Barnes on Games- Nothing in Review, Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth, Cuba Libre, Food Chain Magnate, and More

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I haven't played almost any of it, but I think the achievement bit is the poorest part of Food Chain Magnate. Everything else you could incorporate into your sense of how things work---then they just toss this table of 20 things that give you special powers for no reason? It has like some old school FFG "Add another deck!" layer elements.

Yeah, I am really not digging that part of the design. It's like they felt like it needed short-term goals, and since it is a most money thing the only way to really do it with achievements is to grant advantages. But it's like you say, kind of a layer too far. There's plenty of game there without them.

I don't think I would ever play it F2F. The online version softens the blow of it being a 3-4 hour game, at least.

Greed Incorporated and Antiquity are both much better...and more fun.

They started using expansion monsters in the third coop scenario for Descent - Dark Elements - once they ran out of the base game monsters in the first two, and only incorporated the 2 monster types from Lair of the Wyrm. I haven't tried that one yet, but we found Forgotten Souls a slog while we beat Nature's ire on the first try (and haven't replayed it yet). We'll get back to them maybe after playing RtL.

Road to Legend is the evolution of those coop scenarios into a full-fledged campaign.

Deathwatch sounds good, it's the one 40K game I'm most interested in.

I looked up Zimby Mojo on BGG. Sounds pretty unique and cool. Looking forward to your word on that (and assuming it's good, I call dibs on buying it from you later).

Michael Barnes wrote: Yeah, I am really not digging that part of the design. It's like they felt like it needed short-term goals, and since it is a most money thing the only way to really do it with achievements is to grant advantages. But it's like you say, kind of a layer too far. There's plenty of game there without them.

I don't think I would ever play it F2F. The online version softens the blow of it being a 3-4 hour game, at least.

Greed Incorporated and Antiquity are both much better...and more fun.

For me, the problem is that they are arbitrary. The rest of Food Chain Magnate actually makes sense---the mechanics are consistent. But the random powers you gain when you check certain boxes... they aren't even necessarily consistent or thematic. Why you would gain them... the answer is simply to add a big wrench into the game state.

I think my main interest in deathwatch overkill, is so I can complete my space hulk collection to bring in the genestealer expansion to 3rd ed aesthetics and design specs.
Not that the genestealer expansion was very good, because psyker stuff makes it a very different game. But its more space hulk, so its another avenue to enjoy if I can find people willing to invest the time.

I think I've cooled off on the COIN games. The game is very controlling, in that each side have actions that are designed to make things difficult to do and steer the interaction toward a pre-designed mechanism. This isn't always a bad thing though, once you get past the learning curve, you can really play it on a high level.

But man, it's often really hard to pull anything in this game.

I should get to play Cuba Libra pretty soon. Someone else at the gaming group now owns it along with Falling Skies. With my Liberty or Death and Fire in the Lake I think we'll have many COIN options. That sense of fighting over the controls of a super tanker is what I enjoy about the games.