Let's Talk: Game Trilogies (not those ones)

Gregarius wrote: Forbidden Island
Forbidden Desert
Forbidden Stars (obviously "Planet" was taken)

LOL, they did put out a Forbidden Skies as part of that series, where you had to build an electric circuit, but was too dependent on tile draw.

Not quite sure if we are allowed to count large expansions, but Legends of Andor and Galaxy Defenders with their two large expansions really feel like trilogies since they tell an evolving and complete story while feeling like each could be it's own game.

In the near future the trilogy of Gloomhaven, Frosthaven and Nexthaven

mc wrote:

mezike wrote: The Bios line of Genesis, Megafauna and Origins fit the bill.

There are rules that let you play them back to back, taking your stuff forward into the next one, to a certain extent aren't there?

Yes, exactly. Three standalone games, each with their own unique design and intent, that also link together both structurally and thematically and can be played in order carrying over the player state from each game to the next.

Nobody said it had to be a good story but it certainly fits the criteria.

The GIPF abstract games can be linked together (I don't remember the details and am not going to read up on them now). There are more than three games though:

GIPF
TAMSK
ZERTZ
DVONN
YINSH
PUNCT
TZAAR
LYNGK

mezike wrote: ...
Ryan Laukats games are all kinda sorta linked I believe.
...

Yes - there was Above and Below, then Near and Far, and now Now or Never has been announced as following on from those two.

Also apparently he has designed a few games based on a common setting (from BGG):
Arzium is a fantastical world with desert oases, srika pastures, turnip farms, rich mines, jagged mountains, desert wastelands, glogos caverns, island city-states, and exotic flying continents. It serves as the setting and backdrop for many of Ryan Laukat's games.
2013 - City of Iron
2015 - Above and Below
2016 - Islebound
2017 - Near and Far
2019 - Roam

Does Arkham Horror 2e, Eldritch Horror, and Arkham Horror: The Card Game count (and maybe Mansions of Madness) - games fighting in the same universe but at different levels/scales ?

Also maybe Descent, Runewars, and Runebound for the same reason.

From Ares Games - Battle of the Five Armies, Hunt for the Ring, War of the Ring.

And early on how about MB's Gamemaster series - Axis & Allies, Fortress America, Shogun.

Whoshim wrote: The GIPF abstract games can be linked together (I don't remember the details and am not going to read up on them now).

The "central" game is Gipf, a relatively normal two-player abstract. As expected, there are standard ways you can move/place your pieces. However, if you want to perform a special move, you can challenge your opponent to a "mini-game" of another title in the series. If you win that mini-game, you get to perform the special move; if you lose, you don't (and skip your turn I think). Each mini-game has its own defined special move that you get to perform in Gipf. The special move is thematically related to the mini-games' rules.

Confused? Imagine playing a game of Chess. You want to move one of your pawns but instead of performing a normal move, you want to hop over your opponent's piece, capturing it. You challenge your opponent to a game of Checkers, and if you win, you can perform the hop.

Although I've called them "mini-games", they're not necessarily short nor simple. In fact, they're generally as long and deep as Gipf itself.

It's an interesting concept, but not used much even by those who play this series of games.

For many years, the phrase "The Trilogy" was generally understood to refer directly to The Lord of the Rings books. None of those three books were standalone works. So I find it a mild heresy to discuss the concept of a trilogy that somehow consists of standalone works that are somehow still connected in some tenuous way, but not too connected.

The Century Series?
Century: Spice Road, Century: Eastern Wonders and Century: A New World. Each standalone, but build on the mechanics of the others and integrates with them. I've played the first two but not combined them so know no more than that.

Many years ago Ed Beach dropped a cryptic hint about an eventual 3rd title to follow his Here I Stand and Virgin Queen games, saying there was a VQ card that referenced the topic.

Then about a year ago, out of the blue he announced the upcoming Border Reivers, a game about feuding livestock-holding clans along the Anglo-Scottish border in the 16th century. It looks like this one is markedly different to the system of the first two, but the whole thing is still being "branded" as the Reivers & Reformers series.

Turek wrote: In the near future the trilogy of Gloomhaven, Frosthaven and Nexthaven

Who the fuck needs this much Gloomhaven? I've even found Jaws of the Lion to be a bit much.

It boggles my mind that the game is number 1 on BGG, given that a lot of people on there don't have time for this. Is it just some kind of sampling bias? That the people who play (and rate) it are justifying their $100+ purchases?

Probably some of that. Way, way back in the day, the way BGG measured "#1 game" was by page clicks. The Puerto Rico fans worked that by making the PR page their home page, so every time they opened a browser, it would get a click. I don't know how BGG handles their algorithm these days, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if someone had created a bunch of dummy accounts to rate Gloomhaven #1, as some people's egos are just fragile like that.

We had lots of fun (50 sessions or more) with my GH copy (first KS edition with standees) which I got for ~70$ and traded years later for ~50$
I don't want to play GH in foreseeable future but it`s well deserved 10 out of 10 for me.