Recommend me a board game?

[Reldan]

I have several of the Blue Moon sets and the game suffers quite a bit from balance issues. It’s also boring if you only have a couple of the decks and stupidly expensive for what you get if you buy several of the decks. It basically was a forerunner of the LCG format but it died before they released enough cards to make deckbuilding interesting.

[Tracy_Baker]

I have several of the Blue Moon sets and the game suffers quite a bit from balance issues. It’s also boring if you only have a couple of the decks and stupidly expensive for what you get if you buy several of the decks. It basically was a forerunner of the LCG format but it died before they released enough cards to make deckbuilding interesting.

I have all the decks and don’t find them to be unbalanced. On the contrary, I think it’s one of Knizia’s most intriguing designs. I also like the fact that there’s virtually no deck building component to the game, and have had a lot of fun figuring out the nuances of the asymmetrical factions.

[Lorini]

I played 7 Wonders yesterday and it’s amazing what they did with the game. It really can be played in 45 minutes or less but still has a good amount of strategy and thought. Color me impressed!

[Reldan]

I have all the decks and don’t find them to be unbalanced. On the contrary, I think it’s one of Knizia’s most intriguing designs. I also like the fact that there’s virtually no deck building component to the game, and have had a lot of fun figuring out the nuances of the asymmetrical factions.

You don’t find the Buka Invasion deck to be overpowered? I don’t disagree that there is fun to be had in messing around with the different factions, but I didn’t think the game had much it the way of legs beyond that. Unfortunately at ~$10 per deck (plus for the couple expansion Emissary packs) it ends up not being a game worth the $90 for me, and I wouldn’t advise anybody to get started unless they don’t care about money. If they boxed everything together and sold it as a $25-$30 game I think that might be worth it.

[Tracy_Baker]

You don’t find the Buka Invasion deck to be overpowered? I don’t disagree that there is fun to be had in messing around with the different factions, but I didn’t think the game had much it the way of legs beyond that. Unfortunately at ~$10 per deck (plus for the couple expansion Emissary packs) it ends up not being a game worth the $90 for me, and I wouldn’t advise anybody to get started unless they don’t care about money. If they boxed everything together and sold it as a $25-$30 game I think that might be worth it.

No, I don’t think it’s OP. The numbers are weak and their big tricks cause them to lose lots of cards. EDIT: here’s a neat writeup I found regarding the design: http://www.mnemosyne.demon.co.uk/bgames/bluemoon/Buka%20Invasion.pdf

It’s an amazing system because the factions play so differently and have interesting strengths and weaknesses, yet they’ve managed to balance everything fairly well. As for the cost it’s not out of line with other card packs, and if you enjoy the system I don’t see what the big deal is. I don’t pay for components, I pay for design and play testing, and this game delivers on both of those counts.

That said, I prefer CCGs/LCGs because I like to have a ton of cards and because they have vastly superior deck building components relative to Blue Moon, but the cost of those is orders of magnitude higher unless you play a dead game (which I often do).

[aganazer]

I played 7 Wonders yesterday and it’s amazing what they did with the game. It really can be played in 45 minutes or less but still has a good amount of strategy and thought. Color me impressed!

I’ve got a copy of this wrapped up under the tree with my name on it. Its gonna be a long two week wait. :) I have heard nothing but good things about it.

[Nephrinn]

Anybody have anything to say about High Frontier? Michael Barnes at GameShark gave it a glowing review, proclaiming it as arguably the best game of 2010.

The game intrigues me since it has a hard scifi theme about commercializing our solar system.

[Lizard_King]

Anybody have anything to say about High Frontier? Michael Barnes at GameShark gave it a glowing review, proclaiming it as arguably the best game of 2010.

The game intrigues me since it has a hard scifi theme about commercializing our solar system.

I’m picking it up this Wednesday on the basis of that review (and things I’ve heard about other games by that publisher), and it sounds fantastic. It’s going to be a toss-up whether I get to see that or Dominant Species before Christmas break dictates I only get to see much of my more portable games, but I’m really looking forward to it.

[Don_Quixote]

Bleh. Sierra Madre Games. The idea of a game about commercializing the solar system sounds fun, but not by that Phil Eklund.

A guy who was in my gaming group would show up and hassle us to try one of the SM games every few months- Lords of the Sierra Madre, Lords of the Spanish Main, Origins:How we became human/American Megafauna, etc. I’ve tried my hand at a bunch of them. And all of them were terribly, terribly unfun.

I consider Eklund of the Neal Stephanson of boardgaming- he gets obsessed about a subject, and does a ton of research, a and builds a game (book) around it, but leaves out any sort of soul. SM games are overly complex (I say this as a man with a certain amount of respect for Magic Realm, for example), lack any sort of elegance of mechanics, and tend to be so slavish to his interpretation of the source material that they just aren’t any fun to play.

[Gus_Smedstad1]

SM games are overly complex (I say this as a man with a certain amount of respect for Magic Realm, for example), lack any sort of elegance of mechanics, and tend to be so slavish to his interpretation of the source material that they just aren’t any fun to play.

I love the theme, I’d love to see a “exploitation of the solar system” game that tries to address the issues High Frontier does, but man, after reading as much as I could about the game on BGG, I came away with this same impression. Just nowhere near enough attention to making concessions to what makes a good game. I don’t think I’d like it much even as a computer game, for many of the same reasons I didn’t like Buzz Aldrin’s Race Into Space. Too much emphasis on what the author sees as “realism” at the expense of fun.

[Lorini]

I’ve seen it played, but with Dominant Species, Sid Meir’s Civ, Baltimore & Ohio, and Runewars still, High Frontiers would be at least one long game too many.

[Alan_Friesen]

I love the theme, I’d love to see a “exploitation of the solar system” game that tries to address the issues High Frontier does, but man, after reading as much as I could about the game on BGG, I came away with this same impression. Just nowhere near enough attention to making concessions to what makes a good game. I don’t think I’d like it much even as a computer game, for many of the same reasons I didn’t like Buzz Aldrin’s Race Into Space. Too much emphasis on what the author sees as “realism” at the expense of fun.

I dunno. I’ve been reading at BGG too, and I’ve come to the opposite conclusion. Then again, I’m a space buff and the theme greatly appeals to me.

[Lizard_King]

I dunno. I’ve been reading at BGG too, and I’ve come to the opposite conclusion. Then again, I’m a space buff and the theme greatly appeals to me.

I was going to say that’s exactly what my reaction had been, and I’m coming to it as less of a space buff than as a fan of really clever theme implementations. What gave me confidence was the discussion about how they actually attempted a radically streamlined version and then Eklund went back and reengineered it to his particular criteria.

As a side note, that’s also why I’m interested in Dominant Species, but I expect that to hit the table a lot more for obvious reasons.

[Nephrinn]

Yeah, I can understand the type of person this Eklund guy is when it comes to board games and I agree that his previous efforts look very “unfun”, but from everything I’ve read (BGG and elsewhere), High Frontier definitely sounds like he did something right this time.

The components, particularly the board itself, are well done, the implementation of mechanics and theme seem to mesh together well, and it doesn’t sound too intimidating to learn or teach.

I guess we’ll see as I couldn’t resist ordering it and the expansion (with Earth Reborn and Dixit for free shipping) from CSI.

[tiohn]

While I haven’t played it in years, I really love American Megafauna. While I would strongly agree that it is a design and concept that is going to appeal to only a small subset of gamers, “unfun” would never cross my mind. In fact, Advanced Civilization is probably the only board game that I’ve ever had more fun with.

[Nephrinn]

While I haven’t played it in years, I really love American Megafauna. While I would strongly agree that it is a design and concept that is going to appeal to only a small subset of gamers, “unfun” would never cross my mind. In fact, Advanced Civilization is probably the only board game that I’ve ever had more fun with.

I had a look at American Megafauna and it does kind of look cool. It actually reminds me of Sim Earth (the video game). Although I think Dominant Species would be the first thing that comes to mind when seeing this game.

[Lizard_King]

I had a look at American Megafauna and it does kind of look cool. It actually reminds me of Sim Earth (the video game). Although I think Dominant Species would be the first thing that comes to mind when seeing this game.

It reminds me of the promise of Spore with the potential of an actual game attached to it moreso than Simearth. But yeah, I fully expect DS’s apparently much more accessible mechanics to become the last word on the topic for a bit in a way that the currently out of print Megafauna can’t match. Comic sans and all.

[Damien_Neil]

And I’ve now played Space Hulk: Blood Angel.

Is the game supposed to be this easy? We were playing a three player game, which means four marines per player and the entire set of twelve marine out on the board. We fought our way through to the final room without a single marine lost. One man went down in the last room, but success was really never in any doubt.

I’ve started a couple of solitaire games (but not completed them, since the game is no fun by yourself), and had a much harder time of things. It seems as if having all twelve marines out makes the game substantially easier–you have access to all the useful special abilities, and the number of genestealers doesn’t scale with the number of marines, so the odds are more in your favor.

Anyway, it doesn’t seem right to win our first game with almost the entire squad intact. Is this typical, or did we have an unusually easy time of it?

[Nephrinn]

And I’ve now played Space Hulk: Blood Angel.

Should be Death Angel, not Blood Angel. :)

As to the difficulty, I’ve played it twice as a 2 player game and won both times (first time by a hair, second time with only 1 or 2 marines dying). It seems easy as long as you make the right moves and roll decently.

To me, I get the feeling that it isn’t easy and we just got lucky.

[Lizard_King]

3 and 6 are probably the easiest to survive, since the coop “disadvantage” of having to make your decision secretly does not scale. I have yet to lose the game, but at least one of those was due to rule-breaking (namely the "you can’t use an action twice in a row) and the others have been very close at 2 and 5 players. Much like the board game, a good plan can go flawlessly or fail catastrophically near the end. All it takes is one poorly placed brood lord to ruin your day.

Anyway, I’m not sure the “AI” is up to competing with good teamwork, and am leaning towards more silent or timed rounds.