Official CAG board/card game topic. From Dominion to Battlestar we gots it all!

[quote name='thrustbucket']I haven't seen robo rally in stock for a while. It's a damn weird game though.

Also, I played Conan tonight. It was fun, but overly long due to checking the rule book every 5 minutes. It really wasn't hard to play but we were constantly not sure about certain things. Only played it with two, excited to play it with more.[/QUOTE]

I didnt notice the BattleLore Respose. We already bought it and several xpacks but havnt played it yet. We are hoping to get to the last few games we bought and havnt played like BattleLore this weekend maybe.
 
That's a hefty investment, to buy such an expensive game AND its XPacks before trying it out. :p

Hope you end up enjoying it. If not, sell it to me cheap! :D
 
Might as well drop in and say hi. I played the old Star Wars CCG (Decipher) and still have a ton of my cards, i've slowly been trying to complete my sets on ebay, but it's tough given the economy and the fact they're all OOP for close to 6-7 years now.
 
[quote name='infamyRISE']That's a hefty investment, to buy such an expensive game AND its XPacks before trying it out. :p

Hope you end up enjoying it. If not, sell it to me cheap! :D[/QUOTE]

Hehe ya I wish there was a place where people sold board games cheaper then I could find them online at places like BGR, T&T or Fairplaygames. I have actually been thinking of selling off some of my old games I doubt I will ever play again and just have sitting on a shelf looking pretty like Lunar/Arc the Lad just to buy board games ;)

I am probably going to place an order here soon regardless. Games I am currently thinking of grabbing if there is anything anyone wants to toss in.

Lost Cities(card game version)
Power Grid
Agricola(happy thrust? hehe)
Ticket to Ride Europe
Ticket to Ride Marklin
Dungeon Twister
Thurn and Taxis

I would really like to pick up Galaxy Trucker and RailRoad Tycoon but I am not in the mood to spend like $60-$70 on 1 game at the moment. Theres a bunch of others too though like Zooloretoo, Yinsh, Tikal, El Grande and Wealth of Nations I am still thinking about.
 
Sigh I am a bad bad man. I went ahead and placed an order.....for like $283!

I bought
El Grande - Decennial (10 year) Edition(includes the Expansion)
Lost Cities card game
Citadels - (Includes The Dark City Expansion)
Blue Moon: Legend (Basic Set)
Ticket To Ride - Europe
Dungeon Twister
Dungeon Twister: Paladins & Dragons expansion
Fairy Tale
Ticket to Ride - Märklin (Marklin) Edition $32.95 $32.95
No Thanks!
Thurn & Taxis
Agricola

Agricola and T&T were at Thrusts reco as well as the fact that they are so highly rated/regarded at BGG. Citadels and El Grande were really cheap considering they come with Xpacks and both are rated highly. Ticket to Ride Euro/Mar were because my fiancee loves the others so much and both of these were rated highly too. Dungeon Twister was because my fiancee has been really digging any game that has lots of characters to choose to play between such as Talisman. Blue Moon looked really cool as a former MTG player and a number of people said its great to play with a spouse. Lost Cities again is fairly popular and fairly cheap and is another great 2 player game. And then No Thanks and Fairy Tale were not rated so greatly but at $6 and $10 were worth a risk for a quick 2 player game and both were recommend on the dice tower.
 
[quote name='BigSpoonyBard']Magus, you have gone completely insane! :lol:[/QUOTE]

Ya and as long as my fiancee continues to keep her job I plan on placing another big order in another 2 months or so when the Dominion Xpack comes out. It took a lot of restraint not to get Power Grid, Galaxy Trucker and Railroad Tycoon today too but I just couldnt justify spending anymore especially on games that are going for like $60. I almost grabbed pitchcar too but again $80 is just an insane price for a single game(and 1 that I was mostly getting for my little brother not myself and my fiancee). I did however email fairplaygames and ask them to add the talisman xpack to my order if possible so that brings it to $300 ;( ;)

Pitchcar for those that hadnt seen it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO7qAaqtJHY
 
Wow what a purchase! Where did you buy it? Just for future reference, if you are wanting to buy a bundle of games, I can talk to the owner of BGR and get him to try and beat whatever price you find.

Agricola - I hope you like it. It's a pure raw German Economic Euro game. Sounds like it will be your first one. My only advice is you DO NOT try to play with the cards the first game. Play without the cards (Family game) for the first game. You'll understand why later. I'm worried that the theme will turn you off (As you seem to be heavily into theme for your enjoyment). I hope you like it though. Also, one big complaint people have about it often on first plays is that it feels like the game ends just when you get going. It's ok, most Euros are like that, hopefully you understand why that is.

Thurn & Taxis reminds me a lot of Ticket to Ride, I just think it's better (although I have friends who disagree).

The rest on your list, that I have played -

Lost Cities - Played the demo on Xbox Live, it's fun.

Citadels - This game is fun. However, be warned - it can be VERY confrontational. I've seem some people get really upset playing this, because you can really screw people good in this game. It is a good game to have on hand though, because it accommodates larger groups.

T&R Marklin is better than the original, imo.

I haven't played the Blue Moon card games. But I have Blue Moon city, which is a bored game based on the same "theme". It's quite fun, and I recommend it. Good wife game.

**********

Also, I finally played ShadowHunters (Which I've had for months) - and it is quite fun. It's the only game I have seen that is from Japan originally so it has some anime style art to it, kinda (reminds me more of castlevania). It's a good one for large groups as it plays up to 8 people. Each person takes a character, randomly, and keeps it secret. There are 3 factions, each with different goals - and everyone is trying to figure out who everyone is and who is on their team while they fight. It plays pretty fast, and is very light. It reminded me of Bang, only a lot more fun.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']Wow what a purchase! Where did you buy it? Just for future reference, if you are wanting to buy a bundle of games, I can talk to the owner of BGR and get him to try and beat whatever price you find.

Agricola - I hope you like it. It's a pure raw German Economic Euro game. Sounds like it will be your first one. My only advice is you DO NOT try to play with the cards the first game. Play without the cards (Family game) for the first game. You'll understand why later. I'm worried that the theme will turn you off (As you seem to be heavily into theme for your enjoyment). I hope you like it though. Also, one big complaint people have about it often on first plays is that it feels like the game ends just when you get going. It's ok, most Euros are like that, hopefully you understand why that is.

Thurn & Taxis reminds me a lot of Ticket to Ride, I just think it's better (although I have friends who disagree).

The rest on your list, that I have played -

Lost Cities - Played the demo on Xbox Live, it's fun.

Citadels - This game is fun. However, be warned - it can be VERY confrontational. I've seem some people get really upset playing this, because you can really screw people good in this game. It is a good game to have on hand though, because it accommodates larger groups.

T&R Marklin is better than the original, imo.

I haven't played the Blue Moon card games. But I have Blue Moon city, which is a bored game based on the same "theme". It's quite fun, and I recommend it. Good wife game.

**********

Also, I finally played ShadowHunters (Which I've had for months) - and it is quite fun. It's the only game I have seen that is from Japan originally so it has some anime style art to it, kinda (reminds me more of castlevania). It's a good one for large groups as it plays up to 8 people. Each person takes a character, randomly, and keeps it secret. There are 3 factions, each with different goals - and everyone is trying to figure out who everyone is and who is on their team while they fight. It plays pretty fast, and is very light. It reminded me of Bang, only a lot more fun.[/QUOTE]

I bought it at fairplaygames.com again. I created a shopping cart adding everything I was going to buy that was in stock at multiple sites like BGR, coolstuff, T&T and fairplay and again fairplaygame.com's prices came out the cheapest and they also had several things like Blue Moon in stock that were either out of stock or not even listed at BGR. I liked BGR when I made my first purchase from them, and if you talk to the guy and he can beat others prices id be happy to order from him again though.

Ill try Agricola without the cards the first time. Really though Theme isnt that important. Ya I like certain themes better then others, but a good game is a good game. For instance I freaking hate anything related to trains and love zombies yet look at the fact that Ticket to Ride is loved so much in our household while Last Night on Earth hasnt been getting touched. I think my fiancee really is the one that has a much harder time with theme. She grabbed munchkins purely based on the box art and theme of making fun of RPGers, we have yet to play Race for Galaxy and I think its partly because she hates Sci Fi so much and then finally as I said intially she wouldnt even try TtR because it was a train game ;)

And heh if Citadels is confrontation heavy I will have to break it out when her little brother comes. He loves teaming up with his sister against me and also loves stabbing her in the back when it counts the most. Funny thing is that he ends the night acting misreable after he looses and pouting like he is 5 instead of 15....yet always wants to play again the next time he comes. Its part of the reason we always end up playing risk.

I was going to get Blue Moon City after watching board gaming with scotts review. Looked like as you said a great Wife Game. But I figured I already had about $250 worth of stuff in the cart and the BM citygame was $27ish vs BM card was only like $13 or so...so grabbed the card game and if we like it Ill grab blue moon city when the Dominion Xpack comes out in a few months.

Shadow Hunters sounds pretty cool but its so rare we get 4 people together to play with let alone 6-8!

Only other thing I can say is man I was laying and reading Race for the Galaxies rule book and this game is intimidating. Battlore seems simple in comparison(atleast it introduces you to one concept at a time!). When we sit down and actually physically play it vs just reading the rules is it pretty fast to pick up or is it one of those games that you can expect to spend an ass ton of time learning?

I'm like a puppy in the window right now waiting on the UPS truck to drop of Conan...so impatient.
Click to expand...

Hehe I know that feeling all too well from waiting for different board and video games. The next few days are going to be torture since I am waiting on a giant box of candy already and now I am waiting on a giant box of board games too. I live on the third floor of my apartment complex so I can see every card that goes by/pulls up and every day the UPS/USP and Fed Ex guys all seem to have packages....so everyday I see them pull up and get all excited.
 
Race for the Galaxy is very easy to play. The only hard part about it is learning the symbols, which happens fast when you start playing.

It's a very deep game though, and full of tons of strategies. Once you start exploring card combos your head will spin.
 
I just got Dominion and while we only played half a game my wife and I love it so far and can't wait to play it again. Quick question, It probably states in the instructions but we didn't seem to find it. When you can't buy anything due to having no coin cards in play, do you get to take a 1 copper coin card from the pile?
 
[quote name='homeland']I just got Dominion and while we only played half a game my wife and I love it so far and can't wait to play it again. Quick question, It probably states in the instructions but we didn't seem to find it. When you can't buy anything due to having no coin cards in play, do you get to take a 1 copper coin card from the pile?[/QUOTE]

Since you always have a "buy" action on your turn, and coppers cost "0", yes you can. Also, if a card gives you extra buy actions, and you are out of money to use them all, you can take coppers.

However, it's going to be very hard to win with a deck full of coppers. Usually the winner in Dominion is the person that starts amassing gold first.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']Since you always have a "buy" action on your turn, and coppers cost "0", yes you can. Also, if a card gives you extra buy actions, and you are out of money to use them all, you can take coppers.

However, it's going to be very hard to win with a deck full of coppers. Usually the winner in Dominion is the person that starts amassing gold first.[/QUOTE]

Ya I almost never take coppers even when I play a card that gives you one such as a market. I dont know if by the rules that's allowed but that's the way we play. If you play a card like a market that gives you a coin you can use that coin immediately that turn then choose to put it back in the pile or in your discard pile. I am sure that that isnt how your supposed to play but we enjoy playing this way for the extra strategy. My fiancee and little brother tend to always put the copper in their hands and then buy lots of gold coins throughout the game where I buy more action cards. So their turns largly are playing a hand full of coins and maybe an action card where my turns are longer playing something like Village, Village, Village, Market, Festival, Militia. After the first game or so that we played I dont think I was ever really taking copper.

Dominion really is a game about learning what type of cards fit your play style best. Again every game I buy like 90% of the village cards where my fiancee hardly touches them and the reverse is true of the thief.

Thrust thanks for posting the Race for the galaxy tut.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']
This tells you all you need to know. He goes kind of fast, so you may want to pause it occasionally.

It's really easy. Especially if you've ever played Puerto Rico or San Juan. It's very similar.[/QUOTE]

The funny thing is, I've watched that already. Its just going to take some time to process all of that shit. I also sat down with the Conan rulebook last night. The initial reading was another brain slayer for me.
 
Soooooo ya we just tried Race for the Galaxy and we are sooooo lost. Even watching the tutorial and trying to play using it and like infamy said I am just lost. This game has so many freaking rules and symbols and its just like overload from minute one. Its not like there are set phases you follow and only a few cards....there are several phases with dozen of things you can do each having their own effects and uggg.....

I can see and Amanda can see where this would probably be an awesome game.....but its just so freaking difficult to learn and the tutorial and rule book make me understand 70% of it....but leaving 30% not understood in a game with this much depth just renders it unplayable!
 
Played Power Grid last night. Game is fun, but the rules took awhile to go through since no one played before. We only played a short game since it was two hours since we started by the time we ended. I wouldn't mind playing again soon now that we know how the game goes.

My friend also mentioned he got Last Night on Earth this week. I'm also looking forward to that as well after reading some posts in this thread here.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Soooooo ya we just tried Race for the Galaxy and we are sooooo lost. Even watching the tutorial and trying to play using it and like infamy said I am just lost. This game has so many freaking rules and symbols and its just like overload from minute one. Its not like there are set phases you follow and only a few cards....there are several phases with dozen of things you can do each having their own effects and uggg.....

I can see and Amanda can see where this would probably be an awesome game.....but its just so freaking difficult to learn and the tutorial and rule book make me understand 70% of it....but leaving 30% not understood in a game with this much depth just renders it unplayable![/QUOTE]

Hmm. That's too bad. I really didn't think it was that hard. I taught my parents to play it in 15 minutes. I'm wondering if it was easier for us since we had played puerto rico, which RFtG borrows heavily from (each person selects a role, then each person performs that role).

Really the game is just:

  1. Each person selects a phase they want to do.
  2. Everyone performs the phases everyone chose, in order.
  3. While doing each phase, scan all the cards out on the table to see if any of them do anything for that phase (Which is very easy to do the way th cards are written).
80% of the cards have similar symbols that are very self explanatory. But there are some that you might need to refer to the rules for when you see for the first time.
That's really it in a nutshell. Hopefully you try it again some time and aren't so frustrated.
 
We played a 3 player game tonight.

It's really fun. I wish there was a little more player interaction, though. Anyone know if either of the expansions does/will add some options for effecting others' tableau?

The 6-cost variable world still blow my mind, but I think I have it down for the most part.
 
[quote name='Over easy']Played Power Grid last night. Game is fun, but the rules took awhile to go through since no one played before. We only played a short game since it was two hours since we started by the time we ended. I wouldn't mind playing again soon now that we know how the game goes.

My friend also mentioned he got Last Night on Earth this week. I'm also looking forward to that as well after reading some posts in this thread here.[/QUOTE]

Did you read some of the later posts though? A lot of us had great initial impressions but didn't like the game as much as time went on.

Hmm. That's too bad. I really didn't think it was that hard. I taught my parents to play it in 15 minutes. I'm wondering if it was easier for us since we had played puerto rico, which RFtG borrows heavily from (each person selects a role, then each person performs that role).

Really the game is just:

1. Each person selects a phase they want to do.
2. Everyone performs the phases everyone chose, in order.
3. While doing each phase, scan all the cards out on the table to see if any of them do anything for that phase (Which is very easy to do the way th cards are written).

80% of the cards have similar symbols that are very self explanatory. But there are some that you might need to refer to the rules for when you see for the first time.
That's really it in a nutshell. Hopefully you try it again some time and aren't so frustrated.
Click to expand...

I think its all the freaking symbols and rules that relate. The base rules are as you said 1 2 and 3 but the problem is on steps 2/3 knowing what all the freaking symbols do. I figured ok we will just use the extra card that came with the game but then right off the freaking bat one of the first things my fiancee did was a card thats symbol said it only effected goods.....so we then spent several minutes rewatching the tutorial and reading through the manual trying to find out WTF exactly a goods card looked like. The game just has soooo many freaking symbols, sub symbols and other crap you have to figure out.

Edit - BTW I am not opposed to trying to learn RTG. I probally would have kept trying last night but my fiancee kind of just said done! She said she doesnt want to give up on the game but suggested going to the comic shop on board game night and getting someone to teach us(something I doubt will ever happen though since she hates going there).
 
[quote name='infamyRISE']We played a 3 player game tonight.

It's really fun. I wish there was a little more player interaction, though. Anyone know if either of the expansions does/will add some options for effecting others' tableau?

The 6-cost variable world still blow my mind, but I think I have it down for the most part.[/QUOTE]
I don't have the first expansion but I hear it does add some interaction, and the second expansion about to come out adds even more, I hear.

[quote name='MSI Magus']

so we then spent several minutes rewatching the tutorial and reading through the manual trying to find out WTF exactly a goods card looked like. The game just has soooo many freaking symbols, sub symbols and other crap you have to figure out.
[/QUOTE]

In case you never found the answer to that, goods cards are just drawn cards you put face down on top of planets that produce goods.

For example: Someone plays phase 5, you would draw, and place, a single card, face down, on top of each of your non-windfall (solid color) planets in your tableau (should place them slightly offset so you can still see it's symbols on the planet cards). Those are the planets goods, of which you can spend (discard) to activate phase 4 powers during phase 4.

The cards themselves serve 3 separate purposes in the game: What the card itself says, money (when you are discarding to pay for planets and technology), and goods (face down cards on top of planets, simply used as markers, that's why you keep them face down).
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I don't have the first expansion but I hear it does add some interaction, and the second expansion about to come out adds even more, I hear.



In case you never found the answer to that, goods cards are just drawn cards you put face down on top of planets that produce goods.

For example: Someone plays phase 5, you would draw, and place, a single card, face down, on top of each of your non-windfall (solid color) planets in your tableau (should place them slightly offset so you can still see it's symbols on the planet cards). Those are the planets goods, of which you can spend (discard) to activate phase 4 powers during phase 4.

The cards themselves serve 3 separate purposes in the game: What the card itself says, money (when you are discarding to pay for planets and technology), and goods (face down cards on top of planets, simply used as markers, that's why you keep them face down).[/QUOTE]

Thanks!

We did some gaming over the weekend and I think I have some pretty final impressions of games.

Munchkins - Fiancee really likes this one but I really dont care for it very much. Early in the game you might draw a number of monsters so far above your level you get slaughtered but as time goes on and you get a few weapons and levels I find I kill most monsters without even having to fight most of the time. Again I think with some tweeks it might be a decent game but going by the basic rules its extremely easy.

Zombie Fluxx - LOVE IT. Both of us love it. Its not in our top 2 or 3 but its deffintly still up there. Its so easy to pick up and play a hand with or without the Zombies. The rules were so easy to get down and the game is so much fun. Funny story on this I forgot to tell, we were playing the other week with my little brother and I played a card after a long like 30 minute game. I then told my fiancee it was her turn. About halfway through her turn my 10 year old brother says "You realize you won right Ryan". Looking down sure enough I had met winning conditions and not even realized it. Again everyone seems to love this game.

Guillotine - While not as popular as Fluxx everyone loves it. It offers a fair mix of strategy and luck without going to far either way. We have played it probably around 10 times and enjoyed each game. Easy to get the rule and to explain it to others and great to have as a pick up and play quick game. While most games of Fluxx are over fast you never know if one will stretch out, this game is always over quick.

My board games I ordered Thursday are due to be delivered today via UPS so I am sure this weekend we will have some impressions of games like Pandemic, Agricola, No Thanks and Blue Moon.
 
MSI, or anyone, ever played or heard of Bohnanza? It's a bean farming game. Very fun. Very very fun super easy game.

Anyway, for those that don't have the classic game that is number 2 on BGG, Puerto Rico, it's on sale at Amazon for $30 shipped. This was the game that introduced me to euro gaming, it holds a special place in my heart and still play it a lot.

Linky.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']MSI, or anyone, ever played or heard of Bohnanza? It's a bean farming game. Very fun. Very very fun super easy game.

Anyway, for those that don't have the classic game that is number 2 on BGG, Puerto Rico, it's on sale at Amazon for $30 shipped. This was the game that introduced me to euro gaming, it holds a special place in my heart and still play it a lot.

Linky.[/QUOTE]

I havnt heard of Bonanza I will look into it. Is Puerto Rico hard to learn? I know its way up on the list but you said its a lot like Race for the Galaxy earlier.

On a side note I got my board games already. Really impressive that they ship for free and I placed the order on Friday and got in Monday afternoon! A lot of these games like Blue Moon, Citadel and Thurn and Taxis look really fun and like they should be easy to learn the rules to really fast.
 
First, thanks to the person who recommended Mr. Jack. It's a blast and we play it almost every night. Has anyone played with the extension? Does it really improve on the original? How is the balance with the new characters?

Second, I want to give another hearty recommendation for Battlestar Galactica. Just finished a three-player game, and it is incredibly fun when everyone is getting into it. I was non-Cylon Baltar and I used my once-per-game ability to peek at another player's loyalty cards after the pre-sleeper phase, letting me know exactly who the Cylon was. Unfortunately, the other human player didn't know who to trust, so she let Cylon Bill Adama and me rot in the Brig. He ended up getting himself out, revealing, and almost destroying us. I never made it out of the Brig, but we were somehow able to make the last jump to Kobol in the middle of a massive Cylon assault. All of our resources were at 4 or less, and it was the closest game I have seen so far.

Seriously, if you have a good group of people to play with (three or more, although the official two-player variant is decent with a rule modification or two), this game is incredibly fun. The seeds of mistrust carry over from game to game, and the constant paranoia is great. Can anyone recommend any other quasi-co-op games like this?
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']I havnt heard of Bonanza I will look into it. Is Puerto Rico hard to learn? I know its way up on the list but you said its a lot like Race for the Galaxy earlier.
[/QUOTE]
Puerto Rico is considered a medium weight game. It's a board game, not a card game, but it uses similar mechanics to Race for the Galaxy. My guess is you would have an easier time with it since there are no symbols to deal with -- it seems like that was the big stumbling block for you with RFtG. It does have somewhat similar mechanics though (everyone chooses a role, then everyone performs that action).

[quote name='IvanHood']
Seriously, if you have a good group of people to play with (three or more, although the official two-player variant is decent with a rule modification or two), this game is incredibly fun. The seeds of mistrust carry over from game to game, and the constant paranoia is great. Can anyone recommend any other quasi-co-op games like this?[/QUOTE]

Many people say BSG is an evolution of Shadows over Camelot. I have not played Camelot, but it has a similar Co-op/traitor mechanic.
 
Battlestar might still be my favorite, after all the other stuff I've played. 5 and 6 player games are soooo good.


Not sure HOW similar of a game you're looking for, but Shadow over Camelot is the only other one I know of off the top of my head with a true traitor mechanic. That being said, the general consensus is its unnecessary after BSG I think.

Other than that, there are a few with the secret identity thing going on, like Scotland Yard.
 
[quote name='IvanHood']First, thanks to the person who recommended Mr. Jack. It's a blast and we play it almost every night. Has anyone played with the extension? Does it really improve on the original? How is the balance with the new characters?

Second, I want to give another hearty recommendation for Battlestar Galactica. Just finished a three-player game, and it is incredibly fun when everyone is getting into it. I was non-Cylon Baltar and I used my once-per-game ability to peek at another player's loyalty cards after the pre-sleeper phase, letting me know exactly who the Cylon was. Unfortunately, the other human player didn't know who to trust, so she let Cylon Bill Adama and me rot in the Brig. He ended up getting himself out, revealing, and almost destroying us. I never made it out of the Brig, but we were somehow able to make the last jump to Kobol in the middle of a massive Cylon assault. All of our resources were at 4 or less, and it was the closest game I have seen so far.

Seriously, if you have a good group of people to play with (three or more, although the official two-player variant is decent with a rule modification or two), this game is incredibly fun. The seeds of mistrust carry over from game to game, and the constant paranoia is great. Can anyone recommend any other quasi-co-op games like this?[/QUOTE]

Heh glad you liked Mr Jack. As for the extension we haven't played it yet. However I am not sure if I would recommend it even if I had. The cheapest I have found it for is $18 and given that all it does is add 5 new characters to play as I kind of think that's a rip off. I also don't like the new characters abilities nearly as much and 1 of them was out right confusing. 1 of them can jump over large spaces instead of moving(this is the character I was confused on how to use). Then there is a guy who can create barricades that no character can move through anywhere on the board, a noble woman who can move 6 spaces on a turn but not use the sewers, a butcher that scares people into running 3 spaces away from him and a detective who makes it so anyone near him can only move 1 space. If 5 charcters sounds like enough for you or these abilities sound cool then buy it....if not then save yourself the $18-$25.

As thrust said Shadows of Camelot is probably the closest you will find to BSG. I haven't played it but seen people time and time again say the 2 are similar because of the co op with the possibility of a traitor gameplay. There is also Pandemic which is a co op game with no traitor if that interests you.
 
Anyone heard of/played Fury of Dracula? I was opening up boxes for my new games last night and came across an advertisement for it. Figured it would suck but after looking it up on boardgamegeeks.com it has a solid 7 and after watching board games with scotts review on it he gave it a solid B and made it look/sound pretty fun.
http://ia310106.us.archive.org/0/items/bgws_016/bgws_016hq.mov

It also seems like it might fit the whole co op but against each other thing. 1 person plays as Dracula and moves around the board secretly. The other players try to find and kill him.

Edit - Just bit on Puerto Rico at amazon.......all I can say is that when my fiancee attempts to kill me for buying another board game I am going to point her in your direction Thrust!
 
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Cool, thanks for the responses everyone. I will look into SoC, Pandemic, and Fury of Dracula, but I think I'll probably just stick with BSG for now.
 
So I just read through the Rule Book of Citadels and I have a feeling I am going to LOVE this game and that it will give Dominon a run for its money. But I have a question for anyone thats played it before.

Ok so I get how each person selects a character at the beginning of the game, but what I dont get is do you switch characters every round? Meaning if we are playing a 2 player game and 1 person ends up as the Thief and Warlord and the other the Spy and Bishop does that mean the whole game those are the characters we play as? Or do every round we go through the character selection process so we end up switching characters every round?
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Anyone heard of/played Fury of Dracula? I was opening up boxes for my new games last night and came across an advertisement for it. Figured it would suck but after looking it up on boardgamegeeks.com it has a solid 7 and after watching board games with scotts review on it he gave it a solid B and made it look/sound pretty fun.
http://ia310106.us.archive.org/0/items/bgws_016/bgws_016hq.mov

It also seems like it might fit the whole co op but against each other thing. 1 person plays as Dracula and moves around the board secretly. The other players try to find and kill him.

Edit - Just bit on Puerto Rico at amazon.......all I can say is that when my fiancee attempts to kill me for buying another board game I am going to point her in your direction Thrust![/QUOTE]

That's ok. I'll tell her you need more games to stay alive, and I understand.

There was a lot of buzz about Fury of Dracula when it came out but I haven't heard since. I know it's co-op, but that's about it.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']So I just read through the Rule Book of Citadels and I have a feeling I am going to LOVE this game and that it will give Dominon a run for its money. But I have a question for anyone thats played it before.

Ok so I get how each person selects a character at the beginning of the game, but what I dont get is do you switch characters every round? Meaning if we are playing a 2 player game and 1 person ends up as the Thief and Warlord and the other the Spy and Bishop does that mean the whole game those are the characters we play as? Or do every round we go through the character selection process so we end up switching characters every round?[/QUOTE]

Role selection happens each round. Kind of like Race for the Galaxy again (and Puerto Rico).
 
So last night we broke out Blue Moon and Citadels. Both were fun games for both of us but I think both will go as middle of the road games like Fluxx/Zombie Fluxx and Guillotine not as top of the line games such as TtR, Mr Jack and Dominion.

Basic concept of Blue Moon is that each player plays a race of people who want the 3 dragons on the center of the board. The game comes with 2 decks each of which represent a race of people and then you can buy additional decks representing different races of people for $7-$10. The Dragons are earned through combat(though there are a select few cards that can help you obtain Dragons), anytime you win a combat by forcing a player to retreat you take a Dragon. Combat is essentially handled like this. Each card has 2 values, an Earth Value and a Fire Value. Whoever gets to go first declares if they are attacking with fire or Earth then plays their card. The next player then must atleast tie the point value of that element in order to defend and not let the other player capture a dragon. If he ties or beats you you must then tie or beat his number and so on and so on until eventually someone is forced to retreat and thus a dragon is won. Pretty simple concept and pretty simple game but there are things to keep the game stratagical such as booster/support cards that add to your attack or give effects that hurt your opponet(like denying them the ability to play booster cards)and Leadership cards which give similar effects but are usually better(draw an extra 5 cards or discard cards worth 8 points to instantly obtain a dragon).

We both liked the game and it goes pretty fast so you can play it a lot. Only 2 complaints with the game. First the rules didnt make a few things clear which meant some confusion and resulted in us creating our own rules. Second though is that the game is supposed to be over whenever you draw your last card. Considering the deck is only like 31 cards that happens pretty fast which is ultra annoying. I actually lost a game last night because of it which really pissed me off. I had a Dragon and my fiancee had none, I had hit her with a Leadership or support card that made it so she couldn't draw any cards limiting her to what was in her hand. I had set up good support cards and the game was in my element. But I had drawn my last card 2 rounds ago so I was down to my last 4 cards only 1 of which was an attack. So the game essentially ended because I couldn't pull any more fucking cards. To make things more annoying there is a rule(which I think is a decent one)that you get 2 dragons if you play 6 or more cards in combat. So even though I had probably played the better game she won because of me not being able to play cards and pulling 2 dragons.

Citadels I will leave impressions/an overview of if anyone wants one. But I know many of you have already played it so I am not going to bother unless asked. Given that Citadels is $18 at fairplay including its expansion and that Blue Moon is again $18 I would recommend either for the price. Only other thing to add is that we will probably leave impressions of Dungeon Twister and Agricola this weekend. Fiancee asked me to read the rules to both so we could play this weekend.
 
1960 is creeping up my want list rather fast...


RftG update: We're finding it hard to beat a good rare goods cycle. There's just so many cards that work together.

The ironic thing is I see so many threads over at BGG.com that say Alpha Centauri is the worst starting planet....yet the last 3 games have all been won by the player with said planet (different player each time).

/mindboggle.
 
Only new thing I have to add is that we played no thanks which supringly made it pretty far up my list of fav games. I figured it would be an ok game but said eh its a card game based on numbers and only cost $5 cant be that good....but I loved it. We played like 4 rounds and the whole thing lasted maybe 20-25 minutes. Each game plays out very fast yet very fluid and it has tons of those moments that make board/card games great where you are staring at another player trying to figure out what they are going to do or what they want you to do while they sit there smiling/laughing at you.

Basic overview of the game(which will probally mean you understand how to play the whole game.

The deck contains cards with the numbers 3-34 on them. 9 cards are taken out of the deck then the rest shuffled and 11 red chips passed out to each player. The top card of the deck is flipped over and its number revealed. At that point you go around the table and if the first player wants the card he takes it, if not you put a chip on it, the next player does the same and so on and so on till eventually someone takes the card and every chip thats been put on it. This continues till every card has been dealt out at which point you calculate up points. The object of the game is to have as few points in your hand as possible. So drawing a 34 would be really bad while a 7 isnt a big deal. You also get to subtract a point for every red chip you still have at the end of the game and runs of numbers dont give you points(for instance if you have 17 and 18 you only take points for 17 and if you have 7,8,9,10 you only have to take the points for 7).

So the whole point of the game is trying to get as few points in your hand as possible while keeping as many red chips to both subtract points at end game but also to not be forced to pull that big 34 and also to build runs of numbers when you get stuck WITH those big numbers.

Like I said I had a blast with the game because it created so many of those moments where your trying to figure out the other players. For instance there is a 22 on the table, not an extreamly high number but not one that you want particullary. Your almost out of chips though so taking it when it gets some chips on it would be extreamly helpfull. There are currently 5 chips on it....so you find yourself staring at that other player trying to see on his face if he is going to take it...or if you can pass it around the table 1 more time to get an additional 2 chips. Really freaking fun.
 
Ok so I picked up Chicago Express and Imperial. My friend bought Witch's Brew.

Played Chicago Express. But haven't played Imperial yet.

Chicago Express was quite fun, but too early to tell how it would go in my rankings, especially only playing a 2 player game. As a train game I certainly liked it a lot more than TTr. Basically there are five railroad companies in the game. Players are investors. There are auctions where shares for the company's are sold. Players can also expand the railroad companies in various ways, but have to use only the money has from selling shares in auctions to do so - which in turn pays dividends for any player with shares in that company.

I liked it a lot. Need to play it more.

Witches Brew I was not excited at all about playing but my friend bought it because he played it with the designer in Finland. I was surprised that it was actually pretty fun. A very simple bluffing card game with some neat artwork and chits. Boardgames with Scott has a very quick review on BGG if you want to see it. Basically everyone has 12 identical cards. They have a primary and secondary (not as powerful) action. Everyone picks 5 cards to play with that round. Then the starting player puts a card down. If the next player has that same card in his hand he has to put it down and declare the primary or secondary power. If he declares the primary power, and the next player puts down the same card, he gets nothing, and so on.

I would like to buy Witches brew as it is fast and easy to teach and play.


We also played Agricola a few times, which was fun, but it sucks that nearly every time we play there is someone new so we don't play with the minor improvements and occupation cards.
 
[quote name='infamyRISE']Any progress on that Battlelore, Magus? I'm looking forward to buying it from you when you hate it! :)[/QUOTE]

Wish there was but no. We have had so many other games that haver caught Amandas eye over it but more importantly have had a crazy couple weeks. She has been flooded with school work and her Grandma is in the hospital so we havnt had the time to invest into a game thats so long/has so much depth. Doubt we will get to it this weekend either since my little brother is spending the weekend with us.

Sorry bro ;(
 
We need some more posts in here, damnit! Surely some of you have played something this past week.

I am hoping to play Imperial, Brass, or something today. I'll report if I do.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']We need some more posts in here, damnit! Surely some of you have played something this past week.

I am hoping to play Imperial, Brass, or something today. I'll report if I do.[/QUOTE]

/shrug I was posting and no one was responding or adding much, figured peoples interest was dimming. My little brother is over right now and we are getting ready to play some L4D but after that later tonight I should have some multi player impressions on games. I also meet a guy locally to sell a few board games to and ended up talking with him for quite awhile. Then I had dinner with my fiancee and him and has wife where we all really got along...so again should in a week or two have A LOT of multi impressions.
 
I picked up Bohnanza yesterday. Gonna try to get my play on here in a bit.

Might do another game of RftG, or possibly Age of Conan.

Placing another order in a few days. Gonna pick up the Race expansion, 1960, Puerto Rico...and...something else...gotta get to that free shipping.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']We need some more posts in here, damnit! Surely some of you have played something this past week.

I am hoping to play Imperial, Brass, or something today. I'll report if I do.[/QUOTE]

Played Sequence for the last couple of weeks. Sometimes, the classics and the simple games are still the best. We couldn't playing anything long (Power Grid, BSG, etc.) because of time constraints.

I couldn't talk about anything new since I didn't get any new games. Buying boardgames creates such a big hole in my wallet. Maybe I'll play something tomorrow or next week.
 
Bohnanza gets the thumbs up from me, the girlfriend, and my roommate.

Also seems like it would get better as you add players! Can't wait to try that.
 
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