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Mycelia Board Game Review

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Outback Crossing Review

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What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

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22 Jul 2018 11:07 #278127 by Shellhead

san il defanso wrote:

Gary Sax wrote: Apropos of Eldritch, we played Arkham Horror for my wife's belated birthday Arkham. We drew Golub or whatever and it was a fun game, I've never fought him. I think it's a pretty good GOO. As always, the game delivered, with us winning on a nailbiting mythos pull and then gate seal roll. My wife fucking loves this game. I must admit I enjoy it too after all these years. My wife made some sarcastic derogatory comments about EH while we played when we all lost some health and later when she lost a turn. She considers it basically the lose a turn game.


It's been a while since I have played either Arkham Horror or Eldritch Horror, but I do recall that AH made characters "delayed" with some frequency. Isn't that a glorified "lose a turn" mechanic?


I love Arkham Horror, but delayed is definitely a threat. One time we were playing with the Kingsport expansion, and a player went to the old sailor's retirement home, to remove one of those rift tokens. Three turns in a row, he got delayed there while listening to old sailors telling tales. The first time was annoying, the second time was upsetting, and the third time made it hilarious.
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22 Jul 2018 16:25 #278151 by Disgustipater

Disgustipater wrote: That being said, I still don't know if I can justify getting 4th Ed. when I already have everything for 3rd. Maybe if I can sell my 3rd Ed. set for a decent price I would be okay with dropping $120 for the new box.


It just occurred to me that I may not have to buy it. The host of the game apparently plays every week or every other week, so I can potentially get a game in whenever I want. Granted, it wont be with my usual players, but everyone there seemed like decent people (it was my first time playing with this group). I'll have my copy if my regulars want a game, but not having to organize it is a plus.

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23 Jul 2018 18:01 #278214 by Michael Barnes
OMG Centipede is HOT GARBAGE. I do not remember the last time I played a game from a big publisher that felt so undercooked, badly designed, and just plain BAD. I played it like five times with my kids and then about as many times solo...looking for what the fuck is wrong with it...and it was like a laundry list of shit design choices. It’s he guy that did Dead of Winter of all things, and this feels like a slapped together contract job.

I’m not sure the “gnome” (always thought it was an archer) can win under the rules as written. The Centipede player does virtually nothing other than perform the automated move for the Centipede and occasionally spawn a flea (which is useless) or a Spider (which pretty much ends the game for the gnome). The big power move here is dropping a mushroom in front of the Centipede so it drops a level. And it’s weird that the gnome player is supposed to somehow actually represent someone playing the game based on the four special power cards (including “Slam the Ball”). There is a 4 player option, but it is actually almost unplayable. It does come with a SWEET embroidered patch but that is the only good thing about it.
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23 Jul 2018 20:09 #278218 by allismom3

Michael Barnes wrote: OMG Centipede is HOT GARBAGE. I do not remember the last time I played a game from a big publisher that felt so undercooked, badly designed, and just plain BAD. I played it like five times with my kids and then about as many times solo...looking for what the fuck is wrong with it...and it was like a laundry list of shit design choices. It’s he guy that did Dead of Winter of all things, and this feels like a slapped together contract job.

I’m not sure the “gnome” (always thought it was an archer) can win under the rules as written. The Centipede player does virtually nothing other than perform the automated move for the Centipede and occasionally spawn a flea (which is useless) or a Spider (which pretty much ends the game for the gnome). The big power move here is dropping a mushroom in front of the Centipede so it drops a level. And it’s weird that the gnome player is supposed to somehow actually represent someone playing the game based on the four special power cards (including “Slam the Ball”). There is a 4 player option, but it is actually almost unplayable. It does come with a SWEET embroidered patch but that is the only good thing about it.


Have you played the other Atari based game they did- Missile Command

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24 Jul 2018 02:14 #278235 by Michael Barnes
I have. It is markedly better and in fact it could be one of the best games ever made. But it isn’t. The gameplay concept is PERFECT. There is a three minute round of negotiation and buying warheads. You buy warheads of the color of the person you want to nuke, and everybody sees what you are buying. Everything is tradable/sellable in this stage.
So naturally everyone is rushing to arm while also working out alliances and coalitions. Then everybody secretly plots nukes on a targeting grid, and you can also block incoming missiles by plugging in warheads on those vectors. There are also interceptors and big nukes to worry about. Then there is a sloppy resolution phase and nuked cities get flipped over and provide the victim with some reparations in the form of greater income or a special ability. Once someone loses all of their cities, it’s over and points are counted.

It SHOULD be one of the best games ever. But it just isn’t. It’s clumsy, and the incentives to attack and ally are all screwed up. My son is nuts playing this, he will just dog one player into the ground to push it to an early end and he will win or come in second every time. The resolutions are awkward. The open market thing doesn’t really work.

It’s about 6 months of development and heavy revision away from greatness. I’m sure there are a host of house rules that would make it work better, but I’d rather play Cosmic at that point.
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24 Jul 2018 02:30 #278238 by Michael Barnes
Oh, in greener pastures, Renegade is great. It’s a new VPG title done by Ricky Royal so obviously it is geared toward solo play but it seats up to 5 if you really want to. It’s a Netrunner-ish setting with players hacking into supercomputers and whatnot, dealing with countermeasures and so forth.

It’s kind of a light deck building/whackamole/pick up and deliver thing. You play cards to generate icons in four suits that correspond to hacking actions. You play sets to install contaminants that have different functions while moving around servers. The opposition countermeasures are automatically generated and can do things like delete your contaminants, stop you from installing anything in a partition, or form up into Guardians or Firewalls.

It’s reay puzzle-y. Most of the game you are working out how to accomplish a particular goal with your cards, and you have just 15 plays to do so or you fail the stage. One of the coolest things is that the scenarios are kind of procedurally generated. So going up against one mainframe may have three different stages picked at random. This means all kinds of situational and objective variance over the course of the game, and with most games this means you have 45 plays to get through it and score it up. It kind of feels like one of those Magic or Hearthstone puzzles in a way.

All of that makes it ideal for solo, but I’m not so sure about multiplayer. I’m not really seeing a value in having other players concurrently doing the same things and working out separate but kinda sorta connected puzzles.

It’s also kind of a tough learning curve- the rules are overcomplicated by needless jargon and idiosyncratic terms. It makes the mistake of confusing terminology with “theme”- it’s really pretty abstract despite the TRON aestehtics.

It’s really very good though so far and I’m looking forward to more- it’s also quick to set up and play- very desirable for a solo game.

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24 Jul 2018 08:48 - 24 Jul 2018 08:51 #278254 by charlest

Michael Barnes wrote: I have. It is markedly better and in fact it could be one of the best games ever made. But it isn’t. The gameplay concept is PERFECT. There is a three minute round of negotiation and buying warheads. You buy warheads of the color of the person you want to nuke, and everybody sees what you are buying. Everything is tradable/sellable in this stage.
So naturally everyone is rushing to arm while also working out alliances and coalitions. Then everybody secretly plots nukes on a targeting grid, and you can also block incoming missiles by plugging in warheads on those vectors. There are also interceptors and big nukes to worry about. Then there is a sloppy resolution phase and nuked cities get flipped over and provide the victim with some reparations in the form of greater income or a special ability. Once someone loses all of their cities, it’s over and points are counted.

It SHOULD be one of the best games ever. But it just isn’t. It’s clumsy, and the incentives to attack and ally are all screwed up. My son is nuts playing this, he will just dog one player into the ground to push it to an early end and he will win or come in second every time. The resolutions are awkward. The open market thing doesn’t really work.

It’s about 6 months of development and heavy revision away from greatness. I’m sure there are a host of house rules that would make it work better, but I’d rather play Cosmic at that point.


At least I warned you Missile Command was flawed.

Those problems have felt less significant in my plays, as we tend to ally against whoever is winning (has the most VP chips). It's very hard to defend a concerted attack against you, and it reminds me of Cthulhu Wars penchant for wanting to be in 2nd place, as opposed to winning.

My big problem is with that messy resolution, but the rest of the game is a hell of a time for a 30 minute game. Maybe I'm more forgiving because it's so short and carefree.

I believe IDW does no development for any of its games, basically it's up to the designers to take care of everything. Someone like Jon Gilmour is busy working on 50 games as he does this full time now, which leads to situations like this.
Last edit: 24 Jul 2018 08:51 by charlest.
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24 Jul 2018 10:03 #278266 by Gary Sax
Played some roll for the galaxy last night. Still good but I don't need to play 5 games of it in a row anymore.

Set up 3rd ed Catacombs and added some expansion material, did some pen alterations to bring it up to date with the 2nd printing.
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24 Jul 2018 10:51 #278280 by Schweig!
I haven't done a lot board gaming in recent years, but a couple of games I did play were:

- Archipelago, of which I also bought a copy because it went out of print just recently. I've played it for the first time maybe 8 years ago and it really is a great game for an Euro, because it has a lot of interaction. The solo version works pretty well, too, because of the exploration element and the random events.

- Terraforming Mars, which I also liked as a Euro with a well-integrated theme.

- Sid Meier's Civilization: Good game, but not particularly noteworthy as an VP engine-building game.

- Star Wars: Imperial Assault. Great game! The only thing that I found to be a bit of a problem was balance, if the DM (Emperor?) and the Rebel players aren't on the same level.

- Scythe: I only found OK because it seemed too similar to games like Twilight Imperium.

That's all I remember right now...

What are some of the can't-miss games of the last 4 years?
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24 Jul 2018 12:44 #278294 by Gary Sax
You might be a bit shocked, a portion of this forum has gone completely bonkers for Games Workshop minis games. To be fair, Games Workshop is making much better, less cynical games now too.

I think you might like Sidereal Confluence.
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24 Jul 2018 12:56 - 24 Jul 2018 12:57 #278299 by Michael Barnes
You’ve missed a lot of bullshit Kickstarter games, that’s for sure.

But also a couple of great ones- Cthulhu Wars and Gloomhaven both rate among the best games of the past several years. Dungeon Degenerates if you like the lowbrow art style.

Lots of really good Euro stuff, family games...Kingdomino, Azul, Quest for El Dorado, Ethnos, Bunny Kingdom.

Terraforming Mars is the most significant medium/heavy Euro of the decade. But you already listed that.

Pete C. Ruth II (“who invades my home at this early hour?”) and Mark Thomas (Hotseatgames) did a really great dexterity game, Seal Team Flix. But it is a man shooting game.

Gaslands has taken the tabletop word by storm. It’s the best vehicle minis game and the best race game I’ve ever played. Played with Hot Wheels.

Oh, and yes, Games Workshop. They’ve put out a ton of great stuff including board games. Shadespire and Gorechosen in particular. They kind of are in a new golden age.
Last edit: 24 Jul 2018 12:57 by Michael Barnes.
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24 Jul 2018 13:15 #278304 by Schweig!
Thanks for the recommendations.

I forgot about Ethnos... I've played it and that's a game I really enjoyed. I've once lost a game because I decided to wait another turn to play a 6-unit halfling combo instead of a 5-unit one, but then the player directly in front of me drew the third dragon. Good times.

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24 Jul 2018 13:21 #278306 by Josh Look
More Quest For El Dorado. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck is that game fun. Especially with 2. Hell, it’s probably best.
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24 Jul 2018 14:06 #278312 by Colorcrayons

Schweig! wrote: What are some of the can't-miss games of the last 4 years?


In regards to gary's comment above about GW, if you like ameritrash, you NEED a copy of Gorechosen. It's back to their roots but in a good way. They haven't produced a better game since Space Hulk.

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24 Jul 2018 14:43 #278316 by SuperflyPete

Josh Look wrote: More Quest For El Dorado. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck is that game fun. Especially with 2. Hell, it’s probably best.


You sold me.

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