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05 Jan 2023 21:33 #337748 by charlest
Not sure if it helps Uba, but it takes us about 2 hours when playing with 4 players. It can definitely go 3+ hours with 5 people.

I imagine most groups would not take six hours to play with five people. Our very first play was with five and took 3.5 hours.
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07 Jan 2023 17:36 #337756 by southernman

charlest wrote: I have it setup on my table and plan on working through the tutorial soon.

It has to be the physically biggest game ever made. A single box weighing 35 pounds, three feet long. I had a tough time getting it out of the shipping box.

It also was only $130 originally on Kickstarter and is now $300 MSRP. Kind of ridiculous.

Supposedly has 300 hours(!) Of content. It's certainly absurd.

Absurdly AWESOME :lol:
My game group has dispersed for various reasons (work, help, being an ass) so I probably won't be starting my copy until I get at least one person to enjoy it with, I could do it solo but I think the pure narrative part of it requires people to get involved in the story with ... and even the battles will be much more fun with others.
Amazing size box, loved the photo someone posted of it compared to Gloomhaven, Astounding card and map tile contents, the minis are massive but soooooo intricately detailed that I am scared that my part-decent drybrushing will look worse on them (assuming I have the patience/ability to do models with that amount of detail) than just plain grey plastic. A 79 page rulebook and 30-something page learn to play booklet and three giant campaign books.
Absurd :woohoo:
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07 Jan 2023 17:52 #337757 by charlest
I have to say, I've really enjoyed it thus far. The tutorial was great. I've read 40 pages of the rulebook, but most of it was already covered in the Learn to Play. The rulebook is actually pretty damn good, certainly better than almost any other I can recall in the past several years. It's very thorough, readable, and logical. Long yes, and it's a very heavy game mechanically, but you could easily condense the rules down to a much shorter page count.
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07 Jan 2023 19:32 - 07 Jan 2023 19:46 #337758 by southernman

charlest wrote: I have to say, I've really enjoyed it thus far. The tutorial was great. I've read 40 pages of the rulebook, but most of it was already covered in the Learn to Play. The rulebook is actually pretty damn good, certainly better than almost any other I can recall in the past several years. It's very thorough, readable, and logical. Long yes, and it's a very heavy game mechanically, but you could easily condense the rules down to a much shorter page count.

Have to say that these new Polish game companies (Into the Unknown, Awaken Realms, Galakta) as well as other existing European companies (Ares, Mythic, Monolith) and new smaller European ones have breathed a sharp new breath back into the genre of gaming that I appreciate and want to play.
Yes, many of them use the Crowdfunding platforms that make their games less accessible to the larger gaming community as a whole but they are getting their dreams (and products) out, which is what it is all about, and they are getting big enough numbers sold that they are able to continue with more projects as well as provide brilliant customer service (covering the shipping cost increases as much as possible, covering VAT issues after law changes).
Here's games from above mentioned that I have, did have, or will have:
AEON TRESPASS: ODYSSEY
AGE OF CONAN: Adventures in Hyboria
CONAN
DARKEST DUNGEON
ETHERFIELDS + Kittenburg
GALAXY DEFENDERS
HEL: The Last Saga
HUNT FOR THE RING
ISS: VANGUARD
LORDS OF HELLAS
MACHINA ARCANA 3rd Edition
MYTHIC BATTLES: RAGNAROK
NEMESIS
OATHSWORN: INTO THE DEEPWOOD
SINE TEMPORE
SUB TERRA: COLLECTORS EDITION
SWORD & SORCERY: Ancient Chronicles
SWORD & SORCERY: Immortal Souls
TAINTED GRAIL
THIS WAR OF MINE: THE BOARD GAME
WAR OF THE RING 2nd Edition
WASTE KNIGHTS 2nd Edition
Last edit: 07 Jan 2023 19:46 by southernman.
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07 Jan 2023 19:37 #337759 by Dive-Dive-Dive!
We ended 2022 with a four-player learning game of Oath. Even though it was our first play, it was clearly the game and gaming experience of the year. It's reasonably complicated, and the unique terminology -- favors, secrets, recover actions, etc. -- definitely adds to the feeling of complexity. At the same time, though, the actions, the costs, the card powers, the exceptions and special rules, almost always had a thematic tie and motivation. It's such an impressive design.

We started with the walkthrough and continued a full game from there. By the end of the game, the Chancellor had lost and regained the Oathkeeper title more than once, the Banners of the People's Favor and the Darkest Secret had changed hands, two of the Exiles had seen Visions, one had been granted Citizenship, and all four players had been one tiny step from victory. The game was won on a Vision of Faith, and we set up the Chronicle for the next game. We all had a blast and can't wait to play again.

If you're willing to hear it, the gameplay really does tell a story. Great stuff.

In fact we couldn't wait to play again, but our friends had family in town for New Year's weekend, so my wife and I let the Clockwork Prince rule game two as Chancellor. This time it didn't go as well. While I think we played game one with very few or no rules mistakes, we got a lot wrong with the Clockwork. Those rules are definitely not as well written -- or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. By the end of the game we'd come close to running a Clockwork turn correctly, but it really took working through the steps several times in multiple situations before we understood what was intended.

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07 Jan 2023 20:37 - 07 Jan 2023 21:38 #337761 by dysjunct
OATH is one of my current white whales. Looks intimidating so I’ve only shuffled through it, carefully putting things back in the proper order. Hopefully I’ll get to pull it out someday. Sigh.

Today:

JOYSTICK HEROES. Ten years ago this would have been hot shit, now it’s merely another really excellent game in a sea of too many games to play. On paper it’s a worker placement engine-building dice game, ho hum. But this is one of the proofs that a stellar theme can really take a set of okay mechanics to the next level.

The theme is that you are 80s kids trying to become the king or queen of your local arcade. You play video games to win tickets and prizes (stuffed animals, plastic sunglasses, whatever cheap stuff was behind the counter at Chuck E Cheese). Tickets can be spent to improve your skills, or for prizes. Most prizes at the end of the game wins. Skills are where the game is at; there’s eight different skills, four essential skills (joystick, buttons, timing, driving) and four genres of games (adventure, sports, sci-fi, and classic). Each point of skill gives you a die when you play a game with those skills. The dice all have points on them. Total up your points and look at the game to see how many tickets you get.

There’s cards that can give you little bonuses, and a generic game that doesn’t have specific skills (claw game, wheel of fortune, etc).

So the idea is to try and develop the skills that others don’t have, because then they won’t play the games you want. And the worker placement actually functions thematically, because if someone is playing a game then you can’t just go kick them off. (There’s a handful of 2p games.)

Fun, breezy, doesn’t take too long. Apparently it successfully kickstarted with only a couple hundred backers, so it probably will be hard to find. Nice production values too. Deserves more exposure IMO.

Edit: also today:

MUSHROOM CATS. Another barely-kickstarted dream project. Oversized cards with gorgeous and surreal art of dream-logic cats gathering mushrooms in the forest. Gameplay-wise it’s a drafting set collection game, similar to SUSHI GO. One nice twist is that there’s some cards that let you do special powers — steal a card from someone’s collection, draw extra cards, etc. But if multiple people reveal the same special power card, they cancel each other out with no effect. So you have to think of whether someone else will flop the card you just passed them, and whether it’s worth the risk of not getting points. A fun bluffing element that adds interactivity sorely missing from SUSHI GO. Probably also hard to find.

HEAT. Base game, no expansions, France track, 4p. Aggressive discarding is really key to the game, or at least that’s what I think at the moment. Give me a few more plays and I might settle on a different strategy. It also seems pretty good to be in the middle of the pack so you can slipstream more often — although not as important as in FLAMME ROUGE. And any turn where you can navigate two corners is godlike, although you have to have a ton of heat in reserve.

I won in a squeaker — tied for position, I won by being on the inside. The third guy had a chance to overtake if he got good draws on stress cards, but he flopped a 1 and a 2, and had no heat to boost past us with.

Great game. Can’t wait to fold in the expansions and do a circuit.
Last edit: 07 Jan 2023 21:38 by dysjunct.
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08 Jan 2023 07:53 - 08 Jan 2023 07:56 #337765 by Nodens
Fully agree with Dive's comments about Oath. Had the chance to visit my old hometown and introduce my old group to it.
I hadn't seen some of these people in years, and the gaming was top shelf.
Oath isn't actually complicated, it's just a lot of stuff. As Dive! said, there usually is a thematic anchor for everything.
This is a rules video on youtube which I found most helpful:
(Actually, it's two videos)

That said, after a lenghty rules discussion, the game delivered immediately. But it's all good. If one player says 'I need to understand campaigns before I take my first turn', you know they are in. During the first round, two guys started shouting. Perfect evening with the most interesting game I have seen in years.
Last edit: 08 Jan 2023 07:56 by Nodens.
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08 Jan 2023 11:02 - 08 Jan 2023 11:03 #337766 by Jexik
Yeah, Oath is cool. Got about a dozen live games in and I think we’re on our fourth game online with Steve and co.

Played Root two times in a row on thursday. Cats, Rats, Vagabond and Keepers in Iron (badgers). Second game was crazy close aside from the Vagabond which I had beaten down as the Rats and locked him out of crafting! The Rat v. Vagabond dynamic is interesting.
Last edit: 08 Jan 2023 11:03 by Jexik.
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08 Jan 2023 11:13 #337767 by Sagrilarus

dysjunct wrote: HEAT. Base game, no expansions, France track, 4p. Aggressive discarding is really key to the game, or at least that’s what I think at the moment. Give me a few more plays and I might settle on a different strategy. It also seems pretty good to be in the middle of the pack so you can slipstream more often — although not as important as in FLAMME ROUGE. And any turn where you can navigate two corners is godlike, although you have to have a ton of heat in reserve.


So this is more driver oriented, or more car management oriented? I appreciate preserving tires and the like, but some racing games put you in the role of the syndicate manager, not the guy driving the car. I have no interest in managing a team, I wanna race the car.
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08 Jan 2023 12:32 #337768 by dysjunct
Driver oriented for sure. All aspects of wear (tires, brakes, suspension, etc.) are subsumed under the Heat mechanic. And that’s entirely under driver control. Push your car, and Heat cards go into your deck. You can never play or discard them, so once you draw them they clog up your hand. The only way to get rid of them is to end your turn in 1st or 2nd gear — again, under driver control.

The “garage” module (in the box but optional) gives a bit more of a team feel. There’s a pre-race draft of cards that give little bonus powers when you play them — take this corner faster than the listed limit, cool down even if you’re in a higher gear, and so on. But once the race starts, it’s back to being in the seat of the car.
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08 Jan 2023 19:43 #337772 by Jexik
I lost my long post I was making while typing on my phone.

Boop. Amazing abstract. Sold out everywhere.

Micro Dojo. Awful.
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09 Jan 2023 20:45 #337783 by Bernie
More Aeon Trespass: Odyssey getting played. We also tried Frost Punk but it was a game we paues a month ago and it crashed and burned hard.

Aeon is shaping up to be 2 battles in a very short span. We get back to it Wednesday.

I'm really jazzed about it still. Can't wait to hear your thoughts Charles.
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10 Jan 2023 11:56 #337785 by Greg Aleknevicus
Lucky Numbers at BoardGameArena has been my go-to game when I want a quick (~3 minute) diversion. It's very luck-based but there's room for intelligent play. After more than 1000 plays, it's gotten a little stale, but still enjoyable given its play-time.

BGA has now added "Bruno's variant" which gives you an extra turn when you play an identical tile diagonally adjacent to another. This adds another layer to the game and has really freshened it up for me. It can lead to blow-outs, but again, this isn't a problem for a game that's so short.

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12 Jan 2023 08:26 #337803 by Bernie
Aeon Trespass: Odyssey continues to hit the table, with some played yesterday and another session planned for today.

We find ourselves beset on all sides with 3 fights in the span of 2 days. It has been pretty wild.

There is so much going on and the game adds more in, nice and slow. It's been pretty brilliant. Will have more to say after today.
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13 Jan 2023 06:54 #337816 by mads b.
We had a board game night at the office yesterday and I got to play both Heat and Ahoy.

We started with a six player game of Heat. Two laps on the American track. I've played a late prototype and one other player had played it before, but we quickly got the hang of it. The first lap was a bit slow and also somewhat boring because nobody really took any chances (possibly because we hadn't quite understood how to do it). But second lap had much more of a race feel to it, and we had an exciting finish where the lead car spinned out in the next to final turn while I and another player made it across first the turn and then the finish line way ahead of the rest. One space separated me from the first place, but it was exciting. The obvious comparison is Flamme Rouge (by one of the same designers) and they obviously share the same dna. But to me Heat felt more casual and didn't have quite the same need for brain burning. It felt faster, and that's just as it should be. However, that might change with more plays and when one get a better sense of the tactics.

We had three players for Ahoy and I got the smuggler. I've played have a two player game before, but the smuggler changes things up a lot. It's an assymetrical game about area control, and you use dice to activate actions such as moving your ship, placing new soldiers on the board and so on, but the big twist is that the smuggler plays a different game - a game of pick up and deliver while the two other factions duke it out. I had a lot of fun as the smuggler, and not just because I won a decisive victory. And after the game we could all see some ways that the two other players could've fought me better, which would make next game more balanced.
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