Archipelago

Thinking about getting this game. Looking at the description it is a heavy euro. I recall at least one member of the Fort being a fan. Anybody have opinions on this? How would you compare it to other heavy Euros? How confining are the rules? How much a part does randomization play?

If I were to say I hate Age of Steam but I like Dominant Species, how would I feel about Archipelago?

It is really kind of a giant parody of several Eurogame tropes. It's either the most clunky, cumbersome Euro ever designed or the most brilliantly compiled. Take your pick.

There is a lot of "play" in the game though, I wouldn't call the rules confining. There's some grit to it, it's not just some kind of optimization thing. Lots of randomness in a couple of different elements so there is a "play it as it lays" sense to it. I would say that it would compare more to Dominant Species than Age of Steam, easily.

I'm a big fan. Gary Sax is as well.

I reviewed it last year: www.2d6.org/2014/10/archipelago-a-written-review/

I'm a fan as well. I also recommend the War and Peace expansion as it increase the interaction between players.

It is on my shelf and I am dying to play it more than the like once I've played it with people who were like "what the fuck is this shit?" It's kind of a genius game. I should probably pick up War and Peace even though I'll never play it, I love the idea of this game. And GOD knows it'll never be reprinted...

Honestly, there's a little bit of something like a euro version of Triumph of Chaos in it.

Shut Up and Sit Down have covered Archipelago



(It was my favourite game of 2013, even though I haven't managed to get to the long game yet.)

I've played a 2-p learning game and that's it, it was a bit flat with 2 though so wouldn't base any opinion on that play. The few times we came to show it to the game group, teaching/learning time/curve were a big hurdle and it hasn't seen any play.

That said, I do have the solo expansion and intend to play it by myself so as to get a better grasp on the rules to be able to teach them in a more intuitive way perhaps. Problem with that is that I just never really pull out a board game for solo play.

I got this game out to refresh myself on the rules, played solo. The economy is kind of interesting. Where most euros about colonization are really about... I don't know, colonizing a meaningfully uninhabited moon, this game is about actual colonization. Running underneath it is a strong anti-colonial vibe. You're basically trying to rape this land and its people JUST ENOUGH to not all be murdered in your bed by the locals you're exploiting while still beating out your other colonizer opponents. There's a lot less whitewashing in that way and the game is quite thematic with respect to colonization, not in setting or card description but in mechanics.

I have no idea if the secret objectives work. Part of me doubts it. There are too few and they are too important. I (gulp) wonder if the game would be better if it was a variable weight point salad ending instead.

GOTTA play this someday with some committed players. It's staying on the shelf.

Incidentally I soloed this throughout the weekend (needed to hit that 10 plays for Pete's challenge, got to 20), mostly the long scenarios. I reached gold victory on most of them, but to improve on the few silver achievement scenarios I needed to luck out and get specific cards out right from the start, such as the Scout for mister Landwalker (explore the whole map in under 8 turns or so). I did use the assassin once in that last game, Pope Hull VIII, to get an extra turn. You can get really screwed if you fail on explorations though.

Scenarios that start you with 1 citizen and no money have you balancing on a razor's edge - hopefully you don't need to resolve a triple resource export crisis otherwise you're doomed on turn 2 with an aboriginal spear in your gut.

Talked about it with the regular host so this might hit the table soon, now that I'm all fresh up on the rules (10-ish months since last few games). I made a few mistakes in the early games, soon corrected that. The solo puzzles are fun enough, but group dynamics will have a more interesting impact I hope.

IMHO, the dual market system of this game (attached to citizen anger track!) is quietly as deep as a full stock market train euro or something.

The buzz is that this upcoming game is a combination of Archipelago and BSG. Anyone heard anything about it?

www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/new-angeles/products/new-angeles/

I love the android universe and the game sounds interesting enough but I absolutely dispise the coop winner (big/small winners / traitor mechanic) Frankly it doesn't work in our group where there are no small winners.

There should be ways to avoid losing without being the traitor/informant whatever. Because allowing one player to just make all the power moves while the rest tries to get the tracker down, or in my group everbody uses the power moves and the game is over before you can blink five times. I don't think cooperative style is a good thing for a megacorp game.

www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2116421/back-production

They're reprinting this crazy game.

I have mad respect for Boelinger, but I played this game one time. I don't want to play it a second time.

I really like this game. It's too bad nobody else I know does. Surprising it's being reprinted as I never thought it was very popular.

Someday Gary Sax and I will hang out playing all the great games you other jerks wont.