The thing that made me uncomfortable about Freedom (playing at home!) and why I’ve not replayed it, was that to win you might well have to sacrifice individual escaped slaves to get others past. Not sure that actually reflects history, but even if it did it’s just…very uncomfortable.
Lost a lot of respect for the bgg this week, a lot.
If you think board gamers are generally social people, then you haven’t met very many! :) That’s one reason the board games exist.
I wager that most heavily solitaire players are also social players, and that their solitaire playing emerges primarily from their general interest in board games as a hobby. That’s why I still think the statement is essentially true, even if there are a lot of solitaire games and gamers out there.
Wow. That’s rough. This War of Mine is a godd game but so utterly depressing I would never play it solo again and I don’t know 3 other people who I could get to take on the plight with me.
I think it’s okay if some games have subjects that mean they aren’t appropriate for a casual setting. I think the classroom is a more appropriate place for Freedom, or other difficult games like the Dog Eat Dog RPG.
I think the energy from this cancellation could have been poured into a new game that treated the subject more along the lines of those serious games, but perhaps the publishing rights don’t allow for that.
Is this missing a negation?
No, but it’s probably missing a disclaimer of a little snark and an overly broad generalization! What I meant, given those caveats, is that board gamers are the sorts who appreciate having an excuse or a motivator to get together. That excuse/motivator being a game to play. It’s socializing with an external focus, so the focus isn’t on them. (And by “them,” in many circumstances, I mean “me.”)
My kid and I played Underground Railroad and she was super interested in helping out the slaves and learning more about that time in history so it worked out well for us…only played at home though! Good game overall IMO.
Yeah that is probably true. Even in the solo communities many of them do still play with others as well. I am likely an edge case in that I almost never do… :)
I guess my ‘issue’ as such was that Turczi made that bolded statement regarding ‘our community’, given:
- Prison Architect is primarily a solo video game
- Turczi is a solo board game specialist
- There’s a large solo board game community
- Turczi himself is a member of and promotes his solo products in those communities
And his version of ‘our community’ didn’t sound like the one I thought I was a part of! :)
Yeah, that’s fair. It’s a little muddled, but they do identify those bold-italicized “answers” as imperfect ones that they used to justify their work on the project until they point that they decided to stop altogether. I take the statement about the community as a rejoinder to the “It was okay when the videogame did it” answer, and something which they sincerely believe, but you could read it as less black-and-white than that.
Went to my boardgame store this weekend. Wow, need to get used to spend money in a store again. I was there an hour maybe. Eldritch Horror expansion in Egypt? Nah, I don’t play EH enough. Terraforming Mars map pack? I took it almost, but same story. Need to play the base game more …
Then I discovered Raiders of Scythia, and I remembered that it got good buzz here on the forum, and I watched Tom’s video some time ago. So, this went into the basket. Small box, but really heavy.
Bought a couple of miniatures paint. And almost on my way out, I saw Rocketmen by Martin Wallace. What the heck, I take it. Solo-mode included. Never heard of it, but Martin Wallace is still a designer, who can deliver good/great games.
The shop was closed due to lockdown for 3 months … finally open again.
The rulebook of Raiders of Scythia is a bit too sparse. They seem to imply stuff, instead of writing it down explicityly. I did not find any information on the “2” value on the board when raiding. I get it, if you are above e.g. “10” you get the VPs noted, or above “16” you get the higher VP value. But what’s with the “2” … ?
Also, I like it when a card anatomy is explained, or even every card type anatomy. In Scythia, it appears to be all in the text somewhere.
Went to a local sale guy was selling his collection. Realized 10 of the games he was selling were mine I had sold him. That said I picked up Wasteland Express Brand new for $30. No idea if it is good, but it looks neat.
If you can be a bit more specific about what you’re asking, I’m sure I can cite the relevant rule for you. I don’t remember any ambiguity in the rules or iconography. Could it be the reference to the number of raiders you need in your party? If so, I’m positive that’s explained in the rules book.
-Tom
That’s hilarious! You guys are forming your own economic system!
-Tom
maybe my english is failing me, when I say implicit. I don’t mean ambiguous. I mean something is implied without making it explicit.
this example here
I found on the back of the rulesbook the symbol of a tent and a red rectangle. It is the strength of the settlement (I have the German rules).
I don’t know what strength 2 means, because if you are below 10, then you suffer the 2 damage. What happens below 2? I mean this part is not mentioned in the rules.
edit: Another thing is the smaller white rectangular squares in Greece. They are too small for goal cards, so I think it is implied that they only carry goods. When I setup the board I thought I was missing some smaller cards. Greece is not mentioned in the setup.
It is literally impossible for your strength to be below 2 for any raid, ever, because the minimum value on the red die is 2. In the English rules book, it’s all explained at the bottom of page 7, under the heading “Strength”.
I can’t figure out what you’re referring to. My board doesn’t have any small white rectangular squares on Greece. The only special rules about Greece are that you need two wagons to raid there, but that’s hardly a special rule, since it’s clearly indicated on the board.
-Tom
just white rectangles, forget the squares. Just to hold the goods, I suppose.
In the German rules, it is only mentioned that below 10 in the example I would get no VPs, but suffer 2 wounds. I figure, the min. strengh of the settlement is 2 for consistency reason, it is put on the board.
Ok, I got one more question. I think I deducted the answer already.
But is it correct, that after raiding (placing a worker on a settlement), I get to pickup a worker from the work areas in the village?
hm, or does the worker I pickup during a raid count as the pickup-worker action?
Oh, those rectangles! I can’t see the dang trees for the forest. :) On page 3, the second step for setup reads:
So your guess is correct, but the rules are also explicit that Greece does not get Quest tiles, which is why there isn’t room for them. The interface is reinforcing what the rules spell out.
Honestly, if you start playing, I think you’ll see that a lot of these questions answer themselves. The thing about your strength being below 2 makes sense once you realize that you’re always rolling at least one red die, so you’re always going to add at least two – and usually more! – to your raiders’ strength values. I guess that’s what you mean when you talk about the difference between explicit rules and implicit rules. The rules don’t necessarily explain things that will become clear when you actually play, or if you at least look over the components as you’re learning.
But I’m happy to answer any additional questions. Raiders of Scythia is a very “mature” design considering it’s the evolution of several iterations of Raiders of the North Sea. Once you get it to the table, I think you’ll find it’s a really smooth experience.
-Tom
EDIT: Ah, the Greece thing is also spelled out in Step 4 of setup, as you discovered!
ugh, I found Setup step 4 regarding Greece!!! I feel dumb again, thank you Game!