Recent Boardgames (Your Last Played Game Volume 2)

COMaestro · 23 August 2022 12:54

Played two games of Ghost Stories tonight with my wife. We played twice because the first game was over in about 15 minutes. After drawing the 14th ghost card, the game was over with both of us dead, but remarkably no haunted tiles, considering we had 5 Haunters in that bunch.

We reshuffled the ghost deck and played again with the same setup. Normal difficulty. Went much better, and actually had a few turns where we did not feel totally pressured.

That said, the crunch came just before Wu-Feng. We were using the guardhouse expansion tile, so we could look at the top 4 cards of the deck and rearrange them. There were two black ghosts, one a 3-pip advanced haunter and one a 4-pip tormentor that also made both of us lose a Tao token. Also a blue ghost and a yellow ghost that would spawn another. But Wu-Feng was just two below those.

Put the blue and the tormentor on top, yellow on the bottom, took our next turns, then used the guardhouse again, thinking to put Wu-Feng on top. It was the Untouchable incarnation, a black 3-pip which requires it be placed on a Buddha statue before it can be exorcised, so that changed our plans. Luckily, we already had the Circle of Protection set to black.

I got the statue, my wife cleared a space using the Sorcerer’s Hut, I was able to move a ghost that was blocking my power (green, rerolls) over to a neutral board, and placed the statue. Untouchable was out at this point. Luckily my wife did not draw a blue or black card, as her board was otherwise full and would have used up the statue.

Being the blue monk that can both interact and exorcise, she used the space to move Untouchable onto the statue, then tried to exorcise it, but failed. My draw filled up my board and both of us were at 1 Qi. My wife had the only open slot on all the boards. I used the yellow neutral board power to Enfeeble Untouchable so we only needed a single black on the dice. Rolled and failed. Used my reroll ability and got one! Victory!

First game was just demoralizing, so it was nice to have the second one, which came down to the wire!

Simfers · 23 August 2022 20:51

Learning game of Rococo.The monkey beat me 71-62, for the record.

Edited to add just a smidge more content:

It’s really good. Reminds me of Brass a bit, but a good deal lighter (mechanically, aesthetically and thematically). Totally understand why Quinns couldn’t recommend it, though. It’s unapologetically, appallingly opulent, LOL. And in a strange twist, set-up takes seconds and take-down not much more.

Next step is to teach it to my darling wife and play a game. Likely not today, she’s a bit tired and she has a breakfast thing with her school colleagues tomorrow, but she’s really keen to play it soon!

raged_norm · 23 August 2022 22:10

Games Night!

Nine in attendance, so three tables of these were formed. More importantly I played three games and won two.

Big City (old rules), it’s fun. Deceptively simple but a game of jostling for sets of cards. But hey, the end city looks cool.

Mille Fiori, good fun but decisions feel pretty meh. Wouldn’t say no to a game though.

Iberian Gauge. Hmm, need time to process this. There’s a great game in here, but I feel it’s a 4-5 player game.

lalunaverde · 24 August 2022 09:36

I feel like the game got too much money in circulation that the last stock rounds are a bit nonsense and so dependent on turn order. Trans-Siberian Railroad, imo, did this “rail sharing” better. It also has a Tsar that will nationalise your companies if they grow too slow.

raged_norm · 24 August 2022 10:59

There was a lot of money flying about at the end.

I did tank a company that I had one share in by using the remaining money to lease/build to nowhere

Bondy034 · 24 August 2022 15:05

Some games over the last week or so:

The Fox in the Forest, game of this with my wife. She won as she usually does. I’ve asked her to share some of her insight and experience with trick takers next time we play.

Hansa Teutonica, played this with a full 5 players and it really shines with a full complement of players. Interesting to see all the different approaches people took and how they panned out. Such an interesting game to ponder.

No Thanks

Cascadia, brought this one along to a local meetup I normally go to. 2 player game, tight as always but my opponent scraped ahead off of habitat scoring.

The Red Cathedral, first play of this. Super interesting, glad I picked it up. My opponent liked it so much he said he plans to buy a copy. I do think it’d be more interesting with more than 2 players though, particularly the endgame scoring, but it was still quite fun.

Air, Land & Sea, continue to really like this as a quick little 2 player, though it normally takes a hand for folks to figure out the importance of withdrawing. He got there though, kicked my butt in 3 rounds!

Burgle Bros., man it had been a long time since I last got this one to the table. It’s still terrific fun. We did get a rule wrong (drawing a new card each time the guard reached an alarm) which would’ve changed things a bit, but regardless it was great. I love how dynamic it feels compared to something like Pandemic, which can feel a bit predictable at times. We won, though it was pretty tense toward the end. I am intrigued by the sequel (BB 2), but given how infrequently I play this one, it probably wouldn’t make sense for me to pick it up.

Phil · 25 August 2022 07:29

I’m intrigued by what the definition of “the sequel” is in this context?

Marx · 25 August 2022 12:29

I suspect that the sequel that is being referenced is Burgle Bros 2, which is a direct sequel to the original Burgle Bros.

Which I haven’t played yet, but only because The Pandemic, not Pandemic.

Phil · 25 August 2022 12:35

Ha. Oops. In my browser the word Pandemic was fully left-aligned like the other game titles, and I mis-parsed it as the beginning of a new paragraph…

EnterTheWyvern · 25 August 2022 15:44

Last night I played Expedition to Newdale with 2 others. Played through Chapter 1 and really enjoyed it, for a light-medium euro with a push your luck element it’s just quite fun. I enjoy the tension of dealing with the draw of assistants to see how much production you get, the card draw out of the deck is jolly and the luck elements mean the whole thing can be played at a clip as it’s not possible to accurately plan everything fully. It’s not ground breaking and more modern euro than old school.

Bit of a rant One of the guys I play with can get really stroppy and will write off a game when they make bad decisions then blame luck. I know it’s a fairly common human psychological trait for us to think positive things in life are skill and negative is luck but this is extreme. They’ll kind of hold a group to hostage because of being very out there with their negativity and happy to ruin the game for everyone else. They were at it again with this game, claiming they couldn’t get going and had no options as their hand had only expensive buildings and even then they weren’t the right kind for the mission. This is objectively nonsense as they could have built the common buildings that were cheap and available from turn 2 until the end of the game and were explicitly there for this scenario so contributed to the end game condition. They have this really bad habbit of wailing ‘but there’s nothing I can do!’ while having plenty of options that they refuse to see because of being focussed on something they imagine would be great but isn’t possible. It’s really annoying how many games die a death as this person has some deeply irrational problems with games based on not being able to cope with not doing so well and then blaming a game even on a first play when we’re all stumbling around new stratgic horizons so dealing with first play no knowledge fumblings and mistakes. GAAAHHHHHRRRRRR!!!

Benkyo · 25 August 2022 22:20

That kind of bullshit is good enough reason to never play with them again, imo. Or at least, never play anything new with them again. There’s a guy who comes to our game meets who puts himself out as willing to try anything, but I have started actively avoiding him when recruiting players.

lalunaverde · 25 August 2022 22:59

Keyflower - it’s been aeons since I played this game. Felt pretty alright when I nabbed the only transport tile in the game and got some easy auctions with the Autumn tiles that scores nicely when upgraded. (the Summer and Autumn tiles are public info in this game) But Player 3 ramp up her Green worker production and took the gold producing tile and beaten me in the end.

Forbidden Desert - It was the end of the night. Didn’t mind playing it as I don’t want to think.

Ohanami - I get the game now. Decent game where you have to assess the pts value of the card overall against the value of the “jump”. Ideally, you get handed a new hand of cards where you have the high value cards (for that round) and their “jump” is short that you’re not cancelling out too many cards that you can potentially play

Chewy77 · 25 August 2022 23:42

Completely see your pain. I think I can be that kind of player sometimes with euros, I aim too high and then underdeliver. But I don’t go about it and ruin everybody’s game for it. I guess because I don’t want to win at any expense.

Probably it is not for you to do it, but looks like he needs a sit down to talk about managing expectation and frustrations. More often than not, if there are personalities that can ruin a night are the “I have to win at any cost” kind. Specially if they are very vocal about it.

COMaestro · 26 August 2022 03:21

Played Ethnos with my wife tonight. We had Giants, Minotaurs, Trolls, Orcs, and Halflings. She managed to take the Giant token four times in the first age, giving her an 8 point lead before we even scored anything, then 2 more points for having the token at the end. On the other hand, I had the higher value Troll tokens, letting me win ties in regions. As such, I was ahead after scoring everything.

In the 2nd age, I kept drawing Halflings, so I played a size 15 and a 10 band, but that didn’t get me any presence on the board. Did place a few markers, but my wife got ahead or tied everywhere, then got some Troll tokens to win the ties. Ended up winning every region because of it, got the Giant bonus points, and took the win 140 - 103.

Acacia · 26 August 2022 19:38

I’m narrowing in on the why Barenpark is such a flat waste of time at 2 and incredible experience at 4. At first I thought it was tile saturation, despite the variable setup (by player count) meant to control the tile supply.

I’m now realizing it has more to do with the mental tug-of-war. There are essentially three ways to score - get houses/enclosures, finish park grids, and complete objectives. And there are timers on each one of those, so the longer you take to do each one, the less points it is worth. AND, those timers are driven by your opponents and their actions.

So in a two player game, it’s pretty easy to see which “timer” they are likely to work on and either focus there (to get max points) or shift to a different area to put pressure on them. The tension is one dimensional and easily assessed/responded to.

In a 4p game, the timers are all more gradual but also all running at once. You really feel pulled in all directions at once and each decision is sweet agony. Then, that added pressure compounds with the tetris challenge.

Anyway, that’s my current hypothesis. Regardless, conclusion: Barenpark. Four player game.

Acacia · 26 August 2022 19:55

Tested out a solo of Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, because it’s light and I mostly know it and that’s the capacity I have right now.

Now, I’ve oft said, I’ll be the first to whinge about Stonemeier. But here’s a few things in their favor:

They use amazing paper products. The manual, the cards, the boards. I just want to touch them.
Hand in hand with that, what approachability. I think anyone sitting down at a table with this would think “yes, I want to be here. How do I play.”
They really make some of the best solo modes in the industry. Well, they contract for some of the best solo modes, but I appreciate that they invest in them.

They also did a great job sussing out a 2p mode. Libertalia now legitimately plays 1-6 well.

They did a good job with this. My primary complaint with Libertalia 1.0 was how volatile it was. Some hands were an amazing puzzle. Some hands were a raucus blast of shouting and schadenfreude. Then some hands were “solved” in a few seconds or clogged with functionally identical cards, and worst of all was a hand when there was really nothing to play and you just threw cards out thinking “whatever.”

The tweaks they made to the cards seemed small on review but on play, the game is now consistent. I never felt I had functional duplicates in my hand and every round was engaging and interesting (hard to get raucus with an automa). I think they, generally, decreased the contingencies on cards so each one has a higher hit rate, as it were. Fewer tech cards that end up dead in your hand.

Bottom line, Libertalia 1.0 had maybe a 50/50 hit rate on “good” rounds and 2.0 has, at first blush, maybe 90%? Good job Stonemeier. I think it’s a keeper.

But whinging:

This does NOT feel like a Pirate game. Zero Pirate-y feels coming off the table. So much so that the hook tiles feel out of place.
Dials on score-chests still spin in opposite directions. I will internally moan every time I set my score for the rest of my life.
Seven decks of cards and an insert with six slots. Thanks Jamey Stegmeier.

yashima · 26 August 2022 20:41

Reminds me of the mess that came with Viticulture… I have since replaced it with a Folded Space one that is… ouch… marginally better.

lalunaverde · 27 August 2022 19:01

Wingspan

Carcassonne

Ethnos - still a lame game. But it was one of the few that can play 6 players that night.

In the Shadow of the Emperor - this is a 4 player only game. The 3 player setup was very unsatisfying. How come it doesn’t expand up to 5 players? I don’t know. This would have been a more thinky game than El Grande if it does 4 - 5 players. Alas, it’s not. It has great ideas. Aging nobles so they aren’t permanent. Marriage that is mutually beneficial to both parties. Area majority contests where the challenger wins VPs but the current holder doesn’t score if held is very clever. It promote dynamism. The careful selection of actions to make sure you have a son or daughter is also clever. I really enjoy this, but the very rigid player count kills it. I can pnp it to expand it to maybe 6 players, but I’m too lazy for that.

Prosperity - very multiplayer-solitaire game from Sebastian Bleasdale and Reiner Knizia. Surprising tbh! It’s a nice simple game with a simple gameplay so I’m not cranky during that game. Rather boring with 4 players. That’s another Knizia off my list.

Expedition: Famous Explorers - Jeez. This is terrible. You explore the world by placing 3 routes for your 3 expeditions - all everyone share all of these expeditions and its routes. Problems in the game already appear right away. Left-right binding where players are trying not to let their left player score. And secret objectives in their hands pretty much allow incidental VPs to players. This is fine if you want to play with friends and family. But not the ideal game for our club.

Guatemala Cafe - by Markus and Inka Brand. Very chaotic with 4 players. I like the shared incentives and the tight spatial game, but honestly it’s too complicated when I can just play Santiago, which I think does Guatemala Cafe’s idea better. I can also just play Chicago Express or other Cube Rails. If I want a spatial game, then Babylonia or Through the Desert would do

Lordof1 · 27 August 2022 22:03

Had an awesome geeky day in our local games cafe with my lovely partner. Haven’t been there before but certainly shall go again.

Played Odin’s parrots or similar name I think. A fun quick race game.

Also Fog of Love , which seems to have disappeared quickly from the geeky radar; today we found it fun but we both felt it ended up constraining our roleplaying rather than encouraging it.

BigJackBrass · 27 August 2022 22:15

Ravens, maybe? I mean, ravens are more traditional.