Well, it says “innovative” right there at the front of the description, so it’s got to be more than JAMB (just another miniatures boondoggle)! Does anyone here know what’s innovative about it, or am I going to have to go look at the Kickstarter campaign myself?
-Tom
Broke out Tiny Epic Zombies last night. We just barely won playing Co-op. Ho ho ho now I have a machine gun.
I haven’t played it yet. What do you think of the game, other than it being cool to have a machine gun?
I’ll try and summarize what looks neat: it’s an asymmetric dudes on a map game where all your units get wiped off the board each round (I think). The first thing you do each round is put out ALL of your units, and I can’t tell why but in the playthroughs this section seems very quick and easy. The sell-point of the game is it gets to conflict each round super quickly. In the conflict, you play a card from your hand (that’s unique to which god you’re playing) with 3 actions on it. You perform 2 of the actions and then score the conflict. The cards seem wildly different between each of the gods, so how you can affect the battle can change a lot game to game.
The other intriguing part of conflicts is there are 3 battles going on in each region:
So in theory you could be competing over one, all, or none of these goals in each conflict. I say “none” because some of the god cards involve different goals, like moving units out of this zone into future conflicts, or building monuments that score points in a different way for the rest of the game.
That sounds fun to me. Sort of reminds me of the 3 victory conditions in Cry Havoc, which is a system I love, because in that game two players can go into a conflict and both get the thing they wanted (also, both players can go in and NEITHER get the thing they wanted). This sounds even better because all 4 players will be in all of these conflicts.
Also, if you have 50 minutes to spare, the Man vs. Meeple Round 1 is what made me think I would like it. They play through the first round explaining what they’re doing the whole way through.
Kinda Zombicide light, we overestimated our chances at the start and almost did not win. I can see us playing it a few times.
Played new release Master of the Galaxy tonight. My friend told me it was a streamlined space 4X, which sounded right in my wheelhouse. Hated it. It’s a “bag building” game where you gain cubes of various colors to place in your bag, and then drawn 3 each turn to use to do various things. My complaints are several: I got only the weakest sense of engine building from it; there was little integration of mechanics and theme (we could have been sheering sheep with our cubes; calling it a “space” theme was pretty much random); and biggest complaint of all: many turns passed without the player actually performing any actions. You perform actions when you fill up cards with cubes of the right combination of colors but quite a few turns will pass where all you do is fill in some blanks and wait. And wait. And draw cubes, some of which are completely useless. And wait. And then do one thing. Then draw. Wait. Wait. Draw. Crap draw! Feh.
I rarely have a strong negative reaction to games: typically if I don’t like something I just feel disinterested. Perhaps b/c my hopes were raised, I hated this. Hated it.
As always, YMMV.
Looks like they cancelled the Mezo kickstarter and are going to relaunch next week with a bunch of changes, including a version of the game with no minis:
Wow. They say they want to make their miniatures boondoggle look less like a miniatures boondoggle!
Kolossal is restarting Mezo because after the Eclipse Kickstarter and Western Legends component issues, people were starting to label them as predatory and cheap - which is absolutely fair. You can’t try to pull the CMON “stretch goal” bullshit unless your presentation and eventual product delivery are 110% - which they aren’t. I applaud them for trying to pivot, but they kind of dug their own grave.
It’s frustrating. Western Legends is a fantastic sandbox western game - but holy crap is it cheaply made. Mezo, from everything I’ve read and people who played the demos, is a worthy successor to Chaos of the Old World. I just wish the publisher bringing them to market wasn’t doing it so poorly.
Uh oh, first I’ve heard of this. What’s wrong with the minis in Western Legends? I figured I’d probably back the new Mezo kickstarter at whatever miniature level they have because I like plastic, but if the quality isn’t there I could be talked down to cardboard. (Especially because the character art is fantastic, if they just put it on cardboard cutouts it will probably look great.)
The mini’s themselves are fine I guess…they just are a cheaper plastic(?)/quality than other titles I own. They warped pretty seriously during shipping for me, but nothing bad. Honestly they are solid.
The real problem was the material components. The box itself is cheap quality and thin, and won’t last a couple years. The cards are great - but the cattle tokens are crap quality and so tiny you can’t read them. The player aids are almost literally printed on toilet paper its so flimsy and thin. The player mats are more cheap cardboard that warped during shipping so don’t really lay flat.
Bottom line is they charged a lot for a premium product and gameplay wise, delivered in spades. It’s a fantastic game. But the physical game itself is really disappointing. The BGG threads are littered with the custom components people are making for their copies to replace out the default. People really want the game to last which is a good sign.
Or people are expecting a LOT more quality for components nowadays? Perhaps because of Kickstarters and Deluxe editions clouding our vision on how expensive these options are for every game that gets released now?
I can’t think of too many quality issues of any games I’ve purchased in the last handful of years, Kickstarter or otherwise. It’s just really good right now. I can’t imagine receiving a game as @Pharaoh describes. I’d be pretty pissed.
I agree component quality has been good in boardgames lately (I’m looking at you Who Goes There), and I don’t think people are ignorant of the expense component’s cost. Frankly, that’s on the publisher and manufacturer to set expectations and cost during the Kickstarter or release. When you repeatedly remark “premium components” and have a stretch goal that says the player boards are being made a thicker stock - and then they come thin as waffers and already warped?
That has nothing to do with customers. That’s someone cutting corners, saving money or a supply issue.
I’m looking for recommendations for games that I can play with my cohort mates during lunch breaks or after class. This is what I want:
Portable. Something that can be carried in a backpack easily, along with a lunch, computer, etc.
Relatively quick play time. Something that can be played in 20-40 minutes. This of course means a game that doesn’t take a ton of time to set up.
Players would probably number 3, maybe 4.
Cooperative is preferred but I’m open to suggestions on competitive games.
Here’s what we’ve been playing recently, Sushi Go, Kingdomino, the Rick and Morty card game which name now escapes me.
I’d strongly recommend looking into any of the games from Gamelyn’s Tiny Epic line, including their current Kickstarter, Tiny Epic Mechs. They might run slightly long on time for a larger group, but all of them have relatively small footprints and tiny boxes, play in 30-60 minutes, offer plenty of meaningful decisions to make, and support 1-5 players. The one big miss for your criteria is that only two of them, Tiny Epic Defenders and Tiny Epic Zombies, support co-op play.
Aside from those, while they’re also competitive games, Lost Legacy and Flip City play fast and come in very small boxes, and are games I’m always happy to pull out for a group needing to play something fast.
Has anyone with experience of the physical card game preferably tried out to the early access version of the Lord of the Rings LCG on Steam?
The link is: The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game - Definitive Edition on Steam (for some reason, it doesn’t insert correctly when on its own line in a post)
I am aware of the card game but have never played it. And watching Trump play it made it seems like the multi objective missions might be entertaining to tackle:
Reviewers complain that some of the aspects that give more depth to the physical card game have been dropped. Are we missing out on a lot?
Then again, the cheaper pack is a reasonable level of entry.
Here is what the store says it contains:
The Shire Founder’s Pack includes:
The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game Core Set
4 Heroes
68 Player Cards
Classic and New Sauron Card Backs
Classic and New Player Player Backs
3,000 Valor Points
1 Free Palantír View
And these additional Shire Founder’s Pack Items:
5,000 Bonus Valor Points (for a total of 8,000 points)
1 Bonus Palantír View (for a total of 2)
Exclusive Shire Player Tag
Exclusive Shire Player Avatar and Frame
Exclusive Shire Card Back
Frodo Avatar Unlocked
A Friend in Need (Uncommon) Card Unlocked
Valor Points are the in-game currency which can be used to purchase anything. The Founder’s Packs give you unlocked content, as well as exclusive cosmetic items, but the primary value is the Valor Points that give you the freedom to choose which content you wish to acquire for your own inventory and which items you would rather earn through play. Valor Points are earned by completing quests successfully or can be received through our bonus system, the Palantír.
Correct, and apparently to the point where it shouldn’t be considered the same game.
The Mind checks all these boxes. Also, Hanabi.
