Seems like we should kick off a new thread, but I apologize for kicking it off with a downer:
Serge Laget has passed away. He was in his 60s; reports say he died of cancer.
Co-designer of the seminal cooperative game Shadows over Camelot (one of the earliest such games with a traitor mechanic), the Clue-on-steroids deduction game Mystery of the Abbey, and elegant diplomacy-driven wargame Senji, he was also the sole designer of the more recent dwarf-recruitment game Nidavellir.
A close collaborator with the Two French Brunos (Cathala and Faidutti), his mark on Euro games, especially in the early 2000s, is deep. He also seems like a charming guy.
Man talk about a buzz kill. Not the way to open the 2023 gaming thread.
F’ Cancer.
I know Shadows is considered an obsolete game by many and a grail game by others. I had written it off, but played it with the expansion with my kids and they really enjoyed. It really was a genius design at the time.
Unlike something like Human Punishment: The Beginning. Has anyone here played this? I love the idea of a cyberpunk BSG game. It’s big cool looking game, different hidden factions and objectives, but the rulebook is a mess and the game feels more fiddly than it needs to be. I need to give it another shot but my first experience was very lackluster.
My anecdote about Shadows is that I think I played it three times… and never had a traitor. It still changes the game early on to suspect someone must be the traitor, but I definitely don’t feel like I ever got the full experience.
I had the worst possible experience of Shadows Over Camelot – one guy who poorly explained the rules, then, on each player’s turn, told them exactly what they had to do or else we’d know they were the traitor.
This year I’ve played Terraforming Mars and Godfather. I want to get other stuff to the table, but this has become the staple for my local group. I love both games by hoping to get Fallen Lands, Evil Dead, or the new Batman game to the table.
2023 shelf re-organisation! We freed up an IKEA Kallax that was being used for kids toy storage and to my shock my wife has permitted me to fill it with games! In a common area! Where people can see them! lol!
So 70 titles now find themselves in my ‘office’ (which is our living room) and arranged as a display piece. Wife is happy. thinks it look great and I have freed up the ‘backroom’ storage to I can tidy up some of the other boardgame sprawl around the house!
Just a quick plug that Sleeping Gods is on sale for $55 right now here : Sleeping Gods
I was just about to buy it until I realized that realistically this will never come out in the group that I play with and forced myself to stop. What a hobby…
Tom did an awesome playthrough. I’ve played a couple times through the base campaign myself and love it. I just started watching Tom’s play again for my pre-sleep routine ;-) . I’m so ready to play again. It’s got this amazing theming and great combat system that I think is simple yet can be hard to follow at first. It’s hard to explain but sometimes the dice rolls seem counterintuitive…that’s not quite right either I just can’t explain it but it kept me actively engaged how you toggle from power to defensive stances . I’m such a nerd I even kept a diary of turns which was nice when I inevitably screwed things up I could try to correct but inevitably instead throw up an asterisk, plus it was just fun to read through my parties trials.
I’m all in on the stuff I don’t have since I think it’s unique, one of the games I think about when I’m not playing and I like to support the creators.
If you do get it I highly recommend Tom’s mods on BGG. I think they add much more to the food and Herb system that’s so hard to normally find (diluted in the draw deck) in the base game.
Ive had DD on my game shelf for years and have never played it…set up the crazy colorful map a few times and tried to start to learn it but would just then put it away for other things…might have to finally give it a go.
Three sessions deep in Aeon Trespass: Odyssey and it’s super satisfying and dense and brutally difficult. The writing is great but I was actually kinda expecting a little more - not that it’s not substantial when it turns up but so far it seems like it’s pretty regular to pass an entire turn with none. It seems to come in two main flavors: adventures triggered by encountering an adventure icon on the map (once only per card, and we’ve only seen two in seven turns) or story events that…well, honestly, who knows. There’s been at least one on the timeline as a scheduled event, there’s been little bits and pieces if we skip advancing the main story in favor of digging into the ship itself, and presumably advancing the main story track will eventually lead to some, but that hasn’t involved much in the way of directed action so far. Probably other ways too but we’ll see.
Did you play the whole Learn to Play before starting up your campaign? I usually dont like learn to plays as I just like to dig in to a game after reading the full manual without tutorial scenarios but this one might need that to really get a grasp of the gameplay mechanics.
Yes. Not least because there’s actually unique story associated with it and it seems like it’s designed to be the start of the campaign even though you’re allowed to skip it.
