I haven’t played Volkare’s Quest yet, but Volkare’s Return is insanely fun. My girlfriend and I set it up sometimes on a weekend and play a round or two a day until we’re finished. We tried playing through it in one sitting and it was just too much.
By the end of Volkare’s Return, you’ll probably be max level with a run of amazing units attacking Volkare’s army in a city you control. I don’t remember all the bonuses for being in your own city, but the big one you get is a 2 card increase to your hand size. Pairing that with a high level and the right day / night card, you can easily get up to a 9-10 card hand limit. If you have a good amount of mana (and if you don’t you’ll probably have skills that can fix that) you can really do AMAZING things at the end of that game. It’s the most satisfying power growth I’ve had in a game.
Since Tom was out of town this week (heh heh heh) I’ve sabotaged his game group and made them play 7 Wonders. I’m not sure why he doesn’t like it, but it’s official Tom is crazy. Also played Blood bowl manager. What a fun game. I liked it so much I’m interested in picking up something like it. Any recommendations? Is Kaosball any good?
Anyone who doesn’t like 7 Wonders has a hole in their head and a black, black heart. Or they’ve only played it 2 player or something.
ioticus
6144
I got rid of 7 Wonders because I hated the 2-player game’s dummy mechanic.
Lots of games designed for 3+ players do poorly with 2, particularly if they require a dummy player to make it work.
Well, and I think a whole lot of what’s beautiful about 7 Wonders is how it manages to play smoothly with a large group, and so few games can play 7-8 comfortably. I think the magic rapidly diminishes with fewer than 5.
Quaro
6147
I don’t mind the dummy mechanic in 7 wonders two player. The game feels very different but it works much better two player than I expected.
Funkula
6148
I concur that five is a good number for 7 Wonders. It’s nice that you can play it with seven, but I like how in (slightly) smaller games you get a second chance at some of the cards you pass on. Playing it with two seems like a poor idea, especially since there are so many games that only play two.
I don’t like 7 Wonders. I loved it the first time I played it, and enjoyed it the fifth, but around the tenth I started losing my appreciation. My problem with 7 Wonders is every play of the game starts to blend together. There isn’t enough different between games to keep it interesting. I feel like I am making the same decisions every time I play. I’ve heard the Cities and Leaders expansions were made to address that problem, but I burned out on it before those were released, and my friends who own it haven’t bought either of them. For big groups, I’d rather play Cosmic Encounter (which plays great up to 8), The Resistance (up to 10), or in the worst case, split up so we can play two games. But I still end up regularly playing 7 Wonders because a lot of my friends who aren’t really into board games own it and maybe Dominion, but when there’s 5 of us Dominion is out.
I impulse purchased Kingdom Builder over the weekend, which was potentially stupid since I’d heard mostly negative things about it. But from the five quick plays I got in, I really enjoyed it. It feels like something I can play with my parents and other non-gamers, but still enjoy. I think Tom Vasel said it was a less-interesting Through the Desert, which is probably true. But it has so much variability between games I’m still finding it interesting. And the decision space per-turn is often just the right size. Games go quick because there aren’t enough options for much analysis-paralysis, but those opening moves are super important, and clever moves can still win the game. I could totally see burning out on it after repeat plays (due to a high luck factor), but I think it’ll be my go-to 30 minute filler game for the time being.
hepcat
6150
Come back when you get to 10 plays. :)
I tried KB at a convention a while back and didn’t see any reason to ever play it again. I had heard some good things about it, but to be honest it was just “meh” for me.
Finally received the Pathfinder card game + character addon deck. The box may be the biggest game box I own until OGRE shows up, and for a card game. <boggle>
Hopefully I’ll get to try it out this Wednesday.
hepcat
6152
If you’re like me, the first time you play Pathfinder you’ll say to yourself, “What’s the big deal?”
Then you’ll start an adventure path and get some rewards for finishing a scenario in that adventure path. Then you’ll wanna play another scenario to get more rewards…
…and before you know it, it’s 2am and you’re furiously debating with yourself whether or not you want the magic glaive that allows you to damage creatures with resistance to normal weapons, or the light crossbow that uses your dexterity to hit.
The game is seriously addictive.
Chaplin
6153
Pathfinder is its own (glorious) beast. The “loot” and progression mechanics are genius. I have a Paladin in one play group that I am quite fond of because she has a great sword (note, every monster encounter requires the statement, “(insert monster encountered here) takes a great sword… to the FACE!”), an icy +1 spear, and an extra cure spell. She was so close to death in the last game as I was searching through a dungeon that had uncancelable mental damage any time a blessing came up that I was stricken by sheer panick that she might die and be gone for good. Also, I highly recommend not kitting out characters with your favorite basic gear, but rather use the starter gear as since the game only has low level content for now it is quite easy to skip over the looting fun otherwise.
Keeping in mind that I am not a role player type guy, another cool thing that is easily dismissed by the grizzled boardgamer is the check system. Sure, at its core you look for a stat then role to check against it. However, the game reveals so much more narrative when you consider what stat is needed or why. In our last game a player was grumbling about why he needed intelligence (which was very low on his character) to loot the potions. I quickly proposed that he knew the bottle had something in it, but not the intelligence or arcane knowledge to know it was an invisibility potion rather than a goblin spittoon. Suddenly the game opened up with laughter as not only success or failure mattered, but by how much in the narration of this dull witted monk throwing magic bottles at the wall or in one case I think it was holy water which caused us to question the sort of “monk” that we were playing with.
Good times, and a damn good game.
prolix
6154
Any suggestions for cooperative board games for 9-year-olds (twin boys)? Cooperative is key, since competitive games just end up in fistfights and shootouts.
We’ve messed around a little with Elder Sign (on iOS), which they like, but it’s a little advanced (suggested age is 13+) and games are too long. I’m just not sure what else is out there that’s good. They like the kind of stuff you would expect: knights, spaceships, dinosaurs, monsters, Minecraft, etc. Thanks for any help…
JoshL
6155
I generally don’t like cooperative games, but I play Forbidden Island with my 6-year old, and she loves it. There’s a good iOS version too. Forbidden Desert is a new game which is similar, but a bit more complicated (no iOS for that yet). Neither of those games has any of the things you said your boys like though, so who knows.
nKoan
6156
Castle Panic sounds like it might be up your alley.
Did someone say Sentinels of the Multiverse?
malkav11
6158
If Elder Sign is a little too advanced, I’m concerned that the level of mathiness in Sentinels will be more so.
Chaplin
6159
While I have not personally tried it, Mice and Mystics has solid praise and is definitely on my list for games to pick up for family game night.
I found the title Mice and Mystics fascinating, so I looked it up on Board Game Geek.
I think I’d enjoy it, but I’m less sure it’s a family game. It depends on the family, I guess, but from the sound of it, it works best with a group that’s inclined to role-play, and which likes games with conflict in them. My wife and nieces would hate it, for example, but if “family night” means “me and a couple of teenage boys” it would probably work.
