What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Oh yeah, Show Manager is really great fun. Played it a lot before gifting it to a friend who was taken with it. I understand it’s a reprint of another, drier, game about cruise ships that then had a more recent reprint itself. Atlantic Star or something.

I love the freakishly horrendous artwork in it, everything is slightly off-key in an endearing way. I never played with the optional rules with sweethearts as it looks like it puts too much complexity into a likeable breezy game.

My wife and I introduced a friend to The Mind for our first three-player game. Lost during level 4 the first time, during level 3 of the bonus levels the second time, as it goes.

Might have introduced some cheating when I told them I was counting silently, but I was too impressed that my wife dropped the 55 when I reached it to not say anything.

We played through Exit: The Catacombs of Horror, which is by far the best in the series. It is a double length game with a mid point where it can be stopped and saved. The game has way more components than this series usually has and it uses all of them very well. Lately, it seems like Unlock! has been doing more stuff with the escape game feel and Exit has seemed to be coasting (and I prefer the Exit series), but this was the strongest for us from either series. It is probably the most difficult game in the series, but it never felt like it was intentionally opaque. Anytime we felt completely stumped, once we had solved the puzzle, we were always impressed by the clever way it had done so. Highly recommended if you like this type of game.

Roll Player - I'm about to give this game the most damning description I can think of for a game. Before I do that I will say there's nothing technically wrong with it. I think it was genuinely a good idea for a game that just doesn't work out. Because...it's completely boring to play. I could see maybe if it was a cell-phone game to waste time with it could be worthwhile, but otherwise there's just not enough there. I tried the M&M expansion as well and it's also pretty boring in the sense that it never seems risky. You can usually tell by how many combat dice you'll get and how much xp you have for rerolls whether you'll win or not. So its really just something else to do to try and break up the boringness of the base game. The final boss is just a last minute grab for bonus points. Its a simple enough game that I'd play again if someone else wanted to, but I'd be just as entertained watching grass grow.

ChristopherMD wrote: Roll Player - stuff...

I keep eyeing this game because it sounds like a cool idea, but everything I read about it sounds like what you have described so I avoid it. Thanks for further confirming my choice.

Roll player nudges over into the positive with it's theme, but it definitely didn't blow anyone away when I played it. It was fine? Not enough to keep it from getting traded away though.

I actually really dig Roll Player. The puzzle has been consistently interesting for us to the point that we haven't needed the expansion. I could see why it wouldn't appeal to people, but it works for us.

Continuing our exploration of older games -- which I mean 20+ years. but last night it was 45+ years -- with Feudal and King Oil. The former is like suped-up chess, and my head was tired after we were done. The latter is just a nice example of rules economy that forces both player action and interaction -- no turtling in the 70s.

We also did another round of Have Gun Will Travel and Gunsmoke...both have some cool ideas that make them worth playing, but there are also some rough spots (no player elimination, though)...but they're from the 50s, so what do you expect.

I have now played three games of Spy Club with the oldest kids (7 and 10) and we're definitely digging it. You are a group of detectives trying to solve a crime by collecting sets of cards to lock in the who, the why, the where and the what. On the surface it seems extremely dry, and it's hard to see exactly what detective work you're doing. But the game encourages you to come up with a story as you play, and it works suprisingly well. For instance it turned out that in our second game the old neighbour trespassed in the mansion because she was hungry and she ate the cake. Only, we initially thought it was the twins, but they turned out to be innocent and became our informants instead.

The real genius of the game, however, is that you can play a series of five linked games where you not only solve mysteries, but also uncover more of a major crime you try to prevent. And depending on what parts of the major crime you solve in each game, new stuff is unlocked. So in the most recent game, for instance, we not only had to solve the mystery of a librarian at the school, but also had to help the butler in the mansion secure some rooms.

I have for some time been looking for a coop game that can be played in about half an hour with the kids and I think I just found it.

I've had my eye on it for ages, when I read the rules it seemed to mechanical. I know you said you can bring out a narrative - my guys could do that fine - but does the deductive stuff and the moving cards around, does that link to the narrative well, or is it a bit of a stretch?

mc wrote: I've had my eye on it for ages, when I read the rules it seemed to mechanical. I know you said you can bring out a narrative - my guys could do that fine - but does the deductive stuff and the moving cards around, does that link to the narrative well, or is it a bit of a stretch?

At first it feels like a bit of a stretch. But much of the game is like a puzzle - how can we confirm that card (add it to the set you're collecting), how can we do so that you can help me on my turn and so on. It's not very linked to the story - more mechanical. But gradually it begins to make sense. Especially as you draw new rule cards. For instance in the very first game we first learned that it was a theft. That unlocked an archive which could help us. That meant we could collect sets of only 4 cards, but they had to be added to the collection in alphabetical order.

Also, coming up with a story is pretty fun.

Tried out Champions of Hara and my initial take is that it’s cool as hell. Feels like Mage Knight but takes an entirely different route to get there and is by far more assessable. You only have a small selection of cards but there’s a good amount of combos you can make out of them, which feels super satisfying. The core mechanic is pretty killer but keeping track of which card is in which state can be confusing sometimes. A player aid broken into 3 sections to keep track of which card is where would have gone a long way.

Interested to see the co-op side of it, but the basic competitive game was good enough.

Had a 4 player game of Gorechosen last night. Only 2 of us had played before, but that was not a problem. The problem was that we were all completely drunk, and player elimination reared its head in an unsatisfying way:

I killed one player on turn 1. I was killed on turn 3. No big deal, right? You get to play nasty tricks from beyond the grave. Unfortunately, those tricks were not enough to not make the rest of the game take 45 minutes.

Granted, had I not been begging for sleep at that point, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

Attended a small con this past long weekend, saw some long time friends I've met over the years at other cons. Got in a good mix of mostly multi player games. In no particular order :

SPACE BASE ( x 3 ) : nothing extraordinary here, just a decent maybe hour long game of a die rolling, card tableau builder. I've heard the expansion adds in a Legacy element, which seems bizarre for such a short somewhat abstract game. We just played the base game. I had never played before but its pretty easy to pick up and the fact you can act on both your die rolls as well as your opponents keeps things lively and entertaining.

COMMAND AND COLORS MEDIEVAL ( x2 ) : Played two games, switching sides on the same scenario which featured some Sassanid vs Persians I think ? Mechanically its pretty similar to the other games in the series; the tweak here is that Leaders can expend tokens given at the scenario start for bonuses. The other change is that most cavalry now has a Ranged Fire capability and makes up a higher percentage of the forces as I skimmed the rules. If you liked the series already, its maybe worth a look. If not, this won't change anything. I am a bit puzzled why they started in the mid 500 AD period; I think going later would have more "box office" appeal, but I suppose the inevitable follow up modules can cover that. Our two games were both blowouts, as CC can tend to be sometimes. My opponent got some shitty cards both games and I had some ridiculous dice. The games are short enough its easy enough to to reset and try again. And it was only a single scenario sample base.

GLORY TO ROME ( x3 ) . Still holds up well after all these years. Since I was travelling I had my old version set, whose cartoon artwork I like as the whacky art fits perfectly with the broken engine aspect of the game. Both games were low scoring ( partially due to only 3 players ) as the tableaus people built forced someone to end the game early to try to prevent a blowout. The first game was 23-13-12, but the second game was 16-15-15.

LAS VEGAS: the classic "late night what do we do for a half hour " choice.

ATLANTIC STORM: another long time classic in our group. The Lock N Load reprint, which they stupidly only printed 100 copies of which sold out in a few hours at WBC last year....and has been out of print ever since. WTF ???

Now for the meatier/more interesting stuff:

SPACECORP: we playtested the expansion twice . Its basically (as it stands how ) 16 new corporations, each with unique abilities. some of which vary by era. The game mechanics are largely unchanged other than a mild tweak to the card replenishment offer sequence and an alternative to end game scoring by giving each new corporation a unique scoring goal/ability. You draw two corps and keep one. The range of abilities is VERY wide and a lot more varied than I thought it would be. If you don't like the game ( and I know it has pretty mixed feedback here ) I don't know this will change your mind. If you like it, I def think it will be worth checking out . No word on timeframe. I suspect it will hit prepub by the end of the y year; I think it needs a fair bit of testing to balance. As it stands now, some corps can not be played together; I am not sure if that will survive as its a bit clunky to implement.

ANGOLA : one of our group who loves the game got the map scanned and doubled in size; enlarged the counters and stickered them on 1" thick plastic tiles. Looks fantastic now . It will be at WBC and played in open gaming a number of times during the con. The game we played started in bad fashion for the commies, but they rallied and beat back the Western backed interlopers to seize an auto victory on turn 6. Another game played later with a different group saw the Commies establish an early lead but then succumb to good guys. We still feel the Commies are at a disadvantage and need help, but part of this may be an abnormal amount of group experience - I logged my 30th play ( and I started playing before I started tracking plays ) and we've evolved play on both sides to pretty high levels that many groups might not have and thus not see the same imbalances ( since fixed ) kind of threw the

SUCCESSORS: We had a group brain fart and didn't review which edition we'd be playing, so we ended up using the original edition but with 3rd edition rules. The result was that two of the more broken cards ( that give the players extra card draws ) threw the game out of whack and it ended on the second turn . We vowed to try to reconvene at WBC and try again using the full third edition - it had been a long time for all of us and we were pretty rusty. This is a unique card driven game with some different mechanics. Its not easy to pick up but it rewards players who put in the effort. An acquired taste to be sure.

Last game of the con was HERE I STAND. I hadn't played in awhile and most of the other players were more experienced. I drew France and started off in decent shape. We played the newest version, so France's home card is a bit more variable in that you roll a die, modified by how much territory you've gained or lost. I managed to fortify well and stave off repeated English invasions of my Scottish ally and had crept up to 20 VP at one point due to some good New World exploration/conquest. But my Ottoman ally was bogged down in a Foreign War to the extent it left the Hapsburg free to invade and take a home key as well as trash my Home Card die mods. Both the Pope and Protestant made a one turn lunge for victory - the Pope thwarted when I drew then played a card to break his alliance with Genoa - a card draw the Pope had given me ! Meanwhile the Protestant, watching the Hapsburg set up for a turn 5 push, took some chances and squeezed out a turn 5 religious victory. We all knew the game pretty well and were clocking in 45 minute turns, which def helps make the game more accessible. I still slightly prefer VIRGIN QUEEN, as I think it has more options for VP, which are more a fixed total quantity in HiS so in order to gain, you have to take them from someone else.

Msample wrote: Attended a small con . . .

COMMAND AND COLORS MEDIEVAL ( x2 ) : I am a bit puzzled why they started in the mid 500 AD period; I think going later would have more "box office" appeal,

Yep, I wrote it off immediately when I saw it was Byzantines. It's one of those periods in history that is absolutely fascinating, except that it's not absolutely fascinating. Every time I've tried to read on it I've glazed over and moved to other eras earlier or later. Granted warfare didn't change much between 500 and 1300, but there's a lot of ground to cover and I think naming this game a little more clearly might have made things easier for future releases.

Msample wrote: ATLANTIC STORM: another long time classic in our group. The Lock N Load reprint, which they stupidly only printed 100 copies of which sold out in a few hours at WBC last year....and has been out of print ever since. WTF ???

I've eyeballed it, considering a purchase. Not that that matters . . .

Msample wrote: SPACECORP: we playtested the expansion twice . Its basically (as it stands how ) 16 new corporations, each with unique abilities.

Terraforming SpaceCorp. Check.

Msample wrote: If you don't like the game ( and I know it has pretty mixed feedback here ) I don't know this will change your mind.

The game is fine. I think my buddies like it more than me so I may sell it to them at an attractive price. Hasn't been requested recently, but, you know, it's six months old at this point. That's ancient by today's standards. I'll leave it to them to purchase the expansion if they like it enough. Giving each player a more specialized focus might add some interest to the game.

Msample wrote: Last game of the con was HERE I STAND.

Finished big. I need to get on your Con schedule. I think you're local.


Nice report. You could put a couple of these out as blog posts to give games like Angola and Here I Stand more presence on the web site, a place for people to gather and discuss. Just a thought.