Yes it’s amazing! My favorite game from last year. We talked a bit about it either upthread or in the 2017 thread.
Thanks, I’ll look upthread.
No Pun Included has an interesting review that looks both at what they love about the game and what it could do better. Worth a look if you want to hear about both sides of the coin:
It makes it sound tempting to me, but I don’t think it’s for my most regular group of players (my family), unfortunately.
Thanks!
I wouldn’t know since I am not cool enough to have played the first edition. :\
Bunch of board game conversions are on sale on iOS and Android today including castles of Mad king Ludwig, which is 99 cents
I got to play a friend’s copy of Gaia Project tonight. I think Terra Mystica is pretty much obsoleted now!
-Tom
“Bunch?”
Is there any way to see a listing?
Well this isn’t good news for my wallet. I like Terra Mystica quite a bit. What does Gaia bring, other than that cool modular map?
Tom Mc
@Shieldwolf Alright, you’ve totally turned me around on Rising Sun. We played it again last night and I went in thinking “Cosmic Encounter” and had a fantastic time. I spent significantly more time focused on paying people to do what I wanted and offering to do others bidding for money, and much less time focused on trying to build up to giant strategic moves. I had a ton of fun playing with that mindset. Crazy how much expectations can shape an experience! Thanks for the (perhaps unintentional) advice.
A lot of it is just how the thematic shift is used for a more streamlined and intuitive game. The concept of colonizing planets at varying distances works much better than building towns and trying to deal with rivers. The concept of terraforming, which is less clunky here, certainly fits better. What used to be a religion track is now a tech tree where a lot of the gameplay is determined.
For instance, there used to be an option on each player’s board to change terraforming costs and boat distance, and you just paid resources to improve those. Now there are tech tracks on the tech tree that determine terraforming cost and hyperspace drives (colonization range). These are earned with the same resource as the other techs, so we’re all choosing our fundamental gameplay rules from one central location, using a resource representing science instead of magic. Do you want to be able to reach farther or settle more versatile worlds? Do you want to be competitive for the gaia planets that draw players into more head-do-head interaction? Do you want to ramp up your economy on the tech tree?
It just feels like an even more elegant and carefully honed presentation of the same Terra Mystica dynamics. And whereas Terra Mystica never cared too much about theming, the theming here is a natural fit.
-Tom
Clans of Caledonia is another Terra Mystica replacement. It’s got some significant differences, but it’s definitely in the same family. You don’t terraform (hexes are either mountains, lakes, forests, or grassland, and all players have the same set of buildings each of which requires a particular terrain). Instead of a religion track, there’s a market where you can buy or sell the goods you produce with your buildings; you can also use your goods to fulfill contracts for victory points. Each player gets a unique player power. And you get VP bonuses for doing different things each turn.
Had some free time yesterday so I got to work on Anachrony.
I picked up clans haven’t played it yet. I couldn’t justify the cost of Gaia. I loveTerra Mystica but it doesn’t get played that often.Also I had heard from some reviewers it was a bit too forgiving any thoughts on that?
Well I’m glad you enjoyed it I will fully take credit for unwarranted advice
I looked at that insert and ultimately decided to hold off for now, for a couple reasons. One is that I’m converting my 1st edition collection, so I don’t have the expansion boxes that Go7Gaming’s solution is designed to work with (though they are also set up to be used externally - I guess the smaller expansions for MoM are the horrible open-at-one-end style that the Arkham LCG “deluxe” expansions came in, and if so would barely count as boxes? it’s like FFG is actively trying to make it as difficult to store their games as possible). Maybe I could put them in my 1E core or Call of the Wild box, and in a pinch external would be okay I -guess-. But the other is that their complete storage solution references a “MOM-004” SKU that does not currently exist in their store. This appears to be the insert for Streets of Arkham, and I guess it’s still underway, based on comments on reviews. Since a partial setup would actually make things worse than my current 2nd edition core box for minis, 1st edition core box for map tiles, Streets of Arkham for tokens/cards/investigator minis/etc “solution”, I’m gonna wait until I can grab the whole thing. And maybe Beyond the Threshold will be back in print by then, and Sanctum of Twilight will be out…
Having put an insert in the Arkham LCG core box, though, I’m kind of jonesing to make at least some of my other games better organized, so I got the Eldritch Horror inserts instead, along with ones for Argent and Millenium Blades. And for good measure, Broken Token’s Gloomhaven insert (backordered, but supposedly in stock starting tomorrow) and Legendary Encounters insert. (Why not Go7’s Gloomhaven insert? Well, it’s $20-30 more depending on whether you add on the top tray, and I liked the look of Broken Token’s setup better.) Looking forward to putting those together!
There are very few games I will spend extra money on an insert for:
Millennium Blades and Eclipse are two that are totally worth it. MoM I have 2nd edition game all the tiles and expansion in one box. I have 1st edition puzzles and cards in a 2nd box and the heroes and monster figures I have in a third box (that box pulls triple duty for Arkham Horror, MoM and Eldritch Horror.
The MoM “minis” are so huge (at least, their bases are) that they’re honestly too big for the game they’re built for, much less use in Eldritch Horror. IMO, anyway.
I’ve never spent money on box inserts or storage for any of my boxes. But I’ve made so many of my own. One of the perks of being a professional CAD designer for years.
I only wished I had done something to make them available on BGG. I think wistfully of all the GeekGold I could have made…
I’ve been quite busy reorganizing my X-wing collection into new storage lately. Partly for improved efficiency, partly because a post Christmas buying spree.
Craig,
I need to redesign my arcade machine let’s talk.
Would love to but
A) my specialty was paper packaging, hence boardgames
B) I changed careers 6 months ago
But if you want to design an arcade cabinet out of corrugated? Then I’m your huckleberry ;)