The Boardgame Thread

[Numtini]

I threw it on the tv (we are one of the lucky few to have the grandfathered youtube channel on our Roku) while we were cleaning up after dinner and getting our daughter ready for bed. It's perfectly fine for that kind of thing--go on in the background. I think of it as a geek chat show with a game in the center. Without really paying attention, I got a sense of the game. Perfectly fine for what it is.

I am part of the Joss/Felicia brigade though.

[Nevermore]

I think the problem with that Wheaton one is he seems so forced, like he's trying extra hard and it just comes through as hammy.

[schild]

He always comes across that way, he's a terrible actor.

[Ghambit]

I think the problem with that Wheaton one is he seems so forced, like he's trying extra hard and it just comes through as hammy.

You just described most tabletop geeks.  So in that sense the show is perfect.   

On-topic:  I FINALLY traded "High Frontier" for "Le Havre+expansion."  Anyone have any time with either, specifically the latter?

[schild]

I'm skipping Le Havre because it seems to fill some unnecessary gap between Lords of Waterdeep (a very light Euro) and Pret-A-Porter (a relatively heavy one).

[Nevermore]

I think the problem with that Wheaton one is he seems so forced, like he's trying extra hard and it just comes through as hammy.

You just described most tabletop geeks.  So in that sense the show is perfect.   

On-topic:  I FINALLY traded "High Frontier" for "Le Havre+expansion."  Anyone have any time with either, specifically the latter?

But more tabletop geeks aren't making web shows.  I've seen some other game demos on Youtube made by regular Joes that are much better than what Wheaton did.

On topic:  Got talked into playing a game called Urban Sprawl.  It was terrible.  The multipliers for scoring seemed way off.

[MrHat]

What makes a board game Euro style?

[Hutch]

The instruction manual is translated from German 

[Numtini]

What makes a board game Euro style?

Euro style is everything but monopoly, which eliminates 99.9% of US board games.

[Ghambit]

I'm skipping Le Havre because it seems to fill some unnecessary gap between Lords of Waterdeep (a very light Euro) and Pret-A-Porter (a relatively heavy one).

I'd have gotten LoW but it's too new and trade value is too high.  I have too many goddamned games so it's either trade or no sale.

[JWIV]

What makes a board game Euro style?

American (aka Ameritrash) tends for more luck - such as die rolls  and player conflict.

Euro tends to be more cooperative and about the execution of game mechanics and strategy.

Think Axis & Allies vs Settlers of Cataan

[Ingmar]

Also the mechanical ties to the game's theme tend to be a lot stronger in American games - Euros are generally more abstract.

[Teleku]

Yeah, that's another big part of it.  Ameritrash is a lot more theme centric (Mansions of Madness being considered just about the height of Ameritrash in newer games) than Euro style.  I enjoy many Euro games, but think I really tend to favor Ameritrash.

[sigil]

Everything involving this sort of meta-nerd religion that revolves around Wil Wheaton, Joss Whedon, and that stupid horrible redhead could go down on a plane flight to PAX or something and I'd be ecstatic.

It's all unfunny, most of their opinions are bad (and somehow, wrong), and everything they do is the height poor delivery.

God, it's fucking awful.

This is why I come here. 

[schild]

Girlfriend picked me up Antiquity at Fun Again Games since it was only $129. Will have it by Thursday unless they DON'T actually have it in stock. I am STOKED.

[avaia]

I eagerly await your upcoming post about managing enormous stacks of tiny chits.  If ever a game needed digital conversion, it's Antiquity.  Fanastic game other than that complaint.

[schild]

I eagerly await your upcoming post about managing enormous stacks of tiny chits.  If ever a game needed digital conversion, it's Antiquity.  Fanastic game other than that complaint.

There's a guy on BGG who does cheap ass acrylic laser cutting.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/775525/laser-cutter-online/page/1

I'm gonna have him work up total conversions for the chits in Antiquity and the chits in Cave Evil. Cave Evil, btw, after playing a 4 player game, is still a stunning achievement in Ameritrash gaming.

[schild]

Antiquity shipped! Here's to hoping the thin ass box isn't all jacked up.

[ghost]

That's a great price.  Get ready for a billion little bitty cardboard pieces that you'll have to sort.  I recommend getting a plano box before you even get your copy.

Also, why skip Le Havre?  It's badass.  Definitely my favorite Rosenberg game (I haven't played Ora et Labora yet).

[Ghambit]

LoW is only $31w/free shipping now.   
http://www.amazon.com/Lords-Waterdeep-Dungeons-Dragons-Board/dp/0786959916

must.... resist

Oddly it's up on quite a few folks' trade lists though.

[schild]

It's a very, very light Euro and the best gateway Worker Placement games. The only reason it would be on someone's list is they're either A. Stupid or B. Only like heavy games.

[schild]

Mother of god.

[ghost]

I warned you...... 

Good thing it's awesome.

[schild]

I have a Plano 3700 box coming in from Amazon today. It should ease things on the horror scale of trying to fish shit out of little baggies for every action.

[MrHat]

Oh man, that looks fun.

Empire building style?

[Thrawn]

Oh man, that looks fun.

Heh, that was my initial reaction as well.

"I have no idea what that is, but it has tons of pieces and a hex grid, it must be fun!"

[schild]

City-Building, but yea. I'd been tracking down a copy for a long, long time. Someone on f13 offered me in purchase but I didn't really want to remove it from someone else's collection at the end of the day. Finally a store (Fun Again) got a pile of copies in. If I hate it, I can just dump it for more than I paid. Splotter games hold value, intensely.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13122/antiquity

I don't know how many copies they have left, but I can tell you four things about Antiquity:

1. Getting a mint copy box-wise is near impossible as the boxes aren't the most well-built things. Mine came super mint.
2. Getting a copy at all is incredibly hard in America.
3. Getting a copy for under $150 is highway robbery.
4. The rules are super straightforward, there's simply a lot of pieces.

Buy it here: http://www.funagain.com/control/product?product_id=018861

[MrHat]

City-Building, but yea. I'd been tracking down a copy for a long, long time. Someone on f13 offered me in purchase but I didn't really want to remove it from someone else's collection at the end of the day. Finally a store (Fun Again) got a pile of copies in. If I hate it, I can just dump it for more than I paid. Splotter games hold value, intensely.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13122/antiquity

I don't know how many copies they have left, but I can tell you four things about Antiquity:

1. Getting a mint copy box-wise is near impossible as the boxes aren't the most well-built things. Mine came super mint.
2. Getting a copy at all is incredibly hard in America.
3. Getting a copy for under $150 is highway robbery.
4. The rules are super straightforward, there's simply a lot of pieces.

Buy it here: http://www.funagain.com/control/product?product_id=018861

I'd love to pick it up, but that price is just way outside my entertainment budget.

We're still getting mileage out of Agricola here, and that was expensive for me.  I'll put it as pie in the sky for when my bro is visiting and we have 3 players every night.   

[ghost]

Looks like Ogre is up on Kickstarter.   I'm not sure this is one that I'm all that interested in, but I'll probably buy it anyway.   

[Teleku]

I really need to get off my ass and flesh out some fun game mechanics.  So much of this shit just needs to go straight to ipad and forego the expensive and time consuming board game process (no need to kickstart).  I love board games, but frankly I'm finding half of them work much better as pc games where keeping track of all the rules, scores, and chits is handled for you much more enjoyable.  If you have a neat idea for a board game, just make the damn thing electronically first...

[Ingmar]

I really need to get off my ass and flesh out some fun game mechanics.  So much of this shit just needs to go straight to ipad and forego the expensive and time consuming board game process (no need to kickstart).  I love board games, but frankly I'm finding half of them work much better as pc games where keeping track of all the rules, scores, and chits is handled for you much more enjoyable.  If you have a neat idea for a board game, just make the damn thing electronically first...

This presumes that the social aspect is unimportant, though.

[Teleku]

It very well is important, but you can still be social with the electronic version (be it passing around the ipad, multiple ipads, or using voice chat over pc while while playing the game online), while being able to get a great playable game out to the world.  Production and distributional of a digital board game is massively easier than attempting to do it the old fashioned way.  Make your money doing that, then get your physical version out if you must.  I just find it somewhat interesting that all the board games I see on the app store are electronic versions of real games, when at this point I could easily see it going the other way around.

[Ghambit]

I agree, but disagree only in that a MUCH better platform for digitized boardgaming is XBL and PSM (built-in achievement system, voip, couch play, etc.).  Cataan is a prime example, though it's lost steam as of late.
That niche is WIDE open for a smart dev. to exploit, as there's very little in the console market boardgamewise.

[Teleku]

Yeah, I really meant any digital platform.  Was mainly referencing iOS because I've been playing it a lot lately, but any platform would work. 

[Samwise]

On the topic of producing physical board games, I found this site recently:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/

It's basically CafePress for games where you upload digital art and they do all the production -- you can use it to make a one-off prototype for yourself, or you can set up a "store" for your game, have them sell it for you, and get a cut of the sales.  Seems pretty awesome to me.

An iPad app or whatever is going to be easier to rapid-prototype and sell, but you definitely don't need a big chunk of Kickstarter cash or a big publisher to produce something physical.