LogFAQs > #943210502

cyko posted...

I bring it up because Twilight Imperium 4th edition really is another great epic space game that you also might love - especially if you prefer games that have a lot of politicking and backstabbing.

I actually am not big on the politicking and backstabbing! I like AGOT: The Board Game a lot, but in general, I like to play my strategy games as quickly as possible. My brain will usually translate long negotiations, especially among people who are not me, into downtime/boredom/bickering. That said, given that it can play with only 4, maybe there's a chance....... some day.

I am not usually a very creative person when it comes to customizing games, but I took this a step further and created a full set of custom Super Smash Bros. Epic Duels. I took time to customize each deck to the character's personality and playstyle. I am obviously biased towards my own decks, but after hosting several events at Gencon over the years, I have heard nothing but positive feedback about Super Smash Bros Epic Duels. Undoubtedly, those positive experiences have elevated my personal opinion of Epic Duels.

Recently, Rob Daviau remade the Epic Duels system into a game called Unmatched. The characters aren't nearly as interesting as Star Wars (or Smash Bros!!), but the game has gotten great reviews and seems to be better balanced than the original Epic Duels. I haven't tried it yet, because the price seems crazy high ($40 for 4 characters) compared to what you got with Epic Duels ($50 for 12 characters...), but I would like to try it.

Love the enthusiasm/initiative here. Inspired both by the YGO card game and the anime, my friends and I once had the idea to make some sort of card game where you could summon monsters, but they'd appear in a labyrinth you'd have to navigate. It didn't come to fruition so I'm envious you managed to get so much out of a system!

In general I tend to stay away from owning IPs outside of ASOIAF. So the idea of Unmatched is a good one to me!

As I mentioned under Puerto Rico, New Frontiers is basically a refined version of Puerto Rico with the symbology and space theme of Race/ Roll For the Galaxy. I think I might actually like it a bit more than Pueto Rico because of how it's streamlined, but I have only played it three times (which is actually really good for me considering I have only had it for about a year!). There are enough minor differences where it's not just a rethemed version of Puerto Rico, but I think I need to play it a few more times to see which I prefer.

For example in New Frontiers, you can adjust the player order with one of the 7 actions, which I prefer to the player order always staying the same in PR. But in PR, I think I prefer loading up your goods on the trade ships that each player shares instead of producing and consuming on your own board in NF. But then again, in NF, I really like how everyone selects a different starting board with a different special ability.... and NF is very color-blind friendly!! So, yeah, they are very similar, but I am still a little torn on which one I prefer.

I've been reading a little more on Race/Roll/PR/NF. I suspect that Race is by far the best option among all these for a 2P game. The only issue is whether my partner is going to have the interest/patience to play Race more than once after a reluctant learning game. A few weeks ago I got my decade-old copy of Backgammon to the table and she hated it. Didn't even play more than one game. Earlier, I'd thought about Innovation as well for a 2P game - I've played it twice and not liked it, but it seems ideal for a game to play over and over and get better at.

I imagine PR is the best-looking on a table/has the aesthetic I like the most (though with an unfortunate theme). Not big on space themes or aesthetics in most of my board games. Roll I find to be an ugly game... but it has dice. And it sounds like NF might be less punishing than PR with no slaves, but otherwise the sell isn't clear.

So while the pandemic goes on and I desperately await more plays on several of my games, I'm staying away from all of them. Alas.

I can't quite put my finger on why I love this game so much, but it's a very well polished, very strategic worker placement game where every action feels important. It's definitely in the same genre as Agricola, but different enough for me to enjoy both. RR definitely rewards skilled players, though, so it can be a little tough for newer players to break into. The German Railroad boards really open up the game without making it too much more complicated. It is out of print, but if you want to try it online, you can play it at www.yucata.de or www.boardgamearena.com

Noted re: online play! A person in my meetup's discord complained the other day about Russian Railroads feeling soulless. I laughed because the game is called Russian Railroads. Like, what are you expecting?!

. The actual card game that you play in the 3 tournaments (over the course of the full game) by itself isn't that exciting and can be determined completely randomly by the cards you collect in the planning phase. But the game is about so much more than the tournaments. Getting overall points for Collecting cards, selling cards, throwing actual wads of cash around and even getting rewarded for the friends you make along the way!

So, I've twice been into a CCG/LCG: YGO waaaay back when, and AGOT:TCG in recent years. In neither case did I particularly enjoy the process of buying cards; storing cards was an issue for me, and I fell behind, and I have anxiety spending that much money regularly. I did love the friends I made along the way, but I was much more into playing the games and the meta compared to acquiring cards. Maybe that explains why it didn't hit for me!

I am surprised you don't have more 2P games, especially during this pandemic.

Ah, alas, yeah. Haven't gamed much at all. I might make a list of games I've acquired/played more since making this list, but my 2P household gaming this entire pandemic has consisted of one play of Backgammon, a few plays of Watergate, and one play of Castles of Burgundy. We're talking about getting Viticulture back to the table though.

Otherwise, I have never played it, but I hear Battlestar Galactica takes everything Shadows Over Camelot did and makes it better.

BSG is a case where I prefer the SOC theme (I'm an Avalon fan, after all!) and I played BSG waaaaay too early on, when at least two of us had never played a two-hour game voluntarily (and it took three). I have a dream about getting five players to play it and learn it well. I do think based on what you're saying that SOC is definitely a try-not-buy, but this actually does make me want to try it even more.

Random anecdote - at Origins a year ago, I got to play a game I'd researched for a long time early on - Shadow Hunters. It has some issues, but in the end, I was still pretty interested and it didn't seem broken to me. It's out of print, so copies go for like $150-$200, and I saw one appear on my local marketplace at $20... I was talked out of it and regretted my choice within a few hours, but it was gone by then. :(
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yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness