What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

I haven’t played that game since the 90s, but it was one of our go-to games for a long time and we had all of the expansions.

We discovered that the longer the race, the less interesting it was. It was best if you places the checkpoints so that the bots had to potentially keep crossing paths. More confined spaces were usually better.

Have you played or given any thought to Summoner Wars 2e? I remember you liking it the first time around, but a lot has changed since then.


I did like it a lot, I was one of the earliest proponents of the game - they used to send me everything released for it. But I have not played the new version…just sent off an email to see if I can get a review copy, if so I’ll write it up.

Jexik wrote: I like it best with 1 board.

We played with 2 boards and 3 checkpoints. Flag 1 was on board one, Flag 2 on board 2, and Flag 3 back on the border of the boards, so you had to cross. Only three players, so not as much mayhem as one would like, but the game didn't drag, people got shot and pushed, and people messed up their programming. Good clean fun.

Less is definitely more with RoboRally. The game was great with just the base set and reasonable board set ups. Then people started adding in expansions and setting up ridiculous courses, dragging out the length of the game until all fun evaporated. Under any circumstances, the game plays better with a short sand timer to encourage quick and impulsive play. I haven't played in nearly 20 years.

I took a chance and bought RoboRally for my dad. He got me hooked on Acquire and board games in general when I was a kid, so I thought that he might like it. We were going to play a four-player game with my sister and her boyfriend, but two turns in, my dad was just not getting it or else playing dumb because he didn't like it, so we put it away and got out Acquire. It's possible that he really just wanted to play Acquire.

Legomancer wrote: I played RoboRally last night and although I despise it when nerds say that if you don't like something you hate joy and fun, if you don't like RoboRally then you hate joy and fun.

Can I subscribe to your newsletter? I hate joy and fun, too.

ROBORALLY is fairly polarizing; I rather enjoy it but have a hard time bringing it to the table.

The newest version of RR with the glitch cards you put into your deck is quite good, though if memory serves it needed some house rules on some stuff that the publisher messed with before putting it out (?). I love RR but yea it's definitely a love/hate kind of game. And it's very easy to set up a miserable game by messing up the track.

A lot of the best games are polarizing.

The two times I played RR, it collapsed under the weight of too much AP.

Shameless plug, feel free to delete: a small(ish) bunch of people is playing a clone of RR over at roboracer.net . Newcomers are always welcome, you can make moves in your active games in a couple of seconds, most people check in once a day.
So no AP and the size of the boards varies from tiny to huge, as does the number of players. There are puzzles as well

RobertB wrote: The two times I played RR, it collapsed under the weight of too much AP.

Seriously, a short sand timer really improves this game. Also, don't play games with AP players. They always murder the fun.

I thought there was a timer in the game, that starts when the first person finishes setting cards. Is that another game?

Sagrilarus wrote: I thought there was a timer in the game, that starts when the first person finishes setting cards. Is that another game?

RoboRally didn't include a timer when I used to play it back in the late '90s, but apparently later editions included a timer.

The timer is most of the fun. Slam some cards in place to force other players into random moves.

Sagrilarus wrote: I thought there was a timer in the game, that starts when the first person finishes setting cards. Is that another game?

I think Galaxy Trucker does this.

My second hand copy of RR came without a timer (although it was listed in the components).

Agreed with the comments about keeping it tight. One of our most chaotic ways to play involves using that board with the concentric conveyer belts and we put one flag on the belt so it is moving every turn, and call it the snitch. I think we have a simple rule for where it appears when it flows off the board. Then we play with 2 robots, each and you have to nominate which one is going for the flag and which one is running interference, i.e., seeker and.... bludger? Whatever the quidditch terms are, I forget. Madness.