What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Legomancer wrote: ANYWAY, here's what I've been playing:


Imperial Settlers - A couple more games of this. I still like it but man, it just makes me want to play The New Era. Especially with the expansion, I can't seem to accept it for itself yet and instead just see it as a fluffier version of that. I realize that in a lot of ways it's better -- certainly the rules are much more straightforward, but still.

Temporum - Another from this past weekend:

So far, DXV doesn't seem to be a designer for me. I admire Dominion and Kingdom Builder, but I don't find them particularly fun or interesting. I wasn't expecting I'd be wowed much by this one. However, I really enjoyed it. I liked how the time travel and history-changing worked, and thought the flavor throughout it was a lot of fun. It was good with two, but I think a full compliment making it more chaotic will be even better.

(I suspect that said possible chaos will cause "concern" with his usual fans because "too random" and "unpredictable".)

Imperial Settlers - I've played this a couple of times since you taught it to me last year and I keep wishing there was just a bit more to it. In the back of my mind I can't help but get the feeling that they sacrificed depth/gameplay for the sake of making it more accessible. I could be wrong. Either way, it makes me REALLY want to track down The New Era! I think that might be the game I'm looking for.

Temporum - I've also been surprisingly pleased with how much I've enjoyed Temporum. It's a fairly basic card game, but for some reason I dig it. It does get more chaotic with more players and I think that's a good thing. The game probably deserves a better fate. Vasal & his crew ripped it to shreds because it wasn't "thematic". A really ugly cover with a 'Dangerous' era Michael Jackson looking time traveler probably didn't help matters. An expansion or two could really flesh out the game and add a tad bit more complexity. I doubt it sold well enough to warrant any further development though.

Right in the middle of M&M playing the Seas of Glory expansion which adds 11 new modules including wind and weather, locations (as an alternative to ports), a ton of cards, some new ships, mods, special weapons and a new type of cargo: contraband. There's a new Spanish treasure galleon (with a beautiful gold mini) that mid-game has about 40 gold sitting on it right now. The expansion adds an NPC pirate Man-o'-War and a new ship type, the Brig (for every player and NPC) which is midway between the sloop/flute and a frigate/galleon and can be used by either pirate or merchant. The expansion is very good and really completes the game. It offers more choices, creates a money sink that eliminates the quick gold victory and provides more opportunity to mitigate luck. If M&M was a good pirate game before. it's a great one now.

Also had a pretty good time with Shadows of Malice, and still figuring out how I feel about Darkest Night from Victory Point Games. It's not a new game but it's got a ton of expansions and a solid fan base that piqued my interest. It's Ghost Stories tough at the moment, but I'll need another few plays to figure out whether that's just me sucking at figuring out its strategy or whether it really is that tough. I feel a bit like a rat on a wheel trying to reach an unobtainable carrot on a stick and my fear is that it's just another artificially difficult co-op.

I love Power Grid and really wanted Power Grid: Factory Manager. It got played once and everyone hated it. To this day I haven't found a single Friese game I like other than Power Grid.

Legomancer wrote: I love Power Grid and really wanted Power Grid: Factory Manager. It got played once and everyone hated it. To this day I haven't found a single Friese game I like other than Power Grid.

Have you tried Friday? Great solo game.

Legomancer wrote: I love Power Grid and really wanted Power Grid: Factory Manager. It got played once and everyone hated it. To this day I haven't found a single Friese game I like other than Power Grid.

I'm nearly in the same boat. Power Grid is awesome, but his other games are mediocre or just plain bad. Also, his English rules translations are universally awful.

Minor exceptions:

Fast Flowing Forest Fellers is a fine light race game, but like most other race games it's best with the max number of players.

Fearsome Floors is OK if two monsters are used at the same time. It's weak with only one monster.

I'm not a solo gamer, but a friend who is really likes Friday.

Egg Shen wrote:

aaxiom wrote: Back on-topic...

One play of Power Grid: Factory Manager.

Any further thoughts or comments about this one? I've been curious about it, but never pulled the trigger. You like it?

Oh, it's pretty dry... probably the driest of all of his titles that I've played. With that said, I enjoy it since there's a time and place for such things in my life. I certainly can't speak for others though. It's certainly not the best of his offerings, but it's not the worst.

It's better than any game I've ever designed to date, though.

I owned Factory Manager for about a year and a half and probably got around ten plays out of it. I enjoyed it a great deal actually and had a pretty good time with it but it is pretty mathy and there is little to no interaction or conflict of any sort. It's a bit dry but it is about work.. so I felt like it fit all right. Not a great game but a decent one. I had a good time with it and got rid of it when it became stale.

Fearsome floors is cool too if you screw around with the design a bit (two monsters is a good call).

Power Grid is a masterstorke though, I fucking love that game. The spacial on board element makes it so much more than just a Euro.

I really, really want a copy of Fast Flowing Forest Fellers (my old man was a forester so it holds a special value for me) and if anyone has one on here I'd be willing to trade for it... even above value just so I don't have to spend anything.

I found Imperial Settlers a little bit too dependent on the table meta. How's The New Era in this regard?

Sevej wrote: I found Imperial Settlers a little bit too dependent on the table meta. How's The New Era in this regard?

What do you mean by "dependent on the table meta"?

I was playing Hotel Tycoon last night and it totally reminded me of Ayn Rand. Each player is out for themselves, trying to take what they can and leave nothing for the other companies. Games are totally the epitome of Ayn Rand - you take it all to win.

JonJacob wrote: Power Grid is a masterstorke though, I fucking love that game. The spacial on board element makes it so much more than just a Euro.

I've avoided it like a plague, because so many people said that it was a dry, shit Euro. That kind of sucks that you like it, because now I think I'll like it. Shit.

I really, really want a copy of Fast Flowing Forest Fellers (my old man was a forester so it holds a special value for me) and if anyone has one on here I'd be willing to trade for it... even above value just so I don't have to spend anything.

I never even heard of this!

boardgamegeek.com/geekmarket/product/692816
5$, JJ. Why trade. It's FIVE BUCKS.

I might get it. It's funny how our lives have paralleled in some ways: we're both in mining/recycling, and my father in law was a forester as well.

SuperflyTNT wrote: I was playing Hotel Tycoon last night and it totally reminded me of Ayn Rand. Each player is out for themselves, trying to take what they can and leave nothing for the other companies. Games are totally the epitome of Ayn Rand - you take it all to win.

Uh, yeah... no.

SuperflyTNT wrote: I was playing Hotel Tycoon last night and it totally reminded me of Ayn Rand. Each player is out for themselves, trying to take what they can and leave nothing for the other companies. Games are totally the epitome of Ayn Rand - you take it all to win.

1830 is like this. Cut throat capitalism for the masses.

I used to enjoy it at one time imagining I was the ultimate in bastard capitalism. Of course, I always lost to the better player or the meanest.

Are there other books apart from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand that are worth reading?

I'm not sure that playing economic games "nice" or "greedy" is always the best way. I like games with negotiation because it basically tosses anti-trust laws on their head, and gives an idea of what life would be like without regulation. It's my passive aggressive and safe way to STICK IT TO THE MAN

LOL

To that point, The Fountainhead is actually entertaining and makes you think, but fuck is it hard to read. It's like Guns, Germs, and Steel in that regard - don't listen to the Audiobook while on a long drive or you WILL nod off and cause a wreck.

I love Power Grid.
I played Factory Manager once, then traded it away. It was just okay.
Fearsome Floors can be fun with the right group, but I sold it for space without regrets.
I really like Friday.
I really like Furstenfeld, but most people don't. I think the game was hurt by instructing people to play the "Introductory" game first. All gamers should have no trouble going right into the full game, and just a couple of rules make it far more interesting.

I think that's all the Feld I've played.