Carcassonne Central

Off Topic => Other Games => Topic started by: Bixby on February 24, 2013, 09:56:20 PM

Title: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on February 24, 2013, 09:56:20 PM
(http://sp.life123.com/bm.pix/classic-board-games.s600x600.jpg)
Here is an opportunity to let people know what games you are playing. This thread will be more successful if lots of people get involved. You can be as brief as you want or elaborate to let us know what you think of the game. Also, if you see someone has been playing a game you are curious about, it is an opportunity to ask about the gameplay. 

So, what game is hitting your table?
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on February 24, 2013, 10:03:34 PM
Formula De
I run a Formula De League and we are currently in season 5. It is a league with a full 10 players. We just played race 2 of the season, (a season is 6 races). The game really comes alive in League play. The Meta game of points throughout the season adds a nice dynamic. If you are curious about the league format, information can be found Here (http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=2386.0).

Poker
I also run a Texas Hold'em Poker League and we are in our 8th year. Just recently played game 2 of an 8 game season. I came in 4th which had me placing just outside the money.

Crokinole
We have a nice Crokinole board, and it is often brought out on Poker night. As players get eliminated from the poker game, they can play Crokinole or Rock Band III.

Werewolves of Miller's Hollow
This is a great game for a large group. 12 of us met at a local Irish Pub for a couple of games of Werewolf. A good time was had by all.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on February 25, 2013, 09:44:23 AM
Right now we do not play a lot of board games; we are too busy with computer games.

That does not mean we play no games at all though! We recently re-discovered
Elfenland (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10/elfenland). The more I play it the more complex it becomes. It is a great little game that can get me in a seriously bad mood, there is no end to the crap you can fling at others and since I usually start it I will also receive quite a lot  O:-)

The usual games of
Small World (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/3868/small-world) in its different forms are also quite common. We quite recently bought the big expansion Realms, which is quite enjoyable. I am still looking for Leaders, if anyone has an extra copy ...

We have started to explore
Mansions of Madness (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/83330/mansions-of-madness), but I am not sure I quite like it yet. More plays will tell.

Of course,
Dixit (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/9644/dixit) sees some play when we are not at home. It is an excellent game to bring with you and I have yet to meet a single person who dislikes it. I am still looking for some of the promo cards *hint*.

On our bi-weekly game nights (days?!) we have lately tried to bring bigger games to the table, with some success. We have gone through Twilight Imperium, Mare Nostrum, Diplomacy and warrior Knights. Next up is Wildlife, but I am not sure we will get exactly six persons for it.

Yeah, we just play a lot of games, but not nearly as many as we used to do.  :-\
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on February 25, 2013, 09:51:13 AM
That is quite a variety pack Tobias. I will have to check into Elfenland.

A friend of mine just sold his copy of Small World: Leaders. I had no idea it was rare. I know what you mean about the Dixit Promo cards. They are both rare and expensive. I am looking as well.

How did your game of Diplomacy go?  >:D  ;D
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Scott on February 25, 2013, 10:13:26 AM
I saw Dixit on TableTop and it doesn't interest me.

Wish I could say that games have been hitting my table, but as per usual they just sit on my shelf.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: morris on February 25, 2013, 11:07:53 AM
We (my wife and older son) play mainly Dominion and 7 Wonders. Sometimes we also play Sequence and Rummikub. Younger kid likes to play Key Largo :) When we visit friends then also Settlers of Catan and Dixit hit the table.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on February 25, 2013, 11:34:34 AM
We (my wife and older son) play mainly Dominion and 7 Wonders. Sometimes we also play Sequence and Rummikub. Younger kid likes to play Key Largo :) When we visit friends then also Settlers of Catan and Dixit hit the table.

I have played a bit of 7 Wonders. I would like to try it now with the Leaders & Cities expansions in play.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on February 26, 2013, 04:22:42 AM
How did your game of Diplomacy go?  >:D  ;D
I won as Russia!  ^-^

Our gaming group is always ruthless. Diplomacy was just another game.

I have tried 7 wonders, but it did not hit. If given the chance I would like to play it at least one more time though.

Dominion saw a lot of play a year or so ago, but has not been played a lot lately. We both like well enough though, so it will probably see many more plays in the years to come.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on February 27, 2013, 08:41:53 AM
Last Night at ChewsDay Challenge...

Coloretto
Played two quick games of Coloretto. Quick light game that is easy to teach and quick to play. I like push your luck games, although I tend to do poorly at them.

Kakerlaken Poker
Played a four player game of this. This is a game where everybody wins except one player who is the loser. I lost. :)

River Dragons
Very clever game that involves programmed planning and offers the opportunity to screw over the other players. WOuld like to play this some more.

Masquerade
There is a lot of game packed into this tiny box card game. more interesting decisions than I would have first thought. Clever design.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on March 02, 2013, 04:53:59 PM
Another game night is at an end. Today we were mainly three players (a fourth came, played a couple of games and then headed off to other adventures). We are ususally five or six at least, but sometimes people are otherwise engaged.

Anyway:

We started off with Stone Age (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34635/stone-age). It is a farily easy worker placement game. I like it though, partly because it is beautiful, but mostly because it is easy to grasp for new comers.

We followed up with
Metro (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/559/metro), which is one of the very first games I bought when I got hooked on this hoppy again. I think I only owned El Grande before this. Not counting crap games like Risk &c. This game is reprinted as Cable Car (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/58602/cable-car) and I warmly recommned it. You can play it with everyone!

Now we are only three players for the rest of the night, but we are all veteran boardgamers and very used to play with eachother. So, we took out
Space Station (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/108377/space-station), which is a locally produced game with more "game" in it then one might first think. It is all about balance, which is rather nice.

Then we played a game of
Tales of the Arabian Nights (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34119/tales-of-the-arabian-nights), which is one of those game that have a beautiful, wonderful idea but maybe fails to execute it. It is no end to all the crap that will hit you over and over again. Still - I am very happy to own it and we will play it again, next year or so! :P

Then we played Ticket to ride with the Swiss expansion and also
Alvin & Dexter (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/89848/ticket-to-ride-alvin-dexter). The latter expansion I had wrote off as useless crap, but this time I saw it shine. You can use it very tactically to hinder someone from ending the game, for example. You will not miss it if you do not have it, but it adds a nice level of "in your face!" to an already tight game (we never play the original game, but usually Nordic countries or maybe Europe).

We ended the night with San Juan, Tsuro and Liar's Dice, all of which are nice games.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Scott on March 02, 2013, 06:45:10 PM
Then we played Ticket to ride with the Swiss expansion and also Alvin & Dexter (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/89848/ticket-to-ride-alvin-dexter). The latter expansion I had wrote off as useless crap, but this time I saw it shine. You can use it very tactically to hinder someone from ending the game, for example. You will not miss it if you do not have it, but it adds a nice level of "in your face!" to an already tight game (we never play the original game, but usually Nordic countries or maybe Europe).

Although I haven't played it, I would say the Alvin & Dexter expansion IS crap, but it could be fantastic if the same mechanic was implemented in a way that didn't involve giant monsters.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Whaleyland on March 03, 2013, 12:34:47 AM
We use Alvin & Dexter occasionally, and find it quite fun. It also mixes well thematically with the Halloween Freight expansion.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: metoth on March 03, 2013, 06:52:03 AM
My husband and I have two kids still living at home, a nine year old and a fifteen year old, so they often choose what games hit the table.  Lately we've been playing a lot of Ticket to Ride, Zooloretto, Hunters and Gatherers, Apples to Apples, Scrabble, and Yahtzee. 
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Ratz65 on March 03, 2013, 02:28:07 PM
Fresko from Queen Games
http://www.queen-games.de/games.aspx?productid=7 (http://www.queen-games.de/games.aspx?productid=7)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 04, 2013, 06:40:27 AM
I have not played with Alvin and Dexter, I have always felt that it did not fit the game theme and have passed on buying it.

Four of us decided to play some games this past Friday. We started with:

In the Year of the Dragon
I had played this once before and was considering selling it but wanted another play. I am keeping it. Something about Stephan Feld designs. They kind of rock!

World Without End
You always feel like yo are getting beat up by the game itself with this title; some games worse than others. The cards that came up were so unforgiving that it was hard to worry what the other players were doing. Resources were always scarce and much in demand. Fun game. It is climbing the charts for me.

Poseidon's Kingdom
The Lamont Brothers, (Fragor Games), really make some interesting designs. This is a game that is hard to get your head around the first game. In many ways because they take a very different approach with their game mechanics. This was my fourth play of the game and I think I have a solid grasp on how to play and adjust my strategy. I enjoy playing this once in awhile. It has great bits and a novel design. Not my favourite game in the collection, but definitely a keeper.


On Saturday night I met with another group for a six player game of

Eclipse
I really like the design in this game. So much so I bought a copy for myself. I can't help but feel that initial exploration tile draws can really hamper your play / strategy. I will withhold judgement until I get in a few more plays though. In the six player game, I had a really hard time getting my resource engine going and I was physically cut off from the other races. Fun game with lots to explore. I would like to play again soon.


On Sunday night, Kathy and I played 3 games of

Kingdom Builder
I had played this once before and thought of it is a very light Euro design. I have since come to recognize it for a very clever abstract design. I enjoyed the three games, but I think Kathy will pass on future plays as she does not enjoy abstracts that much.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on March 04, 2013, 06:56:47 AM
I have not played with Alvin and Dexter, I have always felt that it did not fit the game theme and have passed on buying it.
I am rather insesivite towards theme. These guys fall into the "movie monster" catagory, which makes them okay in my book - I just did not like the mechanic at first. In part because I just did not grasp the rules at first.  :-\ It is not an expansion I will play with all the time, but it will be brought forth now and then.

Yesterday an old friend visited and we sat down to play a few games.

We started with Doom. My girlfriend played the invider because she has always felt that the marines had an unfair disadvantage. She lost, so now I guess she will resort to just not liking the game. Or, she might actually start to listen to my hints. Not sure if that will turn out well ...

Next game was Carcassonne with eleven or so expansions. We do not play this much at all anymore - all the expansions have pretty much ruined it for us. If we want a Carcassonne experience, we play one of the spin-offs instead. It is just too long for what it is and some expansions do not marry well at all. Of coure, I could leave three fourths of the game sitting on the shelf every time, but that is not why I bought those expansions. I am thinking about house ruling farms to only yield two points per city as well; they are still way too powerful.

We rounded off with Small World: Underground, which sadly is not at all as fun or interesting as the original. I will have to try them both togheter soon to see if that might be good. The Realms expansion, which we did not use this time, has been well received so far though.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 05, 2013, 06:39:47 AM
My wife and I really enjoy Mega-Carcassonne with many expansions. We actually printed off a set of Carcassonne Selector Cards located Here (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/68071/carcassonne-expansion-selector-cards) to assist in deciding what rules to use each game. The farm scoring is easily mitigated with plague, tower, and dragon debauchery. :)

My wife is a ruthless player wins most of our games. It is awesome to play against her. In many ways, the game we play no longer resembles Carcassonne at all because we use so many expansions. It is generally an evening with a bottle of wine and a lot of tiles.  :meeple:

Last night I played two games.

RuneWars
This was a learning game for two of us. We played with a full complement of four players. I ended up winning due to a very lucky quest draw and initial tile placement. The game is dripping in Theme and I like the decisions that you make in the game. There is a fair bit going on. I would like to play it again in the next month or two to get a better grasp of game play. I am really liking games like Eclipse and RuneWars, but I am left with a feeling that the draw of exploration tiles (Eclipse) and quest cards (RuneWars) can really lead to some unbalanced games. Perhaps some of these imbalances would be mitigated in games with experienced players. That is what I would like to explore.

That's Life
The four of us finished the night with a quick game of That's Life. This game is a gem that is easily taught and plays quick. It is generally a hit with gamers and non-gamers alike. I only wish I could find the two expansions for the game. :(
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 12, 2013, 08:58:04 AM
Time for another installment of games played :)

Cleopatra & The Society of Architects x2 @ChewsDay Challenge
This game has great components, interesting game play, and has the most corrupt player thrown to the crocodiles before final scoring... What's not to like? I need to play this more often. I think it is an underrated gem.

Poseidon's Kingdom @ ChewsDay Challenge
Game bits don't come much cooler than this. The Fragor team really have unique games. As this gets played a bit more, the game play is becoming more balanced and competition tightens up a lot.

The Earth Shook x2 @Bixbys
I am liking the design even more these days. We took a break from playing this and have played a few sessions lately. We tested a power up option on the map as well as having one uber Mech take on three smaller Mechs. Quite happy with the replayability and extensibility of the game. Will add our findings to the collective rulebook and get ready for a final publish this summer.

Glen More @Bixbys
This is one I have wanted to try for awhile now. I think the tile selection / turn order is clever and enjoy how it is integrated into the game. I would like to play a few more times to form a final opinion. Enjoyable.

Maori x2 @Bixbys
I had never played this before. Very simple game with ease to learn mechanics. Engaging play with an opportunity to hose over other players occasionally. Great gateway game.

Taluva @Bixbys
An abstract game disguised as a Euro. It is no secret that I would like to play more abstract strategy games, so I really enjoyed this three player session of Taluva. I think the strategy unfolds after a number of plays, and I am not there yet. Lots of strategy to explore in this title.

Neuroshima Hex! @Bixbys
This is simple and fun. I know that many people bemoan the randomness of the tile draws, I think it creates situations that you have to react and adjust to. I like the game and plan to make it a regular on the gaming table. Especially so since I ordered a bunch of fanspansions from Print & Play Productions.

Venture @ Bixbys
I have the old 3m Gamette version of this game. Played a three player game and I think the design is very clever for a small portable card game. I happen to stink at this game and cannot see the patterns that others can readily see. Does not stop me from enjoying and playing it though. I would like to see how a six player game of this goes.

Cards Against Humanity @Bixbys
Yes, alcohol was involved. Some friends were over and we have shoveled the snow away from our fire pit in the back yard. We had a very enjoyable evening of sitting around the fire visiting over a few beers, (ok, more than a few). We eventually went inside and a random game of CaH broke out. Kind of wrong, but kinda right too.

Mage Knight @Bixbys
Got my second play of this under my belt. Thanks Ryan. We played a four turn cooperative blitz game and lost. Ryan managed to take out one city. He and Dana were mounting a combined assault on the second city while I was getting my butt kicked by the third city. Again, this is a title that has a lot going on. A phenomenal amount of game to explore. I need a few more plays of this in before I feel comfortable with all of the rules and intricacies.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on March 12, 2013, 10:46:35 AM
Taluva @Bixbys
An abstract game disguised as a Euro. It is no secret that I would like to play more abstract strategy games, so I really enjoyed this three player session of Taluva. I think the strategy unfolds after a number of plays, and I am not there yet. Lots of strategy to explore in this title.
One of the games I have played the most. Yes, as you get more plays under your belt you will start to see other options. One thing we have done is to play with a set number of tiles, so if we are playing two players, we remove half of the tiles. With three we remove one fourth. Also, this game's rule book is really not very well written, so be sure you play correctly, as even a small change to the rules will make it into something else.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 12, 2013, 11:38:51 AM
It is a shame we did not live closer to each other Tobias.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on March 12, 2013, 12:28:28 PM
It is a shame we did not live closer to each other Tobias.
Bixby, I thought you will come to Europe. Perhaps you should change your itinerary through Europe.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 12, 2013, 01:38:48 PM
It is a shame we did not live closer to each other Tobias.
Bixby, I thought you will come to Europe. Perhaps you should change your itinerary through Europe.
;D  It is a thought. Would be mice to meet some gaming folks. :meeple:
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on March 12, 2013, 02:04:50 PM
We also like to play the game: DrachenWurf. It is from Wolfgang Panning and it was published by Schmidt-Spiele "EasyPlay".

This game is easy to learn and the young and the old have fun.

At BGG you don't find much about this game. It is a shame.

Here is a picture.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcking on March 12, 2013, 02:21:20 PM
We also like to play the game: DrachenWurf. It is from Wolfgang Panning and it was published by Schmidt-Spiele "EasyPlay".

This game is easy to learn and the young and the old have fun.

At BGG you don't find much about this game. It is a shame.

Here is a picture.

Wow - that looks interesting kettlefish. Looks complex - the way I like them.  ;D
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcking on March 12, 2013, 02:25:10 PM
Time for another installment of games played :)

Glen More @Bixbys
This is one I have wanted to try for awhile now. I think the tile selection / turn order is clever and enjoy how it is integrated into the game. I would like to play a few more times to form a final opinion. Enjoyable.


My wife and I love this game. It is very clever and that is one of the aspects I like about it. The uncertain turn order really mixes things up. We bought it at GenCon and have a few plays in.

Bixby - too bad you live so far away. I would love to join your BixCon. Will you be adding Glen More to the list?
If you are ever in New York (State, not City) let me know - we have many games in common.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on March 12, 2013, 02:30:13 PM
It is a shame we did not live closer to each other Tobias.
Bixby, I thought you will come to Europe. Perhaps you should change your itinerary through Europe.
;D  It is a thought. Would be mice to meet some gaming folks. :meeple:
If you travel from Berlin to the tank museum, than you would be not far away from some members of this forum.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on March 12, 2013, 02:34:33 PM
We also like to play the game: DrachenWurf. It is from Wolfgang Panning and it was published by Schmidt-Spiele "EasyPlay".

This game is easy to learn and the young and the old have fun.

At BGG you don't find much about this game. It is a shame.

Here is a picture.

Wow - that looks interesting kettlefish. Looks complex - the way I like them.  ;D
If you like, than I can explain something about this game.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcatronn on March 12, 2013, 04:28:03 PM

Cards Against Humanity @Bixbys
Yes, alcohol was involved. Some friends were over and we have shoveled the snow away from our fire pit in the back yard. We had a very enjoyable evening of sitting around the fire visiting over a few beers, (ok, more than a few). We eventually went inside and a random game of CaH broke out. Kind of wrong, but kinda right too.

My wife and I love to bring this out when we invite friends over for drinks and gaming. By far the best ice breaking game  ;D ... I wish they wouldn't always be sold out though on their website! Still debating on getting the Canadian version for the extra cards, but sure I won't get the jokes
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on March 13, 2013, 04:38:02 AM
It is a shame we did not live closer to each other Tobias.
Playing games and drinking beer all the time; I could live with that! :)

I have been looking for a means to move to the US, but I am not sure my skill set in Swedish grammar is very sought after there either. Of course I also know literature ...
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcking on March 13, 2013, 12:02:02 PM
Playing games and drinking beer all the time; I could live with that! :)


Nice. That's my idea of a good game night!
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Whaleyland on March 13, 2013, 01:27:18 PM
I've been playing a bunch of random games lately. Carcassonne has actually been a headliner lately because of all the new Minis. I've tried them all and written reviews for each.

We've also been playing a bunch of Kickstarter goods that have been coming in. Urbanization has been popular with my friends who like Agricola. The Great Heartland Hauling Co. was a last minute backing that has proven to be quite popular and quick to play. Skyline, a spin-off of Ground Floor, has also been getting a bunch of play, though the game seems to be almost entirely luck-based. We haven't yet tried Ground Floor or Gunship: First Strike, though I got both more than two weeks ago.

Last week when we had some friends over, we also played The Settlers of Catan, which hasn't hit our table in quite a while in its original form. We generally play with a few expansions or do a scenario. Agricola was also played for the first time in quite a while two weeks ago.

That pretty much sums it up for now. I have a bunch of games that haven't been played lately or much, The Castles of Burgundy the chief among them. Hopefully those will hit the table soon, though I still want to try out my other new Kickstarter games first.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 14, 2013, 10:12:50 AM
@KettleFish
- DrachenWurf does indeed look cool. There are so many interesting games out there!
- We are still working on our Europe trip itinerary. The Tank museum may not make the cut :( I will let you know if we are going to be in the area.

@CarcKing
Glen More will certainly be making our play lists more often now. Cool design. It is destined for the next BixCON. :)
Also, if I should travel to new York state, I would certainly message you. It is wonderful to meet like-minded souls and play a game or two.

@Carcatronn
Cards Against Humanity gets requested with some regularity in these parts. I have only had a copy for a month or so. Will certainly liven up our next family gathering.  :D

@Tobias
Move to Canada instead of the USA. You will be closer then. :)

@Whaleyland
If you like Castles of Burgundy, you should have a look at Trajan. Stephan Feld's designs are very enjoyable with clever mechanics.

Twilight Struggle League Game @ChewsDay Challenge
Last Tuesday night, I played the closest and most tense game I have played of Twilight Struggle. (A friend of mine, Mark, tells me I say that about every TS game I play). :) The game was very fun and very tense. It went the full 10 turns and before final scoring, the VP marker was on 0. I had the wargames card in my hand for turns 9 and 10 and almost pulled off a wargames victory twice but was thwarted once in the space race by missing a roll that would have given me 4vp. Another time I managed to get my VP to 7 and was going to play the card and Ryan scored all of his battleground countries in Central and South America. This game is full of decision tension. I can feel ulcers forming in my stomach when I play. Such a brilliant design and so tightly woven with the theme. I am very thankful Mark has established the league, it helps me get this game to the table more often.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on March 14, 2013, 10:43:11 AM
@KettleFish
- DrachenWurf does indeed look cool. There are so many interesting games out there!
- We are still working on our Europe trip itinerary. The Tank museum may not make the cut :( I will let you know if we are going to be in the area.
DrachenWurf - I bought that game for only 10€ in a store.

Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on March 17, 2013, 02:13:19 PM
Move to Canada instead of the USA. You will be closer then. :)
Ah, well. I sometimes forget Canada exists. No offence!  O:-)

This weekend saw our usual game night. We were seven people for the better part of the day, which means we had the oppostunity to play some games that are not usually brought forth.

We started off with Pitchcar (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/150/pitchcar), which might very well be the very best game that can be played as a starter for gaming events, if you have enough people. It is nearly always a total hoot!

Next up was
Lifeboat (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4174/lifeboat), which is usually a rather nasty game, but this time it did not hit home. Maybe because we were too nice to eachother. That is a very rare problem in my gaming group for sure . . .

We played a game of
Saboteur (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9220/saboteur) followed up with a couple games of Ca$h 'n Gun$ (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/19237/cash-n-guns). The latter is also a great fun game where you bluff your way to victory. Saboteur we played with the expansion and I am not sure it really enhances the game. More plays are needed!

A few rounds of
Falling (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/75/falling), which is not that a great game, but chaotic and fast played. It does not see much play, for good reason. It is very hard to actually do something about your situation. Maybe, I am not sure.

Then we played a round of
Witch Trial (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1203/witch-trial), which demands (light) role play to be any fun at all. With a mixed group like ours some play it that way, others do not and it is easy to tell who enjoys the game more! It is an excellent game if played "right", that is for sure.

Then followed
Rattus (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42452/rattus), which is a nasty game! It has so many options, both in set up and while playing that I feel like I have not even started to see what it has to offer. I really want to play this more!

The evening ended with a three player game of
Cyclades (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/54998/cyclades). This is another game we really should bring to the table more often. Not only for its beauty, but because it is a very diverse and "meaty" game - especially with the expansions. The very last game for the night was a drunken run of Liar's Dice (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45/liars-dice). If you do not own this little gem, you should run out and get it at once!

Today we played a game of
Taj Mahal (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/475/taj-mahal). A rather dull-looking Euro, but with a lot of finesse.

All in all a very nice weekend of gaming and beer!
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Scott on March 18, 2013, 06:40:26 AM
Ah, well. I sometimes forget Canada exists. No offence!  O:-)

We're the only country to successfully invade the United States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 26, 2013, 07:19:09 AM
Played a 6 player game of Supremacy on the weekend. I quite enjoyed it.

We played the advanced rules game with the following expansions in play:
...Warlords & Pirates
...Resource Deck Two
...Mega-Map

We also played with the following rule variants:
...Random Market Modifiers
...Spies
...UN Sanctions for players building/using Nukes

Matt - North America
Greg - South America
Dana - Africa
Jeff - China
Mark - Europe
Bryce - Russia

The game play was better than last game, and the last game was enjoyable. The UN Sanctions was a sufficient deterrent for nukes for the first two turns.  Matt and Greg started the game with a minor misunderstanding about the Caribbean Sea on the first turn. Apparently Greg just wanted to vacation in Cuba and Matt interpreted the 800 naval ships and troop carriers parked off the coast of the USA as an act of hostility. Matt always was a bit touchy about stuff like that. The conflict looked like it would abate somewhat then South America added another 2500 ships to the Caribbean Sea and added a standing force of 300,000 troops in Venezuela ready to convoy to the USA. (At least that is how Matt interpreted the presence of ships. Perhaps he did not see the Carnival Cruise Line logo on the ships as that part of the world is merely a popular tourist destination).

On turn three, North America thumbed its nose at the UN and decided to embark on some research & development for Nukes. The USA was successful in obtaining the technology, but unfortunately all five other super powers managed to infiltrate the research and obtained the technology as well. There goes the neighborhood.  The USA built four nukes as a cautionary measure. The next turn, South America built 7 nukes. Oh boy.

The USA decided to test the resolve of their southern neighbor by sending a small fleet to the Caribbean to tackle the Latin Armada. Apparently, their oppressive dictator overlord did not receive that fondly and opted for a nuclear first strike on the expeditionary fleet. The USA decided to kick the ball to start the next half of the game and Venezuela received the 800megatonne ball basically eliminating everything in that country: people, oil production, grain production, any last remnant of goodwill between the two continents.

What followed was the "rockets red glare" as six nukes came streaming from the southern hemisphere to take out most of North America. The only part of the superpower left functioning was the Southeast corner or the USA where an emergency HQ was established. South America then tried to come in with a naval force and the US retaliated with a 3 nuke cluster. 1 took out the naval force, and the others took our Peru and Argentina. That one's for you Maggie Thatcher!!!

Not to be foiled, South America air dropped some reserve troops into the Southeast USA to take over the superpower and eliminate Matt from the Game. It was at that point that Africa and the rest of the remaining world decided that South America was looking a bit weak from their extended vacationing in North America and pounced.

That was the real cool interesting part of the game. What followed was Greg & Matt watching 3.5 hours of ballet between Africa-China-Europe. Somewhere in there, Russia got tired of watching the ballet and closed the curtain on the world in the form of a Nuclear Winter. Good times.

I will happily play again!!!!
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcking on March 26, 2013, 11:38:31 AM
Played a 6 player game of Supremacy on the weekend. I quite enjoyed it.

I don't know this game but it sounds intense. Something I would like I think.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 26, 2013, 02:20:41 PM
Played a 6 player game of Supremacy on the weekend. I quite enjoyed it.

I don't know this game but it sounds intense. Something I would like I think.

It is a decent game that has a couple of broken areas in the rules. Once fixed, the game plays well.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27/supremacy
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carc-meister on March 27, 2013, 09:42:23 AM
I've been playing a bunch of random games lately. Carcassonne has actually been a headliner lately because of all the new Minis. I've tried them all and written reviews for each.

I'd be curious to see those reviews.  Have a link?
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on March 27, 2013, 10:10:23 AM
Please look at:  Carc Central Community - Reviews & Session Reports

Here is the link:
http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?board=3.0

Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on March 27, 2013, 10:14:57 AM
I've been playing a bunch of random games lately. Carcassonne has actually been a headliner lately because of all the new Minis. I've tried them all and written reviews for each.

I'd be curious to see those reviews.  Have a link?
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/910966/the-barbarian-report-flying-into-oblivion
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/918911/the-barbarian-report-finding-gold-in-carcassonne
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/913574/the-barbarian-report-notes-scribbled-on-a-tile
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/923368/the-barbarian-report-like-being-repeatedly-stabbed
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/914963/the-barbarian-report-taking-the-ferry-again-and-ag
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/925401/the-barbarian-report-thieving-your-way-to-the-top
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carc-meister on March 27, 2013, 11:11:05 AM
Ah, turns out I had already read those.  :)

As for what I'm playing, I'm brand-spanking new to the world of board games.  So with some itunes gift-card money I picked up Ticket to Ride, Carcassone, Stone Age, and Le Havre.  I've played 3/4 (still need to learn Le Havre) and enjoy them all.  With some other unexpected gift money my family picked up Carc Big Box 3, and Ticket to Ride with India/Switz expansion and Africa Expansion.  When the next birthday comes I'll probably pick up something else with additional gift $! Grateful for this site and BGG to give me numerous ideas.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on March 31, 2013, 12:23:27 PM
We had planned to play a lot of games on the International Tabletop Games-day. We had reserved about fourteen hours for games and told people to bring their own food etc. We wanted it to be special and grand! Of course, things almost never goes as planned and when two of our friends had been partying the day before and not hit the sack until six ante meridiem, things would have to be different. We did however play games!

Macao is an excellent game by Feld. There are dics, but nearly no luck.
Edo. A very agonsing Euro. You just always want to have one more action every turn. I have plyed it twice so far and I am already in love.
Cutthroat Caverns. A great great game. If you have never played it - play it!
Shadow Hunters. A very quick hidden team game. Not as good as some in the genre, but chaotic and fun!

We played  acouple more games, but these were the best!

In two weeks I will try my best to get Wildlife on the table. It demands six people though, so we will have to see.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on July 02, 2013, 07:28:15 AM
Well, we are settled back into a routine after getting back from a 5 week vacation to Europe. Kathy and I had a great trip. Here are some gaming highlights from the trip:

Mexican Train Double Twelve Dominoes @ Hudson's Cafe in Berlin, Germany
We went to a British Cafe/Pub on a Trivia night and the two of us entered a team into the pub trivia... we sucked. However, over the course of the evening, we saw that the place had a few games so we played Dominoes. Kathy beat me handily. Fun night and we chatted with some folks staying in Berlin from England.

Hanabi @ our airBnB apartment in Berlin, Germany
Kathy and I were joined by our daughter Krystal who is currently living in Berlin for a quick three player game. We managed to score 20 points. Not bad.

7 Wonders @ Beyond Monopoly in York, England
Kathy and I played a 6 player game of this at the Beyond Monopoly games day. They have these on two Saturdays each month and also, on the opposite Friday evenings. We happened to be there for one of the Saturday events. A very welcoming group and a friendly place to play some games. Great hospitality.

AffenTennis x2 @ Beyond Monopoly in York, England
This was a real treat. John had checked my BGG Profile and noticed that I wanted to play this and made a point of bringing it out. I think this is a brilliant game that is loads of fun. I definitely need to locate a copy for myself now.

Kingdom Builder @ Beyond Monopoly in York, England
I am really starting to see the brilliance of this game. It certainly is an abstract strategy game and does that very well. I am enjoying this game more the more I play it.

Hanabi @ Colin & Catharine's place in Egham, England (Just outside of London)
We played a four player game of this with Colin & Catharine after a day of visiting, sampling ale, and BBQ'ing. We managed a score of 19 points.

Coloretto x2 at Hotel Turin in Berlin, Germany
Our last night in Europe, we were all packed and decided to play a couple of games of Coloretto to close of the evening. Our daughter Krystal was with us again so it was a nice way to end the evening and the trip.
Fantastic trip and full of fond memories. We normally pack a few boardgames (smaller ones) when we travel. I think now we will stick to iPad versions of boardgames for the convenience. I tend to dislike video games instead of boardgames, but when traveling they sure make sense. In addition to the above, we played the following on the iPad over the course of 5 weeks.
Ticket to Ride ~ 4 Games.
Carcassonne ~ 2 Games.
Kingsburg ~ 1 Game.
Kingdom Builder ~ 20 Solo Games.
Eclipse ~ 2 Solo Games.
Can't Stop ~ 10 Games.
Las Vegas ~ 5 Games.
Through the Desert ~ 1 Solo Game.
Battle Line ~ 2 Games.
Stone Age ~ 3 Games.

It is so convenient to use the iPad for Pass 'n' Play games on the plane or trains. Now I do not have to pack games in my luggage for these trips anymore.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on July 02, 2013, 09:26:14 AM
The game "Hanabi" is one of the nominees for the award "Spiel des Jahres 2013".

Mo, 08.07.2013   
Press conference with publication of the award winner "Spiel des Jahres 2013" and "Kennerspiel des Jahres 2013" in Berlin

Homepage (German / English)
Spiel des Jahres eV (http://www.spiel-des-jahres.org/cms/front_content.php)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on July 02, 2013, 09:42:58 AM
The game "Hanabi" is one of the nominees for the award "Spiel des Jahres 2013".

Mo, 08.07.2013   
Press conference with publication of the award winner "Spiel des Jahres 2013" and "Kennerspiel des Jahres 2013" in Berlin

Homepage (German / English)
Spiel des Jahres eV (http://www.spiel-des-jahres.org/cms/front_content.php)

Thanks.

I have a subscription to the English version of SpielBox Magazine. When I read about Hanabi I knew that I simply must get a copy. :D
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on July 02, 2013, 10:38:59 AM
"Kennerspiel des Jahres 2013"

Our special ViP member "Hans-im-Glueck" is happy:
HiG has this year two nominees for this award.
I say get the fingers crossed, that HiG get the award.

"Bruegge"
"Die Palaeste von Carcarra"
---------------------------------------
Z-man Games is the licence partner from HiG for the English version.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Scott on July 02, 2013, 12:30:57 PM
My family was heavily into Mexican Train a few years ago. Haven't played in a while, but I found it very enjoyable.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: AlbinoAsian on July 06, 2013, 10:10:09 AM
This year I've really been trying to play & buy more games outside of the Carcassonne family (although the money I've spent on Carc is still several times the amount of spent on other games.

I have to say the most loved game between my friends, my family, and myself is Samurai. At this stage I can't play it enough =)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on July 06, 2013, 02:29:42 PM
This year I've really been trying to play & buy more games outside of the Carcassonne family (although the money I've spent on Carc is still several times the amount of spent on other games.

I have to say the most loved game between my friends, my family, and myself is Samurai. At this stage I can't play it enough =)

Which version of Samurai? This one by Reiner Knizia?
(http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1352240_md.jpg)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: AlbinoAsian on July 06, 2013, 06:28:16 PM
This year I've really been trying to play & buy more games outside of the Carcassonne family (although the money I've spent on Carc is still several times the amount of spent on other games.

I have to say the most loved game between my friends, my family, and myself is Samurai. At this stage I can't play it enough =)

Which version of Samurai? This one by Reiner Knizia?
(http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1352240_md.jpg)

Aah yes that's the one. It might not be complex enough for some. But though its easy to learn, it feels different each game :)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on July 06, 2013, 11:08:43 PM
I think it is a brilliant game. Reminds me that I need to play it more.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: AlbinoAsian on October 14, 2013, 12:36:28 AM
When I was back in Australia for 3 months Resistance definitely was the most played.

Other games that got some love were
-Tsuro (super quick and easy to teach my relatives)
-Ticket to Ride (Europe and Nordic, Nordic being my favorite yet
-Keyflower was my favorite new game... Just takes a while to explain to others

Now 2 games that I've just recently played but really enjoyed were
-Callisto (abstract game which plays quick)
-Saboteur (another great hidden baddies game)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on November 18, 2013, 08:30:03 AM
I have not posted in this thread for awhile, it is time to rectify that. Here is what I have played so far this November...

Troyes x3 @ Home
Kathy and I have played three 2 player games of this. I quite enjoy the game and think that the dice mechanic is very clever and well balanced. This game has re-playability and staying power. I look forward to trying this with four players.

Castles of Burgundy x1 @ Home / x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
This is one of our favourite games. Stephan Feld has really proven himself as a designer. I can see getting years of enjoyment out of this game.

Tobago x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
It has been a long time since I had played this, so it was time to bring it out to ChewsDay Challenge. I enjoy the game and can see playing this occasionally (Say once or twice a year). Beautiful components and interesting mechanics. 

Bruges x2 @ Home
Having visited the city of Bruges in Belgium last May, I became interested in this game. The fact that it is a Stephan Feld design made it an auto-buy for me. I enjoy the game and see many plays in the future. It is not my favourite Feld design though. I am left feeling like the game ends just when I am starting to ramp up my plans. Bloody Feld games make you feel inadequate. :)

Antics! x1 @ Home
This is a Fragor game designed by the Lamont Brothers. I quite enjoy this game. The mechanism of building your anthill to give you more options or more powerful options is a very cool mechanic. I need to play this more often.

River Dragons x1 @ Home
I think this game has some fun "screw you" elements that makes it fun and engaging. The player interaction is hilarious. The trouble with the game is the fiddly bits. Perhaps picking up some mactac to keep the bridges from sliding and falling apart all of the time would cure that. Other than that, this is a fun light filler game.

Diamant x1 @ Home
This is the German version of Incan Gold. Another fun light filler that is generally a hit with everyone when it gets played. I generally suck at push your luck games and this is no exception. Still, I very much enjoy it. The pieces in this game are nicer than the Incan Gold version.

Acquire x1 @ Home
A Sid Sackson classic. Glad I played this, I was overdue. This needs to hit the table a couple of times a year. We played a full 6 player game. Fun times. I am glad I have the 1999 version with the cool bits.

Shogun x 1 @ Home
Jeepers. I am getting all sorts of awesome games to the table lately. We played a five player version of this. Rocky start to the game as we had to separate all of Tenno's Court expansion components from the game prior to starting. Once we started though, game was fun, engaging, and very interactive. A three way tie for first place.

Crokinole x3 @ Home
Always enjoyable. We sometimes just set the board up on the dining room table and leave it there for a couple of weeks. Random games just seem to break out. Always glad when they do. :)

Mega-Carcassonne x1 @Home
We played a 4 player game of this in two teams of two. Lots of expansions in play. We made sure the "screw you" expansions (Tower, Dragon, Plague) were in play. Fun game and the scores were very close at the end. Always up for 1 or two marathon Mega-Carcassonne games every year.

Stone Age x1 @ Home
I now consider this a classic. It is one of the first worker placement games that caught my attention. It is a good example of a simple worker placement game and it can be easily taught and quickly played.

Star Trek: Fleet Captains x1 @ Home
Very thematic game and since I am a trekkie at heart, this is a keep for me. I played the Klingons and got my butt handed to me by the Federation (Bryce). I would really like to try a three player game of this with the added Romulan expansion.

Galaxy Trucker x1 @ Home
Chaos in a box. I enjoy the game for what it is, a light chaotic experience. I would like to play it with all of the expansion options added in to see how they alter game play.

Atlantis x1 @ Home
I think this is a great filler game. After getting this game, I sold my copy of Cartagena. This is a more robust game and has more meaningful decisions.

Himalaya x1 @ Home
One of my favourite games. Again, I need to get this to the table more often. I think my efforts to greatly shrink the size of my game collection will really help me to focus on games I truly enjoy a lot. This game really shines.

Castellan x1 @ Home
Played a four player version of this. After a few plays, I am not convinced this game has much to offer. I like the concept and the bits are wonderful. I think this has limited play for me. Perhaps some variants will get published to enhance game play.

Neuroshima Hex! x2 @ Home
I am so glad I bought version 3.0 of the game, even though I have version 2.5. I also have a whole pile of armies that I bought from Print & Play Productions. This game is quite enjoyable and even more so in team play. We played two games with four players in two teams of two. Another game that will continue to see game play at our house.

Poker x1 @ Home
I have been running a Texas Hold'em league for many years. Some games, I do very well, some games, not so well. Let's just say on this particular night, I spent most of the evening in the Loser's Lounge playing Rockband. :)

Fluxx The Boardgame x3 @ Home
I wanted to like this... but I don't. Seems too easy to win. My games were all with 2 players, perhaps a 4 player game would be very different. On to the sale pile.

Takenoko x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
This wins the award for coolest bits in a game. Very nice looking game. I enjoyed the game and would like to play it again to determine if it is one I would like to add to my collection or not. I am slowing down my game purchases and now only want to purchase titles that will see a fair bit of repeat play.

Tokaido x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
Another game that looks wonderful. I like the game play in this, but again this is a game I want to play once or twice more to really form an opinion and to determine whether I would want to buy my own copy.

Kakerlaken Poker  x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
This game is a great filler. It functions well as an ice-breaker for getting players who do not know each other to start interacting. We use this at ChewsDay Challenge to ease people into the game group and add a bit of levity to a game night. Probably doesn't hurt that I am an absolute goof when I play this.

Mexican Train Dominoes x1 @ Friend's House
This is a fun game for a group to sit around a dining room table, enjoy a glass of wine, and play. My wife and I both enjoy this. This generally comes with us on our camping trips as well.

Extreme Aggravation x1 @ Friend's House
Playing Aggravation with cards instead of dice adds a lot more meaningful decisions to the game. Especially when you have a hand of cards and some of the cards have special uses. Play in teams and the game is perfect of a a glass of wine and some levity around the dining room table.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on November 30, 2013, 01:53:39 PM
Time to post another batch of board game plays...

Bora Bora x1 @Home
Another home run by Stefan Feld. A lot of decisions in this game. Another example of how Feld makes very innovative use of dice. This game was the straw on the camel's back that convinced me I need to track down the rest of Feld's designs and add them to my collection. I think I am a fan boy. :)

Shogun x1 @Home
Got another play of this in. It is great to get a game to the table a couple times in a row. It means you are not struggling to remember the mechanics and can immerse yourself in the gameplay. This is a solid design and is worthy of any praise it gets.

Clash of Cultures x1 @Home
This was my first play of this game. I really enjoyed it. I have discovered that I quite enjoy boardgames with a civilization building element involving Tech Trees. I would be most interested in playing this again. At some point, I will likely add a Civ game to my collection. Just not sure if it will be this one or Sid Meier's Civilization. Would like to play them both again.

Troyes x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
Finally got a four player game of this to the table. This has sticking power and will be climbing the charts with me. Plays well with 2 and plays well with 4. Bonus is that Kathy really enjoys it as well.

Timeline x 1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
A fun fast filler game that is great for non-gamers. I think I will always keep this in the bag for family gatherings.

Las Vegas x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
Another fast fun filler that is popular with non gamers. This one has some sticking power and will always be in the gaming travel bag.

Thurn & Taxis x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
This is a pretty solid gateway game. I rate it up there with Carcassonne & Ticket to Ride for ease of learning and depth of gameplay. Good one to get to the table periodically.

Creationary x1 @ ChewsDay Challenge
If Lego and Pictionary had a love child, this would be it. You have to build things out of lego and have others guess what you are building. Did I mention LEGO!!!

Friedrich x 1 @ Home
Wow. I played this on Wednesday night and I am still thinking about the game. This is a very brilliant design and has the potential to be a top ten game for me, easily. I am thinking about trying to schedule another game very soon. I would like to introduce Kathy to this and I really hopes she likes it. It is a long and epic game that would go very well with a pot of tea and a Sunday afternoon.

Castles of Burgundy x1 @ Home
Do not need to repeat what I have repeatedly said before, this is a great game.

Tigris & Euphrates x1 @ Home
I had my first play of this last week. At the start of the game I was quiet underwhelmed by the game, then around the midpoint of the game I started to see patterns of play emerge and I gained a new found respect for the game.

Dice Town x1 @ Home
This is a fun gateway game. Not sure why it does not hit the table more. Perhaps by thinning out my game collection, titles like this can see more attention.

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear (second edition) x1 @ Home
The components are beautiful; counters and maps. The game play is simple and elegant, the historical notes and background information is very interesting. I am glad to finally get this on the table. Colin quite enjoyed it so I think there will be an opportunity to dig into some of the deeper scenarios. This is much more accessible than Squad Leader and delivers the goods for small scale WWII battles.

Poker x1 @ Home
Played the eight and final game of the 2013 BSOP (Bixbys Series of Poker). My highlight was slow playing quad 7's and getting another player to push all in on that hand. Fun times. Unfortunately, I could not hold on to my chip lead, and was eliminated on the bubble (4th spot). Another successful year of running the poker league. 7 years into the league and still loving the game. Sure helps that we have an amazing group of friends that play. Makes the games very enjoyable.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Scott on December 31, 2013, 01:34:36 PM
Yesterday my brothers finally decided to play a board game with me, and the youngest brother who dislikes games the most thought that he would enjoy playing Ground Floor because it had a business theme. According to the outside of the box, it takes between 1.5 and 2 hours to play the game. We had never played the game before, so we knew it would take longer, but I didn't expect it would take 9 hours. I've never seen so much analysis paralysis in my entire life. The average turn length was somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes.

Although I'm not a fan of worker placement games, I thought Ground Floor would be better because in most cases there is ample opportunity for all players to take the same or similar actions. The problem of analysis paralysis seems to stem from the fact that each of the nine rounds is divided into five phases. How you divide up your workers' time affects not only subsequent rounds, but also subsequent phases in the current round. You would expect the amount of analysis to go down as the number of workers increased, but that was not the case. Expanding your company becomes increasingly expensive. Towards the end of the game, the market became over-saturated with more products than customers. Putting any more product on the market was completely pointless, other than to earn a measly $3 each from liquidation. We ran out of things to do which would have any meaningful impact, so I dumped everything I could into marketing. (This could have been beneficial for me at game end, but I didn't have the appropriate building upgrade to take advantage of it.)

The whole game ended up being a series of mostly bad decisions, or poorly-timed ones. At the outset, I was concerned that nine rounds would be too short, but in the end it was too long. The upgrades also seemed a little unbalanced. In most cases, there is only two of each upgrade, so everybody competes for the same ones while the majority go unused. I like the idea of the game, but I don't know if I can bring myself to play it again.

Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on February 11, 2014, 08:18:41 AM
Here area  couple of recent plays:

Tammany Hall
Five of us all played our first game of Tammany Hall a week or so ago. I like the concept of the game and it has lots of player interaction. The early game was relatively gentle, but as the years rolled by, the game got more vicious. I really felt like I was doing poorly, but ended up with a surprise victory at the end. With our concentration on the points leader(s) in the mid-game, it made it so I was able to sneak in from behind. I doubt the group will allow that to happen again. I cannot say I even saw it myself. The game is light on rules and heavy on strategy. A perfect combo. It will see repeated plays at my game table.

Eclipse
Last night I played a three player game of eclipse. We have almost all of the promos and expansions. I played Eridani, and the other two players were Planta and Orion Hegemony. I was worried about the Orion player at the start of the game and was keeping a cautious eye in his direction. In the meantime, the Planta expanded quickly and got a strong resource engine going. My own resource engine was coming a long, but not fast enough. Unfortunately, the Orion player got boxed in behind a bunch of bad tile draws with kickin' ancients on them. My plan was to build tiles to prevent Orion from getting me and having them attack the Planta. That never happened and by the time the two of them clashed, the Planta had a very strong force to be reckoned with. Orion was almost obliterated. We conceded the game to Planta at Turn 6. I really like this game and want to play more this year. My concern is that with fewer than four players, it may be best to play symmetrical races, (Terran or Magellan). With 2-3 players, the racial powers combines with tile draws can create an imbalance. Not sure how others feel about this. Not to take anything away from Planta, they played a very strong game. Looking back at last night's game, Orion and I should have made a move earlier, but hindsight offers more clarity than was evident at the time. Look to see more entries about this game in 2014. PS. The Ship Pack #1 sculpts are awesome!!!
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcking on February 11, 2014, 10:19:05 AM
@ Everyone - I could use your advise for what to look for at GenCon this year. There is so much there that it's impossible to see it all, catch it all. Every year, after it's over, I wonder what I missed - if maybe I missed what would be our game of the year in my group.

So if I named the games we are already into, would you give me your recommended list of what to look for? I know as a community we have a very wide experience with board games.

Here's what we like in our group in any particular order, already own, and get cycled through just about at least once a month:
Carcassonne
Settlers of Catan
Dominion
Snowdonia
Puerto Rico
Monuments
Glen More
Agricola
A Touch of Evil
Last Night on Earth
Tasnia
Flashpoint Fire Rescue
Pandemic
Urbania
The Downfall of Pompeii
Sid Meier's Civilization

And all available expansions of the above.

The two that I will likely look for this year are Helios and Bruges.

What else should I be looking for?
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on February 11, 2014, 02:54:18 PM
Carcking,
you like Snowdonia?

Perhaps than Russian Railroads is also a good game...
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Tacita on February 12, 2014, 09:44:56 AM
Eclipse
Last night I played a three player game of eclipse. We have almost all of the promos and expansions. I played Eridani, and the other two players were Planta and Orion Hegemony. I was worried about the Orion player at the start of the game and was keeping a cautious eye in his direction. In the meantime, the Planta expanded quickly and got a strong resource engine going. My own resource engine was coming a long, but not fast enough. Unfortunately, the Orion player got boxed in behind a bunch of bad tile draws with kickin' ancients on them. My plan was to build tiles to prevent Orion from getting me and having them attack the Planta. That never happened and by the time the two of them clashed, the Planta had a very strong force to be reckoned with. Orion was almost obliterated. We conceded the game to Planta at Turn 6. I really like this game and want to play more this year. My concern is that with fewer than four players, it may be best to play symmetrical races, (Terran or Magellan). With 2-3 players, the racial powers combines with tile draws can create an imbalance. Not sure how others feel about this. Not to take anything away from Planta, they played a very strong game. Looking back at last night's game, Orion and I should have made a move earlier, but hindsight offers more clarity than was evident at the time. Look to see more entries about this game in 2014. PS. The Ship Pack #1 sculpts are awesome!!!
Planta is rather special and I have been putting them aside in the games I have played so far. I would not use them in a three player game until all three players are familliar with the rest of the races.

Games with less than four players usually result in a stand-off. Last game I managed to draw no economic tiles at all, so I got my first extra money income in turn five (bah!). I still won, but that was only because the others left me alone. In the end my ships kicked arse!  >:D The result from getting a lot of research done.

The only advice I can give you is to be more aggressive. Eclipse is really a better game when there are fights going on.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Nebus on May 17, 2014, 05:33:07 AM
The games currently visiting our table top are...

Zombies- A tile based game where the players build a  town infested with zombies and have to get their player from the town centre to the Heli-pad or kill 25 zombies to win.

Jamaica- A pirate-themed tactical race game with great player interaction. The winner is not the first to reach the finish line but the player who best balances their position in the race with the amount of gold already in their hold.

Those Pesky Humans- A dungeon set game where one player is the lord of the dungeon and controls all the denizens while the other players each control a hero that must escape the perilous underworld.

Munchkin- A card based dungeon crawl where it's every player for themselves. The aim of the game is to get your character up to level 10. Great fun with 6 players.

Poker- Texas Holdem.

And of course, Carcassonne...

 :black-meeple:
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: kettlefish on September 20, 2014, 01:33:26 AM
A question:
Does no one play any games since May 2014?  ;D

-----------------------
In hospital we played card game "Rommè" and dice game Kniffel/Yathzee.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: SRBO on September 20, 2014, 02:50:18 AM
A question:
Does no one play any games since May 2014?  ;D

-----------------------
In hospital we played card game "Rommè" and dice game Kniffel/Yathzee.

Only Carcassonne and 'Saboteur'! both my favorite games
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: mas9dj on September 20, 2014, 08:05:22 AM
Recently I bought Agrícola and Ticket to Ride, both very enjoyable :)
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on September 25, 2014, 07:09:46 PM
I have been playing lots. Sorry, I have not been posting to this thread...

...I had the impression that nobody looked at it.  :-[
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: CKorfmann on September 25, 2014, 10:49:28 PM
I just got Glen More, so I've been playing that mostly. 

I've recently played Vegas Showdown several times and have been enjoying that as well. 

My game group has been playing a lot of Russian Railroads and Waterdeep lately. 

Sadly, no Carcassonne in quite a while with the exception of one game with the new Sheep and Hills expansion a couple months ago.

My son is 6 now, so I just have to hold out for a couple more years before he can start really wrapping his head around Carc and several other games.   :blue-meeple:
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Nebus on September 26, 2014, 06:00:49 AM
Played Nexus Ops recently...

It's a strategy combat game for up to 4 players and great fun!

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15363/nexus-ops

 :black-meeple:
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Carcking on September 27, 2014, 09:36:04 PM
I just got Glen More, so I've been playing that mostly. 

We love Glen More! We've got several plays in. We picked it up at Gencon 2013.

Also been playing:
Carcassonne
A Touch of Evil
Last Night On Earth
Dark Gothic
Fortune and Glory
Dominion
The Witches
Discworld Ankh-Morpork
Snowdonia
Tasnia
The Farming Game
Elder Sign

My randomizer deck keeps growing!
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Scott on October 17, 2014, 08:56:03 PM
Went camping with the family last week and got to play several Kickstarter games from my collection for the first time (in no particular order because I can't remember what order we played them in). I didn't bring any Carcassonne games, though I would have liked to try some of the standalones. Storage space was at a premium, so I only took games that were compact to store and compact to play. Tile-laying games and small tables don't mix well.

1. Skyline

Published by Tasty Minstrel Games, this came with Ground Floor as a stretch goal. It's a dice-drafting game where you roll to build skyscrapers. My brother isn't a fan of luck-based games, but deciding which dice to roll is a bit of a skill.

2. The Perfect Heist

This is a card game where you equip yourself to complete heists. Your equipment has certain point values, and the sum of those points needs to be greater than the heist difficulty level. Where things get interesting is that you can play co-operatively, or not. Sabotaging other players is a big part of the game, which was a little disappointing for us because that's not really our play style. There is a Pro deck with more difficult heists, but I found that it's very difficult to accumulate enough points to be able to tackle them. There are also pre-requisties that you need to have, which was hard with only three players. Five or six players would probably be a lot more enjoyable.

3. Railways of the World: The Card Game

We played this as a two-player game, and each of us stuck to our own side of the table which isn't really intended but made the end-game scoring a lot easier. The only criticism we had is that you are mostly limited to one of five actions per turn. We would have preferred cube delivery to be a separate phase so that you can build routes AND deliver cubes. We rushed to build our routes, and then switched to focus on cube delivery until I was feeling confident that I had a strong-enough point lead and then I placed my last train, which ended the game. My brother managed to catch up to 1 point behind me on his final turn.

4. Aces of Spies

In this card-based game, you're trying to complete missions by collecting certain types of cards. Although the cards are divided into three decks according to color, it was still really hard to get the cards we needed to complete missions. We suspect this was due to insufficient shuffling. We were also frustrated by some of the complexities; certain cards can be used in three different ways. Would not recommend this game.

5. Dragon Slayer

In this dice-rolling game, you defeat dragons to score points. I had played the game solo when it first arrived, and thought it was nicely balanced, but when I played it with my brother I ended up getting really good dice rolls and successfully defeated several dragons in a row before it was his turn to play. He had barely scored any points by the time I had won. I think he was also mad about it being purely luck-based. I still like the game because I can play it solo.

6.  The Great Heartland Hauling Company

in this cube delivery game from Dice Hate Me Games, you're driving a semi-truck around a small area in the United States of America. We played without any expansions to keep things simple, but next time around I would definitely add the Badlands expansion to increase the rate of point earning to make it play a bit quicker. Also would like to try some of the alternative layouts. The Truck Stop expansion adds some interesting abilities, but being limited to one ability per player makes me feel a bit skeptical that it will add enough to the game.

7. Fleet

This game is quite different from what I normally gravitate towards. You're managing a fleet of deep-sea fishing vessels. There are some benefits to diversifying your fleet, but also benefits in specializing. It was difficult to remember to take advantage of all our abilities, and we massively misunderstood how some of the abilities worked and ended up drawing way too many cards in a single turn. We played with only the base game, but the vast quantity of expansions and promos has me interested to play more. I think it could be quite fun if played correctly.

8. Monad

I thought this Sid Sackson game would be a little less complicated, but everyone was confused by the different methods of advancing for quite a while. I tried to trade up as quickly as possible, but got stuck drawing cards I couldn't use (probably due to insufficient shuffling). My brother quietly built up his hand and then went from last place to winning the game in a single turn.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: danisthirty on October 30, 2014, 08:53:44 AM
6.  The Great Heartland Hauling Company

in this cube delivery game from Dice Hate Me Games, you're driving a semi-truck around a small area in the United States of America. We played without any expansions to keep things simple, but next time around I would definitely add the Badlands expansion to increase the rate of point earning to make it play a bit quicker. Also would like to try some of the alternative layouts. The Truck Stop expansion adds some interesting abilities, but being limited to one ability per player makes me feel a bit skeptical that it will add enough to the game.

A friend lent me this so my wife and I played it a few times over the course of about a week. It's a neat little game and I like the concept, although there wasn't really enough to it to keep us coming back for more after we'd played it half a dozen times...
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Whaleyland on October 30, 2014, 12:53:50 PM
The expansion helps a bit while flipping a few of the cards can also make the game a bit more difficult. I like the game quite a bit and brought it to New Zealand with me. I agree it could become samey but so can a lot of games. You just can't play it a dozen times in a row.
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: danisthirty on October 30, 2014, 01:09:58 PM
You just can't play it a dozen times in a row.

Good point. I think we were just trying too hard to get the most of it because we had to give it back to my friend...
Title: Re: What game is hitting your table?
Post by: Bixby on October 31, 2014, 10:15:21 AM
Been awhile since I chimed in... so here goes. :)

Yedo
This is a well designed game that will hit the table again soon. I love the theme and the mechanics. It is a solid Euro design.

Glory To Rome
Very innovative game that shares some mechanics with Innovation. I really like this game and have played it three times recently. I can always be talked into bringing this to ChewsDay Challenge.

Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game
This is just a great game. Each time I play it, I enjoy it more. Now with four full plays under my belt this is a top 10 game for me.

Merchant of Venus
What can I say, other than this game is AWESOME!?! (I am referring to the classic rules of course).

Cavum
Very clever route building game with some puzzle like qualities and abilities to screw over other players. Works for me. :)

Formula De
We are in our 6th season of the Formula De League. League play is where it is at for this game. Solid.