Hawaii - Like pence said, it's quite fun! I played it in person today with my group and they also enjoyed it. So many cute pieces!
Lost Valley - A fun area movement/tile placement game that has more rules to teach than Hawaii does, surprisingly enough. My only real problem with the game is the amount of bits you have to separate and keep track of, but that might be solved with some really useful boxes.
Bomb Squad Academy - A fun, light push your luck game with simultaneous card selection. I sort of picked this one up on a whim, but I'm glad I bought it.
Pandemic Legacy (September) - I knew it. I fucking knew it.
Been playing more and more of Dimension. Interesting little abstract about stacking colored spheres, while racing a clock, and following a complex set of rules (the rules change every round). I've definitely turned the corner on this one and am putting up some great scores. I'm sure I will get bored of this at some point, but before that, I'd love to see a tournament pop up at a convention.
This is due to the fact that the things that make the Monaco GP the most exciting are not accounted for in Formula D. It doesn't matter that you're in a tunnel. Elevation changes don't matter. The very narrow streets of Monaco don't matter. The Formula D map is just three lanes all the way around. The hotels, yachts, and other scenery right near the track have no effect. The Prince of Monaco isn't going to come give you a trophy if you win the board game.
The Singapore GP is only half as old as the Monaco GP. The track design is much more modern, and those other factors that make Monaco exciting play less of a part.
If they just added elevation, and didn't make the track always be 3 lanes, the Monaco map would be insane.
If they want to make an expansion that adds elevation rules, it should come with a Laguna Seca map. Dat Corkscrew. Yes, I know that track will pretty much never be suitable for an F1 race, but who cares?
I'm invested in the idea of taking the core mechanics of Formula D and making a Mario Kart board game.
A Mario Kart based on Formula D would be really cool. I know there are a couple "car combat" board games out there, but the only one I've played was Rush 'N Crush, which I didn't like.
I don't know if I'll ever do this, but I'd love to play Formula D as a team campaign game where you have racing teams and assign points based on where you finish in the race and have a whole racing season, not just a single track.
I'm invested in the idea of taking the core mechanics of Formula D and making a Mario Kart board game.
A Mario Kart based on Formula D would be really cool. I know there are a couple "car combat" board games out there, but the only one I've played was Rush 'N Crush, which I didn't like.
I don't know if I'll ever do this, but I'd love to play Formula D as a team campaign game where you have racing teams and assign points based on where you finish in the race and have a whole racing season, not just a single track.
I would like to do this also, but like most epic game things you need a lot of dedicated people in the same place at the same time for a long period of time. And many other awesome things would end up being sacrificed.
Let's just play 504, and mix Race + Military + ??? in various combinations until we find something good.
Exploring seemed the most interesting. Although the one with the trolley presented new options.
One game that would be interesting is to recreate Imperial 2030 Shares+Military+Territory Control/Majorities.
One thing about 504 is there are 9 different systems applied 3 different ways. Once you have a handle on how the nine systems work, the rest is just putting together Legos.
There's a certain fun in the randomness, but it can make certain options extraneous. The "Race" aspect didn't mesh well with the "Connections" aspect.
There's a certain fun in the randomness, but it can make certain options extraneous. The "Race" aspect didn't mesh well with the "Connections" aspect.
If Connections and Race were transposed, I think the game we played would have been more interesting. VP for creating a road network, bonus VPs for connecting certain tiles first, and you have the same ability to attack one another.
Inhabit the Earth (new to me) - It is an interesting game, and I like Juliet Breese's art. Most importantly, it offers an opportunity to explain how your chimpanzees are apt swimmers because of their repressed genetic memories.
Food Chain Magnate - Lesson of the week: you cannot surprise force an opponent out of their market when you are earlier than them in turn order. I’ve been continuing to enjoy FCM more with each play - it is now my favorite game released in 2015.
SteamRollers (new to me) - A 3p game where one of the players had to step out early. It seems like a game that would benefit from competition from more players, so I’d like to play again with more than two.
X-Wing Miniatures Game (new to me) - Perhaps the best new game I played this week, and one I'd be happy to play more. But... I have no desire to keep up with a lifestyle game that isn't Netrunner. C'est la vie.
Art of War the card game - It's been a month since the first play. This time, we interpreted the (poorly-translated) rules differently, and the game felt better for it. I never heard back from the designers on BGG, so those are my official rules for now.
Outside of bibilos dice I played both the UK and PA expansions to TTR. That expansion surpasses all previous iterations of TTR and if you mastered basic TTR, its a must own.
After playing the new 7 Wonders Duel a couple of times, I surprised myself by telling a friend that I think I like it better than 7 Wonders. I really like how they handle military and science in the new two player version, love how they handle the card drafting, and overall, I just think it's a better game.
After playing the new 7 Wonders Duel a couple of times, I surprised myself by telling a friend that I think I like it better than 7 Wonders. I really like how they handle military and science in the new two player version, love how they handle the card drafting, and overall, I just think it's a better game.
I got this for my wife for Christmas since 7 Wonders is her favorite board game. Looking forward to seeing how much we like it.
After playing the new 7 Wonders Duel a couple of times, I surprised myself by telling a friend that I think I like it better than 7 Wonders. I really like how they handle military and science in the new two player version, love how they handle the card drafting, and overall, I just think it's a better game.
I got this for my wife for Christmas since 7 Wonders is her favorite board game. Looking forward to seeing how much we like it.
If you and your wife like 7 Wonders, and want a two player game, I think you're both going to like Duel a lot. I actually wish they could implement some of the changes in Duel back into 7 Wonders so you could play it with more than just two players.
After playing the new 7 Wonders Duel a couple of times, I surprised myself by telling a friend that I think I like it better than 7 Wonders. I really like how they handle military and science in the new two player version, love how they handle the card drafting, and overall, I just think it's a better game.
I got this for my wife for Christmas since 7 Wonders is her favorite board game. Looking forward to seeing how much we like it.
If you and your wife like 7 Wonders, and want a two player game, I think you're both going to like Duel a lot. I actually wish they could implement some of the changes in Duel back into 7 Wonders so you could play it with more than just two players.
I didn't get to play this at PAX Aus as we were almost always playing with a large group of people. What additions would you put in the original (including the add ons)?
Changes in Duel I'd like them to reverse-incorporate (is that a word?) back into 7 Wonders:
1. Military - I'm not sure how you would implement this in a 3+ player game, but in Duel, when you build military, instead of it counting in some abstract "battle" at the end of every age where you're awarded victory points, there's a military track with a plastic token in the middle. At one end is your capital and at the other end is the other player's capital. At the start of the game, the military token starts in the middle between the two capitals and there are spaces leading to each capital. For every military you build, you move the token closer to your opponent's capital. If you get the token all the way to the end of the track, reaching your opponent's capital, you win and the game ends right then.
2. Science - Instead of science as a form of set collection counting as points, in Duel, there are seven different types of science. If you manage to collect all seven, you automatically win the game. That's it. Science cards also give you victory points at the end of the game, but they don't chain or anything like that like in the original 7 Wonders. Also, if you ever get two science cards of the same type, you get a bonus token that's worth victory points and can give you a special ability or another way to earn VP at the end of the game.
3. Drafting - Unlike 7 Wonders where you have a hand of cards and you pass them around taking one and passing the rest, in Duel, the cards are laid out in a pattern, depending on what age it is. The rows alternate with one row being face up so you can see what the cards are, and the next row being face down so you can't see what the cards are until you flip them over. Each row overlaps the row behind it. When drafting cards, you can only claim a card that isn't covered by any other cards. When you do draft a card, when you take it, if it fully uncovers a card in the next row, if that card is face down, it flips face up, and regardless of whether it's face down or face up, it can now be drafted. This makes drafting in Duel much more strategic than 7 Wonders because you're not only thinking about which cards you want to draft, you also have to think about the cards you may be freeing up and revealing for the other person by drafting a card. Very often, I, or my opponent, would purposely not draft a specific card, which would force the other player to draft it, which would reveal and free up other cards underneath it. I have no idea if I'm explaining this coherently or not. If you don't understand, check out the rules for Duel.
4. Resources - In Duel, you draft resource cards just like in 7 Wonders, but you aren't limited to just the resources you have. At any time, you can pay 2 gold to use any one resource you want, plus additional expenses if your opponent has that resource. This money is paid to the bank, not to the other player. For example: I'm trying to build Card X and it requires two wood, one brick, and two stone. I have the two wood, but I don't have any brick or stone. I can pay the bank 2 gold for every missing resource (the brick and two stone) and pay 6 gold (2 gold x 3 missing resources) to build Card X. However, if the other player has that resource, I have to pay extra. For every resource card of that type my opponent has, I have to pay 1 gold extra. So for example if my opponent has two stone cards I need to pay 4 gold for every stone I need (2 gold per stone as the base cost and 1 gold (x2) for every stone card my opponent has).
That almost sounds like a different game, a good game but hard to change for a 7+ player game.
Yeah, it would be hard trying to incorporate those changes back into 7 Wonders.
I hate playing 7 Wonders with more than 4-5 players, so trying to fit the changes into a 7+ player game doesn't appeal to me at all. Taking Duel and turning it into a 4 player game would be great though.
Oh shit, this is such good fun! We played four games in a row. The first we went in cold, as nobody had played it before, and we messed up a rule pretty badly (hint: English and German rules are different!). It was all sorted for the next three plays. It's too hard to keep track of all the moves of all the players in the scheming phase (for me), so I'd just lock on to one player, and fucking hunt them down! That won me the last two games pretty handily.
It plays up to 6 players and is good? that's one to put on the list. We have 6 players in our group (although it is mainly a roleplay group) so are always on the look out for decent 6 player games.
It scales pretty well, since you add one car to the train for each player. In fact, a longer train makes things more interesting due to the distance you can travel on top of the cars.
Comments
Lost Valley - A fun area movement/tile placement game that has more rules to teach than Hawaii does, surprisingly enough. My only real problem with the game is the amount of bits you have to separate and keep track of, but that might be solved with some really useful boxes.
Bomb Squad Academy - A fun, light push your luck game with simultaneous card selection. I sort of picked this one up on a whim, but I'm glad I bought it.
Pandemic Legacy (September) - I knew it. I fucking knew it.
That board is way better than the default one.
The Singapore GP is only half as old as the Monaco GP. The track design is much more modern, and those other factors that make Monaco exciting play less of a part.
If they just added elevation, and didn't make the track always be 3 lanes, the Monaco map would be insane.
If they want to make an expansion that adds elevation rules, it should come with a Laguna Seca map. Dat Corkscrew. Yes, I know that track will pretty much never be suitable for an F1 race, but who cares?
I don't know if I'll ever do this, but I'd love to play Formula D as a team campaign game where you have racing teams and assign points based on where you finish in the race and have a whole racing season, not just a single track.
There are only so many hours in the day.
One game that would be interesting is to recreate Imperial 2030 Shares+Military+Territory Control/Majorities.
One thing about 504 is there are 9 different systems applied 3 different ways. Once you have a handle on how the nine systems work, the rest is just putting together Legos.
There's a certain fun in the randomness, but it can make certain options extraneous. The "Race" aspect didn't mesh well with the "Connections" aspect.
Biblios Dice (new to me) - Frivolous dice.
Inhabit the Earth (new to me) - It is an interesting game, and I like Juliet Breese's art. Most importantly, it offers an opportunity to explain how your chimpanzees are apt swimmers because of their repressed genetic memories.
Food Chain Magnate - Lesson of the week: you cannot surprise force an opponent out of their market when you are earlier than them in turn order. I’ve been continuing to enjoy FCM more with each play - it is now my favorite game released in 2015.
SteamRollers (new to me) - A 3p game where one of the players had to step out early. It seems like a game that would benefit from competition from more players, so I’d like to play again with more than two.
X-Wing Miniatures Game (new to me) - Perhaps the best new game I played this week, and one I'd be happy to play more. But... I have no desire to keep up with a lifestyle game that isn't Netrunner. C'est la vie.
Art of War the card game - It's been a month since the first play. This time, we interpreted the (poorly-translated) rules differently, and the game felt better for it. I never heard back from the designers on BGG, so those are my official rules for now.
1. Military - I'm not sure how you would implement this in a 3+ player game, but in Duel, when you build military, instead of it counting in some abstract "battle" at the end of every age where you're awarded victory points, there's a military track with a plastic token in the middle. At one end is your capital and at the other end is the other player's capital. At the start of the game, the military token starts in the middle between the two capitals and there are spaces leading to each capital. For every military you build, you move the token closer to your opponent's capital. If you get the token all the way to the end of the track, reaching your opponent's capital, you win and the game ends right then.
2. Science - Instead of science as a form of set collection counting as points, in Duel, there are seven different types of science. If you manage to collect all seven, you automatically win the game. That's it. Science cards also give you victory points at the end of the game, but they don't chain or anything like that like in the original 7 Wonders. Also, if you ever get two science cards of the same type, you get a bonus token that's worth victory points and can give you a special ability or another way to earn VP at the end of the game.
3. Drafting - Unlike 7 Wonders where you have a hand of cards and you pass them around taking one and passing the rest, in Duel, the cards are laid out in a pattern, depending on what age it is. The rows alternate with one row being face up so you can see what the cards are, and the next row being face down so you can't see what the cards are until you flip them over. Each row overlaps the row behind it. When drafting cards, you can only claim a card that isn't covered by any other cards. When you do draft a card, when you take it, if it fully uncovers a card in the next row, if that card is face down, it flips face up, and regardless of whether it's face down or face up, it can now be drafted. This makes drafting in Duel much more strategic than 7 Wonders because you're not only thinking about which cards you want to draft, you also have to think about the cards you may be freeing up and revealing for the other person by drafting a card. Very often, I, or my opponent, would purposely not draft a specific card, which would force the other player to draft it, which would reveal and free up other cards underneath it. I have no idea if I'm explaining this coherently or not. If you don't understand, check out the rules for Duel.
4. Resources - In Duel, you draft resource cards just like in 7 Wonders, but you aren't limited to just the resources you have. At any time, you can pay 2 gold to use any one resource you want, plus additional expenses if your opponent has that resource. This money is paid to the bank, not to the other player. For example: I'm trying to build Card X and it requires two wood, one brick, and two stone. I have the two wood, but I don't have any brick or stone. I can pay the bank 2 gold for every missing resource (the brick and two stone) and pay 6 gold (2 gold x 3 missing resources) to build Card X. However, if the other player has that resource, I have to pay extra. For every resource card of that type my opponent has, I have to pay 1 gold extra. So for example if my opponent has two stone cards I need to pay 4 gold for every stone I need (2 gold per stone as the base cost and 1 gold (x2) for every stone card my opponent has).
Hope that helps.
I hate playing 7 Wonders with more than 4-5 players, so trying to fit the changes into a 7+ player game doesn't appeal to me at all. Taking Duel and turning it into a 4 player game would be great though.
Oh shit, this is such good fun! We played four games in a row. The first we went in cold, as nobody had played it before, and we messed up a rule pretty badly (hint: English and German rules are different!). It was all sorted for the next three plays. It's too hard to keep track of all the moves of all the players in the scheming phase (for me), so I'd just lock on to one player, and fucking hunt them down! That won me the last two games pretty handily.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/158899/colt-express
Normally after playing a game four times I'm pretty much done, but I really want to try out the other characters, to see how they play differently.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that it's a good game, because it's the 2015 Spiel des Jahres Winner.