Octopus Overlords

I played a couple of things for the first time yesterday.

King of New York. Not sure this is a compulsory upgrade for those with King of Tokyo but certainly brings a lot of fun to the table and has ways of interacting with other players in addition to punching them.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Embrace the wrongness of the theme and ham it up in order to enjoy this one. It was the highlight of the day's play for me.

Thanksgiving means boardgaming with the cousins. This year, it was drunken Tales of the Arabian Nights, followed by my first-ever Race for the Galaxy. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Race for the Galaxy, since card gamed are usually not my bag. It's a great system, though, and a very quick play once the rules sink in.

We engaged in an epic session of Robinson Crusoe & The Cursed Island.

We had already beaten the first two scenarios, so now it was on to scenario 3 to rescue Jenny, who was trapped on a small island after we shipwrecked. Goal - build a raft, rescue Jenny, and then build a lifeboat to escape.

For our first time back to the game in a couple of months, this scenario went just about as perfectly as we could have played it. We wound up rescuing Jenny with no problem, and got off the island posthaste. Later on that evening we identified a couple of minor rules mistakes we made, but also determined they would not have changed the outcome so we let it slide.

Next it was on to VOLCANO ISLAND! This scenario was much more challenging and by extension much more fun. The first round we made the mistake of taking too many gambles with dice rolls, and failed a couple of very important exploration actions. This put us behind in getting ahead of the volcanic lava, and we were eventually boiled to death in molten slag.

The second round we played a bit smarter. We explored some temples right away and were making steady progress on our goal to explore six tiles and three temples. However, this caused us to neglect building the johnny boat we needed to actually escape. Near the end we had one last ditch effort to explore the last tile, but I failed the roll miserably and we were doomed. Our camp cut off and surrounded by lava, we died a slow, agonizing death of starvation and dehydration.

That game is easily the best board game purchase I've made in a few years. While I still think the first (default) scenario is the most challenging of the ones we've played so far, Volcano Island was an incredibly tense scenario and really puts the pressure on to keep moving as the island is destroyed behind you.

Whooph. I had my friend over for board gaming with the kids and I. We usually play a variety of games. This time we tried Dominion first. I got it on sale last spring, but just played it for the first time last night (my being sick was responsible for the delay.) We liked it so much that we ended up doing Dominion for most of the night.

The only other thing we did was take a couple of hours out to test drive the D&D 5.0 rules. My friend played extensively in the 70s and 80s, but hasn't played since, and the kids have never played. I just threw a few rooms in a random dungeon at them for gits and shiggles (this was zero prep play), but it went very, very well. I love this rule set.

Played several games of Stratego with my 5 yo nephew on Thanksgiving day. He also requested to play Tikal. He managed a second place finish in one of our 3 games.

For late night gaming my uncle introduced us to Cards Against Humanity. My wife is still talking to me even after I made her say "anus" in front of her in-laws at least three times.
This game was fun the first time but I'm sure after the second or third game after it had loses its shock value it would be pretty boring.

My older teenage nephews and I had a Risk Legacy marathon on Friday night though Saturday. They desperately wanted to beat me but couldn't set aside their own mistrust of each other to make it happen.
I am World Leader Pretend, at least until Christmas.

Played a session and a half of Shadows of Brimstone. Very fun, look forward to it next time. Now that I've leveled up the Marshall, I'm desperate to get a few more sessions in to get my shotgun bonus at level 2 and the extra shotgun ammo upgrade. Those 2 upgrades are within striking distance (assuming hepcat didn't throw him under the bus at the end), and would make the Marshall's shotgun abilities an absolute beast -- each kill is another 10 xp, healing 1 health + 1 sanity plus a once a turn extra shot.

Fit in two games of Monster Factory today with my dad and the kids. The 5 and 7 year old enjoy how the monsters look enough that only a small amount of necessary rules enforcement is required. Only caught my youngest trying to avoid putting a "bad piece" on her monster a few times.

Anyone have favorite games for large groups? At Ertic's boardgame night, it seems like games that can accommodate 7-8 people without taking hours and hours to finish are in high demand. Shadows over Camelot is a go-to for 7 players, but isn't all that quick. Resistance/Avalon seems to be the only thing so far that really hits the sweet spot so far.

wonderpug wrote:Anyone have favorite games for large groups? At Ertic's boardgame night, it seems like games that can accommodate 7-8 people without taking hours and hours to finish are in high demand. Shadows over Camelot is a go-to for 7 players, but isn't all that quick. Resistance/Avalon seems to be the only thing so far that really hits the sweet spot so far.

8 = two games
7-8 with one group is party games

coopasonic wrote:

wonderpug wrote:Anyone have favorite games for large groups? At Ertic's boardgame night, it seems like games that can accommodate 7-8 people without taking hours and hours to finish are in high demand. Shadows over Camelot is a go-to for 7 players, but isn't all that quick. Resistance/Avalon seems to be the only thing so far that really hits the sweet spot so far.

8 = two games
7-8 with one group is party games

Battle Star Galactica is a 7 player game, and while a little long, is a great game.(I think you need at least one expansion for 7 players.)

Also, Resistance scales to 7-8 players, and goes up to 10 players. Also it is a cheap little game with little to no board, and just cards for the most part.

Bang can also be for 7 players as well.

Game of thrones is a fun game, but I think that only goes up to 6 games.

But I agree with coop, once you get to 8 people you can do two board games, and really at 7 I might do a two games as well. The larger games are sometimes fun, but they can bog down and take over a night of board game playing.

Pairs is fun with 8. We've played the Great Dalmuti with 8 players before, and that's fun. But they're both lighter games.

We've done Wits and Wagers with 8 as well, but that's venturing into Party Game territory. Sounds like you're looking for something heavier.

RMC wrote:Bang can also be for 7 players as well.

I'd probably go with Bang! the Dice Game over the card game -- supports 8 out of the box and plays fast. We only played with 4, but it's essentially die rolling with a bit of strategy.

If people are against dice, I've heard that Samurai Sword (3-7 players) is a better version of Bang! the Card Game, but you'd need to ask someone that has played both.

I played a couple games of Pandemic: The Cure, also known as Pandemic the Dice Game. Shockingly, it's Pandemic with dice.

I wasn't a big fan of Pandemic, but replacing cards with dice makes it play smoother and the push your luck element keeps it interesting.

Archinerd wrote:Played several games of Stratego with my 5 yo nephew on Thanksgiving day. He also requested to play Tikal. He managed a second place finish in one of our 3 games.

A 5-year-old played Tikal? That's impressive. My son (also 5) would never have the patience for that game.

Got in less games than I liked over the weekend, but still a few good ones. Highlight was two games of Cyclades, one vanilla and then a second with the Hades expansion thrown in. I won both, mostly by taking advantage of the various parts in play that let me swoop in from (seemingly) out of nowhere and build/capture two metropolises on the same turn. Both of my opponents were surprised, both times. I think this is what makes this game so interesting to me - the opportunities to win are usually a lot more available than you'd think, but you really have to pay attention to the god abilities, the creatures in play, and now the heroes/magic items/Hades with the expansion.

Did not get a chance to play Sheriff of Nottingham, which was rather disappointing.

Boudreaux wrote:

Archinerd wrote:Played several games of Stratego with my 5 yo nephew on Thanksgiving day. He also requested to play Tikal. He managed a second place finish in one of our 3 games.

A 5-year-old played Tikal? That's impressive. My son (also 5) would never have the patience for that game.

Yeah, he's great. I figure at this rate I'll soon have a regular opponent for all of my seldom played GMT wargames.

wonderpug wrote:Anyone have favorite games for large groups? At Ertic's boardgame night, it seems like games that can accommodate 7-8 people without taking hours and hours to finish are in high demand. Shadows over Camelot is a go-to for 7 players, but isn't all that quick. Resistance/Avalon seems to be the only thing so far that really hits the sweet spot so far.

Thunder Alley Plays 7. I've only payed with 4 so far though. My guess is it would be about 3 hours w/ that many.

Princes of the Renaissance also plays 7. It's out of print though so you'll have to beg, borrow, steal or make your own. Also, very cut throat so may not be for everyone.

7 Wonders is a great option for 7.

We used to run 7 player games of Arkham Horror and Citadels before Octocon. Battlestar Galactica is fun for 7 with expansions. Eclipse with expansions will run that many but be prepared for a LONG game.

Ladies and Gentlemen is supposed to be really good with larger numbers, since you're essentially playing two different, but interlinked, games simultaneously. Runs 4-10 players, and more is supposed to be better.

I've been wanting to try it, but haven't because I never get that many players together at once.

Zarathud wrote:7 Wonders is a great option for 7.

I keep forgetting about 7 Wonders, and I shouldn't because it's a great game.

hentzau wrote:

Zarathud wrote:7 Wonders is a great option for 7.

I keep forgetting about 7 Wonders, and I shouldn't because it's a great game.

That would probably scale pretty well without adding too much to play time.

Archinerd wrote:

hentzau wrote:

Zarathud wrote:7 Wonders is a great option for 7.

I keep forgetting about 7 Wonders, and I shouldn't because it's a great game.

That would probably scale pretty well without adding too much to play time.

In my experience, once the players know the game 7 plays just as quickly as 4. You're really only tracking the players to your left and right and your own hand.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig has been on my radar for a while now, but I didn't realize that it was actually out. My wife is an architect, so I think she might dig the whole arranging rooms to fit best thing. But we don't wind up having much time to play games these days, and she already thinks we have a lot. I'm thinking about getting it as a Christmas present to us from "santa", but I'm worried it'll wind up being like giving her a bowling ball with my name engraved on it. Decisions!

Has anyone played this thing? Any good?

It got some good plays and from the guys that I run into at gaming events, including the guy that developed Dragon Valley. You might also look at Dreaming Spires.

Isgrimnur wrote:It got some good plays and from the guys that I run into at gaming events, including the guy that developed Dragon Valley. You might also look at Dreaming Spires.

Yeah, I think Dreaming Spires is too abstracted to scratch the same itch. It's the tetris element of fitting differently-shaped rooms into the design that I think she'd be more into.

I understand that the Tetris element of Castles can be pretty loose. Players choose either to min-max appearance or points. I was told new gamers often ignore the points and are happy just on aesthetics.

Loose tetrising is fine, maybe better. I think what'd appeal to her is the having to fit the rooms together, and the fact that they're rooms with different functions and shapes that at least kinda relate to each other.

I'll get a kick out of putting the meat locker between the throne room and the library.

Just played through the intro scenario for Dead of Winter and another short one in two-player co-op. Believe the hype - that might be my favorite board game of the year. It's totally awesome how it's a zombie game that's not really about zombies - Robinson Crusoe with an undead patina. I have to believe once you add in the secret missions and betrayal options with 3+ players it's a totally different game. I mean, Robinson Crusoe is fun with 3 players but you're always working together. The idea that we have our own goals as players and that one of us might actually be out to cause complete chaos? That's fantastic (or potentially problematic).

Anyway, as someone that's only been following the various comments, I figured I should jump in - really, really good game. Would recommend - even just based on the co-op experience I had tonight. The crossroad cards added so much more.

Spent Friday night (until way later than I wanted to) teaching a bunch of scouts how to play boardgames. I was actually teaching the Game Design Merit Badge, but not a lot of teaching was done...a lot more game playing than teaching.

The hit of the evening was Legendary. I think about a half dozen games of that was played. We also got quite a few games of Crokinole in, some Memoir '44, Pairs, Traps and Treasures, Risk Express, and at least one more that I can't remember.

Biggest interest was actually in my Wild West town and minis as well as running a game of D&D, but I told them I wasn't in any position to run either of those games.

My son and I played Mage Wars on Sunday, and he finally beat me. This was our second game in three days and probably our 5th or 6th game total, and he is really starting to figure things out. He played Forcemaster, I was Warlord, and he threw just enough irritating enchantments at me to get me to play both of my Dispels. Once those were gone, he threw a Force Crush enchantment on me, then proceeded to damage me for 2 health every turn. It took awhile, but in the end that was the kicker. I had a chance to defeat him when I was down to 1 health left, but the die rolls didn't come through and Force Crush was my demise.

I'm torn between fatherly pride and thoughts of cold, sweet revenge.

My Fall Gaming Geeklist on BGG, noting that I am a 99% Euro gamer.

Been playing a lot of small world with my wife. It's new enough that every game feels different so far.

PLW wrote:Been playing a lot of small world with my wife. It's new enough that every game feels different so far.

I really enjoy that game. Luckily there are plenty of relatively cheap expansions to the game to keep it fresh for a long time. Which reminds me I need to pick up the newest one next time I'm at the game store.

Had an actual boardgame weekend with lots of games.
Short games: love letter, zombie dice, Guillotine
Chill-out games: King of tokyo, Dixit
Best games: RoboRally, Takenoko, Cyclades
Other medium length games: Carcassonne, Island
Worst game: Lord of the Rings (the cooperative game, not the card game though).

Not played games, despite having them hauled in a big-ass trunk: Starcraft, X-Wing, Mice and Mystics, Diskwars, Battlestar Galactica, Troyes, Flash Point: Fire Rescue.

Well I have added a bunch of fun new expansions to my board game collection this week, but no chance to try them yet! Wave 5 for X-wing came in, hopefully get a game in Friday, a new expansion for Small World arrived today (a spider's web, three new races and powers), and Rue Morgue, season 3 of Zombicide arrived today as well. So I need to get these new toys to the table as soon as possible!

Grabbed Project Ares from the last big sale at Tanga. Gave it to the boys yesterday as an early Christmas gift.

You remember how Othello billed itself as taking a minute to learn and a lifetime to master? This game is more the opposite, though I don't know about mastering it. The rules take quite a while to grasp, but the game play itself is fairly simple. We watched Tom Vasel's review before starting, which was helpful, then got in one game using the "basic rules." I suppose the ultimate judgment is that my (two older) boys got it out themselves this morning and played it on their own. I think we're going to like it, but there's still more learning to do to get the full scope of the rules.

Had my weekly 3.5 D&D game. This group is starting to grate on me. One DM and five players (including me.) The DM was stoned the whole time, as was one of the other players.

Another player, who has constantly shown himself to be a selfish, petty little person, brought a big box of Little Debbie snack cakes - one of the huge boxes. Another player asked if he could have one. He literally wrapped his arms around the box, huddled over it, and shouted, "No! These are mine! I brought them for me. They're expensive!" The price is on the box. They were $2.99 for 12. He does stuff like this every time.

Between Greedy, Weedy, and Stoney, not much got done.

Blackhawk wrote:Had my weekly 3.5 D&D game. This group is starting to grate on me. One DM and five players (including me.) The DM was stoned the whole time, as was one of the other players.

Another player, who has constantly shown himself to be a selfish, petty little person, brought a big box of Little Debbie snack cakes - one of the huge boxes. Another player asked if he could have one. He literally wrapped his arms around the box, huddled over it, and shouted, "No! These are mine! I brought them for me. They're expensive!" The price is on the box. They were $2.99 for 12. He does stuff like this every time.

Between Greedy, Weedy, and Stoney, not much got done.

Was this person under the age of fifteen? That's just really childish.

edit: if my own kids acted like that they'd hear about it from me.

Early 30s. Graduate student in engineering.

Man, I know gaming groups are hard to come by, but I'd start looking elsewhere.

Yeah, that doesn't really sound like it's adding value to your life.

It's getting to that point, but in a small midwestern bible belt town with under 4k population, and with the nearest gaming store about 100 mile round trip away, gaming groups are few and far between.