|
rococo good weather machine good but lisboa best
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 01:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 20:58 |
|
|
Turn the difficulty higher and spirit island stops having an anticlimax, especially if you have one or two fear oriented spirits.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 01:42
|
|
|
Impermanent posted:Turn the difficulty higher and spirit island stops having an anticlimax, especially if you have one or two fear oriented spirits. Yeah, the harder the game gets the narrower the margin of victory gets. You cannot escape the occasional 'find in fast phase by blowing 1 thing up' but they happen less and less often.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 02:13
|
|
|
Just finished a game of TGZ async, I won with exactly one monument, never built any, just upgraded, built craftsmen, Qamata and Builder. Never had a game where anyone never built any monuments, I don't think. I'm appreciating the game more and more every single play.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 02:31
|
|
|
silvergoose posted:Just finished a game of TGZ async, I won with exactly one monument, never built any, just upgraded, built craftsmen, Qamata and Builder. Never had a game where anyone never built any monuments, I don't think. Speaking of async Splotter games, the owner/operator of BoardGameCore announced that Horseless Carriage would be getting added to the site in the next couple of weeks. I hope to get at least a couple plays in online to cement the rules and flow before my physical copy arrives.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 04:54
|
|
|
I always feel bad asking Root questions in here because I know it was discussed to death a couple of times, but I was late to the party and kinda missed the chat on it. All the same! I got the Underworld expansion recently, and I hadn't even realised that there are two new maps! Does anyone have any experience with them, like, are they better than the regular would you say, are they better with certain compositions of factions (Seems like the otters become very different on the raft map, can't tell in a good or bad way though?) and are any specific maps better at higher player counts? I know the general consensus is don't play Root with more than 4 players, but, that's pretty hard to avoid sometimes, so would be good to know what you think. Also, I don't fully understand the mercenaries expansion (which I don't have), it seems like it's just some dudes on the map that don't really do a huge amount, that you can own if you're doing well? Is it just to bolster things at lower player counts?
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 14:19
|
|
|
Neither of the two new maps are comprehensively better than the original Fall map in a way that outright replaces it. They are definitely complement the original and add some fun variation. I like(d) the mountain map but that was mostly for the “king of the hill” dynamic with the tower. But now there’s more latitude to use more structures in combination on any map so that takes the novelty out of the mountain map. Put simply I don’t think any one map is better than another, it’s just nice to have variation. The only “new” element that can outright replace an original element is the Exiles and Partisans deck which renders the original deck obsolete by how much better it is. The mercenaries are a mixed bag, but basically yes ownership of the mercenaries trades back and forth throughout the game (with advantage given to the player who is trailing). I don’t really see that it significantly evens the playing field between factions of varying strengths, but it yet again adds another fun feature to the map which some could fairly say is a “gimmick” but is nonetheless fun if you play a lot of Root. I wouldn’t say that it makes two player games dramatically more interesting- the automated factions are much better for that. But there’s much less rules overhead with the mercenaries vs the automated factions so it doesn’t slow down play quite so much.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 14:52
|
|
|
Jewmanji posted:Is there any consensus forming as to the best/worst individual spirits in Jagged Earth (or best combos?). I haven’t played it enough to suss it out (still have a couple spirits left to play truth to be told). I don't think any of them are terribly out of whack; none are notably bad and there's nothing Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds level broken. I do find that Fractured Days Split the Sky is a bit too durdley for higher difficulty adversaries.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 15:13
|
|
|
I didn’t realize Keeper had that reputation. The only spirit I was aware of that generally seemed a bit broken was Shadows Flicker Like Flame (which now has an aspect right?)
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 15:52
|
|
|
Jewmanji posted:I didn’t realize Keeper had that reputation. The only spirit I was aware of that generally seemed a bit broken was Shadows Flicker Like Flame (which now has an aspect right?) Shadows Flicker Like Flame is broken in that it is not very good, not in that it is powerful. And yes, it does have an aspect.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 16:05
|
|
|
Jewmanji posted:I didn’t realize Keeper had that reputation. The only spirit I was aware of that generally seemed a bit broken was Shadows Flicker Like Flame (which now has an aspect right?) Shadows Flicker Like Flame (without aspects) is a little underpowered; Keeper is quite overpowered.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 16:14
|
|
|
Jewmanji posted:Neither of the two new maps are comprehensively better than the original Fall map in a way that outright replaces it. They are definitely complement the original and add some fun variation. I like(d) the mountain map but that was mostly for the “king of the hill” dynamic with the tower. But now there’s more latitude to use more structures in combination on any map so that takes the novelty out of the mountain map. Put simply I don’t think any one map is better than another, it’s just nice to have variation. The only “new” element that can outright replace an original element is the Exiles and Partisans deck which renders the original deck obsolete by how much better it is. Ok, amazing thanks. Yeah, the exiles and partisans, and landmarks, I do have, and I totally agree on both. E&P is mandatory, and landmarks is pure frivolity.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 16:39
|
|
|
Wallet posted:I don't think any of them are terribly out of whack; none are notably bad and there's nothing Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds level broken. I do find that Fractured Days Split the Sky is a bit too durdley for higher difficulty adversaries. I haven't been super plugged into Spirit Island lately but I've seen hardcore players saying that Fractured Days is very good when you start getting into max level/combo adversaries. AFAIK the main strategy is to ignore/jettison the expensive utility starters and dip into your guaranteed pool of majors to abuse your big burst energy growth potential.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 16:40
|
|
|
Yeah you'll break your brain trying to effectively apply the time spirit's innates, but the sheer fact they have a fairly wide pool of powers they can just pick and choose from (and add to!) makes them very effective. My favorite spirit is Starlight though, because their whole schtick is to jettison their entire starting hand and adjust their growths to suit what the draw gave you.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 16:58
|
|
|
Gave Earthborne Rangers a shot on TTS. The pitch is that it's a Horizon: Zero Dawn-esque hopeful post-post-apocalypse set on an overgrown future Earth. Gameplay is pretty reminiscent of the Arkham LCG: you have a hand of cards (some of which are gear you can equip, some of which are events, some of which are only useful to spend on tests) and you're trying to put progress tokens onto cards to advance through locations and missions. Unlike Arkham, the game has a cool open-world structure without clearly-delineated sessions. You can freely leave locations, travel to other ones, and continue playing without needing to do a full rest or reset. I didn't even have a real "mission" card in play for the whole prologue: although there are some challenges that you need to finish in one "day" of progress, you aren't forced to pursue anything and can pretty go wandering whenever you want. My other favourite part was the resolution mechanic; just like Arkham, you add bonuses to a stat then pull a randomizer (in this case, a card) to get a final total. At the bottom of the challenge card, though, there's one of three icons, which then triggers every card in the shared board and in your threat area that has a corresponding icon. Kind of hard to explain, but in practice it means things like predator animals will hunt prey when activated, bucks might try and defend their does, the weather might help or hinder you, and so on. Very interesting way to give the world a sense of movement and life without needing a distinct "now the enemies act" phase. Worth a look, the demo is pretty slick and comes with a prologue that makes deckbuilding a lot easier (your deck can be extremely modular, built from a set of personality, occupation, and aspect cards - I made a tinkerer - artificer with a focus on the "thinky" stats, while my buddy made a nature-focused herbalist who could do all kinds of cool stuff with the flora in front of them). edit: still available for pre-order until the 31st and there's plans to do a second print run on Kickstarter. BinaryDoubts fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Jan 27, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 19:32
|
|
|
I think the general consensus for Jagged Earth is that Shroud of Silent Mist is underpowered. His need to keep invaders alive but damaged is just too much of a "high risk low reward" mechanic.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 19:52
|
|
|
Arzaac posted:I think the general consensus for Jagged Earth is that Shroud of Silent Mist is underpowered. His need to keep invaders alive but damaged is just too much of a "high risk low reward" mechanic. Sort of? Honestly it's mostly a small game issue. There's a certain amount of otherwise wasted damage that happens from events or damage powers that don't spread evenly and on a decent size table Shroud can opportunistically collect fear farms for free: if that town wasn't going to get killed anyhow it costs you nothing to keep it alive, and Shroud actually keeps it pre-softened for when you eventually need to blow it up. But in smaller games Shroud has less area to cover and there's fewer random instances of damage, so in 2P Shroud is very dependent on having a partner that works well with its gimmick and in solo, well... it's not as bad as base game Shadows Flicker, but that's not saying much.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 20:14
|
|
|
Jewmanji posted:I didn’t realize Keeper had that reputation. The only spirit I was aware of that generally seemed a bit broken was Shadows Flicker Like Flame (which now has an aspect right?) Keeper takes a little bit to get going but the final growth option (pay for more presence and cards) snowballs insanely well. and you end up throwing major powers around like most other spirits use minors.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 20:18
|
|
|
What is the consensus on single player stuff these days? Is Mage Knight still the go to (sold my copy during a move).
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 22:00
|
|
|
Snooze Cruise posted:What is the consensus on single player stuff these days? Is Mage Knight still the go to (sold my copy during a move). Only thing I play regularly solo is Spirit Island. You have to double hand it but it’s a great brain burned with more depth than you will ever get through
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 22:05
|
|
|
SettingSun posted:Yeah you'll break your brain trying to effectively apply the time spirit's innates, but the sheer fact they have a fairly wide pool of powers they can just pick and choose from (and add to!) makes them very effective. If you draw a really great grip of starting cards and you can just pull cards out and gain six energy every turn that's obviously going to be strong but if your initial pool of cards is poo poo (or even just mediocre) it can take a long time to get online. I've only played three or four games with Fractured Days but I've yet to be impressed or happy to be playing it. If you're playing high variance games against double max level adversaries then I guess he makes a lot of sense since you can just bail instantly if you don't get the nut draw with your starting pool.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 22:08
|
|
|
I am thinking of going all-in on The 7th Continent as a solo player. I have always seen it referred to as a love-it-or-hate-it game but I have played the base game for a few hours and really enjoy my time with it so far and I haven’t even gotten far in the first curse yet. For me it’s a “journey, not the destination” game where I assume I am going to fail but see some interesting things along the way. It seems like incorporating all of the expansions would add a ton of new variability and things to encounter throughout my games. I guess my only concerns are a) price (I would not be paying scalper prices but still close to the original crowdfunded pricing for NIS kickstarter versions of everything, putting it in the ~$200 range) and b) it is 5+ years old at this point so I’m wondering if this type of survival/exploration game has been done better by more recent games like 7th Citadel (which I don’t think I can buy at the moment) or ISS Vanguard (which I am strongly considering buying) I’d love to hear opinions from anyone who spent a lot of time with this game and its expansions. Parker Lewis fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Jan 27, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 22:10
|
|
|
Snooze Cruise posted:What is the consensus on single player stuff these days? Is Mage Knight still the go to (sold my copy during a move). Mage Knight Spirit Island Arkham LCG Feast for Odin Street Masters Are the solos that keep coming out for me.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2023 23:47
|
|
|
I like the Ark Nova solo mode, although it plays a lot differently than multiplayer. There are a few fan-mode automatons that are apparently pretty good and give a closer-to-multiplayer experience, but I haven't tried them yet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 00:34
|
|
God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
|
Imperium is also one of those games that you don't really want to play at counts >2 and is pretty good solo.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 03:38
|
|
|
 @ everything about Agricola 15Doesn't include all expansions, doesn't include extra players This is an actual component  It needs to be double layered! That'll twist!  Who is this for? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJmp-V2P62o&t=449s
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 04:22
|
|
|
Played a 5 player game of Cat in the Box, some rounds of Insider and Fake Artist, and some High Society. Had a really good time, even though we had initially planned for some heavier games. At one point we went through a few rounds of Spirit Island but realized that with two new players there was no way we were getting finished before the end of the night. Also five lands looks like hell to try and manage. I'm looking forward to bringing March of the Ants next time we meet, or possibly just having a day of Root and it's many expansions.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 06:45
|
|
|
Infinitum posted:
Looks like it needs some major improvements
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 06:53
|
|
|
Snooze Cruise posted:What is the consensus on single player stuff these days? Is Mage Knight still the go to (sold my copy during a move). Me and my SO have really been enjoying Under Falling Skies.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 09:31
|
|
|
Infinitum posted:
Yeah, I was kinda stoked for details until I actually got the details. I'll keep my OG Agricola I suppose and save a bunch of money 
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2023 17:11
|
|
|
Finished up The Light in the Mist (tl:dr a tarot inspired narrative puzzle game) today, it's a pretty good puzzle game for 2. The puzzles offer a wide range of fair challenges. The art on all the cards is very nice and the hint site is pretty good about giving you helpful tips without just solving the drat thing for you. The story is alright, it kept me interested through the puzzles but probably won't stick with me. I do think the difference in difficulty between the easier puzzles and the harder ones is too extreme. It's fine that The Fool is very easy, as it is the first puzzle and gates you off from the rest of the game until you solve it, but others such as The Lovers are about on the same level of difficulty. Meanwhile The Tower and The Devil are extremely involved multi-step puzzles that will take 30-60 minutes to complete even if you immediately understand what the puzzle asks of you. And that's not counting The Emperor, which I still don't understand even a little bit after going through all the hints. 9/10 solid recommendation for anyone who likes puzzles and doesn't hate tarot cards. Just don't be afraid to use the hint site.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 03:12
|
|
|
Cat in the box loving rips? very cool game doing something novel. Definitely need sleeves though, the cards are not great quality and mark super easy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 03:38
|
|
|
Anyone have experience with Everdell? It looks like an adorable take on Agricola meets Race for the Galaxy but simpler and faster. I've been out of the loop on newer games but it seems to be generally beloved although I don't think I've seen much of anything about it here. Any thoughts? My concerns were that it looked like player interaction was pretty low by worker placement standards but reviewers seem to think it has plenty. I'm also curious to hear if it's too simple if you're used to more complicated games. I remember playing Lords of Waterdeep and being absolutely bored to death by the gameplay. Ohthehugemanatee fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Jan 29, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 17:02
|
|
|
Everdell does not feel like Agricola, there's not the same urgency of imminent starvation. There are lots of cards, which are fun but also mean there's a lot of luck in whether your plans will come off and you'll get cards that work together. I found it bland and sold it rather quickly, but I did not play it with 3+ players, and my taste in games is for the cutthroat.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 19:19
|
|
|
It's also really swingy with cards being free based solely on randomly having a prerequisite with no way to plan for or build around that. And the physical production actually makes the game harder to play and see.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 19:24
|
|
|
sirtommygunn posted:Finished up The Light in the Mist (tl:dr a tarot inspired narrative puzzle game) today, it's a pretty good puzzle game for 2. The puzzles offer a wide range of fair challenges. The art on all the cards is very nice and the hint site is pretty good about giving you helpful tips without just solving the drat thing for you. The story is alright, it kept me interested through the puzzles but probably won't stick with me. I'm midway through The Light in the Mist and definitely agree that some puzzles are fairly easy and others are very difficult. Overall I do feel the puzzles are good and am enjoying the game. Have you tried The Emerald Flame from the same designer?
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 22:52
|
|
|
Wallet posted:I don't think any of them are terribly out of whack; none are notably bad and there's nothing Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds level broken. I do find that Fractured Days Split the Sky is a bit too durdley for higher difficulty adversaries. Ok, latest question, how the heck do you win with the Great Underground Duchy of Moles? And, especially, how do you ever do anything against woodland alliance? I felt like frequently, my turn 'should' be, walk over to their resistance token, give them the card I need for that space, then attack the resistance token, and give them another card. And that be my entire turn, because now I can't sway a noble. I mean, that is almost purely bad for me and good for them, but, just so many turns, it was like, "Well, that NEEDS to happen, but ... then I'll never do anything ever". I did end up doing that once, because otherwise they would have won, immediately and obviously, but it feels horrific, you give up not just the entirety of this go, but also even being able to buy the extra action for next go, too? Like you can only really ever fight alliance in places that you're not hoping to do anything yourself? I figured I'd have to just let that to happen and build up. I finally struck out, but, the cats didn't like it, so spent a turn just moving in with a huge ball and attacking me thrice to clear out my moles, and one of the buildings. It felt like losing even just a single building it's goodnight Vienna? I couldn't ever get back to where I was, let alone progress, and by then the cats and woodland alliance, that I had spent my game hitting just ran roughshod over it, utterly undeterred. I guess looking back at this particular game, the birds didn't do a good enough job (like, at all, just utterly miserable, lol) taking care of either of the other two, (I think they scored two points) but even so, if they had, I still don't really see how I'd have scored many more points? Are they meant to just horde and not do anything at all for like 4 or 5 turns, building up a huge burrow? It feels like it must be something fundamentally different than what I was doing, lol. !Klams fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Jan 29, 2023 |
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 23:02
|
|
|
Exps posted:I'm midway through The Light in the Mist and definitely agree that some puzzles are fairly easy and others are very difficult. Overall I do feel the puzzles are good and am enjoying the game. Have you tried The Emerald Flame from the same designer? Not yet, it's on my list to get later but I just started Frosthaven so that's a ways off.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2023 23:45
|
|
|
Ohthehugemanatee posted:Anyone have experience with Everdell? It looks like an adorable take on Agricola meets Race for the Galaxy but simpler and faster. I've been out of the loop on newer games but it seems to be generally beloved although I don't think I've seen much of anything about it here. I've played it a couple times and both times went on for an hour longer than when it felt like it was going to end/should have ended, and then it went on for even longer after that. it feels like it moves at a good clip early on, but then everyone gets the ability to take so many "free" turns (that don't cost a worker or resources to do) that it eventually just grinds down as everyone inches toward their max city size, replaces cards on their maxed-out city, does some more free actions after that, and then suddenly spends all their last workers in a row once they're finally out of other things to do. Great physical production, strange uncomfortable pacing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2023 00:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 20:58 |
|
|
!Klams posted:Ok, latest question, how the heck do you win with the Great Underground Duchy of Moles? And, especially, how do you ever do anything against woodland alliance? I felt like frequently, my turn 'should' be, walk over to their resistance token, give them the card I need for that space, then attack the resistance token, and give them another card. And that be my entire turn, because now I can't sway a noble. I mean, that is almost purely bad for me and good for them, but, just so many turns, it was like, "Well, that NEEDS to happen, but ... then I'll never do anything ever". I did end up doing that once, because otherwise they would have won, immediately and obviously, but it feels horrific, you give up not just the entirety of this go, but also even being able to buy the extra action for next go, too? Like you can only really ever fight alliance in places that you're not hoping to do anything yourself? Moles and alliance can both be very strong against each other, and a lot of it comes down to whether the alliance is taking their turns before the moles do. You definitely felt the card tax they inflict on you in this game, but in other games the moles' presence and action economy will keep them suppressed easily. The moles have a lot of different strategies they can use, but one of the most effective and popular is "Smol Mole" where you don't make any buildings basically until the turn you can win. You spend your board actions getting extra moles in the burrow and collecting VP and gaining actions from swaying your ministers, and the other players can't really slow you down besides swatting away your moles for no real gain. Duchess of Mud can also be easy points without buildings. Then you clean up the final few points you need by taking out cardboard, and using the Banker/Duchess/Earl/the last guy that can get you points I forgot his name.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2023 01:09
|
|
