What GAME ARTICLES/REVIEWS are you WRITING?

I can honestly say the only time I use price as a consideration is when I'm unsure if I want to spend that much money (or I don't really have it to spend.) I don't think I've ever read a review as a buyers' guide, but I've always looked at games the way I look at all media: beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.

Meanwhile, I'm was in a thread on BGG about a recently Kickstartered game where people were questioning the producers' choice of using similar sets of cards for 12 different characters in a game that only plays 5. They're totally hung up on how much the cost might have been reduced if they didn't include those extra cards. I've tried pointing out that the production cost of a few cards is minimal compared to other components (wood, plastic, etc.) and the effect on shipping cost is utterly negligible. But they won't give up on acting as if they've been wronged because the company went out of their way to include more of the same cards with different art on the back.

I agree with others above. The problem is a skewed collector's mentality. They're buying things that they assume are of value and they want to know if they're of "actual value", so everyone that looks at games with a critical eye should be sharing their critical perspective, which is only about the item as a cost that might accumulate value. However, that's a weird perspective for a collector to have in the first place. No one collects rare stamps because they think the paper, ink, and glue actually have value. It's about owning rare stamps.

As for people giving you shit about using Euros or the metric system... Save me, jeebus. "A man remains silent and others may think him a fool. When he speaks, he removes all doubt from their minds."

Jackwraith wrote: They're buying things that they assume are of value and they want to know if they're of "actual value", so everyone that looks at games with a critical eye should be sharing their critical perspective, which is only about the item as a cost that might accumulate value. However, that's a weird perspective for a collector to have in the first place. No one collects rare stamps because they think the paper, ink, and glue actually have value. It's about owning rare stamps.

Great observation here, you can't have both.

If you're going to invest in plastic then buy LEGO not board games.

Rocky Mountain Man, in which I discuss the pandemic, masculinity, and of course the game: playerelimination.com/2021/04/26/rockymountaincharlie/

As a side note, did you use dry erase here in your video? How did it work? My crayon flakes fucked up my basic crew counter pretty bad.

Yes, I've used both the included crayons as well as dry erase over plexiglass. I used dry erase in the GIF because I thought it was easier to see and sharper.

That's unfortunate about your crew counter. When using either one I've typically positioned the counters sort of adjacent to the hex they're actually in, partially for convenience so I could see the terrain and partially because I didn't want to rub anything off.

I will probably stick with dry erase because it's a bit easier to use and clean up in my experience. My plexiglass sheet though is large and kind of annoying.

Been a minute since I've written a proper board game review, longer since it's been one that folks here would care about.

pixeldie.com/2021/04/28/cthulhu-wars-duel-review/

I want to believe this system can work but if they don't really kill it with the next box it'll look pretty dire.

boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/284230/after-...theels-top-50/page/1

I swear to god charlest and I share a game brain but he plays way more games. Besides me liking wargames a bit more and dungeon crawl a little less we're like a fucking hive mind even though I've never spoken to him outside site boards.

That's a solid Top 50. I bought first edition Battlestations when it came out but could never get anyone to play it with me. Still seems like a great concept and seeing it so highly ranked by you makes me wish I had cooler friends back then.

I liked the first edition quite a bit, but the new edition is much better. The components are fantastic, which I think is significant as the ship tiles are more spacious and improve gameplay.

The rules are better as well, although it's still a bit of a rough game trying to live on a thin line between RPG and board game.

Surprised WAR OF THE RING isn't on that list; you seem to gravitate towards multiplayer more than 2P ?

Msample wrote: Surprised WAR OF THE RING isn't on that list; you seem to gravitate towards multiplayer more than 2P ?

It should be. I imagine it will be in the future.

I've only played half a game on Tabletop Simulator and I was enamored with it. I don't get to play two player games frequently, but I do love that format.

I will probably buy it at some point. I almost took Gary Sax's copy when he was offering it for free but thought it better to let someone else with likely less games than I claim it.

It's admittedly a rather large hole in my AT knowledge/experience that I should address.

I do like Battle of Five Armies for what it's worth.

San has some very cute stories of playing it with his kids so I'm guessing he has gotten more out of it than you could have, so your sacrifice was worth it.

charlest wrote:

Msample wrote: Surprised WAR OF THE RING isn't on that list; you seem to gravitate towards multiplayer more than 2P ?

It should be. I imagine it will be in the future.

I've only played half a game on Tabletop Simulator and I was enamored with it. I don't get to play two player games frequently, but I do love that format.

I will probably buy it at some point. I almost took Gary Sax's copy when he was offering it for free but thought it better to let someone else with likely less games than I claim it.

It's admittedly a rather large hole in my AT knowledge/experience that I should address.

I do like Battle of Five Armies for what it's worth.

BoFA is nice, but its sort of an appetizer compared to the entree of WotR. The former is shorter and has a sort of hard wired clock with the Fate Track. WotR has a clock of sorts - the Fellowship trying to dunk the Ring - but it doesn't automatically progress. I think WotR is the better game but like both.

I have but have not played HUNT FOR THE RING.

Hunt for the Ring is pretty solid. The two phase approach is both interesting and kind of odd. It has stiff competition in Fury of Dracula and Specter Ops, but it's a very solid game.