Had another co-op crack at CO2 Second Chance. We thought we’d made it to the 2030s and nearly to the final round, but we checked the rules and realised we’d lost in the 2020s.
We used our scientists, did ok on our global goals, didn’t compete on knowledge and we still got destroyed by the game. Right now I don’t see how this game is beatable.
Oh I’d like to try The Crew as well, heard good things about it.
The one downside to trying it out is that it’s really meant for four - there are tweaks to get other player counts out of it but that’s where it shines.
(I keep forgetting to pick up an envelope. I will get the expansion to you!!)
There’s no rush. There’s enough game here to defeat us
Just finished my first real game of Roads & Boats.
4 hours, only reached Turn 22, probably 11 more to go, but I had a massive lead and we both have kids to care for so we called it.
2-player is designed to last much longer (in turns) than 3, and 3 more than 4, etc. We didn’t realise just how long it could take!
My opponent went for disruption early, and I retaliated. It turned out his theft and run was not nearly as devastating as my donkey building walls across many of his roads, and then my rafts stole most of his lumber…
Interesting game, and very different from the single-player optimization puzzle experience. You quickly forget about “perfect” turns and go reactive, doing the best you can with what you have, while trying to cobble together an endgame.
That map just screams competition. Hardly any stone and a huge trek to mountains.
@Benkyo why are there neutral walls on this map?
When a wall is demolished, it becomes a neutral wall. Making it steadily more expensive to re-wall and re-demolish.
Finally played my first game of Dune! 5 player (Fremen, Guild, Ixian, Harkonnen, Tleilaxu) Loved it. Can definitely see the Cosmic Encounter origins, and very swingy. Went from nothing to the entire game winning move in 2 turns.
Someone was close to winning at turn 3, so I (Guild) swooped in with a big power play and stopped them at 2 strongholds. But that left me defending both with very weak armies. An alliance then dropped in and wiped me out to win the game at turn 4. By the end, pretty much my entire faction were in the morgue!
Feel like I need to play it a lot more times just to see how it can swing around in different ways. This time round it was all out aggression, then it was over. No chance for comebacks. But I poisoned a lot of leaders, so that was fun.
Halfway through I was thinking this would wipe out my interest in quite a few other area control games, but the ending is so brutally swift, it doesn’t really seem “better” as much as “different”. I think that element would probably annoy me if I didn’t play other games. Not sure if it’s always this way, but it felt like the strategies are based around building up for a singular big do-or-die push rather than incremental gains.
Next up I’m trying to convince everyone to play El Grande since @lalunaverde loves it so. And Hansa Teutonica because I’m tempted by the big box… Or maybe I’ll just give in and buy it anyway.
Keep us updated on El Grande! I’m looking at Iwari for £40 or El Grande for £100, so I’d definitely like to know more about whether it’s just FUN enough to justify the price.
El Grande is on Yucata if you want to try it. I drunkenly bought the Big Box on eBay in the Spring. It kind of works over Zoom as well.
One weird thing about Yucata’s implementation is that the Castillo is public. As someone who’s often like “HuUuUrRrR mUh sTrAtEgErY!”, I didn’t like that that it’s public info.
I preordered the KS Iwari version off Zatu. I think it has an extra map but doesn’t cost much extra.
Checked with them this week and they are still expecting copies.
Played 4 player Wingspan on Friday on TTS as opposed to our usual monthly Codenames/The Crew … the one who didn’t know the game previously won. The rest of the players came in in reverse order of experience so the one who played it most came in last. Still lots of fun for everyone even though it takes so much longer to play on TTS. Maybe I will introduce Viticulture to the group soonish.
Last night I convinced my partner to play Renature with me, my first trees on a map tile layer 
I had not tried even two handed so it was new to both of us. still, I spent the game in anxiety of him having missed rules and of course he had not heard me say that there were negative points for leftover pieces or that equal strength colors cancel each other or buying back pieces with clouds was a thing. I reminded him on time though and then I made a really bad strategic decision on the 13 field (it takes a lot of tiles to go around the corner and i should not have placed a neutral piece where I did) and lost the game by 101 to 109 points.
More CO2.
I had a grand plan that came to me in the night. We lost in the first decade!
Reset with a (ahem) ideal setup. We did it, with 51 points. Then realised that we hadn’t claimed enough UN cards.
At least we can see a point where this may snowball towards victory, but grrr
We had an event on Saturday at Hastings Library, so I co-teached Lords of Waterdeep (after getting one of my colleagues from the guild have my youngest looked after by her daughters). Funny enough, I have never played it on board but on the app, and one of the rules that my other co-teacher didn’t know I explained from my e-xperience on Steam, where you get an extra turn at the end with your meeples from the harbour. Great game, I think everybody had fun, finished second (couldn’t get any commerce missions, so just piety would give me extra points at the end) and then we wrapped up at 3pm.
At least it only looks that way… If only I had not told my partner it was a remake of TM. I should have said space exploration and he might not have noticed? (he enjoys Leaving Earth for which he made actual excel sheets to help with project … uhm I mean mission planning)
Ps I am really annoyed at Terraforming Mars for having the same initials as TM … as the younger game it should either have stayed out of the top 100 or have a different title altogether. 
I got my El Grande (decennial, so big box in all but size and one expansion) on eBay for £40, so be patient.
The expansion cards are in shrink, and the box is average condition.
