Not played but what I hear from people who have is that it’s not at all cosy, more a ferocious optimisation puzzle. Apparently quite a good f.o.p. but not if you’re looking for cosy.
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I have only tried playing with my kids, which has meant that we haven’t finished a game yet. The art is very Stardew Valley, but, no, I wouldn’t call the game all that cosy.
I know variants have been proposed online which might make it cosier, but I haven’t tried any of them.
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I agree with what was said. It’s a tight coop game and not at all cozy.
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My brother-in-law KS’d it, being a fan of the video game. We have played it once, shortly after it arrived. I don’t remember the details well, but I remember it felt very tight and very luck driven. We didn’t do well at all.
Again, details are fuzzy, but the fishing mini game, for instance. You pull tokens blindly out of a bag to see what is available to fish for. If you have a goal that requires a particular fish, it is possible it never comes out of the bag!
It was not what any of us was expecting out of such a cute looking game.
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Maybe Dorf Romantik boardgame as an alternative that’s actually cozy / relaxing?
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That does actually sound exactly like the infuriating fishing mechanic in Stardew Valley 
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As she’s played it so.much, she is pretty.much optimising her farms now so that kind of thing MIGHT be up her street, I don’t know!
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Well in that case, they did a great job in matching the feel of the video game! 
I never played it, so can’t compare.
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I wasn’t a fan of the board game for most of the reasons people outlined here: it’s stressful, and tight, and very, very luck dependent. Luck that can be somewhat mitigated, but not removed. I was disappointed in it, but I have friends who crank the difficulty on the game as far down as it will go and say that they enjoy it as such. YMMV.
For cozy, yes, Dorfromantik is great as a board game (I would hazard that it’s even a better board game than it is a video game). Other options might include MicroMacro (solve little murders in a Where’s Waldo style, very satisfying), LotRFotRTTG (Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game), or maybe Cascadia (it’s a competitive and a little toothier, but not dramatically).
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That’s what I have told several people who asked me about either variant. the boardgame is better than the video game. it’s a rare occurrence for an adaptation in that direction.
Both @lalunaverde and I have made geeklists with cozy games in the past and we might have had a weekly topic about such games. I’m not sure. but since this was asked for a specific game… maybe cozy is not the whole point☺️
in any case Dorf is recommended
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It was mainly asked cos she loves Stardew but I think cosy in general describes her gaming style
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Luna’s list is linked from mine.
I may need a new edition of the list at some point☺️ Sanctuary wants a spot
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Any reccs for Ameritrash games?
Games that I like:
- Cosmic Encounter
- Eldritch Horror
- Tales of the Arabian Nights
- Lords of Vegas - I would pay you money on top of the cost, if you’re from North America and forward me a copy of the new edition.
- Star Wars Rebellion
- War of the Ring
- them Werhles like Arcs or Root (which I consider as nu-American).
I am considering a TI group with fast players as well (and come up with a short variant which would work on the library sessions)
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I enjoyed my play of Fortune and Glory as well as the PdF of A Touch of Evil.
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Cosmic Encounter:
- Dune (or Rex, which is just Dune reskined) for the chaotic asymmetric powers coupled to a negotiation-heavy wargame
- War of Whispers or Battle for Rokugan for more emphasis on the wargame, but more balanced (light asymmetry)
- Inis (less chaotic, but negotiation heavy) or Rising Sun (more chaotic, money-fueled conflict)
- Forbidden Stars or Cry Havoc (knife-fight-in-a-phonebooth)
Eldritch Horror:
- Journeys in Middle-Earth, Descent, Imperial Assault, or Mansions of Madness (RPG-lite board games with monsters, exploration, and light “mystery” elements)
- Ghost Stories/Bastion (hopeless fight against evil, not complicated but nigh-impossible)
- Spirit Island (asymmetric co-op that is variable, big in scope, and shockingly clever)
Tales of the Arabian Nights:
- Tales of the Arthurian Knights (I mean, same-same… faster, less chaotic, but good)
- Legacy of Dragonholt (massive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure board game, better writing but also less scope than TotAN)
- Forgotten Waters / the Sci-fi version (weird narratively driven games, lots of story and choices, but less “carefree” than TotAN)
- Destinies (weird player count, but good Fail Upwards narrative game with a very friendly price point)
- Sleeping Gods (fantastic exploration, good monster combat… combat is weaker than Gloomhaven, but everything else about Sleeping Gods is, IMO, much, MUCH better than ye old Haven of Gloom or Frost)
Star Wars Rebellion / War of the Ring:
- War on Arrakis (the third of the trilogy, and my 2nd favourite… some neat variations compared to the other two, and IMO much stronger than Rebellion and maybe as good as War of the Ring. Is real good… but I love the IP, full disclosure, so I may be rose-tinted-glasses a bit? But I love all 3 IPs, so that shouldn’t have an impact… anyway, I really like it, I think it’s much better than Rebellion)
- Sekigahara (fantastic 2-player wargame that’s clever, has a really neat bluffing element, and big chunky pieces of wood that are super satisfying to push around the board)
- War of 1812 (dice driven combat, card-driven movement/recruitment/events… like… Baby’s First COIN Game, but more streamlined? It’s good!)
Werhles-gigs:
- Old King’s Crown (look, I know a lot of people are firmly in the “ARCS is the GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME!!!1one!!!” camp, but after 3 plays of the game I’m still not sure I like it. There might be something there! I get it! And it might be really clever!.. but the first time I played Old King’s Crown? Yeah, lightning. No question. It’s real good)
- Anhk, Cyclades, or Kemet are all worth a thought as Nu-Wave Wargames that are really crunchy but don’t overstay their welcome. Less puzzle-y than Werhles offerings, but more consistent (let’s be honest, Root isn’t necessarily the best balanced game of all time, and gods is it a nightmare to teach, as much as I love it).
Twilight Imperium:
- Nothing. There are pretenders (Eclipse, Star Trek Ascendancy, Galactic Empire, Empire of the Void II, Space Empires 4X, etc…) and some of them are very good games in their own rights… but none of them are TI. And, IMO, you’re better off playing them not because you want “TI but faster”, but because you want an element of TI done differently (Eclipse: you want ship asymetry and exploration to be more meaningful, but don’t care about economics or diplomacy! Star Trek Ascendancy you want fantastic exploration, weird shifting borders, but you don’t care about balanced combat! Ascending Empires: you want a deep strategic game that you can genuinely lose because you sneezed at the wrong, or right, time! Etc… etc…)
Just my 2 cents.
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I know nothing about it, but this launches today…
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mightyboards/for-the-gods
But seriously, don’t you either own or used to own them all? Guards, CW, Glorantha?
I remember Mezos getting a glowing review on a podcast a few years ago, and Aristea.
Utterly ungettable, but Imperium: The Contention is supposed to be a banger
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I still like A Touch of Evil. FanG doesn’t resonate with me quite as much, not sure why. Arguably Firefly is Ameritrash-ish. Xia too.
Arabian Knights: you are a cork on the seas of fate. Fun sometimes but I don’t want to own it any more.
(Hmm, must get Steam installed on the current box, then fire up Tabletop Simulator for a Touch of Evil PBF.)
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Xia - not a recc, but I remember having a great time playing this with Roger and co. at AireCon
Fortune and Glory - so old school that there’s a Tabletop video of it on YouTube. Will watch that and see what my verdict is
Dune - used to be in my mind a few years back. I really want to play this considering I love Cosmic. But this game clearly shows why I usually dislike rules heavy games despite loving to play heavy games myself. I’ll make note of Dune and Rex though. I think these are strong contenders.
It’s been a while since I’ve played Battle for Rokugan. I do remember really liking this one. The completely made-up “problem” that I have with TOAMs, in general, is that I have a few that fits the niche: Cthulhu Wars, El Grande, Inis. There’s that standard dialogue that Wyvern and I have too: “I’d rather play Cthulhu Wars”
Journeys in Middle-Earth - I’ll look into this one.
Descent/ Imperial Assault - I’ve played the hell out of Descent back in the day. Good times.
Ghost Stories/Bastion - GS is great. I’m wondering how much plays I will get out of this one (in relative to the other games in my shelf) if I do get it.
Legacy of Dragonholt - own it. need to get on with this, honestly. I have Mythos Tales and all of SHCD as well (including the FBI version of this). If there’s anything else like these, I would be keen.
Destinies, Sleeping Gods - I heard about these. I’ll refrain from campaign games atm.
War on Arrakis - I’m also refraining from 2 players as I don’t play them enough. I sold War of the Ring as I don’t play it enough. I also sold Napoleon’s Triumph which is one of the most interesting wargames I’ve ever played. Otherwise, I would be keen on these sort of games every time. A Gest of Robin Hood or Command and Colours seems the sort that are fast enough and light enough. In this case, I’ll look for Sekigahara. I remember having a great time with this game.
Old King’s Crown - I hated this game lmao. But I was glad you enjoyed when I read your post in the Last Games Played thread.
And, IMO, you’re better off playing them not because you want “TI but faster”, but because you want an element of TI done differently
Yes. because I consider games like Eclipse as Euros (let’s do the fun thing again where we define what “Euro” means). I don’t get why these games get compared. I can see why someone will prefer one or the other which indicates preferences that marks what sort of games they like on a broader scale, but the similarities between the two games are very superficial.
I would even say that TI and Dune are more similar due to their overlapping design ethos. I think TI would be preferred over other games like Eclipse. I would also tolerate playing this at 4 or 5 but will restrict it to fast players.
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Oh, don’t do this. This is the episode they had to apologize for because they botched the rules horribly.
Paula Deming has a playthrough that follows the rules, and I am sure there are others. Tabletop’s should only be watched for entertainment purposes.
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Not much or anything new, but entries from the Ameritrash genre that have made it over the bar:
- Risk 2210AD
- Kemet
- Netrunner
- X-Wing miniatures
- Cosmic Encounter
- Outer Rim (with Unfinished Business)
- Does Sidereal Confluence count?
- Paleo
- Fantasy Realms
- Imperium
- BattleCon
- Arabian Nights
- One Night Ultimate Werewolf
- Wise Guys
- Argent: The Consortium
- Empyreal
- Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space (PnP + Deck of Cards)
- Dune
Of course, you shift the definition of Ameritrash by a few degrees and the lens shifts off several of those. I’m thinking mainly in terms of lots of mechanics to explore and/or endless cards/powers/traits. With theme and storytelling at the front.
I wouldn’t consider Lords of Vegas or Cyclades to fit the bill. I’m happy to buy and ship a Lords of Vegas to you at cost, but there’s got to be a store selling it directly that would be more economic? You can’t have my copy!
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