What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by nyys

@Bats and @Hahma

I'm at am impass to pull the trigger on the Marvel Legendary game. I'm not a fan of superheroes but this game looks pretty cool nonetheless (I'm sure my son will love it though).

I need to switch out a game from my most recent CSI order since it's being held up in pre-order and was just pushed back to early 2013, but I need the rest of the order now for Christmas.

So the question becomes Marvel Legendary or Mice and Mystics?

Well I guess it depends on the type of game you like the most. I haven't played Legendary, but it's a deckbuilding type game with a superhero theme. People seem to like it.

Mice and Mystics is a dungeon crawl type game that I have and have played a lot of. In fact, I'm doing some playtesting for them. I really love the game and my kids really enjoy it too. I haven't played any of the D&D dungeon crawls like Ravenloft, but I've heard people comment that M&M is a lot better. It's just a really fun game that gives you a real feel of being Mice heroes and deal with the things they would have to deal with. There are a lot of neat weapons and other equipment that you can equip them with and find when you search, and they have a variety of abilities that each can start with and you can level up to choose another ability. You can play the game each chapter separately as a new game, or you can play it as a campaign.

So ultimately a lot of it depends on what type of game you like better and what theme you like. Or, you could just buy them both.



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Tonight had a nice game night.

I played 2 games of Avalon (which is a Camelot themed version of the game The Resistance). We had an 8 player game where I was a bad guy and we won, and then a 10 player game where I was a good guy and we should have won but one player was convinced that I was a bad guy and he swayed others to thinking that and pretty much cost us the game.

I played Glory To Rome - Only my second time ever playing it. I like it, though it takes a little getting it at first.

Finished up with a 4 player game of Smash Up. I ended up tied for the win with 15 points, while two others finished tied at 14. Very close at the end, but it was crazy as at one point the scores were 7 (me) 8, 9 and 14. We had to do whatever it took to keep the player with 14 from even scoring at a base to keep us in the game and it worked. The I got up to 14, another at 13, 12 and 14 (from a while ago). We scored a base that got me 1 point and the player with 12 3 points and the other player with 13 got 1 point to end it 15, 15, 14 and 14. I was the only one that had played it before and the others that I taught really liked it. They liked the interaction.

[A_Train]

Just painted a new zombie survivor.

[IAmBatman]

Revisiting Legendary:

I played Legendary with my game group tonight.

I think it moves up to an A- in group play. I got in another play tonight and it definitely felt even more fun with other players (no huge surprise there). You have to think more about what cards to buy and when to do what than you do in solo play. There's also the victory point aspect (I got smoked there, even though I helped take out the Mastermind). I enjoyed the card combos a lot more in this game than in the past, and I definitely see continued interest for me here.

I think I now like this one better than Thunderstone. It's a bit more streamlined in places where Thunderstone drags for me, and I find the overall theme a lot more fun. I also like the internal clock on the game with the Mastermind ending things and everyone losing if you're not careful. The coops/competitive aspect adds some tension to the game as well that wasn't there in solo play. I think as we get to know the game better, that aspect will increase as well. What's nice about this one, I think, is it's adaptable to the personalities of the players. If you want to emphasize the coop aspect (like if you're playing with kids or sensitive players) it's pretty easy to downplay the importance of the victory points and play up the theme of stopping the super villain and saving the day. And if you want to emphasize the competitive aspect (like if you're playing with a bunch of cutthroat gamers) it's pretty easy to emphasize the importance of the final score and there can be real pressure if everyone's busy trying to get theirs and tries to ignore the Mastermind (can definitely bite you in the rear).

So between all of that and the additional bonus of (somewhat lesser) solo play, this one's a real winner for me for its overall flexibility, the ease of gameplay, the decent amount of tactical decision making and fun in-game tension, and the fun overall theme.

Me likey.

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Also played 7 Wonders for the first time. Man, the rulebook is fairly awful for that one, but once we got rolling, gameplay really wasn't that tough at all. We did a few things wrong (like forgetting to discard the last card of the round during the first two ages, and forgetting to go counterclockwise in Age II), but overall I feel like I have the game down pat after one play. So that's pretty nice having ease of gameplay. At the same time, I lost pretty badly, and the numbers of ways to score reminds me a lot of Agricula (which I absolutely love for its similar economy of scoring opportunities and resource management). All of this means is there's plenty of opportunity to hone my strategic choices going forward, meaning I'm definitely interested in playing it more.

The "pass the deck" mechanic was a nice addition to mechanics I've experienced in other resource management games.

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So I can proudly say I played my two newest games, lost both, and had a wonderful time!

[Hahma]

Glad that you got more out of Legendary Bats. Actually a guy brought it to our game night last night, but I missed out trying it as I was already playing Glory to Rome. We had about 16 people show up last night, and the guy with Legendary didn't show up until 7:30 or so. His hours have changed so it's tougher for him to get there as often on Mondays. But maybe I'll get a chance next time.

Regarding 7 Wonders, I've played it a bunch and like it. I don't own it, so I don't have to do the card separating at the beginning to get the right amount of cards for the number of players. Lots of different ways to go in this one, and learning what the symbols mean is usually a tricky thing for new players. The Leaders and Cities expansions add even more interesting goodness. I particularly like in Cities how you can affect players that aren't at either side of you, and there's also a way for a player to not be affected by military from the player on the side of him.
Good stuff and glad you like it. We usually have 6 or 7 players and I usually finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th. Whatever you do, don't let someone run away with the science cards. I remember one time a player got like 72 points just from his science cards because the players next to him weren't paying attention.


I just ordered Love Letter and Zombie Dice 2: Double Feature expansion for Zombie Dice. After playing Zombie Dice this weekend for the first time in a little while, I had the itch to pick up the little expansion for the game. It's a fun and quick push your luck game that is very light and mindless fun

I have been reading a lot of good things about Love Letter and figured it would be a nice fun, quick and light game.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

So I can proudly say I played my two newest games, lost both, and had a wonderful time!

As my friend and former boss Mike Gray likes to say, "If you sit down to play you have already won."

[Dad_Scaper]

Oh, *that's* who I'm quoting!

I always thought it was Jexik.

[nyys]

The kids are determinded to beat me at 10 Days in the USA, so it's all that is getting to the table of late. Two more sessions last night, and looks there this is more in the near future.

[IAmBatman]

Yeah, when it comes to 7 Wonders, I'm just sticking all of my 4+ cards in a different part of the box as I can't see playing with more than 3 players any time soon!

Originally Posted by Jim

As my friend and former boss Mike Gray likes to say, "If you sit down to play you have already won."

Well said!

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Oh, *that's* who I'm quoting!

I always thought it was Jexik.

Just to reiterate for you, DS, I'm a much bigger fan of Legendary after group play. I previously thought it was watered down Thunderstone. But with group play, I'm really recognizing more of the depth and in-game tension. Now I think it's just streamlined Thunderstone with a theme I enjoy more. It definitely moves above Thunderstone on my own playlist now (though the two are not exactly the same by any means, any more than Thunderstone and Dominion are).

[Gurei-Ornery]

Dad_Scaper was able to make it to our lunch game today, so in honor of that we played one of his favorites, 2x Race for the Galaxy. As expected, he won the first game handily, but my buddy Stephen walked to victory in the second game 39-33-31. I came in last both games, but I was just happy to see Dad_Scaper. Fun lunch. We also ran through the rules of Manhattan Project, but sadly not enough time to play.

[Dad_Scaper]

I would have won both but Stephen had cards hidden in his boot.

Thanks for having me.

[Gurei-Ornery]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I would have won both but Stephen had cards hidden in his boot.

Thanks for having me.

He's crafty, that Stephen. It's always "oops I dropped something, oh and by the way, game over."

[Dad_Scaper]

Well, we cracked open Mage Wars and played our first game. It took a couple of hours and the Kid had not had the best day of school, and my wizard beat his warlock pretty handily, and he was dispirited after.

Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.

It's definitely a really good game. I just don't recommend making your children sad.

I'm going to start a thread for it so Matthias can tell me in one thread all the things I misunderstood about the rules.

edit: done.