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× WELCOME TO TRASHDOME!

This is part of a series of bloody matches to the death. Show support for your favorite game so it will do better in the fight. You can support it by writing why you think its the better game and more importantly by betting (i.e. voting for) it. Please make it clear for when I check the bets later. You have until Friday when I tally the bets and declare the winner. I will reserve my bet for any tie-breakers.

Although you should be familiar with both games, there is no rule that says you have to have played both of them. The only rule in Trashdome is this;

Two games enter! One game leaves!

Trashdome - SW: Queens Gambit VS SW: Epic Duels

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13 Jul 2009 16:21 #34712 by clockwirk
Hey, if QG called me Charlie, I'd change my vote.

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13 Jul 2009 16:31 #34715 by Octavian

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13 Jul 2009 16:39 #34719 by Deleted User 1
I have had a lot of fun with both of these games!

But I vote for Queens Gambit!

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13 Jul 2009 17:24 #34740 by mjl1783

Don't get me wrong, EPIC DUELS is a cool, accessible, and pretty fun game...but compared to the accomplishment of QUEEN'S GAMBIT in terms of providing one of the biggest (literally) marriages of conceptual and executive theme ever in board gaming, EPIC DUELS just looks awfully small and minor.


And all this counts for jack shit when one of the two games comes up woefully short in the gameplay department. QG is a fantastic game the first few times you play. Oh sure, it's impressive how they managed to adapt the movie into a board game so well, but that's about all the game has going for it.

After the novelty's worn off, you'll quickly realize QG is one of the most on-rails board games in ever published. A player who's familiar with the game will play the same way every time, leaving the outcome of the game almost entirely up to the cards and dice. I'm not at all opposed to a heavy dose of random in a board game, but when a game's as random as QG, I want to at least have to pause for a second to decide which course of action is the best. That's not the case here; you're simply on auto-pilot from start to finish.

ED, on the other hand, is just about the apex beer & pretzels gaming. Conceptual theme's all well and good if you're a fucking board game nerd, but some of us like to play games with normal people. For this purpose, ED is an unqualified success. It's not just accessible because it's simple, but because the core mechanics are so close to those of traditional card games as well. That, coupled with the positional play of Chess, and an instantly familiar (though still fairly nerdy) theme, means ED is one of the few titles that really connects the dots between mainstream and hobby board gaming.

Vote: Epic Duels

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13 Jul 2009 18:29 #34765 by metalface13
I haven't had the chance to play Queen's Gambit. But I have played Epic Duels a couple of times back before I got into board gaming. When I was in college a guy who lived next door in my apartment complex would go down the hall yelling "Epic Duels in 15 mins!" and people would come running.

We had a full set of people, with every character set taken up, divided into two teams (not according to factions either) and blasted away at each other. I'd love to have it in my collection but I'm not going to pay some eBay scalper $50 for it. Any word on that new Clone Wars edition?

And yeah, any theme could be applied to Epic Duels, Marvel Epic Duels anyone?

Vote: Epic Duels

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13 Jul 2009 18:34 #34767 by Shellhead
metalface13 wrote:

And yeah, any theme could be applied to Epic Duels, Marvel Epic Duels anyone?


Somebody created a custom content generator for Epic Duels:

epicduels.pbworks.com/Deck-Designer

And somebody else did decks for various characters from Gotham City.

games.groups.yahoo.com/group/epic_duels_batman/

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13 Jul 2009 18:41 #34769 by Michael Barnes
You could do a whole deck of DESIGNING WOMEN versus THE GOLDEN GIRLS and it would be the same game.

But you couldn't do that with QG.

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13 Jul 2009 18:48 #34771 by metalface13
Michael Barnes wrote:

You could do a whole deck of DESIGNING WOMEN versus THE GOLDEN GIRLS and it would be the same game.

But you couldn't do that with QG.


Now THAT would be an Epic Duel! Rose would totally kick ass and take names!

And you're right, you totally couldn't do that with Queen's Gambit, thereby showing it to be the lesser game.

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13 Jul 2009 18:52 #34772 by Michael Barnes
This is really what I was getting at with the whole executive versus conceptual theme idea. EPIC DUELS has zero conceptual theme. That doesn't mean it's bad, but it demonstrates that there is a difference when game mechanics are specific to theme and when the theme is simply an overlay. EPIC DUELS, whether the "themanistas" want to admit it or not, has a pasted-on theme.

It's still a fun light combat game. But it isn't specifically STAR WARS. The fact that there's an official TRANSFORMERS version _and_ tons and tons of remakes and fan versions with different characteres really says a lot.

I'm sorry, but anybody that thinks that having a card that has Vader's picture on it that says "Darth Vader" on it and has a special power is "strong theme" is kidding themselves. That's like saying a card that has a "+1 sword" on it makes a game rich in narrative.

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13 Jul 2009 19:03 #34775 by metalface13
Michael Barnes wrote:

This is really what I was getting at with the whole executive versus conceptual theme idea. EPIC DUELS has zero conceptual theme. That doesn't mean it's bad, but it demonstrates that there is a difference when game mechanics are specific to theme and when the theme is simply an overlay. EPIC DUELS, whether the "themanistas" want to admit it or not, has a pasted-on theme.

It's still a fun light combat game. But it isn't specifically STAR WARS. The fact that there's an official TRANSFORMERS version _and_ tons and tons of remakes and fan versions with different characteres really says a lot.

I'm sorry, but anybody that thinks that having a card that has Vader's picture on it that says "Darth Vader" on it and has a special power is "strong theme" is kidding themselves. That's like saying a card that has a "+1 sword" on it makes a game rich in narrative.


I think there would be people out there who would say an adaptable game system that lets players create homebrew scenarios, characters and rules is better than a rigid system that lets you play out the same scenario over and over. It's similar to the scripted vs. unscripted argument (which Epic Duels is unscripted and Queen's Gambit does sound pretty scripted) by flexible vs. rigid gaming systems have yet to be debated.

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13 Jul 2009 19:55 #34781 by The Expanding Man
Queens Gambit for me, but only if I get to slaughter the Gungans.

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13 Jul 2009 19:59 #34782 by Bulwyf
Queen's Gambit is the stronger title in my book. The wife, kids and I have all gotten hours of entertainment out of it.


-Will

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13 Jul 2009 22:56 #34800 by mjl1783

This is really what I was getting at with the whole executive versus conceptual theme idea. EPIC DUELS has zero conceptual theme. That doesn't mean it's bad, but it demonstrates that there is a difference when game mechanics are specific to theme and when the theme is simply an overlay. EPIC DUELS, whether the "themanistas" want to admit it or not, has a pasted-on theme.


I completely agree with you here, but conceptual theme still needs to be backed up by fun gameplay, and QG doesn't deliver where it counts.

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13 Jul 2009 23:13 #34803 by Stephen Avery
You're wrong Mike. Epic Duels totally carries the theme. Its not just a few cards with pictures and a few special powers. Throughout multiple plays you can see how the decks play differently and carry the feel of the characters. Despite the very simple system you can't use the dame tactics with different characters. I've played this game *a lot* and it never fails to evoke the fast paced actions and cool cinematic moments of the movies.

Queens Gambit is awesome too. It is Epic Duels with layers of mechanics on top. Thematically the mechanics work well combining several minigames into one large slugfest.
However, Epic duels is going to hit the table 10 times more often and it never ceases to deliver fun. I vote ED.

Steve"StarWarsJunkie"Avery

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13 Jul 2009 23:14 #34805 by clockwirk
QG conceptual theme falls apart when you realize that the Jedi battle heavily influences the outcome of the game. In the movie, the Jedi battle was irrelevant except to draw Darth Maul away from the Amidala and her homies. How can QG be so very thematic when the relative importance of the various battles is all out of wack?

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