Which board games have you all been playing? (to 17th July)?
Sorry Boardtiddleums, little late with the weekly thread!
Saturday I got in a couple of games of Bus!, securing a comfortable victory in the first and an even more comfortable defeat in the second. Every time I play Bus! I love it it that little bit more: central map with interesting decisions, worker placement where you choose how fast you burn through your workers, ability to lose a victory point to screw everyone else over...what's not to like?
After that we played Stockpile, which is always fun. We were a bit rusty on the rules so didn't play with any expansion material.
Finished up with a game of Cat in the Box, which a fantastic little spin on trick taking games. The deluxe edition that you can currently get is so overproduced, but in the nicest possible way.
So what have you all been busy playing this week?
Finally got Twilight Imperium IV to the table again, this time with my newly acquired Prophecy of Kings expansion.
3 players, took us from 14:30 to 23:00 to finish to 10 VP (tons of rules to look up as none of us had played basically since Gloomhaven arrived), the Naaz-Rokha barely raced past the Titans of Ul by scoring a secret objective and then shortly after discarding the relic cards for another VP. I was last as the Nomad.
Was a really fun game. We all played too passive, but we had some really cool moments like when the Ul and Rokha players started a multi-round back and forth war that only ever drew in marginal amounts of units each time though and we were all talking about it like we're sipping whisky together in the galactic council. 😅
Just played a rousing game of Burgle Bros by Tim Fowers. Played it at its maximum capacity of 4 players (definitely recommended playing with 4 vs less players).
I also highly recommend using the wall randomizer on gabob.com, between the wall arrangement and the actual room arrangement it really threw a spicy setup at us this time.
Managed to make it out, but almost the entire group was down to our last stealth.
Has anyone played Burgle Bros 2? Just got it recently, haven’t had a chance to play it yet.
Evertree, I think we played three 2-player games. It seems fun enough, but it looks like you're pretty dependent on luck with card draw. I'm not giving up on the game yet, I want to try a few more times to see if the rest has enough synergy options to make up for that.
MicroMacro Crime City All In: Pretty random buy. We solved three cases (mostly) (without using the cards). Really fun 15 minute "games", which are just so different from the normal board game experience. Don't let the cutesy pictures fool you, the subjects aren't suited for 5 year olds.
Enchanters: hadn't played that one in a long while. I really like the way the card buy works (they get cheaper over time, so it's always a struggle between using your few tokens to secure a card, or waiting with all the problems that gives).
My wife, a friend, and I have been finally playing through Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle. It had been sitting on the shelf since the pandemic and we finally played through year 7.
It is a cooperative deck builder where you fight through villians and dark arts events following the books. Mechanics are added each time you win until you have a very large deck and variety of villains.
Our main criticisms are how swingy it can be. Depending on your luck with starting villians and the giant set of market cards you can either quickly build your engine against easy villians then steamroll the rest or get hard locked out from buying anything. It has no mitigation against getting a full row of 6 cost cards such as always available 2 currency cards similar to ascension/star realms. We actually found the developer offer a one time board wipe house rule on bgg but nothing in the official rules.
Criticisms aside we found it fun to play even if it stretches out longer than it should in year 7 especially.
I like Hogwarts Battle: Defence Against the Dark Arts which is deck building game that's inspired by Hogwarts Battle, using some of the same art and concepts. Instead of pitting four students cooperatively, it's two students going head to head. I recommend it if you like Hogwarts Battle, but want something a little more low key; it's only a single game, no sessions.
It sounds interesting. We have a few games that scratch the one on one deck building itch Star Realms and Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game are some of our favorites.
The Chameleon is a great introductory/ party game, really easy to pick up and sink an hour or two with friends. A lot of things from Big Potato Games are like that. We played this weekend and get it out at Christmas too. If someone in your party feels they are fantastically awful at it because they're a bad liar or come out with the most bizarre responses, they'll probably do very well in Herd Mentality too!
At last night's boardgame meetup, we played Viticulture as our main game. It's a small group, and we had exactly 6 people turn up, who wanted to play a more complex game rather than a social game, but who also preferred to stay together in one group. Viticulture fit the bill exactly. And we all enjoyed it.
Last week, I played Wingspan at another meetup.
Have been playing a fair amount of Beacon Patrol which is coming soon from Pandasaurous Games. It's a delightful cooperative tile laying game.
Otherwise, played Cat in the Box I enjoyed it but not sure if I love it yet. Feels a bit too chaotic, and hard to nail down a strategy. Will play it again this week though.
I played Beacon Control at UKGE and then completely forgot what it was called. Convinced myself it was either Kosmos or Ravensburger but could find no trace of it in their catalogues.
Even so, I'm not sure if I will buy this game. I played it, wasn't wowed but can't help myself thinking about it from time to time.
Not surprising, it's not super revolutionary in what it does. And as a more-than-2-player game I can see it fall flat.
But I am enjoying it a lot with my wife, it's got just enough crunch to keep me thinking. Plus the art style and map you make is an absolutely delightful.
I got Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon a couple of weeks back. I've been playing solo and I have mixed feelings so far.
When it's fun it's really fun, the exploring is exciting and the story is interesting, I don't mind the resource management of it either. However, sometimes you'll make an ill informed decision which ruins your plans, drains your resources and health, and getting back to a point where you can continue takes a long time, meanwhile the event deck dwindles, pushing you closer and closer to more back things which will once again ruin you.
We're pretty new to board games but have really enjoyed Patchwork. Highly replayable and relaxing. It's not very competitive if that's what you're into though, its closer to two players playing their own game and counting the points up at the end.
Wingspan: Asia has probably been our favorite game though. It's an incredible 2 player game, with just enough complexity to keep you engaged throughout but not overburden you. We love the beautiful artwork and flavor text for each bird. What a game.
I’ve played Wingspan and my daughter and I love it, but now I’m really intrigued that there is a version specifically for two people (husband isn’t really a board game enthusiast). I’m going to go look it up, but curious if you have any comparisons between the original and this version?
Ninja edit: do you play it as a stand-alone game, or as an expansion pack to the original?
It's just two of us in our house so we only have the Asia edition, which can be played as a two player standalone (instead of as an expansion to the original). I'd imagine it's a great addition if you have the original game because you can expand the basic game with cool new birds and it opens up the option to play with two people.
Awesome! Thanks for the reply. We don’t own Wingspan yet (we play occasionally with other friends) but have been wanting to get it - held back by the fact that it’s mostly just the two of us who want to play. Sounds like this edition would be perfect for us. Cheers!
Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the two player version but my Wife and I really enjoy the base wingspan together either either just the two of us or with one of our friends.
If you haven't tried the mobile app yet I would also recommend it. We used it on a few flights in pass and play mode to pass the time.
I had no idea there was an app! Ok, I just looked and I see several to choose from — one for $10, one that has IAPs and a couple of companion apps. Which one are you referencing? If it’s the $10 one, do you each have to purchase it on your devices to play, or do you play on one iPad?
We will have a long plane flight this fall and my daughter and I would probably love this as a diversion. Thanks for any more info you can share!
The $10 one. If you still have it there is probably a coupon code in the game box unless you had original print runs. I know the copies of the base game and one expansion both had them when we picked them up last year.
The iaps are to add the normal game expansion cards. We passed one android phone back and forth. It has a splash screen when you finish your turn to know who goes next. You can also assign a few AI/bot characters if you want a feeling of a larger game. Apple link since you specified iPad
You can also play online with either friends or random people if you have internet access and are away from each other on 2 separate devices you would just need to buy the app twice.
On and off, Cthulhu Wars. It’s an interesting, large, assymetric game where the players control various space horrors and their servants to take over the Earth or other planets that takes a couple hours. Lots of expansion content and alternate maps/factions. One downside is it is physically very large if you have a lot of the expansion sets — like it’s too large to move around the entire set without a vehicle. Lots of fun though.
Last night my friends and I played Dominion, Tiny Towns, and Munchkin. All very enjoyable. I haven’t had the chance to play board games in a year or two so it was nice to get the chance. We tried to play Evolution but it’s been so long since I’d played I forgot the rules, and the rule book isn’t very good, so we skipped it.
We're trying to wrap our heads around Spirit Island. The rules are easy to understand, but I keep ruining any remaining brain power I have by trying to think four moves ahead, and figuring out the best way of staying ahead of the enemy that by the end of a game, my brain quite literally hurts. I love the concept though.
I've been playing the free Print and Play Ambagibus. It's a fun, short, tile-placement game where you build a maze.
Oh, I played my second ever board game in my adult life. A board game called Escape the Dark Sector! A dungeon crawler set in sifi theme that have you racing through rooms to escape your captivation. Its uses fairly straighforward d6 dice system, easy to pick up and play. Minimal set up and more fun with more people. I played with three others from my local game store and had a blast playing through it. I'd say, its worth exploring through and trying out.