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The Board Game Thread

Started by radiator, 21 February, 2014, 03:13:04 PM

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Dark Jimbo

Quote from: radiator on 16 November, 2015, 06:34:48 PM
Speaking of The Grizzled and Dead of Winter, what's everyone's thoughts on cooperative board games? I'm curious to give one a try, but wonder if playing one can really capture that same excitement and sense of urgency of a traditional competitive game?

Depends entirely on the game in question, but yes, in theory it can be just as fun. We're big fans of Pandemic, which sees you all taking a role as disease prevention guys, desperately trying to forestall global outbreaks of killer bugs and flus - you're often teetering on the brink of oblivion, only a turn or two away from everything slipping through your hands, so it doesn't really matter that there's no-one to work against; it's just as engrossing as if there was.

Only played Dead of Winter twice, but the mechanic was similar in that sharing a stake in your ultimate survival (or not) provides plenty of tension and drama. I've certainly played a few games though that very much felt lacking for not having a competitive element.
@jamesfeistdraws

radiator

Played a couple of rounds of Codenames last night. As expected, it's really good.

The game is so simple you can teach someone in 1 minute. There are 25 word tiles laid out in a 5x5 grid. 8 or so are each designated to two opposing teams, with the 'spymasters' of those teams able to see which ones are theirs via a tile map only they can see. Over the course of the game, the two spymasters must lead their teammate(s) to correctly guess their designated word tiles by using a one word clue per turn. Strictly no other Charades-like clues, encouragement or guidance are allowed.

However, spymasters are free to make their clue applicable to multiple words with the addition of a number. Wracking your brain to find a clever link between apparently unrelated words, and thereby getting your teammate to correctly guess multiple words on a single turn is highly satisfying and makes you feel an almost psychic connection with them, with high fives all round. However, doing so comes with risks, because the more tenuous the clue, the more chance your teammate will totally misinterpret it and pick one of the words designated to the opposing team (giving them a free point) or - even worse - pick the single 'assassin' word tile, resulting in an instant loss for your team.

It sounds a bit dry, but the focus on lateral thinking and creative clue-giving - and potential for catastrophic misunderstanding frequently results in tension and hilarity.

If you're wondering what to get family members for Christmas this year, look no further. This really is one of those games that everyone will enjoy:


Keef Monkey

Being board game fans, and having a lot of friends who are also board game fans, we got some games as wedding gifts so got lots of new stuff to play!

Got an X Wing starter set (which I've played once at a friend'sbut will be really nice to try it some more and to maybe combine for a bigger battle), Pandemic, Dixit and Zombicide. Haven't tried Pandemic or Dixit yet but have had a couple of solo runs on a Zombicide mission to learn the rules. Very cool, and one of those games that's quite brutally difficult too. There are a couple of rules that are mad enough to feel quite unfair (there doesn't seem to be a maximum number of zombies that can be squeezed into a room/zone so that gets a bit mad, and the whole thing of splitting and duplicating zombies every time there are two equidistant routes to a survivor means the spawning gets really out of control) but I'd imagine it's amazingly satisfying to actually beat a mission. Maybe someday!

radiator

Let me know how Dixit is. I've watched a few videos on it and while it seems like an intriguing concept I still don't understand how it works at all.

Grabbed a copy of the Ticket to Ride UK Map expansion over the weekend, looking forward to giving it a go over the Christmas holiday with the family. It seems to introduce a Machi Koro style deck-building element that looks like it'll be an interesting spin.

We got to play a few games of One Night Ultimate Werewolf last week, albiet with only 4 players (I have heard its far better with 5/6+). It's certainly an interesting game, but a bit tricky to play in practice. Much like Coup, whether the game lives or dies is very much dependent on the group you're playing it with. If certain players have a hard time keeping a poker face - or straight-up lying - it can break the game. I'm hoping to have a chance to play it with a larger group over Christmas and see if it really takes off.

Ancient Otter

Quote from: radiator on 13 December, 2015, 09:31:33 PM
Let me know how Dixit is. I've watched a few videos on it and while it seems like an intriguing concept I still don't understand how it works at all.

I played it once. If I remember right, everyone has a hand of cards, with unique abstract art. On your turn, you say a word or phrase* and everyone picks a card from their hand, puts it face down and all the cards are shuffled and revealed. Each player except the person whose turn it was try to guess what card you played. You get points for every person who picks your card, but if people pick the other players cards, those player score points instead.

*For example I said Schindlers List, as I had a card with a bright red coat.

Timothy

Any Christmas games, folks? Our family scooped the Minecraft card game, Monopoly Deal and the U.K. map for Ticket to Ride. The first two have been played and enjoyed, the last one saved for tomorrow.

sheridan

Quote from: Timothyjacobs on 25 December, 2015, 10:27:34 PM
Any Christmas games, folks? Our family scooped the Minecraft card game, Monopoly Deal and the U.K. map for Ticket to Ride. The first two have been played and enjoyed, the last one saved for tomorrow.
I've had a copy of Unspeakable Words for a few months but not played it yet, shall probably do that tomorrow.  This Christmas I received Fairytale Gloom, which was surprising as I hadn't even heard that it had been released!

moly

Got talisman 4th edition for Christmas, used to have the 1st edition when I was a kid can't wait to play it

Ancient Otter

Space Hulk: Death Angel. Not Christmas presents, but some X-Wing stuff I was saving up for also turned up: Gozanti-class Imperial Assault Carrier, T-70 X-Wing and TIE/fo.

TordelBack

Quote from: Ancient Otter on 27 December, 2015, 08:17:21 PMGozanti-class Imperial Assault Carrier

That thing is so beautiful, I so nearly caved when I saw it... But 77 yo-yos!  :o

Ancient Otter

Quote from: Tordelback on 27 December, 2015, 08:32:50 PM
Quote from: Ancient Otter on 27 December, 2015, 08:17:21 PMGozanti-class Imperial Assault Carrier

That thing is so beautiful, I so nearly caved when I saw it... But 77 yo-yos!  :o

The fact the TIE Fighters/Bombers/Interceptors/Advanced can attach to it make it worth it :rolleyes: But anytime a new wave is announced for X-Wing  is time to start saving. I'm waiting for the Ghost, Punishing One, Mishunter and Inquistor's TIE to turn up next month.

TordelBack

The Ghost (and Phantom) will be the thing that finally does for me - it looks fantastic. All I've bought so far is the TIE Phantom, purely as a model, since I don't have it in any other format or scale. But the Ghost... Well, that will uncork the djinn's bottle.

radiator

Much to my delight, One Night Ultimate Werewolf has been the surprise smash with my lot this christmas. I'm always a bit hesitant to suggest it as I worry that people simply won't get the concept and it will fall flat, but its been a triumph with every single member of both sides of the family, young (10) and old (mid-60s). The first night we played ended with the die-hards pounding the table and chanting 'one more game!!!!'.

It's a really great little game.

Splendor and Qwirkle went down as well as expected - ie everyone loves them, while Exploding Kittens and Machi Koro have had a surprisingly mixed response. Assumed they would be no-brainers.

TordelBack

Santa brought the youngest the Chibis expansion for cute panda-handling game Takenoko. Neat addition to a solid game, just adding a few more tile-types, objectives and scoring options including the fun mechanic of a gorgeous female panda initiating mating. I triumphed tonight with a 10 point lead, naturally, but the parallel style of play means things can change rapidly and it's never safe to sit on your bamboo mountain.

This is my kind of expansion, in that it doesn't drag things out or increase complexity, just adds some giggles and replayability - you're now unlikely to get through most of the terrain tiles before the game ends, meaning a more diverse experience. Best of all, the new bits all fit into the original box.

Satanist

Well our haul was as follows

Cthulhu dice
Batman Love Letter
Munchkin
Millenium Falcon for X-wing

Only played Munchkin so far but it seemed like fun. Cannot wait to get X-wing going with the Falcon and Slave-1 going head to head though  :lol:
Hmm, just pretend I wrote something witty eh?