P4: Gritty Reboot Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 It should be arriving today, so if I have time to run through a quick match and post some impressions, I will. My main concern is complexity as it appears to have lots of global effects to keep track of, and they're constantly changing each round. This could be great for a gamer group, but I'm not sure how it will go over with the wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Well, I've run through a few sample & tutorial matches and played a very slow half-game with the wife. She didn't care much for it, but I liked it quite a bit. It is definitely challenging to wrap my head around a new CCG as the card balance is completely foreign to me. Most of the sample decks are two-thirds characters and there are no resource cards to speak of (most plots and some locations will generate gold each turn, denoted by cardboard tokens). So whereas with MTG you may have a manageable hand of 2 characters, a few lands, and some effects, AGOT LCG is a little tougher because you very well could have 9-12 separate characters, locations, events, and attachments in your hand on turn 1. But I really look forward to getting some more "hardcore" gaming guys together for a few rounds, as the 4-player diplomacy aspects are intriguing. In the meantime I will probably target Ghost Stories, Castle Panic, or Last Night on Earth for my next board game purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Sparked by P4's post in "games you bought", what good (and child friendly preferably) board game apps are there on Android? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Elder Sign is great, but not child-friendly. There is Blokish, a free clone of abstract strategy game Blokus. Very easy to pickup, lots of subtle strategy. Kid-friendly. There is an official Catan game I believe, can be good for kids depending on their skill level. There is an official version of Carcassone, also kid-friendly and easy to pick up. Consult this list on Boardgamegeek for more: http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/72020/android-versions-of-actual-boardgames 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted July 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 So I bought this: It allows for a fifth player, though that map looks kinda odd, but more importantly fixes some apparent balance issues in the base game. Still haven't been able to give it a try though. Will report back when I have an opinion to share Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 I want that game so bad. I wish there were people who would play it with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 So I wrote up my first proper "article" or whatever on the subject. Over here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 I've added to my collection recently. Something about the naked mechanics of board games and the physicality of it all really appeals to me. I've picked up the following: Last Night on Earth (think L4D the board game) Warcraft the Board game & expansion pack Castle Panic (co-op tower defense) Prolix (word game) Sword & Skull (Monopoly/Talisman pirate hybrid) Apples to Apples (can't pass up a copy at the thrift shop) Tetris Link Killer Bunnies ("zany" type card game. $2 thrift shop) I'm thinking of trading off the Game of Thrones card game though =/ My wife is just not into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted August 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 How are you liking Castle Panic? The cheap price tag has it on my "might pick up one day" list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 That's essentially why I bought it. A $20 Amazon warehouse deal as an add-on to my $37 Last Night on Earth order wasn't too bad a pickup. I like the game quite a bit and rated it a 7.5/10 on BGG's rating system. The biggest problem in my opinion is that it's deterministic at times: draw the right cards and win, draw the wrong cards and lose. When it works though, it isn't always obvious what the best play is, and it's really enjoyable when that happens. Some people complain of its being too easy, but my 3-player game ended in defeat and I've only won solitaire once or twice. It may get easier in proportion to the number of players, since you have a greater pool of cards to pick from. Anyway, not the most complex game to ever hit the table but pretty unique and worth the low price tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pirate Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 I don't really get into board games that are very complex, but I have played Arkham Horror quite a few times with a friend who's really into it. I thought it was a pretty entertaining game, and I did enjoy not having to spend an hour trying to understand a mountain of intricate rules throughout the game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted August 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Though I have not played it myself, what I hear about Arkham Horror is that it's an overcomplicated mess of rules and is only appealing because of the theme; not the gameplay itself. For those reasons, combined with the effect luck can have on your game and the long length of it, it is not on my list of things to check out. In other news! I bought Descent 2nd Edition! Could also be called Descent: Actually Manageable Edition. The first version was like AH an overcomplicated mess of rules, and the new one removes the stuff that didn't matter (insert "dumbed down" complaint here) to make it much faster to set-up and play. Fun game where 1-4 players control heroes fighting to defeat a dark overlord... and another player controls said overlord and all of his minions. Fun fun fun, although seems balanced slightly in the heroes' favor (more so in the early scenarios. I'm not sure how the overlord is supposed to have a chance in the first one.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Yeah Last Night on Earth is similar. The first scenario is totally weighted for the heroes, whereas the others are pretty difficult for them to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomTervo Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 The other night we had some games of Dominion. Really great fun, possibly the only designer card game I've ever really liked. We also played some of this: It was ridiculous. But pretty fun. Basically Risk with slightly more convuluted rules and it's East/West/South versus one player who is America. As far as we know, America have never won. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Grabbed this one for a few dollars at the thrift shop. Should be good for family nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted August 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 I quickly discover that Descent has exactly the same dice problem as most other dice games. It can really, really fuck you over. I had a match recently where the overlord's biggest monster walked up to me and kept knocking me out every turn with 7 hp attacks. Meanwhile, my ally was standing behind said monster trying to stun it with his mace. Which missed four turns in a row. This is a very extreme example though and most games (especially with larger number of heroes) even out quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 That awkward feeling when your Risk army 50 strong loses to one guy... My brother-in-law refuses to play any game with dice-based mechanics for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4: Gritty Reboot Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Duh, Johnny, mace needs to be used in your foe's eyes to be effective. I have been thinking about dice mechanics a lot recently. I think they are good so long as they are simply used to prevent games from becoming deterministic. I like dice combat because it forces you to play the odds and hope for the best, knowing that you made the right choice even if you end up getting a bad outcome. That's how life works, and I think dice do a decent job of simulating the idea that a plan can be perfect in theory and simply not execute well. It's also very exciting when you pull off a low-odds roll for the win. Dice do not work when they're tied to a central mechanic AND cannot be overcome with some effort. Monopoly: good rolls wins the game regardless of strategy, bad rolls loses the game regardless of strategy, every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 I agree P4, if used properly it's just a good simulation that not everything always goes right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 We played Munchkin. The rules are pretty confusing for a game boasting not being complex. Made worse by the rules joking about ignoring the rules. I won though via deception (having other players gang up on the guy I was drawing with) so that was nice. We probably didn't play it proper mind. I think a few other goes (with less drinks) will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 The rules aren't that complex....which version were you playing? My gf bought Pirate Fluxx yesterday. Such a good, simple card game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 The original. Had the option of Booty too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 That's odd. Munchkin is one of the simplest card games I've played. It has less rules text than Monopoly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 Bonus of monopoly is being able to be told the rules, we had to read them and work them out. Parker Brothers weren't trying to make jokes in their rule set too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 What is it you struggled with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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