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If it's any reassurance, I found Arkham to be brutal. 😁
There are several incarnations though, the game you have and the one I have may well be somewhat different.
At the other end of the complexity scale we have absolutely battered Azul over Christmas in our house over Christmas. Somebody must have played it everyday. Thanks for the recommendation!
Ticket To Ride Europe got a good few outings too.
We got Labrynth for Christmas.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1219/labyrinth
Bit too much for our 6yo but if it's not too complex (board changes every game) we can get through a game with some help.
In the encroaching debate of whether to get her a tablet / console, this is exactly the kind of game that would be good online - then msJimmy pointed out she'd be playing it online, alone, without family time. True enough, we've had some good time playing board games.
Swapsies, anyone?
Just ordered the Port Royal and Colt Express Big Boxes (base games plus all expansions) from Zatu.
Good value, cheaper than buying the expansions separately.....
....so, have mint duplicates of:
Port Royal, original base game.
Poer Royal, One More Contract expansion.
Colt Express, the base game.
Happy to swap, what've you got?
Would be £42 brand new, to give an idea of value.
Also, received Small World a few weeks ago for my Birthday and yes, it's bloody marvelous.
Basically, what Risk should be, but less reliance on lucky dice rolls, a fantasy theme and only takes an hour.
Another one of those easy to learn games with a surprising amount of depth. Lovely maps and artwork too. Everyone seems to really enjoy it and I can see why.
I've just ordered the River World expansion, half price at Zatu at the mo.
Also ordered the Sherlock Holmes, Thames Murders - wanted this one for years, really looking forward to it.
How about you lot, owt new?
New, you say.
I got Alien: Fate of the Nostromo for Christmas. I've not played it as yet, seems to be a fairly generic "collect all the things without getting eaten" outing with a decent theme theme bolted on.
Also picked up Fossils a couple of weeks back. Literally - I backed it on Kickstarter forever ago, it arrived over a year ago and I forgot to collect it from the guy who offered to mule a group pledge back up North. I only realised when I came across his address on a Notepad file on my desktop! Now, this is decent. Production quality is very high, some love has gone into it. The centrepiece board is a dig site where you move archaeologists to extract bones hidden at random, then use those bones to collect dinosaur cards which score you points. There's a bunch more things going on but it's towards the "family" end of the difficulty curve and as I said, is just a Nice Thing.
Oooh, Fossils looks really good.
Nice theme too.
What's the minimum age recommendation? The eldest granddaughter would love that.
I'm getting seriously tempted by the smaller Gloomhaven gateway game as well. Must resist......
The forum ate my previous reply. Let's try again.
The box says 8+ but there's a paragraph at the start of the instructions explaining how you can remove various gameplay features if you want to simplify it. There's a degree of thought gone into this, eg on the skills cards anything which is an attack has an icon identifying it as such so you can easily remove them if you've got a group which doesn't like player conflict.
My biggest concern with younger players would be that there's a lot of very small components. If you can trust them not to eat the fossils or otherwise stick them somewhere unmentionable you'll likely be fine.
... if she likes the theme I also have Tiny Epic Dinosaurs (another as-yet unplayed Kickstarter...!) It looks to be a bit worker-placement / resource management a la Agricola, which appeals to me.
Huh. It's actually "Fossilis" not Fossils, I totally didn't notice that until trying to look it up just now.
Cheers fella!
The removable elements aspect is very clever and as you say, bodes well.
Further reading:
https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/212428/fossilis-english-rules
When are we having a games evening?
Soon.
Been a bit hectic this end health/job wise.
Will contact you in a day or so....sorry for the delay.
Recently, a few of us have been getting together weekly to smash out some Call of Cthulu one shots. Obvs more RPG than board game and certainly an acquired taste. Lots of fun though and we're all somehow just about still alive. Ramping up to Mask of Nyarlathotep soon, which should last us a few months. Interestingly, all of our characters' back stories are coming to the fore and we're starting to understand why we make the decisions we do.
Have also been playing Mansions of Madness. I expected to like it a lot, and the app works very well, driving the narrative and explorative parts well. But some scenarios are a bit unsatisfying and only one of us wants to continue playing.
A group of us also started on 7th Continent last week. Pretty intense to get your head around the rules, but perseverance helps make the mechanics kind of fluid. We've agreed we'll do our best with the first scenario/curse then give it a break.
I think we're playing Eldritch Horror next week.
Have you played the Arkham card game?
If so, give us a clue!
And if you've not listened to The Lovecraft Investigations on BBC Sounds, I cannot recommend it enough!
Genuinely scary, and because it's radio, you can't even hide behind the sofa.
One of the best things the BBC has done for years.
Have you played the Arkham card game?
If so, give us a clue!
I think that might be what I meant to say we’re playing next week, not Eldritch Horror.
Not heard of that Lovecraft series so I’ll give it a go, ta.
Can't remember if I previously said, but Patchwork is an outstanding 2P game. Just bought a draughts board - as soon as we work out how to drive it, job's a good 'un! 🙂
just had an ad for 'outsmarted' appear in my facebook feed. looks a bit like a quiz game my daughter has where you use your phone to select answers, but also seems to be a board game too.
anyone played it and can either recommend it or not? it would appear to be a decent game for a family night in with a few beers but thought id ask here first.
Viking Chess or Tafl
I made the board/design and the pieces were collected from the beach. Then varnished.
Awesome game, no dice or cards 😉
I also like the Roman version.
That's incredible. Fair play.
Thanks. Pondering making few more, people do ask where it came from 🙂
Also, making a game based on HG Wells "Little War"but trying to replace the actually toy canon with with a dice/basic chart mechanism... hard to to come up with something simple but not a maths test 🙂
Thinking of getting Smallworld as a family game for Christmas.
Also, if anyone likes word games I would recommend this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203646913256?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338364432&toolid=11000&customid=EAIaIQobChMI_9anl7Oc-wIVTOrtCh27pgGkEAQYBSABEgLEAPD_BwE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_9anl7Oc-wIVTOrtCh27pgGkEAQYBSABEgLEAPD_BwE
Smallworld's lovely. Though I don't think it works anything like as well with 2 players- in a larger game, I love the ebb and flow but it doesn't work that well in a duel imo.
Just mentioned it in the other thread but we played a whole lot of Splendor recently, what an excellent little game. Really like the blend of reactive and strategy, and the early game vs late game economy thing. Marks off for its poor card design though, especially for colourblindness suitability- I've a feeling the Marvel cash-in version is the exact same game just with better distinguished colours and better readability.
And it's probably over a year since I recommended London to everyone, but if you like economy builders then London is awesome.
Sorry, not looked at this for ages......
Right, Splendour's on the list.
Smallworld is bloody amazing.
So easy to learn and set up, so much depth.
Reminds me of Bloodbowl in a way as you develop an affinity for certain races and learn how to use them to your best tactical advantage.
Only played as a larger group a few times, quite enjoying the 2 player setups, look forward to giving it a go with a larger group.
It's superb, up there with Port Royale as our favourites.
Loving the Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective game.
But....playing it on my own. Everyone else finds it boring.
Huge Holmesian so I love it tbh.
Bought but not played:
Pandemic.
Gloomhaven - Jaws of the Lion.
Arkham Card Game currently giving me nightmares.
And if you fancy a little selfish, self indulgent pleasure, get 80 Days and Overboard by Inkle on your Tablet/Phone.
Absolute genius and well worth the money.
Really fancy Sleeping Gods.
It's that or the Carcassonne Big Box next.
Smallworld is bloody amazing.
Small World of Warcraft is in (of all places) Game for not much money. It's like £20 for a £50rrp game or similar.
But….playing it on my own. Everyone else finds it boring.
You know the answer to that one.
Maybe I need to start a board game version of the MNPR?
Has anyone invested a large chunk of their life into Gloomhaven?
I keep hearing really good things and me and my two gaming buddies are up for it…. But it seems pretty serious!
Or are there any stepping stone games to build us up to it?
Maybe I need to start a board game version of the MNPR?
We used this a bit to play online games when we weren' working in the office
https://en.boardgamearena.com/
Has anyone invested a large chunk of their life into Gloomhaven?
I keep hearing really good things and me and my two gaming buddies are up for it…. But it seems pretty serious!
Or are there any stepping stone games to build us up to it?
Jaws of the Lion as mentioned by Rusty yesterday is supposed to be a lighter, streamlined version of Gloomhaven (and doesn't cost the GDP of a developing country).
Disclaimer: I haven't played either of them.
We used this a bit to play online games when we weren’ working in the office
https://en.boardgamearena.com/
/blockquote>That's a good shout, but I've got a dining table that seats 6 and more games than I know what to do with.
Hiya!
Carcassonne Big Box 2022 arrived yesterday.
My word, I can see why it's so popular, should have bought it ages ago tbh.
Two games in, Mrs S has opened the gin and declared 'Nessun Dorma' until she wins. 😀
This is going to be another Small World/Ticket To Ride/Port Royal - easy to learn, impossible to put down.
Also got the original Pandemic for Christmas, really looking forward to that one.
On the rare occasion I'm not completely shattered Brass has had a few plays. It's not a casual game. Really, it hurts, but so rewarding.
Off this weekend, Sat, Sunday night and Monday.
Cougs (and anyone else local), fancy a games session?
Cougs (and anyone else local), fancy a games session?
[size=30]YES![/size]
Christ on a pogo stick, I've only been asking you since pre-covid.
Carcassonne Big Box 2022 arrived yesterday.
My word, I can see why it’s so popular
I have the old-style Big Box. A lot of the later expansions are diminishing returns but you can often just go "hey, moar tiles" and ignore the additional rules if you like. I rarely play without the Inns & Cathedrals set beyond 'my first game' even if you ignore the I&C rule changes (which are minimal anyway).
Also, "big box" is not a misnomer is it, it's stupid big! You could (probably, with a bit of care) get all that content in the regular box.
Took me a while to work out where everything should go in the box, but I enjoy that sort of thing!
What a delightful game. She's beaten me now,so honour is satisfied.
We're pub quizzing tomorrow (Crooked Billet in Worsthorne if you fancy it, 8pm) but weekend sounds great.
We ok to bring a couple of people?
What day is best for you?
Christ on a pogo stick, I’ve only been asking you since pre-covid.
No one has yet accepted my speaker cable pizza and beer challenge.
And I've offered that one for over 10 years.
in my gaming group (i say group, there are 3 of us) we have been playing 'Root'.
Very different and distinctive factions to play, with a real strategic depth to it. Still learning the ropes, but an enjoyable play!
We dip in and out of Catan and Pandemic, which are still great.
I cant decide if i prefer the co-op nature of pandemic rather than the head to head stuff of the other games!
No one has yet accepted my speaker cable pizza and beer challenge.
And I’ve offered that one for over 10 years.
a what challenge...?? tell us more 😛
I got Wingspan for Christmas and have been playing a lot it’s brilliant. Bit of confusion at the beginning as the rules aren’t to clear but a couple of videos later we realised it was actually quite simple.
Carcassonne Big Box has had an absolute battering in our house since Lock Down No.1. We ended up getting the Czech language version and downloading the instruction. We call the large double points meeple “Big Dave”. I think that this should be made compulsory.
Can’t be arsed with a lot of the expansions and the rest have all morphed into the main game. Inns and Cathedrals, Mage and Witch, Flying Machines, the one with Crop Circles, Pigs, the Builder and river extension always get used. We have the Towers, but only use it to hold the card decks. The Bandit one is too confusing, ferries is too fiddly and The Princess and Dragon nearly caused a punch up, so doesn’t get out anymore.
We got Small Worlds and an expansion off ebay last week for £30. Only played it once, so can’t judge as we were learning as we went along.
Ticket to Ride Europe is still my favourite. Port Royal is great too, but the wife and kids have played it more, so I get slaughtered every time.
Dr Who Risk is tedious, but my son loves it.
Got Pandemic: Reign of Cthulu for xmas, loving it, but seems harder than the normal pandemic
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
Ticket to Ride Europe is still my favourite. Port Royal is great too, but the wife and kids have played it more, so I get slaughtered every time.
We got this last year based on reviews/hype and all agreed it was just plain dull. I get the mechanics and the aim, and I guess if you play it with enthusiasts them it's probably okay, but doesn't do it for us.
Has anyone invested a large chunk of their life into Gloomhaven?
I keep hearing really good things and me and my two gaming buddies are up for it…. But it seems pretty serious!
Or are there any stepping stone games to build us up to it?
Similar position a year ago. Wanted the full fat GH but couldn't justify the outlay, the table space or the time to play it. So we got Jaws of the Lion and it's a bloody good intro to GH. The first 5 scenarios teach you the core elements and are an excellent example of how to onboard players.
Monkey jnr and I smashed through the first 7-8 quests in a few days and loved the combat mechanics. However, the core gameplay is too similar/repetitive with each quest, the story does nothing to engage you, and there are quite a few stats/bits of admin to manage.
I started looking around for an accompanying app over Xmas because I wanted to give it another go and found Gloomhaven Helper. Unfortunately the mobile apps have been taken down after the dev fell out with the GH founder, but the Windows version is genuinely excellent in the way it manages stats/admin. Saves a lot of time and faff.
Using the app we did a few more quests but still can't get past the repetitive gameplay. I reckon playing it with fans would be cool because combat is brilliant and it calls on you to adjust your tactics when things go awry.
JOTL often available for £35 or so. Bargain IMO, even for full RRP.
GH recently available for £95 from Chaos Cards.
I've had my eye of FrostHaven for a while, and reckon I'll snap it up one day and just sit and stare at the innards!
reckon I’ll snap it up one day and just sit and stare at the innards!
Welcome to half my collection. 😁
Pete, I've messaged you on WhatsApp (or at least attempted to).
Excellent topic, I missed it until now.
On the back of this thread I've got a decent shortlist of games to add in future. Thanks to all with suggestions/recommendations, brilliant thread. We got Ticket to Ride Europe at Christmas and it went down well with the adults, less so with mini-a11ys (7 and 10), so I think I need to add the First Journey version. Dobble and Exploding Kittens both sound great too.
Not a board game, but Grabolo's gone down extremely well with my kids who're infuriatingly good at it. Slight carnage playing it out and about when on holiday - I'm very grateful the tables on the ferry were secured firmly to the floor, and not really one to play on the train...
Jengopoly ( other random
Mashups at your discretion).
Think we made pass go the jenga move and a fine paid to other players whomever toppled.
Kept the kids interested at least.
Dobble and Exploding Kittens both sound great too.
If you like that sort of thing then "Taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza" is (imho) a great game for the family.
@spacemonkey - thanks for the Gloomhaven feedback. sounds like it has pro's and con's. Isnt Frosthaven the same as gloom just in a different environment?
We got Splendor over the holidays based off this thread and agree it is excellent! Not played too many times yet but really enjoyed it. Still haven’t worked out the best tactics whether to try and build coins early and save for higher value cards or keep picking up the low value cards to discount the higher ones. Have tried both and haven’t won either way yet!