While the iOS Carcassonne is really good, it is not the optimal way to play the game. I have a feeling that in his hatred of Board Games he just didn't bother to try the physical versions.
Yeah, but you try telling him that. This is a man who can't even achieve the lowest standard of intelligent argument see on this forum. I remember during the raw milk article thing, his entire arguments were amounting to "OH YEAH? WELL THIS EXPLICITLY BIASED BLOG I FOUND HERE SAY'S YOU'RE WRONG SO THERE" and eventually just taking his ball and going home.
My brother went and bought Mansions of Madness for $70. I was feeling skeptical during the hour that it took for him to set it up, and for the twenty minutes it took for him to figure out how to play. Then we played until 3 AM. This is a pretty cool game.
My brother went and bought Mansions of Madness for $70. I was feeling skeptical during the hour that it took for him to set it up, and for the twenty minutes it took for him to figure out how to play. Then we played until 3 AM. This is a pretty cool game.
Yeah it is not a perfect game by any stretch of the means, but I was a fan of Descent, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Arkham Horror. You can pretty much buy Mansions of Madness and sell all three of those games.
My brother went and bought Mansions of Madness for $70. I was feeling skeptical during the hour that it took for him to set it up, and for the twenty minutes it took for him to figure out how to play. Then we played until 3 AM. This is a pretty cool game.
Yeah it is not a perfect game by any stretch of the means, but I was a fan of Descent, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Arkham Horror. You can pretty much buy Mansions of Madness and sell all three of those games.
I'm not really a fan of this genre of game. Why do you people like them? Fury of Dracula is probably the best of the bunch, and it is seriously flawed. Only Dracula's hidden movement is awesome.
I'm not really a fan of this genre of game. Why do you people like them? Fury of Dracula is probably the best of the bunch, and it is seriously flawed. Only Dracula's hidden movement is awesome.
For me it's not necessarily the genre, but with Betrayal on the House on the Hill, you and the other people playing are exploring the house by placing tiles that go on certain parts of the house. It's like Carcassonne, you build as you go having it be different everytime. Certain rooms have certain icons that cause certain events to happen. If a specific die roll happens in a room with whatever card is played, the Betrayal happens. That's when the person who rolled the dice ends up being the Betrayer and the others have to work against him. When this happens, by looking up the type of "omen" and room (iirc), you look at the story in the booklet and go from there. Both sides have objectives now and you have to work towards that objective to win the game.
I the element of surprise of the game because you don't know what's going to happen until the Betrayal happens.
As for Mansions of Madness, I thought it was fun. It does take time for set up, but picking your job/abilities and using them in the game is fun. Also the puzzles were quite enjoyable. The lore was alright. I really like how you really need to pay attention to the story/plot that's explained in the beginning because it does end up being important later in the game. (Damn grates and animals. HAX!)
Descent takes too long to play. I did enjoy it the one time I played it and that's it. Jeremy bought it, but I always choose not to play. I've never played Arkham Horror, so I really don't know.
I remember you once said that you wanted an exploration-based RPG again. That BW didn't do that so well. Y'know, searching a dungeon, testing things with 10-foot poles, and so on.
This game sort of evokes that.
Also, MoM has physical puzzles, which is a pretty neat addition, I think.
Sort of, but it doesn't have the free-form creativity you get with a tabletop RPG. I want to think up clever solutions combining magic, items, and magic items.
Also, MoM has physical puzzles, which is a pretty neat addition, I think.
I saw those, and was very intrigued. I wonder how those work after you replay the game many times. I imagine it will be much like a point and click adventure where you know all the puzzles and solve them instantly.
I saw those, and was very intrigued. I wonder how those work after you replay the game many times. I imagine it will be much like a point and click adventure where you know all the puzzles and solve them instantly.
The puzzles are randomized every time you need to solve one. You would have to play many, many games to see "all" of the possible starting combinations, but even then it will be different as swapping out pieces from the deck is random as well. You will never get the exact same puzzle.
The puzzles are randomized every time you need to solve one. You would have to play many, many games to see "all" of the possible starting combinations, but even then it will be different as swapping out pieces from the deck is random as well. You will never get the exact same puzzle.
True, but it's still the same kind of puzzle. It's like Professor Layton. Once you get good at doing one sliding block puzzle, you can do them all.
True, but it's still the same kind of puzzle. It's like Professor Layton. Once you get good at doing one sliding block puzzle, you can do them all.
Sure, but you only get a certain amount of turns depending on which character you pick so the difficult is variable. Also, unlike Layton, the puzzles are only one component of the game. There is enough content with the clues, combat, and insanity/trauma cards that it will keep you interested.
True, but it's still the same kind of puzzle. It's like Professor Layton. Once you get good at doing one sliding block puzzle, you can do them all.
As Andrew pointed out, there can be extenuating circumstances outside of the puzzle that alter the challenge. So even if the puzzle "type" doesn't change, the actual solving is made more complicated by events.
I remember you once said that you wanted an exploration-based RPG again. That BW didn't do that so well. Y'know, searching a dungeon, testing things with 10-foot poles, and so on.
Fuck, there is a game that does that really well, almost specializes in it if you want to run that way, but damned if I can remember the name. Somewhat popular, if I recall.
I remember you once said that you wanted an exploration-based RPG again. That BW didn't do that so well. Y'know, searching a dungeon, testing things with 10-foot poles, and so on.
Fuck, there is a game that does that really well, almost specializes in it if you want to run that way, but damned if I can remember the name. Somewhat popular, if I recall.
Yeah, but that game also has a bunch of other useless crap in it. You end up poking things with ten foot poles for about a minute, and then repeatedly and mindlessly stabbing monsters for three hours. I'm looking for three hours of constant ten foot pole pokage.
Fuck no. But AD&D;, and maybe some 3rd ed if you massage it a little, Hell yeah, hand me a 10 foot pole and let's rock.
Yeah, but that game also has a bunch of other useless crap in it. You end up poking things with ten foot poles for about a minute, and then repeatedly and mindlessly stabbing monsters for three hours. I'm looking for three hours of constant ten foot pole pokage.
Then run the game like that. It's entirely up to you - no rule mandates that you must put monsters all through your dungeon. Cripes, For an intelligent bloke, you really do act stupid sometimes.
Edit - That sounds kinda cold, derived of any vocal tone. That is actually intended as a mildly fond insult, and not terribly serious. Bastard here, but not that type of bastard.
Actually, yeah, 2nd ed was pretty good for that too. It harkened back sufficiently to Dungeons and Dragons.
I'm probably just going back to my roots a bit - the majority of dungeon delves I've played or seen played used AD&D;, so it's the system with the most memories of that for me. Absurdly complex traps, sprawling dungeons, Xanatos speed chess with NPCS and intelligent monsters, clever puzzles, someone stop me before I break into song.
Actually, I really want to play Descent. I wonder if that will really scratch my dungeon-delving itch.
I honestly wonder if someone has made an explicitly trap-and-puzzle dungeon delve system that's worth a damn.
My brother went and bought Mansions of Madness for $70. I was feeling skeptical during the hour that it took for him to set it up, and for the twenty minutes it took for him to figure out how to play. Then we played until 3 AM. This is a pretty cool game.
Yeah it is not a perfect game by any stretch of the means, but I was a fan of Descent, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Arkham Horror. You can pretty much buy Mansions of Madness and sell all three of those games.
I'm not really a fan of this genre of game. Why do you people like them? Fury of Dracula is probably the best of the bunch, and it is seriously flawed. Only Dracula's hidden movement is awesome.
I could play wooden block eurogames until the sun comes up, don't get me wrong, but I feel that there is a time and a place for these games (funny enough often referred to as ameritrash). I prefer games of skill, but these hack and slash dungeon crawler games are just a casual activity that I can enjoy with a wide range of friends.
There's the key word, activity. They may not fit into your definition of a test of skill or a series of interesting decisions. They sure aren't a test of skill, and while there are decisions, they're about on par with a choose your own adventure novel, yet we still have fun. Perhaps it's scratching some role playing itch here? I'll be honest, I've never really played an RPG. I'd love to play a Burning Wheel or Freemarket or something, but I just haven't had the right opportunity to jump in a game.
The variety of players is a big factor as well. These are very casual games. Even my wife and her friends will ask to play Betrayal at House on the Hill.
I wish I could better explain why it is enjoyable. It's easy to look at a game like this and call it a time waster, but I see it as more of a relaxation activity. They are the games in my closet for nights when we want to have a few beers and not engage in a battle of wits versus each other. I've actually heard people refer to them as the "beer and pretzels" genre. Like I said, there's just a time and a place for them.
Why? Because it's a hack-n-slash dungeon crawl? I know you don't like that, but I sure do.
It's too abstracted to be fun. Fucking Heroquest is more visceral.
I'll agree with Rym here. There's really not a lot of theme that goes along with Descent. I have a lot of other problems with it, which is part of why it never makes it to the table anymore, but this is definitely a valid criticism.
Funny to see Heroquest mentioned here. Maybe some repressed childhood memory is causing me to enjoy these games! I got Heroquest at age 7 and nobody would ever play with me.
I'd throw Last Night on Earth into this conversation as well. I've never seen such a mediocre game so universally recommended. The only reason I play it as often as I do if because I love the minis and wound up spending a weekend painting the whole set. It is dripping with theme. Real photography for card art. A god damn CD soundtrack. The game itself is just kinda lame. The expansions correct most of the balance issues but I always look down on games that need a second purchase to fix what you already paid for.
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I the element of surprise of the game because you don't know what's going to happen until the Betrayal happens.
As for Mansions of Madness, I thought it was fun. It does take time for set up, but picking your job/abilities and using them in the game is fun. Also the puzzles were quite enjoyable. The lore was alright. I really like how you really need to pay attention to the story/plot that's explained in the beginning because it does end up being important later in the game. (Damn grates and animals. HAX!)
Descent takes too long to play. I did enjoy it the one time I played it and that's it. Jeremy bought it, but I always choose not to play. I've never played Arkham Horror, so I really don't know.
This game sort of evokes that.
Also, MoM has physical puzzles, which is a pretty neat addition, I think.
Actually, the original red box is pretty much still the best exploration-based RPG that I know of. And I know my RPG's.
Edit - That sounds kinda cold, derived of any vocal tone. That is actually intended as a mildly fond insult, and not terribly serious. Bastard here, but not that type of bastard.
Actually, I really want to play Descent. I wonder if that will really scratch my dungeon-delving itch. Indiana Jones did not run from every fight. Not even close.
There's the key word, activity. They may not fit into your definition of a test of skill or a series of interesting decisions. They sure aren't a test of skill, and while there are decisions, they're about on par with a choose your own adventure novel, yet we still have fun. Perhaps it's scratching some role playing itch here? I'll be honest, I've never really played an RPG. I'd love to play a Burning Wheel or Freemarket or something, but I just haven't had the right opportunity to jump in a game.
The variety of players is a big factor as well. These are very casual games. Even my wife and her friends will ask to play Betrayal at House on the Hill.
I wish I could better explain why it is enjoyable. It's easy to look at a game like this and call it a time waster, but I see it as more of a relaxation activity. They are the games in my closet for nights when we want to have a few beers and not engage in a battle of wits versus each other. I've actually heard people refer to them as the "beer and pretzels" genre. Like I said, there's just a time and a place for them.
Funny to see Heroquest mentioned here. Maybe some repressed childhood memory is causing me to enjoy these games! I got Heroquest at age 7 and nobody would ever play with me.
I'd throw Last Night on Earth into this conversation as well. I've never seen such a mediocre game so universally recommended. The only reason I play it as often as I do if because I love the minis and wound up spending a weekend painting the whole set. It is dripping with theme. Real photography for card art. A god damn CD soundtrack. The game itself is just kinda lame. The expansions correct most of the balance issues but I always look down on games that need a second purchase to fix what you already paid for.