The Board Game Thread

[Pyroxian]

That's pretty much how I understand it, but it seems quite overpowered to me.

So as long as the player is able to add their first tile to the road or city with the builder on, they can play an extra tile and do the same every turn until that structure is complete (and the builder is returned to them to play again?).

It's a massive advantage, but as everyone can do it, it's not too unbalanced. People also adapt the tactic of trying to make sure that opponents can't complete features with builders on, or make it not worth it (haha! I have two meeples in your builder's city now so by adding to it, you're just giving me more points mwahaha!)

Other than the two you've mentioned, Abbey & Mayor is very good, and Bridges, Castles and Bazaars is pretty good as well, although we tend not to play the Bazaar rules as it slows the game down. River II is also nice - it allows you to split the river in two.

[radiator]

Cool, thanks for the clarification - I'll probably end up getting those expansions at some point.

We tend to play without farmers, especially when introducing the game to new players, as they're the trickiest element of the base game to get your head around and give an unfair advantage to experienced players.

I was in Powell's yesterday (awesome, huge bookshop here in Portland) and saw posters advertising a board game event being held there this Saturday - gonna try and sneak down there at some point, sounds awesome. There's also three or four proper board game stores in or around the city, which is cool - there are so few in the UK - I think there's only one left in London and it's a bugger to get to.

[Andrew_J]

Cool, thanks for the clarification - I'll probably end up getting those expansions at some point.
I was in Powell's yesterday (awesome, huge bookshop here in Portland) and saw posters advertising a board game event being held there this Saturday - gonna try and sneak down there at some point, sounds awesome.

It's International Tabletop Day tomorrow (Apr 5th) and gaming stores all over the world are running events. Check out local venues here: http://www.tabletopday.com/
Also to celebrate the event DriveThruRPG are giving away $70 worth of RPG games for free this weekend. Worth a look, especially to get the World of Darkness core book for zero creds.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=128081&it=1&SRC=Newsletter_FPW_text

[TordelBack]

Also to celebrate the event DriveThruRPG are giving away $70 worth of RPG games for free this weekend. Worth a look, especially to get the World of Darkness core book for zero creds.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=128081&it=1&SRC=Newsletter_FPW_text

What a great idea!  Thanks for the info afjudge, I'm going to have loads of fun with that!

[radiator]

Was busy for most of the day but managed to pop into Powell's later on. Turns out they have an awesome selection of board games and were doing 15% off everything. Got Love Letter, Fluxx and Carcassonne: Abbey and Mayor. Now just got to pester the girlfriend into playing them with me!

[radiator]

I'm a little worried now that Ticket to Ride: Europe, though apparently more popular with seasoned gamers, might be a little complex for my friends - it looks as if it lacks the simplicity of the original game - can anyone comment?

[Dark Jimbo]

I wouldn't say so Radiator - I've played with my mum (addle-headed at the best of times, bless her) and introduced various friends to it for the first time and everyone gets to grips with it very quickly indeed - and usually asks to play it again some time soon straight afterward. The turns are incredibly quick and simple, so even if some of the more intricate aspect of gameplay confuse them initially it doesn't take them long to get their heads around. It's one of those games that sounds a bit complicated to explain, or when you read the rules for the first time, but in practice turns out to be a lot simpler than you thought.

[radiator]

Cool. It's mainly the ferries, stations and tunnels that look a bit (potentially) confusing. Is it possible to ignore them and just treat all routes as normal to keep things simple for a first game?

Ordered these bad boys the other day - I didn't realise that The River II is included as part of the Count, Robber & King expansion! Probably doubled up on a couple of things, but the mini expansions look too awesome to not get.

[Dark Jimbo]

Cool. It's mainly the ferries, stations and tunnels that look a bit (potentially) confusing. Is it possible to ignore them and just treat all routes as normal to keep things simple for a first game?

I suppose you could, aye - what I tend to do is explain the rules at the start of the game, but leave out the ferries and tunnels rules until they become relevant, i.e. when someone wants to claim one. Everyone should already have grasped the basics by that point (the basics are very easy to grasp) so it's easy for them to get their heads around these slightly different rules.

Likewise the stations - I say at the start of the game that they're a way to help if one the routes you were after gets nabbed by someone else, but I leave it at that until the point in the game that this becomes relevant to explain further. To be honest they don't tend to get used very often anyway.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I taught my 9 year old to play Talisman this week. It's great.

[Ancient Otter]

I taught my 9 year old to play Talisman this week. It's great.

That's one game I have to try out, just to say I have. Has a reputation with some gamers I know as boring.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I taught my 9 year old to play Talisman this week. It's great.

That's one game I have to try out, just to say I have. Has a reputation with some gamers I know as boring.

Not so much boring as luck based

[Andrew_J]

I taught my 9 year old to play Talisman this week. It's great.

That's one game I have to try out, just to say I have. Has a reputation with some gamers I know as boring.

You have to start the young 'uns somewhere. Kids love rolling dice so luck based games are okay by me up to a point. Something like King of Tokyo is a great follow on game as they get to roll 6 dice at once, but also start making basic tactical decisions. Plus its about monsters.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Sorry, if this has already been mentioned (As I haven't read this thread/topic at all yet...), but I have seen that there are now a few different types of The Walking Dead board games out now.....

One based on Risk and another based on Monopoly and another that seems  more interesting the one I brought sometime last year.

The original The Walking Dead doesn't seem as good as I thought it would be and I've never played it....only just opened the box to see what's in side and had a quick read of the rules.

It doesn't even mention the Dixon brothers.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Yeah, I just read the beginning post....well sorry, but you didn't mention the Risk version.

I will post up links to sites that explain these games (As I have never purchased them) apart from the first one yet myself.

I used to play Grass a lot with some old school chums I used to share a house (Closer to the city.) with. Yeah, great times we had with that game and it was easier to set up than Magic : The Gathering and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Yes, I know it's not really a board game.).

Anyway, I do recall playing those cards with Balloon on them on somebody who was holding a lot of grass or money in hand at the time.  As I do remember what you hold in your hand only counts if you played it.

Those were great gaming moments.