What is your favorite board game?

[GreenLantern]

I picked up Mansion of Madness 2nd edition this weekend and my wife and I played through the first scenario, it was a lot of fun. The game itself is very well designed and the app is a big component but it doesn't take away from the board game feeling. As far as apps go this was superior to Descent. The replayability is a bit of a question though as the layout and order of events will change but the overall scenario itself does not. Only four scenarios with the core ranging from 1.5 hours to 5 hours to complete. My only major concern was the mini quality, compared to IA or Descent FFG really dropped the ball here. They are flimsy and many come bent and won't fit into their bases properly. But overall the game itself is great. 9/10.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Is that anything like Betrayal at House on the Hill? Because that also has a changing layout, but it has a whole ton of scenario variety.

[GreenLantern]

I've never played that game so I am not sure. The scenario layout changes, but the overall objectives remain the same. Basically I need this key and last time it was in this room now the clues are pointing me towards this room... which isn't where it was last time. And there is an internal clock, so you need to be on your toes. There are apparently multiple endings for different scenarios though based on how you do. It is kind of cool in that you perform skill checks but it doesn't tell you how many you need to be successful and the outcome of an objective can change based on how you do. So while the overall theme will remain the same, how you get there and how successful you are will change from game to game.

The four scenarios are something like 1-1.5 hours, 1.5-2.5 hours, 2-3 hours, 4-6 hours. The bigger your group the longer it will take, but the more time it gives you. I have only played it with two so far though, but it would be a very cool party game and I can see it being appealing to non board gamers as it has a lot of classic elements to it. Sort of a who dunnit theme.

[malcolmk14]

Played a bunch of games at FallCon last weekend.

Thief's Market
Quadropolis
Container
Imperial Settlers
Through the Ages
All Creatures Big and Small
7 Wonders Duel
Scythe
Roll through the Galaxy
The Gallerist

Best of the bunch was Scythe, by far. Least favourite was probably Roll through the Galaxy or Imperial Settlers.

[GreenLantern]

Have a buddy that backed Scythe we've been trying to find time to play it, it doesn't seem like a couples game, eh? I'll use the BGG term "weight" here which I take to mean how intense/in depth it is, how much weight would you give it out of 5?

How long does a typical game last?

[CliffFletcher]

Best part of FallCon is they're now fully licensed and you can drink while gaming anywhere. Though I do wonder how much booze FallCon had to buy back, as I didn't see all that many people taking advantage. Boardgame geeks seem to be a notably un-boozy bunch.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Best part of FallCon is they're now fully licensed and you can drink while gaming anywhere. Though I do wonder how much booze FallCon had to buy back, as I didn't see all that many people taking advantage. Boardgame geeks seem to be a notably un-boozy bunch.

Mountain Dew and Cheetos dude.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Have a buddy that backed Scythe we've been trying to find time to play it, it doesn't seem like a couples game, eh? I'll use the BGG term "weight" here which I take to mean how intense/in depth it is, how much weight would you give it out of 5?

How long does a typical game last?

I would say 3/5 and we played two games - the five player one including rules explanation took 2 hours. The four player one with no rules explanation took 1 hour 45 minutes.

[InglewoodFan]

Realized this week that we bought 7 Wonders for our oldest kid two years ago and it disappeared into his room. We brought it out this week and opened it up. After a bit of uncertainty on the rules, we had a pretty good time with it. (Family of 4, kids are 13 & 16)

Looking for ideas for a new game for the family for Christmas. I've watched a couple of Scythe game play videos and it looks like I'd love it but maybe too involved for the rest of the family. We don't have a ton of games, but we like to play Catan, Ticket to Ride, Exploding Kittens, Munchkin, Scotland Yard. We have Pandemic and Boss Monster but have struggled getting into them.

Pondering Risk but I'd like to ensure my family continues to talk to me. I can't not take it a bit too seriously.

Anything out there anyone can recommend for families with teens?

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I picked up Mansion of Madness 2nd edition this weekend and my wife and I played through the first scenario, it was a lot of fun. The game itself is very well designed and the app is a big component but it doesn't take away from the board game feeling. As far as apps go this was superior to Descent. The replayability is a bit of a question though as the layout and order of events will change but the overall scenario itself does not. Only four scenarios with the core ranging from 1.5 hours to 5 hours to complete. My only major concern was the mini quality, compared to IA or Descent FFG really dropped the ball here. They are flimsy and many come bent and won't fit into their bases properly. But overall the game itself is great. 9/10.

I've played this a couple times now with five people and it's a lot of fun. I prefer it to the first edition although I am admittedly not a fan of dungeon master type games. No matter how "fair" your DM tries to be it can be difficult to shake the feeling that they're being an ####### lol. So I like that the second edition is a cooperative game with no human DM. I agree with you about replayability. Once you've played a scenario you know exactly what investigators to bring/avoid. Even if the layouts change you have a good idea of what you're going to face. I also wasn't aware there were only 4 scenarios. That doesn't seem like a lot.

The mini quality is definitely below FFG's standard but they're fairly similar to the first edition. It would have been a nice opportunity for them to improve the minis but I suspect they wanted to keep things the same for those upgrading.

[GreenLantern]

I've played it a few more times since that post and I think the replayability is there if you fail a certain part of the mission. I have had different endings depending on how well we did, how many survived, maybe a NPC that lived or died etc.. so that is pretty cool. But the major events remain the same. It has however taken me a few tries to beat some of the harder ones, so I like that. There is apparently a new scenario coming to the app sometime soon for 5 bucks so I think that is a pretty fair deal. I agree though they could have included at least one or two more in the big box. But it is nice that they can release them periodically direct to consumer without having to make a content purchase (which jacks the price up considerably).

But speaking of content, I noticed the first expansion has 2 new scenarios as well, and they dropped the price on it by 10 bucks after a lot of people complained on the forums.

I like this game because it can sit on the shelf for a month and then pick it up to play with new people/new investigators and even the same scenario can feel very different. This is definitely not a game you would buy to power game through in a few weeks though.. but it is still incredibly well done. We just beat the Innsmouth mission the other day after three tries (granted we were quite drunk the first two times) and man it was intense, right down to the wire. Highly recommend this game for anyone looking for a table top co-op.

[dsavillian]

GW released an updated edition of Blood Bowl last week.

The base rules are pretty much the same as the latest community managed rules pack, but there are a bunch of new rules for leagues.

The league that I ran for a few years has had a large increase in interested players.


If GW games is your thing, might be worth checking out. I took a break for a couple of years when my son was born, but I'll be getting back into the league with the new set

[malcolmk14]

My birthday was October 31st - my girlfriend was looking for Scythe and could not find it anywhere. The release in Canada ended up being delayed a few weeks.

She got in touch with the game designer through his website, and told him that I was looking for the game and some of the improved components to make it like the collectors edition.

He literally went into his garage, took a retail copy of the game, opened it up, filled it with the Kickstarter collector's edition components, signed the inside of the box with a personalized 'Happy Halloween Birthday' and mailed it to her a couple of days before my birthday.

She got 4 of my friends to show up as a surprise on the Tuesday after Halloween and handed it to me and said 'have fun!'

Anyway, we've played it about 3 or 4 times since. Awesome game.

In the past month have also played a few games of Seafall, Alhambra, and Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

My birthday was October 31st - my girlfriend was looking for Scythe and could not find it anywhere. The release in Canada ended up being delayed a few weeks.

She got in touch with the game designer through his website, and told him that I was looking for the game and some of the improved components to make it like the collectors edition.

He literally went into his garage, took a retail copy of the game, opened it up, filled it with the Kickstarter collector's edition components, signed the inside of the box with a personalized 'Happy Halloween Birthday' and mailed it to her a couple of days before my birthday.

She got 4 of my friends to show up as a surprise on the Tuesday after Halloween and handed it to me and said 'have fun!'

Anyway, we've played it about 3 or 4 times since. Awesome game.

In the past month have also played a few games of Seafall, Alhambra, and Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition.

Marry that woman.

Scythe is a great game, really enjoyed it. So well done. Great story about the designers, they seemed like a good group with all their customer interaction. Looking forward to their next game while I enjoy the current.

[zarrell]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

My birthday was October 31st - my girlfriend was looking for Scythe and could not find it anywhere. The release in Canada ended up being delayed a few weeks.

She got in touch with the game designer through his website, and told him that I was looking for the game and some of the improved components to make it like the collectors edition.

He literally went into his garage, took a retail copy of the game, opened it up, filled it with the Kickstarter collector's edition components, signed the inside of the box with a personalized 'Happy Halloween Birthday' and mailed it to her a couple of days before my birthday.

She got 4 of my friends to show up as a surprise on the Tuesday after Halloween and handed it to me and said 'have fun!'

Anyway, we've played it about 3 or 4 times since. Awesome game.

In the past month have also played a few games of Seafall, Alhambra, and Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition.

What are your thoughts so far on Seafall? I've got it on order and there are 5 of us that are going to play. I'm looking forward to it as I love the legacy aspect. I've played risk legacy but have not played pandemic. Risk was fun but seemed quite unbalanced.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by zarrell

What are your thoughts so far on Seafall? I've got it on order and there are 5 of us that are going to play. I'm looking forward to it as I love the legacy aspect. I've played risk legacy but have not played pandemic. Risk was fun but seemed quite unbalanced.

We started with five and it was a bit bogged down for the first couple of games. One of the guys actually said right away that he didn't like it, and he quit after Game 1 of the campaign.

Since then we've played three games with four of us and it is great. I think the length is perfect and there isn't too much time between turns. The flow of the game works a lot better with 4 than with 5 IMO.

It could just be that we're more familiar with it and what we're supposed to do.

Played Pandemic Legacy with the same group and really enjoyed it. In fact, a couple of people in the group bought another copy to play with family over the holidays.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by zarrell

What are your thoughts so far on Seafall? I've got it on order and there are 5 of us that are going to play. I'm looking forward to it as I love the legacy aspect. I've played risk legacy but have not played pandemic. Risk was fun but seemed quite unbalanced.

The Dice Tower reviewers abandoned the campaign because they weren't enjoying it that much.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by troutman

The Dice Tower reviewers abandoned the campaign because they weren't enjoying it that much.

Their main issue seemed to be that they wanted to play heroes and instead they played more historically-accurate, exploitative characters. In general, the Dice Tower guys don't like historical games, they're more sci-fi and fantasy fans.

[CliffFletcher]

Played a couple very good games recently, both by Gale Force Nine, and both based on TV shows.

Star Trek: Ascendancy. Three-player 4x game (Federation, Romulans, Klingons) that has it all. Exploration, expansion, technology, fleet battles, and each of the sides is strongly differentiated in abilities and paths to victory. Plays in about 3 or 4 hours, but moderate complexity.

Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem. Biker gangs fight it out over 'contraband', guns, and money. Basically a worker-placement game, but with an M-rated theme and lots of negotiation and brinksmanship. Not for the studious bean-counter type of player. It relies on bribery, threats, scheming, and bareknuckle intimidation to work. Not complex at all. Great for an all-guys game night with lots of beer.

[troutman]

Waiting for Terraforming Mars to arrive at Revolution Games. They said before Xmas, but I doubt that now.