EmperorNorton
Legendary Pubber
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2018
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Rising Sun is a really fun game. Also the minis are just so nice in it.
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Colleagues and I are eyeing this one - we tend to gravitate towards co-op games for our lunch breaks, and Pandemic Legacy and Spirit Island are our top 2 games. We haven't tried a deck builder solitaire-ish game like this before so aren't sure if it's worth jumping in on. Hope to hear good things!Picked up Marvel Champions
So far it's really good. Hopefully there's plenty of replayability out of the box given you only get 3 main villains.
It feels like the best iteration of the LCG format they've been crafting this past decade. The game is really easy to set up, unlike Arkham.
Really fun game with a ton of potential...until Marvel and Disney shit the bed and yank the license.
Depends on the type. As I mentioned before I define boardgames like this...
Eurotrash games are essentially a bait and switch and not worth my time. A game that says "Hey, this is a game about X!" and then is some exercise in math, or color, symbol and pattern matching...ugh.Does playing the game even remotely seem like something resembling the premise of the game?
If no, Eurotrash.
If yes, Ameritrash.
Does it contain anything remotely similar to what makes RPGs and Wargames fun?
If no, Eurotrash.
If yes, Ameritrash.
Give me good ol' Ameritrash any day of the week. I think the big box games are getting a little out of hand, especially the RPG-Lite ones. I still find them fun, however, and if it's a game with minis I can use for RPGs, then that expensive box becomes a steal, especially with Kickstarter Stretch Goals.
I can agree with that. I just picked up the reprint of Dune. It might be a long shot to ever get a full complement of players to sit down all day to play it, but as it has cardboard chits rather than fancy miniatures, it was reasonably priced. I'd rather pick it and never get around to it than have the opportunity to play in ten years and find the license has expired again, and I have to get it used at a steep price.As someone who has spent quite a lot on board games, I think there is this idea that unless you play every game it is a waste.
I don't buy games I buy opportunities. Each game I have is a potential game I can play. And I play with a variety of people who all have different tastes. And maybe that game that is coop, heavy euro, that is best with 5 players and has a fishing theme never has the right group together to play it (hypothetical game, don't ask what it is cause there is nothing that matches it that I know of), but I still had the opportunity to play it and that is good with me.
Like as long as someone isn't spending money on stuff they can't afford, who cares you know.
Great game. Dune is by the same people, and uses the same idea of each faction having their own special rules.Any fans of good old Cosmic Encounter? There’s a reason some people consider it one of the best board games of all time.
Yeah, this is pretty much how I feel. If I want abstract, chess and Go will never really get old for me, don't even mind the occasional Connect 4 marathon, but I really crave some form of immersion from my games, even if that means something slightly different for a board and wargame than it does an RPG. An abstract numbers game doesn't push any of my buttons.
As with all things though, this is a spectrum as there are very few pure Ameritrash or Eurogames.
Discussions about games always suffer when people start talking about Abstract Label A vs. Abstract Label B rather than talking about actual specific games, which frequently aren't so easily categorized. It tends to lead to a lot of empty strawmanning.As with all things though, this is a spectrum as there are very few pure Ameritrash or Eurogames.
Ameritrash games often benefit in using Eurogame mechanics. For example, Cyclades is an Ameritrash game of Greek mythological warfare that uses auctioning for the favour of the gods as a central mechanic. This auction mechanic is fun to play in and of itself, it reinforces the themes of the game, and also helps bundle what would otherwise be a long list of rules that would be hard to follow.
Likewise, many Eurogames benefit from following Ameritrash games by adding a strong focus on theme.
Very true, but I still like to make fun of eurogames. "Oh look, I'm an 18th century Flemish weaver, and I've got to collect three ecru tokens in order to upgrade to a basse-lisse loom with a flying shuttle. I can barely contain my excitement!"Discussions about games always suffer when people start talking about Abstract Label A vs. Abstract Label B rather than talking about actual specific games, which frequently aren't so easily categorized.
Honestly, I only know the terms in passing, and am translating them as "abstract" and "less abstract".
I'm not familiar with Rail Baron so I Googled it. Looks an awful lot like Empire Builder, a game we played the heck out of to the point that the board was getting worn out.I agree with Dumarest. You don't need the new shiny to have fun. Games like Puerto RIco, Settlers of Catan, Rail Baron and Manhatten are all inexpensive, fun to play and not that difficult to setup (though Rail Baron is out of print).
I love playing Beans so much. It's deeply competitive, but the openness of the board state and the trades mean you have to play nicely with others. It's a great opener for an evening.If you want to make fun of Eurogames, be my guest. I would start with:
Rail Baron rocks! Just the right combination of strategy and luck. The only bad thig is it can take a long time to play. One other thing - there are fan sites that sell alternate boards and maps for Rail Baron. Of course I like nearly everything I have ever played from the now defunct Avalon Hill!I'm not familiar with Rail Baron so I Googled it. Looks an awful lot like Empire Builder, a game we played the heck out of to the point that the board was getting worn out.
One of my friends who played it with me regularly in high school still gets bestiality jokes made about him as a result of his penchant for acquiring sheep, allegedly to transport from one railroad hub to another. Dang, now I need to see if I can find a copy and get my kids to play it. So much fun!
I wonder if it would be feasible to play a boardgame at the Pub, with players posting their moves and one person posting a photo update of the board at the end of every turn. Seems like it could be fun, though it would take a looooooong time to finish a game.
5-minute Dungeon has made my family, my friends and my work colleagues all tremendously happy. That game has made me bond with coworkers more than any shitty retreat or personality test.
Board games still are fun. The cacophonous cheer today at work, that rocked the entire building, is proof enough for me. I had gamers and non-gamers alike shouting in joy together at our victory!!
It's competitive rather than co-operative, but Dungeon Mayhem is a hell of a lot of fun. It's an all-on-all fight, some adventurers enter a dungeon, have a scrap, one leaves. It's simple but with enough scope for each deck to play pretty differently, and it's fast, a game is ten minutes or so.5-minute Dungeon has made my family, my friends and my work colleagues all tremendously happy. That game has made me bond with coworkers more than any shitty retreat or personality test.
Board games still are fun. The cacophonous cheer today at work, that rocked the entire building, is proof enough for me. I had gamers and non-gamers alike shouting in joy together at our victory!!
It's competitive rather than co-operative, but Dungeon Mayhem is a hell of a lot of fun. It's an all-on-all fight, some adventurers enter a dungeon, have a scrap, one leaves. It's simple but with enough scope for each deck to play pretty differently, and it's fast, a game is ten minutes or so.
I eyeball Cyclades every time I go to my FLGS but the only people I play board games with are non-gamers who won't handle anything more complex than say, Eldritch Horror. Thoughts?For example, Cyclades is an Ameritrash game of Greek mythological warfare that uses auctioning for the favour of the gods as a central mechanic. This auction mechanic is fun to play in and of itself, it reinforces the themes of the game, and also helps bundle what would otherwise be a long list of rules that would be hard to follow.
I eyeball Cyclades every time I go to my FLGS but the only people I play board games with are non-gamers who won't handle anything more complex than say, Eldritch Horror. Thoughts?
Eldritch Horror is a good game.I eyeball Cyclades every time I go to my FLGS but the only people I play board games with are non-gamers who won't handle anything more complex than say, Eldritch Horror. Thoughts?
I think it's really good. The idea of having two modes for your hero makes the choice as to whether to 'allow' the enemy to attack or scheme is always interesting. There's a mechanic where, for ally cards (Daredevil for instance), they can either attack or thwart (remove threat from a scheme), but either or both will cause them to take 'consequential damage' meaning you cannot rely on them to repeatedly help you. Sooner or later they will go.Colleagues and I are eyeing this one - we tend to gravitate towards co-op games for our lunch breaks, and Pandemic Legacy and Spirit Island are our top 2 games. We haven't tried a deck builder solitaire-ish game like this before so aren't sure if it's worth jumping in on. Hope to hear good things!
That’s a great read. That’s why I like good theory. My definition works pretty well I think, but that article lays out in detail *Why* I think my definition works.I think Ameri vs Euro style board game is a little different than theme vs mechanics. Like there are some very very heavily themed Euro games. Dungeon Petz for example has a ton of theme, but is very much a Euro worker placement game.
Adrenaline has the most "Ameritrash" style theme you can think of (it's basically Quake Deathmatch the board game), but the mechanics are entirely Euro. It is pretty much an area control game.
Ameri vs Euro has a lot more to do with what the purpose of the game is than whether the theme is strong. This is probably the best description of what makes a game each style that I've seen.
But honestly, just like we get with RPGs, this is a bit more navelgazy than necessary .
(Also, I tend to be what board gamers call an Omnigamer. I like Euros, Ameritrash, Party games, social deduction games, even some simple war games, etc. Pretty much anything can be pretty solid for me. the only thing I dislike are dry themeless euros. Euros with theme are amazing though).