OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

EzeKieL · Post by **EzeKieL** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:59 pm

Good to know, I've got some people(6-7) coming over next week and was planning to play it... but with that result it might not be a good idea ^^.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:17 am

Well, keep in mind it's more of a social game than it is a gamer's game. If you're just sitting there, waiting for your turn and not enjoying the stories that other players are experiencing, you're not really enjoying the game the way it was intended.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:50 am

hepcat wrote:Well, keep in mind it's more of a social game than it is a gamer's game. If you're just sitting there, waiting for your turn and not enjoying the stories that other players are experiencing, you're not really enjoying the game the way it was intended.

That is true. My complaint with 5-6 players is just that getting through an entire game takes a long time, longer than most players (in my experience) can remain entertained. It definitely IS more of a social game, there is often no real rhyme or reason to how your game turns out. You can't really go into the game looking to "win", because often the results of the choices you make are a complete surprise. It's much more about the experience and seeing what happens and what stories are told.

Montag · Post by **Montag** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:13 pm

Really long weekend with much gaming action.

Played through Rolling Freight again. There is a good game, but it can take a really long time - especially with new players. I have no clue how this is supposed to be a 90 minute game.

Played several games of Suburbia and even the wives enjoyed it. There is quite a bit of variety with the different tiles. I think this is a winner. Each game played out differently with a variety of winning strategies. I see many games in the future.

Played a few games of Formula D and sucked really bad. I got so far behind I had to play aggressively and earned DNF place.

A few games of Quarriors, a couple of Agricola, and a smidgen of Caylus to round it off.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:49 pm

Does anyone here sleeve their cards? I've got all three D&D games (Ravenloft, Drizzt, Ashardolan), Gears of War, Tannhauser, Munchkin, Battleship Galaxies ,and Castle Panic. I play all of them with my kids, and it is only a matter of time until something gets spilled or sat upon.

I've heard of card sleeves that let the cards be handled normally while they're in them, but I don't have any way to check them out in person, as I don't live anywhere near a game store.

Can anyone recommend a brand that is both cheap and available online?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:55 pm

I like the Fantasy Flight protectors. I have my Netrunner stuff in their grey ones, and they're much better than the cheapies that I tried previously.

Fantasy Flight has a variety of shapes/sizes for different card types.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:58 pm

Some of the cheapest sleeves out there are from Mayday Games. They have some quality control issues from time to time, but are quite a bit cheaper than the competitors (FFG, Ultra Pro).

I don't normally sleeve, unless it is a deck builder with bad card quality.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:04 pm

I used Mayday to sleeve my Dominion set, and yes there were a bunch I had to toss because they were split prior to me using them. The ones I picked up are "premium" meaning they're a bit thicker and designed for handling and shuffling. I'm planning on doing it for my Marvel Legendary set as the cards are just way too thin for my liking.

EzeKieL · Post by **EzeKieL** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:37 pm

Played some Zombie Dice today and managed to win all three games!

Next we did Galaxy Trucker, it had been a while and it's also the first that time that someone ended with a 100+ score ^^.

We ended the afternoon with a King Of Tokyo game.

The people who played thought that KoT was the least fun, but that was probably because the winner didn't really realise she was winning, so it kinda came as a shock/surprise. Galaxy Trucker was a hit ^^

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 5:35 pm

I used to sleeve with Mayday but found out, with the number of sleeves that did not fit or were poorly made that it was cheaper to just go to Fantasy Flight. I also prefer the semi-rigid feel of FFG. Mayday sleeves tend to curl and crumple over the years too.

And I sleeve EVERYTHING as a game "collector." Except for Flying Frog Games, they use almost plastic cards that don't fit in sleeves.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 2:40 pm

Tonight, was in the middle of a heated game of "King of Tokyo" with the kids. Owen(9) and I had been knocked out, and Ellen(13) and Peg(17) were in the process of beating the snot out of each other. VPs were being completely ignored, just raw mayhem. Peggy hit Ellen for several points of damage while Ellen was in Tokyo.

Peggy: "So, are you going to stay in Tokyo, or retreat?"
Ellen: "RETREAT!!! YOU'RE GOING TO TOKYO, BITCH!!!" *gasps, claps hands over her mouth*

Stunned silence around the table, followed by laughing until there were tears and a very embarassed Ellen.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:12 am

OMG... I just look at the Sails of Glory KS page. Not at all fair. Way too expensive, but also way too cool.

But Wings of Glory is cheaper and looks pretty awesome too (although I'm not really happy about what you have to do to get the WWI rules and such). But here is a question - which is more fun, X-Wing or Wings of Glory? I have to admit, I love ships, planes, AND Star Wars!

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:38 am

I love Wings of War (Wings of Glory, whatever) for the pure simplicity of the game. No random elements (other than the damage deck draws), no "building the perfect squadron", just men in fragile planes going out and trying to survive. Thanks to having multiple pilot decks in WoW, the different types of planes have widely differing capabilities for maneuvering. It's a purely fun game.

X-Wing, well, that's a ton of fun too, but it has a major squadron building element to it, where you try and come up with the perfect combos of ships, pilots, and equipment. All the ships use the same maneuver templates, but will have variants as to which ones they can use and the stress elements of useing them. X-Wing plays a lot longer too. The games of X-Wing at Octocon (which, admittedly were pretty big games) ran 4-6 hours. But, Star Wars!!!

If someone were to ask me which one I would rather play, probably 6 times out of 10 WoW would win, just because of how fast I can get a game set up and finished.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:40 am

Saturday I entered a tournament for Malifaux at our local game store. Seppe and I have been building up our crews for a while so we figured we'd learn from some masters. The tournament on Saturday was being run as essentially three practice games for a larger mini's convention coming up here in the Chicago area later this month.

I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated about playing with folks who do this regularly, but the guy running the whole shebang was very adamant that the folks who were showing up were very easy going.

So I packed up my Guild crews, headed over to the game store and paid my 10 dollar entry fee.

Unfortunately, only two other players showed up (not including the "henchman" - Malifaux's name for folks who run events/organize game nights).

The first game I was paired up with a guy who used to play but hadn't been active in over a year. He trounced me, but not as badly as I was worried it would be. He was also quite polite and fun to game with. I learned quite a bit.

The second game I was matched against Seppe...and was losing horribly. Until the henchman popped up and started giving me pointers. Then I started making a comeback and I realized the numerous tactical mistakes I was making with my characters. The strength of Malifaux (for me) is that it plays almost like an RPG/Boardgame. Each figure has numerous abilities and you have to be aware of everything your characters can do. It's not a game of "rush to the center of the board and kill" (not normally...it can be in certain situations though, I'm sure). As we had told everyone that we were newbies and were there to learn, I was happy to get the advice.

Finally, I was set up with the guy who was a henchman at another game store....and someone who knows the game inside and out. A cop by day, he was very "take charge" in his approach to the game...

...and a complete joy to game with. I swear, there are some folks who can tell you how to do stuff in a game and it does not come off as a "know it all" stance whatsoever. He was so sincere in his attempt to help me have fun that after two minutes I stopped worrying about getting slaughtered (which was going to happen no matter what...he'd already decimated Seppe in an earlier game and Seppe had warned me I had zero chance of winning against him) and just started having fun and learning. Definitely the highlight of the tournament.

When it was all over, the prizes were given out. I was in fourth place (last) while Seppe was third. I was just happy to have had a chance to play, but was pleasantly surprised to be awarded a "sportsmanship award"...which turned out to be a limited edition figure you can't buy in stores and was easily worth three to four times the 10 bucks I had paid to play. Seppe got a figure he'd been drooling over earlier as well.

Zarathud stopped by with his daughters and his sister for a bit too. I think he's dancing around the idea of joining us one day...we're wearing him down, I think.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:49 am

The kids and I tried out Munchkin this weekend. It was a great experience. This wasn't because it was a great game (which is was), but because of the kids.

A couple of years ago when I started playing with them, they were still too young to appreciate games simply for the fun factor. If something would go badly for them in a game, they'd get upset to the point of wanting to quit. When they'd lose a game, there was a good chance that tears would be followed by a bout of moping. It wasn't their fault - they were just too young (I believe Caiden was only 6 or 7.)

As a result, we built up a selection of cooperative games where I wouldn't be pitting the brothers against each other. Initially, I tweaked rules to make it more likely we'd win, until they were used to simply playing, then I started removing the tweaks a few at a time. Now we play by the default rules, and losses come as often as wins. We worked together, and they learned to have fun regardless of the actual results of the game.

Munchkin, though, isn't just a competitive game, it is a game where you betray your friends and sabotage their efforts. If I had played an underhanded card that caused a winning hand they were excited about to lose badly a couple of years ago, that would have been it. If one brother had done it to the other, well - it would have been an ongoing hurt feelings match.

This time, though, they took it in stride, we hammed it up and we had fun. That's great news - having competitive games as a viable option greatly expands the number of games I can consider.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:03 am

My sister was shopping for minis while I picked up paint. Now that she's an avid fan of Star Wars, she might end up a miniatute gamer if her painting experience goes well. Turns out she likes the French fantasy (Malifeaux) and chibi (Super Dungeon Explorer) art styles more than Epic Fantasy (Reaper). The Reaper Chronomancer series did tempt her a bit, and she picked up a Reaper Cinderella and Druid. Now I need to find her a 16 year old angsty girl ninja dressed in street clothes and a non-epic sized weapon.

Painted more zombies and got the 3 and almost 6 year old involved painting ceramic ponies, cats and dogs. The older one turned down a dragon to paint for a Munchkin Duck of Gloom.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:09 am

There were a dozen or so Chronoscope pieces that were part of the new Bones line Kickstarter, which means that they'll be available for individual order within the next couple of months.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:18 am

Star Wars is fun at 80 point fleets but runs long over 100 points. The Octocon game had 250 points per side, so exhaustion was a factor even with 3 player per side. The gameplay speeds up towards the game end when only a few fighters are left. And it looks so cool on the table and you can't help getting carried away while playing pew-pew.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:20 am

Now you need to make up a non-infringing campaign based on the PC games.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:26 am

Zarathud wrote:Now I need to find her a 16 year old angsty girl ninja dressed in street clothes and a non-epic sized weapon.

I was about to say Zombicide has something to fit that need, but then I noticed you said street clothes, not street walker clothes.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:28 pm

Yea, I'm going to have her look more at the Reaper Chronoscope and Hasslefree Miniatrures. A toned down Sucker Punch inspired figure would be perfect. Nothing too ninja, epic or slutty. Basically, a nondescript teen with a sword you might overlook until she backstabs you.

Which is basically how she plays competitive games. She looks like she's not a threat until she's stolen the game. It's an art form.

Chrisoc13 · Post by **Chrisoc13** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:08 pm

My brother came in town this weekend so we got a lot of gaming in. I introduced him to Zombicide, X-Wing, and Lords of Waterdeep. He really took to Zombicide the most. I think we probably played it close to 8 times over the weekend. Of course two of those were abysmal failures where we simply died right away. He enjoyed X-wing quite a bit as well but I think at that point he was just itching for more zombie killing. Plus since it was his first time he didn't completely understand the squad building aspect of it and he had too many points locked up in one ship.

It was a great weekend of gaming, too many games to introduce him and his wife to in one weekend but since they are moving to Chicago in a few months I think I will have plenty of time to introduce him to more.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:29 am

Played a two player game of Tales of the Arabian Nights last night, and I am finding myself agreeing with hepcat, that it is a better overall game than Agents of SMERSH. Although at times, I must admit that it really didn't feel much like a game, and more like "Let's travel over here and see what horrible thing happens to me now." It seems to me that with SMERSH you have more tactical decisions to be made, like pursuing quests, gathering intel, finding minions, using resolve points, etc. It seemed that the only real tactical decision to be made in in Tales was how to pursue your quest (in addition to your responses to the encounters). You are presented with decisions by some of the encounters, but it still ended up feeling fairly arbitrary in my mind.

Still, I think I enjoyed it more than SMERSH. I certainly was entertained the whole game.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:59 am

Yeah, I have a category of games I call "Watch Chaos Theory in Practice (while drinking)". These are games where you either can't influence the outcome much at all, or are likely to lose no matter what, and the main goal is really to watch the crash happen while drinking a lot. Notable games in this category:

-Dungeonquest
-Tales of the Arabian Nights
-Talisman/Relic
-Space Alert
-Tsuro
-Galaxy Trucker

For any of those games, I try and set the players' expectations when I teach them. They usually work out well unless you get one of those guys who must win at all costs, and is convinced he can if he just thinks hard enough at it.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:07 am

Chaz wrote:
For any of those games, I try and set the players' expectations when I teach them. They usually work out well unless you get one of those guys who must win at all costs, and is convinced he can if he just thinks hard enough at it.

It would be amusing to watch someone like that play DungeonQuest several times.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:13 am

You haven't lived until you play DungeonQuest with a liquored up Trent Steel on full tilt because he's in last place. It was like participating in a study on irrational behavior.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:27 am

To be fair, entering the dungeon at all is irrational behavior.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:38 am

It's rational when I enter. My lot in life seems to be creating a series of dead ends so I can't get more than one tile away from the entrance. Something up there's watching out for me!

EzeKieL · Post by **EzeKieL** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:52 am

I'm having 5 friends over tomorrow and I'm trying to decide which games to play/

Problem is that 70% of my games are for max 5 players.

The possible games we can play are:

Zombie Dice: This is always a hit, so I'll probably stay with it.

Dragon's Gold: Like the interaction in this one, I've also never played it with 6. The treasure dividing phase with 6 people should be interesting ^^.

7 Wonders: A bit chaotic with more than 4 to be honest.. but I'll let them decide if they want to play it or not

Tales of The Arabian Nights: With 6 people this can take a loooooong time. If they want to try it, I might just use the shorter version where you use a combined 10 story/destiny points instead of 20.

Guards! Guards!: Won't play this one since I haven't played it myself yet.

Elder Sign: The box says, up to /(!) players. never tried it before, but might just give it a go anyway. Be interesting how it turns out?

King Of Tokyo: Will hit the table for sure!

Air King: Maybe to end the evening. Very light and luck-heavy game.

Battlestar Galactica: Is this doable if half the people don't know the series?

Jungle Speed: I don't like it and my table isn't suited for it, so that won't be played ^^

All in all, it seems I have more 6 player games than I thought ^^, any tips on what or what not to play?

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:00 am

In my experience, Battlestar Galactica is perfectly fine for non-show-watchers, and six players can make for a pretty awesome game. That's a rare game where I think it gets better with more people.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:05 pm

BSG is fine with non-show watchers - I think every game of it I've played has had some who watched and some who didn't, and I never heard a complaint in that respect. The premise is easy enough - "we're fleeing from robots some of whom can look human in an effort to sabotage the humans, and some of whom are programmed not to know that they are sleeper agents."

Also, BSG is a crazy awesome game. Definitely in my top 5.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:09 pm

El Guapo wrote: Also, BSG is a crazy awesome game. Definitely in my top 5.

+1

If you like BSG, take a look at Shadow Hunters.

We played quite a few games of it at the last Octocon and it really does the hidden player role mechanic of BSG and Werewolf justice.

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:46 am

Looks like I'm getting an iPad mini today and I'm looking for board game app suggestions. Not terribly interested in hotseat apps, just ones that offer decent AIs to play solo and/or online play. I know I will pick up Ticket to Ride and probably Small World... anyone have opinions on Alien Frontiers and Puerto Rico? Any other suggestions are welcome!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:01 am

You'll probably have better luck over here.

However, I will say Alien Frontiers is excellent, as is Elder Signs: Omens, San Juan, Stone Age and (even though it's not really a board game, it DOES have board game sensibilities) Battle of the Bulge.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:33 am

Also a big fan of Bang! on iOS. I never seem to be able to get 5 people together to play, but will gladly play a quick game on my Ipad.

Montag · Post by **Montag** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:13 pm

I do not have an Ipad, but a friend does. Tigris and Euphrates looked good. Fealty would be neat. Le Havre and Small Word are also available.

MythicalMino · Post by **MythicalMino** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:37 pm

Just played 2 games of King of Tokyo with my 2 boys....I won one, then the second game, got wiped. I don't know why we don't play that game more often...

Those of you that have it, what are your thoughts on the expansion?

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:24 pm

MythicalMino wrote:Just played 2 games of King of Tokyo with my 2 boys....I won one, then the second game, got wiped. I don't know why we don't play that game more often...

Those of you that have it, what are your thoughts on the expansion?

It's not necessary, but it adds some fun to the mix. Gives you mutations that you can spend those extra hearts that you roll to give you different abilities. If you can pick it up on the cheap, it's worth it, but it doesn't change the game that much. Just gives you some more options. And the nice thing is that the mutations are specific to the monsters.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:46 am

I played a 6 player game of the original AH version of History of the World.

Holy cow is that a marathon of a game. Just over 5 hours of play time with a fair bit of down time in between turns but still not able to leave the board.

I came stone-motherless last as I didn't draw an Empire that could reach further east than India and so missed out on any scoring opportunities on the eastern end of the board. I also got the Lose Button in the form of the United States in Epoch VII. I did enjoy holding a fortified Hindu Kush for the entire game repelling more than 30 attacks.

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:20 am

I think the best part about Power Up! for King of Tokyo is that it makes rolling hearts more attractive. If you're topped off on health, or in Tokyo, hearts are pretty useless, but with Power Up! you know you'll get a evolution card if you manage to roll three hearts. That might not sound like much, but it gives you a little more to think about on a given turn if you find yourself with two hearts you don't really "need"... do you try and roll one more? The permanent evolution cards are all about as strong as some of the standard upgrade cards, while the temporary ones you discard to perform an action do some pretty interesting things.