Growing Hunger - Worth it?

Recently, someone gave me the generous gift of a copy of Last Night on Earth. I haven't played it yet and for one reason and another I'm not going to be playing it for a month or so but it looks like a fun game. My favoured gaming store is currently offering Growing Hunger at a substantial discount (25% off their usual price, which is already below RRP) for a limited time only and I'm wondering whether it's going to be worth picking up a copy before playing the base game. Running through a couple of reviews it sounds like it's a "nice to have" expansion rather than anything drastically brilliant, but that might actually make it a more attractive buy at the lower price point. Thoughts - is it worthwhile?

It definitely doesn't drastically change anything, but it's well worth it for the extra variety in cards and ESPECIALLY the extra characters and awesome scenarios (best yet).

How good a price is it Matt ?

Southernman wrote:

How good a price is it Matt ?

£17.99 here:
www.boardgameguru.co.uk/last-night-on-ea...ing-hunger-651-p.asp

He was previously selling at £22.49, so that's nearly £5 off, although the postage is a little steep.

I think it depends on the price. I paid typical internet prices for mine and felt a little underwhelmed. But now that I have it, I'm not planning on getting rid of it.

My opinion of the expansion is not as positive as Dragonstout's; I think the scenarios are good in that they add variety, but they also add a lot of rules that take away from the nice simple gameplay of the original. The extra characters are cool though. For me, it was probably worth about $20 instead of whatever I paid for it.

As a big fan of the base game, it was worth it to me, but I would only advise someone buying it if they were getting a good deal on it, (or if someone was a completist as had money to spend). It doesnt add enough to justify its regular retail price, in my opinion, but personally, I enjoy it.

It's not mind blowing, but it's worth having if you like the base.

I'm with dragonstout. Sure the extra scenarios add a couple rules. Fine by me especially as they are a fuckton of fun. To me, the scenarios in the base game could get a little tedious; the expansion ramps it up considerably. Plus it includes variant rules to spice up the old scenarios as well.

I'm in the "nice to have" camp.

I'm a big fan of the base game and don't see Growing hunger as a mandatory buy.

That's a decent price, I paid more via the FFP website. Like most expansions, it costs more than the base game for what you get. But it does add rules that allow you to modify the original scenarios, in addition to the new ones you get. And there're four new characters, all of which are good. Go for it.

I'd say get the base game and see if you'll play that more than once or twice. Because since the expansion just adds more variety you don't need it until you've played several of the base scenarios. And even then arguably the entire game isn't good for you if the base scenarios don't keep you coming back for more.
Another way to look at it is buying the expansion now will cost you more than you'll save if you end up not getting into the game. Because you'll have paid 18 pounds for something you don't end up wanting. Better to wait and risk paying a few bucks more later when you know you want it.

LNOE is one of my favorite games, no doubt, but I'll agree with others that the expansion isn't something that's really "essential". It's definitely nice to have, and I like using some of the new characters and scenarios, and there are a number of additional rules that can be thrown in on a mix-and-match basis which are cool... But that being said, I still play the base game, without any additions, more than I do with using any stuff from GH. I find that most of the scenarios from the base game can play out in different ways and have some depth as far as finding good strategies for both sides, so you should get a decent amount of life from that, assuming you like the game.

While I played Last Night on Earth plenty. And indeed do own Growing Hunger. I notice that most of the time I just don't bother breaking it out. Last Night on Earth still does very well on its own. If your sessions gotten boring because of too little variety than it's probably a good buy (tho it contains a little less than expected from an expansion, but then again the people are milking LNOE for all its worth) Me being the expansion whore that I am will probably get em all. But I refused to get the special CD version and all the scenario + 10 cards for 10 bucks deals. And this is coming from someone that bought all the expansions and figures for Tannhauser (even ordered a french magazine to have the original winter expension for it)

Don't get growing hunger if you are still having enough fun with vanilla LNOE is my recommendation. If you want a change of scenery it is very good tho (but I'm easily pleased)