I’ve never played the first 2 games either. From the reviews I’ve seen, this one is considered a refinement of the previous 2 iterations, though it doesn’t exactly replace the second because you don’t get to build your own decks.
That said, it’s a great jumping in point into the design and is really enjoyable.
New Era (a standalone expansion for first-edition 51st State) is one of my favorite games ever. I understand why they smoothed off all the messy bits to make Imperial Settlers, but in the process something magical was lost.
My local shop has had 51st forever in stock…might have to grab that if I can find the expansion…thanks!
If you have played both, can you be more specific as to what magical thing was lost?
I thought Imperial Settlers (not Empires of the North) was a similar system to 51st State. I’d think Empires of the North is a bit further removed as it’s the second iteration. But you made me curious.
Really all I can tell you is that New Era feels deeper, richer, and more competitive. That everyone drafts from the same pool of cards surely has a lot to do with it. It’s also messier. More chaotic.
A friend in one of my Magic: The Gathering communities ended up sending me a bunch of solitaire games, mostly stuff he had backed on Kickstarter to fund designers he likes rather than to get the specific games. They arrived today, so now I have three new things to play, plus a puzzle book:
Deep Space D-6: This has been on my list to buy ever since hearing others gush about it, and I was planning on ordering it myself at some point, so having him offer to send it over was a wonderful surprise. I’m going to see about printing out the campaign book after I get a few regular plays in, as well.
Pulp Detective: We didn’t read great things about this when we were chatting about it, but it’s probably doing better if I give it a shot than if it sits on his shelf doing absolutely nothing.
La Granja: The Dice Game - ¡No Siesta!: This one was thrown in as a surprise! I’ve never played La Granja, but apparently this is a lightweight dice game that reimplements that game’s dice mechanics, with a versus-AI solitaire mode.
Tramways Engineer’s Workbook: This is a puzzle book that uses the rules and mechanics of Tramways, another game I haven’t played.
Sweet! You’re in for a treat.
-Tom
What’s this? Do tell.
Here you go. It’s unfinished (and the last update was back in January), but it’s free and has a good amount of content to play with.
Thank you!
I ended up spending a few hours playing the Deep Space D6 campaign over the holiday, as well as a few more plays of the base game and the Endless expansion, using a variety of ships. Enjoyed all of it.
Then today arrived an email from the developer announcing a stand-alone sequel with multiplayer. Not sure I’ll back it but fwiw:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tony-go/deep-space-d-6-armada-worker-placement-co-op-board-game
Now’s a great time for sales/specials on solitarie boardgames! Eager to take the Nautilus under the sea this weekend. Query: Are there any solitaire games kinda like Death Monster. I love the concept of struggling to build a civilization against overwhelming odds. I don’t mind dying. Do mind paying $400 right now.
Also, I’m pouring one out for Victory Point Games again this weekend. There state of siege games were enjoyable and glad to have gotten a few before they sold out. (Nemo/Zeds/Darkest NIght still available).
I’m thinking of getting Unbroken based on earlier recs from this thread.
Considerably lower-stress (and probably already considered), but Gloomhaven can be played solo and has plenty of legacy game stuff going on to last you a couple hundred hours, easily.
If you mean specifically the thing where you hunt big monsters and wear them down as you fight, there are a couple other games in the works with KD:M as a major inspiration that are, at any rate, more affordable if not cheap… but they haven’t hit manufacturing yet, let alone shipped. Aeon Trespass: Odyssey and Oathsworn are the ones I am thinking of.
Can’t you fight big boss types in the Dark Souls game? Don’t know much about it.
Yes, I had forgotten that. I watched three hours of someone’s group playing that and it looked really boring. Like, the bosses seemed mildly interesting but it also models the trash mob and boss run side of Dark Souls, and you don’t have any cool abilities, and there’s no reliable source of useful equipment and you have to grind both to farm drops (I. e. random draws off the equipment deck) and advancement to be able to use stuff (both cost souls).
I have a strong attachement to puzzle games (video and board). Thanks to this recommendtion by BGGs W.E.Martin
I bought Lunar Landing immediately and love it. What I like it, how this set of 40 puzzles encourages you to use something like a scientific method approaching the solution. There’s puzzle 15 for example, where I was struggling. Then I asked myself, if the purple robot was gone, the solution would be easy. And getting rid of the purple bot was easy, too.
The rules are similar to Riccochet Robots, however, we are in space, so there are no boundaries, robots would fly off the edge of the board. You can move robots in a straight line, until they are stopped by a different robot. A second way to define the movement rule is, robots and astronaut only can move to each other until they are adjacent. No diagonal movement.
The goal is to land the red figure, astronaut Dave, in the middle of the board (red gate). The red gate does not stop Dave. You need a robot, adjacent to the gate, to stop Dave on the gate.
I am on level 30 now. Here is the setup, the expert levels start with 30.
Does anyone have solo experience with any of the Tiny Epic games? I’m particularly interested in Tiny Epic Mechs and Tiny Epic Tactics. The 2 for $30 Tiny Epic sale is ongoing at Miniature Market, and I have plenty of solo time these days.
I only know Tiny Epic Galaxies (fun multiplayer; I haven’t tried the solo) and Tiny Epic Defenders (fun co-op or solo). I know that Tiny Epic Mechs has a reputation as the worst of the Tiny Epic games.
I don’t know either of those specifically, but I would recommend a hard pass. None of the Scott Almes games I’ve played have had good solitaire gameplay, with one exception, and that was only after a second try. As long as you also buy the Dark War expansion, Tiny Epic Defenders is a really cool tower defense game that plays just fine solitaire. Is that an option for your $30?
But if Tiny Epic Mechs or Tactics has good solo play, someone let me know. I’m happy to be corrected!
-Tom
