PeekingDuck said:

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Grant,

Are you the guy that does the WOTR game day?

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We're officially on the calendar for August 24.

Has anyone played Godsforge yet? I've played it twice, and it's outstanding. Incredibly fun mechanics, and you can play a game in 20 minutes.

On the other side, Wacky Races is the worst game I've ever played. It's like a ****tier version of Candyland.

Been a slow year for this thread. How about a pre-holiday bump.

My year has been spend playing Lord of the Rings Journeys in Middle Earth. Really love this game. Adventure campaign game using an app. Similar to all the FFG app games, but less focused on combat and card driven.

Picked up Clank Legacy and Star Wars Rebellion for Christmas.

What is that monstrosity?? What board game takes 6+ assembly hours to put together, much less actual wooden pieces??!?

I saw this was on sale on amazon during the Black Friday and wondered why a board game was "on sale" and still $86.50?? Dismissed it when I saw the price and moved on but two of y'all on this thread have talked about just the setup of it. What is this monstrosity??

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/174430/gloomhaven

All of the wood bits is a game organizer from broken token.

https://www.thebrokentoken.com/

kill0509 said:

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I saw this was on sale on amazon during the Black Friday and wondered why a board game was "on sale" and still $86.50?? Dismissed it when I saw the price and moved on but two of y'all on this thread have talked about just the setup of it. What is this monstrosity??

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It's a tactical dungeon crawler with lots of unlockables. The gameplay at the heart of it is really solid (you have to optimize your moves to complete the dungeon), and while the story is just "ok" the unlockables put a lot of novelty to it. Don't confuse it with an RPG because despite the tropes it really isn't one. And you'll badly want an organizer, and likely a lot of sleeves. So you'll be in it for more than $100.

It's #1 in BGG because it is good. I may have played 10 times over Thanksgiving and 3 more tonight....

Got it! Compare it to the Pathfinder card game then, several storylines that you just work through? Similar to those in some way?

Not sure how to compare it to PACG. I played the rise of the runelords set and you pick a character and deck build through 30 or so adventures. Your character progresses and it is very linear.

Gloomhaven is so much more. There are 90 missions branching adventure paths. You'd pick a character level then up, but eventually they retire and you start a new character. Every card represents your health similar to PACG, but each card has a top or bottom action and you must pick two cards every turn (and play a top and bottom action). You move on hex based boards to fight monsters, very much a tactical puzzle. There is a separate modifier deck that you can also customize.

There is much more to Gloomhaven than PAGC. Game wise it is a much better game, and I really Enjoyed rise of the runelords.

Interesting!! May have to check that game out sometime! Kinda sad now that I didn't buy the base set when it was on sale.

Just finished my seasonal game buying. Picked up Clank legacy, couple expansions for Terraforming Mars, and Wingspan. Oh and grabbed a broken token organizer for Imperial Assault (that game has lots of different cards and stuff to manage). I also picked up some other expansions and stuff for my favorite game...which I'll leave for a surprise until I get it all in and can post some pictures.

All in all, I opted for only 1 true outright new game. Most everything else was to expand on games I already have and like.

Scythe...the mostly complete collection!

Base game, all 3 major expansions, the extra encounter cards, metal coin set, 3d resource tokens, most promo items, board extension, modular board (not shown), legendary storage box, and both Broken Token organizers to organize it all (yeah...those took most of my day to assemble).

Yes, it does all fit in that one box (except maybe modular board) although I haven't added the Rise of Fenris stuff yet since I haven't opened/played it yet (it has stuff in it to reveal as you play).

Scythe is on my shelf of shame. Going to try really hard to play it this Christmas break. Kemet is the other one.

Picked up Ticket to Ride Sails and Rails...been doing a lot of tabletop gaming too!

Which should I get...Forbidden Island or Terraforming Mars?

I have three kids. our family loves playing Catan. We also play Ticket to Ride, but not as much as Catan. We have Pandemic but have not played it much.

So, which of these two might fit our playing history?

How old are your kids? Given the other games you listed if your kids are young i would say Forbidden Island. It is a lighter version of Pandemic.

However, a part of me says Terraforming Mars, but your are going up in complexity quite a bit from the other games you have listed. Disclaimer i haven't played it, but it is firmly a mid-weight game, while the others i would consider light-weight. The reason I want to say Terraforming Mars is because of the similarity of Forbidden Island and Pandemic.

15, 12, 9

I am leaning towards TM because I do want to step it up a little, but it seems to be more similar to Catan and TtoR than Pandemic. The kids are competitive and didn't get into the theme of Pandemic working as a team.

I think that is a good choice given the ages and preferences.. TM has more card play than the other games you have, but is widely considered a top 5 game. 9 year old may struggle a bit.

I own Terraforming Mars and it is a great game. I wouldn't say any particular mechanic of the game is difficult on it's own, but it is definitely complex. The game is based around ~400 or so cards and its essential to be able to understand how their rules work and how they affect other cards so you can create synergies. You also need to keep track of 3 constantly changing game variables, your own income and spending, and what is going on with your opponents' situations as well.

It is a significantly more complex game than the other games you have listed that your family enjoys, but if your kids are into gaming and have the ability to focus for 3 hours then the 15 yo and 12 yo could probably handle it. I'm iffy on a 9 yo.

That being said, Forbidden Island is lighter than the other games you already play, so if you are looking for a step up you won't find it there.

The problem with TM is that each player is playing their own cards and their own player mats...which is great except when it comes to helping out the younger/new players. You'll have to do some policing of "their" game to help them out.

Might I suggest something else - perhaps Clank or Azul? I can try to think or some others that would fit a little later.

javajaws said:

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The problem with TM is that each player is playing their own cards and their own player mats...which is great except when it comes to helping out the younger/new players. You'll have to do some policing of "their" game to help them out.

Might I suggest something else - perhaps Clank or Azul? I can try to think or some others that would fit a little later.

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I was actually thinking of Clank! myself as a recommendation. Or maybe getting into a worker placement game, Lords of Waterdeep comes to mind, I cant think of another easy entry point into that genre of the top of my head.

Edit: Stone Age would be another good place to start with worker placement, but that was out of print for a while and I dont know how easy it is to get right now.

I really enjoy Champions of Midgard as a worker placement, but has some dice chucking Ameritrash.

Clank! Is good.

Blood Rage is an awesome dudes on a map, competitive game. Has miniatures, drafting and isn't very complicated. Complexity come from combining cards

I also prefer Champions to Lords, but I think Lords would be easier to start off with. Maybe not though.

I find it hard to know how to reccomend games for people to start with with games that have come out in the last few years. Even something like Clank, which I feel as pretty low barrier to entry, was not the first deck builder I played. When I started gaming there was Dominion, Ascension, and clones of those that were mostly identical. By the time Clank rolled around the deck building aspect wasn't even something I needed to be in the rulebook. But I couldn't tell you how hard or easy Clank or any other recent deck builder would be for someone who was just starting off with gaming.

What makes new games great for me is how they are blending mechanics and coming up with new innovations in pretty tried and true genres, but I wonder if that makes it harder for new gamers to really get into them without a foundation in the simpler "classics".

Then again, maybe I'm just an old man yelling at clouds.

I only started playing games in the last seven years and heavily the last 5, so most of my games are from the last 5 years. I have played several of the "classics" but much prefer the newer blended games. In most cases i started with the new stuff and had no problems with learning the rules.

Where i hesitate is in bringing other games into the picture when some one says should i get A or B. I think all of us gave really helpful information which points to TM being a better choice for this person but i do think the youngest will struggle with mastering the strategy. Some of this is kid specific, but a good deal is age.

We also offered up some good alternatives if they want to expand the selection. And if someone asks for a open ended recommendation i think offering a few choices is perfect.

I am generally a theme driven gamer. My oldest likes mechanics, my wife likes mechanics and story. My kids are still young, so co-ops are great for us. But i also really like playing co-ops at my game nights. That is why LoTR JiME has been played a lot, but i still haven't cracked open Scythe. Heavier games with lots of rules are also a barrier for me. Really need someone else to teach me those games.

caleblyn said:

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Which should I get. I would play with my family (wife, 12 yr daughter, 9yr son, 6yr son.

Pandemic
Catan
Ticket to Ride

Or should I just get them all?

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Hey caleblyn, look what I found scrolling through the thread from just over 3 years ago! Cool to see that those first suggestions worked out and that your family is now looking to take a step up as the kids get older.

Ha, that is awesome. Crazy it has been 3 years. That year, we did get all three.

Have anyone of y'all played the Great Western Trail? Tried going through most of the thread and don't remember seeing any posts on it.

kill0509 said:

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Have anyone of y'all played the Great Western Trail? Tried going through most of the thread and don't remember seeing any posts on it.

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I have it, but have only played it once. I liked it and it's considered to be very good. I definitely would like to play it some more.

Anybody get anything new?? Santa brought the new expansion to the PACG core set, The Crimson Throne. I think Gloomhaven will be added to my list for next year thanks to this thread.

Finally got my own copy of Can't Stop! Old game, but Sid Sackson rocks!

Nice! May have to check out some of his games! I'm always looking to add games to my classroom collection and that one might be an option. My students love playing the classics like Connect 4, Uno, Jenga, etc.

Spoiled it above, but got:

Clank Legacy
Star Wars Rebellion and the expansion
Marvel Champions
Skulk Hallow

I got to play Wingspan for the first time today. Played 2 games and enjoying it so far. Nice mid weight engine building game.

Also got an organizer and sleeves for Dominion and sleeved 3 expansions worth of new cards today.

Anyone played both 1st and 2nd editions of X Wing miniatures? There's still some 1e TFA core sets out there for pretty cheap and I was thinking of grabbing a couple of them just for casual play with friends or buying a used 1e fleet off someone. Wouldn't be interested in converting. Would that be fine or should I try and wait for 2e sets to go on sale?