OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

[Skinypupy]

Finally broke down and picked up Descent 2nd Edition today. Played through the first few missions in the base app campaign, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Far more than I expected to, tbh. The app integration is excellent. Playing Imperial Assault first helped, since they’re basically the same game with a few minor tweaks and a different skin.

I’m running through it with two characters (Runemaster and Disciple), and it’s been challenging but doable so far. I’ve read that it gets much tougher as you go, and that two characters makes nearly impossible. I need to really learn how to play before trying to manage three or four on my own though. Keeping track of everything with two is tough enough. I failed my first non-tutorial mission miserably because when the game said “Place one Cave Spider”, I thought it meant to place a group of them (like IA does). I got completely overrun, realizing after the fact that it I was literally supposed to place ONE mob.

If anyone else plays, I’d love some thoughts on which are “must have” expansions. I see there’s a ton out there, just wondering which ones are worth it.

EDIT: Yeeeeeah...this game gets insanely difficult. Just tried the last quest in the first campaign, and got utterly destroyed with only two heroes. My heroes had a combined total of 20 HP (12 for one, 8 for the other), and there are ‘peril’ attacks that require you to spread 6 damage between the characters with no possible save. These happened three times in quick succession, so even without taking into account any monster damage from the hordes i was facing, simply mitigating the environmental damage took up nearly all my healing skills.

Will give it another go with some new strategy, but might have to implement some house rules as well.

[Smoove_B]

Haven't truly played a solo game in close to two months. Not exactly sure why; motivation has been low - just feeling generally burned out. Thought maybe I'd switch to painting, but that didn't really help either. Puttered around with game books and RPG stuff but nothing really grabbed me. Feeling a slight tug, I busted out Cthulhu: Death May Die for a full game. In truth, I had it set up a few times but then it ended up sitting untouched so I broke it down, probably two or three times in the last month. For whatever reason, this round grabbed me.



That's a few rounds in with Ian the WW1 solider and Beth the Nun. Both have brawling as a secondary skills, so they're nice and scrappy. I am a big fan of random draws, so whether or not these two continue to work remains to be seen.

I don't have much more to add than what YellowKing shared a page or two back - it's a blast. Unlike other Cthulhu theme games where you're trying to stop bad things from happening, this game starts with the bad thing happening and you're doing everything you can to try and make one final attempt to keep an Elder God from winning. I feel there's some freedom in that design choice as I always feel dread and frustration as bad things happen in these Cthulhu games and things get worse. The other interesting thing is the "dance" you play with insanity - trying to figure out the balance of going insane (because it levels up your skills) but not too quickly as if you reach the end of your track, you go completely insane. But it's so tempting to push the envelope as you're going to get more powerful and get more dice.

It doesn't play true solo, but running two characters isn't all that much of a problem. I'd be curious to see how this plays with 3-4 people; I suspect it's relatively quick and fun. As a solo game, I'm having a blast and the design (elements you can swap around) means there's a ton of replay in the core box. I also have the KS stretch goals (which is like 37 more characters) and the S2 box so this is likely dozens and dozens of hours of gaming. The miniatures are really high quality - some of the best I've seen in a long time from a manufacturer not named Games Workshop or Kingdom Death. My goal is to brush prime and then hit them with some contrast paints to see how they look.

Anyway, I know some have gone back and forth - definitely one I'd recommend. Relatively small footprint, high replay and quality bits. It also pulled me out a 2 month funk - there's value in that!

[$iljanus]

Just wrapped up the Hornet Leader game I’ve been documenting and I’m ready to bring Death Can Die to the table. The minis are really nice and I like the characters. Also ended up getting season 2 as well. I’m so weak.

Bring on the madness!

[YellowKing]

Anyway, I know some have gone back and forth - definitely one I'd recommend.

Glad you're liking it Smoove.

I won the first scenario on the second try with random characters, and got my tail soundly whipped in the second scenario even with a great start. Still, having a ton of fun with it. I've got about 70% of the minis painted - the investigators I posted here, Cthulhu, and all the Scenario 1 monsters. As per my usual, I just went with a "good enough for the table" look since I'm likely going to be the only one who sees them.

I haven't quite found the balance yet between playing cautiously and taking big risks. I tend to play a little aggressively because i'm so paranoid about the Elder God spawning before I disrupt the ritual. However, my losses have all been from going insane, not running out of time. I think I'm going to go ultra-conservative on my next run through just to see how I do in comparison. I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere, I just have to find it.

[hepcat]

Just wrapped up the Hornet Leader game I’ve been documenting and I’m ready to bring Death Can Die to the table. The minis are really nice and I like the characters. Also ended up getting season 2 as well. I’m so weak.

Bring on the madness!

I just ordered death may die core and season 2 as well.

[Daveman]

Finally took down expert Ultron in Marvel Champions this weekend. The Protection/Captain America deck I'd been using, that routinely handles expert Rhino and Klaw, kept coming up short against expert Ultron. It does fine, until near the end when there can be a lot of targets to handle and then it seems I can never draw Shield Toss. Switched over to Aggression instead and that did the trick first try.

Haven't tried either version of expert Green Goblin yet... I've been playing some of the other heroes against normal Ultron and the Mutagen Formula Green Goblin. I'm liking Ms. Marvel more and more, still don't care much for Black Panther or She-Hulk, and only have one game in with Captain Marvel. I also haven't touched or switched around any of the optional side schemes, still just using the suggested defaults. Might try adding in some of those next.

[hepcat]

6 games of Marvel Champions against Rhino...3 solo and 3 with 2 players. Number of wins?

0

[Daveman]

Hmm... I wonder if you're making some rules mistakes like I did early on, but in reverse as I was mistakenly making the game easier. Most notably:

1. When a player deck runs out and you reshuffle, deal yourself one encounter card (more on that below!)
2. When the encounter deck runs out and you reshuffle, add an acceleration token to the main scheme
3. When encounter cards are dealt (as in #1), instead of "revealed", they're dealt facedown to a player and left there. Toward the end of the next villain phase when all players are dealt an encounter card, you add that to whatever cards might have been dealt out earlier and THEN reveal them. Mutagen Green Goblin has an effect that deals out 2 encounter cards... that means that villain phase you'll have 3 cards per player to resolve (possibly more if certain side schemes are in play).
4. When the Villain attacks, you have to decide if you're going to exhaust to defend or use an ally BEFORE any boost cards are revealed... so you don't know exactly how much damage you might take.

I'm not sure how you could be making the game harder. The only thing I've read online once is that someone was drawing boost cards for the villain AND minions whenever they attack or scheme. Only the villain draws boost cards, minions only ever deal out their base printed values. That would really make the game a lot more difficult.

[hepcat]

3. When encounter cards are dealt (as in #1), instead of "revealed", they're dealt facedown to a player and left there. Toward the end of the next villain phase when all players are dealt an encounter card, you add that to whatever cards might have been dealt out earlier and THEN reveal them. Mutagen Green Goblin has an effect that deals out 2 encounter cards... that means that villain phase you'll have 3 cards per player to resolve (possibly more if certain side schemes are in play).

I think you're wrong on step 3. The rules state:

S T E P T H R E E — DEAL ENCOUNTER CARDS
Deal one card from the encounter deck facedown to each player in player order.

S T E P F O U R — REVEAL ENCOUNTER CARDS
All of the encounter cards dealt in the previous step are revealed and resolved, one at a time, in player order.

You reveal them the turn they are drawn, not the next villain turn.

But yeah, we've been playing it correctly. I did make the mistake of adding the villian's scheme rating to step 1 of the villain turn the first few games, which effectively boosted the threat points added each turn by 1. But the last 4 games I played we've had it right. Still no luck.

edit: although I DID just see this:

when a hero's nemesis enters the game, after the minion encounters the hero and the side scheme is placed, the rest of the cards go into the encounter discard, NOT shuffled into the encounter deck.

I did not do that!

[Daveman]

That does describe the steps of the villain phase correctly, but it's written with an emphasis on the single encounter cards that are dealt out at the time, during the villain phase. Certain things can result in encounter cards being dealt out during the player phase, like a player running out of cards in his deck, or certain other effects (like Mutagen Green Goblin entering phase II). When encounter cards are dealt out like that, look in the rules reference under "Deal an encounter card"... like a lot of other things, I hate how it's buried:

DEAL, DEAL AN ENCOUNTER CARD
During step three of the villain phase, each player is dealt
one facedown encounter card.
If a card ability instructs a player to be dealt an encounter
card, the player takes the top card of the encounter deck
and places it facedown in front of them. This card is not
revealed at this time. This card is added to the queue of
cards that player resolves during the villain phase.
• If a player is dealt an encounter card during step
three or four of the villain phase, the extra encounter
card is added to the queue of cards that are being
dealt and revealed in those same steps.

Emphasis there is mine. I was dealing them out and resolving them at the time during the player phase, which sometimes made them easier to deal with. They should all be stacked up and resolved in a row, during the villain phase.

[Tao]

I have only played against Rhino so far in Marvel Champions, I became obsessed with beating him using the default Spider-man and/or default Captain Marvel. I don't know how he stacks up against the other villains but his default deck sucks and is, IMHO not well designed or balanced. Playing against Rhino with one hero, he can end the game in a single villain turn with relative ease. Seven threat for Rhino is a joke and he can easily dish out 10+ damage. It's not quite as bad with 2 heroes as that helps mitigate the one turn threat wins but still bad.

After ranting in this thread over several posts I boxed up the game and left it to sit on the dining room table, however I finally succumbed to it's taunting and mocking. I went back and played another game using both Spider-man and Captain Marvel and did finally beat Rhino. There were definitely 2 or 3 points in the game where I was very much on the ropes hit point wise, with one hero of the other down to 2 or 3 health and thinking I was about to lose with the next card draw, but I managed to pull out a win. I would love to say I had a revelatory moment or some epiphany where the game finally clicked but truth be told, I simply got lucky with card draws. Oddly it wasn't the hero cards that got lucky, it was that Rhino finally didn't get good cards every round. I now plan to try some other Hero/Villain combinations in hopes I find the game a bit more fun.

[hepcat]

That does describe the steps of the villain phase correctly, but it's written with an emphasis on the single encounter cards that are dealt out at the time, during the villain phase. Certain things can result in encounter cards being dealt out during the player phase, like a player running out of cards in his deck, or certain other effects (like Mutagen Green Goblin entering phase II). When encounter cards are dealt out like that, look in the rules reference under "Deal an encounter card"... like a lot of other things, I hate how it's buried:

DEAL, DEAL AN ENCOUNTER CARD
During step three of the villain phase, each player is dealt
one facedown encounter card.
If a card ability instructs a player to be dealt an encounter
card, the player takes the top card of the encounter deck
and places it facedown in front of them. This card is not
revealed at this time. This card is added to the queue of
cards that player resolves during the villain phase.
• If a player is dealt an encounter card during step
three or four of the villain phase, the extra encounter
card is added to the queue of cards that are being
dealt and revealed in those same steps.

Emphasis there is mine. I was dealing them out and resolving them at the time during the player phase, which sometimes made them easier to deal with. They should all be stacked up and resolved in a row, during the villain phase.

I still read that as saying you reveal them, one at a time, during step 4 though. Which means all of them are revealed in the same villain turn they're drawn.

[Daveman]

I still read that as saying you reveal them, one at a time, during step 4 though. Which means all of them are revealed in the same villain turn they're drawn.

Here's a step-by-step example of how this can work out. Again, the main point is that you can be dealt encounter cards outside of the villain phase. Also for completeness I think the game refers to a "round" as being the player phase (when all the player stuff happens) and the villain phase (when all the villain stuff happens).

So round starts, player phase:

1. I deal damage enough to reduce Phase I Green Goblin to 0 HP. I then reveal Phase II Green Goblin which says "When revealed, deal 2 encounter cards to each player". I then deal myself 2 facedown encounter cards that are held, in a queue. I don't look at them or resolve them now.
2. I finish all I want to do and redraw my hand. While doing so, I run out of cards in my player deck and have to reshuffle. This causes me to deal myself 1 encounter card. Like above, this card is dealt face down, I don't look at it or resolve it.

Player phase is over, Villain phase begins (in my mind, this is the "next" villain phase after I had to draw those 3 cards)

1. Add threat to the main scheme according to its rules
2. Villain and minions attack/scheme
3. I deal myself 1 encounter card, which is added to the other 3 I gained in the player phase.
4. I then resolve, one by one, all 4 of those encounter cards.

Villain phase is over, round is over.

[hepcat]

Okay, I see the confusion. You're discussing encounter cards drawn OUTSIDE of the villain phase. I've never had that happen. I don't even think Rhino has any cards that do that.

I was really hoping you were saying that you only resolved one encounter card per villain phase, but alas that is not the case.

[Daveman]

No, sorry... not that easy. Also my example is a worst case one. If my deck was running low I'd likely put off pushing Green Goblin to phase II till next round rather than get all those extra cards at once.

There are also some cards out there that instruct you to deal a "facedown boost card". I wasn't really sure what that meant when I first saw it but essentially it means you take the top encounter card and put it facedown near the villain. The next time he attacks or schemes, that facedown boost card is revealed and it's boost symbols are added to the boost card that's drawn normally.

[Tao]

The most common time, I believe, you will draw (and hold) an encounter card outside of the Villain phase is when the player/hero needs to reshuffle their deck, in which case you draw the encounter card and leave it face down in front of the hero until the normal encounter phase.

There is quite a bit of online discussion around whether milling your hero deck is beneficial or detrimental based on this mechanic.

A full round is both Hero and Villain - an easy example is when you play Nick Fury. The card text says to discard at the end of the round, which is the end of the Villain phase making him an ideal ally to block with since he will be discarded anyway.

Also, Daveman, not sure where you got your info on playing Nemesis cards but I believe Shadow of the Past is the only way for the Nemesis to trigger (initially) when fighting Rhino and the card text specifically states to play the Nemesis, the Side scheme and then shuffle the rest of the Nemesis set asides into the encounter DECK, not the discard.

"When Revealed: Reveal your set-aside nemesis minion and put it into play engaged with you. Reveal your set-aside nemesis side scheme and put it into play. Shuffle the rest of your set-aside nemesis encounter set into the encounter deck. If your nemesis minion does not enter the game this way, this card gains surge".

[YellowKing]

Now I feel bad because I totally missed that rule. I've never drawn an encounter card for a reshuffle.

[Daveman]

Also, Daveman, not sure where you got your info on playing Nemesis cards but I believe Shadow of the Past is the only way for the Nemesis to trigger (initially) when fighting Rhino and the card text specifically states to play the Nemesis, the Side scheme and then shuffle the rest of the Nemesis set asides into the encounter DECK, not the discard.

That was Hepcat, not me. I thought that his quote wrong (unless this was another rule I'd screwed up) but only had the online PDF in front of me and wanted to check the card at home.

Now I feel bad because I totally missed that rule. I've never drawn an encounter card for a reshuffle.

All part of my list of screwups so you're not alone. There's no reason why that and the acceleration token being added when the encounter deck reshuffles shouldn't be in the Learn to Play guide, instead of buried in the Rules Reference.

[hepcat]

This is what I quoted earlier:

when a hero's nemesis enters the game, after the minion encounters the hero and the side scheme is placed, the rest of the cards go into the encounter discard, NOT shuffled into the encounter deck.

And this is from the rules:

NEMESIS SIDE SCHEMES

If a card instructs a player to put a nemesis side scheme into play, the nemesis side scheme associated with the player that drew the card is placed in the play area, and their nemesis minion is put into play engaged with that player. The other encounter cards associated with that nemesis are placed in the encounter discard pile.

So the quote I put up was correct, I was just noting that I had been playing it wrong...until I realized that the card that the Rhino uses to get nemesis cards into play DOES in fact direct you to put the rest of their cards into the draw pile, not the discard. So once again, I'm playing it correctly...but obviously very badly since I keep losing.

[Daveman]

Ack, yes you're right... the learn to play guide does say that, even though that contradicts the only card that currently puts a nemesis set into play (it's a "standard" card that gets put in any encounter deck, not just Rhino). The rules reference doesn't mention any of that, essentially just saying a nemesis set is put aside and comes into play when, and according to, a card says to put in play.

I'm thinking that entry in the learn to play guide is a misprint. If it's meant to teach you how to play the core game it goes against what the card in the core game says. Future sets might do things differently but that's what their cards and the rules reference will settle. I believe they've said the Wrecking Crew doesn't use any of the existing standard, nemesis, or obligation cards, only whatever cards come with that expansion.

Between this, and the lack of any mention of the "reshuffle deck" penalties that learn to play guide is a bit of a mess

[$iljanus]

Looks like Death ain't dying today but my investigators might be...



Elizabeth was my pistol packing mama with the pistol item and a lv 2 marksman skill. Unfortunately she's also dead now. I guess she got off lucky. Time for Sister Beth to go out in a blaze of madness and glory!

[Smoove_B]

It does feel like this game could be subtitled "Well, that escalated quickly..."

[$iljanus]

It does feel like this game could be subtitled "Well, that escalated quickly..."

Yeah it was manageable in the beginning as I got a feel for the game but my investigators were too far apart to support each other and after a few mythos cards, bam! Hell unleashed on earth!

[YellowKing]

I "won" the second scenario tonight with Borden and Elizabeth, but it deserved a heavy asterisk beside it. I'm pretty sure I forgot at least once to spawn new Cultists when Cthulhu advanced, and I'm also fairly certain I forgot to take a Sanity off of Elizabeth at the end of Cthulhu's Stage 3, which would have killed her before she took her final action and defeated him.

However, I'm just going to fudge it and move along. I kind of consider this whole Cthulhu campaign as training for my "real" campaign against Hastur. Because Hastur's my boy. The King in Yellow. One might even say a Yellow.....King.

And I LOLed at Smoove's subtitle. Yes, it is insane (no pun intended) how quickly things spiral out of control. Once the Elder God spawns, it pretty much feels like you're just haphazardly throwing everything at him in some vain hope to somehow kill him before you die horribly. It has a bit of a weird pace for a boardgame, but at the same time it's so thematically accurate you can't fault it. And I certainly can't argue with the play session time, which is short enough that I can usually finish a game in one sitting and not have to worry about pausing my progress.

[Smoove_B]

Yes, it is insane (no pun intended) how quickly things spiral out of control. Once the Elder God spawns, it pretty much feels like you're just haphazardly throwing everything at him in some vain hope to somehow kill him before you die horribly.

Case in point. I destroyed the 4th lab, and this is the end of the second turn after that happened:



Prior to that, the whole first floor was empty except for a Star Spawn and nothing was on fire. Two turns later, it's an inferno filled with cultists, a Fire Vampire and Cthulhu.

When Cthulhu spawned in I punched him to death in the first round. However, that caused him to reappear elsewhere *and* the track advanced at the end of the turn, spawning in another Fire Vampire and more Cultists. Sister Mary Beth went totally insane and now Ian is teetering on the edge. Not sure how I'm going to make it through two more rounds of Cthulhu, but I guess Ian will go down fighting.

Trying to figure out the interplay between managing stress, sanity and health is interesting. Ian's OCD has him resetting stress to match health (which can be helpful) but it also has him discarding items unless you have the same number on both sides. I found lots of great stuff but had to keep losing it. Just another variable to add to the mix!

[YellowKing]

I was reading the forums on BGG and one guy pointed out that new players tend to be too cautious out of the gate, and you're better served building up a little bit of sanity and getting a skill or two up and your first green die. From that point you can then play the hit hard/rest up pattern as you work on the ritual.

I think the implication is that disrupting the ritual too early, which intuitively sounds good, is akin to rushing through a dungeon with your level 1 characters to fight the dragon waiting at the end. Ideally you want to time it so that you're disrupting the ritual right as your characters "git gud" and have the attack power to hit the Elder God hard.....but before your sanity loss has a chance to do you in.

Easier said than done, I know. That window of opportunity is very narrow.

I'm now torn on whether or not to go ahead and buy Season 2, even though I'm not even halfway through Season 1. The addition of 10 new investigators is just SUPER tempting.

[$iljanus]

I'm now torn on whether or not to go ahead and buy Season 2, even though I'm not even halfway through Season 1. The addition of 10 new investigators is just SUPER tempting.

My copy is upstairs at the moment but the season 2 investigators seemed pretty cool along with some of the settings in the new episodes.

Just click add to cart already!

2nd time around I got most of the rules correct, It was easy to forget steps once the Elder One comes on the scene and you have to keep track of the stages. Slowing things down and reading everything carefully helped. Made it all the way to the final stage and even did a lot of damage to Cthulhu before slipping into madness. Fun times!

[Isgrimnur]

How the fuck does a fire vampire become a thing?

[Smoove_B]

They're totally a thing. And I pummeled two to death!

[Isgrimnur]

How the fuck does he spring from the darkness when he’s lit up like a Victorian street corner?

[$iljanus]

How the fuck does he spring from the darkness when he’s lit up like a Victorian street corner?

It’s madness I tell you! MAAAAADDDNESSSSS!

[hepcat]

I'm now torn on whether or not to go ahead and buy Season 2, even though I'm not even halfway through Season 1. The addition of 10 new investigators is just SUPER tempting.

My copy is upstairs at the moment but the season 2 investigators seemed pretty cool along with some of the settings in the new episodes.

Just click add to cart already!

That’s what I did with the rest of my amazon gift card money. I played a game last night and had a blast. So I immediately ordered the Yog Sothoth elder god pack too. It was only 20 bucks with prime shipping on amazon. Even cheaper than coolstuff.

Even though the game isn't really close to being as narrative driven as the great Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, it creates a credible faux narrative experience with the scenario packs and Elder God expansions. I look forward to finding out what I get during an explore, what monsters I'll be facing, etc.. And the fact that I have 20 different explorers with at least 1 unique skill set during each game makes it seem even more fresh during each play.

It felt kind of like the Street Masters version of Mansions of Madness while I was playing last night. But I was two margaritas into my game by that point, so who knows.

[Daveman]

The Wrecking Crew expansion for Marvel Champions was delivered yesterday and I've fought them 4 times now. I'm enjoying it a lot but it is a much more complicated encounter than any of the others. You're fighting 4 villains all at once, each with their own permanent side scheme. Needs a lot more table space as each villain has their own card, smaller encounter deck, etc. There is a "must-prevent" main scheme but threat builds up on it very slowly, while any villain scheming is directed toward their personal side scheme. When any one reaches 10 threat, something bad happens and it resets to 3 threat. Defeat a villain and their side scheme and small encounter deck goes away. Defeat all 4 villains and you win.

While you're free to attack any villain at any time, only the one with the most threat on their side scheme is the "active villain" that will attack or scheme in the villain phase. So you're trying to both fight the villains to knock them out, but also reduce threat on the side schemes you most want to prevent. The villains have all sorts of cards and effects that swap threat around or activate another villain out of turn so you can't be completely sure the villain you expect to attack actually will. Not often, but just enough that you need to try to cover all options.

The expansion is played solely with the cards from the expansion. You don't add a hero obligation card or need their matching nemesis set, nor do you need to add in the standard/expert cards or a modular side scheme set. It's just you vs. the 4 villains trying to break out of prison.

The game has a variable difficulty setting. Each of the 4 villains has an A and B side. Playing all A sides is standard, all B is expert but you can mix and match A and B to your liking. Or, you can play where each villain starts out on A and then graduates to B. I played standard and expert and thought they were very simple, but A+B is a very strong challenge. 1 for 2 against it so far.

[Smoove_B]

I've been trying to condense and organize in my office as space was becoming an issue. While doing to, I came across Gloom of Kilforth, a game I hadn't touched since it was packed up for my move (last spring). It felt right, so I busted it out and have been playing it all week long (and having a blast). I don't see people speaking about it much, but I can appreciate it had a small print run and it's based out of the UK. However, the stand-alone (but fully backwards compatible) sequel is due to be delivered in the next month, so copies of this game should also be available for bit.

This is my leveled-up Half-Elf Scout (randomly selected by the way, totally a cliche accident), having just defeated an orc ravager and then slipped back into the shadows (that little broccoli meeple)



In short, it's a card-based RPG-ish game that has you trying to defeat an ultimate evil by completing a series of quests and then confronting them in combat. While you're moving around the map (a game world made of 25 different randomly placed cards), you have encounters, find treasure and potentially level up. Everything is based off of a "key word" system - all the cards have identifying words on them ("Place"; "Quest"; "Item") and in order to complete saga and progress, you need to have cards in your hand (that you win during combat or by passing skill checks) with those matching key words. Here's an example of the first saga I completed:



The keywords I needed are on the bottom of the saga card, and each of the three cards after has one of those keywords to help me progress. Basically, I found a secret healing pool and then ran into a lost noble. While escorting her back to civilization we were ambushed by raiders. After defeating them, I was discovered information about what I needed to do next (saga 2). Note, none of that was spelled out for me - it all emerged randomly as I was moving around and discovering/exploring the world.

And that's what I love about this game - the story that unfolds from the randomness. It's not a complex game (everything is resolved with D6 rolls where only 5/6 count as successes) and the wooden components feel a little off - I think tokens would have been fine. It was created as a MP game, but it can be played true solo (which is what attracted me to it in the first place). I'm taking my time, but I bet with practice I could finish a whole game in 90 minutes - another bonus. The game lasts 25 turns and there are 25 map cards. Each round one falls into Gloom and if you don't defeat the main evil before then, it's game over.

It's not as crunch as something like Aventuria, but the abstract nature (for me) works. The art is also bananas - probably some of the best I've ever seen in a card game. Definitely rooted in high fantasy. Feels a little Tolkien but slightly darker. With the randomness of character creation (you pick a class and race), I feel like there's a lot to explore. Would recommend as a solid solo game.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I recently dived into Arkham Horror LCG - Super Complete Edition by way of Tabletop Simulator (TTS) and have been enjoying it immensely. I dabbled with the physical version in the past, but the TTS version makes everything so much easier and more convenient. It's really well done, and the vast amount of included content and expansions is just outstanding. The way you can quickly set up campaigns or scenarios with just a mouse-click or two is mighty impressive indeed.

For anyone interested, I suggest first watching the Arkham Horror LCG on TableTop Simulator Tutorial video along with the subsequent useful tips video. And if you need to learn the basics of how the game is played, here's a helpful playthrough and tutorial vid.

[YellowKing]

I may have to check that out. i finally gave up on the game because of the cost and not being able to keep up with all the content.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I may have to check that out. i finally gave up on the game because of the cost and not being able to keep up with all the content.

Yeah, that's perhaps the most impressive thing about the Super Complete Edition. It definitely lives up to its name, and includes pretty much everything there is for the Arkham Horror LCG, even fan-created content. I suspect you'd have to spend prodigiously to acquire and print equivalent physical versions of all the included content. It also includes built-in support for ArkhamDB.com so the deckbuilding side of the game works splendidly.

[tylertoo]

I was able to spend virtually the entire day today on Gloomhaven. I haven't had a day off like this in ages -- usually I'm like to get in two hours of board games.

I worked my way through scenario 14 (after an earlier, unsuccessful try) and then moved to 19, which is

Spoiler:

a huge, five room scenario with spawning monsters.

I ran out of time to finish, and I don't think my Scoundrel and Brute will make it -- gonna be pretty close. I'm using Gloomhaven helper and the other app that reveals each scenario gradually. I'm keeping track of campaign-level stats on sheets I found on BGG, stored in a spiral notebook along with some flowcharts and other play aids.

[hepcat]

Found a copy of Phil Eklund’s Bios: Origins 2nd edition at a local discount game store. For 30 percent off I had to pick it up.

Played two solo games of it over the weekend. While fun, the solo experience is a bit hobbled by the loss of many of the advanced rules that sound fun. Still, I enjoyed it enough to play it twice.

It’s a really crunchy civ game with Eklund’s usual emphasis on thematic abstraction. It’s played over 4 epochs, and you play pawns from you “brain placard”...from your free will area on the placard, to be more precise...to each epoch’s selection of idea cards. At the same time, you’ve got a big map with resources you can build cities on. These cities give you VP, but they also serve as prerequisites for many of the later ideas.

At the end of each epoch, you get to score a few things when that epoch’s comet card comes up in the deck. The 4th comet card ends the game and you do the final scoring.

It’s got a lot of small rules to remember when playing, but overall I found it to be one of Phil’s more accessible games. Most of the rules make sense after a turn or two, whereas many of his games I don’t fully understand until I’ve played it two or three times.

I wouldn’t buy this just for the solo, to be honest. It’s a pricey game unless you find it on the cheap. But I think with the right group, this one could be a lot of fun. Although it does have quite a few. “screw the other players” rules built into it to make it more competitive. So it could be the last game you’d want to play with a sore loser. Thankfully it also comes with a coop variant if you don’t have a choice in who you play with.

[Tao]

I ordered Mechs vs. Minions from Riot Games a few days ago and it arrived this evening. I am extremely impressed with the component quality as well as the very well thought out storage for the game. I played through the tutorial and so far I am really liking the game play and concept. I have some folks coming over on Sunday specifically for some board gaming and I can't wait to get this to the table and start opening the missions. So far $75 bucks well spent.