Recent Boardgames (Your Last Played Game Volume 2)

[VictorViper]

Well, we managed to finish our game of Feudum without carrying it into the week! All told, we probably played a total of 4 hours including a dedicated teach of about 30 minutes and peppered with another 30 minutes of explanations throughout, as details came up. Not too bad, considering we were playing in 20-40 minute sessions.

As for the game itself, I’m completely head over heels, and that’s based on the basic rules and a (very much not ideal) 2P count. My partner beat me by 9 points as she was able to complete three royal writs to my one, closing the gap and ultimately leaving me in her dust. The final score was 184-176. Here’s the end state:

This is an exciting, special game and well worth the effort to learn. My partner was really enchanted by the presentation (and the proposition!), which helped us get her through the teach, and the gameplay itself is actually quite smooth in operation, leaving us mostly free to wrap our heads around the scope of the thing. The bottom line: she enjoyed it!!

We cooperated on a few occasions to ensure our bumbling didn’t tank our economy (at one point I even announced one of my actions as the move that will lose me the game, which ended up being true), and set a soft truce with respect to combat and defense. It turned out we didn’t scrap even once, though again we both recognized that decision as being deeply suboptimal on more than a few occasions, so I suspect next time we play it’ll get a bit hotter.

I am so ready to explore this game more!

[EDIT] Just because.

[Chewy77]

Had a Monday night session with my Game Guild, played awful bad, finishing last on all games I played.

First, Alma Mater. An interesting euro-worker placement design, but I finished the game with the impression that you could look at a lot of things to do, but hardly had any resources to get them, or to struggle to build an engine to get them later on in the game. We were four players that had never played the game before, and it did tell. On hindsight, we should have gone first big time for books (the resource to buy students and lecturers) and then the game “economy” would not have been so… bare?
Would still give it another go to see if it improves after being a bit more familiar with it. Although I have a feeling that it won’t.

Then we had two games of Jump Drive. I hardly have played Race for the Galaxy, and it showed. The other 3 players were very familiar with the design, and I was never managing to get my cards going. I finished last on both games, only managing to go over 20 points on my last game.

Now, looking forward to get obliterated on Saturday, we are having a session (starting at 10 am) of “long games”. Quite possibly I will join a game of Imperial, if the game of Eclipse does not have any gaps.

[bort]

Played Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps again yesterday. We played two games, first one was rescueing Newt, 2nd was saving some trapped marines. Won both games, but it wasn’t easy. On both missions you don’t start drawing the alien spawning cards until a couple of turns in. Although there are some blips from the start (they are aliens, but you don’t know how many until you can see the blip token and turn it over). At the start of mission two, Ripley, Gorman and Newt start on the APC. Newt spent the entire game there, just doing the rest action over and over (resting lets you take exhausted cards and put them back in the deck).

I made the same mistake with the blips as the first game - when blips spawn, they may get spotted, but they don’t attack until the next aliens phase. We had a few rules questions, and had a robust discussion about whether or downed characters block line of sight. Certainly makes things trickier if they do.

[Captbnut]

Introduced @Whistle_Pig to Innovation on BGA last night. What you lose in visibility you gain in automation. The card design between the Iello version I have and the Asmadi version on BGA is quite significant, and we’d certainly been playing a few things wrong irl. The big difference I found is that when a player was repeatedly hammering a card it is easier irl to see what they’re doing and try to act against it. I’m sure that will become easier with experience. Like with Race for the Galaxy last week, the teach isn’t the easiest online.

It’s a bit of a mess at 4 players, Oars proved to be ridiculously powerful in a couple of games - the dogma repeat is automated so none of us could understand what was happening the first time. It’s cool that once you do work out what is happening you can plan a defence against it; Oars had little impact in the final 2 games. 4 players means you cycle through the ages incredibly quickly and you feel like you’re being attacked from all sides constantly.

[Benkyo]

Does it do 2 teams of 2? That’s the only way to play 4-player in my opinion.

[Whistle_Pig]

There are several team options on BGA.

[yashima]

After yesterday’s discussion of spirit Island, I wanted to play a round… but in a surprising turn of events I ended up getting my butt kicked by Wakhan in Pax Pamir 2

Also Sprawlopolis…

Question about Wakhan for the resident experts, paging @Benkyo how does Wakhan deal with events? Does she buy them? I let her and it was bad for her and still I lost

I played soooo badly. I let her get all the political cards and then threw out my one blue card and after managing to barely win the first dominance check, I struggled to get armies and roads into the game and lost by 9 to 7 points when the fourth dominance check entered the market and triggered the game end. I had all the money in the game but Wakhan ruled the map…

[Benkyo]

Yes, Wakhan will buy events. Some of the effects are not immediately obvious when applied to Wakhan, but they’ve all been clarified by the designer if you have specific questions.

[Deviates]

Managed a range of new and old games recently.

Two games of Ruins of Arnak. I think my girlfriend might be enjoying this as much as me, seeing as she’s chosen this to play a few times. She’s usually in to smaller games. First game was a really interesting one - she went all in on exploring and defeating guardians while I focused more on research. We ending up drawing, and although the tie break is the research track we’ve decided to house rules this one - prioritising guardians defeated and exploration seems fairer, given it’s a more interesting part of the game. Second game she won too - 6 points in it, which is one of the biggest gaps in scoring so far. Such a fun, close game each time.

Agricola ACBAS - love this two player version of the game. One of my favourite two player worker placement games. Maybe just behind…

Targi - recently picked up the expansion so had intended to try it out. Ended up going with vanilla Targi, which was a blast. It’s been a while and it’s easy to forget how well this plays. I’d love a prettier version of though. I ended up re-gaining some pride with this and Agricola, winning both.

Some quick games of Jaipur and Mandala next. My arse was well and truly kicked in both.

Figured a co-op might be best so we played a game of Flashpoint next. Luck was in our side. Despite it being on the hardest difficulty, the dice rolls were kind and we breezed through it. Very rare, usually this is a disaster.

Played a game of Flamme Rouge over zoom. Possibly the best game of this I have played. Hilarious missteps throughout, players coming from way behind to take the lead then slip back, ending with the closest finish. All players crossed the line on the same turn. Didn’t win, but honestly never care with this game.

My brother came round over the weekend too (part of same bubble) and we’re slowly introducing him to some games. Carcassone and Barenpark have both gone down well so far.

[COMaestro]

Played two games with my wife last night. First up was Splendor, which I won in a blow out, 15 - 7. To be fair, my wife was tired and not paying as much attention as she usually does, as she missed a move that would have gotten her one of the nobles, which allowed me to take it on the following turn. With all three nobles, it didn’t take much longer to secure the win.

We followed that with Jaipur, which I also managed to win in two rounds. First round I had a pretty secure win, the second round was much closer, but thanks to two of the 5-card bonus tokens, I managed to get the win again.

[VictorViper]

I received my Dice Throne Adventures and Season One Rerolled pledge the other day. Both boxes had severe issues (DTA was absolutely caved in and Rerolled’s tray shelf system was borked in production—Roxley seems like they’ll be on top of fixing this for me), but the contents were otherwise ok so I’ve taken it for a quick spin (solo).

I didn’t log anything on the campaign sheet, just played through a portal run to get a feel for the new mechanics and how enemies worked. The boss encounters are effectively DT proper, so I packed up without continuing. A few things became clear very quickly:

• This isn’t a one hero experience. I think if someone wanted to run a solo campaign they will need to be prepared to field at least two heroes to really get the most out of the format.

• This really is a game for Dice Throne fans only. Switching to co-op doesn’t change the core game in any fundamental way, but if you’re already on board it’s a pretty nice (if elaborate) game mode to explore.

Initially I thought the game was skewing a bit on the easy side but by the end of the run I was thankful for the HP reset between stages. My hero (Barbarian) barely made it past the portal with 7HP, and if I didn’t pop my ultimate on the last turn, I doubt I would have succeeded.

Without pursuing the campaign yet, there isn’t much to say; So much of the appeal is going to come from beefing up and popping legendary items, and without that element I can’t say the game is “enough”. That’s expected though, and the basic idea is a really good one: push your luck as hard as you can through a dungeon to maximize loot, gear up, take on the boss, repeat.

The addition of four(!) legacy packs is a super nice surprise. I’m not sure they mentioned this during the Kickstarter campaign at all or, if they did, I missed it. Having a few packs to spice up subsequent campaigns is very welcome. I won’t be peeking but new tiles, minions and standard cards are available to unlock.

My partner enjoyed the gameplay of Dice Throne, but isn’t always in the mood for direct duels. Hopefully this hits for her.

[EDIT] I should add that the game is quick, which is in line with its weight. To that end, the game tray(zzzzzzzzzzzzzz) system is absolutely essential. Setup and teardown are quick and easy, and it wouldn’t be worth the effort otherwise.

[malkav11]

The designers clearly think you’ll be fine playing solo with just one character, but I’ve definitely been doing it with two.

And the boss encounters are closer to regular Dice Throne, but they are still a different experience - the boss characters are quite a bit stronger than a regular one, which is counterbalanced a bit by having specific card-dictated AI rather than tactically choosing the best moves based on the situation (and by most boss cards giving the PCs something also). They do include rules for playing boss-vs-boss duels or I think a human controlled boss vs. a team of other players.

[VictorViper]

I’m glad to hear that. I had hoped the bosses would feel beefier than just an AI opponent. That said, I just meant I didn’t bother since mechanically there wasn’t too much to digest. I felt ready to reset and get a proper game going.

[Captbnut]

Just had a first play of Castles of Burgundy. I got this from secret Santa but tonight we played on Yucata and were taught by a friend.

You roll dice and then pick or play tiles, get workers or sell goods. I imagine there will be a decent amount of variability to games with set up; although dice can be mitigated you can get stuck if you don’t get what you want.

It’s really good, one I think we’ll play a lot with 2 players IRL. Lots of good decisions but this won’t be for everyone - total point salad, bugger all theme and very, very little interaction.

[SteveB_uk]

2nd solo of Viticulture Essential Edition (without EE Tuscany).

Despite getting a ton of money early on and getting all the buildings I wanted, even three fields with vines, I missed the 20-point target by 4 points at the end of round 7. My engine was ready to be a monster in round 8, but that’s not how solo works! An unlucky draw into Sparkling wine for my last order meant I had 1 too few red grapes to fill it.

Particularly happy with choosing the “Uncertified Broker” visitor evil option to get 9 coins for -3 VP, and then the dodgy Politician who gives you +6 coins if you’re on less than 0 VPs!

Still discovering half the game as I haven’t seen most of the cards yet, but it’s just a delight so far.

[yashima]

@Captbnut

It’s really good, one I think we’ll play a lot with 2 players IRL. Lots of good decisions but this won’t be for everyone - total point salad, bugger all theme and very, very little interaction.

Well, you’ve just described every Stefan Feld game… ever? No, just kidding, I haven’t played many besides Castles of Burgundy. But I do like this one as well.

[malkav11]

Discovered today that although the description nowhere says so, the Dice Throne official TTS mod includes a two scenario demo of Dice Throne Adventures. it’s a very pared down selection of loot cards, minion cards, portal crawl tiles, and of course officially available heroes, plus two of the four scenario 1 scenarios and the first boss (scenario 2). So, my friend Ed and I did a trial run so that I could actually play it in coop and show someone else in my friend group what it’s like. He took Santa (no really*) and I took the Gunslinger.

We had pretty good luck with the first scenario, getting a little banged up towards the end but never hitting true existential peril or needing to use salves. We didn’t really get much loot, just temporary buffs and the like, but it did mean we could buy most of what the shop had to offer. Then we saved and quit. We’ll do the Fallen Barbarian next time the opportunity comes up.

(*Santa is a comprehensively reskinned Barbarian, complete with mistletoe on the cards.)

[lalunaverde]

Had a good session of Oath and I played it with 3 players this time. I definitely like how the game tells a narrative with not so complicated ruleset and the game emerging as you play. It has the classic kingmaking issue, but you know that I don’t mind that bit.

[Chewy77]

Just returned from Hastings after our longer games session. No Eclipse or Imperial were played, but I had a lovely game of Chicago 1875: City of the Big Shoulders, which is my first ever game of the 18XX genre. I did really enjoy it. It lasted over 4 and a half hours, and it did go like a breeze. Interesting dynamics on the game, and even though is not a pure 18XX (no trains) I did not miss them at all. I am a bit surprised at the complexity rating from BGG (4.04), as I don’t think it is complicated at all. Other games that I played later I find way more puzzling. Finished at a decent 3rd out of 4, and that really exceeded my expectations. I’d say, without having played any other 18XX, this is a nice entry game to the genre. At least it was for me.

After that we had lunch and played a game of 7 Wonders with 7 players. My second play ever, and I still get the odd rule wrong. Bullied by my two neighbours on the first era, I got them back on the next two with military might, and managed a good collection of green cards, but only got to 43 points, which left me a 4th in the middle pack, with the other 3 players below me in a close 5 points. I will not complain, but I need to re-read those rules. I think both times I played I had to learn on the go, and it is not a game where learning on the go is an easy thing to do, as everything happens fast (people that know the game driving pressure into the drafting and having to think quick is not helpful when you’re not very sure about what to do).

Finished with a game of Race for the Galaxy. Between 4, I still find this game interesting, but frustrating. Crashed and burned last with 17 points. I was told it is decent for a beginner, but I still struggle to find out which cards are worth holding on, and how to make combos work. I guess, again, not having that board that everybody is looking at as a help (if I do something wrong) makes it more difficult for me to learn it. 6 hours of gaming previously did not help either.

Having had a long 7 hours session, that evening my girls wanted to play games, so we had a Game of Life (my little 4 yo daughter loves this now) that I won even though I was trying my best not to (even dodged college!)… But I kept being lucky with that roulette, so I won by $300k, which made no one happy. Anyway, the girls had fun when I hit a 10 on the children roulette and ended up with triplets.

[Whistle_Pig]

Tried out some new games on BGA yesterday with my regular online gaming group. Paris Connection is an extremely light trains and shares game. I’m not quite into 18XX, but I think I prefer this type of game to be a bit heavier.

Dingo’s Dreams is a bit like a competitive version of those sliding tile puzzles crossed with bingo. You have to make a particular pattern the fastest by sliding tiles into a grid and pushing other tiles out of the opposite side. Surprisingly engaging, and produces a lot of swearing when someone beats you by one move!