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Kevin Klemme
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Mycelia Board Game Review

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River Wild Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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12 Sep 2018 09:13 #281473 by Chaz
From the original story, it sounded like the base game was already published, and the playtest was for an expansion, but most of the problems were with the base game. In that instance, feedback on the base game should still be valuable, if you're ever planning to make another game, but more frustrating because you can't really fix it.

I had something similar happen at PAX a few years ago. A buddy and I sat down to a card game demo. It was Real Bad. The basic mechanics were kinda weird and also not fun. Fortunately, it didn't last long. At the end, I thought about giving him feedback, but the game was already printed and he was trying to sell it to us, so I held back and just said no thanks.

I guess it comes down to if the person is actively asking for feedback, then sure, let loose with both barrels. If they're not, then it's probably best not to give it.
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12 Sep 2018 09:27 - 12 Sep 2018 09:29 #281476 by Erik Twice
I just had a conversation on Whatssap that I think was very reflective of the problem.

We were talking about Adrenaline and expressiong their opinions on it so I said it left me kind of cold because, in the end, it's the same kind of euro as Splendor and I would have liked it to be more reflective of its theme.

And that was surprisngly controversial. They were completely baffled at the comparison and said that they were nothing alike, and that they didn't understand me at all and so on. Some people said that the comparison made as much sense as comparing Food Chain Magnate and Caylus or that, if they were similar, so and so game would also be similar (say 18XX and Splendor).

Some guy also compared it to guys calling Gloomhaven boring or saying that Descent is better, which he called "ludicrous".

So yeah, what can I say? I don't want to sound like I'm fully of myself, but I don't think this should be controversial. There's nothing in my opinion of the game that is not obvious with a little analysis and I'm not being the big contrarian meanie because I didn't step in like to say "great game".

Seriously, I wish I would get hate mail for my GTA V review or my other big contrarian articles and not because I said a game was ok but not great.
Last edit: 12 Sep 2018 09:29 by Erik Twice.
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12 Sep 2018 09:33 #281477 by charlest
First game with the Riverfolk expansion for Root last night. I was the Riverfolk (Otter war profiteers), we also had the Lizard Cult, Vagabond, Marquise de Cat, and Woodland Alliance.

Fantastic, tense game. Everyone took my wares, buying cards pretty often. A couple of times they utilized the river movement, but my warriors were only purchased once. I never had a strong military presence so this doesn't surprise me. I think did a great job in pricing my stuff appropriately.

The game was relatively close with Vagabond and Marquise a little bit behind. Woodland Alliance won, although I was going next and about to win as well.

I'd really like to see the Marquise de Cat win a 3+ player game, as that hasn't happened in our group. They seem to struggle to get points, struggle to craft, and usually must go for a dominance victory - which is easier to stop the more players there are. Vagabond also hasn't fared particularly well, but I think that's obviously been lack of player skill and still learning them.

Lizard Cult fared better than I would have predicted. No one really beat them down, which helps, and I think this mix of factions probably suited them. There was basically three smaller forces and only the Cats as a larger military outfit they needed to worry about. The Birds likely would have gummed up their works a bit.

I will say that the more complicated factions are a bit fiddly. The complicated nature of both the Lizards and Otters is a bit annoying. Kind of wish everything was as smooth and direct as the Marquise and Eyrie. Although, most of the stuff does internalize quick enough (Woodland is much simpler after a play or two), and the factions are suitably deep to offer great exploration.

We also played the Wizard of Oz Unlock! scenario which was great. We did get stuck on one stupid card that we actually solved, but when someone asked "Does anyone have a card with number X?", one of the guys missed that he was holding it. Loved the spatial map exploration stuff and the mirror. Very clever.

I also learned no one else in my group has seen Return to Oz, which is a crime.
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12 Sep 2018 09:34 - 12 Sep 2018 09:34 #281478 by Black Barney
Erik, you must not have ever received my note then :)
Last edit: 12 Sep 2018 09:34 by Black Barney.
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12 Sep 2018 13:41 #281497 by Gary Sax
I guess there's actually a reason the other factions are in the expansion after all, then? That's not a snarky comment, I wondered if there was anything different between them and the base box.

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12 Sep 2018 14:24 #281503 by charlest

Gary Sax wrote: I guess there's actually a reason the other factions are in the expansion after all, then? That's not a snarky comment, I wondered if there was anything different between them and the base box.


They are a step up in complexity, although I'd argue the Woodland Alliance and Vagabond aren't exactly streamlined and elegant either.

I think the expansion factions seem the most fragile. If people straight up refuse to trade with you, then the Riverfolk will get nothing going. If people aggressively push on your gardens and refuse to recognize the actual current victory point state, the Lizard Cult can easily be pushed around. They both rely on more developed table dynamics and experience.
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12 Sep 2018 14:32 #281504 by hotseatgames
I have not played Root, but that sounds a bit off-putting. In Cthulhu Wars, for example, I have been less inclined to like factions that are not fully in control of their own destiny. I don't like it when your power is reliant on other players enabling you.
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12 Sep 2018 15:03 #281506 by charlest

hotseatgames wrote: I have not played Root, but that sounds a bit off-putting. In Cthulhu Wars, for example, I have been less inclined to like factions that are not fully in control of their own destiny. I don't like it when your power is reliant on other players enabling you.


To some degree Yellow Sign works that way as anyone focusing on you will stomp you out, but that is a good point.

Luckily, there are two factions affected by this in Root (both expansion), the base four factions don't work this way.
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12 Sep 2018 21:59 #281513 by Ah_Pook
Had a little adventure game kinda day.

Taught my nephew Talisman , second edition with Dungeon, Timescape, Adventure, and Expansion this afternoon. Played for about an hour before he had to go, but a good time was had. My Necromancer got leprosy and then had SPACE ADVENTURES, while his Pilgrim spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find a tavern to ditch an obnoxious Jester at.

That got my blood up so I did a solo run through of Runebound 2e with the Mists of Zanaga expansion. I've opened that expansion for a while but never tried it. It adds some fun stuff with the variable boss monster and escalating ritual track. Plus all new cards is fun.

On the whole I like both games on occasion, but they're neither something I need to play very often. They both run way too long for what they are. Talisman we just play until we stop having fun, which varies session to session. Runebound we use a variety of house rules to speed up.
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14 Sep 2018 22:35 #281652 by Jackwraith
Villainous, again. It was Jafar (me) vs Queen of Hearts vs Malificent vs Ursula. The latter two were newbies and I warned the Ursula player that she was one of the more difficult ones, but it was a pick, rather than a random draw like the rest of us. Malificent jumped out to an early lead, like seems to be common, while Ursula had a hard time getting started and the Queen built up wickets pretty steadily. Unlike my girlfriend's experience with Jafar, I discovered the Scarab on my second or third turn, unlocked the Cave, and used Scrying to turn over the Lamp on my first try a couple turns later. Soon after I found and hypnotized the Genie, but by then Malificent had 4 curses in play, the Queen had 4 wickets down, and Ursula had both Trident and Crown in play. One last Fate attempt by the Queen against Malificent failed and the sorceress walked away with the win.

I still like the game because I can see it's potential. The rest of them were lukewarm on it, including my girlfriend on her second go-round. I'm beginning to think that it requires a fairly aggressive group, who are willing to really go after each other. Or perhaps it will just take some more time to get used to the various characters.
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15 Sep 2018 12:27 #281669 by the_jake_1973
My group enjoyed it more the second time around with the same characters. You really have to hound Maleficent and Prince John with Fate to get them playing from a hole early. Ursula is still my favorite to play because of the challenge.
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15 Sep 2018 18:16 #281681 by Disgustipater

Disgustipater wrote: Played Twilight Imperium 4th Edition again. And again I tied for 2nd or 3rd not too far behind the leader. Which seems to be where I always end up. I'm always running razor thin to make objectives, and I just can't seem to break through into a strong position. Maybe I need to spend the first turn or two just colonizing and building? Maybe I need to try and take Mecatol Rex for once? Guess I'll try one or both of these next time.


Another round of TI4. I was the Barony of Letnev and this time I built up a fleet early and took Mecatol Rex. I got 2 points off of it before Ixthian Artifact came out as an Agenda and wiped me off the planet. Luckily I had enough ships to immediately retake it, though from this point on, the other players prevented me from getting the Imperial Strategy Card. But no matter, I had gotten the point bump I needed and managed to pull out a win. The last round was quite tense as the Naalu were right up on me in points and as they always have initiative, they could have stolen victory from me. But luckily they were unable to pull it off and I clinched it. I'm quite happy, it's been a long time since I've won Twilight Imperium. I think taking Mecatol for at least one round is, if not essential, then pretty important, depending on what your secret objectives are. Definitely something I will continue to do in the future.
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16 Sep 2018 06:32 - 16 Sep 2018 06:38 #281697 by repoman
Star Trek Ascendancy

A three player game wherein I played as the Romulans. I've been choosing to play as either the Romulans or the Klingons because I just can't seem to win with them. Counter intuitive reason I suppose but I'd like to get a better handle on how to play them.

So this game I only explored a few systems getting one with a culture node slot, quickly built, and then two phenomena systems with acceptable hazard levels. I parked some ships in those systems and collected the science tokens every turn. Lost a few ships due to hazards but they were acceptable losses.

And then I just scienced the hell out of them. By the end, I had six techs researched I think but it wasn't enough. Engineer Al as the Cardassians had settled and developed a bunch of culture producing systems and that drove him to a fairly easy victory.

My strategy for the Romulans, I think, was pretty sound, but I need at least one more science/culture producing system early. That would have put me neck and neck with the Cardassians. Oh well, next time.

I feel bad when people say that this is a shelf toad in their house. I have been lucky enough to play it a whole lot and every game is engaging and fun and exciting. I also think the expansion races, Ferengi and Cardassians are great additions to the game. Jut love it a bunch.

Also Josh Look makes a terrible Klingon.

Dino Dunk

The kids on the street, and by "kids" I mean Josh and by "on the street" I mean "in his Prius", are all talking about the flicking game about dinosaurs playing basketball. I will admit to you, my friends, that I was skeptical. I thought it would be just another brightly colored novelty game. It isn't. It's really quite good. Yes it has that gaudy and ridiculous top layer but underneath is a whole lot of tactical goodness. The game mat is neoprene and the disks flick quite well on it which as an aside gives me great hope for the soon to be remade Ascending Empires said to be using the same material for it's game board.

Anyway, Josh is right on the money here when he tells you that this game is the real deal. You should get yourself a copy while you can before it goes extinct...ha ha ha "extinct"...see what I did there....ahem continuing on. I think this game was legit produced by a game company with it's own funding so hurray for that too.

Innovation

Recent talk about Glory to Rome and comparing it to Innovation motivated me to go out and get a copy of Delux Innovation. It seems to be out of stock via the usual channels but I got a copy from some folks selling games via Ebay. $45 seemed fair to me so I snatched it up. I have a old copy of the first printing but I figured what the heck it was still cheaper than buying all the expansions individually.

We had a four player game using just the base game as it has been years since any of us played it. From what I remember of previous plays, this game was unusually short as Uba got a combination of cards that allowed her to score much faster than usual and thus claim the achievements needed for victory quite rapidly.

Al was underwhelmed saying "Ya it was good" which is about as close as he ever comes to saying he doesn't like a game, unless that game is La Havre in which case he goes berserk with rage and starts tearing games off his game shelf screaming "La Fucking Havre" over and over again. He really hates La Havre.

I like Innovation a lot. 4 players may be on the high end of desirable player count. 3 being ideal. I find that it requires a bit more analysis than Glory to Rome and GtR certainly has more whimsy which is essential to a good game. Hopefully I'll get to use those expansions someday.
Last edit: 16 Sep 2018 06:38 by repoman.

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16 Sep 2018 10:26 #281703 by Gary Sax
Damn repo, what a dream game day.

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16 Sep 2018 18:33 #281710 by trif
Repoman - if you have four for Innovation play the partnership game. I play Innovation rather a lot (we had a weekly game going for a while) and if there's four of us - we play partnerships.

Out of the expansions, I'd try Cities first, as it's the most straightforward. The others add whole new layers to the game play.
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