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Everybody loves playing board games, that's a fact. But not everybody has the time or friends to play Actual Board Games. That's why we're so lucky to have such a great selection of board games on iPhone/iPad! Some of these games are better made than others, some are more or less popular for various reasons. With that in mind, welcome to the iOS Board Game of the Month thread. The intent of this thread is to highlight some of the great board games available in digital form on the various iOS platforms, get people playing some of the lesser known, less popular or neither of the above, and to help us all make new nerdy online friends. My GC/Playdek user name is Bullbar If you want to chat with people about these games, join the ongoing groupme chat for ios board gaming pros And for general ios board games chatter, there's the original ios board gaming thread  NEW GAME OF THE MONTH: AGRICOLA Playdek Website posted:Europe is recovering from some hard times. You and a spouse must grow your 2-room hut and empty farmyard into a productive farm. You must sow and reap, raise animals and expand your family in order to thrive. Europe in the 17th century: a tough time to be a farmer! Agricola is a family-friendly strategy game. Simple to understand and great fun, Agricola lets everyone play to the end in a race to see who can build the most productive farm. Agricola is a really good game! I own and have played the cardboard version a bit and I really like it. I do think that the app version can, at times, suffer from a slightly opaque and confusing interface but if you stick with it it's well worth it. I hope to be able to help anybody with any questions they have and generally get everybody up to speed and playing. First question: Is it pronounced Ag-ri-cola or A-gric-ola? If anybody has any good youtube tutorials or newbie guides for the game, go ahead and post them. Bullbar fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 01:20
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 16:51 |
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Yay! My playdek (and GC) account name is Kelthorn, always up for some more Ascension action. I've all the expansions. We have occasionally run tournaments, I will set one up in a week or two if there's enough interest.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:29
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Playdek: Beelzebozo All expansions and promo packs unlocked. Prefer 2-player matches. Invite me for any games or tournaments. Don't forget to bump up the default chess timers to allow for more relaxed turn pace. Can't wait until Rise of Vigil is added later this summer. Maybe that would be a good time for some tourney action.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:34
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Playdek and GC: SuicidalManiac I just recently started playing more Ascension, but I feel I'm sort of getting the hang of it. Send me some invites! If possible, it'd be nice to get some tips and insights from the more experienced players so that newcomers have some things to keep in mind.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:39
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Good idea SM. If you're just starting, here's some simple guidelines for getting going. 1. Cards that allow you to draw more cards are quite valuable. 2. Cards that allow you to banish things out of your deck are also quite valuable. If you can banish your apprentices and militia from your deck, you're going to be drawing things that are a whole lot nicer more often. 3. Cards that banish from the the center board are valuable. If you can't get it yet, don't let your opponent have it. Salt the earth. 4. Don't play jerkstores, he will crush your soul. 5. There's a lot more in depth strategy depending on what has come out already, but if you can get rid of the crap out of your deck and draw more than your opponent you're in with a good chance of winning.
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Jul 2, 2014 01:51
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Don't pollute your deck with bad cards. If a card isn't going to help you accomplish a goal then don't just grab it because it's all you can afford (unless it's late in the game and you're after the point value). Some cards (druids of the stone circle) are always bad if you're forced to actually use them. GT: jerkstores. I prefer playing with storm of souls and immortal heroes but I will play pretty much anything.
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Jul 2, 2014 06:50
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jerkstores posted:Don't pollute your deck with bad cards. If a card isn't going to help you accomplish a goal then don't just grab it because it's all you can afford (unless it's late in the game and you're after the point value). I think I end up doing this way too often, with a mindset of 'well I gotta buy something I suppose'
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Jul 2, 2014 09:49
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I just redownloaded the game once I saw the news that it's not getting axed after all. So rad. Hit me up for some games! I'm EightFlyingCars on GC and Playdek, and I have all expansions except for the most recent one and the first promo pack.
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Jul 2, 2014 10:00
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Been sending friend requests to the people in the thread. GC is The Fat Samurai. Playdeck FatSamurai. I think I have the whole set except for the latest 1 or 2 promo cards. Usually play asynchronous, so end up forgetting what I'm trying to do with my deck and everything ends up in a mess. Fat Samurai fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 10:15
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Playdek user name: niemat I'm pretty new to the whole deal, so right now I just have the base game, wide eyes, and the general feeling that maybe something good might happen (I have yet to play jerkstores or kelthorn)! Hit me up if you'd like to play someone newer to the game, either because you yourself are newer which makes me less scary, or because you're an experienced player who'd like to crush me under your heel and teach me strategy through example! I plan on getting the expansion bundle pack in the next day or two, and I'll update my post when that happens.
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Jul 2, 2014 13:40
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jerkstores posted:Don't pollute your deck with bad cards. If a card isn't going to help you accomplish a goal then don't just grab it because it's all you can afford (unless it's late in the game and you're after the point value). This is probably the hardest lesson for new players to learn. The desire to spend all your rune each turn rather than just forfeit some of it is natural and hard to suppress, but you will never be good at Ascension until you learn to do just that.
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Jul 2, 2014 14:07
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I guess it's time to stop taking a break from this game. Send me an invite: Quickpull I may be a little rusty (but I doubt it  )
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Jul 2, 2014 15:00
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Beelzebozo posted:This is probably the hardest lesson for new players to learn. The desire to spend all your rune each turn rather than just forfeit some of it is natural and hard to suppress, but you will never be good at Ascension until you learn to do just that. But, but... my 4 runes opening hand...
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Jul 2, 2014 15:40
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Fat Samurai posted:But, but... my 4 runes opening hand... …should nearly always be spent on a Mystic.
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Jul 2, 2014 16:40
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I took me about 20 games to realize that. I'm bad at games.
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Jul 2, 2014 16:45
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I play 1 on 1 with my girlfriend a lot and feel like whoever buys more heavy infantry/fight cards from the middle loses like 75% of the time so a metagame has evolved where neither of us fight much unless we absolutely have to. Have other people found that to be true or do we just have some insulated metagame where we haven't figured out how to build a good fight centric deck (the obvious problem is that it often seems like you get a board with 1 monster of fight 6 and no other monsters so my hand will have 5 fight and 2 runes and I'll just kill the cultist twice and buy an infantry which seems kind of weak).
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Jul 2, 2014 18:32
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I just got an iPad again and haven't played for ages. I'll play whoever. GC/Playdek thing is saintgerald.
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Jul 2, 2014 18:55
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gingerberger posted:I play 1 on 1 with my girlfriend a lot and feel like whoever buys more heavy infantry/fight cards from the middle loses like 75% of the time so a metagame has evolved where neither of us fight much unless we absolutely have to. Have other people found that to be true or do we just have some insulated metagame where we haven't figured out how to build a good fight centric deck (the obvious problem is that it often seems like you get a board with 1 monster of fight 6 and no other monsters so my hand will have 5 fight and 2 runes and I'll just kill the cultist twice and buy an infantry which seems kind of weak). I evolve my decks based on the board state and my opponent's deck. For example, if he's got dreamer's glass then I have no choice but to go power heavy.
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Jul 2, 2014 19:28
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saint gerald posted:I just got an iPad again and haven't played for ages. I'll play whoever. GC/Playdek thing is saintgerald. Oh, dude, there you are! I still remember playing tons of synchronous matches against you during the week I was on jury duty. You are a strong opponent. I was sad when you disappeared. Glad to hear you have a new device. jerkstores posted:I evolve my decks based on the board state and my opponent's deck. For example, if he's got dreamer's glass then I have no choice but to go power heavy. This. Also follow the board to some extent. If you both spec rune early and the board flops all monsters, the winner will probably be the first to recognize this and shift his deck. Use your fat rune stacks to buy Muramasa, et al., and maybe even start Arha Sensei'ng Mystics into Heavies. edit: Fat Samurai posted:Been sending friend requests to the people in the thread. GC is The Fat Samurai. I think I have the whole set except for the latest 1 or 2 promo cards. Just tried to add you and got "user not found" and then realized you gave us your Game Center name. Playdek use their own accounts now. If you have created one then what is your Playdek name? Beelzebozo fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 19:38
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Beelzebozo posted:Oh, dude, there you are! I still remember playing tons of synchronous matches against you during the week I was on jury duty. You are a strong opponent. I was sad when you disappeared. Glad to hear you have a new device. Just like old times! This thread is great timing, I had been jonesing for some good Ascension games. Looks like we're off to a good start. Two free banishes in the opening hand... edit: this is the game of terrible decisions, for me at any rate. saint gerald fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 19:46
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gingerberger posted:I play 1 on 1 with my girlfriend a lot and feel like whoever buys more heavy infantry/fight cards from the middle loses like 75% of the time so a metagame has evolved where neither of us fight much unless we absolutely have to. Have other people found that to be true or do we just have some insulated metagame where we haven't figured out how to build a good fight centric deck (the obvious problem is that it often seems like you get a board with 1 monster of fight 6 and no other monsters so my hand will have 5 fight and 2 runes and I'll just kill the cultist twice and buy an infantry which seems kind of weak). I definetly think the basic set the game comes with favors runes, mechana stuff especially. The expansions help with this a lot.
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Jul 2, 2014 20:33
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Quickpull posted:I definetly think the basic set the game comes with favors runes, mechana stuff especially. The expansions help with this a lot. What?! Great, now I have to calculate this to be sure, but I would bet any money that the first set has a higher monster ratio than any that followed.
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Jul 2, 2014 21:08
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Beelzebozo posted:What?! Great, now I have to calculate this to be sure, but I would bet any money that the first set has a higher monster ratio than any that followed. I think the same thing as you. Power rushing is much more effective in the base set and rotf.
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Jul 2, 2014 21:16
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OK, I stand corrected. It's actually a lot closer than I thought, across the board, and the highest monster ratio is actually SoS.pre:Cardset Monsters ------- -------- Storm of Souls 29.4% Chronicle of the Godslayer 28.0% Return of the Fallen 26.2% Immortal Heroes 25.0%
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Jul 2, 2014 21:42
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I've had Ascension for a while, but never really thrown down online. My name on there is KamikazeJim.
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Jul 2, 2014 21:51
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Beelzebozo posted:OK, I stand corrected. It's actually a lot closer than I thought, across the board, and the highest monster ratio is actually SoS. That is pretty interesting. Though I'm not sure card counts really tell the whole story. Based purely on experience, I'd say that runes provide disproportionate access to victory points in the base set as compared to SoS. Purely anecdotal of course, so take that as you will.
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Jul 2, 2014 22:15
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Beelzebozo posted:Just tried to add you and got "user not found" and then realized you gave us your Game Center name. Playdek use their own accounts now. If you have created one then what is your Playdek name? Goddammit you're right. Playdeck is FatSamurai
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Jul 2, 2014 23:20
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Quickpull posted:That is pretty interesting. Though I'm not sure card counts really tell the whole story. Based purely on experience, I'd say that runes provide disproportionate access to victory points in the base set as compared to SoS. Purely anecdotal of course, so take that as you will. Agreed. Sure feels to me like runes are much stronger unless you can get some constructs that give you fight every turn.
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Jul 2, 2014 23:20
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Quickpull posted:That is pretty interesting. Though I'm not sure card counts really tell the whole story. Based purely on experience, I'd say that runes provide disproportionate access to victory points in the base set as compared to SoS. Purely anecdotal of course, so take that as you will. Fair point. OK, well here is a breakdown by total honor available from killing monsters vs. buying constructs and heroes. Same ordering; similarly tight spread. pre:Cardset Monster Honor ------- ------------- Storm of Souls 34.0% Chronicle of the Godslayer 34.0% Return of the Fallen 32.0% Immortal Heroes 29.1%
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Jul 3, 2014 01:18
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Some other tips I thought to share as I was playing my turns tonight:
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Jul 3, 2014 02:36
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Another tip or two: 1. If you're playing an expansion that has events, really pay attention to them. Things like the enlightened events especially, however most of them can really add up to something special with the right play. Getting mechana cheaper, making sure you get full benefit of your lifebound cards, banishing those extra cards, etc, all of them add up. 2. Some cards are just broken and you should be generally be trying to get them or get rid of them. You'll learn the ones, but things like Dreamer's Glass and Orb of Nyx are ridiculously overpowered and can win the game on their own. Sent a few invites out to people who've posted, feel free to challenge me as well!
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Jul 3, 2014 02:54
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Beelzebozo posted:Fair point. OK, well here is a breakdown by total honor available from killing monsters vs. buying constructs and heroes. Same ordering; similarly tight spread. Man, Immortal Heroes is really lacking on the monster side isn't it? But I still think there's a key point that the stats don't show. In Chronicles, I think that the cards available which focus on rune production are just a better value than the cards that provide power. For insistence, I mentioned the mechana cards before because they have great abilities and have great honor values on top of it. The power generating cards are comparatively lackluster. I also think that godslayer doesn't really give a power deck the tools it needs to counter a rune deck. A rune deck wants to build up a big economic engine then transitioning into snatching up tons of points with it. The hard counter to that is a power deck that drains the honor pool and ends the game before the rune deck gets rolling. Again, this is just my experience, but that strategy seems to work way more often with the cards in SoS than with the cards in CotG.
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Jul 3, 2014 04:36
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I know anything more than 1v1 Ascension is looked upon as literally worse than the plague, but considering it's GOTM and I've never done one, would anybody be down for a 4 player match?
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Jul 3, 2014 05:48
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Suicidal Maniac posted:I know anything more than 1v1 Ascension is looked upon as literally worse than the plague, but considering it's GOTM and I've never done one, would anybody be down for a 4 player match? Give it a try, but yeah every time I've played 4 player I wish we'd just done 2 2player games.
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Jul 3, 2014 06:44
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I'd be down
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Jul 3, 2014 07:27
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Sure, why not?Beelzebozo posted:The player whose avatar is outlined in white goes last. This... could stand to be a little clearer. Fat Samurai fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Jul 3, 2014 |
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Jul 3, 2014 07:32
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There's a white halo drawn around one of the players avatar pictures when you're in the game. It's subtle, and the picture is small to begin with, right next to your name. One player has this white outline/halo, the other doesn't. The player with the halo will take the last turn before the game ends. For example, if the honour pool reaches 0 while that halo'd player is taking their turn, when they hit end turn the game will end and a winner declared. If the honour pool reaches 0 while the other player is taking their turn, that player will finish their turn and then the halo'd player will get one final turn before the game ends. It's important to pay attention to whose turn is last. For example, if you know this is your last turn, take all the honour you can from the middle; all the 1 rune-1 honour heroes, any mechana constructs available... pollute your deck because you won't get to draw them and every little bit counts.
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Jul 4, 2014 02:52
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I didn't mean the explanation, sorry. I meant the UI of the game. Thanks for the clarification anyway.
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Jul 4, 2014 08:33
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I just got the achievement for having acquired or defeated every card in Storm of Souls.
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Jul 7, 2014 13:50
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 16:51 |
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CNN Sports Ticker posted:I just got the achievement for having acquired or defeated every card in Storm of Souls. Oh yeah? Well…  edit: Ugh, crummy attachment system isn't showing the image (I'm sure tomorrow it will turn up and there will be two copies…) 
Beelzebozo fucked around with this message at 14:09 on Jul 7, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 14:00
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