The Board Game Thread

[Eric Chan]

FSR, could you recommend some of Reiner Knizia's games? I see a bunch of them every time I peruse the selection of board games available on my iPad, but I can't tell what's what.

Speaking of which, anyone else find that tablets are a perfect platform for board games? I can't stand playing action, racing, or role-playing games without either a controller or a keyboard & mouse, but a large touch screen matches up really well with turn-based games.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

I already recommended Amun-Re and I'll stand by that one.

Basically all of his auction games are good, except Strozzi. Strozzi feels like a parody of a Knizia game. The scoring system is typically interesting like most Knizia titles, but absolutely nothing else about the game is interesting at all. The auction mechanic belongs in a 20 minute filler and does not stand up to 3 long rounds of play.

Medici is a lot of fun and has a lot of play to it for a single mechanic game. The valuations are so damned opaque at first and the second you get used to them the relative values of everything changes and you have to figure it all out again. Medici scores often vary wildly as players struggle to make sense of the system and it stands up to repeated plays extremely well. Whether you are bidding too low or too high, you are pretty much always doing it wrong, but if you do it less wrong then everyone else you might just win by 20 florins. Its a very fun game. Best with 6

Stephenson's Rocket is Knizia's thickest game, where you have three different types of pluralities to manage. Obviously you can't be ahead in everything, so the trick is to manipulate the situation so that your pluralities are worth more, but of course the only way to do that is to make sure the other player's actions help your position. This ranges from subtle decisions on where to concentrate resources and being able to predict where mergers will be forced, but it also comes through the blunt force of the veto mechanic. This is a no hidden information, no random element fight for inches and it is excellent, but not something that really has much casual play appeal. Best with 4

Quo Vadis? is a pure negotiation game and probably the best one ever made. It plays in under an hour (unless you have some very stubborn/slow negotiators) and cuts to the chase without any extraneous mechanics: if you get a majority of votes in a room, you move to the next room and get points. The struggle to make it to the last room vs. the struggle to get enough points is delightful and the extra bargaining chip of the Caesar token ensures that no one will have a dead turn. I love when the bonus chips run out and the game gets super serious as all of the margins instantly turn razor thin. Some people don't like negoiation games inherently, but if you even sort of like the idea of them, this game fixes a lot of the problems the have, which is ironic because it was one of the first. Except for Diplomacy of course which came out 34 years earlier, but that's a monster game that can take over 5 hours. Best with 5

I have no idea if any of those games have an App, but Samurai does and its a very fun game too. Super strategic, best with 2 players.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

Anybody else play Hyperborea yet?

 

[Jonas]

I played it at Essen. It was pretty interesting, but I ultimately decided not to purchase it, because it wasn't special enough, if that makes sense.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

Yeah I can see that. Had fun with it the few times I've tried it

 

[Diakonov]

So I ended up getting:

Terra Mystica
7 Wonders: Cities
Android: Netrunner
Jungle Speed
Camel Up

 

[James Stevenson]

So I ended up getting:

Terra Mystica
7 Wonders: Cities
Android: Netrunner
Jungle Speed
Camel Up

Let us know what's good. I got some christmas money and want to get some boardgames to have around the house for when people are over. I'll also buy some cables to get my N64 hooked up

 

[Jonas]

Tell me what you think about Cities. I read a review that claimed that it added a bit more randomness, while leaders added more strategy, so I got that one instead.

Terra Mystica, Netrunner and Camel Up are all awesome IMO.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I personally never play without Cities anymore, it's such an unobtrusive and solid addition to the game. Leaders is fun as well, but potentially less balanced (science scores can go much higher with the correct leaders, so much higher in fact that it blows other strategies out of the water) and a bit more fidgety, because it adds another draft phase. Overall I would rate Cities higher tbh.

If you really want to improve on the replayability of the game, do yourself a favor and go download the fan are wonders from boardgamegeek.

 

[Jonas]

Fan made wonders you say? Hmm.

I got the Babel expansion as well, which is interesting, and adds a bit more interaction between players, since you can really screw things over for players, which adds another layer to the game, that I think is needed, it makes it a bit less like solitaire.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/134849/lost-wonders-fan-expansion-7-wonders

 

[Jonas]

Kewl. Do they feel balanced? I don't think I've played the game enough to introduce more wonders yet, but I'll bookmark the page.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Yes, they feel balanced. At least, mostly. Leaders can make anything volatile though, and some of the money-oriented boards are OP in combination with money generating leaders and the points-for-money guild/leader. Other than that, there are some sweet, sweet boards that can be played perfectly fine together with the existing boards. There are also some awesome flavor homeruns, like Helvetica

 

[Jonas]

Just looked through the rules for it, looks interesting, but some of the boards looks like a bit of a headache for more casual players.

Phasing, for example.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Just looked through the rules for it, looks interesting, but some of the boards looks like a bit of a headache for more casual players.

Phasing, for example.

That board is intensely satisfying to play for veterans of the game though Wink out of existence just before the end of a round and have your neighbours duke it out against each other, stuff like that.

 

[Jonas]

Oh yes, it looks quite interesting.

 

[Laz]

So I just got around to playing the Game of Thrones Boardgame that our gaming group has had forever without ever getting a chance to play.

First impressions are overwhelmingly positive, the way it handles combat is excellent. It does have a few flaws, in that generation of some resources occurs randomly, which means early game strategies are somewhat luck-reliant, though the 'highest-bidder chooses an outcome' cards go a long way to fixing that. I could also foresee the non-random starting positions and armies leading to a potential balance issue, but I would definitely have to play it a lot more before that becomes apparent.

 

[Jonas]

Just make sure to follow the recommendations on what houses to play when you are fewer then maximum players, and the game should feel pretty balanced. And make sure that your plans don't fall apart if you don't get a mustering next turn.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

I played my first game of Sentinels with the new expansion. We fought Infiltrator. It was probably the best executed villain fight I've had so far both thematically and mechanically. The guy has the typical "driven insane by his powers" gimick and the way the deck chains cards erratically and puts crazy pressure on the heroes from turn one really makes it work. One of the most fun times I've had playing a Co-op game ever. I'm hoping the rest of the villains are as good, I peeked at the decks and they all look really interesting.

 

[Alfonzo Bonzo]

Good stuff I played this weekend:

Sherif of Nottingham - loads more fun than I expected it to be. Good bluffing game with enough 'gamery' twists to keep it interesting.

Medici - still really good design and best auction game I've played.

Potato man - great trick taking game, really good fun.

Perudo - still my favourite non-magic game.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I played a bit of Imperial Settlers under time pressure. Didn't get to finish it, but we all felt the game was really fun. Will play again for sure!

Another positive point: while the game didn't feel finished, it did feel like we already accomplished something halfway through. Sometimes when you have to quit a game early it can really feel like you just wasted time. Not with this game.

 

[Jonas]

I really like Imperial Settlers, but it can feel a bit like you need a lot of luck to get chains going, and actually do anything. Also, fsck the Egyptians.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Good stuff I played this weekend:

Sherif of Nottingham - loads more fun than I expected it to be. Good bluffing game with enough 'gamery' twists to keep it interesting.

Medici - still really good design and best auction game I've played.

Potato man - great trick taking game, really good fun.

Perudo - still my favourite non-magic game.

People who like Medici are my kind of people!

I played a ton of games on my annual gaming retreat, the highlights were:
Doomtown: Reloaded (Shaping up to be a great LCG, hopefully it keeps my interest over time which Netrunner didn't)
Imperial (Which I play every damn year and its almost always the best game I played, this year was not an exception. Britain x5'd which is only the second time in my 30+ plays! There were 18 regime changes! In one round, all four players owned Italy at one point! Great game!)
Descent 1e (we did the mine collapse scenario and the heroes won on the literal final turn)

 

[Diakonov]

This past Saturday we played a grueling game of Eclipse that ended at 2 AM. Afterward, I suggested we bet on some camel races. Some were curious, others reluctantly obliged. I played the Aladdin soundtrack at high volume to increase the tension. It was an absolute blast! There were many moments of hysterics as the camels would stack up. The player who was initially in last was bitter about the game until he had an exciting comeback and ended up winning the whole thing. It was a much needed relief after the intensity of Eclipse, and I foresee it always being a perfect follow-up to those sort of games.

To those of you who recommended Camel Up: thank you!

It also seems well-suited for a drinking game.

 

[spicewitch]

FSR, could you recommend some of Reiner Knizia's games? I see a bunch of them every time I peruse the selection of board games available on my iPad, but I can't tell what's what.

Speaking of which, anyone else find that tablets are a perfect platform for board games? I can't stand playing action, racing, or role-playing games without either a controller or a keyboard & mouse, but a large touch screen matches up really well with turn-based games.

Tigris & Euphrates, if you don't mind a large amount of hidden information. Blue Moon obviously since you're a fan of TCGs - they've got a boxed set now that includes everything that was ever printed for Blue Moon.

Lost Cities is a great light quick 2p. Battle Line is a great DEEP two player. Samurai is my personal favorite tile-laying game, but for whatever reason T&E is more generally well-liked. Colossal Arena is a much, much deeper game that at first blush looks like the (surprisingly popular and Munchkin-esque) take-that style game "Cheaty Mages".

There are Android apps for some of Knizia's stuff. Speaking of Android boardgame apps, neuroshima hex has an excellent UI.