Unplayed Game Trashdome #1 - Uba's Games

Here's a different kind of Trashdome. We'll select one person at random who posted their unplayed games and we'll Trashdome the games and try to convince them to play one game.

First up Uba's games:

Earth Reborn: Impulse Tanga buy. The price was too low to resist. But it has been sitting since July. The Man actually read the rules and has set up the game for us to play, but I just haven't been in the mood. Everyone keeps saying it's great and not difficult to learn, but whenever The Man suggests we play, I just haven't had the energy to learn new rules.

Space Alert: I got this in a math trade in October. We had played it with KingPut in August. I got it because I though The Man really liked it, but turns out that he wasn't as into it as I thought he was. Also, neither of us have been in the mood to play a game that creates feeling of stress, which this one does. We have had enough stress in out real lives.

Itried Space Alert once and I say fuck that shit. Try Earth Reborn and tellmy wife she should play it.

This is a great way to enhance TrashDome. That's all I can say, since I haven't actually played either Earth Reborn or Space Alert.

Vote: Space Alert

It is tense (which I think Uba said is the reason why she hasn't played it), but it is a really fun type of tenseness. It also gives you and the other players a pretty decent sense of accomplishment when you do survive through the whole mission. Lots of replay value (especially if you add in the expansion).

Dan

Space Alert

Best co-op game ever made, easily. The game is stressful and tense during the first number of games, which is expected. But the same aggravating time pressure and face-down played cards put a huge emphasis on team building and communication in a way that other co-ops just can't seem to get right. Once you have a regular group of people playing this, the stress level drops down and you settle into a groove. When you win, you feel like it's a team accomplishment and there are high fives all around. When you lose, you blame the table whipping boy. To me, this is the perfect, shining example of what a co-op game should feel like.

The game has that great Vlaada sense of humor, too. My girl was running back and forth for a few rounds, then hit what she thought was a missile button. She was in the wrong room and activated the robots instead. Turns out they threw a revolt the next round (probably due to our incompetence) and shot her right in the head. A few rounds later, the missile she was supposed to fire blew up half the ship when it detonated in the cargo hold. Then space flooded the ship and we all drowned in the horrible aether :'(

We all found this hilarious, except for my 'gal. She was ~mad~

Earth Reborn is also great and you should play that, too.

Both games are excellent. Both games cover futurist combat in completely different ways. Earth Reborn is a 2 player dudes in a hallway game that breaks new ground for this type of game. I know both Uba and Engineer Al like dudes in a hallway type games. The problem with Earth Reborn is that it takes some investment in time to learn, set and play. My suggestion is to get somebody else to teach you Earth Reborn. Maybe Flimflam can teach you at Conncon. He taught me to play at WBC. Once you've learned to play, you can either play your copy or sell it or trade it.

You already know how play Space Alert although you'll probably have to scan over the rules. Space Alert is best played with 4-5 players so the problem with Space Alert is that you'll need to find a couple of friends who are in the mood to get yelled about shooting down alien space ships. Luckily, Space Alert is game enjoyed by most type gamers except maybe Stormseeker. I played with Eurogamers, Wargamers, Ameritrash players, my spawn and even our douchieboy brother. I still see us playing Space Alert and Fury of Dracula once or twice a year with the spawn, QueenPut and douchieboy.

VOTE: Earth Reborn.

While Space Alert is simply awesome, the way that some of you buggers made ER out to be superior to the following, it needs to be played:
- Second Coming of Christ
- Twinkies, Deep Fried
- Sex And Candy

Vote: Earth Reborn

Easily the best tactical miniatures board game ever produced. The rules look intimidating, but really aren't that hard to pick up, especially if you are familiar to "dudes in a hallway" kind of games. The mind blowing part is that once you play through all of the scenarios, you are ready for the actual game to start. I will happily play this and/or teach anyone at ConConn this year.

Earth Reborn particularly in light of the target audience.

S.

Earth Reborn

My buddy has been (slowly) painting it for me for about a month and I have been pining for it. My wife asked for it a couple weeks ago and I nearly cried.

KingPut wrote: Space Alert is best played with 4-5 players so the problem with Space Alert is that you'll need to find a couple of friends who are in the mood to get yelled about shooting down alien space ships.

I like to think of myself as more of a "hanger-on" but I'll happily come drink your liquor and crash our spaceship through an asteroid field.

I'd go Space Alert, because it sounds like Uba has a pretty consistent game group of friends. By reputation, Space Alert only really shines when you have repeated plays by a determined group. IIRC, she has access to such a group so I'd go that direction.

MattLoter wrote: I like to think of myself as more of a "hanger-on" but I'll happily come drink your liquor and crash our spaceship through an asteroid field.

Heh. Really takes the pressure off if you know that no matter what you do, you can always blame your horrible flaming death on Loter being drunk. Kind of like doing the F:AT cast.

wdgrant wrote: My wife asked for it a couple weeks ago and I nearly cried.

No Comment.

engineer Al wrote:

MattLoter wrote: I like to think of myself as more of a "hanger-on" but I'll happily come drink your liquor and crash our spaceship through an asteroid field.

Heh. Really takes the pressure off if you know that no matter what you do, you can always blame your horrible flaming death on Loter being drunk. Kind of like doing the F:AT cast.

Col. Tigh was drunk all the time and those guys did fine for a while.

I also vote: SPACE ALERT. In the long run, EARTH REBORN is the better game, and the one you want to pass on to the kids and stuff--it's heirloom quality. Everything is in there and it's amazing. BUt if you can get 5 people in the house every other week or so? Playing SPACE ALERT episodically sounds awesome. Make it so.