Slaying Shelf Toads: Which Next?

ubarose wrote:

Hammy wrote: I'm visiting some friends for a full weekend coming up. Whenever I do this, I try to bring at least one game in my collection that hasn't been played yet to finally give it a whirl. I don't have a preference for which to bring this time, so I want to pick your brains for this. Before I list my shelf toads, one of my friends is fine with light to mid weight games and can handle meanness. There will be me and two other people with one other person potentially stopping by. So, here's the list:

Vast: The Mysterious Manor
Oath
Clockwork Wars
Impulse
TI4
Catacombs 3E
Dungeon Fighter 2E
Zimby Mojo
Cyclades
El Grande
Thunder Road: Vendetta
Chaosmos
Concordia
Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition
Brian Boru
Castles of Burgundy

Bring El Grande. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like El Grande. Also, when you say “hasn’t been played yet,” I assume that you mean that you haven’t played the copy on your shelf yet, which is believable (I’ve actually never played my own copy). And that you do not mean that you have never played El Grande, because that would be ridiculous and must be remedied immediately.

I don't like El Grande, but I would much rather teach new players how to play El Grande than to try to teach them Zimby Mojo. Or Vast, Or Oath. El Grande is well-designed Euro that reminds me of both cauliflower and the color beige.

El Grande is great but the box should say 4-5p. I wouldn't recommend it with less.

Of the options available that I have played, given the stipulations you listed, id recommend Cyclades and Concordia.

I haven't played it but thunder road had been getting a lot of positive buzz too if memory serves.

I quite like castles of burgundy too, but it gets worse every player past 2p you go. Gets too long for the enjoyment on offer imo, and you don't gain any meaningful interaction or anything.

Thunder Road only works with the expansions. The base game is flat as a board.

ubarose wrote: @Rilyen

He-Man & MOTU rocks. Play ASAP.

I will. We were supposed to have a Game Day this past Sunday, but everyone had the post Thanksgiving plague. So, we're having it in December. I was discussing this post with my wife and the He-Man game came up.

She asked, "Have you even opened that one yet?"

I said, "Well, I opened the box that is was delivered in, that should count for something."

I'm an open-and-organize-everything-the-moment-it-comes-in-the-door person. Even if I'm not going to play it for a while, I just want it to be ready to go when I am going to play it. When the Cthulhu Wars debacle finally came to an end and the large box of expansions showed up, I sat down on the floor downstairs and sorted everything into as few boxes as I could manage that night. I mean, obviously, if you're acquiring stuff more often than I am (which is probably most of the people in this thread), I can see why it might be daunting to be digging through a new pile of tokens, minis, rules, and whathaveyou on a regular basis. But I always want to see the cool, new stuff. It would go double for something as visually interesting (and memorable) as MotU. I was tempted by that one for a brief minute, but I don't need another DoaM in the house (gestures in the direction of Cthulhu Wars, among several others.)

El Grande is what I, and likely a lot of other gamers, refer to as a German game - from the mid/late 90s early noughties before they morphed (devolved) into 'euros' with elegant mechanics, VP salads, and blandness .... the last bit obviously a bit subjective
Short version - it's a very good game, then and now.

ubarose wrote:

Shellhead wrote:
El Grande is well-designed Euro that reminds me of both cauliflower and the color beige.

El Grande is quite colorful. Although I will grant you that the player cards in the first edition were not in full color, although that was typical at that time, as 3 color printing was significantly more expensive.

Also, it predates modern “Euros.” It may not have player elimination or dice rolling, but you are definitely playing against the other players. The game is all about screwing other players. You have to play with people who can deal with “mean.”

I played El Grande once, and that was back in 1998, so it may have been a first edition set. At the time, I was mostly playing vivid and colorful CCGs like Shadowfist, Legend of the Five Rings, and Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. I didn't enjoy El Grande, but I could tell that it was a solid design.

Jackwraith wrote: I'm an open-and-organize-everything-the-moment-it-comes-in-the-door person. Even if I'm not going to play it for a while, I just want it to be ready to go when I am going to play it. When the Cthulhu Wars debacle finally came to an end and the large box of expansions showed up, I sat down on the floor downstairs and sorted everything into as few boxes as I could manage that night. I mean, obviously, if you're acquiring stuff more often than I am (which is probably most of the people in this thread), I can see why it might be daunting to be digging through a new pile of tokens, minis, rules, and whathaveyou on a regular basis. But I always want to see the cool, new stuff. It would go double for something as visually interesting (and memorable) as MotU. I was tempted by that one for a brief minute, but I don't need another DoaM in the house (gestures in the direction of Cthulhu Wars, among several others.)

Jackwraith, you're my kind of people. Unless I've soured on some Kickstarter and decide I'm going to sell without playing it, I can't help but stay up late digging through the new toys and organizing and reading the rules...it can be a problem. And I probably do collect more than most people here, though I do have fewer shelf toads (but not by a lot).

ubarose wrote: The game is all about screwing other players.

If you're playing well, the game is about getting the other players to all screw each other.

Jackwraith wrote: I'm an open-and-organize-everything-the-moment-it-comes-in-the-door person. Even if I'm not going to play it for a while, I just want it to be ready to go when I am going to play it. When the Cthulhu Wars debacle finally came to an end and the large box of expansions showed up, I sat down on the floor downstairs and sorted everything into as few boxes as I could manage that night. I mean, obviously, if you're acquiring stuff more often than I am (which is probably most of the people in this thread), I can see why it might be daunting to be digging through a new pile of tokens, minis, rules, and whathaveyou on a regular basis. But I always want to see the cool, new stuff. It would go double for something as visually interesting (and memorable) as MotU. I was tempted by that one for a brief minute, but I don't need another DoaM in the house (gestures in the direction of Cthulhu Wars, among several others.)

I wish I had that gumption. You're talking to someone who STILL has not opened up the expansion sets for Return to Dark Tower, nor have I opened up the expansion packs for Hasbro HQ reprint. That one is ALSO being put on top of the list to be played.

I've got SEEVERAL DoaM games, ranging from Supremacy to Kemet to Cults Across America. It's just getting them to the table. I think the last DoaM game we played was Gammarauders, which was the ONLY game we played because one of my friends, armed with the mutant hamster, kept bogarting the pods.... and not doing anything. We had a stalemate for a long time, and then one of us trashed the last fortress needed. I kept dogging her with Hamtaro memes, where Hamtaro is eating a sunflower seed, and I wrote I LOVE PODS. NOM. NOM. NOM.

The only correct answers are El Grande and Cyclades.

And also, it is a crime against gamanity to have not cracked those. Jesus. If I had my copies still they'd still be monthly plays.

Cyclades is a masterpiece both visually and design wise. It's like a steak with the perfect ribbon of fat. The only question is if you like blood or not.

El Grande ~IS~ a perfect game. Flawless design.

El Grande es grande!

Get the torches and pitchforks because I've played El Grande multiple times both in-person and on BGA, and found it a boring slog every time.

dysjunct wrote: Get the torches and pitchforks because I've played El Grande multiple times both in-person and on BGA, and found it a boring slog every time.

Dead man walking