What have you played today?

[AbsolutSurgen]

Since the video gaming crowd has a similar thread, I thought I would make one for Board games...

 

Smash Up -- Played the base game with both of my sons this morning.  I played Robots/Wizards and lost to Zombies and Dinosaurs (just).

 

Xwing -- My son just dumped ~$90 on some of the Wave III ships.  And beat me.

[TheLeon]

Went over to my sister’s house last night. Played some Apples to Apples (to appease my niece), a couple games of Pandemic, and ended the night with Catan, which is new for us. So far I haven’t come close to losing a game of Catan. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Played Survive: Escape from Atlantis

The best way to describe it is most like a competitive version of Forbidden Island (sort of). A relatively quick play, and simple enough for kids (-10) to pick up). 

[Slug]

Not today, but Saturday we got a couple terrific rounds of Betrayal at Baldur's Gate in.

Edit: I don't know why that is upside down..

Edit: Fixed!

[AbsolutSurgen]

@Slug was looking at this on the weekend (along with Gloomhaven) and decided it would be too complicated for my boys.  Any thoughts on ages?

[Slug]

10 hours ago, mikechorney said:

@Slug was looking at this on the weekend (along with Gloomhaven) and decided it would be too complicated for my boys.  Any thoughts on ages?

I don't know how old your boys are, but I'd plant Betrayal in the early teenage range and up.  Maybe 11+?  Lots of reading and there has to be some independent strategic ability as there is often information that you either may want to, or have to, keep secret from other players.  So if they're still at an age where you need to help them with game mechanics then it probably wouldn't work out super well.  But it's a fantastic game so if they're old enough for it I highly recommend.

 

As for Gloomhaven...I've only played it a couple times.  It pretty intimidating.  Just tons of pieces and super fiddly and so much stuff to track.  Like, once you get rolling it's a lot of fun but the logistical investment is unreal.  It's like playing D&D without a DM.  There are 3rd party companion apps people have made to help track stuff in the game and I'd advise anyone who plays Gloomhaven to use them; they make life so much nicer.

[Kal-El814]

I can’t imagine playing Gloomhaven without the Broken Token insert.

[AbsolutSurgen]

I played some more Smash Up with my son.  This game is just good dumb fun.

[AbsolutSurgen]

We played Azul for the first time tonight.  This is a really solid game, that can REALLY be played in under 45 minutes.  It's the perfect game to play with non-gamers, because it is VERY easy to learn.  However, it seems to have depth/strategy that is just below the surface that really decides how the game is won.

 

Pro-Tip:  When your wife tells you that she was winning up until the last turn, don't tell her that she had the most points scored to date (but wasn't really winning).

[Remarkableriots]

I played this at my friends recently and i won!

[Slug]

@Remarkableriots How did it play?

 

I haven't played any new games in awhile.  I've been on a D&D kick (we should start a D&D thread...).  I have two regular bi-weekly games, one I'm a player and one I'm DM.

 

Last non pen and paper RPG I played was a couple weeks ago when me and a pal played a few rounds of High Heavens.  It's a 2 player asymmetric strategy game where each players takes the role of a pantheon of gods, either Greek or Norse and compete to either kill all of the other teams' gods or destroy their home base (Asgard or Mt. Olympus).  Pretty fun!  The minis are low quality, but good looking.  The game comes with these stacking rings to make damage tracking easy.  Overall a nice product.  My only complaint is that I wish the plastic for the minis was higher quality.

 

 

[Remarkableriots]

@Slug It's kinda basic where you roll to move to the locations on the board and see if you can collect the items based on scenario cards. You attack others players which is fun. It goes fast and is fun to play.

 

 

[Remarkableriots]

This is one of my favorite games to play.

[Alpha1Cowboy]

 

Getting into this.  It's definitly fun and a deckbuilding game without the boosters and deckbuilding.   You can't net deck your way to victory here.  

[Slug]

Keyforge is an interesting one.  I bought a couple decks to learn it with my son.  It was fun, but then I realized I'm probably not the target market because I like deck building too much.  I'm not sure why anyone would buy more than one deck of this.  So...fun game.  But I just plan on tossing my one deck in my con bag and keeping it handy in case I run into someone that happens to want to play.  There's no incentive for me to keep buying, which feels odd for a collectible game.

[Alpha1Cowboy]

On 6/11/2019 at 2:27 PM, Slug said:

Keyforge is an interesting one.  I bought a couple decks to learn it with my son.  It was fun, but then I realized I'm probably not the target market because I like deck building too much.  I'm not sure why anyone would buy more than one deck of this.  So...fun game.  But I just plan on tossing my one deck in my con bag and keeping it handy in case I run into someone that happens to want to play.  There's no incentive for me to keep buying, which feels odd for a collectible game.

 

 

Some decks are just weird configurations and only specifically are good against other configurations.   My favorite part is playing against other people where you have to swap decks.  

 

Also I suck at deck building games because I lack the patience and practice of building a fine deck and I feel that Netdecking is like playing a game with all the cheat codes turned on.  I'm not really doing it myself.

 

Also..finally got my gaming/play area cleared and at least set up so I can baordgame and paint miniatures this summer

 

 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0FyD9t8B4yW50vgzscO37_nqg

 

 

 

[Slug]

46 minutes ago, Alpha1Cowboy said:

Also I suck at deck building games because I lack the patience and practice of building a fine deck and I feel that Netdecking is like playing a game with all the cheat codes turned on.  I'm not really doing it myself.

 

This is why I almost exclusively play limited formats.  Booster draft, sealed deck, etc.  It still scratches that deck-building itch, adds a layer of strategy with the drafting, and everyone is on a level playing field money-wise.

 

49 minutes ago, Alpha1Cowboy said:

Also..finally got my gaming/play area cleared and at least set up so I can baordgame and paint miniatures this summer

 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0FyD9t8B4yW50vgzscO37_nqg

Sweet!  We should do a gaming space thread...

[TheLeon]

I bought Villainous for my niece’s birthday (just turned 11). I go over to their house to play board games regularly, but she doesn’t like most of what we play. She really likes this one (although she kept disrupting things to examine all the cute card art) and the rest of us enjoy it too. I can see it entering our regular rotation whenever the little one wants to play. 

[Slug]

Game night!

 

First up: Takenoko

[AbsolutSurgen]

Playing more X-Wing -- we bought a couple of the new ships from this wave.  It's shocking how a couple of new ships really change everything.

[Slug]

Had a good time playing Splendor with the family yesterday.

 

I also took the opportunity to introduce my Dad, who taught me how to play Chess as a kid, to Onitama:

 

He liked it enough to order his own copy after a few games. :P

[AbsolutSurgen]

We played the first run of T.I.M.E. Stories - it was a good time. Everyone (but me) loved it. It’s mostly an interactive story, so I found it OK as there wasn’t a lot of strategy in the first run. 

 

Played more X-Wing. This time I played my rebels (X-Wing, B-Wing and Millennium Falcon) against my sons Scum and Villainy (Millenium Falcon, Single wing Sorta looks like X-Wing and one other ship). I’m starting to understand why so many people love this game. Lots of strategy, some luck, and lots of creative decision making. 

[Slug]

This weekend I taught my wife and son how to play Castles of Mad King Ludwig.  I'm in love with this one.  If you aren't familiar, each player is a builder trying to build a castle for the king based on his specific, peculiar and ever changing tastes.  You score points for rooms you build, how well you lay the castle out, and how well your castle satisfies the king's needs.  Easy one to learn and a decent amount of strategy.  This one is going to come back to the table often and we'll probably play it again tonight.

[Kal-El814]

Played Root again today and got to be the Riverfolk Traders for the first time. Fun faction and the game itself remains great. 

[Slug]

My game group is still into heavy D&D mode, so other games have suffered a bit.  And with a campaign session on the schedule for this weekend and next, it doesn't look good for the near future.  HOWEVER! I got in some quality play time with Forbidden Island this weekend.  I'd played Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky before, but this was my first crack at the one that started it all.

 

 

 

[TheLeon]

36 minutes ago, Slug said:

My game group is still into heavy D&D mode, so other games have suffered a bit.  And with a campaign session on the schedule for this weekend and next, it doesn't look good for the near future.  HOWEVER! I got in some quality play time with Forbidden Island this weekend.  I'd played Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky before, but this was my first crack at the one that started it all.

 

 

 

 

I've played a lot of Forbidden Island with my sister and her husband, and we really like it. How do Desert/Sky compare to it? 

[Slug]

30 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

I've played a lot of Forbidden Island with my sister and her husband, and we really like it. How do Desert/Sky compare to it? 

Forbidden Desert compares pretty favorably to Island.  It adds a couple minor mechanics, but largely is the same level of challenge.  Just as fun IMO.  Sky though is a pretty steep step up.  It seems far more challenging and there are extra things you have to manage other than just, as in the Island/Desert models, keeping the Island afloat.  I like challenging so Sky is good times.  Full disclosure; we've yet to win a game of Sky.  If you like Island, but you've played it out and want to change up the mechanics a bit, grab Desert.  If you like Island but want a more difficult experience, grab Sky.

[AbsolutSurgen]

Above and Below

A relatively simple resource management game, with a simple "adventure" component (which is actually more like "flavour text").  It worked really well with my 10 and 12-year olds on family game night -- the combination of the flavour text and unique faces for the townspeople, helped them connect with the gameplay mechanics.  While a relatively simple game for adults, I thought it worked really well for an introduction to the genre for pre-teens.

[AbsolutSurgen]

We played "7 Wonders" today -- another "relatively simple resource management game. 

The instructions are TERRIBLY written -- it makes the game seem much more complicated than it is.  Once people have played this game, it is VERY simple to play.  My 12-year old had no problems figuring out this game, and was able to figure out strategies the first time he played it.

[Kal-El814]

Played Roads and Boats yesterday. It was... a lot. 

[gamer.tv]

Me and my wife played Boss Monster yesterday. It's a fun, quick game and not very hard to get started with. Obviously with the current climate, we're looking at more card and board games for two people so after a quick google, will pick up Pandemic and Ticket to Ride soon. 

 

Are there any good single deck strategy card games (I would love to play something like Magic, but that needs some money, time and some deck building - whereas I'm quite keen on a game that comes with all the bits from the start). 

[Kal-El814]

On 3/24/2020 at 4:19 AM, gamer.tv said:

Me and my wife played Boss Monster yesterday. It's a fun, quick game and not very hard to get started with. Obviously with the current climate, we're looking at more card and board games for two people so after a quick google, will pick up Pandemic and Ticket to Ride soon. 

 

Are there any good single deck strategy card games (I would love to play something like Magic, but that needs some money, time and some deck building - whereas I'm quite keen on a game that comes with all the bits from the start). 

It’s an expandable game, but Dominion is a solid deck builder that has some customization options out of the core box, or a lot of options if you get the Big Box. It’s build as you play, you don’t need to do work before you play, really. If you don’t want deck building at all, Lost Cities the card game is solid. Hanabi is also, though it works better with > 2.

[AbsolutSurgen]

@gamer.tv  Dominion is one of my favourite deck building games.  It is great fun.

Smashup is also fun -- and is "closer" to Magic than Dominion.  The base game has enough factions to be interesting, but there are tons of expansions to fit any geeks favourite genres.