What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Gary Sax wrote: Just wanted to compliment how much your camera setup has improved since you started a few months ago, great job.

Thanks I think I've got it about as good as it can look with my current gear. Next step is getting better lighting and a better camera, but we'll see if I actually invest that much money into it yknow.

Playing more Iron Helm and decided to do what Michael did and just shuffle the expansions in. I figure I can always take cards out if they become problems later or even just make my own custom base set of cards. It's a solo game so I'm the only one who'll have to be okay with any house rules I come up with. Despite being slightly undercooked I do think it's a good game. There are a lot of little decisions that feel like they matter and a well done push-your-luck element. For replayability I think it'd be fun a couple times a month as a quick solo dungeon-crawl that isn't a minis skirmish game. I read somewhere the designer is working on a stand-alone expansion.

Believe it’s called Tin Helm...and comes in a mint tin. Not out yet. I imagine it’s a more...malleable... system.

update after a few more games of Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition: the games i played yesterday (ie the ones in that youtube video, where it seemed super hard to win) i missed the part of setup where you start with 5TR instead of 0TR. that made getting your engine off the ground WAAAAY easier, and i won both games I played tonight. Still on Novice difficulty, and I don't think I win on Regular or Hard, but it at least made it seem possible to win

Yeah, I’m a little perplexed as to why the Iron Helm expansions are presented as “adventures”...there is no map, but they come with a different progress card and about a paragraph of story, the Loot, Plots, and Monsters don’t synergize with any of it. There is no actual storyline other than what happens when you play (that OSR thing again) so...I don’t get it. It’s more fun to have a wider range of possibilities than it is to play a “campaign”.

I’ve played with some house rules myself...like having the loot draws be a choice of Potion or Loot.

Michael Barnes wrote: Yeah, I’m a little perplexed as to why the Iron Helm expansions are presented as “adventures”...there is no map, but they come with a different progress card and about a paragraph of story, the Loot, Plots, and Monsters don’t synergize with any of it. There is no actual storyline other than what happens when you play (that OSR thing again) so...I don’t get it. It’s more fun to have a wider range of possibilities than it is to play a “campaign”.

Seems a bit like Arkham Horror 2nd in that regard. Some players were overly concerned with maintaining the purity of a given combination of expansions, and would strip out all the cards and monster chits that didn't go with, for example, the Innsmouth board and the King in Yellow expansion. I always preferred to play with everything in the mix, for a wider range of possibilities. Besides, setup time is already a burden in Arkham Horror 2nd, so there is no need to make setup even harder. The final big box expansion validated my viewpoint, by adding in a lot of cards that often linked two expansions together.

Playing Hardback on BGA. Pretty fantastic game. The interface is nice and even gives a gauge of which specialty cards people are buying. That is helpful when looking to trash or jail ones.

ubarose wrote: lol. My step-dad is like that. He once told me that he rather shovel gravel than play a board game.

If it was Reef Encounter, same.

I posted a longer bit about it in the game specific thread, but I think Imperium Classics would have some pretty wide appeal with the people who read this thread. To me, it's a mashup of a Pax game and their variable expense tableau with a more traditional keep to yourself deck builder in the Dominion style.

ubarose wrote: lol. My step-dad is like that. He once told me that he rather shovel gravel than play a board game.

You know, when I was a kid my dad and I used to read tons of books and trade off with each other. Then at some point he reverted to the "always working" type and retreated to the workshop to build stuff.

Turned out he just lost the ability to read easily when his vision deteriorated so he turned from books and never went back. Even after PRK and bifocals he just lost that vibe.

Wonder if something similar is at play with your in-law. He scoffs at board games because he has a limitation with engaging with them.

Tonight was supposed to be the first "real" board game night in... might as well be forever. I had 5 people lined up for Cosmic Frog. My intent for after was to play JAWS since I figured one would leave after Cosmic Frog, and I also knew that one of the 5 is a notorious flake and probably wouldn't come anyway.

Turns out 2 didn't come, but even with 3 I pressed on with Cosmic Frog. I was the only one who had played before. This was my first time getting to play the actual physical release, so I was excited. I painted my frogs when I got the game, and that has been a while now. I first played a physical prototype back in 2017, I think. Maybe it was 2018. I played a lot of games on TTS as well.

Anyway... 3 players is not the greatest way to experience Cosmic Frog, but we still had a great time. There was some light vault raiding. The absolute best moment was at the end. We had an Aether Flux, and one player became the Ravager. He swallowed a barren, and spit it into the shard, causing a splinter strike that actually ended the game. It was hilarious. I came in last.

We then lost a player, so we were down to 2. We played 3 games of Volt. My opponent loved it, and will probably be getting his own copy. I won 2 of the games, and he destroyed me in the third. Volt is fucking great. It's programmed movement with robots beating the shit out of each other. I hope to play with more than 2 some time, I'm sure it's crazy. There are advanced rules and boards, but I have never went past the introductory mode. It's so good as it is.

Went camping last week, brought some games. This was mostly a mistake. The campground was very hot and dry and dusty, so one tended to wash one's hands constantly, which mostly just made them muddy.

In Vino Morte was a big hit, as was Love Letter. My nieces promptly lost one of the red cubes ("tokens of affection") in the dirt somewhere. Played Skulls of Sedlec once.

I should have brought a deck of cards and a scoresheet. Oh Hell and Spades are fun enough, and I don't especially care if a deck of cards gets jacked up.

Picked up our own copy of Abandon all Artichokes. It’s still a fun little game. I talked a little bit about it before- it’s basically a deckbuilder where your goal is to trash your original cards ASAP.

Tried Bullet. We went on to play it three times after initially being a bit daunted. It’s kinda hard to see how it all fits together until you actually try it.

I traded for Red Rising the newest card game from Stonemaier games. The collectors edition is really stupidly produced, but whatever. The only really issue is the metal player bits are 6 colors, but really they're 3 pairs of barely distinguishable colors. Anyway, it's a weird card drafting game sort of? I'm having a hard time solidifying my thoughts about it, having only played some solo games of it so far. You score what's in your hand at the end, and cards all have unique bonus scoring based on other things in your hand (be it certain colors or specific other cards or your position on tracks or etc etc). The thing is, it seems like getting more cards is basically how you win, and there are some brutal take that cards that make your opponent lose hand size... Dunno it's just a weird game. Is recommend trying it if you have the opportunity and you like odd card games, but I'm not in love with it yet? I need to play some multiplayer and see how it plays out. More than anything else it kinfa makes me want to try the game Fantasy Realms that it reimplements.