Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35146 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20825 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7405 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3967 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3497 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2075 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2583 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2255 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2496 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3016 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3692 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2625 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2461 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2289 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2505 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Use the stickied threads for short updates.

Please consider adding your quick impressions and your rating to the game entry in our Board Game Directory after you post your thoughts so others can find them!

Please start new threads in the appropriate category for mini-session reports, discussions of specific games or other discussion starting posts.

What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

More
01 Dec 2021 08:26 - 01 Dec 2021 08:27 #328402 by Gary Sax
I like Clash of Cultures a lot. We should play sometime!

How's the TTS module, I wonder if they updated it from when Not Sure and I played...
Last edit: 01 Dec 2021 08:27 by Gary Sax.
The following user(s) said Thank You: san il defanso, Ah_Pook

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
01 Dec 2021 09:40 #328404 by san il defanso
Last night I played 7 Wonders Duel with the Agora expansion. This adds a "political" element to the game, though it's really more like area control. There are now cards in the pyramid that allow you to either vie for control of sections of a "senate" or to put conspiracies into play that give you a special one-time shot. You have more actions to move around the senate depending on how many blue cards you have. It's also possible to have a political victory, when you control all six sections of the senate at once.

Like the Pantheon expansion, I thought it was a fun new wrinkle without being essential. Both expansions have an issue of feeling like a bolted-on system to the core of the game, rather than something that really belongs in the design. This is not ideal, but I like what's been bolted on, so it's not a deal-breaker for me. I do like the way they both give you access to swingy card powers, which is a Bruno Cathala standard. I am an easy mark for Cathala's stuff, so that's the kind of thing I like. There has been some chatter about how the political victory is possible to achieve in the first age, which is probably not going to happen with a military or science victory. That's not really an issue to me, because players have plenty of opportunity to respond to what their opponent is doing. In other words, if you let you opponent do that, that's your own fault.

Having just sold my full set of Five Tribes, I kind of missed the "point salad" approach that game gave me. I don't have many games in that wheelhouse, but 7 Wonders Duel, with either expansion, actually takes it to pretty much the same place. There are forty-twelve ways to score points, and there's a great deal of ambiguity over what will give you the advantage in any given moment. That's not for everyone, but it works really well for me.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, dysjunct, Jackwraith, mezike, sornars, DarthJoJo, Ah_Pook

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
03 Dec 2021 18:43 #328490 by DukeofChutney
Dune: conquest and conquest

We played two games 3 player. First was won on the 3rd turn in classic amateurs play dune fashion as we left the seitch's free. The second was a brawl down the the last battle of the last turn for a Atreides victory on spice.

I like this game, it really works but the experience is much closer to something like Nexus Ops than Dune. Its easy to setup and teach, plays in ~1hr and is fairly forgiving of misfortune. There is a lot of randomness, so the game is essentially gambling at every juncture with some skill in the risk management.

If you are in the market for a low cost short brawling DOAM game this is well worth a look. If you want an epic negotiation game, old dune or look elsewhere.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
04 Dec 2021 13:23 #328497 by Gregarius

DukeofChutney wrote: I like this game, it really works but the experience is much closer to something like Nexus Ops than Dune.

Exactly right.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Cranberries

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
05 Dec 2021 11:04 - 05 Dec 2021 11:04 #328505 by JoelCFC25
The kids are having a no-screens weekend, so I roped the boy (turning 7 in January) into a game of Quacks last night. He got the hang of it quick, but there was a pause midway through the game for a teachable moment. Even though he got multiple reminders to not peek at what he was drawing out of the bag, and I let a few go by, he was a bit too obvious on turn 6 when he had 7 white points already in his pot and changed his mind about drawing further after he grabbed something and snuck a look only to find it was white.

He didn't want to cop to it at first, but we talked about playing by the rules so it's fair for everyone and taking things in stride even when it doesn't go our way. He was pretty sheepish but took it well and was able to have a laugh about finally blowing up his pot. Being in a winning position probably helped with it all, because ol' dad is a bit too devil-may-care in risky positions in that game.
Last edit: 05 Dec 2021 11:04 by JoelCFC25.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Dr. Mabuse, Legomancer, mezike, sornars, Gregarius, Nodens, DarthJoJo, Ah_Pook, n815e, Kmann

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Dec 2021 07:24 - 10 Dec 2021 07:27 #328661 by Ah_Pook
Played my first solo game of A Feast For Odin last night. It went similarly to my one multiplayer game lo those many years ago, in that I did a lot of things that seemed good but in the end failed to actually generate points. Ended with 68 and a completely full home board, which felt good but it's definitely a low score. I guess I'll try taking islands next time, I dunno. Scraping by filling up your home board definitely isn't the way, from what I've seen.

I remain kinda torn on AFFO overall. It's interesting but it hasn't really clicked for me. I would never try to teach this one to anyone, also. It's fun solo though! The alternating colors blocking you every other round is a really elegant WP solo solution.

Edit: I think I would have done better this time if I had realized I could upgrade my sheep/cows into green tiles to fill my board.
Last edit: 10 Dec 2021 07:27 by Ah_Pook.
The following user(s) said Thank You: sornars

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Dec 2021 09:51 #328668 by Gary Sax
^I found it a pretty easy teach, weirdly. The tetris thing came pretty intuitive to my spouse, but she's a pretty experienced gamer.

Yeah, supposedly to play well you have to hoover up the islands and other boards pretty hard, but I've never played these games with top level efficiency.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Ah_Pook

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Dec 2021 10:58 #328670 by Ah_Pook

Gary Sax wrote: ^I found it a pretty easy teach, weirdly. The tetris thing came pretty intuitive to my spouse, but she's a pretty experienced gamer.

Yeah, supposedly to play well you have to hoover up the islands and other boards pretty hard, but I've never played these games with top level efficiency.


It feels counterintuitive to me that you want to take on so many more negative points to do well, but presumably once you get the income rolling on the islands (especially the tile income) it more than balances out and in the end makes it easier to cover all the negatives on the islands AND your home board, as well as being actual positive points rather than just not negative points (like covering your home board). We'll see next time I play how it goes!
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Dec 2021 12:11 #328677 by Gary Sax
Yeah, some of those surround a tile autobonuses on the islands are incredible. Getting a whale meat tile every turn, for example, is bonkers.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 Dec 2021 19:43 - 11 Dec 2021 19:52 #328713 by DarthJoJo
Only played my first game of Radlands today, but it is legit. You’re assembling a crew of the roughest survivors of the irradiated wasteland you call home to defend your base and push out anyone else who looks funny at your water. Even in this learning game we were finding combos that bordered on busted until the other one found the right card and strategy to counter them. My wife snuck out the win several turns after we both assumed she had no chance. And forget three pounds of miniatures. This is the real luxe experience with plastic cards, Bakelite tokens, evocative art and a magnet seal box with an absolute minimum of wasted air.

Also pulled out Dominion and immediately fell into old habits of eight-action turns that net me two coins. Not surprisingly, my wife won with her favorite big money strategy.
Last edit: 11 Dec 2021 19:52 by DarthJoJo.
The following user(s) said Thank You: mads b., Cranberries, Jexik, sornars, n815e, Kmann

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 Dec 2021 19:57 - 11 Dec 2021 20:00 #328714 by Gary Sax

Ah_Pook wrote: Played my first solo game of A Feast For Odin last night. It went similarly to my one multiplayer game lo those many years ago, in that I did a lot of things that seemed good but in the end failed to actually generate points.


You motivated me to get out Feast too. The thing about Feast is that the positive point values are so rare and concrete. It's a really nice solution to the unreadability of the score in a lot of these types of games. You could, feasibly, know how many points someone is going to try to score based on less than maybe 10 things on their board, cards, and side boards.
Last edit: 11 Dec 2021 20:00 by Gary Sax.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Ah_Pook

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 Dec 2021 21:05 #328715 by sornars

DarthJoJo wrote: And forget three pounds of miniatures. This is the real luxe experience with plastic cards, Bakelite tokens, evocative art and a magnet seal box with an absolute minimum of wasted air.


The deluxe version with neoprene mats is so grotesquely oversized compared to the perfectly sized core box.
The following user(s) said Thank You: DarthJoJo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
12 Dec 2021 08:52 #328719 by Jexik

DarthJoJo wrote: Also pulled out Dominion and immediately fell into old habits of eight-action turns that net me two coins. Not surprisingly, my wife won with her favorite big money strategy.


I think it really depends on the kingdom setup. If there are no plus buys I generally won’t play for “big combo.”
The following user(s) said Thank You: DarthJoJo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
12 Dec 2021 18:37 #328728 by dysjunct
Played ROOT again and I think I’m a believer. My first play (over in the “let’s talk about Root” thread) I thought it was cleverness for its own sake, but now I am pretty sure it all has a larger point.

Also played FORT; I am less of a believer. It’s fine I guess, but is just another deck builder with a few tweaks. And there’s a lot of those out there.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, charlest

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
12 Dec 2021 19:41 #328731 by Gary Sax
I think Root is a game that requires a whole table of people learning together or the equivalent, you need people to know what each side is capable of pointswise.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Msample

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 1.765 seconds