Not sure where it lies on the spectrum, but based on our plays of it on BGA, Deus seems like it might fit?
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Got it! Thank you
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I want to play more Deus, I thought it was really interesting
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Likely @Simfers ? I think a lot of people have mentioned it but I remember him putting it up for a game of the year contender in whatever year that was.
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I have a copy of Honeybuzz that hasn’t seen much play outside of learning games. I remember the cute honey pieces, a neat spatial puzzle and something something market.
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We indeed really love Honey Buzz here. It strikes a good balance between crunchy and accessible.
Plus, it’s adorable.
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So I’ve found the answer…
It’s Daybreak
I know it’s a co op, but the tableau building element and action chaining is so clever and it plays at a good pace. It’s exactly what I was looking for.
*Incidentally, I’ve played a few more games of Res Arcana and 51st State on BGA. Res is too slow and 51st State is a massive turn off. Whereas the theme and production of Daybreak is off the charts for me.
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Are there any toenail-themed board games? Can’t seem to find any.
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Been asked on what I think of SVWAG’s take on Rise & Fall
They complain about the modules - I don’t have the modules and I’m not really hot about them
Bigney complained about the disconnect with the gameplay and the end game scoring where you play the game as a Euro efficiency game but the end game scoring is mostly an area control game. This is a skill issue. On 2nd game onwards, we pretty much play it as an area control game, not as an efficiency game. And I often felt being elbowed out during the game (annoying in a good way) Indeed, the achievements scoring doesn’t really dominate the game - meaning, you won’t win by racing through the achievements.
So, it’s an area control game with logistical tempo as its main focus. How efficient are you at moving units from this point to that point in order to secure this region for area control scoring?
I do feel like it’s a slog at times where it felt like not much was happening, when you have a big map but your nomads only move 1 hex away. But I guess this emphasises the importance of upgrading your bog-standard nomads into mountaineers and merchants, which can move faster
The pros: the production is nice indeed. Ppl in our club often stop by our table and ask about the game. The flow is good: you play a card and you activate all units of that type with independent actions.
Player count: yes. 4 players felt a bit long, but felt that it’s with the newbies. 3 is fine. 5 - 8 felt like a convention game. I would rather play 3 or 4 with more achievements required to trigger the end of the game if I want a longer game.
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Ah, Great Western Trail. I’d had my eye on NZ because sheep and the thought that it would be “more different.” Just breaking it out now for solo and finding that, a few years on that opinions have evolved and its now as fractious as any Uwe Rosenberg debate.
There’s four camps:
Vanilla OG: Mostly 2e, a few people prefer the art of the old enough but all agree that the rules changes helped. This camp states that the smaller space, (relatively) easier teach, and focus make it still the best experience. This camps says that Rails to the North is solvable and rote and ruins the variability of the base game.
OG+RttN: These folks see the value of the original but like the extra oomph of the branchlets. These folks feel that base GWT gets rote and RttN give it legs.
Argentina: This group believes they are in the minority but, by comment count, seems about proportional. Argentina builds on the ideas in RttN but bundles it together into a more cohesive game. This game is the most interactive and potentially meanest, with the most opportunities to obstruct your opponents or pick away at their deliveries.
New Zealand: Everyone agrees this is the biggest sandbox, the least interactive, the hardest teach. And you either love it for being that or don’t.
Basically, OG = Nusfjord, Argentina = Agricola, New Zealand = Caverna. Or Argentina = Lancashire and New Zealand = Birmingham.
Phew. Based on all that I’m wondering if Argentina, the only one I don’t have, would have been my favorite? And I’m wondering if New Zealand won’t be.
Well, I have what I have and I’ll play what I play and if an epiphany comes down the road, should be easy to shuffle.
Who else has played multiple iterations? Thoughts from the experience?
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We have original (old school) with Rails, Argentina, and New Zealand. Original is the most streamlined and I love it for that. New Zealand has the most point salad feel and is now my go to. I think the boat part of NZ is closest to Rails and there is no need for Rails and NZ. I dislike Argentina. The parts pull in different directions and don’t come together as a cohesive piece. NZ has more parts but they work together better.
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This was my introduction to GWT, and it absolutely destroyed me. Plenty of folks would unquestionably have an easier time of it than I did; but if you are like me then it could be rough.
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I’ve played NZ and didn’t like it, OG I’m meh on. OG+RttN is a no.
How about the baby one? El Paso. It’s got the same beats of milling your deck for a good hand of cows, but puts workers in your deck for discounts. You place them in front of you when you draw them.
Also the buildings are shared, instead of everyone having their own pile.
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I feel like this is for me!
Great Western Trail is the greatest game of all time (imho). You’ve played it enough with me to know what I like about it. It’s not very interactive and its almost certainly a 2 hour game with a lot of set up and tear down on top and it is a bear to teach. I think there’s tons of variety in the base game with the variable setup. Now I’ve played (and been battered by) some very good players on BGA I think every turn matters; you probably can lose the game by turn 2. Even over 100 plays in I’m excited every time I make a move.
Rails to the North is not my cup of tea. IMO it doesn’t add variability; the need to plan ahead makes it feel more formulaic to me. If you haven’t opened up the delivery board by your second run then you’re going to struggle.
GWT:Argentina I believe the consensus is that this is probably less strategic than the OG; it’s even more of a straight race to deliver. However I’ve not played it enough to have found that limitation yet and it has some cool wrinkles - the train based shortcut being the biggest example. I rate it above the OG currently, but I imagine if it gets to BGA and I play it 50 times that may change.
GWT:NZ I’ve not played yet. I got it for Christmas and I’m desperate to get it to the table (see above for the teach issue). My understanding is that is probably closer to OG + Rails with more planning. From what I can see in the rules its more of a pure deckbuilder than the other 2. If that’s true then I’ll probably have it below the others but time will tell.
El Paso I’ve played once on BGA. The only reason I’d buy it would be as a teaching tool for my usual group so I can get one of the ‘real’ games played the week after. It’s not been overly well received (something about lack of playtesting), but like Terra Nova and Castles of Tuscany it’s going to be a hard game to pitch.
TL:DR - I think you’re more into elbows than me and don’t mind a bit of a tussle. I think GWT:A would be the one for you.
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We have the original (first edition, never played the second) with Rails To The North and New-Zealand.
We prefer the original with Rails. New-Zealand is a pain to set-up and teach and, while different enough that we don’t feel we own the same game twice, we find it less fun overall. We do, however, wish that some equivalent to sheep-shearing (cow-milking?) could’ve been implemented in the original game. That would’ve been cool.
To be clear, we enjoy both games. But the OG + Rails is better for us.
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Castles of Tuscany is such a weird weird thing. I think the only reason it has castles of burgundy stuff is marketing. There are similar ideas in the game but its vibe is completed different I think.
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This is really hammering home that there isn’t a better/worse iteration here, just a right for you wrong for you situation.
So far I’m resonating with @brattyjedi here. Having learned and set up (but not yet played) NZ I have a decent feel for it (given my background with the system). OG for a cleaner, tighter, older style game and NZ for a chill, sprawling, just have fun and do whatever you want thing. It does appear that the boats will capture, better, what RttN was trying to do and I imagine in the future I would play vanilla GWT with newbies and NZ with people wanting more.
The trail is longer, the deckbuilding cards are pretty cool (take the sheep dog - you get one certificate and then draw to replace the dog). The forking trails with the boats let you choose if you want to race someone for tiles or just dawdle. And there’s a lot of room to specialize.
I remain curious about this Argentina camp but I’m going to leave myself unmotivated to find out.
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I’ve seen very scattered mentions of it on here, but has anyone played Antike II enough to have an opinion on it? (I literally hadn’t heard of it outside of the SVWAG podcast). Are there similar games that you think are better?
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I noted it as “better than Scythe”. Best at 5 or 6. Im not 100% on 4 players but I remember it being decent.
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