Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35175 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20840 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7430 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3981 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3509 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2080 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2587 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2258 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2501 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3022 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3698 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2626 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2463 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2292 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2510 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Talk about Eurogames here.

Let's Talk Some Knizia Games

More
30 May 2014 14:42 #179369 by Legomancer
Oh, I forgot about Carcassonne: The Castle. It's the only Carc I still have, and I really dig it.

LOTR: The Confrontation is definitely a case where the theme killed it for me. If it had been something else, I might be able to pay attention to all the units and their special powers. But there is no way to make me give a damn about hobbits and shit.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
30 May 2014 19:29 #179401 by phandec
T&E and Battleline are amazing. I really enjoy Poison, though not with 3 players.

Most of the rest I've never played, though I own a few of them. I'm trying to decide whether or not to acquire a copy of Samurai that I have a trade offer for.

I'd like to give Ra a shot one of these days, too.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
30 May 2014 20:34 #179413 by Stonecutter

Michael Barnes wrote: LOTR: The Confrontation is one of the best two player games ever made. Sure, it's Stratego...but it's so refined and the LOTR setting really comes through. It really feels like the Fellowship player is trying to screen Frodo and engage the Shadow. Mirror plays like both a hunt and a crushing military campaign. I love the deluxe edition, the extra characters add a lot of variety without fouling the balance.

Kingdoms/Auf Heller und Pfennig is another good one.


I'm sorry "Sure, it's Stratego... but" don't you mean, "hell yeah it's like Stratego!"? Stratego is the best mass market classic, bar none, and LOTR The Confrontation Deluxe is the best Knizia game.
The following user(s) said Thank You: VonTush

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
31 May 2014 08:20 #179443 by Pug
I love Modern Art as well, but I hate teaching it. It's a very simple game at heart, but explaining how it works has always been a pain for some reason. If we're ever 5 players at a table, I always suggest it, and after a game or two, people usually warm up to it.

I always really love Lord of The Rings: Confrontation and have probably played over 50-60 games in the past few months. It's portable, a breeze to teach, and just pure fun. I love to experiment with starting positions and push my luck. I'll never get rid of it.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
31 May 2014 09:22 #179445 by DukeofChutney
i've played T&E, Modern Art and Through the Desert.

I liked T&E quite a bit, it felt like a very refined conflict game to me and in a weird way its abstract nature lends itself to its theme.

Modern Art i thought was tight but difficult to play well.

Through the Desert didn't do much for me. Probably because i actually like Go and felt that this just didn't cut the mustard in comparison.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
31 May 2014 11:00 #179452 by Bull Nakano
I have more Knizia games in my collection than any other designer. My favourites are Battle Line (not sure how this is much more complex than ST), Medici, Ra, Winner's Choice, T&E, Ivanhoe, and LotR Confrontation. He's also got about a half dozen more I think are pretty good like Wheedle and Scarab Lords.

I see a lot of folks commented on Traumfabrik/Hollywood Blockbuster/Dream Factory being one of his best, I played it and wasn't really impressed with it (played it with 5), could someone expand on what they like in that game?

I traded Modern Art recently, I just never wanted to play it, I'd always rather play Medici. I'm thinking of trading Through the Desert, because I have both Samarkand (the new one from Queen) and Kingdom Builder and I think I like both better. Not sure If I'm into Colossal Arena either.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 10:12 #179813 by Stonecutter
WHile we're on Knizia games, has anyone played Merchants of Amsterdam? I saw a copy at the FLGS and it just has the LOOK of an older classic. Not sure I want to invest the time just yet.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 11:04 #179820 by san il defanso
Barnes sent me an extra copy of Beowulf: The Legend. I glanced over the rules, and now I'm really excited to try it.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 11:15 - 06 Jun 2014 12:08 #179823 by Mr. White
This is going to sound really weird, but for me Beowulf: The Legend really immerses me in its setting and theme. I'm not a dark beer fan at all, but come winter time, I _love_ to play Beowulf: The Legend with a pint of dark beer. I feel like I'm a Geat marching along with the company, drinking mead/beer and looking for my share of the loot.

I dunno. I really dig this game.
Last edit: 06 Jun 2014 12:08 by Mr. White.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Michael Barnes, jeb, stormseeker75, san il defanso

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 11:24 #179826 by san il defanso
It definitely seems to approach it in one of those sideways Knizia fashions that ends up being surprisingly effective. I read somewhere (maybe from Christ Farrell) that when Knizia really themes something he tends to push the players toward making the same kind of decisions those in that setting would make. The trappings and flavor remain pretty abstracted, but the decision-making process is where that theme is reflected.

Sometimes it's clearly not important, like in Ra or Taj Mahal. But that view does give games like Lost Cities, Beowulf, and Medici some surprising thematic depth.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 12:10 #179835 by Michael Barnes
Merchants of Amsterdam is probably worth grabbing, you won't see that in print ever again. I played it a couple of times many years ago and don't remember much about the actual gameplay, but of course the main feature is the Dutch auction clock. It's really fun. Basically, you wind it up and it starts going DOWN in price. Somebody has to slap the thing to stop it, so it's basically a game of chicken to see who will stop it and who will try to wait to see how low the price will go. I don't think this one usually goes for much since it's kind of one of those second or third shelf Knizia titles, so it may be cheaper to get on BGG marketplace or eBay than retail.

It is definitely time to re-evaluate Beowulf. The thinking at the time (right in the middle of the whole AT upheaval) was that the game wasn't thematic because the players didn't get to BE Beowulf and it wasn't, I guess, a Talisman-style adventure game. Also at that time where you had to "impress" someone were not in favor. But it's actually MORE effective thematically by casting the players as Beowulf's retinue and charging them, basically, with keeping up with an epic hero. But you can't go all-in on every episode in the adventure, so you have to choose when to kind of hang back, recoup yur strength and let someone else step up. There is A LOT of theme here, and definitely not of the flavor text variety.

Thing is, I've never really been quite sure why an auction or Poker-style card play mechanic is regarded as "too abstract" but rolling a die isn't. There is nothing more abstract than rolling a die to determine an outcome.

My Knizia plays this week were Modern Art (I have tragically underrated this game my entire life) and Blue Moon Legends. The Blue Moon set is REALLY good. I do miss the jumbo cards, but the whole game is here, every card. Lots to explore and the game is so, so good.

As for procurement, I'm really after Amun-Re, Royal Turf/Winner's Circle, and oddly Clash of the Gladiators.

Getting back into Knizia games (and other classic German designs) has been the most refreshed I've felt about board games in a long time.

Bull- Through the Desert for Forged in Fire...think about it...:-)

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 12:43 - 06 Jun 2014 12:45 #179840 by Mr. White
I really want to pick up that Blue Moon Legends, but feel like it'll be lost in the crowd of all my two-player games (the bulk of my collection). It is getting high praise though.

Maybe I'll pass something along for it.

Getting back into Knizia games (and other classic German designs) has been the most refreshed I've felt about board games in a long time.


Would you say these designs are TIMELESS? ;)
Last edit: 06 Jun 2014 12:45 by Mr. White.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jun 2014 16:03 #179880 by wadenels
I liked Knizia's Beowulf game. The reason I traded it off is because the hand management part of it felt a lot like the hand management in his LoTR coop and I like the LoTR game better.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Sep 2014 01:49 #187753 by Calandale

San Il Defanso wrote:
Ra - I figured out that the reason I don't like 7 Wonders is because it's like someone looked at Ra and thought the set-collecting was the most interesting part. Ra has my favorite auction of any game ever, and it's Knizia's best game.

Tigris & Euphrates - It came out 15 years ago, and there still hasn't been a game that's ever come close to approximating the feel of this one. It's a multi-player conflict game filtered through Euro design, and it's just terrific.


Far and away his best. The whole majority group control thing that he specializes
in shine best in these two.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.289 seconds