What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

Descent 2nd Edition campaign wrap up:

We decided to start fresh as we'd done a few minor things wrong the first time round. Now that we had a feel for how it played we wanted to give it a second chance. I don't expect much from a dungeon crawl. I don't expect the wild, varied, and rich experience of a good RPG session. All I want is a good fantasy combat tactical sim with leveling progression. So I go into it with low expectations to begin with. Or maybe I'm lying to myself and I do expect a bit more. Whatever, this game is a serious misfire.

The scenarios are mostly terrible timed affairs. Now this might not be a popular complaint about games but I personally hate timers in general. Some games just need them and I understand that. Others, like dungeon crawls, should not. I don't like feeling rushed. A game should take as long as it should take, no more or less. And you should win because you played well and lose because you didn't. Timers set up this... artificial difficulty. It's lazy. I don't want my dungeon delves to all be a race. I don't appreciate a game that lasts TWO turns. TWO. Or sometimes 3-5. Have you ever invited anybody over to your house to play Twilight Struggle for two turns? Hey, let's just play three turns of this game and then reset it and start over and we'll play four turns then quit. Then let's set up War of the Ring but let's just play for 2 turns, okay? Sound fun? Fuck no it doesn't. Why would you design a game or scenario like that? It's fucking retarded. But that's how the scenarios in Descent 2 play. Get ready to set up the next map.

Now some of the "missions" do go longer than what I'm saying but you get my point that they are brief. And as Overlord I'm also unsatisfied. I'm in the camp that if you're going to make an adversarial co-op that there should be equal challenge. But here, as in it's predecessor, there is no challenge playing the overlord. It still practically plays itself. There are no hard strategic choices to make here. It's easy to win unless you soften it up on purpose. Why would you want to do this? The fun is in the challenge and the challenge is strictly on the heroes side, just like before. So why didn't they just make it a total co-op with AI? WHY? I want to fucking play too. This was a terrible mistake. I bet if the game was straight co-op it would have sold twice the copies.

So I want some hack and slash adventuring so what does Descent offer in gameplay? Hurry up and kill the boss before he escapes. Hurry up and chase this vampire chick to the exit before she escapes. Kill the goblins before they run off and escape with the "crops". Yes, crops. Two footballs are hidden in the room, grab them before the monsters can escape with them. Kill this dude before he kills these other dudes. I mean what the fuck is this? That kind of stuff is fine once in a while but almost every time? Weaker tea.

Yes, they did make some mechanical improvements to the original game but you don't really appreciate them much because there is just something off about the whole product. I could nitpick on the combat aspects and the health values being odd, etc, but I'm out of steam. I could praise the spawning fix but eh.

I'll admit straight up that this isn't a fair review because we didn't play the later scenarios which might have been better. But why on earth should I have to play hours of a shitty game to get to the good bits? And on the other hand, my lady was done with it. She found it to be frustrating and unsatisfying. I wasn't going to play it by myself and I certainly couldn't disagree with her assessment of it. I'm just glad I didn't pay for it.

Great review. Maybe consider for the front page, IMHO.

Gary Sax wrote: Great review. Maybe consider for the front page, IMHO.

Thanks man, but I'll stay in the back alley by the dumpster where I belong =D

I forgot to add: I really didn't enjoy this game, even though I won.

Then put it in a thread specifically about Descent 2nd. That way we can discuss it for real without all the clutter in here.

That's a nice honest take on it. I've only played 1st edition myself. We shelved it due to burn out and long play sessions. That was years ago.

I'm hoping the upcoming Conan gets the formula right. And it comes with a camel mini, so that's something.

stoic wrote:

san il defanso wrote: We had a little time tonight so my wife and I played a game of WWE Superstar Showdown. I was Randy Orton, and she was Big E. She landed the first few hits after blocking my early punches, even throwing me out of the ring and clotheslining me with a pretty solid hit off the ropes. But I was able to level some solid reversals down the stretch and came away with the pin.

My familiarity with professional wrestling is very limited, though like all kids in school I knew the major guys of the late 80s and early 90s. Needless to say I'd rather be playing a version of this game with Ultimate Warrior instead of Daniel Bryan. But that said, this is a really fun game. It's really intuitive, and I think it'd pay off well after running a few matches, so those special moves can be added to the deck. I'm curious how well it plays in multiplayer, and I'll try to find out soon.

This will sound strange, but the game it actually reminded me of most was Star Wars: Epic Duels. The central mechanic isn't really the same at all, but it's got a lot of the same feel and personality. This is also more of a "gamer's game," though that makes it sound like it's more than just a board game about professional wrestling. But the positioning, the way the individual decks reflect the wrestlers, the short matches that can be picked up quickly. It's an obvious win for people who like wrestling, but I don't know most of these guys from Adam, and I still had a blast. Call me crazy, but I think my wife would play more too.

I really want to get this game, but, I have a mental block. I don't know any of the wrestlers included in the box. I want to see the older professional wrestlers. This game needs an expansion for 80's and 90's wrestlers. I want to see Andre the Giant, Macho Man, The Road Warriors, The Hart Foundation, Jake the Snake, Mr. Wrestling, Kabuki, Sgt. Slaughter, Junk Yard Dog, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Iron Sheik, Superfly, Ultimate Warrior, Rowdy Roddy Piper, King Kong Bundy. etc...I'm sure that I left more than a few out that I'd like to see in a deck.

The only one I have heard of outside of this game is John Cena, and I do generally agree that this crop of wrestlers feels weak compared to the broader characters of my own childhood. But GF9 is working on more wrestlers, both current and classic. And anyway, it's still a really fun game. I am really not a wrestling fan at all and it totally sold me. The best games are able to make you understand their theme all on their own, and that's what this did for me.

mads b. wrote: Then put it in a thread specifically about Descent 2nd. That way we can discuss it for real without all the clutter in here.

I agree, because this isn't the vibe I got from the discussions when it came out. I like you don't enjoy games with deadlines, largely because I deal with them all day at work. If that's a primary driver in the scenarios the old copy at my buddy's house is likely all I need.

I actually enjoy playing the overlord on occasion, so that's not as big an issue for me. But. I play overlord for the long game, burning cards aplenty to power up (this is 1st edition) with the bigger badder cards and the ability to just unload on the players in a single room late in the game. They have a timer built in -- get through this before Sag picks up fifteen more cards -- but it's organic to the game. If there's only two or three turns that kind of action isn't happening, the overlord is on autopilot at that point because there's no sense holding anything back.

Seriously, find the Descent 2nd Edition thread or make one. This is quality content and well suited to a December Friday.

Opened up my copy of SC:AM in prep for playing tonight and it looks like the Space Cadets are in even worse trouble than I thought. This is how the minatures where when I opened the box.

Space Hulk: Death Angel. I soloed with three teams of marines and used the Tyranid expansion which packs a hefty punch. But for some reason everything just worked out for me and I completed the game without losing a single marine. Got a lot of help from having a door on every location (which allows you to slay enemies when moving to a new location), but also from very lucky dice rolls when attacking with the 'nids.

The game is still great with short setup time and fast paced game play and I'm glad I dug it out from the shelf. And talk of Warhammer Quest: TACG being somewhat "inspired by" makes me have high hopes for that one.

I've been playing several butt-tons of titles, namely:

Dead Men Tell No Tales -- Palpable tension, low piece and card counts, nice artwork, and a nice "Minimum Time Between Setups For Another Go", make this a real winner with us. It's just as good as a 2p solo experience, as it is with more. Only four small gripes (that are easily solved): (1) Even with experience, we get so caught up in the drama that we sometimes forget to place a tile (this happened frequently when this was brand new to us), (2) at times a player forgets that they're looting and a turn has to be reset, (3) no explosion components for the start tile squares (solved with a simple piece of cardstock and scanned art), and (4) occasionally the artwork gets in the way of clarity, as someone winds up walking through walls without anyone taking notice (rare, but again, more common earlier in our experience). This is simply a fantastic little title that is deceptively simple, but presents enough stressors that you can't slack off without it costing you. Wonderful stuff, and after about 30 plays, I'm not remotely tired of it. I hear the cracking, popping, burning timber in my sleep.

The Battle of Five Armies -- As our charlest has pointed out in his excellent review of same, this is a reverent treatment of the climax of the book upon which this title is based. It's highly asymmetric, yet quite balanced. Each playthrough (four, so far) has been quite a different experience, due to the variation of fate draws, cards available, and different strategies that are suggested by these variations. A slow fate draw can result in the need to be far more defensive as the Free Peoples, whereas a rapid advance on the Fate track can lend itself to far more aggressive play. We've relished our plays of this here, and have not been put off by feeling the need to savor the decisions that present themselves... so, our playing times have run longer than we had originally thought -- about two hours. This is staying in the short-term rotation here.

Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game -- Only three plays thus far. This game needs an official FAQ, but all-in-all, it's mainly solid.

Thunderbirds -- As Mr. Barnes has stated, this is probably Matt Leacock's best design to date. We've played this roughly fifteen times now. My first memory of this TV series was as a child in kindergarten, and it was my favorite until the darker Captain Scarlet came along. The details of this have been covered elsewhere, but after viewing many of the older episodes in recent weeks, I've got to say that one thing that isn't covered in most reviews would be that the Disaster Card challenges are EXACTLY like the episodes themselves. The same characters and the same vehicles are present... it's the perfect homage to the series. Now, I have no idea whether people who have never seen the series will appreciate all of those details or not, but as a fan of the original as a kid (with the benefit of hindsight, as I am old enough to actually look back those fifty years), I have to say that this treatment is most honoring.

Bruges -- Played this quite a bit over the November holiday, albeit solitaire (in-law aren't gamers, alas). There's a great variant that I've found is difficult to beat and has but two minor changes: (1) Dummy player doesn't get threat tokens, and (2) There is no majority-check after each round, but only at the conclusion of the game. The closest I've come has been within five points. It's a genuine ass-kicking for me, and I'm actually fine with that. It's quite the challenge if you like the game, as it plays in similar fashion and has the feel of a multiplayer session..

Topping things off with a solo play of Greenland (first edition), several games of Patchwork, and some WhoWasIt? and Spot it! with a trio of four year-old daughters, and it has been a fun two months!

Have been out of the gaming loop for a while, since my last gaming group imploded. I recently found a new group though, and I've been enjoying getting back into hobby with them.

First, we played Argent: The Consortium. It was a long six-player game, but I loved every minute of it. I spent too many turns pumping up my influence points but neglected to please any other voters. Yes, it's a worker placement game, but it's very interactive and the variable setup is very well implemented - the game can change up a lot without the gameplay or balance tipping over. Would probably be better with just 3 or 4 players though.

Then I taught them to play good old Dune. I got into a three player alliance: Bene Gesserit, Atreides, and Space Guild. Our early dominance went belly up when a well-placed Family Atomics killed off almost all of the Atredies player's troops. We clawed our way back though, and eked out a turn 8 win after several last ditch battles. Simply an epic game.

Finished off the night with a round of Kobayakawa, a very simple gambling game. It was fun, but I have the oddest feeling that the game is either solvable or completely random - I can't figure out which. This is probably the mark of a good game, but I want another game or two before I decide if I really like it.

Fury of Dracula 3e is really good. I'm thinking about writing a comparison between GW's TFoD and FFG's FoD at some point, but I need to get more plays of Fury of Dracula 3e in before I do.

Short version is that on the scale between GW's TFoD, which is all encounters and chrome, and Letters From Whitechapel, which is a more pure deduction and chase, FFG's FoD falls somewhere in the middle. That's a good thing. GW's TFoD is one of my favorite games and FFG's treatment hasn't changed that, but FFG's FoD does benefit from some modern game design niceties. There's more tension from the start in FFG's take on FoD than GW's, but GW's original edition still has more of a Europe falling into Darkness feel.

My only two complaints are the box cover, which not only looks ridiculous but isn't even cohesive with the components and card design, and the rulebooks. The split Learn To Play and Rules Reference books simply do not work for me. There's some pretty critical information in the Rules Reference that you need to play the game correctly that should be in the Learn to Play book, and there are some rules hidden in the Learn to Play paragraphs that aren't in the Rules Reference. Some rules, like when a Hunter actually goes to a Hospital in the turn phase, are contradicted from one book to the other. The game is not difficult to play, but the split rulebooks make it much more frustrating than it needs to be to learn.

If anyone else is struggling with the rulebook style I did a sort of combined rules summary stored at the usual place . You'll still need the rulebooks for some of the specifics, but hopefully my doc makes learning to play much easier.

We played some Pandemic Legacy last night. In the abstract, I feel like the game's coolest things operate away from the player. By that I mean that all of the fun twists and exciting moments are generated by the designers and the little twists thrown at you, not by player choices. I don't like that very much, but in practice we've had so much fun it's hard to be too upset. We just finished July.

We also began an Imperial Assault campaign. I was the Imperial player, which is maybe not the best choice since it was my first game. But I really enjoyed it all the same. The "Aftermath" scenario is what everyone starts with. The Rebels won a narrow game there. The next one was the "Generous Donation" side mission (I forget the exact title), again a Rebel victory, though this time I think because I wasn't playing super well. I kind of see what people mean when they might say it doesn't "feel like Star Wars." These particular kinds of missions aren't done much in the movies, and the sparing use of familiar characters makes it feel more separate. But it reminds me a little of the original Dark Forces video game in this way. I never thought that game really felt like Star Wars either, since FPS stuff doesn't mesh well with that universe I think. But in both cases just having the trappings goes a long way, and FFG really pulled out the stops there.

It's also a really good version of the Doom/Descent engine. It's much cleaner and less asymmetrical, which I like because it makes it just a bit easier to grok how the bad guy plays. It's not that innovative, but it doesn't need to be. It's highly functional and mostly pretty intuitive.

Really excited to play more. We had a ball.

san il defanso wrote: We played some Pandemic Legacy last night. In the abstract, I feel like the game's coolest things operate away from the player. By that I mean that all of the fun twists and exciting moments are generated by the designers and the little twists thrown at you, not by player choices. I don't like that very much, but in practice we've had so much fun it's hard to be too upset. We just finished July.

That's a great way to put it. I like the experience of Pandemic:Legacy a lot, but I do prefer the original game. We played three more games on our campaign yesterday, and the two losses felt so arbitrary. Sometimes that's the case in regular Pandemic, but in Legacy it can feel more like the game and story just playing out with you going along for the ride.

The plot/story in Pandemic Legacy does sort of storm along, but there are things that shift based on your performance. How could they do it any other way? It's a co-op game so if you get yourself into a spot that you can't win then what should happen? If they give you some superweapon or something to move the game along it would feel cheap. They route they took with Pandemic Legacy is a lot of fun. Especially when Dr Funkenstein, M.D., Medic, is bumping through Eastern Europe laying down his funky cure for what ails ya.



IT'S FUNK-EN-STEEN!