Good Board Games?

I like the GC update for Carcassonne. Pretty nice. It actually got me to play a Quick Play game, just because I wanted those achievements. :) I was pleased to see, though, that after I completed one game (I lost) it filled in all the achievements I'd actually already completed. Well, at least the ones like win 10 quick play games and such. It didn't fill in the ones about winning versus AI, but those may fill in when I complete a game on my iPhone since I'd played on there vs. AI a long time ago. I'm definitely looking forward to the expansions. Also I really wish they'd add the ability to play quick play games versus more then just one opponent. That's why I never play Quick Play. Carcassonne just isn't as fun with only 2 players.
 
Sweeeet! I was glad to see achievements added(really annoys me that most of the board games dont have them)but dissapointed it did not seem to be retroactive. Nice to see after I finish a game that I should get many of the ones iv already done.
 
Yeah, and the achievements are genuine challenges, like getting your ELO up above a certain level. That means having to win against higher ranked opponents - i.e. getting better at the game. Not something trivial like "place 50 followers" or anything stupid like that and that you often see in other games (or read the credits!) As with everything the CarcassoneApp folks do, it's well done. Well, except for it not syncing your achievements right off the bat. :)

Well, it updated for me, at least for, for example, having won 10 quick play matches. I only played one yesterday and I lost it, and yet it credited me with that achievement. It might be the case that only the oniine achievements it really has a record of. Indeed, now that I think about it, it probably doesn't have a record of whether or not you beat Frank, for example. The game was made before GC existed, so I'll cut them some slack there.
 
Well I have played dozens of quick play matches, beat every A.I opponet and played the tutorials...yet I did not get any of those achievements nor any others. Ah well. I play the shit out of this game anyways so I can just re earn them......
 
Yeah, the only one that has me balking is playing the tutorial. :) But I'll do it. I'd love to some day 100% this game. It's so good.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Yeah, the only one that has me balking is playing the tutorial. :) But I'll do it. I'd love to some day 100% this game. It's so good.[/QUOTE]

I will most likely end up 100% since I love it. However it really does annoy me that I bet I would have had 90% of them done already if it would have retro given them to me as it did you. Ah well iv already this mourning played through 4 or 5 games and got a lot of them ;)

Now to hope/dream that they add achievements to Small World since thats my fav.
 
So Small World is worth buying? I was bummed to see that it only supports 2 player games (unlike the real game, as I understand it). Still fun with 2 players? I've actually never played the game in any form, so I wouldn't know.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']So Small World is worth buying? I was bummed to see that it only supports 2 player games (unlike the real game, as I understand it). Still fun with 2 players? I've actually never played the game in any form, so I wouldn't know.[/QUOTE]

Well me and my wife own the physical game and it was always one of our favs. We rarely played with more then 2 people anyways and always REALLY enjoyed it. We love it because the ability to constantly change races combined with all their different abilities means a lot of strategy and a lot of randomization to keep things fresh. Do you grab a race that can dominate the board and then flip them fast and accept your going to get wiped for a turn, or do you grab a defensive race with a slow build up? Maybe a race that is good at neither like the Dwarves come up, but people have chosen not to take them for several turns leading to a pile of coins on top of them. Do you then play that crappy race for as long as possible or do you flip them after one turn for a quick profit but a weakened state on the board?

The game really does play out fairly different every time. Yet limiting things to 10 turns and the fact that it plays out in 10-30 mins makes it an amazing choice for someone that wants a war/stratagy game but not a 1-10 hour time investment with a million difficult rules.

Best referral I can give it is to say that in the 3 months we have had an Ipad I have probably played the game around 200 times. I have it down to where I can finish a game in 10 mins or so now so I often play 2 or 3 rounds a night. It and Carc are two of the only games that have lasted this long with that heavy of play.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']So Small World is worth buying? I was bummed to see that it only supports 2 player games (unlike the real game, as I understand it). Still fun with 2 players? I've actually never played the game in any form, so I wouldn't know.[/QUOTE]

I have the same recommendations. It's fun, but I've played the original an awful lot, and it's really disappointing that they can't support more than 2 players. Everything else about the game is really well done.

If you haven't played the actual board game, you should probably start there. The tutorial in the iOS version isn't going to do much for you.
 
I think there's a glitch in Ticket to Ride. I finally got to playing online yesterday and overall it was great, but either there's a rule I didn't understand to be the case, or there's a bug. At one point my turn came up and there was no deck to draw from! My only choice was to claim a route or take face-up cards. Anyone else run into this? I really don't think that when the deck runs out anyone is supposed to end up with no deck to draw from. Or are they?

I'm 1 for 2 so far. First game was 1910 Mega Game, which I came in 3rd of 4 people, then the second game was 1910 Big Cities (fun variant!) which I won vs. 5 people, though one person dropped out mid-game and was replaced by a bot.

Oh, and the chat system is overly cute and not so functional. I wish they'd drop the speech bubbles and instead give us a normal chat system in-game. Also, it doesn't seem to be possible to chat after the game ends. The scoring window overlays the main window and you can't tap anything under it. The only thing you can do is tap to quit out of the game. I hope they change that. You can go back to the main window and see the stream of everybody from all games chatting, but that's not so useful.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I think there's a glitch in Ticket to Ride. I finally got to playing online yesterday and overall it was great, but either there's a rule I didn't understand to be the case, or there's a bug. At one point my turn came up and there was no deck to draw from! My only choice was to claim a route or take face-up cards. Anyone else run into this? I really don't think that when the deck runs out anyone is supposed to end up with no deck to draw from. Or are they?
[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure on all of the variants, but in the basic game the deck is meant to reshuffle. The only reason it wouldn't is if all of the train cards were in people's hands, but you'd really have to be playing with a group of hoarders for that to happen!
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']I'm not sure on all of the variants, but in the basic game the deck is meant to reshuffle. The only reason it wouldn't is if all of the train cards were in people's hands, but you'd really have to be playing with a group of hoarders for that to happen![/QUOTE]

Yeah, it's a bug. There's nothing in the game rules that says there should ever be a delay in the deck being available. You're supposed to reshuffle when it runs out.

Another thing that's weird in TTR, but it doesn't appear to be a bug, is that when you create a game in the lobby, you can't choose the number of players. If you create the game from the main screen's play game (tapping the ticket), and choose to create an online game, there you can choose the number of players.

Also, when you are waiting for a game to start there's no way to see peoples karma, which is pretty annoying. When you are in the lobby you can tap on someone's name and see there karma, but not in the game waiting room, at least not as far as I can tell. In the lobby I see people with low karmas, even 0. That means they are quitters - they quit out of games all the time, probably when they are losing. It would be nice if the game let you, if you created the game, kick people out, though obviously that's only of use if you could see their karma.

Also, something I'm wondering about. If you are logged in with a Days of Wonder account, can you still see that GC friends have come online and play games with them? Can GC people see games that were created by DoW account users? Also, and again, I'm wondering if people here are using GC or DoW. I've been using DoW, but I switched to GC last night and checked, and there seemed to be a lot of people and games going on when logged in with GC. Maybe even more then I saw when logged in as DoW, but I'm not sure.
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer was just added for the iPad, and it's great! Up to 4 players, and it's a deckbuilding game.[/QUOTE]

A $5 card game with game center support! Sold!
 
Do you mean it's a Dominion type of game? If so, count me interested. Will look into it. EDIT: it's a universal app, so also for iPhone/iPod touch. Alas, I think this is more like Magic, right? Not terribly interested in that. I'd love to see an implementation of Dominion or another similar card game (I hear 7 Wonders is good, but I've never played that). Or is it? Well, I'm intrigued, but I wish there was a free demo.
 
i just found out that Set is available on iOS. It's a fun card/logic game. It's 2.99 though, I added to my app shopper list to wait for a drop.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']i just found out that Set is available on iOS. It's a fun card/logic game. It's 2.99 though, I added to my app shopper list to wait for a drop.[/QUOTE]

Let us know if it does. Also you need to change your signature. I am tired of getting erections every time you post ;)
 
There seem to be two versions of Set, by different developers. One is for the iPhone and is developed by another developer for Set Enterprises and the other is for iPad and is actually developed by Set Enterprises! Weird. The iPad version is $7.99. I added it to my appshopper wish list. Here they both are:

iPad (developed by Set Enterprises):
http://appshopper.com/games/set-pro-hd

iPhone (developed by Pockent, llc):
http://appshopper.com/games/set
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Do you mean it's a Dominion type of game? If so, count me interested. Will look into it. EDIT: it's a universal app, so also for iPhone/iPod touch. Alas, I think this is more like Magic, right? Not terribly interested in that. I'd love to see an implementation of Dominion or another similar card game (I hear 7 Wonders is good, but I've never played that). Or is it? Well, I'm intrigued, but I wish there was a free demo.[/QUOTE]

If you've played Dominion, you'll feel right at home with Ascension. Very similar, but they've added monsters into the mix. Pretty fun!
 
I will keep it on my appshopper wish list and if there's a price drop, I'm in. If they'd put out a lite version so I could try it, then I'd be happy to pay full price for it if I like it. I'm just not clear on how the game works or if I'll like it.

Incidentally, Catan HD got an update. Probably the iPhone version too, but I'm not sure:

- Enhanced graphics and menus offer a more detailed view of the game
- New user interface with info ticker line: Keep track of your fellow players’ actions while still keeping an eye on the game board
- 3 different graphic sets to choose from: Play with the classic set or select the original graphics from the US or German board game editions
- Game Center Achievements: Prove if you’re an expert Catan player and go for the numerous achievements that have been added: Can you manage to settle every island in a Seafarers scenario or win a game without building any city?
- Various smaller tweaks and optimizations
Click to expand...


I've had it for a while but haven't really had a chance/found the time to play it. Maybe now's the time. I like that they added GC achievements!
 
Catan is def not one of my fav games(its one of those games that it feels like the PC cheats)but if they are adding achievements I am def excited!
 
I can not stop playing Ascension! I learned how to play it last night(only took a 3-5 min tutorial which I understood before it was even over). After finishing the tutorial I probally played it for about 3-4 hours in a row. Hell I even licked it so much I went to coolstuffinc.com where I have an order for the new Summoner Wars expansions on file and had them add Ascension and its Xpack so I own the physical version of the game for my wife, me and friends to play! Ill have to see how it holds up long term, but at the moment I am wondering if it will give Small world a run for my fav board game. Even if it does not take that spot I gurantee it goes with Small World, Carc, Magic, Tzaar and a few others as a top tier game at my house.

Cant recommend it enough.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']I can not stop playing Ascension! I learned how to play it last night(only took a 3-5 min tutorial which I understood before it was even over). After finishing the tutorial I probally played it for about 3-4 hours in a row. Hell I even licked it so much I went to coolstuffinc.com where I have an order for the new Summoner Wars expansions on file and had them add Ascension and its Xpack so I own the physical version of the game for my wife, me and friends to play! Ill have to see how it holds up long term, but at the moment I am wondering if it will give Small world a run for my fav board game. Even if it does not take that spot I gurantee it goes with Small World, Carc, Magic, Tzaar and a few others as a top tier game at my house.

Cant recommend it enough.[/QUOTE]

I have to say, I like the digital version more than the physical one. The concept of deckbuilding is great, but there's a ton of shuffling that I don't miss at all when I'm playing the digital version. :)
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']I have to say, I like the digital version more than the physical one. The concept of deckbuilding is great, but there's a ton of shuffling that I don't miss at all when I'm playing the digital version. :)[/QUOTE]

Other then the shuffling do you have any complaints with it?
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Other then the shuffling do you have any complaints with it?[/QUOTE]

Not particularly. I hope to see a bit more variety from future deckbuilding games. Dominion, Ascension, and the Resident Evil one are all extremely similar, but otherwise they're all fun.
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']Not particularly. I hope to see a bit more variety from future deckbuilding games. Dominion, Ascension, and the Resident Evil one are all extremely similar, but otherwise they're all fun.[/QUOTE]

See I liked Ascension because of the variety. I feel like with Dominion people build the same few decks over and over. People have a style in that game and what is put on the table determines how they play. Where as with Ascension since there are dozens of different cards that will be dealt throughout the whole game each and every time that you cant follow the exact strategy time and time again. When we first got Dominion we thought it was amazing...then after about 2 months we realized we were doing the same things over and over.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I'm thinking of buying 7 Wonders (no, not an iOS app as far as I know). Has anyone played that?[/QUOTE]

Yep. It's very fun with a larger group (up to 7 can play). Not as fun with a small group, because players interact with neighboring players. A full game usually takes less than 1/2 hour, so it's fast enough to play several games back to back.
 
I saw all the ranting about 7 wonders and thought about getting it, but as JP said its supposed to be much better with a large group. Figured since its just me and my wife and every once and awhile my brother/brother in law it probably was not worth it.
 
We have a monthly game night with usually 5 or 6 people, so I have finally decided to order a copy of 7 Wonders.

And speaking of deck building games, did anyone else pick up the iOS game Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer? It's also a real game, but I don't have that, just the app. If so, please do send a me a game request, and GC friend request if needed. I'm "Crunc is". The game isn't as interesting as Dominion, but it's still a fun game. The AI isn't too good - I seem to win 90% of the time, but it has full asynch online play. It's $5 and I think it's worth it:

http://appshopper.com/games/ascension-chronicle-of-the-godslayer

The game is designed by some of the people that made Magic: The Gathering, but it's more akin to Dominion then that.

EDIT: it also has pass-and-play, but I haven't tried that yet.
 
Ascensions pass-and-play works fine, but it is a tad cumbersome. I wish it supported local bluetooth/wifi play. Then my kids and I could play a 3 player game with our iPad and two iPhones. We could set up another GC account, but that's ridiculous. Also, for online play, the game really needs to add chat. And did I mention that as of last night, the online plays is pretty much broken? I get disconnected every 30 seconds to a minute. Hopefully they get it straightened out soon....
 
The online in Ascension was fixed, FYI, and it's working better then it ever has. I'm completely addicted to the game. I enjoy playing it asynch, but even more so playing live games which are, thankfully, easy to get into pretty much at any time, and the game plays awesomely live. I'm even having good luck getting into 3 player games where everyone plays it live, with randoms. Superb game. It does need in-game chat and stats, but it's still my favorite iOS game now. Even beats out Carcassonne, though I'm sure Carcassonne will get a big jump once the first expansion is out....

Ascension tips o' the day: The spinny red triangle that appears at the upper left sometimes means you have a turn in another game. Also, and this is a biggy, when you are zoomed in on a card, you can swipe left or right to move to the next card and view it zoomed in. That saves you a lot of zooming in and out! I wish they'd just used left right arrows, as that would have been obvious, but now you know how....
 
Reiner Knizia's Battleline ($2.99) just got an update adding Gamecenter including online (asynch and live!), achievements, etc. And it's Universal! Sold! Once I learn the game I'll be up for some online play.

http://appshopper.com/games/battleline-a-reiner-knizia-game

Has anyone played this before? Real version or iOS.

EDIT: the online seems like a mess. It's not really Game Center. It seems to be their own server. I couldn't figure out how to create a game. Well I could create one, but I couldn't seem to just put a game out there. I think you have to sit there until someone comes online and joins, but I'm not really sure. Confusing. The game itself does seem pretty cool, but with the way theyve implemented online I don't know if I'll ever get into a game. :(
 
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[quote name='MSI Magus']Any thoughts on Roll through the ages?[/QUOTE]

I love the game, but there's no iPad specific version. The implementation is good, but no online mode, but there is a solitaire version, or local multiplayer. The expansion is included, which is a pleasant surprise. Still worth picking up, in my opinion!
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']I love the game, but there's no iPad specific version. The implementation is good, but no online mode, but there is a solitaire version, or local multiplayer. The expansion is included, which is a pleasant surprise. Still worth picking up, in my opinion![/QUOTE]

If you search for Roll through the ages a game pops up in the app store. I was talking about that one.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']If you search for Roll through the ages a game pops up in the app store. I was talking about that one.[/QUOTE]

Yep, that's the one I was referring to. :)
 
[quote name='Jek Porkins']Yep, that's the one I was referring to. :)[/QUOTE]

I misread your post and thought when you said no ipad specific version that for some reason you meant that there was no ipad version of RtA. My mistake!
 
Puerto Rico is officially due out on Thursday, as announced by Ravensburger on toucharcade. For some reason I find myself looking forward to it a little. Maybe Ravensburger kicked Codito's ass and made it better then it otherwise would have been (though clearly not any prettier). FYI, iPad-only.

Pretty positive review of the iOS version: http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/3909/bg-ios-review-puerto-rico

Did Codito learn from it's mistakes? Maybe. I'll probably wait it out a few days and see what people have to say about it. The price is allegedly going to be $9.99, with an intro price of $7.99.
 
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[quote name='crunchewy']Puerto Rico is officially due out on Thursday, as announced by Ravensburger on toucharcade. For some reason I find myself looking forward to it a little. Maybe Ravensburger kicked Codito's ass and made it better then it otherwise would have been (though clearly not any prettier). FYI, iPad-only.

Pretty positive review of the iOS version: http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/3909/bg-ios-review-puerto-rico

Did Codito learn from it's mistakes? Maybe. I'll probably wait it out a few days and see what people have to say about it. The price is allegedly going to be $9.99, with an intro price of $7.99.[/QUOTE]

It's out now. I don't get the hate on the look of the game, but to each his own, I guess. I played a single multiplayer game, and it went off without a hitch. Looking forward to some games of this, if anyone sees me and wants to play!
 
Actually it looks better in action then it looked in screenshots. I wouldn't call it beautiful, but it's not as bad as I was expecting. However, the game is pretty overwhelming, especially since unlike the real game, you can't just look see all the different buildings and see what they do - you have to scroll through a list and optionally show an explanation - and once they are actually played there's no indication of what they do. I forsee a lot of dragging the ? icon onto buildings until you can memorize which is which.

Mind you, I only had time to go partway through the tutorial. I only played the real game once, so I need the refresher.

FYI, the online is live-only, which to my mind is the right choice for this game, but I'm sure some won't like that.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Please tell me it has a good tutorial.[/QUOTE]

The tutorial is very thorough, but there will still be lots of little things you'll learn afterward (building types, various strategies), so expect to figure more out through a couple of test games.
 
I was wrong in part - some of the buildings, such as production buildings and markets, do have an icon to indicate what they do (coffee bean on the coffee plantation, +1 or +2 on markets). Others don't.

The tutorial is decent, but if you've never played the game before I think you'll probably find it overwhelming. However after a play or two you'll have the hang of it I'm sure and there is the ? icon which you can drag onto any tile or whatever and it will explain what it's for.
 
fuck YEAH! MOTHER fuckING SUMMONER WARS! Seriously thats like top 3 games for me and my wife. O man I fucking love my Ipad if for board games alone. My wife gets Ticket to Ride and can stop bugging me to play it with her and then I(though she likes these too)have Ascension, SMall World, Samurai, Dice Wars(strategic dice), hey thats my fish and now MOTHER fuckING SUMMONER WARS!

Woke up in a very bad mood this mourning and that almost made up for it!

*wonders why it didnt shaq fu most of his post*
 
Puerto Rico has grown on me. It's a pretty solid game, certainly the best effort from Sage Games/Codito for sure. I played online with a friend last night, which was cool, but 2 players isn't the way to play this game. Needs at least 3 players IMHO. I have gotten into an online 3 player game with random folks the one time I tried that, but one person dropped out a short way into the game. Maybe they thought it was asynch. I don't know.

I think the game is worth it, but at the same time I think they really need to step up their game if they're going to charge more then Ticket to Ride costs. Unlike TTR there's no real lobby system, just auto-matching and sending game requests to friends, and there's no in-game chat. Hopefully they can add these things in an update sometime soonish. At least in-game chat.
 
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