The Board Game Thread
- Thread starter Diakonov
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Aoret
Developer
What's the conceit? I've played 7 Wonders but outside of my assumption that "Duel" is a two player version I'm clueless on the mechanical details.
It is indeed a two player version. You compete for the same kind of cards as in the base game, but can actually invade the other players home town and win, or win via science.
You draft in three rounds, first round you can choose cards from the bottom of a pyramid, with every other row of cards turned face down until the cards unlock. Next round you start at the top of the pyramid, and in the last round you build some sort of weird shape and draft that. Then count the points and win.
You draft in three rounds, first round you can choose cards from the bottom of a pyramid, with every other row of cards turned face down until the cards unlock. Next round you start at the top of the pyramid, and in the last round you build some sort of weird shape and draft that. Then count the points and win.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Food Chain Magnate is excellent. Getting through the rules is pretty brutal because there are so many cards involved, but once you actually get into the flow of the game, it is really smooth. Calculating deliveries is straight forward and simple. The set order of the deliveries helps streamline that phase of the game while also being strategically interesting in itself. The game itself is pretty unique too even if it made up of familiar concepts. There is a lot to chew on, I have no conception of what good play looks like yet, but I want to play it again.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
That's a tall order of a question. Its got lots of familiar elements, but its really hard to put a finger on what it plays like. Really nothing. It an economics game with a complex action selection mechanism:
1) It has a spatial element, but no real logistics. The routes are set at the beginning of the game and never change. Players effect the map by placing restaurants (their position on the map), adding or upgrading house and advertising. The actual board layout never changes like it does in most games with deliveries (Steam, 18XX, Neuland, etc) and the only way your relative position to a house will change is if someone builds/moves a restaurant closer.
2) The economic engine is wholly in the players hands, but the players never directly exchange anything. Players use advertising to create demand for products, then create the supply to fill that demand. They don't sell that supply to each other, each player has to create what they need. Location and price determine who makes the sales, both of which are determined by actions from the players. In this way, the game is like Steam where players use an actions to both create the opportunities and to fulfill them.
3) The players hire employees each turn. The employees determine what actions the player can take or otherwise modify their actions. Managing a tableau of "actions and privileges" is very reminiscent of many games. It is also extremely strategic, as there is a "tech tree", limited space and a delay in between hiring an employee and getting an effect. There is also a limited number of certain employees, creating a race for them, which is in theme with. . .
4) The milestones that players race for expand the tableau with even more privileges. The early turns don't involve very much in the way of delivering food, but huge decisions are being made as players each attempt to gain an advantage over the others as they carve out a set of powers that will hopefully allow them to out earn the rest of the table. The players aren't building "an engine" like you might in Race to the Galaxy, but they are instead trying to get into a position where they can benefit from other players actions and utilize their actions to harm their competition.
In most economic games, a players position is determined by what they own. They use shares. Players get ahead by manipulating the web of interdependence to hurt other players and help themselves, but they generally do so using the same means. In Food Chain Magnate, your position is determined by what you can do. Your unique combination of employees and milestones is what determines how much money you can make as compared to the other players. It feels completely different from shareholding games because it isn't one.
In the end, the game has elements that remind me of Caylus, Container, Steam, The Great Zimbabwe and In the Year of the Dragon, but it really feels like none of them.
The Great Zimbabwe is my favorite Splotter game. Indonesia is good, but it is a bookkeeping nightmare. You need people who REALLY want to play a mathy game. The other Splotter games are worth playing, but not by me, they focus too heavily on the planning (I enjoy the interaction of leveraging position, which is why I love stock games). I might end up liking Food Chain Magnate better, but one unique thing about TGZ is that its an economic game that people who don't like economic games tend to like. I've introduced it to people who have no interest in anything from something meaty as 18XX to as tame as Power Grid and they have really enjoyed it. FCM may have the same quality, but its more "work" so I have doubts.
1) It has a spatial element, but no real logistics. The routes are set at the beginning of the game and never change. Players effect the map by placing restaurants (their position on the map), adding or upgrading house and advertising. The actual board layout never changes like it does in most games with deliveries (Steam, 18XX, Neuland, etc) and the only way your relative position to a house will change is if someone builds/moves a restaurant closer.
2) The economic engine is wholly in the players hands, but the players never directly exchange anything. Players use advertising to create demand for products, then create the supply to fill that demand. They don't sell that supply to each other, each player has to create what they need. Location and price determine who makes the sales, both of which are determined by actions from the players. In this way, the game is like Steam where players use an actions to both create the opportunities and to fulfill them.
3) The players hire employees each turn. The employees determine what actions the player can take or otherwise modify their actions. Managing a tableau of "actions and privileges" is very reminiscent of many games. It is also extremely strategic, as there is a "tech tree", limited space and a delay in between hiring an employee and getting an effect. There is also a limited number of certain employees, creating a race for them, which is in theme with. . .
4) The milestones that players race for expand the tableau with even more privileges. The early turns don't involve very much in the way of delivering food, but huge decisions are being made as players each attempt to gain an advantage over the others as they carve out a set of powers that will hopefully allow them to out earn the rest of the table. The players aren't building "an engine" like you might in Race to the Galaxy, but they are instead trying to get into a position where they can benefit from other players actions and utilize their actions to harm their competition.
In most economic games, a players position is determined by what they own. They use shares. Players get ahead by manipulating the web of interdependence to hurt other players and help themselves, but they generally do so using the same means. In Food Chain Magnate, your position is determined by what you can do. Your unique combination of employees and milestones is what determines how much money you can make as compared to the other players. It feels completely different from shareholding games because it isn't one.
In the end, the game has elements that remind me of Caylus, Container, Steam, The Great Zimbabwe and In the Year of the Dragon, but it really feels like none of them.
The Great Zimbabwe is my favorite Splotter game. Indonesia is good, but it is a bookkeeping nightmare. You need people who REALLY want to play a mathy game. The other Splotter games are worth playing, but not by me, they focus too heavily on the planning (I enjoy the interaction of leveraging position, which is why I love stock games). I might end up liking Food Chain Magnate better, but one unique thing about TGZ is that its an economic game that people who don't like economic games tend to like. I've introduced it to people who have no interest in anything from something meaty as 18XX to as tame as Power Grid and they have really enjoyed it. FCM may have the same quality, but its more "work" so I have doubts.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
I made a couple of edits at the end while you wrote that, nothing major, just check the last paragraph.
Has anyone else tried the new Game of Thrones card game by Fantasy Flight? One of my drafters got the first "Second Edition" release and made decks to play with. Their resource system is really cool, IMO, and it's pretty fun to play as House Lannister and be a total jerk.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I know nothing about GoT, or this game, and yet this doesn't surprise me at all
Well, I won't get started on the series, but the resource system is thus:
At the beginning of each turn, somewhere around "untap" and "upkeep," both players secretly select a "Plot Card." Muwahaha!
This Plot not only gives you a powerful special effect for that turn (ranging from stuff sort of like Disenchant to Furnace of Rath to Cataclysm), but also determines your initiative roll (your chance of going first that turn) and your mana pool for the turn.
Generally, more powerful Plot effects give you fewer resources to work with, and there's also a Sirlin-esque Plot guessing game, because some Plots effectively "counter" other plots (like not literal Counterspell but more like Moat vs. Stompy or what have you). This Plot minigame, while firstly feeling just right for a game that attempts to simulate playing the Game of Thrones, also creates a nicely-done comeback vs. snowball mechanism. You can press your advantage with, say, Furnace of Rath plot if you're ahead on the board, but watch out for your opponent playing the Dramatic Entrance plot and wrecking that board advantage with their surprise Tywin Lannister! (Tywin is basically Omnath, Locus of Mana + one-sided Magus of the Vineyard. HEAR ME ROAR)
Anyway that's the resource system. It's super cool.
Other fun facts about Game of Thrones:
• The current top tier of decks is a trifecta of Baratheon Tap-Stax Control vs. Greyjoy/Stark Skies Aggro vs. Lannister Ramp. Tier 1.5 is everything else, and I hear you can win with basically anything if you're prepared for the Big Three.
• Tyrion is not nearly as ugly as he's supposed to be.
• There are two different combo decks in the core set: Martell One-Shot and Targaryen Voltron. Both are Tier 1.5.
• Duels are called Jousts, and multiplayer is called Melee.
At the beginning of each turn, somewhere around "untap" and "upkeep," both players secretly select a "Plot Card." Muwahaha!
This Plot not only gives you a powerful special effect for that turn (ranging from stuff sort of like Disenchant to Furnace of Rath to Cataclysm), but also determines your initiative roll (your chance of going first that turn) and your mana pool for the turn.
Generally, more powerful Plot effects give you fewer resources to work with, and there's also a Sirlin-esque Plot guessing game, because some Plots effectively "counter" other plots (like not literal Counterspell but more like Moat vs. Stompy or what have you). This Plot minigame, while firstly feeling just right for a game that attempts to simulate playing the Game of Thrones, also creates a nicely-done comeback vs. snowball mechanism. You can press your advantage with, say, Furnace of Rath plot if you're ahead on the board, but watch out for your opponent playing the Dramatic Entrance plot and wrecking that board advantage with their surprise Tywin Lannister! (Tywin is basically Omnath, Locus of Mana + one-sided Magus of the Vineyard. HEAR ME ROAR)
Anyway that's the resource system. It's super cool.
Other fun facts about Game of Thrones:
• The current top tier of decks is a trifecta of Baratheon Tap-Stax Control vs. Greyjoy/Stark Skies Aggro vs. Lannister Ramp. Tier 1.5 is everything else, and I hear you can win with basically anything if you're prepared for the Big Three.
• Tyrion is not nearly as ugly as he's supposed to be.
• There are two different combo decks in the core set: Martell One-Shot and Targaryen Voltron. Both are Tier 1.5.
• Duels are called Jousts, and multiplayer is called Melee.
Holiday season is back. What games are y'all hoping to get?
Here are some that I'm interested in.
Codenames
Tigris & Euphrates
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Keyflower expansions
Five Tribes
Food Chain Magnate
Le Havre
Mascarade
El Grande
The Resistance (V3.0)
data packs for Netrunner
Currently out of print, so a bit pricier than they should be:
Robinson Crusoe
Stone Age
Ra
Amun-Re
The Great Zimbabwe
FSR, if you're reading this, what do you think are the chances they'll reprint Amun-Re anytime soon?
Edit: looks like a French publisher is planning a new version of it for 2016. The new components sound like an improvement, but a disappointing downgrade in box art.
Here are some that I'm interested in.
Codenames
Tigris & Euphrates
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Keyflower expansions
Five Tribes
Food Chain Magnate
Le Havre
Mascarade
El Grande
The Resistance (V3.0)
data packs for Netrunner
Currently out of print, so a bit pricier than they should be:
Robinson Crusoe
Stone Age
Ra
Amun-Re
The Great Zimbabwe
FSR, if you're reading this, what do you think are the chances they'll reprint Amun-Re anytime soon?
Edit: looks like a French publisher is planning a new version of it for 2016. The new components sound like an improvement, but a disappointing downgrade in box art.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, but it looks like Mendes only has 4 farmer spots in that picture? It is supposed to have six. Also there doesn't appear to be a chart that shows the sacrifice levels. Instead there are superfluous boxes for holding components that you can just pile next to the board? I can't read French, so I'm not sure what the reasoning for this is, but it seems worse, cool Egyptian pieces not withstanding.
Codenames is cool, I have a home-made copy that gets good play. I'm not sure how my collection of words compares to the words included in the official game, but its fun either way.
I'm not looking for much this season. I'm actually selling a few on eBay right now. I'd like to get a copy of Manilla, I think, that would be a nice addition.
Codenames is cool, I have a home-made copy that gets good play. I'm not sure how my collection of words compares to the words included in the official game, but its fun either way.
I'm not looking for much this season. I'm actually selling a few on eBay right now. I'd like to get a copy of Manilla, I think, that would be a nice addition.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Actually I have a copy of Sherlock Holmes. It has precisely zero replay value. I'm only on case 6, but when I'm done I'd be happy to ship it to you at cost.
That would be great! I'll give you more than just the shipping cost. Thanks!
Loving Alien very much. Like Alien the movie, Alien. But it's a deckbuilder! We played movie 1 and movie 2 so far.
Movie 1: very suspenseful. Slow, big aliens. Super powerful decks though because Quarantine Order kills off bad cards.
Movie 2: why is the complex full of aliens why is a swarmer in the combat zone, why are 3 swarmers in the combat zone, hey do any of us have 5+ hp left to eat this upcoming strike oh shit. Nice payoff when Knife Games chains correctly. (Do a huge 4 damage. If you previously played another combat card, do not hit yourself with a random Strike.) A bloodbath.
Movie 1: very suspenseful. Slow, big aliens. Super powerful decks though because Quarantine Order kills off bad cards.
Movie 2: why is the complex full of aliens why is a swarmer in the combat zone, why are 3 swarmers in the combat zone, hey do any of us have 5+ hp left to eat this upcoming strike oh shit. Nice payoff when Knife Games chains correctly. (Do a huge 4 damage. If you previously played another combat card, do not hit yourself with a random Strike.) A bloodbath.
This is what I did before I bought it, and it's still great. I hadn't realised just how many words the game comes with - it's like 400 or something.
If there's some interest I'll do a forum game down in the games area.
Code names is on my list to get too. I have Stone Age, it's great, would recommend it.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Another vote for Stone Age, it's a nice little worker placement game!
Anybody played Treasure Hunter? Family style drafting game by Garfield. Looks like it might be quite good fun.
Been playing Blue Moon for a few hours. It's very pretty. I played it against AI before using a fan program called Keldon Blue Moon AI. It makes a lot more sense in-person, now. Also despite all my practice I am getting destroyed by first time players, heh.
Anatomy of a Game: Blue Moon http://www.mechanics-and-meeples.com/2006/02/23/anatomy-of-a-game-blue-moon/ said:
Trying to nail down what would be best for a gateway worker placement game. People often recommend Stone Age or Lords of Waterdeep, though I'm not sold on the flavor of LoW so I've been leaning toward Stone Age. It has been out of print but it seems that it's just reentered circulation in Europe.
Now, I've heard recently that Viticulture is very good, and the wine-making theme sounds wonderful. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm open to other suggestions as well.
Now, I've heard recently that Viticulture is very good, and the wine-making theme sounds wonderful. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm open to other suggestions as well.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Does Archipelago count? I'm not much of a eurogamer, but I've enjoyed that one mostly on how intuitive it can be.
I haven't played it, but I've heard good things. I've also heard it's a fairly long game, which might be a bit much for gateway players.