Recommend me a board game?

[CraigM]

I own and love both, but I’ll disagree with Nightgaunt. I think Race is the better game. Race card powers are more diverse than Roll card powers, which makes Race more thematically interesting and more dynamic from game to game. Race is harder to learn the first time, but quicker to set up and play, easier to transport (my girlfriend and I bring it on vacation with us), and its play diversity means it has more staying power for me.

That said, I very strongly think you can’t go wrong with either. Roll is easier to learn, but it still has a huge skill ceiling such that when you’ve learned it you’ll destroy players who are new to it. Like Nightgaunt said, you have much more control of Roll than you do of Quarriors. In both Roll and Race, however, you can get into a position where you are going to lose and there’s no way to come back. They handle this situation by being extremely short (<30 minutes) so the time you know you’ve lost is usually only those last 5 minutes.

If you want to roll a ton of dice that make an extremely satisfying noise when thrown into your plastic cup, get Roll. If you want a highly portable card game with a bunch of interesting expansions to explore after you’ve played 100 games, get Race. They’re both excellent choices.

I second porousnapkin. Race is one of my favorite quick hit games. It is my friends and my default game when we have 20 minutes at the beginning (while waiting) or end of game night. Roll just doesn’t have the same variety for us.

[robc04]

Yep, 1 day board game sale - there should be more put on sale throughout the day as some sell out:

http://smile.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_438703162_1?ie=UTF8&node=12027054011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=17AHEQKPA80N110FZGAD&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=2152195002&pf_rd_i=B000809OAO

Castles of Burgundy only $20, some other really good deals!

That’s not even listed on the deal page. Where did you see that as a deal? I actually have that one but wonder what else I’m missing.

[robc04]

Thanks for the Race / Roll opinions!

[rowe33]

Ahh sorry, probably sold out already. The good ones go really quickly in these sales, then get replaced by others throughout the day.

[robc04]

Ahh sorry, probably sold out already. The good ones go really quickly in these sales, then get replaced by others throughout the day.

If you go to the product page it’s listed on sale, but it’s not part of the main Deal of the Day page for some reason.

[rowe33]

If you go to the product page it’s listed on sale, but it’s not part of the main Deal of the Day page for some reason.

Very strange, there are a lot more games on sale than just on the main sale page. I swear it was on it earlier - at least it’s still available for half off! I picked up Roll for the Galaxy and Bora Bora myself.

[CraigM]

Castles f Burgundy shows up on that list when I click on it. It’s about 2/3 way down currently. No idea why it doesn’t show up for you.

[robc04]

I wonder if Amazon filters it out since they know I have it since I bought it from them? That wouldn’t make sense since someone may want to buy it as a gift.

[Nightgaunt]

Those are totally valid opinions of Race. It is more portable and generally quicker once people know how to play. And the card effects are definitely much more diverse, and are really what make the game shine. At the same time, experienced players will pretty much always massacre new players, which I don’t find to be the case in Roll. Also, knowing contents of the deck is a huge advantage in Race; experienced players can also tell when they’re not going to win early on because they’re not getting the cards that synergize well. I’ve played dozens and dozens of games of Race, so I love it too. But at this point I feel like Roll has slightly superior gameplay. You definitely can’t go wrong with either! Let us know which one you go with and what you think, rob!

[robc04]

I was leaning towards Race for the Galaxy because of the easier setup, price, and card effects. They both sound good and I’d probably enjoy either. I also like the concept of having to deal with some randomness in Roll. I like having to adapt on the fly in games.

In the meantime Amazon sold out of Roll for the Galaxy and Race isn’t on sale. It’s too bad Roll sold out. Race is currently at about $24 and it’s been below $20. I may pick up Race this weekend just to have something different to play with my wife. We don’t play a lot. We’ve been playing some Pandemic (her favorite) and Castles of Burgandy (just a couple times). She also likes Castle Panic, which we got for my son + the expansion. He has a hard time staying interested in boardgames, specially when there are 3 players. He has a hard time sitting still when not engaged in his turn.

[jsnell]

Has anyone played both Roll for the Galaxy and Race for the Galaxy? Preference?

I’ve played maybe 1900 matches of Race, and 3 matches of Roll. As should be obvious from those numbers, I think Race is orders of magnitude better. The main enjoyment I got out of Roll was to see how particular Race cards got translated to tiles. If you’re going to own just one, there’s just no question at all.

[tomchick]

Really, they’re apples and oranges. Answering whether Race for the Galaxy or Roll for the Galaxy is better says more about what kind of game you want to play than anything about their comparative quality. It’s like asking someone whether RPGs or first-person shooters are better.

-Tom

[Gedd]

In the meantime Amazon sold out of Roll for the Galaxy and Race isn’t on sale…

Roll came back into the sale at some point. I just bought it in the last 30 minutes for the sale price, but I just looked again and it might have sold out. If you’re interested, I would definitely check back and see if it came back in stock again.

[geewhiz]

I’ve played maybe 1900 matches of Race, and 3 matches of Roll. As should be obvious from those numbers, I think Race is orders of magnitude better. The main enjoyment I got out of Roll was to see how particular Race cards got translated to tiles. If you’re going to own just one, there’s just no question at all.

I have a hard time remembering the iconography of Race for the Galaxy and even if it is the better game the fact is it needs to be played frequently to remember all those symbols. Trying to keep everything in one’s head makes it a game I would rather not own. Especially when I think about the habits of most gaming groups I have been a part of. Most groups tend to play the newest games and do not go back to a game like this enough in order to make it worthwhile for me personally.

[cpugeek13]

I’ve owned both Race and Roll, and to be honest, we just won’t play them that much anymore. Though I love the mechanics, I think that the lack of player interaction in those games really hurts them for us. I guess Roll has a little more interaction than Race, but its barely noticeable. In Roll, It feels like half the game is spent hiding behind screens, which is not how we want to spend our gaming time. That said, they do have solid mechanics, and can get very competitive.

[robc04]

It’s my birthday next week so I decided to get Race For the Galaxy. Happy birthday to me!!

[KiloOhm]

My mind wants to Thank @spacerumsfield (Bruce Geryk) , but my Wallet hates him. Since listening to Wild Weasel I decided to give some solitaire board games a chance.

I now own:
Dawn of the Zed’s 3rd edition (this is actually @tomchick’s fault as I have had my eye on this for about a year after he tweeted about it). Still wrapping my head around the rules for this one.
Apache Thunderbolt Leader - this game is fantastic, plan to play a round this afternoon
Hapsburg Eclipse - On it’s way in the mail now - really bought this to bring with me on a business trip as it looks very portable.
D Day at Tarawa - In the mail now. I don’t expect to play this for a month or so - when I have more time and have a dedicated area but I’ve been watching youtube videos on it and it looks fantastic. I bought it now because it seems to be getting really hard to find and the next version (Iwo Jima) isn’t coming out until 2018.

I also want to blame @tomchick for getting me to buy a corner cutter and spending the better part of 3 evenings trimming chits.

I’m looking at making a dedicated gaming table with some MDF so I can leave it set up and not worry about my cats knocking stuff around.

THANKS BUT KEEP YOUR HOBBIES TO YOURSELVES NEXT TIME

[geewhiz]

I also want to blame @tomchick for getting me to buy a corner cutter and spending the better part of 3 evenings trimming chits.

But didn’t Tom learn this from Bruce? :)

[tomchick]

Exactly. Let’s make sure the blame rolls all the way downhill before we assign it!

Please post about how your Apache/Thunderbolt Leader game goes this afternoon. I really like that system a lot, but I think it’s a classic example of how frustratingly untested Verssen’s games sometimes feel. The strategic level that ties the missions together feels really messed up to me, with weirdly punishing difficulty spikes being way too commonplace.

And here’s my own solitaire table right now:

Eldritch Horror with all five (5!) add-ons. I feel like such an Ameritrash whore.

-Tom

[Nesrie]

I don’t think I’ve asked this before, at least not here. If i did apologies, does Dawn of the Zed play a little like Dead of Winter?