The Gothic Game - How good is it?

Greetings.

I need some advice, and I figure The Fortress has the highest concentration of folks who have played both The Gothic Game and AH's Civilation, so here goes.

Someone has offered to trade me their Gothic Game for my almost unplayed AH Civilization, and I'm teetering on the brink of accepting it. Civ is a classic, but it doesn't hit the table very often at all. I like having it around, just in case I get to play it again one day. I figure if I get rid of this copy, I won't be able to find another later. It doesn't seem like it is EVER going to be reprinted.

But, the Gothic Game sounds intriguing. I'm a sucker for adventure/dungeon crawlers, and my wife and my favorite game is easily Arkham Horror (we played the damnable thing 5 times over the holiday weekend). So I'm thinking we might enjoy the Gothic Game, but I'm concerned about its replayability. It looks like there are only 6 or so different cards for each room, so it seems like the novelty will wear off fairly quickly once we seen all of the cards a few times. Has this been anyone's experience? Does it play well with 2? Is it viable for 2 players to each play 2 characters?

Hep me!

DAMN. Now that's a hard call.

CIV is of course one of the greats and I don't think a proper game shelf is complete without it. It's a masterpiece, and it doesn't seem like a reprint is coming any time soon. I'd never trade my mine for anything.

Now, THE GOTHIC GAME is something else entirely...it's an amazing game but on an entirely different level. Every game is different and the way it creates an absurd narrative is amazing. I've had more laughs playing it than pretty much anything else, but it is largely dependent on who you play it with. Playing it with Eurogamers is a total drag, for example. Based on what you've said though, I'm afraid you might be a little disappointed in it. It's VERY old timey and simple, it's more roll-and-move than TALISMAN and there is no character development or attributes (other than hit points) like in ARKHAM HORROR. Your character is Colored Pawn. It's a very, very nasty game since the goal is to kill all the other players so it's full of skullduggery and maliciousness. The cards are limited, but knowing what they are in each room actually makes it more strategic. It's not _really_ a dungeon crawl although folks often say it is.

It's also not a 2 player game. You want a table full of rowdy bastards (or bitches, as the case may be). It's the kind of game where the greatness lies in the playing of it, not in the mechanics or procedures that define it.

If you have a chance to play it first, definitely do so. I think I know almost everybody in the US who has a copy, and that ain't many. I don't even have one. It's very, very rare and will almost certainly never be reprinted. But it is something that either you're going to fall head over heels for or you will hate vehemently.

I love it. But this is a trade that in your position I'd decline all things considered.

My only comment is - 'what does AH Civ go for these days ?'.

Thanks for the info, Michael. You point out some of the things I was worried about in the Gothic Game. I declined the offer, but it was a close call. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to play Gothic one day, so I can find out if you helped me make a boneheaded decision!

As for the going price for Civ, they seem to be selling for between $50 - $60. I think the trade would have been a fair one based on the market value of the games.

Be seeing you.

I really want the Gothic Game, but I think that it's over-priced for what it is.

I got a copy of the 1st edition AH edition of Civilization for about $30. I saw another used copy of the 2nd edition at a local game shop for the same.

I think if you look hard enough you can find cheaper editions.

Now Advance Civilization is a wholly different - I haven't seen it go for less than $80!

And I suppose a more important question is, considering it's a game, how often would either be played ?

True story--a couple of years ago a bookstore here had a copy of Advanced Civ, in shrink, for $40. I have no idea where it came from, one week it was just...there. I looked it over, double-checking it to make sure that's what it actually was.

I left without picking it up, just long enough to try and arrange a trade on BGG for it. (I don't own the base game.) First feeler I threw out there, the guy was willing to give me $100+ worth of games for it.

Went back to get it...and yes, guess what, it was gone.


Biggest mystery to this day how a game appeared one day and sold within a couple of hours. Moral of the story: if you see a good deal, TAKE IT.


I would easily get a game of GOTHIC GAME in before we ever, ever sat down to play Civ. I played Gothic Game with Barnes and crew and it is some hilarious shit. I think I ended up cursed, one guy ended up covered in shit, and I think Barnes turned into a vampire lord and ate most everybody.


Since you've declined it, if you have second thoughts, you could be a little rowdy and ask for a small sweetner. I've done that on a couple of trades before that I would've taken but was a little hesitant--and almost always I can get 'em to squeeze in a small sweetner, and that's enough to push it over the top.

Southernman wrote:

And I suppose a more important question is, considering it's a game, how often would either be played ?

I bought my copy of Civilization about a year and a half ago, and have only gotten to play it three or four times. According to my standards, it's not a bad deal. Each game was at least 6 hours long, so it was a hell of a lot cheaper than going to see a movie!

Advanced Civ is something I want, but I'm not going to spend the money to pick it up when it is unlikely to be played much. It's just too much money for how infrequently it would get played.

I am a gamer, not a collector.

Count Orlok wrote:

I got a copy of the 1st edition AH edition of Civilization for about $30. I saw another used copy of the 2nd edition at a local game shop for the same.

I think if you look hard enough you can find cheaper editions.

Now Advance Civilization is a wholly different - I haven't seen it go for less than $80!

You got a deal. I sold a first edition half-punched for ~$70 a few months ago and double what you paid for a complete used copy of either edition isn't uncommon. The copy I have on my shelves now is a touch incomplete [playable though], but I just don't know if my crowd will ever get it to the table, which is unfortunate.

Count Orlok wrote:

Southernman wrote:

And I suppose a more important question is, considering it's a game, how often would either be played ?

I bought my copy of Civilization about a year and a half ago, and have only gotten to play it three or four times. According to my standards, it's not a bad deal. Each game was at least 6 hours long, so it was a hell of a lot cheaper than going to see a movie!

I am a gamer, not a collector.

LUCKY BASTARD having a group to play games like that - I've gotten to play Civ once in the last 8 years !!!!!!!

Gothic Game is pretty rare on this side of the pond as well.