The Boardgame Thread

[Ghambit]

It's kinda hilarious how people post pix of girls playing boardgames to try and bump interest (I guess I just helped/harmed the process).  We could probably start an entire thread on it.
Speaking of girls and boardgames... anyone played "Quelf?"  I keep hearing good things about it for parties.

[ghost]

Trust me.  It doesn't matter how may pictures of hot chicks (not saying those were) playing Tumblin' Dice, it still isn't getting you laid.

[Hawkbit]

Very cool!  Just took my kid to our local Pink Gorilla here in West Seattle because she wanted to look around, and they finally have their board games in stock.  Lots of good well-known games, Arkham Horror, Ticket to Ride, a bunch of Catans, Dominion, some of the D&D board games.  Really nice having that so close to home (7 blocks!).

[Ironwood]

Ok geniunely interested in how the hell you play that game given the pics posted.  Do you have to hit the players at the bottom with the dice.

[ghost]

You flick the dice from the top tier and try to get them to land on the lower tiers without going off.  You get points for each tier based on the tier.  For example, the lowest teir (the little areas) are worth four points.  Then you multiply the four by whatever number is on the dice, so you'd like to see a 6 sitting on the four tier.  People that go after you can knock your dice off of the tier you are on and dice that are on the earlier tiers can block people from getting a good angle at the better tiers. 

[Sky]

Don't they have these dopey things in Scotchland?

[Hawkbit]

I bought Forbidden Island today to play with my kid.  We'll see.  Strongly considering running back to get Castle Ravenloft.  Maybe.

EDIT:  Just played a first game of Forbidden Island.  Pretty fun overall.  It's a bit too luck driven for a coop game, but I can see us playing it occasionally.  Our first game took 45 minutes, and I think we can shave that to 20-30 with practice.  We managed to capture three artifacts before our landing pad sunk.  :(

[ghost]

Holy shit, got my Glory to Rome Black Box today, schild.   

[Ghambit]

I'll be demoing Mage Wars and Netrunner next week hopefully.

[schild]

well holy shit I guess I'll go look. Was your box all fucked up?

[ghost]

Nope.  It was in great shape.  I bought it through coolstuffinc.  Didn't kick start it myself.

Addendum-  the quality looks awesome.

[Samwise]

Cards Against Humanity is finally back in stock, along with a new expansion.  Just placed an order for the whole kit and caboodle.

If you haven't played Cards Against Humanity, it's like Apples to Apples except it's actually fun (if you have a sufficiently juvenile/dark sense of humor) because the cards are things like "inappropriately timed Holocaust jokes" and "two midgets shitting in a bucket".

[schild]

Picked up Power Grid and the Quebec board.

Pretty stoked. Has paper money in side, that gave me a laugh before I threw it out and replaced it with coins. Paper money is stupid.

[ghost]

Have you played Quebec yet?  I've been looking at it, but just haven't pulled the trigger primarily because I have a house full of this shit right now. 

[schild]

I haven't even played Power Grid yet, I'll get to it eventually.

[Strazos]

So I was thinking of picking up Race for the Galaxy...but then I saw BGG had a link to a downloadable version, which is neato...

Except for the AI wrecks me every time - how do people end up playing this thing? I don't think I've ever done this poorly at a board/card game before...

Seems interesting as heck, but if I'm no good at it, how am I going to explain it to anyone?

[schild]

I absolutely abhor Race, so I have no advice for you.

[ghost]

RFTG is pretty decent.  Don't get all the expansions, if you're going to get it and go wild.  Only get the first one.  Odds are good that whoever  you're playing isn't going to be amazing at it either, so I wouldn't let the AI scare you off.  2 player is much more enjoyable for me. 

[ghost]

I haven't even played Power Grid yet, I'll get to it eventually.

Oh, I misread your post.  I though you meant you picked up Quebec the board game, not the Power Grid expansion. 

Sorry, too little sleep lately.   

[naum]

Been playing a lot Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) lately. Decades ago, used to play a lot of "western" chess, but the advent of the internet age soiled me on it. In fact, it was with an old AoE (Shaitan) forum community, where I last went at it with someone online in a match (in betwixt AoE DM contests). There was some snickering in the spectator chat room scuttlebutt and then later someone informed that the person I was playing was cheating with a chess program in another desktop window. That kind of soured me on playing even with RL opponents, especially since when pitted against CPU opponents, the game seemed so drab and lifeless, no matter the adjusted skill level.

Anyway, picking up some bowling supplies at a bowling shop, I noticed a crowd outside a Chinese restaurant in Phoenix all huddled up around a game. I couldn't recognize the Chinese writing on the checker pieces, but looked it up online and ordered a/some set(s) off Amazon. And family members seem to enjoy it as much, though one of the sets I purchased features picture icons on the flip side of the pieces.

It's a superior chess game for a number of reasons, though this guy is correct in detailing how the default gear is a grave discouragement for the rest of the world to experiment with.

* More board real estate -- 9x10, ~40% more space than the 8x8 western chessboard.
* Greater aesthetic purity -- no special 2 piece moves like castling, no pawn promotion (though once they cross the "river", 5th rank, they can move sideways), no queen that dominates, no stalemate draws (stalemate means, unlike western chess, you lose)
* Games are settled quicker -- only 5 pawns on the board, meaning battle begins sooner, and there are defensive pieces so there is offense and defense happening at the same time

The pieces are similar to western chess, though the only one that is exactly the same is the chariot ("rook"). There is a "horse" that moves like the knight, but unlike western chess cannot jump over a piece and thus can be blocked. A "cannon" that is unlike anything on a western chess board in that it moves like a rook but must jump over a piece (any one piece, yours or opponents) to capture. Kings, or governor/general and advisors are confined to 3x3 palace. And there is an elephant piece that cannot cross the river, only moves 2 spaces diagonally -- at first glance, appears to be an incredibly useless piece, but it is vitally important.

Perused this excellent English Xiangqi site to get up to speed, but there is no substitute for playing.

This homily is not sponsored by the World Xiangqi Federation.

[ghost]

I've never been a big fan of chess.  What I've been thinking about is a Go board.  That seems like it would be fun, but I have yet to find one that is nice enough yet reasonable enough in price for me. 

[Thrawn]

I absolutely abhor Race, so I have no advice for you.

  I have it but never got around to trying it yet.

[Ghambit]

I've never been a big fan of chess.  What I've been thinking about is a Go board.  That seems like it would be fun, but I have yet to find one that is nice enough yet reasonable enough in price for me. 

You sound so much like me it's funny.  Always wanted to get into 'Go' but wanted a decent board.  So much of them are absolute junk.  Lately I've been resigned to simply get a travel set.  Found this one the other day.
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Weiqi-Magnetic-Travel-Portable/dp/B000JHSORK

I've been told though it's best to start with a smaller grid until you've learned the game.  Of course, you could always cordon off a section of a larger one to do so.  Maybe buy a nice big Goban for the coffee table and then a good magnetic travel set for the courtyard challenges downtown with the old guys.

[JWIV]

I've never been a big fan of chess.  What I've been thinking about is a Go board.  That seems like it would be fun, but I have yet to find one that is nice enough yet reasonable enough in price for me. 

You sound so much like me it's funny.  Always wanted to get into 'Go' but wanted a decent board.  So much of them are absolute junk.  Lately I've been resigned to simply get a travel set.  Found this one the other day.
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Weiqi-Magnetic-Travel-Portable/dp/B000JHSORK

I've been told though it's best to start with a smaller grid until you've learned the game.  Of course, you could always cordon off a section of a larger one to do so.  Maybe buy a nice big Goban for the coffee table and then a good magnetic travel set for the courtyard challenges downtown with the old guys.

Add me to the wanting to learn Go at some point list.  In the mean time though, I'm actually working on Backgammon - I had a set as a kid, but really never played it.

[ghost]

My father-in-law has a pretty sweet Backgammon set at home.  I was always a little scared of it growing up.  It always appeared to me as though you ought to be wearing platform shoes, a leisure suit and a fur coat to be able to play.  Next time we're together he's supposed to teach me how to play. 

I'm at the point right now where I'm not buying anything unless it is seriously collectable, has awesome miniatures to paint or is a no-brainer like Eclipse or Mage Knight. 

[Hawkbit]

I'm on a board game buying/playing kick.  Bought Catan, Forbidden Island and Dominion recently.  Castle Ravenloft, Ticket to Ride and Small World are on order.  Wife might strangle me.

[Sky]

I've never been a big fan of chess. 

I have a Civil War chess set. It was a big deal in the 80s. We were in WV visiting my step-father's mother, who was an old witch. I had braved my way past her flea-infested dog room into her library and she was shocked that I knew most of the books on her witchy shelf, because I used to be into the occult pretty deep (thanks, HP). So she gave me a Civil War chess set.

[JWIV]

I'm on a board game buying/playing kick.  Bought Catan, Forbidden Island and Dominion recently.  Castle Ravenloft, Ticket to Ride and Small World are on order.  Wife might strangle me.

Should we start a boardgame trade/sell thread? Or is it okay to list things in this thread?  The reason I'm asking is because I'm actually selling my copy of Ticket to Ride (Marklin edition) and Small World (Wife didn't really like it).

[Ghambit]

I'd been pondering starting an f13 GeekExchange on BGG, but it's probably just better to use the site normally.

[schild]

Use BGG to sell stuff. It's silly to do it anywhere else when a resource like that is available.

[Hawkbit]

We didn't make it through our first game of Small World.  The kid got bored and didn't quite grasp the concept that she would be playing many races through the game.  It's such a neat looking game, but it just isn't grabbing me.

Castle Ravenloft is confusing.  The reviews talked about how great the rulebook is, but I find it all very abstract.  It feels more like tabletop D&D (I know, I know), and I was expecting more of a defined board game.  I need to go through the rules online, or see if anyone has a playthrough for the first adventure to ensure I'm moving through turns properly. 

Ticket to Ride is our new game and seems to keep everyone entertained.  The kid got really upset that she didn't get Seattle to New York built and lost the points.  I've never seen her cry over a game before, but that did it.  She wasn't even mad that she lost, rather that she didn't finish the route. 

Haven't cracked Dominion yet.  Or the full version of Catan.

[murdoc]

Cards Against Humanity is finally back in stock, along with a new expansion.  Just placed an order for the whole kit and caboodle.

If you haven't played Cards Against Humanity, it's like Apples to Apples except it's actually fun (if you have a sufficiently juvenile/dark sense of humor) because the cards are things like "inappropriately timed Holocaust jokes" and "two midgets shitting in a bucket".

This.

Been playing this at pretty much every opportunity.

[Bunk]

Think I got 12 copies of the same pack of Cards Against Humanity that the enforcers were giving out at PAX. Plan on printing a set of the cards soon.

As for Power Gird - we started playing that again recently. It's bit of a bugger to get the rules down straight, but once you do its a really solid game. One of those games where you can see your opening to win a turn or two in advance, but so much depends on the actions of your opponents, that you really have to play things close to the vest. Always hide how much money you have left from your opponents (easier to do with paper money than coins I would think).

As for Ravenloft - Wizards can suck my nuts as far as those games go. Take 4th edition rules, give everyone extremely basic characters, and play a game where you level all the way up to level two! Then next time you play, start all over again! It's a craptastic board game designed to hook people in to the real game.

[schild]

Wait what about cards against humanity and PAX?

Is there a promo I'm missing?

[luckton]

FFG actually came up with a counter-game to Wizard's Ravenloft et al series of games in the form of Gears of War.  The concepts are the same in that you're creating the play area randomly as you play, but most of the reviews and comments I've read indicate that Gears has a much better system with the way that the game's NPCs react to events and gameplay.  It's much for 'engaging' and strategic, as opposed to Ravenloft's simplified AI that just reacts to events based on each individual card's effect and proximity to players.

The only thing is that this more 'engaged' play has a cost of having longer play times.  Whereas a Ravenloft game can be unboxed, played, and finished in under an hour, GOW plays are averaging an hour and half to two.

Still, might be worth investigating if you like the way Ravenloft plays but wish you could do more stuff.  If you can get over the GOW theme, of course  

Edit: Here, I found a comment from someone that summed up things pretty well.