Official CAG board/card game topic. From Dominion to Battlestar we gots it all!

[quote name='plasticbathmonki']So I got a chance to run through Dominion a few times. All-in-all, I enjoyed it. The rules are simple enough to run through without any confusion. The only card I'm not particularly fond of is the Moat. I think my group is going to establish a table rule that you have to discard it if you use it as a reaction. It just seems weird that you hold on to it after you play it. Other than that, a good time was had by all.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't suggest that particular change. It's pretty balanced as it stands, IMO, as it's otherwise not the greatest card. Play a few more games, and see what you think.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']The only game I've played since Christmas is Ticket to Ride: Europe. Pretty fun game, goes by quick too when you have people familiar with it.[/QUOTE]

One of the great things about TTR is that it does go quickly. Each turn you can only do one thing, so the game clicks by fast. Nobody sits around twiddling their thumbs. That and it's just a fantastic game. Accessible enough, too, that anyone can play it. I played with my (extended) family this holiday and everyone liked it a lot.

I didn't know that Lego Creationary was actually a physical game. I downloaded the iPhone version a while back and that's OK, but actually building legos in a Pictionary-like game? That is going to be a hit with my family, I think.
 
[quote name='ReaperZER0']I don't know if anyone has played these, but if I could get some thoughts on whether or not these would be worth getting for a friend for their upcoming birthday, that would be nice.

http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Flight-Games-SC01-Starcraft/dp/1589943252/

http://www.amazon.com/GDC-GameDevCo-Ltd-5511555-Dexter-Board/dp/B0045Y10VU/[/QUOTE]

havent played them, but check out boardgamegeek.com. you'll find plenty of information, reviews, discussions on the games.

[quote name='crunchewy']One of the great things about TTR is that it does go quickly. Each turn you can only do one thing, so the game clicks by fast. Nobody sits around twiddling their thumbs. That and it's just a fantastic game. Accessible enough, too, that anyone can play it. I played with my (extended) family this holiday and everyone liked it a lot.

I didn't know that Lego Creationary was actually a physical game. I downloaded the iPhone version a while back and that's OK, but actually building legos in a Pictionary-like game? That is going to be a hit with my family, I think.[/QUOTE]

Yeah it's pretty fun. We played some more with the family over New Years. Everyone enjoyed it. We actually have only kept score a couple of times, it just fun to build and guess. I found myself continuing to build something until it was done even when someone got it right already.


With TTR I'm still digging it very much and love the pace, especially now that we have some friends and family that have played it a couple of times. Even people that have never played it and aren't big gamers are able to jump right in. One of my buddies who really doesn't game with us very often won TTR the first time he played. IT seems the only time the pace slows down a little is when someone takes a destination ticket and has to plan which card(s) they will take.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']havent played them, but check out boardgamegeek.com. you'll find plenty of information, reviews, discussions on the games.



Yeah it's pretty fun. We played some more with the family over New Years. Everyone enjoyed it. We actually have only kept score a couple of times, it just fun to build and guess. I found myself continuing to build something until it was done even when someone got it right already.


With TTR I'm still digging it very much and love the pace, especially now that we have some friends and family that have played it a couple of times. Even people that have never played it and aren't big gamers are able to jump right in. One of my buddies who really doesn't game with us very often won TTR the first time he played. IT seems the only time the pace slows down a little is when someone takes a destination ticket and has to plan which card(s) they will take.[/QUOTE]

TTR was one of the first games me and my wife purchased and it is one of the ones still in rotation. Some people look down on it, but I think it is a fantastic game.....now if I could just figure out why my wife beats me 90% of the time at it when usually I beat her 90% of the time at all other games...hmmm
 
I didn't really get much in the way of games for Christmas, but there was a pretty good New Years sale where I pick up games, so I picked up a few for myself.

Our group is pretty well taken with Cyclades. Great war game with a bidding element, and the bits are all really well made. We're going to be playing a lot of it in the next few weeks, I assume.

The Resident Evil Deckbuilding Game doesn't stray far from Dominion, but the difference comes in adding a combat/exploration element. It's not a perfect game, but we enjoyed it more than we expected to. It'll be interesting to see how they expand on this one.

Back to the Future: The Card Game also isn't terrible. If you've ever played Chrononauts, it's like a simplified version of that. I think I'd rather play Chrononauts, but this one will have a wider mass appeal.

I feel the same way about Dixit, which won the Spiel des Jahres for 2010. It's very fun, but in a "even grandma can play" manner. I like it, but it will probably be more of a brief distraction to our gaming group.
 
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[quote name='Jek Porkins']

I feel the same way about Dixit, which won the Spiel des Jahres for 2010. It's very fun, but in a "even grandma can play" manner. I like it, but it will probably be more of a brief distraction to our gaming group.[/QUOTE]

With Dixit, you really have to consider that it's not a "gamers group" type of game. Like I said a while ago, I got it to avoid playing Apples to Apples for the 432,567,432,876,938th time. It's really more of a party game, and on that front it is a resounding success. I've played it with a few different people, and they always want to play more. However, it's not something you'd play every week or whatever. It's the kind of thing you break out when company's coming over. I bought Dixit 2 (really just a second deck) so I can rotate the decks to keep things fresh. I love Dixit because it's something everyone can play and it requires more creativity and cleverness than most party games.
 
*hates apples to apples with a passion*
Stupidest ****ing game ever. Everything is based on luck since sometimes people pick things based on what makes the most sense, sometimes based on whats funny and sometimes based on a random whim.

As far as party games go that take no explanation and the family loves I find Wits and Wagers and Catcher phrase to be the only two that I REALLY enjoy.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']*hates apples to apples with a passion*
Stupidest ****ing game ever. Everything is based on luck since sometimes people pick things based on what makes the most sense, sometimes based on whats funny and sometimes based on a random whim.

As far as party games go that take no explanation and the family loves I find Wits and Wagers and Catcher phrase to be the only two that I REALLY enjoy.[/QUOTE]

I have yet to try Wits and Wagers, but it's one I do eventually want to get. You should definitely check out Dixit, Magus. It only goes up to 6 players (and I wouldn't really play it with fewer than 4), but luck doesn't play much of a role at all. I HATE most party games, but I really like Dixit.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']*hates apples to apples with a passion*
Stupidest ****ing game ever. Everything is based on luck since sometimes people pick things based on what makes the most sense, sometimes based on whats funny and sometimes based on a random whim.

As far as party games go that take no explanation and the family loves I find Wits and Wagers and Catcher phrase to be the only two that I REALLY enjoy.[/QUOTE]

I like Apples to Apples, but haven't had the chance to play that much so I'm far from burned out on it. It's a funny game and it's not really as random as you say. It would be if you completely ignored what the other people tend to do, but of course some people tend to be more literal, others tend to pick the funniest, etc. You still can't be entirely sure what they're going to pick for a given card, of course, but that's part of what makes it amusing. It's a family game/party game. Not winning isn't really a bad thing - it's the journey that makes it, as they say.
 
I like apples to apples, but I have played it a million times. It kind of ends up being the default party game when the group can't agree on playing something else. I'll check out dixit for sure.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I like Apples to Apples, but haven't had the chance to play that much so I'm far from burned out on it. It's a funny game and it's not really as random as you say. It would be if you completely ignored what the other people tend to do, but of course some people tend to be more literal, others tend to pick the funniest, etc. You still can't be entirely sure what they're going to pick for a given card, of course, but that's part of what makes it amusing. It's a family game/party game. Not winning isn't really a bad thing - it's the journey that makes it, as they say.[/QUOTE]

Well yes obviously you can try and figure out if someone is going to play goofy, serious, dirty etc etc cards but in my family I have found that there really is no freaking system what so ever. People seem to play on a whim more then anything. I am usually pretty good at figuring out what people will do in board games but Christ AtA has just been random in my experience.
 
Dominion Intrigue got here today. Looking forward to playing it tonight. Between the base game and the new one there are a number of blank cards. I think we are going to take a stab at making a custom card. Anyone done this? I downloaded some nice templates from BGG.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']Dominion Intrigue got here today. Looking forward to playing it tonight. Between the base game and the new one there are a number of blank cards. I think we are going to take a stab at making a custom card. Anyone done this? I downloaded some nice templates from BGG.[/QUOTE]

If you're only including one custom card, don't bother designing and printing out a card for it. Just use the blank, and have the text written down separately.
 
Anyone play Thunderstone yet? Me and my wife really enjoyed Dominion at first but found that over time the lack of depth, pain of setting it up/taking it apart and expansions changing core rules too much meant we got bored with the game. A podcast I listened to talked about it today and it sounded interesting, so I watched Tom Vassals review and went and bid on a copy on ebay. Just wondering if anyone here has impressions that may cause me to outright buy the game if I loose my ebay copy.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Anyone play Thunderstone yet? Me and my wife really enjoyed Dominion at first but found that over time the lack of depth, pain of setting it up/taking it apart and expansions changing core rules too much meant we got bored with the game. A podcast I listened to talked about it today and it sounded interesting, so I watched Tom Vassals review and went and bid on a copy on ebay. Just wondering if anyone here has impressions that may cause me to outright buy the game if I loose my ebay copy.[/QUOTE]

Looks interesting, though a bit difficult to sort out at first. Another deck building-style game that I've been looking at is Puzzle Strike. It's like someone took Dominion, forced it to mate with Puzzle Fighter, and turned the baby into a chip (not card) game. I haven't committed to buying it yet, but it looks pretty fun. Tom Vassal reviewed it, too.
 
[quote name='BigSpoonyBard']Another deck building-style game that I've been looking at is Puzzle Strike. It's like someone took Dominion, forced it to mate with Puzzle Fighter, and turned the baby into a chip (not card) game. I haven't committed to buying it yet, but it looks pretty fun. Tom Vassal reviewed it, too.[/QUOTE]

Puzzle Strike does look pretty cool, and it's designed by David Sirlin, who you might know in a video game context. He's from the competitive fighting game scene, and has written some really interesting pieces on game strategy! I wanted to buy the first run of Puzzle Strike, but was turned off by some printing/materials issues. Sounds like they were able to fix everything for the second printing, though, so I'll probably get this before long!
 
Already posted at BGG but wanted to post here too since I know you guys better.

My wife got a great promotion at work recently which is awesome, but combined with her going back for her masters leaves us with less time then ever to game. I am really really missing playing board games so I wanted to find a way to play some more. It seems like the Ipad has quite the wealth of board games on it, but it is still a hella expensive device to just buy on a whim. Thus I wanted to get opinions from you all.

so that said here are some questions!

Anyone have an ipad and use it regularly for board gaming?

Are most of the games pass around play only or do many of them have play against A.I bots?

Do you feel it is really worth the high price point?

Whats the DRM like? Do you own what you purchase and can I expect it to be there 10 years from now?

Should I consider waiting for the IPad 2? Whats different about it and do Ipad apps run on it?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance and sorry for so many questions, but when you are thinking of spending several hundred bucks on a tablet you want to have all the info in front of you!
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Anyone have an ipad and use it regularly for board gaming?

Are most of the games pass around play only or do many of them have play against A.I bots?

Do you feel it is really worth the high price point?

Whats the DRM like? Do you own what you purchase and can I expect it to be there 10 years from now?

Should I consider waiting for the IPad 2? Whats different about it and do Ipad apps run on it?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance and sorry for so many questions, but when you are thinking of spending several hundred bucks on a tablet you want to have all the info in front of you![/QUOTE]

I have an iPhone 4, not an iPad, but I'm going to get an iPad 2 when they are out, and a big part of that is for the board games. The board games for iOS are plentiful and seem to be constantly coming out (especially Reiner Knizia games), and many of them are great. Most have some form of multiplayer, and they all have AI (well, certainly all the ones I've tried.) Carcassonne and Reiner Knizia's Samurai are uber fantastic and are both universal with great online play, including asynchronous online (you take a turn and then whoever's next gets notified that it's their turn, and you can have multiple games running at once.) There's a lot of boardgames that don't offer online, only AI and local multiplayer (some only AI), but the trend is to provide it. We even got a game that was released simultaneously to iOS and the real world: Michael Schacht's Gold. It made we want to buy the real version... which we can't yet in the US.

The DRM is lenient. You can install your games on as many iOS devices as you want (actually, there may be a limit - there use to be a limit of 5 or 6, and that may still be the case.) Well, as long as they are linked to the same iTunes account. You can redownload games if needed for no charge (though the store is stupid in that if you already own a game but it isn't on your device, it doesn't know that until AFTER you tap the buy button, at which point it says you already purchased it and the download is free.) The DRM does not require a connection to install your games once they are on your computer. Just sync your iPad and they'll install - no check to a server required, no internet connection required at that point. So as long as you don't delete the app files from your computer, they're yours forever, whether the iTunes servers are up or not.

Having said all that, would I buy an iPad if the only thing I wanted to use it for was boardgames? Umm... maybe, but I'd still probably suggest only getting one if you want it for other stuff too. As far as if you should wait for the iPad 2 or not... at this point I'd wait because Apple works on a yearly release schedule for iOS hardware and so the iPad 2 should be getting announced pretty soon and released likely in March since the first one was released in March. Since we're so close, I'd wait. Nobody knows for sure what the differences are as Apple is pretty good about keeping things secret, but the rumors have it that it will add dual cameras (for video chat and such) and a faster processor pretty likely. Also likely to be lighter and thinner and undoubtedly other improvements. Current iPad games should run on it fine, or if they don't they'd surely get updates to make them run properly, but most likely they'll run without changes.

EDIT: iOS is even getting games now that are designed by Reiner Knizia for iOS, and aren't really board games at all, which is pretty interesting. Case in point: Yoku-Gami, which I haven't tried and, to be honest, doesn't look like my cup of tea, but it's pretty cool that Knizia is effectively designing such games now. It was designed by Knizia on paper, and then produced by a dev for iOS.
 
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[quote name='crunchewy']I have an iPhone 4, not an iPad, but I'm going to get an iPad 2 when they are out, and a big part of that is for the board games. The board games for iOS are plentiful and seem to be constantly coming out (especially Reiner Knizia games), and many of them are great. Most have some form of multiplayer, and they all have AI (well, certainly all the ones I've tried.) Carcassonne and Reiner Knizia's Samurai are uber fantastic and are both universal with great online play, including asynchronous online (you take a turn and then whoever's next gets notified that it's their turn, and you can have multiple games running at once.) There's a lot of boardgames that don't offer online, only AI and local multiplayer (some only AI), but the trend is to provide it. We even got a game that was released simultaneously to iOS and the real world: Michael Schacht's Gold. It made we want to buy the real version... which we can't yet in the US.

The DRM is lenient. You can install your games on as many iOS devices as you want (actually, there may be a limit - there use to be a limit of 5 or 6, and that may still be the case.) Well, as long as they are linked to the same iTunes account. You can redownload games if needed for no charge (though the store is stupid in that if you already own a game but it isn't on your device, it doesn't know that until AFTER you tap the buy button, at which point it says you already purchased it and the download is free.) The DRM does not require a connection to install your games once they are on your computer. Just sync your iPad and they'll install - no check to a server required, no internet connection required at that point. So as long as you don't delete the app files from your computer, they're yours forever, whether the iTunes servers are up or not.

Having said all that, would I buy an iPad if the only thing I wanted to use it for was boardgames? Umm... maybe, but I'd still probably suggest only getting one if you want it for other stuff too. As far as if you should wait for the iPad 2 or not... at this point I'd wait because Apple works on a yearly release schedule for iOS hardware and so the iPad 2 should be getting announced pretty soon and released likely in March since the first one was released in March. Since we're so close, I'd wait. Nobody knows for sure what the differences are as Apple is pretty good about keeping things secret, but the rumors have it that it will add dual cameras (for video chat and such) and a faster processor pretty likely. Also likely to be lighter and thinner and undoubtedly other improvements. Current iPad games should run on it fine, or if they don't they'd surely get updates to make them run properly, but most likely they'll run without changes.

EDIT: iOS is even getting games now that are designed by Reiner Knizia for iOS, and aren't really board games at all, which is pretty interesting. Case in point: Yoku-Gami, which I haven't tried and, to be honest, doesn't look like my cup of tea, but it's pretty cool that Knizia is effectively designing such games now. It was designed by Knizia on paper, and then produced by a dev for iOS.[/QUOTE]

Seems like you are saying a long the lines of what I was thinking. Wait till March and see what the Ipad2 is then either pick up an Ipad after the IPad2 drives its price down, or grab the IPad 2 if its features warrant it. Nice to hear that Apples DRM policy is pretty good and that lots of games use A.I opponents.

Any recommendations for if I pick one up? Naturally I will pick up lots of my fav games like Small World and Carc, but it will be nice to pick up games that take 3-4 players which we have not been able to play so far(since it was just me and my wife)and games that were far too deep for my wife so I never picked up(like Arkham Horror). If people have non board game recommendations feel free to toss em out too. I tend to love RPGs and tower defense but really I play everything.
 
I play carcassonne everyday on my iPhone. I also have settlers of catan, which isn't an online multiplayer game, but I play it sometimes.


My friends bought me Twilight Imperium and the expansion at a board game auction for $60. Looking forward to getting that. I guess their local game stores has an annual auction for games that have been returned and/or damaged (like a crushed box). I wish I could have gone. TI was one of the games I asked them to keep an eye out for.
 
[quote name='plasticbathmonki']I really enjoy Twilight Imperium, but it just takes way too long to play unless you have a group that is exceptionally committed. If you've never played it before, here is a link to a very useful 3-player tutorial:

http://www.preeminent.org/steve/games/ti3/ti3demo/3-player/home/index.shtml[/QUOTE]

all of my gaming buddies have played it at least once, most of them multiple times. so our games are pretty smooth. that being said, even a smooth game with experienced players can take upwards of 4 hours. i think the longest game we played was about 7 hours or so. i guess im lucky to have a group of friends that enjoy gaming that much.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Already posted at BGG but wanted to post here too since I know you guys better.

My wife got a great promotion at work recently which is awesome, but combined with her going back for her masters leaves us with less time then ever to game. I am really really missing playing board games so I wanted to find a way to play some more. It seems like the Ipad has quite the wealth of board games on it, but it is still a hella expensive device to just buy on a whim. Thus I wanted to get opinions from you all.

so that said here are some questions!

Anyone have an ipad and use it regularly for board gaming?

Are most of the games pass around play only or do many of them have play against A.I bots?

Do you feel it is really worth the high price point?

Whats the DRM like? Do you own what you purchase and can I expect it to be there 10 years from now?

Should I consider waiting for the IPad 2? Whats different about it and do Ipad apps run on it?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance and sorry for so many questions, but when you are thinking of spending several hundred bucks on a tablet you want to have all the info in front of you![/QUOTE]

I got the iPad just after launch, and we have our weekly gaming night, at which the iPad has become a popular choice. This week, we didn't play any physical board games. Everything we played was on the iPad.

Depending on the game, some are single player only and some are multiplayer pass and play. If you get an iPad, I'd suggest the following for multiplayer pass and play:

•Carcassonne
•Reiner Knizia's Ra
•Reiner Knizia's Samurai
•Kingsburg: Serving the Crown
•Hive
•Roll Through the Ages
•Medici HD
•New World Colony
•Small World

All of these have AI that you can add if you like, or play against human players.

Also, there are a lot of board game helpers that we find useful when we're playing actual board games. If you do pick up an iPad, take a look at these:

•MotionX Dice HD
•Score
•Chronolite - Timer
•Dice Bag

Is the iPad worth the price? I'm sure glad that I got mine. I use it all the time, and for a variety of uses. Obviously you shouldn't get one for word processing, but there are a lot of great things on the iPad.

I've never had any DRM issues. I share my apps across my iPad and an iPod Touch, and you can add devices if you get more. I've heard of people that have gone over the allowed number of devices (from replacement, or newly acquired devices), and have been allowed to transfer everything with a simple request to Apple. YMMV, obviously, but I've never heard of anyone that had an issue with that. Sometimes an app will be removed from the store, but if you had it before, you'll have it later.

The iPad 2 is still mostly rumored, but the whispers are saying that it will likely have a camera for video chat. I don't think that I'd find video chat all that interesting, but who knows what other interesting stuff they might come up with, app-wise. If they do announce a newer version there's always the possibility of finding a deal on the first version.

One final thing to consider is that it is an expensive device, and that's without all of the cool apps you're going to want to buy for it. Factor in a bit more for some of the better apps, but know that there are a ton of great free or super-cheap ones, as well.

Good luck with your decision!
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']I got the iPad just after launch, and we have our weekly gaming night, at which the iPad has become a popular choice. This week, we didn't play any physical board games. Everything we played was on the iPad.

Depending on the game, some are single player only and some are multiplayer pass and play. If you get an iPad, I'd suggest the following for multiplayer pass and play:

•Carcassonne
•Reiner Knizia's Ra
•Reiner Knizia's Samurai
•Kingsburg: Serving the Crown
•Hive
•Roll Through the Ages
•Medici HD
•New World Colony
•Small World

All of these have AI that you can add if you like, or play against human players.

Also, there are a lot of board game helpers that we find useful when we're playing actual board games. If you do pick up an iPad, take a look at these:

•MotionX Dice HD
•Score
•Chronolite - Timer
•Dice Bag

Is the iPad worth the price? I'm sure glad that I got mine. I use it all the time, and for a variety of uses. Obviously you shouldn't get one for word processing, but there are a lot of great things on the iPad.

I've never had any DRM issues. I share my apps across my iPad and an iPod Touch, and you can add devices if you get more. I've heard of people that have gone over the allowed number of devices (from replacement, or newly acquired devices), and have been allowed to transfer everything with a simple request to Apple. YMMV, obviously, but I've never heard of anyone that had an issue with that. Sometimes an app will be removed from the store, but if you had it before, you'll have it later.

The iPad 2 is still mostly rumored, but the whispers are saying that it will likely have a camera for video chat. I don't think that I'd find video chat all that interesting, but who knows what other interesting stuff they might come up with, app-wise. If they do announce a newer version there's always the possibility of finding a deal on the first version.

One final thing to consider is that it is an expensive device, and that's without all of the cool apps you're going to want to buy for it. Factor in a bit more for some of the better apps, but know that there are a ton of great free or super-cheap ones, as well.

Good luck with your decision![/QUOTE]

Thank you sir! Wrote all those games down and will take the advice into consideration.
 
I got the chance to try out Forbidden Island this weekend. I really enjoyed the cooperative aspect to it and the means of making it more difficult. It also doesn't hurt that we picked it up for only $8 at Borders. :)
 
Got my Ipad last night(I got an Ipad 1 since the Ipad 2 was not a huge upgrade and I got a 64 GB for $450 with accessories). Both me and the wife are loving it already. Having access to all these board games is just sooooo cool! It was really nice to lay in bed last night playing Carcassone and Small World after my wife fell asleep. Looking forward to trying out some board games my wife would normally never ever play ;)
 
I was thinking of picking up Pandemic this weekend at my local game store since I have some family coming to town. Any CAGs have it or played it? I want a good co-op game and this seems pretty popular. How different does each game play out? Lots of variety?
 
I have Pandemic. It's a pretty decent game. Easy to pick up and play. It's very hard to win (unless you play it on easy mode). Requires a lot of communication and interaction to win.

The downside is (and what maybe makes it most interesting) is that the strongest red personality is going to end up 'bossing' everyone around and telling them what to do. This can lead to some contention depending on who is playing. With the wrong mix, people will eventually just stop having fun because one person runs the whole game.

To do well at it, you can't really afford to make a bad move. So the game ends up being a lot of 'well, do you think I should do this?' discussion and so each players turn ends up practically being voted on by everyone else. There is very little individual choice.

It's a game that would be perfect for some sociology study

As far as coop goes, BSG is far better, but more complicated.
 
Personally I hated it and so did my wife, but the couple we played it with loved it. They also said we made some rule mistakes that after being fixed made the game more enjoyable so /shrug. It is also a very popular game so again take us hating it with a grain of salt. As for variety, yes it seems like it should have a good amount of variety since you never know where bugs are going to pop up.

On another hatefull note the wife and I finally got to play Catan. When we played with a couple whos company we enjoy it was ok but overall we thought it was pretty average. When played on the Ipad me against her against an A.I character....my god did we hate it.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I have Pandemic. It's a pretty decent game. Easy to pick up and play. It's very hard (unless you play it on easy mode). Requires a lot of communication and interaction to win.

The downside is (and what makes it most interesting) is that the strongest personality is going to end up 'bossing' everyone around and telling them what to do. This can lead to some contention depending on who is playing. With the wrong mix, people will eventually just stop having fun because one person runs the whole game.

It's a game that would be perfect for some sociology study[/QUOTE]

/nod we found the same thing happen. It seemed right off the bat people could tell who was best at the game(me and the other guy playing)and then the other players(or wives)either did what they were told(god that sound horrible)or were constantly asking us for advice(which they always followed).
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']

As far as coop goes, BSG is far better, but more complicated.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, we have BSG. I was just hoping to find a game that is 100% co-op (ie no cylons) and that was a little easier to teach. Probably the biggest problem with BSG is playing it with new people, it's like you have to plan half the night to do it.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']Yeah, we have BSG. I was just hoping to find a game that is 100% co-op (ie no cylons) and that was a little easier to teach. Probably the biggest problem with BSG is playing it with new people, it's like you have to plan half the night to do it.[/QUOTE]

I think once you have the rules down you could easily teach it to others. The problem is more that as has been stated most new comers will just defer to the opinion of those that know the game. Then again I think this is going by non board gamers. It seems most people I try and teach a new game to get really intimated and flustered, if you have a group you regularly play with it may go 10x better.
 
I picked up a Game of Thrones the other day with a 40% off Borders Rewards coupon. I haven't had a chance to run through it, but I got a small group coming over Friday to give it a test run. From the video footage I saw online, it shouldn't take too long to pick up. The only real handycap is not knowing the cards very well.

Oh, and I was actually trying to buy Pandemic instead, but it was out of stock.
 
[quote name='plasticbathmonki']

Oh, and I was actually trying to buy Pandemic instead, but it was out of stock.[/QUOTE]

One of the local stores I call said the manufacturer is out of stock and currently producing another batch. So pretty much everyone is out of stock right now (called 4 stores today). Might just order it from Amazon this weekend.
 
I'm actually about to bust my boardgame budget for a few months by buying a sealed 1979 edition of Avalon Hill's Dune for $100 from a local collector. It's one of those classic favs that they just won't rerelease.
 
Speaking of Avalon Hill, I finally found a box in our basement that had a few of our old AH games (really, they were my brother's, but he gave them to me years ago). I've got Amoeba Wars, Twixt and Ambush. I remember liking Amoeba Wars and Twixt is a good abstract strategy game. Ambush was my attempt to get into the games my brother really liked, the impossibly complicated Advanced Squad Leader. Ambush is actually a single-player game and it was pretty clever how it worked, but I just couldn't get into it. :) I can't wait to play the other two with friends. We've got a gathering coming up next month so I'm going to read up on the rules and I'll try to convince my kids to give them a try as well.

A friend of mine made me aware of Cheapass Games, appropriately enough. Has anybody played any of their games? They idea with them is that you use the pieces and parts you have from games already in your library, and play new games with them. So money from Monopoly, pieces from some other game, etc.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']A friend of mine made me aware of Cheapass Games, appropriately enough. Has anybody played any of their games? They idea with them is that you use the pieces and parts you have from games already in your library, and play new games with them. So money from Monopoly, pieces from some other game, etc.[/QUOTE]

Before I Kill You, Mister Bond and Kill Doctor Lucky. Remember paying $4.99 for each of those when they came out. Medium-sized, white envelopes with the silhouettes of the main character. Cards that look printed on construction paper. The epitome of cheap. Man, I loved Cheapass Games.
 
[quote name='Kilraven']
Before I Kill You, Mister Bond and Kill Doctor Lucky. Remember paying $4.99 for each of those when they came out. Medium-sized, white envelopes with the silhouettes of the main character. Cards that look printed on construction paper. The epitome of cheap. Man, I loved Cheapass Games.[/QUOTE]

In a really confusing, non-Cheapass move, they actually released a dedicated full version of Kill Doctor Lucky, and an expansion. That made me really scratch my head.

Most of the Cheapass Games are pretty fun, but none of them are of real long-term interest, I'd say. For the few dollars you'll pay, it's hard to go wrong, though.
 
I got my tax return this week, so I think I might have gone a wee bit overboard. I picked up Small World, Pandemic and Ad Astra today. I've got some folks coming over for Pandemic tomorrow, but I'm hoping to get the rules for Small World down so we can run through it as well.
 
So we finally got around to learning and playing Samurai on my Ipad. Me and my wife are both really impressed with this game. This is what I wish all board games were, incredibly easy to learn and simple to play, yet with deep and strategic game play. We both felt like we grasped the game after a 5-10 minute tutorial, less time then my wife took playing some of her turns :)

Other then that we also finally got the Necromancer Expansion for small world on the table. We both REALLY liked it and wished we could play it more often, but my brother in law is really the only one we ever get to play small world with and he did not really care for the expansion. The Necromancer really adds a different twist to the game because instead of it being simply about grabbing as many points as possible you really have to work hard to keep the Necromancer from growing too powerful and at the same time score points. These things are often counter productive since you will be faced with points where you need more troops to take on the Necromancer, yet you feel you are not ready to go in to decline because your still getting good points from a past in decline race.

As I said we are both blown away by how awsome both the Necromancer expansion and Samurai are. Both are so simple to learn yet so deep to play....too bad Necromancer Island will almost never get played since it requires 3 or more players ;(
 
Necromancer Island is fun, but can be a really different experience based on the Necromancer's starting powers. Some games we've played he's been unbeatable, and some he's been totally innocuous. I like it a lot, and it adds a great new strategic element, but it's a bit wacky in the balance department! :)
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']Necromancer Island is fun, but can be a really different experience based on the Necromancer's starting powers. Some games we've played he's been unbeatable, and some he's been totally innocuous. I like it a lot, and it adds a great new strategic element, but it's a bit wacky in the balance department! :)[/QUOTE]

Yeah I can see that. I imagine if the Necro gets a bunch of stuff like Commando and Maurader it can make things really freaking tough or if he gets loaded up with stuff like swamp it being hard on the necro. My game was fairly challenging since I did not have the best abilities(Pillaging and some other money makers) and since my brother in law did not go in to decline till like his 5th turn(he plays really oddly). I still pulled out a win, but if I had not had Maurauder I do not think it would have happened.
 
I played half a game of Thunderstone this weekend. It seemed pretty fun. Hopefully I'll see those friends again soon so I can get a full game in.

Played our first game of Pandemic. It was pretty fun, but I definitely can see how it could be dominated by one person, in fact it kinda was. But it wasn't a bad thing, every was in agreement with the moves.
 
I played Ticket to Ride with my 9 year old Saturday night. It was fun, but I won and he was so upset. I won really due to the longest route card, those 10 points if he had gotten it he would have won. I wish he had not been so upset about it though. We played word on the street which was fun as well.
 
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[quote name='mickeyp']I played Ticket to Ride with my 9 year old Saturday night. It was fun, but I won and he was so upset. I won really due to the longest route card, those 10 points if he had gotten it he would have one. I wish he had not been so upset about it though. We played word on the street which was fun as well.[/QUOTE]

My wife has to remind me to let my little brother win sometimes ;) I am an uber competitive person by nature so I just try and win everything. Less a kid is like 5 or 6 years old I generally do not think "O I should probably let them win a few games".
 
Samurai is a great game, Magus. Both the real version and the iOS version. The iOS version does have one oddity - when it isn't your turn it covers up your tiles and doesn't let you look at them. Why? This is really only an issue when playing online games, though. Otherwise the online is superb. Well, one other weirdness - it notifies you that it's your turn, but it doesn't notify you when the game is over. Strange. Still, it's a fantastic online game.

Anyway, you need to play online. I'm "crunc" on Samurai. Send me a game invite. It's better with 3 or 4 players, but we can start out with 2.

My kids like Ticket to Ride. Everybody has won it, so it seems to be a pretty good game for younger players, yet is fun for everybody. Definitely strategy involved, but especially when playing with more then 2 players, everybody has a chance to win.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Samurai is a great game, Magus. Both the real version and the iOS version. The iOS version does have one oddity - when it isn't your turn it covers up your tiles and doesn't let you look at them. Why? This is really only an issue when playing online games, though. Otherwise the online is superb. Well, one other weirdness - it notifies you that it's your turn, but it doesn't notify you when the game is over. Strange. Still, it's a fantastic online game.

Anyway, you need to play online. I'm "crunc" on Samurai. Send me a game invite. It's better with 3 or 4 players, but we can start out with 2.

My kids like Ticket to Ride. Everybody has won it, so it seems to be a pretty good game for younger players, yet is fun for everybody. Definitely strategy involved, but especially when playing with more then 2 players, everybody has a chance to win.[/QUOTE]

I agree with TtR being a great game to teach younger and new players. Its one of those rare games that it seems I do not have to remind myself to let others win sometimes, because they just beat me on their own anyways every few games. It is not constant, but if we play 10 games they win at least a few. One thing that I have found though that can help if a player is really struggling is to allow two people to use the same track. This means there are less blocks and less time spent rerouting your entire track just because 2 people needed the same area of the board.
 
I have only played TtR with 2 ppl. so far I would like to try it as a 3 player game, but getting my husband to play has been a bit of a challenge.
 
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