Reldan
3321
That’s not true. The Kingsmoot Titles from the Kings of the Seas expansion specifically are designed to support 3-6. The regular multiplayer Titles can handle 3-6 as well, but the sweet spot with them is 4. A 6 player game would take quite a while to play through and I’m sure most players would find it hard to keep track of what everyone had out, but there’s no reason that there’s a four player maximum except that with a single Core Set you don’t have enough cards to do more than 4.
Let’s play tonight!!!
I enjoyed the game but I’m really looking forward to playing it with the proper PC placement/flipping rules. I think it will make for a much more faithful reenactment of your We the People sessions from years ago.
We could also run a Google+ hangout instead of Skype so you could still see the whites of my eyes. And other qt3ers could drop by to heckle us for any other rules we mess up.
Mike - thanks for the player guide and tips. I wondered why the colony control chits seemed goofed up.
corsair
3323
At Strategicon this weekend I’d say that 7 Wonders reached Dominion levels of popularity. It sold out in the dealers room, and had three well-attended tournaments. It’s not just the dedicated EuroGamer, either - seems to be broadly popular across age, gender, and experience lines. Heck, tournaments can accommodate 49 players and finish in two hours with prelims and finals.
I really don’t find people all that frustrated - they usually get it pretty quickly (which is not to discount your experience).
JM1
3324
I got a bunch of new people playing it over the last few weeks. It’s such a quick game that the best thing to do is play a “visible hand” game first off so people a) learn the mechanics, and b) learn what’s coming. The rulebook has the tech tree and the fact that there’ll always be the same cards in each age deck means that by the second game they’re able to start making informed decisions.
Our group seems to love it and I’ve already picked up the Leaders expansion, we’ll see how that goes.
Orsson
3325
Hear hear.
Danger Planet was the store in Malden and I’d hazard to say that it was the best LGS in the Greater Boston area when it was active. The store went dark a couple of years ago after the building’s landlord died and his wife kicked DP out in favor of a fishmonger. The DP owners decided (the economy being what it was/is) to pack it in for the time being.
The Wiz is similarly awesome, but it’s a hike to get there. They recently changed storefronts, so I haven’t seen what the new space looks like yet.
Dean
3326
Danger Planet was in Waltham, and was okay (I went there a lot). It was usually overrun with kids playing Magic. The regulars there got to know each other so well that some sort of drama ensued (much like Qt3).
Once at King Richard’s Faire I saw one of the guys from Danger Planet in full RenFaire regalia. I kept looking at him, thinking I knew him, but couldn’t place him. Since when that happens to me, it’s usually a student from 10 years ago, I avoided him, then, two days later, I was like, “Oooh! That was the Danger Planet guy!”
FLGS’s are just too expensive nowadays. I love that we can game at Pandemonium, and I always try to buy something to pay for the time I spend at their tables, but I can get boardgames $20-$30 cheaper online, and better information on BGG.
Yeah. The FLGS seems to be fixated on the MSRP. Reminds me of back when I still bought P&P RPGs. Ungodly overpriced but they could get away with it because they had a niche audience who would buy any new splatbook they could.
Edit: I hadn’t noticed this, but Playdek is working with Lookout to bring Agricola to iOS. Awesome. Now Codito just needs to get a move on their vast collection of promises so we can see Rio Grande, Caylus and Le Havre some time before the mechanoids and karblakkian galactic alliance conquer the Earth and everything will be dandy as far as getting some of the top end games on iOS.
Orsson
3328
Many game stores don’t comprehend that they’re in the business of being a value added retailer. It’s literally the only thing they have going for them.
Danger Planet added value by sponsoring terrain clubs and encouraging the minis tournament scene to flourish. They also, for better or worse, ran the online forum that helped bolster the local gamer community.
Eureka Games in Brookline adds value by taking the time to train its staff in its games (making them play them and become an informed salesforce) and by hosting themed game nights for both kids and advanced gamers. They’re not perfect, but they understand that if a parent walks in and wants advice or a recommendation, a staff member should be able to give it.
Pandemonium has that great gaming space, which should be the value they’re adding, but it’s covered in filth and the use of it is generally a free-for-all (which we’ve been able to take advantage of, of course, but it should be better managed). In other words, we’re getting the base value of the space and nothing more.
If Pandemonium regularly added more value to the experience, perhaps we would be more inclined to raise that purchase threshold to MSRP. Personally I would (and have, at better stores), but maybe I’m wrong that others would too.
Lorini
3329
FLGS’s have an inherit value over online in that you can get the game right then. Want to play Arkham Horror with your buddies and no one has a copy? Run down to the local FLGS and get a copy. Now most people can plan better than that and the FLGS’s know it, so as you say, they have to offer additional value as well.
Let’s see … so far I am backing or backed these games:
Glory to Rome
Flash Point - Fire Rescue
Lyssan
Carnival
Get Bit
Flapjacks and Sasquatches
Tik Tok Woodman
Divided Republic
Borogove
I’m on the fence about the Alien Frontiers expansion, Sunrise City and Eaten By Zombies atm.
I didn’t know they were remaking that. I bought a copy a long time ago and found this on clearance to go with it. Trigger-activated mouth and it’s big enough that you can fit entire figures in there. :)
I haven’t played yet but one of the expansions adds 2 more families for 6 players.
Dean
3333
Actually, now that Barnes and Noble has a games section, I can go there, pay less, and there’s easy parking. So they don’t even have that one anymore.
What made Rune Age stand out for you? I really loved Dominion, but didn’t much enjoy Thunderstone either. It’s still a genre I’m interested in, though, so I’d love to hear what made this one work when others didn’t.
Well, you can’t go into it expecting many of Dominion’s never-the-same-game, synergistic qualities. Dominion still rules for that stuff (at the price of abstraction, I feel).
Rune Age has a bit more of a role-playing or narrative quality, because each player plays a particular race (with a unique, fixed “barracks” of cards to buy from, like your own personal set of stacks in Dominion) and because of the scenarios and their event cards. There are a measly four scenarios in the rules and they’re designed for players who are looking for different kinds of games. One is largely cooperative, one is straight competition with player elimination, two are essentially races with minor interaction between players. Each of these has a deck of event cards that are pulled before the first player takes his next turn. They add urgency or a time limit or threats to the game.
I guess what I particularly like is that instead of one main resource (gold, in Dominion) from which you’re trying to maximize buying power, there’s a triad of resources. Gold is used to buy unit cards. Units produce strength, with which you can take over cities. Cities provide influence, which let you buy neutral cards and more gold. A cool rule is that you can use influence to keep unused cards in your hand for next round (in Dominion, you have to discard everything, typically).
Problems with the game, as far as I can see: Sometimes you end up with more resources of a type than you can really use and you’ll attack another player just because you have nothing better to do, or you’ll leave influence unused. It’s not as tight and efficient as other games in that way. And there isn’t a huge variety of the neutral cards and they’re dictated by a scenario (you use X, Y, Z for scenario A), so, again, it doesn’t have Dominion’s flexibility and replayability.
Just curious how Rune Age compares to an LCG like Game of Thrones. After doing some reading GOT LCG sounded like it was pretty cut throat and could be played with 4 players out of the box without having to buy other decks. Sounds awesome,right?
I was planning on buying Game of Thrones, but now I’m wondering if I should get something like this. I for one like dominion and thunderstone and have the expansions which is why I don’t particularly want to get into another deck builder game. Which is I wasn’t planning on getting it.
I’ve never played Game of Thrones, so I’m no help with the comparison.
I would say to read up & watch videos on how Rune Age plays before buying it. I got it as an impulse purchase at PAX mostly because I was in between the initial hype and the subsequent backlash – all the early previews and day-one reports were extremely positive, and it was only later that people started pointing out the faults in the game.
As mentioned before, it isn’t anywhere near as extensible as something like Dominion – you’re not figuring out combinations, but figuring out how to use the prescribed combinations to do whatever it is you want. It certainly feels like it needs expansions; even though I’ve only played twice (once solo and once as a two-player game), it already feels like doing the same thing over and over again. I’d say it’s more a card combat game with a deck building mechanic than a true deck building game.
One thing to note: I think that the rules are pretty vague. A big rule that we missed in the competitive game is that you draw your hand up to full after every turn and every event. The rules make it sound like you only draw after your own turn, so I spent the whole game getting frustrated that I could be attacked by someone else and then have spent all my cards by the time my turn came around.
Pod
3338
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I’ve always wanted to go to Leisure games. It involves a trip into London though, and I’m not sure if it’s worth it.
When playing MOM with the kids, do you just use the default rules and scenarios, or do you house rule everything to death? I’ve played it 3 times now (always as the DM) and it’s awlways been the same: The scenario is heavily weighted towards one person, and is often borderline impossible for one side to win. Other than that, it’s just a dungeon crawl with a lot of set up time.
The staff in Orcs Nest are pretty terrible and unresponsive. But I’ve only been in twice. At least the selection isn’t that bad. I think I bought MOM last time I was in there.
Some more interesting titles that should be arriving soon
Guards! Guards! - Discworld. that’s probably enough said, but I actually don’t know much more about this since I’d only heard about the Martin Wallace title that’s also forthcoming.
Sekigahara - light wargame, diceless, and looks like my kind of implementation of the best ideas in fog of war (ie both the blocks and the cards) at this level of complexity. The map being beautiful (another upgraded GMT title, what’s the world coming to) is not hurting it one bit, either.
Ares Project - Dice-filled, secret building, and apparently fantastic tactical combat in a sci fi theme. Not a lot more needed to get me interested.
Space Empires 4x was a given for me when it was first announced, as was Blood Bowl (card game) and Elder Sign. Another season of games that I don’t have time to play.
Lizard,
How many games do you own just out of curiosity?
