The Board Game Thread

[radiator]

There's not a lot to Love Letter, but it definitely helps to set to view each hand as an opportunity to win points, rather than a game to win or lose

Ha, the problem being that people are so underwhelmed and bored after two rounds it goes back in the box...

Speaking of Coup, though, just got my hands on this new deluxe edition via Kickstarter. It features the artwork from the Brazillian edition of the game, and it's a real beauty. For once the game looks as good as it plays (I don't mind the sci fi artwork of the original version, but it's definitely a turn-off for non-gamers and makes the game look far more complicated than it is)..

[Satanist]

That version of Coup would be v dangerous to play in Glasgow or

 

[Keef Monkey]

Everyone I know is sniffing at this a bit, but my copy of Into The Echoside arrived yesterday. It's a deck-building game based on the Insane Clown Posse (yeah I know, but hear me out) which I ordered half as a joke expecting it to be a bit of a throwaway laugh. Unboxed it last night and had a look through the rules and the cards and I have to say I'm really impressed. It looks like it'll be great fun, the artwork is way better than I expected and it seems like it'll play like a competitive version of Legendary Encounters with a few neat extra spins of its own.

I predict that when I finally wear them down and get them to play it we'll all have a blast.

http://www.intotheechoside.com/

[I, Cosh]

Is there a card called Fucking Magnets?!

[Theblazeuk]

How does it work?

[Keef Monkey]

Sadly no magnets card, but then if there was one they would have to be explained in the rules and that might spoil the mystery of them.

[radiator]

I've just started delving into Star Realms. It's a deckbuilding game designed to be a streamlined, self-contained take on Magic: The Gathering (or so I understand - I never played Magic).

Though I have some minor issues with it (the art and presentation is pretty naff imo) I really like it as a game. Took it camping over the weekend and it travels pretty well, and doesn't take up much table space.

[Third Estate Ned]

I bought Star Realms ages ago after all the hype about how it's an amazing 2-player game but never got a chance to play it. I'm quite slow to learn rules on my own without playing and after spending ages to set it up my wife took one look at the space battle theme said, "I don't think this will be my kind of game," so I had to put it away. I got to play it a couple of times on holiday a few weeks ago with my brother-in-law and it seemed like it would eventually be a lot of fun, what with the alliance powers and defensive outposts but we were still learning it. Don't reckon I'll get another chance to play it for a year now, though.

Instead, I can recommend a quick card game called Coloretto that is good for all the family. All you have to do is collect three sets of the same colour, which you decide at the end of the round, but any further sets of other colours you possess are deducted from your score. Played it lots this summer. I bought the German version because it was cheaper and there is no text in the game, just coloured cards. The rules are available online.

I also got out Munchkin Booty, which was still sealed, and my family took one look at it, realised what it was and said, "Oh it's that game that doesn't make any sense," before shelving it so I've still to play it.

[Ancient Otter]

Star Relams got  turned into a app game, so if you can't the a game of the card version in....

[radiator]

I bought Star Realms ages ago after all the hype about how it's an amazing 2-player game but never got a chance to play it. I'm quite slow to learn rules on my own without playing and after spending ages to set it up my wife took one look at the space battle theme said, "I don't think this will be my kind of game," so I had to put it away. I got to play it a couple of times on holiday a few weeks ago with my brother-in-law and it seemed like it would eventually be a lot of fun, what with the alliance powers and defensive outposts but we were still learning it. Don't reckon I'll get another chance to play it for a year now, though.

Ha, yeah, I owned it for a long time before I finally got around to playing it. The solution - as it was with Catan and Mr Jack Pocket among other games - was buying the app version and learning it that way. Not being at all familiar with deckbuilding games*, I learned Star Realms by playing dozens of games against the app AI, resorting to Google whenever I needed clarification on certain things (Reddit and Youtube are particularly good sources for rules clarifications and that sort of thing). In fact with Star Realms, if you buy the app you'll have access to it on all platforms - PC, Mac, iOS etc etc, though the free version allows access to the tutorial.

*The inbuilt tutorial is good, but can't help but assume a certain level of player knowledge, and doesn't always give adequate context. For example it explains how to scrap cards, but doesn't explain why you'd want to do it.

Once you've got a handle on the rules, explaining it to another player in very simple to understand terms is a cinch.

[sheridan]

Not being at all familiar with deckbuilding games*, I learned Star Realms

*The inbuilt tutorial is good, but can't help but assume a certain level of player knowledge, and doesn't always give adequate context. For example it explains how to scrap cards, but doesn't explain why you'd want to do it.

Not having played that particular game, but I'm going to guess so that you can increase the probability of getting more useful cards, depending on which phase of the game you're in?

[Third Estate Ned]

We used the free Android app and their website to clarify some rules but on the phone it's a bit small to comfortably play a full game for me. I'll have to check the Windows version but I'm still running Vista so we'll see if that works. There are various expansions for this game but as it stands the original deck is pretty massive and the whole point for me is that it's self-contained, small and cheap. Always on the lookout for games like that.

I funded the Kickstarter for Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms for that reason. They've yet to commence shipping on it, so I hope the extra portable size doesn't affect playability.

[Timothy]

Tiny Epic Kingdoms is ace. I've backed the ultra tiny version too so I can just have it in my bag at all times. Another recent Kickstarter hit has been Thief's Marlet. The family have had great fun with that on holiday.

[TordelBack]

Another happy player of Tiny Epic Kingdoms here. It really does what it says on the tin: a kingdom building game that feels epic, with real attachment to the fortunes of your side, but taking up about a square foot and less than 30 minutes. Very clever. Strangely I didn't find the Heroes' Call expansion to be as indispensable as others seem to: it definitely ups the value of warfare and increases options, but in the process loses a bit of the simplicity that makes the original so tight.

EDIT: and I've just realised I'm repeating myself from a few months back. Nothing new there, so.

[Satanist]

We played Sheriff of Nottingham at the weekend and I learned that I cannot lie. The aim of the game is to sneak contraband through without getting caught. I failed so badly. Every time I declared I was transporting 3 bread instead of my actual load of crossbows I would start sniggering uncontrollably giving the game away. Quite a fun wee game and we all had a good laugh at how terrible I was.