Yeah the Unique Game thing sounds like it’s not going to have a drastic change from one to another. I don’t see me ever trying to get a different or another one as a result.
So do you like the Crossroads mechanics at all, Dead of Winter?
Haven’t played it. I generally don’t like cooperative games, and for some reason zombie games always seem to be bad.
I wonder if any of my buddies own it…
It’s coop with a betrayal element, if you so chose, and individual objectives so if the team wins you can still lose if you didn’t make your objective. Crossroads is a draw card element but it’s a mixture of story and consequence, choices that affect the game but it’s got more mechanics than just draw a card.
I ask because I think the idea of Crossroads was generally well received even if parts of the other game weren not. They’re also doing a new game with Crossroads, space based I think.
At least they’re trying something new with Discover. I’m not sure how well it would work, but it seems to be a pretty expensive try. Part of me is thinking that FFG is encouraging collecting and trading components, but that would be just stupid. This is one I’m definitely letting everyone else take the plunge first and read reviews before even considering a purchase for myself.
Reminder to anyone else who might be interested, the Kickstarter for the Trogdor!! board game has a little less than 24 hours left.
Check out all his majesty!
You can’t throw that out there without linking he pitch video!
“Actual tiles do not Billie Jean” … I’m glad they cleared that up.
I didn’t care for it. The whole “everyone is sort of a traitor” mechanic felt like the personal agenda mechanic from The BSG expansion which was awful.
I played another game of Root last night as a non-Vagabond character (the Cats) and am way more in agreement with @Pharaoh. It’s not a game I’m going to be seeking out anymore, but my friend group likes it a lot so I’ll probably end up playing it a few more times. Hopefully as the Vagabond, which I still quite like to play.
Despite loving the theme a lot, I’d much rather play Cry Havoc, Rising Sun or Chaos in the Old World for asymmetric bashing. A lot of Root choices feel like they come from momentum from tactical choices made earlier in the game that I’m just following through to their conclusion. This creates a pretty neat dance of pieces on the board, but I don’t feel bought into my choices by the time it’s over. I feel a bit like the game’s playing me rather than the other way around. I’m sure there’s more to discover, but I don’t really want to fight through the feeling of lack of agency to find where it’s hiding.
On the upside, the world building and art is really great. The game is also pretty simple for almost all the factions, a good deal simpler than any of the dudes on a map games mentioned above. If I liked it, I think it would be a great light-complexity dudes on a map game to introduce people to the genre.
If you were @tomchick, you would say that these games have “obsoleted” Root, although since they all came out before Root, I dunno if that’s correct usage. Maybe they prebsoleted it.
Or they plebsoleted it, which is when you obsolete something IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE!
He would definitely say prebsoleted. I think that matches his style.
I don’t think they do obsolete each other because who they’re going to impress is pretty different. Some people I’ve played with are enamored of the totally different solitaire games each one is playing. I was getting annoyed at game mechanics in different games causing players to gang up on me without them really even caring about what I was doing. Which I think some people will like because it means a lot of the attacking isn’t really personal. But I think it downplays the drama that could be there.
In other asymmetric games, we all have the same (or at least very similar) goals that drive the dramatic moments. When an intense battle over a highly valuable region in Cry Havoc is concluded, it’s a big dramatic moment for everyone involved because we all care about the crystals in that region, who got them, and how many troops they have left to defend them. In Root, the birds may desperately fight the cats in a region they need to win in order to build so they can finish their decree. But the other players and even the cats may not really care how the battle concludes. A lot of fighting had the attacker rolling their dice followed by a muted “huh”. I think there’s probably still a lot of depth there, but I want my emotions battered!
That was too much writing. I gotta get some coffee.
Pretty excited to get this in the mail:
Anyone here played this? What’s the complexity compared to say one of the COIN series?
I’ve played a few times. I’d say it’s simpler than the COIN series. It’s basically a Punic Wars version of A Few Acres of Snow. It is also pretty unforgiving at times, just like its predecessor. You can find yourself in a blind alley due to poor deckbuilding.
So probably not a game that reveals itself on the first play through? Rewards really knowing all the cards and what they do?
Yes, just like A Few Acres.
Has anyone played this?
This looks like a game I might want to get my nephew for the holiday. Other family members will probably load him upon video games, Pokemon, and Beyblade but I am trying to get him into something he will do with the family.
It’s also very cute. That might not be a good word to use with a 9 year old boy but… the box is totally cute.
I have not, but my son will be turning 5 in January, and you can rest assured I have seriously looked at it.
I had no idea this had turned from “My Little Pony-themed print-and-play” to “official non-My Little Pony-themed-but-still-kid-friendly retail release.” If I were around the younger members of my extended family more often, I’d absolutely be down to get this one!
Yesterday night was one of the best game night ever because we played this awesomeness:
That’s five of us and two of my friends brought their SOs who are non-hardcore gamers to try out A Study in Emerald (1st Edition). See that we stared and glued to the board and studying movements and cards intensely? That’s a sign of great design! Non of us whipped out mobile phones and checking out social media while waiting for next turn. More importantly to ensure regular game nights, the SOs thoroughly enjoyed it and got their seals of approval!
Initially everyone had no idea with what opening moves to do but as the game went by we began to know how the actions work. Agents were recruited, bombs were smuggled in, agents travelling to do hit jobs, connection in cities were established while all of us kept deducing who was on my side. Soon the game hit the climax when royalties got killed and loyalists frantically travelled to do agent assassination. The 3 restorationists won the game against two loyalists including me and here’s the end game:
Many lessons were learned and I’d definitely do better next time. We did a post game autopsy and here’s what we thought:
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Bismarck is great! He could be utilized to block high VP city like London or chokehold like Paris.
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The war/revolution track was under utilized. We were busy having fun with assassinations but couldn’t be bothered with improving the war/rev track for collective benefits.
We already agreed to play more because it’s a great game! I’d like to learn more what are the optimal opening moves from both sides as we were kinda fumbling along for the first few turns in our first game. Should we do a more straightforward approach like recruiting assassins and bomb cards up front but at the risk of exposing identity or buying opponents’ cards but at the risk of doing suboptimal moves?
On the other hand, games that are lining up to be played are A Game of Thrones, Triumph & Tragedy, and Root. But I’m itching to play ASIE again :(