Yup, just came out a month ago. Picked it up at my FLGS a day after release. So it is new.
They’ve already announced their next set too.
Finished my first season of Charterstone in 3rd last night. I won 3 of 12 games but made a lot of mistakes.
Doing games 4 and 5 of the second campaign I’m in tonight. No wins so far but I have set myself up for big moves tonight. Fingers crossed!
I’ve seen a lot of complaints about CA and most seem to be run with less than 6 solid players commuted to the season. 6 is the only way to play IMO!
Late arrival this week
I haven’t played Chronicles of Crime but it’s reviewed pretty well. I kind of bounced off Detective but picking up this game (and expansion) to give it a try.
I’ve played a few Unlock, so I can’t tell you which is best. They’re all good, as far as I can tell.
What I will say: Don’t play with more than 3 people. Otherwise you’ll have a lot of people sat around being pretty bored.
edit: I see this topic has already covered and it might already be “too late”!
Speaking of which, I read that Chronicles of Crime isn’t great with more than 2-3 people either. Was planning to try that out the other night but will likely save it for a couples game with my wife instead.
Bigger groups work if some (most) of them are kids. In my experience, they synergize well and have different puzzle-solving strengths. They also gain and lose attention span, wander off to do other stuff, come back, etc so the group shifts and ebbs and flows which works fine for this kind of thing.
We usually do four. My wife and another couple. A few we’ve had six, Scherezade for example a third couple joined.
It’s fine. We all have kids so the extra hands allows a few to float in and out as children dictate.
Well, if you get bored with your gaming group, whatever you need to add some spice to OH ‘SIX’… nevermind.
I think you’re damning a game with faith praise if you suggest that it’s great because you can just get up in the middle of it and walk off :)
I mean, I think it’s great that there are a wide range of options in board gaming. I like highly strategic games, but I also like more casual ones. I’m just suggesting that with kids, the Exit games are great because they don’t demand 3 hours of committed time from them. There are puzzles that they can drift in and out on. That’s not faint praise; it’s just understanding what context a particular kind of game can be useful in.
Exactly. I mean for my group the ability to drop in and out of play for periods of time isn’t a criticism, it’s a feature.
I know @tomchick is a huge proponent of games where every player is engaged at all times. And I get it. Those can be great.
But until the kids are well and truly asleep, which means staying over at someone’s house as well as not starting until at least 9 which caps the length at 3 hours tops, for our group that’s a non starter. Games where you can take your turn, but then go away for a few minutes to deal with a toddler are essential to a reasonable game length. Just walk away after your turn and if anything impacts or involves you we will shout out. Player down time fits more naturally the cycle of what is playable.
So, probably more Boardgaming 2020 news, but we are getting a reprint/new version of Avalon Hill’s Dune involving the original designers.
I’m really pumped about this. This is a game I have been dying to try, but never found a copy in good state at a reasonable price, plus, it’s a little bit too long. I’m hoping the new version redesigns a little to cut on playing time.
Oh, hell yes. I did manage to get a copy of the original in fine condition, but will happily buy a new version. Rex never quite filled that void.
Yay!
Yeah Rex really missed the mark. They tried speeding it up by shrinking the map and doubling move speed, then did nothing to rebalance all the factors that relied on that large map and slow movement.
Quacks of Quedlinburg: believe the hype. I dug it lots. Just went on my wish list. F the Amazon scalpers selling a $30 game for $80-100+. Got a line on any copies, @Vesper???
I have it for 39.49. 7 copies in stock. MSRP on it is 54.99.
Had a outstanding game of Dune tonight. Our alliance won the game on turn 15, but the Freeman betrayed us to get the final victory. House atreides sad…
I’m not exactly sure what the hype is (other than winning the SdJ? Which never means much to me), but I played this for the first time the other night, too, and also really liked it. It’s kind of a deck-builder (which I usually hate), but there’s no way to ‘thin your deck’, really, which is one of the things about those games that I don’t like, so that suits me just fine. I also like press-your-luck games, so that pushes it up a bit. All in all, a nice, light/middle weight game that offers some nice decisions, and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.
Count me in please. Pm please with all in costs and I will PayPal immediately.
The hype is that it reviews very well and has come up on quite a few best of lists I listened to. And for good reason. We played it constantly over the Christmas break and had a ball with it.
It’s quite short and light, but still lets you use the specific combination of ingredients on the table to try and build an engine of sorts. Until you keep drawing the wrong ingredients. :)
There is luck. But blowing up your cauldron is not that big a deal and the tension it adds was a lot of fun for us.
A small expansion just came out (though likely not in the US yet. It’s available in English in UK though). It’s on my wish list.