What does a guy do after making Race for the Galaxy? Are there any games that really work well with an app? Can a Euro worker placement game embrace an Ameritrash theme? Tom Chick, Hassan Lopez, and Mike Pollmann answer these questions for you.
Having played both Detective and Chronicles of Crime, I came away from both thinking, “Huh. So still, nobody’s been able to improve on Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective.”
I’m not anti-app games at all, but the narrative deduction genre is one that I love because it makes me think, with the help of looking at the notes I’ve taken during gameplay. The problem with Detective and Chronicle is that the technology rips me away from the “zone”, by making me pick up a tablet or app, scan or enter stuff or look around a VR room, and then do the thinking part. They also track time for “gamey” reasons, which to me is completely besides the fun of solving a mystery.
For me, I’d much rather just read something and then take notes to pore over, and just let me match wits with the designer’s puzzle on its intellectual merits and using my own knack for sifting through information. I love that in SHCD if I’m stuck it’s super easy to just… walk away and think about it for a bit - a few hours or a day or two even, without having to worry about battery power or saving my state in the app. I find it much more enjoyable and immersive when it’s just me, a few books and a pad of paper trying to crack a mystery.
Have you played Android, by any chance? The old Fantasy Flight cyberpunk detective game? It’s a head-to-head competitive design, heavily Ameritrash, instead of the collaborate crime-solving puzzle nature of Consulting Detective or Chronicles of Crime. I haven’t played it, but I’d be curious whether it works for you guys who like deduction crime solving games.
-Tom
I played Res Arcana on Friday. I liked it, interested to hear what y’all thought.
I have Android. Never got it really played but it had an interesting approach where you would be invested in a particular suspect. Who did the crime was of lesser interest rather it was who you could build a case against.
Speaking of building a case:
https://www.victorypointgames.com/high-treason-the-trial-of-louis-riel-2nd-edition/
I have played, and I… kind of love it? Even though I don’t think it’s a particularly good game.
It nails the cyberpunk flavor, thanks to some great world-building. But it’s at cross-purposes with its stated theme, because instead of trying to discover the perp you’re really just trying to collect evidence that supports your (card-driven) hunch at the end of the game.
It’s a weird, weird design, man, and the strange melding of Euro and Ameritrash mechanics just kind of keeps it at arms length, but I had a hell of a lot of fun playing the character-driven agendas and take-that mechanics in a futuristic world. It’s not narrative deduction, so I can’t say it scratches that itch - but it is definitely something worth playing. Probably Kevin Wilson’s most personal design.
“How do you own a board game and not tear the shrink wrap off as soon as humanly possible?”
Burnout, overspending and not knowing what you really like!
I don’t think you’d like Jump Drive @tomchick. It strips out all player interaction and some of the interesting powers in Race to make a game that plays in half the time. I quite enjoy it as a 10 minute explosion of points (how many games can build a 30 point generating engine in 10 minutes?!). It’s interesting primarily how something so quick and simple can produce a variable puzzle you do next to a friend.
Well, you got me to order Res Arcana. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.
Not as pleased as you’ll be with yourself! :)
I’ll be curious what you think. Post here or in the boardgaming thread after you’ve tried it. By the way, I only just realized that the title is probably supposed to invoke Race for the Galaxy. Res. Race. Res. Get it? That was completely lost on me.
-Tom
Amoeba Wars! I have a copy of that game! Only played it twice but I like it!
Oh, I thought he said Amiibo Wars and was perplexed.
But it’s never to late to create your own tabletop rules to lead your Amiibos into battle!
Amoeba Wars was one of the first serious boardgames I ever played. I “borrowed” it from my older brother, who never noticed since he was too focused on his copies of Third Reich and Panzer Leader. I solo’ed the heck out of when I was 10 or so. Definitely shaped me in ways I can’t quite unfold.