What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by rudyvalentine

Sounds like a fun event for a good cause! That's an awesome way to raise support.

I played this at a friend's house a couple years ago. He had a beautiful, handmade board and it was a lot of fun. But playing against a skilled player is tough because it does take practice to develop the touch needed.

Been focused on the horror genre in the spirit of the holiday this month and got in Betrayal at House on the Hill, Elder Sign, and Dead of Winter recently.

It was my first time playing Elder Sign and we played it twice in a row. The first game ended pretty quickly in a win and the second game took longer but also was a win. I enjoyed the theme and simplicity of rolling dice to clear sets, but I'm not sure how I feel about the difficulty of the game. I was talking to the owner of the game after playing and mentioned wanting to try Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu and he said he doesn't like regular Pandemic because he loses, but he's never lost a game of Elder Sign. I explained that's what I enjoy about a cooperative game, that it should feel like an accomplishment when you win. I didn't get that sense from Elder Sign and to me, what's the point of playing a cooperative game if it's an automatic win every play? I would play it again and we did mix in some expansions, but not everything, so I'm sure there are ways to make it harder.

Dead of Winter has always been interesting and it went over well with the group of mostly new players. It came down to the last Colony Phase and the group would have won if we had been able to survive the last Zombie placement, but morale dropped to zero and we fell just short.

Hoping to get in my first play of Mansions of Madness second edition this week to wrap up my month of horror games.

I've enjoyed the few times I've played Betrayal at the House in the Hill. I know some say it's kind of wonky in some ways, but I don't let that bother me.

Played Elder Sign a couplemonths ago for the first time, after playing Arkham Horror. I enjoyed it.

Dead of Winter is always a good time for the people in my group that like to play it. It's not everyone'scup of tea, and that's ok.

I agree that I don't want to win every co-op game. What's the fun in that? I want it to be a challenge and a sense of accomplishment when we do win. I just ordered Pandemic Legacy to play with my daughters, so I'll expect to lose a few months. I've been telling my girls about the SeaFall campaign I'm in and how you get to name things and stuff. They were interested in that aspect so I figured Pandemic Legacy would work in that regard and being co-op, I can help them along, but not alpha the game.

[chas]

For those of us still waiting until December, I refer you to www.commands&colors.net. I see that the six new C&C Epic Napoleonics Expansion Six two player standard format Austerlitz scenarios are now available on this Bayernkini site! They should be playable with what we've got so far I'd imagine, with perhaps a substitute unit/terrain hex or two. So there's another way to go for us impatient CCN players!

[Hahma]

After missing out of the 2 separate campaigns of Pandemic Legacy with my gaming group, as the seats filled really quick, I finally decided to buy it and play it with my daughters. Since the game is similar in a sense to Flashpoint and Defenders of the Realm, which I own, we will be familiar with certain concepts of the game. My girls were interested in the naming and stickering that they hear me talk about in the SeaFall campaign I recently got into with my group, so they were up to trying Pandemic Legacy. I ordered it Sunday morning and got it yesterday afternoon, but only paid standard shipping




Last night at our my regular Monday night game night, I got to try a couple new games.

Emergence - is kind of a hidden role game in a sense where there are some players that will be the AI and a fewer number are Humans. It's a futuristic world setting and the computers have taken over, so they are after the humans. So basically during the game, you are taking actions to gather resources on certain spaces and trading them in with a different actions. Depending on the combination of numbers and colors traded in, that's how many disc tokens you get. The disc tokens are used to either pay for some actions that allow you to spy or terminate another player, or if anyone lands on a certain tile, everyone that has discs has to place at least 1 of them in a box that has 2 slots, one for human and one for AI. Then they are revealed and people try to figure out who is who and work together to beat the others. The AI winning condition is to get 40 discs collected total over the course of the game, whereas the human winning condition is to get 20 of them, or to have no resources left on the board.



And finally, Mechs vs. Minions -

This is based on the current most popular video game in the world called League of Legends. Itis a campaign game that teaches the game more from one mission to the next, and there are ten missions. We played the introductory mission and the first real mission.

It's card drafting and programmed action game. You will draft a new action card each round and add it somewhere on your board, then on your turn, you have to take your actions in order from left to right. Pretty cool and can get crazy, especially of you take damage that covers up an action slot or that changes the order of your actions.

[A3n]

How did you like Mechs & Minions?

My eldest son said he wants it so I told him I will try to get it as a Xmas present for him. Seems only available from their site & with postage its going to be a little on the expensive side for me, US$125 which makes it a little over $160 Australian. The things you do for your kids. Plus he is the one that doesn't play boardgames anymore so hopefully this will get him into it a bit more.

[Hahma]

@A3n

We liked it a lot. The introductory mission was basic and just gave you an idea of how things worked. It was pretty quick. Then we did the first mission where you have to tow or push a bomb from one end of the board to a special space on the other side. But there are a ton of minions that are coming from the direction you need to get the bomb to. The bomb only has 5 health and during the minon attack phase, any minion adjacent to you or the bomb gives an automatic damage. So while damage can mess you up a little bit, it can be healed, whereas the bomb can't. You have to work together and try to plan your actions to get the bomb moved, as well as killing the minions that keep spawning every round.

After you get the bomb off the the starting area, then you will start using the 40 second sand timer when drafting. In the beginning of each round, you reveal a certain number of action cards from the deck and flip the timer. Then everyone quickly discusses what they need and people take 1 card each. Then you cab take your time to decide which slot to place it. Afterwards, the 1st player takes all their actions and the other players follow. You will need to discuss what each of you will be trying to do on your turn.

Fun stuff.

[Ranior]

Originally Posted by rudyvalentine

It was my first time playing Elder Sign and we played it twice in a row. The first game ended pretty quickly in a win and the second game took longer but also was a win. I enjoyed the theme and simplicity of rolling dice to clear sets, but I'm not sure how I feel about the difficulty of the game. I was talking to the owner of the game after playing and mentioned wanting to try Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu and he said he doesn't like regular Pandemic because he loses, but he's never lost a game of Elder Sign. I explained that's what I enjoy about a cooperative game, that it should feel like an accomplishment when you win. I didn't get that sense from Elder Sign and to me, what's the point of playing a cooperative game if it's an automatic win every play? I would play it again and we did mix in some expansions, but not everything, so I'm sure there are ways to make it harder.

I also recently got to try Elder Sign for the first time and had the same reaction as you. It was enjoyable enough, but I found that I just have no desire to play again as the difficulty just isn't there. I never once felt like we could even lose. So victory feels pretty hollow at that point.

Originally Posted by Hahma

After missing out of the 2 separate campaigns of Pandemic Legacy with my gaming group, as the seats filled really quick, I finally decided to buy it and play it with my daughters.


Last night at our my regular Monday night game night, I got to try a couple new games.

Emergence - is kind of a hidden role game in a sense where there are some players that will be the AI and a fewer number are Humans.

You should wind up loving Pandemic Legacy. It's fantastic, you absolutely should give it a try. I hope it works out well for you and your daughters. I know I've had a blast with Pandemic Legacy. Cory and I enjoyed our first play through with another couple so much that we ordered a second copy to play with his family. And that group is having a great time too, I've almost been tempted to order a third copy to play with my sister and her fiancee. It is one of my favorite games ever.

Cory recently got Emergence as well and we played it. I enjoyed it, but found it to a fairly average/meh game. I will gladly play again, but I also didn't find it to be anything special or fantastic.

Else I got in a bunch of different games in this past weekend:

Acquire x1
Robinson Crusoe x1
Sushi Go Party x2
Fury of Dracula x1
Sheriff of Notingham x1
Dark Moon x1

Acquire is still a great game all these years later. Still loving Robinson Crusoe, fantastic deep cooperative game. Sushi Go Party has really brought Sushi Go back to life for us, the ability to just randomize a set up gives it fantastic replayability that it used to lack. Fury of Dracula I continue to love and our games are always very tight now with experienced hunters and Dracula. Sheriff is always a good time.

This was my first time playing Dark Moon or "BSG Express" as it apparently was at one time known. I wound up not really liking the game, but that's because our 90 minute game ended on the results of a single roll of the d6. I don't like my games to end that way. Not to mention it's another hidden traitor game that forces the "good guys" to sometimes look like "bad guys" without them having a choice. That design element really bothers me, and I'm glad I can finally articulate it. I didn't use to be able to pinpoint what bothered me about Secret Hitler, but that would be it.

Dead of Winter certainly makes players sometimes do weird things to fulfill their secret objectives, and that can make them look like a betrayer. However, the player has that choice still. They are knowingly going to attract suspicion if they try to kill their survivor or hoard medicine, and they can try to explain that is their secret objective or choose to go for it later so they don't appear to be a betrayer. It's a player decision though.

In Secret Hitler sometimes a liberal (good guy) will be forced to pass a Facist policy (bad) through no fault of their own, but because the policy deck only had Facist policies for the top three cards. The player has no choice. They can claim that they got screwed by the deck, and everyone else can choose to believe them or not. But the player had no choice, and the rest of the table similarly is sitting their flummoxed if they are a Facist, or simply were forced to look like one by the game.

Dark Moon has a similar mechanic. A player gets to secretly roll dice and the dice have many negative numbers (bad). Then the player has to put in one or more dice to help with the task. But if you roll all negative, you're forced to put in a bad number and appear like a bad guy. Nobody can actually know if you're simply unlucky or actually a bad guy.

After playing Dark Moon I know understand I simply hate that mechanic in hidden traitor/role type games. When there are so many that work very well without that, and so allow the players control over their fates, I simply don't see why I should waste my time with these sorts of games that I consider sloppy designs. I'm sure others still really enjoy it and will play those games, and heck I even can with some fun, I just will never want to play them as compared to Shadows Over Camelot, Dead of Winter, or the Resistance where the players have control instead of the game occasionally screwing over a good guy to force them to appear like a bad guy. In my mind a well designed hidden traitor game will force the players to want to make decisions that appear bad (like Dead of Winter) to help hide the traitors, they won't simply force the players due to bad luck to appear like a bad guy.

Overall though a fantastic day of gaming. Probably rambled far more than I needed to, but ah well. This weekend Cory's sister and fiance are coming over so I should get in tons of gaming, including continuing our Pandemic Legacy game. I haven't got Caverna to the table in a long time, and it's heavier than what we normally play (which tends to be lighter to mid weight fare), but I'm hoping I can talk them into it. And then hope they like it and will want to play more in the future. We shall see. Either way I will get in plenty of games which is always good.

[quozl]

Played Flash Point: Fire Rescue and All Wound Up last night as we gave out candy to trick-or-treaters.

[Gurei-Ornery]

@Hahma and @A3n

Played Mechs and Minions once and immediately ordered. Fun game.

Recently played Combat Commander for the first time and really liked it. Memoir 44 was big for us when my son was little and this feels like a grown up version of card driven WWII combat.

Last night played Ghost Stories and Darkest Night on the front porch while kids grabbed candy.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Ranior

].

You should wind up loving Pandemic Legacy. It's fantastic, you absolutely should give it a try. I hope it works out well for you and your daughters. I know I've had a blast with Pandemic Legacy. Cory and I enjoyed our first play through with another couple so much that we ordered a second copy to play with his family. And that group is having a great time too, I've almost been tempted to order a third copy to play with my sister and her fiancee. It is one of my favorite games ever.

Cory recently got Emergence as well and we played it. I enjoyed it, but found it to a fairly average/meh game. I will gladly play again, but I also didn't find it to be anything special or fantastic.

Else I got in a bunch of different games in this past weekend:

Acquire x1
Robinson Crusoe x1
Sushi Go Party x2
Fury of Dracula x1
Sheriff of Notingham x1
Dark Moon x1

Acquire is still a great game all these years later. Still loving Robinson Crusoe, fantastic deep cooperative game. Sushi Go Party has really brought Sushi Go back to life for us, the ability to just randomize a set up gives it fantastic replayability that it used to lack. Fury of Dracula I continue to love and our games are always very tight now with experienced hunters and Dracula. Sheriff is always a good time.

This was my first time playing Dark Moon or "BSG Express" as it apparently was at one time known. I wound up not really liking the game, but that's because our 90 minute game ended on the results of a single roll of the d6. I don't like my games to end that way. Not to mention it's another hidden traitor game that forces the "good guys" to sometimes look like "bad guys" without them having a choice. That design element really bothers me, and I'm glad I can finally articulate it. I didn't use to be able to pinpoint what bothered me about Secret Hitler, but that would be it.

Dead of Winter certainly makes players sometimes do weird things to fulfill their secret objectives, and that can make them look like a betrayer. However, the player has that choice still. They are knowingly going to attract suspicion if they try to kill their survivor or hoard medicine, and they can try to explain that is their secret objective or choose to go for it later so they don't appear to be a betrayer. It's a player decision though.

In Secret Hitler sometimes a liberal (good guy) will be forced to pass a Facist policy (bad) through no fault of their own, but because the policy deck only had Facist policies for the top three cards. The player has no choice. They can claim that they got screwed by the deck, and everyone else can choose to believe them or not. But the player had no choice, and the rest of the table similarly is sitting their flummoxed if they are a Facist, or simply were forced to look like one by the game.

Dark Moon has a similar mechanic. A player gets to secretly roll dice and the dice have many negative numbers (bad). Then the player has to put in one or more dice to help with the task. But if you roll all negative, you're forced to put in a bad number and appear like a bad guy. Nobody can actually know if you're simply unlucky or actually a bad guy.

After playing Dark Moon I know understand I simply hate that mechanic in hidden traitor/role type games. When there are so many that work very well without that, and so allow the players control over their fates, I simply don't see why I should waste my time with these sorts of games that I consider sloppy designs. I'm sure others still really enjoy it and will play those games, and heck I even can with some fun, I just will never want to play them as compared to Shadows Over Camelot, Dead of Winter, or the Resistance where the players have control instead of the game occasionally screwing over a good guy to force them to appear like a bad guy. In my mind a well designed hidden traitor game will force the players to want to make decisions that appear bad (like Dead of Winter) to help hide the traitors, they won't simply force the players due to bad luck to appear like a bad guy.

Overall though a fantastic day of gaming. Probably rambled far more than I needed to, but ah well. This weekend Cory's sister and fiance are coming over so I should get in tons of gaming, including continuing our Pandemic Legacy game. I haven't got Caverna to the table in a long time, and it's heavier than what we normally play (which tends to be lighter to mid weight fare), but I'm hoping I can talk them into it. And then hope they like it and will want to play more in the future. We shall see. Either way I will get in plenty of games which is always good.

Yeah Ranior, I think we'll love Pandemic Legacy as well. I think there's a 2nd season of it coming out. Thought I heard June, but I may be mistaken.

I agree, Emergence was ok and I'd play it again. Difficult as a Human, but next time I would try to accumulate those discs and the wait until an AI player got a lot of them and then use the action that sends that player back to home base and I would take all their discs. Would require good timing.

I have played Dark Moon a couple times and I enjoy it. I don't mind the dice. Adds some drama. I like Secret Hitler and don't mind the card draw issue. part of the game is being able to lie and to throw people off the trail sometimes.

I have Robinson Crusoe but haven't played it for awhile. I like it a lot though.

I tried Sushi Go Party once and liked it ok. Same with Fury of Dracula. Been awhile since playing Sheriff of Nottingham, but I had enjoyed it when we did play it.

I really like Dead of Winter, good stuff.

Never tried Caverna. If I get a chance, I'll certainly give it a go.

Sounds like you had a good time.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by quozl

Played Flash Point: Fire Rescue and All Wound Up last night as we gave out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Flashpoint is a good time. Haven't heard if all wound up.

Originally Posted by Gurei-Ornery

@Hahma and @A3n

Played Mechs and Minions once and immediately ordered. Fun game.

Recently played Combat Commander for the first time and really liked it. Memoir 44 was big for us when my son was little and this feels like a grown up version of card driven WWII combat.

Last night played Ghost Stories and Darkest Night on the front porch while kids grabbed candy.

Glad you liked Mechs vs Minions G-O. I may have to order it as well. I think their next shipping is going out in December if I read correctly.

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by quozl

Played Flash Point: Fire Rescue and All Wound Up last night as we gave out candy to trick-or-treaters.

That looks great. Love the play on words.

[TREX]

Just got in my Deadeye Walkers for Zombicide: Black Plague. Has anyone got to play with those yet? I can't wait. Also, I have been on the fence over buying BLOOD RAGE. But went ahead and pulled the trigger last night on Amazon. After watching the good reviews on Dice Tower I had to jump off the fence, finally. Anyone on here a fan of that one? Also, I seen the 5th player expansion for Blood Rage on there as well. Is it worth it to buy? I'm not sure I need it unless it brings more to the table than just another player. Over Halloween I got to play a game called SPEAK OUT. With the mouth guards, and the trying to say stuff for your team mate to guess. It was so fun, my wife went and bought it the day after.