvation game. You’re constantly gaining and losing money. There’s no apparent path to getting and holding properties, besides luck and random chance to stumble into a string of money grabs that put you far enough ahead to then hang onto,your wealth.

But despite having the fewest properties at the end, and never making any money from properties, I won the game, because initiall I was the only player able to compete in “Races”, which are the mechanic the game is really about.

On the positive side, the game has a set duration, of competing the eight races. And a race happens each time a player crosses Go. There’s no Monopoly-slog of grinding your opponents into bankruptcy.

It’s also a game where the accumulation of money is not the path to victory. Money is there to be spent on property and, more importantly, pay entrance fees to Races. But my young niece understands money,and wants to have more money, and didn’t grasp that money is to be spent, not accumulated, to win the game.

But, she loved fiddling with the little MARIO Kart racing figures.

 

[DaveF]

And I just discovered we were Monopoly MK very wrong, in a way that obviously makes it much more money starved. I guess that’s the risk of trying to learn and teach a new game with a fidgety kid.

 

[BobO'Link]

I've played a few more solo games of Horrified, all the "standard" game of 3 monsters, and barely won each. I discovered a couple of things I was doing wrong (one on the final monster battle and another on just who a monster attacks if there's a hero and villager in the same location) and got that corrected. Its not really impacted difficulty but I can see where, on certain monster combos, it can. More often than not it's a logic puzzle as to just how to move and when to play the very limited number of "perk" cards at your disposal. I've only won - every game - because I had a "perk" card that delayed a monster attack on me or a villager just long enough for me to move in for the kill.

I really wish the monster miniatures were a higher quality. They *look* very nice but several of mine need minor hot water adjustment treatment due to how flimsy and easily bent they are (about the same or slightly lower quality than standard plastic army men). These are *not* CMON mini quality by any stretch.

The rest of the components are somewhat a mix between high quality and higher than average American game pieces. The standees are sturdy in their bases and won't easily come out. Cardboard pieces are thicker types and quite nice looking (that includes the standees). The cards are average non-linen type cards as is the game board. The dice are molded custom dice (no stickers!). Everything is very attractively designed with nice, bright, colors and layout. The area in the box designed to store the cards is large enough for sleeved cards (I sleeved mine to make shuffling easier as the "perk" deck is pretty small). I still with they'd used mini-figures and custom sculpts rather than standees though.

The game practically screams "I need an expansion pack!" While there's variety in selection of 6 monsters and 7 heroes (6 if playing solo) I can see it becoming a bit stale after a while. There are a few user created monsters and heroes on BGG that look interesting.

It's tempting to try a 4 monster game. I have every confidence I'd loose simply due to barely winning the 3 monster ones I've played. But I think it'd be a very close loss.

 

[BobO'Link]

My son got a copy of "One Night Ultimate Werewolf" for Christmas and brought it to the house. He, my daughter-in-law, and I played a quick game last night. Meh... it's a party game that, IMHO, has a few issues that prevent it from being something stellar. There's a main section where specific player characters either look at or move around the "cards" (heavy tiles) on the table. Even on a table with a tablecloth it was fairly apparent when someone did this (very hard to do it quietly). There's an app that plays music and sound effects while a moderator goes through the motions needed (telling who when to open eyes and do their thing). I think it'd be quite helpful - or play music or other noise generators to mask player movement.

I figure we'll play this one again over the next few days. A bunch of relatives are coming over tomorrow and, hopefully, we can get a game of this - or anything else (even UNO - a game I hope to never have to play again) - going to get away from the same old, repetitive, conversations and stories.

 

[DaveF]

At my local gaming group, they play the One Night Werewolf game. They always use the app to run the process. They also play when it’s 6+ people interested.

 

[BobO'Link]

And... we just finished a 3 player vs. 3 monster session of Horrified. We won. Part of me wants to say "barely" but it was because there were 4 monster move cards left. We had 3 "hit points" left and were in no danger of using them all. We decided the "regular" game is just too easy and there's not that much challenge. My son and grandson are in no hurry to play again so I don't know just when, if at all, we'll find that out. I'll play by myself at some point - just because - and plan to do 4 monsters. I'm on the verge of saying it's more of a party game that's limited to 5 players as, after that last game, it seems to work better/well in a casual environment.

 

[BobO'Link]

At my local gaming group, they play the One Night Werewolf game. They always use the app to run the process. They also play when it’s 6+ people interested.

After a 3 person play I can see that more is absolutely better. While officially the minimum # of players, 3 just isn't enough. Your group's 6+ is more like what I think it should be as a minimum.

 

[DaveF]

Made a run to Target to buy (Settlers of) “Catan”. Needed a solid 3-4 player game to play at my parents and since we flew, we didn’t bring our bigger games. This copy will stay here for future visits.

“Ticket to Ride New York” was on sale so impulse bought it.

Played two games of Catan. Still love it, after 20+ years of playing.

 

[BobO'Link]

We still love and play Catan on a regular basis. I purchased the Seafarers expansion because it was intended for the original, full version, game but left out to reduce cost. I also purchased the 5/6 player expansion for Catan simply for the extra color choices and the occasional times there are 5 of us who want to play. We've played Seafarers once and I haven't been able to get anyone interested in a replay. I'd like to give it another few plays before writing it off.

Ticket to Ride New York is quite fun. It plays quickly, rarely over 15 minutes, and has much different strategy than the main TTR games. My 8yo granddaughter loves that one and Ticket to Ride London, similar but with a different bonus point mechanism. The London version also has a score track around the board - something that's missing from "New York." We lamented that omission with New York but when we started playing London, which has one, we found ourselves forgetting to use it. We'd gotten used to it not being there on New York and scoring works so easily that counting at the end is no big deal.

I introduced my 6yo dino loving grandson to "Dino Hunt: Bring 'em Back Alive" this morning. It's an OOP collectable card game based on dinosaurs. It's somewhat simplistic but every card has facts about the dinosaur depicted on the front so, if you wish, you can learn something while playing.

You have an allotment of energy each turn and use this to move your hunting party between 5 time periods and to hunt dinosaurs from that period. You roll dice to hunt with differing consequences if you miss, from losing energy to ending your turn early. Each dinosaur costs a certain amount of energy to "send home" once caught. You can move between eras and hunt dinosaurs until your energy is depleted, which ends your turn. Bonus cards given with each turn can help block other hunters or help your party.

I'd purchased this one to play with my 16yo grandson when he was about 10. He loved it then and his cousin really liked it this morning. I'm sure we'll be playing it again before he goes home later in the week.

 

[DaveF]

I bought Seafarers back when it first was released, and reluctantly concluded after a number of games that I didn’t like. It turns Settlers into a starvation-economy game, bringing out the worst of the Settlers for my playing tastes.

I also got the Cities and Knights expansion, I think it was called, back 15+ years ago. I played it once, liked it, and never played it again!

I think the Traders and Barbarians expansion is interesting, if only for the fish variant that gives a catch-up mechanism to smooth out pain of the dice hating you. It’s got other variants I’ve never played, though!

These days, Settlers never gets played except on holidays with family. It’s not brought out with gaming groups. But it remains a classic and enjoyable to me.