If you want a steep learning curve, try teaching race for the galaxy. Good game though.
The Board Game Thread
- Thread starter Diakonov
- Start date
My flatmate just bought me Power Grid for my birthday 
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Power Grid is one of those games that is both great and flawed, but once you get used to it the flaws seem to make it even greater. If you like the game, a lot of the expansion maps are way better then USA/Germany. I particularly like China, Spain/Portugal, and India.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
RftG is awesome. I wish I could play it more often.
Join me here, async style!
http://en.boardgamearena.com/#!table?table=12865567
If seats fill up with randos from not riptide, just message me and I'll kick someone. To pieces.
I just saw a board game called "Orient Express" in a charity shop. Boardgamegeek indicates it could be fun. I would like a few more games that are good with non-hardcore-board-gamers. Anybody here played it?
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Race for the Galaxy has been sweet.
There's a sweet mechanic where each player decides one phase of the turn to be done in secret, makes for some interesting next leveling
There's a sweet mechanic where each player decides one phase of the turn to be done in secret, makes for some interesting next leveling
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, that game is awesome. There are some pretty interesting expansions as well!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I was a little pissed about that actually, since there's a card in the base set which is based off how many "Imperium" cards, of which there are 3 in the 200+ card base set
Oh there's piles of them in the 3rd expansion. And the card is still decent, since it draws cards, but man did I have the wrong idea about how I was going to win that game
I picked up Roll for the Galaxy a couple months ago and have really been enjoying that. Even if you already own Race, it's different enough that owning both doesn't feel too redundant.
It's a bit more intuitive than Race, which does alleviate the intense learning curve for new players somewhat.
It's a bit more intuitive than Race, which does alleviate the intense learning curve for new players somewhat.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Each player chooses one phase to happen, each gets revealed at the same time, you do those phases (The one you chose you are better at, eg: if you pick draw, you draw 2, everyone else draws 1)
The Phases are
-Draw
-Play one Development (Continuous Effects)
-Play one Planet (Resource Building)
-Consume (Turn Resources into points/cards)
-Produce (Generate Resources)
Mostly Everything is played VIA discarding cards equal to it's cost.
You start with one of ~6 starting planets (Moar with expansions), and you keep taking turns simultaneously with other players until either
A) someone has 12 cards in play
B) Someone has earned enough victory points (based on # of players)
When one of those happens, you end the current turn, each player counts up how many points they have and someone wins (Cards are worth points, you can earn points, and there's settlers style longest road things to guide people's gameplay)
Pretty Sweet game, though you will need a game or two to get a grip on the game, since the cards are real heavy on the symbology, so there's basically no text. Once you get the hang of that though the cards are easy to read.
The Phases are
-Draw
-Play one Development (Continuous Effects)
-Play one Planet (Resource Building)
-Consume (Turn Resources into points/cards)
-Produce (Generate Resources)
Mostly Everything is played VIA discarding cards equal to it's cost.
You start with one of ~6 starting planets (Moar with expansions), and you keep taking turns simultaneously with other players until either
A) someone has 12 cards in play
B) Someone has earned enough victory points (based on # of players)
When one of those happens, you end the current turn, each player counts up how many points they have and someone wins (Cards are worth points, you can earn points, and there's settlers style longest road things to guide people's gameplay)
Pretty Sweet game, though you will need a game or two to get a grip on the game, since the cards are real heavy on the symbology, so there's basically no text. Once you get the hang of that though the cards are easy to read.
Wait... that sounds almost exactly like San Juan, right down to the discarding of cards to pay costs, as well as twelve cards in play being the end condition. You can whip through a four-player game of San Juan in something like 20 or 30 minutes, which is part of its appeal; is Race also a lightweight game?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
It's a relatively fast games for experienced players, but it has a pretty steep learning curve. I don't think I ever finished a game in under 30 minutes. It is however super awesome, and well worth the time investment!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Honestly the learning curve isn't that bad. Like I said it's real heavy on the symbology, but I had how to read these cards down after about one game.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I love the symbology. It's clear and concise, and I had no trouble picking up unknown cards after reading the first few. That said, not everyone's brain is wired like mine (and yours apparently), and some people will flounder for a few more games before they internalized the symbols. Also, the game is dense on decision points. That'll slow down a certain type of player as well.
Don't let any of this talk you out of the game though. Race for the Galaxy is one of the best games I own, and I own quite a lot.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
It helps a lot if you just level 0 your first few games. Damn thing would have taken near 45 minutes if me and my friends had tried to next level each other being all like "Well, I want to draw, but Heather is probably going to draw so I'll produce instead, but if she doesn't then I'm screwed..."
Fuck that. If y'all pick draw next turn comes up faster anyhow
Fuck that. If y'all pick draw next turn comes up faster anyhow
This might be too late but I just got Keyflower last week, I took it over to my friends' house and we played three games in a row, and I'm going again tonight to play some more. It looks cute and adorable but I think it can get pretty cutthroat.
Aoret
Developer
Glad you said this Eric because I was starting to think I was crazy. I haven't played RftG but I was unable to discern any difference between it and San Juan from the description.
It's a bit ambiguous from Chris' description, but perhaps the difference is that more than one player can choose a given phase to be better at? (and that they occur in a set order versus the order they're picked, ala san juan?)
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
I haven't played Keyflower, but Keythedral uses the same cutesy art scheme and is one of the most cutthroat games I've played. Almost everything you do in that game comes at the direct expense of someone else.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Each player chooses one phase in secret, the players then reveal them simultaneously. Only the chosen phases are played in that round, and each player gets a bonus in the phase he or she chose. If both players chose the same phase, they both get a bonus in that phase.
Aoret
Developer
Interesting! Oddly enough, I think even that small difference is enough to meaningfully change the game play. Without playing both a bunch of times I'm not even sure I could say which I prefer.
I've played San Juan only twice, but both times I found it to be very skill testing. Oh, and I completely agree that it can lead to a TON of trying to next level your opponents, and that level-0ing it at first is probably for the best.
I've played San Juan only twice, but both times I found it to be very skill testing. Oh, and I completely agree that it can lead to a TON of trying to next level your opponents, and that level-0ing it at first is probably for the best.