Let's Talk Blue Moon Legends

Saw this on the shelf yesterday. What's the skinny on this Knizia game? I like quite a few of his games. In fact, a knock against this is, if I were to get this it would be in direct competition with LotR: Confrontation and BattleLine. Two games that see a lot of play. Not sure I need to drop cash on another 2-player Knizia.

So, why should I consider Blue Moon Legends?

There's a guy on BGG selling a copy for $30...he was offended by the boobs or something.

It's a really good one...it seems REALLY simple to the point of pointlessness at first. There is some element of Schotten Totten/Battleline to it in that you're playing cards in contest over locations. There is some Taj Mahal/Ivanhoe to it too in that it is very much a "pick your battles" thing. But at first, it feels really negligible. Once it clicks with you and the depth emerges there's a lot to explore and lots of variety in the decks. We played it a lot at my store, I had a couple of folks that were really into it. It's awesome if you can play with people who really know the decks.

I may buy that prude's copy tonight, actually. Well worth having the whole set.

It is essentially a CCG through Knizia's eyes. But it's way more accessible.

Right. It's a pretty brilliant game once you've gotten a grasp of it. Before that, it can seem both simple and frustrating. One of the key aspects I discovered is knowing when to give up on a fight. The games last until someone runs out of cards or gains all three dragons plus another, so giving up on a fight is rarely something that will lose you the game and frequently will be the wisest choice, as you'll restrict scoring by your opponent (not letting them get to six cards or more in play and attract 2 dragons) and you'll be able to make better plays later by preserving cards in your hand.

As MB said, it's best with people that know the decks, so it will take some time to get there, but I think it's one of the better two-player card games I own and would play it constantly if I had someone around. A cool option is the deckbuilding system (presuming that this made it into the Legends release; the moons are similar to the points limitation across factions in Netrunner) that allows you to build unique decks from the cards drawn from any of the peoples. They were holding regular tournaments in Germany a few years back.

Huh, wrote a reply and site ate it. Short story, it's got a longer learning curve than Confrontation or BattleLine and ends up being a much better game if you can put that commitment in with regular opponents that also know the game. There's a computer version w/ AI(like Race For The Galaxy, same guy maybe?) out there and you can try it out.

One of the very few Knizia games I have any interest in. What is the difference between Blue Moon and Blue Moon City and is Blue Moon Legends more like one or the other?

I think Knizia is a Kenny Rogers fan... Because "you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when fold 'em" is one of his favorite mechanics.

Limited cards or a non-refilling hand, you decide whether to compete or withdraw and maybe draw some cards to gain strength for the next battle. That's what I mean by "pick your fights" and it's definitely in Blue Moon, Taj Mahal, Ivanhoe, Battleline, Money, High Society, Ra, Beowulf, etc...you see something of this in a lot of his designs.

Applejack wrote: One of the very few Knizia games I have any interest in. What is the difference between Blue Moon and Blue Moon City and is Blue Moon Legends more like one or the other?

Blue Moon and Blue Moon Legends are the same. Legends just has all the expansions included. Blue Moon City is a board game thats completely different and not all that great, imo.

Here we are a year and half later and I'm still waffling on this one. Talk of deck builders put it on the radar again recently and Craniac's resent trade is continuing the interest.

Here's my big concern. I _feel_ like with it being an all-in-one 'CCG' I'm going to perceive the game to be limited. It's odd, I know. These are the types of games I should want. I feel like psychologically, I'm going to think..."huh, why not just play more pokemon, we can go buy new boosters to keep it fresh." But, I'm sure it's a fallacy. I don't think that at all about games like Battle Line. I've been playing for years. Blue Moon Legends should technically contain so much more, yet I guess because I equate Legends to a CCG (isn't that what it's supposed to ape?) I mentally compare it not to other one-and-done games, but to other CCGs....and to that it _feels_ (there's that word again) like a dead game.

Maybe I'd feel better if I thought there were a ton of people still playing it like War of The Ring or Twilight Struggle or some other games that came out around that time. People still talk about playing LotR: Confrontation and Battle Line...maybe I'm in the wrong circles, but I seldom hear much on Legends.

Am I making any sense? Am I wrong?

You are having way too much anxiety over a $30 purchase. Just buy the damn thing. There's tremendous play value out of the box. If you don't like it, flip it for $20 and take a $10 dive on it. It could turn out to be the best $30 you spend on gaming this year.

Whatever the Blue Moon game was that had you running around a tile-based city, that was OK, almost fun. The card game was fucking dreadful (in fairness, I am NOT a card game guy, for the most part).

Not sure what this is, but anything with Legends in the name usually ends up being boochy.

I wish that Blue Moon City would come back, I want to try it again with my newfound passion for Knizia design.

What about Epic Boochy Legends?

Let's hear some more about Blue Moon City. It was a tile laying game? What'd the cards do? I'd guess the cards have the same artwork as the cardgame. Looks like Chris Farrell loves it (no surprise).

Is this one that flew under the ERP?

No, over the ERP. It's expensive- $75-$100. That's what I meant, I wish it would come back into print. Probably never will though, unless it's done under a different brand or something.

Blue Moon City sucked. It was running around, playing cards, and flipping tiles over.

Michael Barnes wrote: No, over the ERP. It's expensive- $75-$100. That's what I meant, I wish it would come back into print. Probably never will though, unless it's done under a different brand or something.

I guess sales of Blue Moon Legends weren't sufficient enough to reinvigorate the setting?

Anyone know anything about a novel set in this world of Blue Moon?