BrettSpielWelt!

[Valmorian]

So, anyone else on here use BrettSpielWelt for all the great euro boardgame goodness?  Dominion is particularly awesome on there.

For anyone unfamiliar, BrettSpielWelt is a web portal and light client-server system that allows people to play a rather decent selection of "Euro" or "German" board games online with others.  It's based in Germany and though the actual interface isn't terribly user-friendly, once you get used to it a lot of fun can be had!

Haemish: Good point.

http://www.brettspielwelt.de/?nation=en

[HaemishM]

And yet you didn't provide us a link. Let me Google that for you.

[Mrbloodworth]

"Play now" opens a blank, black popup window.....

[ffc]

I use BSW.  It has helped me decide to buy a game (Carcassonne) or pass on a game (Emerald).  Took me a while to get used to it.  Apparently there is some kind of download you can use where everything is in English and is faster (would solve the blank window problem too), but I just use the online link provided below where a million windows pop up with different chat channels after logging in. 

For anyone interested, after logging in (no need to create a profile) just move your mouse over the top right rectangular box in the main window and you can see the list of games offered.  Then you can join/start a game at a "table" with other people. 

Carcassonne is more fun on BSW than on Xbox Arcade, although playing with the actual tiles in person is best.  In contrast, Cartagena is much more fun on BSW than in person.

I wanted to try Dominion because it sounds fun but I got lost watching a game and never went back.  Know of any other good BSW games?

(Here's a list of hosted games.)

[Mrbloodworth]

If you have to download something, separate of the play now window, not really a play now button is it?  (not sure why it doesn't start the download from there)

[ffc]

Well you don't have to download a client, but there are some advantages in doing so.  I never bothered with it, but in your case the advantage would be playing instead of not playing.  Here's the link if you're interested.

[Soln]

very interesting -- thx for this.

[Valmorian]

I wanted to try Dominion because it sounds fun but I got lost watching a game and never went back.  Know of any other good BSW games?

Dominion is a very good game, but because the computer keeps track of everything for you it's difficult to gather how to play by watching it on BSW.

The basics are REALLY easy to grasp though.  You start with a deck of 10 cards, 7 are Coppers (worth $1) and 3 are Estates (worth 1 Victory Point each).

The game consists of a number of sets of draw piles, a "trash" pile, and the player's decks/discard piles.  The draw piles consist of:
3 forms of money: Copper ($1), Silver ($2) and Gold ($3)
3 Victory Point cards: Estate (1VP), Duchy (3VP) and Province (6VP)
Curses worth -1 VP each (which can be put into your deck by your opponent using certain cards)
and 10 "action" draw decks which are made up of 10 cards each. 

Which "action" cards are available in the game varies depending upon the game's setup.  It can be randomly seeded, or a set of 10 types can be selected from the pool of 20 different action types.

On your turn you get to play 1 "action" card, buy 1 card, then you discard the rest of your hand and all the cards you've played into your personal discard pile and draw 5 new cards.  If your deck runs out, you shuffle and create a new deck from your discard pile.

Playing an action card will sometimes give you additional actions (allowing for multiple card plays on your turn), allow you to draw additional cards, allow you to buy additional cards when your "buy" action comes around, and various other things.

Cards are purchased using the "money" cards along with any additional "money" you get from playing some action cards.  All purchased cards go directly to your discard pile.

The goal is to have the most Victory Points when the game ends.  The only thing worth Victory Points are the Estates (1VP) Duchy (3CP) and Province (6VP) cards.  The problem is that those cards are useless to you until the end of the game and just take up space in your hand. 

It's an addictive little game, but experienced players can play so quickly that you'll never figure it out by watching it on BSW..

[Valmorian]

(Here's a list of hosted games.)

Games on that list I've played (in real life, I've only started to really dabble with online board games):

Bohnanza (a light trading game)
Carcassonne
Caylus
Dominion
Kingsburg
Lost Cities
San Juan
Settlers of Catan (If you want to play this, though, I recommend http://www.asobrain.com over BSW)


There's a lot of other Euro games I have that I wish were on there (Making of the President, Race for the Galaxy, El Grande, Puerto Rico (used to be on there) and lots more)

[Mrbloodworth]

Well you don't have to download a client, but there are some advantages in doing so.  I never bothered with it, but in your case the advantage would be playing instead of not playing.  Here's the link if you're interested.

lol

[ffc]

Thanks for that Dominion rule summary, I'll use it on BSW later today.  If the game clicks I'll likely buy it.  But I read on a board game forum that Dominion can be "beaten" with a specific strategy of:

1) If you have 8+ Gold in your hand, buy Province.
2) If you have 6-8 Gold in your hand, buy Gold.
3) If you have <6 Gold in your hand, either buy Silver or buy a card that is valued > Silver (I don't remember what kind of card(s) > Silver).

My favorite Euro game right now is Vineta.  I bought the non-US version that comes with a big board. 


To summarize, it is a game about sinking parts of an island until only one piece is left (hopefully your secretly assigned piece), while simultaneously moving/destroying each player's secretly assigned houses on the island.  You get points for keeping your houses alive at the end as well as for keeping your island piece intact at the end.

It's all about misdirection/negotiation/bluffing, which I am terrible at, but turns out to be very funny every time.

[Tarami]

There's a lot of other Euro games I have that I wish were on there (Making of the President, Race for the Galaxy, El Grande, Puerto Rico (used to be on there) and lots more)

I've never really "got" Puerto Rico. I think it feels cold and sorta abstract, like the victory point mechanisms don't really add anything to the gameplay, they're just there as hard measures of success (which they, admittedly, are). This is in contrast to for example El Grande, where you can see your little fiefdom expand and dominate feudal Spain. There's a visual connection between game progress and player standing. I have the same problem with Caylus, actually, which is also why I prefer Agricola... it's a great way of getting away with playing farm.

Oink-oink. Moo!

[Valmorian]

I've never really "got" Puerto Rico. I think it feels cold and sorta abstract, like the victory point mechanisms don't really add anything to the gameplay, they're just there as hard measures of success (which they, admittedly, are). This is in contrast to for example El Grande, where you can see your little fiefdom expand and dominate feudal Spain. There's a visual connection between game progress and player standing. I have the same problem with Caylus, actually, which is also why I prefer Agricola... it's a great way of getting away with playing farm.

Oink-oink. Moo!

Those are certainly true points.  Puerto Rico doesn't really feel like settling the new world and producing goods, any more than Tigris and Euphrates feels like managing empires.  I love Puerto Rico, Caylus and Tigris and Euphrates because of the elegant interplay of the systems involved.  They're challenging puzzles that I just admire for the difficulty of solving. :)

If i want a game that feels more like its subject matter, then FFG are usually better at that.

[Valmorian]

Thanks for that Dominion rule summary, I'll use it on BSW later today.  If the game clicks I'll likely buy it.  But I read on a board game forum that Dominion can be "beaten" with a specific strategy of:

1) If you have 8+ Gold in your hand, buy Province.
2) If you have 6-8 Gold in your hand, buy Gold.
3) If you have <6 Gold in your hand, either buy Silver or buy a card that is valued > Silver (I don't remember what kind of card(s) > Silver).

That's a common strategy, but you can totally destroy it if you buy the right action cards, because you'll be cycling through your deck gaining actions and money faster than the standard "buy money and province" decks can.

[Valmorian]

Kingsburg: A board game about ruling over provinces and fending away yearly invasions while trying to build up your little kingdom.  Uses a nice little dice mechanic used to gather resources which can be blocked by other players.

Here's Fantasy Flight Games' page about it: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=26&enmi=Kingsburg

The rules for Kingsburg on that site: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/Kingsburg/kingsburg-rules.pdf

And now, if you want to try playing it, there's a number of ways.

First you can try the Java version (AI opponents) to whet your appetite: http://mitglied.lycos.de/thunderfall/

Or on BrettSpielWelt you can play live against other people.

[ffc]

Well, having played several rounds of Dominion, I'm a fan.  My worst loss was due to getting pummeled with curses from a Witch (I think I had 8 curses). 

I'd like to buy this game but I'm wary of the potentially annoying/fiddly constant shuffling of cards.

[Valmorian]

Well, having played several rounds of Dominion, I'm a fan.  My worst loss was due to getting pummeled with curses from a Witch (I think I had 8 curses). 

I'd like to buy this game but I'm wary of the potentially annoying/fiddly constant shuffling of cards.

It is a LITTLE fiddly, but the game goes so quick it's usually not as bad as you'd think.  Witches being in the set without some method to remove the curses (like Remodel or Church) is quite deadly. 

The only real issue with Dominion in real life is that it comes in a box entirely too huge for what is in it.

[Mrbloodworth]

OH GOD JAVA APPLETS 

[Valmorian]

OH GOD JAVA APPLETS 

I like Java applets if they're used to do something appropriate.  They're perfect for recreating euro boardgames.