Carcassonne Central
Off Topic => Other Games => Topic started by: Decar on June 07, 2017, 02:27:49 AM
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Over the last few weeks we've been running polls to determine what our favourite non-Carcassonne games are.
We had almost 170 nominations (see here (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=3259.0)) and have just completed our 8th preliminary poll.
The winners of each of those poll can be found here:
Poll 1: 7 Wonders Duel, Poker, Thurn & Taxis
Poll 2: Splendor, Pandemic
Poll 3: Settlers of Catan, Stone Age, Colt Express
Poll 4: Cacao, Codenames, Isle of Skye, Santorini
Poll 5: 7 Wonders
Poll 6: Dominion, Kingdom Builder, Rummikub
Poll 7: Castles of Burgundy, Alhambra
Poll 8: Ticket to Ride (inc: Europe or Nordic Countries), Kingdomino
That's an impressive list of 20 games!
Unlike previous polls, this one will run for 10 days and each participant is given 4 votes!
Like I said previously - cast your votes wisely!
Good Luck!
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This was really tough. There are 8 games I really want to vote for. If the question was, "what are the best games?", I would have picked Santorini. I think that is honestly the best game on this list. The question concerns our favorite games. Unfortunately there are 4 other games that hit the table more than Santorini, so I didn't give it a vote :'(
For the past month, Kingdomino is the only game that has hit the table. Nobody seems to want to play anything else. Will that feeling last forever? Probably not, but right now it is my family's favorite game.
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A tough pick. There were 6 games that I liked. Some games are similar so I put them in categories and voted from there.
1. Card game: Splendor. Love this game. Easy to learn and a great filler for those 15-30 mins of free time or winding down after a long day. Runner up in this category is Dominion. Although a fun game, I fancy playing Splendor more.
2. Tile game, sort of: Catan. As mentioned in another post, this is the official name for the game. "Settlers of" has been removed. ;) What's great about the game is the chill of it. A decent elaborate game that keeps you busy enough to focus on the game but also allows for social chat during it. Several expansions to allow variety, but to be honest, the base game is much more preferred. Cacao and Isle of Skye was definately favourites but Catan predates these and feels still holds ground for replayability.
3. Party game: Codenames. Great game for 6 players and more. Easy to learn that will involve everyone to pitch in and try to dictate the logic of everyone. I believe co-op games are much more fun than competing against everyone when it's a big gaming group.
Honorable mentions are: 7 Wonders (also a great game!), Rummikub (family tradition) and Ticket to Ride.
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I only have my phone with me while I'm on the Camino de Santiago, I can't vote on TapaTalk, and I can't seem to log in to the forums on my phone browser. So no final vote for me :(
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must be an iPhone feature. Please let us know what you're votes would be though - maybe we can sort something out!
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I only have my phone with me while I'm on the Camino de Santiago, I can't vote on TapaTalk, and I can't seem to log in to the forums on my phone browser. So no final vote for me :(
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The Tapatalk is an issue we can't resolve unfortunately, that's on their part.
What browser do you use on your phone? It's a long shot but if there is an option in the menu for "desktop version", it might allow to show the polls.
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must be an iPhone feature. Please let us know what you're votes would be though - maybe we can sort something out!
I can't see the list to vote on :(
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Lucky I put the list on my first post!
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What browser do you use on your phone? It's a long shot but if there is an option in the menu for "desktop version", it might allow to show the polls.
Safari. The issue is that I'm not logged into the site and when I try to log in, it tells me my details are incorrect, and the 'forget password' feature doesn't seem to work.
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Only played 4 of these. Easy for me to vote!
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Stone Age Worker placement is a great mechanism and this is one the best choices in that area.
Splendor Easily to teach with the staying power that hasn't tired for us.
Isles of Skye Not the same staying power as Splendor for us but a great, great game none the less!
Ticket to Ride Kind of an obvious choice but I still struggled with this last spot. There are many games that are good to great on the list. No denying TTR is a great gateway game!
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A great selection of games franks!
How is 2-player Stone Age for you?
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I kind of wonder, what makes TtR so popular with so many people? For me it's an OK game at best. My main gripe is, that there is in more games then not at least a sequence of turns, where you can do nothing else then taking the top two cards from the deck and hoping for at least one wild or one of a colour you desperately need. But turn after turn after turn, you get just garbage, even if there are several colours, you would need!
At this point you have close to zero decision space, and the game gets really boring or even frustrating. And this can take up to 10 minutes in an hour long game, or at least it feels that way. That's why I prefer Thurn & Taxis by a mile. It shares some mechanics, it feels kind of similar, but you have to do something meaningful every turn. (Or else you bust.) That's why for me it's the superior TtR.
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A great selection of games franks!
How is 2-player Stone Age for you?
Thanks Decar, 2 player Stone Age is Excellent. Never mind that is the only way i've played it, so might be slightly biased. :D
The game seems to scale well. By that I mean there are limited actions in a 2 player game that keeps it tight. It's not as tight and stressful as Agricola but still has a good tension on choices. Also with variable paths to victory one can always work on a positive aspect. There is good variability in the buildings and cards. Best of all at games end there is a feeling of accomplishment with the card sets and buildings. We have added the expansion that has mixed reviews but after dozens of plays we were happy to add it into all our games now for more variability. As always, I'm a HiG production fan and I think this is one of their, other, classics. Highly recommended, though I did ramble on a bit ;)
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Thanks Decar, 2 player Stone Age is Excellent. Never mind that is the only way i've played it, so might be slightly biased. :D
The game seems to scale well. By that I mean there are limited actions in a 2 player game that keeps it tight. It's not as tight and stressful as Agricola but still has a good tension on choices. Also with variable paths to victory one can always work on a positive aspect. There is good variability in the buildings and cards. Best of all at games end there is a feeling of accomplishment with the card sets and buildings. We have added the expansion that has mixed reviews but after dozens of plays we were happy to add it into all our games now for more variability. As always, I'm a HiG production fan and I think this is one of their, other, classics. Highly recommended, though I did ramble on a bit ;)
We have only played with 3 or 4 and it works great too. The rules change slightly to limit actions with fewer players. Once the differences are known, you are good to go. I haven't played with the main expansion yet. It really looked terrible from the game play video we saw, so we never tried to get it. Maybe if the reprint goes on sale, I will pick it up. We have the little promo expansions and they are fun but not too game changing.
My son never sends his people to the "love hut" because he doesn't like having more mouths to feed. He has never won.
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Dirk, I wouldn't let the reviews scare you off. It's not that bad. I think part of the bad press is a confusion on the use of the Jewelry, (they are not used like the other resources). Once you have that down, it just adds another dimension to the game.
Though again, if you haven't over played the base game it's not necessary! We love it and so does Sam Healey of the Dice Tower, check out his video if you can. Sorry I'm on a Mobile and don't have time to provide a link!
Cheers,
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Though again, if you haven't over played the base game it's not necessary! We love it and so does Sam Healey of the Dice Tower, check out his video if you can. Sorry I'm on a Mobile and don't have time to provide a link!
Cheers,
That is actually the video I watched that talked me out of getting the expansion >:D
Like I said, if I see it on sale, I will pick it up. The base game has been easy to find lately due to the reprint. The expansion is still hard to find.
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2. Tile game, sort of: Catan. As mentioned in another post, this is the official name for the game. "Settlers of" has been removed. ;)
I'd seen that too. Makes me wonder what other games could do the same? I overheard a conversation at the UK Games Expo suggesting that Ticket to Ride is going to be renamed simply "Ticket". On the other hand, people have been talking for years about "Poker: The Card Game". I didn't realise it at the time but it's actually the same thing as just normal Poker. Still, it leaves room for a dice version which might be a nice alternative for some people... :)
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"Würfelpoker (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%BCrfelpoker)" (= Poker Dice) is actually quite common in Austria. It's more like Yahzee then Poker, though. Only difference being, that the dice don't have pits, but 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace on them.
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I'm holding out for 'Poker:The poking game' hitting kickstarter soon. It's great to see so many Spiel Des Jahres nominations/recommendations or winners in this poll:
7 Wonders Duel - 2016 Kennerspiel des Jahres Recommended
Thurn & Taxis - 2006 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Splendor - 2014 Spiel des Jahres Nominee
Pandemic - 2009 Spiel des Jahres Nominee
Settlers of Catan - 1995 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Stone Age - 2008 Spiel des Jahres Nominee
Colt Express - 2015 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Cacao - 2015 Spiel des Jahres Recommended
Codenames -2016 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Isle of Skye - 2016 Kennerspiel des Jahres Winner
7 Wonders - 2011 Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel des Jahres Winner
Dominion - 2009 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Kingdom Builder - 2012 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Rummikub - 1980 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Castles of Burgundy - 2011 Spiel des Jahres Recommended
Alhambra - 2003 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Ticket to Ride - 2004 Spiel des Jahres Winner
Kingdomino - 2017 Spiel des Jahres Nominee
Only two games don't have anything: Poker & Santorini. Surprised that Santorini hasn't had any nominations for any awards!
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With only 6 days left to vote I've decided to make a table pulling in information from BGG Mechanisms descriptions for each of the games in our final list.
Set Collection and Hand Management seems to be our favourite mechanisms. Pandemic and Settlers of Catan use the most mechanisms.
The table makes for some interesting comparisons:
(http://tehill.net/carcassonne/fun/top10/TopTenCompare.jpg)
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With only 6 days left to vote I've decided to make a table pulling in information from BGG Mechanisms descriptions for each of the games in our final list.
Set Collection and Hand Management seems to be our favourite mechanisms. Pandemic and Settlers of Catan use the most mechanisms.
I'm surprised Worker Placement ended up so far down the list. It seems to be a popular game format. I suppose there is a slight bit more complexity to the rule sets.
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Yes I was surprised not to see more Worker Placement games (or mechanisms) appear in our final 20 games. Still at least Stone Age made the list. I wonder if it is because Worker Placement rarely stands up on it's own as a mechanic now; because it's hiding within other mechanics. I'd also argue that Area Control is a subset of Worker Placement....those dude's aren't just hanging around doing nothing.
Worker placement seems to be a mechanism that appears in heavier games of late. Having said that, and excuse the pun; it might be a good reason why I found Mint Works so refreshing.
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Last few days to vote - Will Pandemic take the crown, or will Poker beat the newer contestants? Not long until you find out! All you're vote counts here!!
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Totally forgot about this and I had a couple of people message me asking to vote. Given the importance I've extended the voting 1 more day!
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and the results are in:
1) Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan - 12 votes
3) Pandemic, 7 Wonders - 11 votes
5) Dominion - 9 votes
6) Castles of Burgundy, Kingdomino - 8 votes
8)Poker, Splendor, Codenames, Isles of Skye - 7 votes
12) Stone Age, Colt Express, Cacao, Rummikub - 6 votes
16) Wonders Duel, Kingdom Builder - 5 votes
18) Santorini, Alhambra - 3 votes
20) Thurn & Taxis - 2 votes
So it looks like we have a tie for 1st and 2nd place as well as 3rd and 4th place. Given how closely these games are separated, I've decided to call one more vote to separate the for 4 spots.
Great to see Kingdomino doing so well, considering how new it is; but that may just be because more people have played this new title. It's also good to see classics like Dominion holding their own.
Were the results like what you expected? Were you disappointed by any of the game's positions? Were you one of the people who thought Poker was better than 7-Wonders Duel, Kingdom Builder and Stone Age?
Keep your eyes peeled for the Deciding Vote!
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I am really surprised to see Kingdomino up there. I guess Jungleboy found a way to vote 7 times! ;D
In the USA, the top 5 games are readily available in places like Target and Walmart. Same with Codenames, Splendor, and of course Poker. They sit alongside Mousetrap, Life, and Monopoly. You need to go to a board game store to get Castles of Burgundy, Kingdomino, and Isle of Skye. So I would say those are the most popular lesser known games on this site.
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I think it's somewhat disappointing that three of the four cornerstones of the modern board game industry were three of the four top vote-getters (the fourth of those being Carcassonne itself) and the other top four game is the No 1 family game on BGG. So it's a very conventional list and didn't really achieve what I hoped it would, which was to unearth lesser known games that are particularly well suited to Carcassonne fans (although it's Decar's project and not mine and maybe he had something different in mind anyway).
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Some good points Jungleboy. I had not necessarily hoped to find some hidden gems; but I had hoped it would construct a list of games that Carcassonne players liked. In a way, I'd hoped that maybe someone visiting us, would drop by and say: 'I like Carcassonne too, perhaps I'd like these other games'.
I had hoped that through identifying other games we'd identify some similarities about certain games we enjoy playing, whether it be tile laying or some other mechanic or theme. I think the Top10 did manage to show this, in a way. Carcassonne appeals to an extremely wide audience at many different levels. For example: It's a popular strategy game, family game, relaxing game, abstract game and it adapts and shifts to the nature of the players.
So having pondered about what the results are showing us, it's not really a surprise to see that the games Carcassonne fans like would be games that....everyone does. They're generic good-games. The appeal of these games is similar. I think the populace we're asking come from such a big range of people, each with their own specialist and niches requirements. As such those needs become homogenised, or lost...we're left with those games everyone's played....like poker.
I think most of the early rounds allowed people to express the love for those special games they love, even though they wouldn't make it into the final ( Subbuteo :'( ), so I'm glad we had chance to look at every game at least!
Which leaves to me say thank you to everyone who has shared their love for their nominations and taking the time to describe the games they like. I'd urge everyone to take another look at the early-rounds and if they see a game they nominated to take a few minutes to write a few words of support for them, maybe include a picture..it's never too late!
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Actually I was thinking of doing that for some of my nominations, just in case folks hadn't heard of them before. I also had a nose around Amazon and found quite a few of them don't appear to be available, or only as second hand or stupidly priced.
I was also surprised by some omissions from the nominations - Scrabble and Talisman spring to mind although, again, they're fairly old - like me!
A work colleague has been raving about Great Western Trail - haven't seen mention of it in any posts here. Anyone tried it?
Thanks for running the poll, Decar.
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Please do wolnic, happy to see more contributions added.
We didnt get many RPGs, wargames or miniature games in our nominations list!
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I've opened: The Decider (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=3428.0) which will run until the 29th June
Edit: Whoot 3800 posts