Trashdome - Small World VS Chaos In The Old World

Small world is a fun little game. It surprised me when I first played it. I liked the changing of races and the cool little powers each group got, I also really liked the way you could choose which race to play and I do believe that it scales better then Chaos. Small World is also easier to get non-gamers into, it's very intuitive and reasonably novel for what it's trying to do, I've never played Vinci or whatever the fuck it is supposedly a copy of so I was immediately impressed with the simple, fun, novel design.

But Chaos in the Old World rocked my cock off. I was blown away by it and loved it immediately. The player conflict with the spells is fuckin eh!! The theme is as kick ass as any theme I've seen in years. The dials are awesome, not just in an innovative kind of way but they look fucking cool too. The game is one of the most enjoyable new games I've played since I got back into Boardgames and away from RPG's. It needs four players in mind but I don't care. Chaos is awesome. It would take a pretty impressive thunderdome for me to vote against it. Although it's closer then most people care to admit.

vote:

Chaos in the Old World

metalface13 wrote:

Haven't a lot of those been done?

Just feels like it, but no, I don't think any of them have.

Anyway, the first few times I played Chaos in the Old World, I kept losing. The game is really tight in that you always have to be looking out for your enemies and trying to bash whoever appears to be the current leader. It has a lot of take that gameplay, and I really like that. Initially hated the theme, since I had diddly squat on Warhammer, but it grew on me (I actually got my game group to try WFRP 2nd Ed in preparation for this game). The combat system is simple, fast and VERY exciting. I couldn't believe how exciting it was -- and it was all because each Cultist is so vital.

I didn't like the fact that when you are Khorne for example, you can look over at the Dials and determine that you can no longer win (ie you cant get the Dial win even if you get doubles every turn). Has happened once or twice in our games. It feels a bit gamey.

Feels like a Euro though.

Smallworld on the other hand looks like a kiddie kiddie Euro game with a pasted on theme. I haven't tried it, and there's a reason for that.

I would vote for "Other" before I would vote for Small World. This is like entering your Bichon Frise in a dog fight.

There has to be a better way to pick the games. Maybe darts at a wall? Seems more likely to come up with fair matches.

S.

Vote: Chaos in the Small World











Sorry, couldn't resist. My vote is of course for CitOW.

I think trashdome needs to retire for a bit.

More like people need to give me better requests.

Here are the problems with Trashdome as I see them:

1. You put Arkham Horror in here, and you may as well not even have a Trashdome that week.

2. You put a new game against an old game, and nobody's played the new one yet, and theo old one wins.

3. You put a fairly new game against an older one. Now, almost everyone's played the newer one, and only a few of the participants have played the older one. Half of the people voting for the new one bitch about Cult of the Old, half the people voting for the old one bitch about Cult of the New. Of the people who've actually played both, the vote gets split between stubborn old bastards like me, and people with the patience of a frigging goldfish who can't be bothered to play the old one anymore (note: these are actually some of the most entertaining Trashdomes).

4. You put two old games against each other, and almost nobody's played either one, let alone both.

Given the fact that these are basically the options on the table for Mad Dog, I'm surprised he's turned out as many smashmouth contests as he has. The Trashdomes lately have kinda' sucked, but it'll pass once some of these newer titles have had time to settle in a bit.

kookoobah wrote:

metalface13 wrote:

Haven't a lot of those been done?

Just feels like it, but no, I don't think any of them have.

Starcraft vs. Nexus Ops definitely has
Dune vs. Cosmic Encounter definitely has

Guess I can take the blame for suggesting this Dome.

Suggested because both games see a lot of play in our group. However, Small World gets pulled out more because it scales far better and the number of folks at a given game night is anyone's guess. On top of that, we usually get a lot of non-gamers over.

Vote: Small World

Vote: Chaos In The Old World . It is one of the few new games I would like to try out.

Vinci is one of the games that turned my wife permanently off of gaming due to it being so dry. Small World puts lipstick on the pig but that's offset by playability issues.

CitOW hands down. I wonder if this trashdome is a sneaky maneuver to weed out all the Euro Sympathizers and send them to the brig! To the brig I tell you!

Vote: CitOW

Small World is going to get a stomping it doesn't really deserve here. Put it in a EuroDome, where it belongs, and it will win handily over almost anything that's not T&E or SoC.

CITOW is a much better AT game, but I don't know if it's a better game overall, just because what it's trying to do is so different than SW.

I have a much easier time getting SW to the table due to the scalability and easy-breezy teachability, so in the last year it's contributed more to my fun than my one game of CITOW that was really awesome but took forever to coordinate with the right # of players, and then teach it all. That, plus a slight protest factor:

Vote: Small World

I have a much easier time getting SW to the table due to the scalability and easy-breezy teachability

Yet another piece of proof that Small World is the McDonalds cheeseburger of boardgaming.

S.

Small World not even worth commenting on.

Vote: CitOW.

Sagrilarus wrote:

I have a much easier time getting SW to the table due to the scalability and easy-breezy teachability

Yet another piece of proof that Small World is the McDonalds cheeseburger of boardgaming.

S.

If he said:
"I have a much easier time getting Nexus Ops to the table due to the scalability and easy-breezy teachability."

You'd be in full agreement.

In fact, here's your quote regarding Nexus Ops:
Sagrilarus wrote:

This is a game that a bunch of guys can sit down to brand new, completely futz their way through and have a great time.

I can see why most are going to vote CitOW in this Dome, but if you're going to detract from Small World at least bring a legit case.

Jack Hooligan wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote:

I have a much easier time getting SW to the table due to the scalability and easy-breezy teachability

Yet another piece of proof that Small World is the McDonalds cheeseburger of boardgaming.

S.

Bull.

If he said:
"I have a much easier time getting Nexus Ops to the table due to the scalability and easy-breezy teachability."

You'd be in full agreement.

In fact, here's your quote regarding Nexus Ops:
Sagrilarus wrote:

This is a game that a bunch of guys can sit down to brand new, completely futz their way through and have a great time.

I can see why most are going to vote CitOW in this Dome, but if you're going to detract from Small World at least bring a legit case.

Whoa -- I said a bunch of guys could futz through Nexus Ops and have a great time. Plenty to look at and make mistakes with, AND (and this is big) your destiny is your own and you are free to do what you want. There's plenty of choices to make and you can play it the way you like without someone telling you a better way to do things, largely because your opinion of what is best is driven by your play style as much as the board. Nexus Ops gives you an opportunity to put your personality into the play.

Small World is the opposite -- a bunch of new guys will sit down to it the first time, understand the obscenely basic mechanic immediately, play pretty much optimal games their first time out, and likely forget about the details afterwards. There's just nothing gripping about the game. It's vanilla flavored, and the cook skimped on the vanilla. It's just a non-inspiring game. It plays itself. It's a yawner. I can forward you my game comments on it if you like, but that's the heart and soul of it. Frankly it's not that I don't like the game, it's just that it's not really much of a game at all. It's more of a discussion topic that everyone at the table can share.

S.

That's much better!

Not that I currently agree with your take on either game, but this provides something to chew on.