Re: What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Got in a second play of Space Cadets over the weekend and we got smoked. We jumped into mission 1 to capture 3 crystals and didn't even manage to snag 2 of them before getting surrounded by 3 enemy ships, including Nemesis. This game seems to require some serious skill and I can't wait to get a few more plays in to see if that's true. Everyone at the table had fun despite getting waxed by the enemy ships, so hopefully I can talk them into braving the horrors of space exploration one more time.

Played PROPHECY twice this weekend with my son. Nice tidy little game there. It's TALISMAN reflected through Vlaada Chvatil. It's not roll-and-move, it's just move-a-little-or-a-little-more, but you do the same thing: bouncing around, having card-based adventures, gaining strength and craft (uh, "willpower"), and trying to get the Crown of CommandArtifacts that let you win the Final Battle.

It takes up much less space than TALISMAN on the table, which is nice, and plays a little quicker.

And you can kill Aslan to become Beastmaster.

jeb wrote: Played PROPHECY twice this weekend with my son. Nice tidy little game there. It's TALISMAN reflected through Vlaada Chvatil. It's not roll-and-move, it's just move-a-little-or-a-little-more, but you do the same thing: bouncing around, having card-based adventures, gaining strength and craft (uh, "willpower"), and trying to get the Crown of CommandArtifacts that let you win the Final Battle.

It takes up much less space than TALISMAN on the table, which is nice, and plays a little quicker.

I've never actually been as disappointed by a well-regarded game as I was with Prophecy. For me, it felt like nothing more than a grade school math problem with somewhat better artwork. I played a few times against a variety of folks who normally smoke me at just about any sort of game, but particularly Chvatil's games and won every game without every feeling challenged by either the other players or the game itself. Perhaps it's just one of those games that I gr0ked more readily than anyone else (something so rare as to be thought mathematically impossible), but I felt like I was, I dunno, counting cards in a game of Go Fish or some such equally inaccurate analogy. On top of that, I seem to be among the small minority that found the theme even more pasted on than the worst of the Euro resource management/impress a fat, rich white guy games.

Prophecy was my first experience with a game that I seemed to play pretty well and yet never wanted to see again. I just couldn't find anything that resonated with me, which was utterly unexpected based on both my tastes (I usually enjoy VladChv games) and endorsements it received from otherwise reliable brothers in cardboard like King Put.

You mean it's not dripping with theme? None of these games are. Oh look, an elf. I WONDER WHAT THAT'S LIKE? All these tropes are completely interchangeable from TALISMAN, PATHFINDER, DESCENT, &c &c. You have a guy, the guy has arrows or some shit but can get a staff, kill monsters, get gold, buy glaives, and beat the Big Bad.

Is it dry? Yes. Did my son go on at length about how well he plays the Spellblade and showed me how he went from 4 willpower cubes to 9 willpower cubes? Also yes. That's what I was shooting for and it delivered. And I have to admit I chuckled at the clover, which you keep because it gives you luck for the rest of the game (luck is not a stat or anything you don't have fate counters or similar that this influences). And killing the Lion does make you Beastmaster.

I could say you don't need PROPHECY if you have TALISMAN--that seems fair. But I don't mind having both right now.

Charlie: They said you was hung!
Bart: And they was right.

So much for the rumors that Dogmatix got himself kilt and had his ashes shot into space.

Good to see you are alive and kickin

Prophecy is alright. If not for that pile of IFs (ok, I got +1... waaaaait that's only for undead, back to +2, then...) and neck-bending movement choices (too many choice--for an adventure game--and you have to read cards in various orientation to weigh them all).

THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS!!!

Prophecy went overboard in trying to fix the movement "problem" of Talisman. Leveling up your hero is a cool idea but at least half the powers are movement related. I agree with the other critiques here and even so if the powers had been more interesting it might have worked better.

I understand Prophecy came out in the mid-00's rush to build the great new adventure game, but Runebound really won that race by a large distance, and since then we have great games like Merchants and Marauders and Firefly. I don't really understand why Prophecy is being reprinted.

The writing's been on the wall for some time, but I just wrapped up a PBEM game of Washington's War in which KingPut's 'MURICANS wiped the floor with my British.

My kid liked it folks, what can I say. It's not bad--sorry you've all had such a tough time with it. I don't think we had a turn go longer than a minute, and that was when we had to kill two of those big fellas for the Artifact.

Restarting my game night this week. Thinking RISK LEGACY--we're five games in.