To add a bit to the Dc Deckbuilding suggestion, a new expansion turns it into a co op game versus the villains as well. Haven’t had a chance to play it yet (two weeks and counting till next board game afternoon) but my friend has played it solo to get the hang of it and liked the exp it so far.
Chaplin
1582
Don’t. Cross. The Streams. Back away slowly from the your near miss on category definitions. Very slowly. Please. I worry we are two Beatlejuices in on that horror show.
Yep. Space Hulk Death Angel is great. It is fun. It is also very GW. Games are won and lost off of hugely uncontrollable elements of chance. I love it though and it will never leave my closet. That said, Legendary Encounters shares almost nothing in common other than humans versus aliens. Of course that assumes that you consider Terminator clad Space Marines human…which you shouldn’t. The Adeptus Astartes don’t quiver sweatily down functioning spacecraft halls desperately clutching improvised stove lighters and jumping at every clank and hiss. No. They stomp through wreckage guided by the God Emperor’s light to cleanse and burn the unclean horrors of the warp. Even if it was just Jonesy in an air duct, they purge with righteous flame and staccato bolter fire!
Yeah. And it’s a deck builder.
hepcat
1583
As would I. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s probably my favorite deck builder out there. But I was just guessing he was looking for something light like Ascension. Core Worlds is more like a 4x game in a deck builder…which is why I adore it.
By the way, if you want another card game that simulates a 4x, but in a much more abstract way, I highly recommend Impulse. It’s a really, really odd hybrid of deck builder, 4x game, and “My GOD, if you put that card on the action queue I’m going to punch you so hard your children are gonna yell OUCH from the other room!”. I would certainly understand if you hate it as it isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I would suggest at least trying it once. I get the same feeling playing it that I get from Pax Porfiriana…not mechanics wise, but just the sense of satisfaction when I play a turn well. Which is hardly ever. But that’s also very similar to Pax for me.
I didn’t see it so much in Core Worlds, but I only played it once, and it wasn’t with the expansion.
Oooo, I love both these settings. You’re saying these are deckbuilders that are out now? Awesome.
hepcat
1586
Galactic Order essentially completes Core Worlds. See all those icons on your cards in the base set? They actually do something when you add in Galactic Order. I can understand why they didn’t include the guild mechanic in the base set (it would’ve pushed the price too high), but I do consider it a slight misstep in the base game’s production.
I’m really looking forward to the upcoming expansion, Revolution.
MMDuran
1587
Honestly, this is the most frustrating time of year for me because between all the summer releases and now the impending fall/winter releases, it’s really hard to allocate my monies. The GenCon highlights alone are a massive lot and while Five Tribes, Abyss, and Hyperborea all came away as definite near-term buys, there are a ton of other things on the stack (Imperial Settlers, Impulse, X-Com, EH Mountains of Madness, Tragedy Looper, Temporum, etc.) to have to investigate and plan for/against. When you start adding in games that are already out (stop making me reconsider Core Worlds), it’s almost unfair.
I can barely play through the games I already own.
MMDuran
1588
(Naturally, this reignites my desire to dig into Robinson Crusoe and decide if maybe this time I want to pull the trigger on it. Argh.)
geewhiz
1589
\
[ol]
[li]Well Core Worlds is coming out on tablets so that may be a cheaper alternative (if they do a good job/you own a tablet). [/li][li]I think if you have a regular gaming group - if one person purchases Tragedy Looper you are set (since there are ten scenarios I can not see multiple people owning it, especially as it is a gamer’s game - families may not get mileage out of it). I plan on getting it - I want to be the mastermind (muuwahahaha).[/li][li]Hyperborea sounds like a game that may go on my list so I don’t know what to tell you about that one, but I keep reading that it is great (I hear that about Imperial Settlers also).[/li][/ol]
Abyss looks great but watching reviews that are coming out after GenCon I think I will try it before I buy it. Theme is supposed to be great due to the artwork and the game is good.
Impluse looks ugly though gameplay is supposedly great but that was true of Glory to Rome too. Probably try to play this first also before deciding.
I am still behind on my XCOM PC games never mind a boardgame - I will try it first (besides what is the price of the game looks expensive).
I have to look up the other games you mentioned.
BTW, I am hearing really, really good things about the card game Diamonds by Mike Fitzgerald (I love his Mystery Rummy series).
Doomtown is an LCG and as far as I know it’s not out yet. Shadowrun: Crossfire is supposed to be similar to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game but with the Shadowrun license and presumably some mechanical differences to accomodate the differences in setting. PACG is not what I would consider a deckbuilder, per se, as there’s not a huge amount of building your deck during the actual play session and much of the gameplay involves the tactical use of the cards you already had in your deck along with dicerolls, but you do construct and alter a deck over the course of a campaign of it, so it could be said to be related. Crossfire might turn out to be an actual full on deckbuilder for all I know, though. (I kind of hope not. I like what PACG is doing better than what Dominion or Ascension are doing.)
MMDuran
1591
Yeah, Hyperborea and Abyss are already paid for and Five Tribes will go into my next order. I understand the gameplay concerns about Abyss being a bit light, but I’ve watched the demo videos and I think it’s a good gateway game and one that could be played as a cooldown at night’s end. The art’s beautiful so no regrets. Hyperborea, on the other hand, looks incredibly excellent, even better than I’d hoped when I preordered.
I’m the collector of our game group, so buying Tragedy Looper falls to me. I’d wait a year or more otherwise. As for Core Worlds, I’m done buying iPad apps (I own a gen 1 iPad); I prefer the social function of playing on a board/table anyhow.
And we haven’t even mentioned Kickstarter – where Clockwork Wars looks amazing.
hepcat
1592
Shadowrun Crossfire is more of a standard deck builder with some upgrades to your character via stickers you affix to a rather generic race card that gives you various boosts. The race cards have some differences, but they’re pretty minor (one or two cards difference, and a few more hit points for larger races like orks). You don’t grow your hand of cards over the course of multiple missions or anything.
Not actually true. I like Ascension, and I don’t care for Star Realms. They do have a lot of similarities.
Crossfire is definitely a deck builder. doomtown isn’t really if I recall. you build a deck ahead of time more like a CCG.
Crossfire is out now (or should be)
Doomtown is due out by end of month
As Hep mentioned Crossfire races don’t have a big difference. It’s your starting/max hp and your starting money and cards in hand. So you either get a better game start, or better resources to build a better deck faster. now or later kinda choice.
I would love to see someone make a version where you DO build your deck before missions, during missions and it carries over between missions. Might be better/easier on a pc/mobile game though.
Gedd
1595
And it only gets better. As you get further in and are rolling more dice, but also requiring higher amounts to pass the checks, you’ll be amazed at how often you start seeing 1’s and 2’s on the dice. My wife always hates it when, on a cornered villain, I tell her to do everything to increase the dice she’s rolling, including discarding weapons, while at the meantime I’m putting everything I can into the check. I’m guaranteed at least one “but I’m already rolling 6 dice!” or something to that effect. We’ve had at least two scenarios end with losses because, even with unloading, we ended up with the bulk of the dice being 1 or 2. On the other hand, it’s awesome when you unload on the last check and end up with something in the 40s or 50s for a 20ish check.
On Core Worlds, I’m really looking forward to the app release assuming the Android version comes out ok. I’ve only played it once (with the expansion), but I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately it never seems to get played in our game group, probably because the one guy who has it doesn’t come that often and when he does he rarely brings it.
On the solo front, I had an awesome round of Sentinels tonight with Legacy, Mr. Fixer and Ra against Apostate in the Realm of Discord, but it turns out I flubbed a rule. One of Apostate’s one-shots tells you to reveal X relics from the deck and put them in play. There weren’t enough relics in the deck to meet the requirement, so I shuffled the trash back in. According to the FAQ reveals don’t trigger a shuffle. Not a huge deal, but I think I avoided some of his nastier cards because of it. Also, Mr. Fixer with the Jack Handle (damages all non-heroes) and Alternating Tiger Claw (damage dealt is irreducible) seems a bit overpowered, especially on Apostate. The last few turns I had something like +4 or +5 in damage bonuses going so he easily cleared the field.
geewhiz
1596
@Gus
I saw this on a GenCon thread on BGG and thought you might be interested:
Roll for the Galaxy
Dice version of Race for the Galaxy.
Played a game of Lords of Vegas with my wife and her siblings last night. I honestly think that this is one of the best gateway games out there, definitely better than Ticket to Ride or Lords of Waterdeep/Stone Age. It has some of the positives of Monopoly (rolling dice, developing real-estate) without the negatives of Monopoly (roll-and-move, house rules, etc), and has a theme that is arguably more appealing. Also, the way the scoring track works really helps to prevent too much snowballing (though it still can happen). Though there is quite a bit of luck in it, there is still some strategy and planning involved. Most importantly, the game is a joy to play, and is one of the most fun-per-minute games in my collection. Highly recommend it!
I ordered Concordia recently and should get to play it this weekend. My wife and I have been on a medium-weight euro kick recently, with Castles of Burgundy and Russian Railroads being our top choices. I’m really excited to get this to the table, since it looks like the perfect combination of simple rules, deep strategy, and an hour play time.
Keep hearing great things about Lords of Vegas. The theme has very little appeal to me, but eventually these reviews are going to wear me down!
Star Realms is Ascension with a pasted on space theme and the ability to attack your opponent. That said, wasn’t impressed, but it’s better than ascension.
You cannot go wrong with Lords of Vegas. It’s a great great game. I love that you can gamble by sprawling your hotel hoping certain tiles don’t pop up and hose you. I love you can gamble at your opponents’ casinos and win money from them to fuel your expansions. It’s just a really sharp and tense game. With a theme that fits perfectly. One of my favorites.
