In a similar vein, I'm a fan of awkward portraits and illustrations played straight in board games, like the cards in Res Publica or Saint Petersburg... I suspect it's an affinity for classic MtG art, before they had a house style and you'd see Foglio illustrations on Magic cards.
That's what they did for "Heroes of Metro City", they hired a bunch of different artists who were willing to contribute to the project if the funding hit certain goals. Sentinels always reminds me of Paul Dini's style
Did Anthony finally get Tuscany and will he bring it with him?
It's just that the artist is really bad at drawing. They've definitely improved from their earlier days, so I give them credit for that. That being said, their newest art is somewhere in the quality range of the earliest Penny Arcade comics. With all that sweet Kickstarter cash, shouldn't they be able to hire a better artist?
I have to imagine it's for the same reason Jerry doesn't fire Mike from Penny Arcade and hire a better artist.
When Mike wasn't so good, PA had no moneys. By the time they had plenty of moneys, Mike was at least 100x better than SotM artist.
SotM doesn't line up. They have money already, but still have the bad arts.
Being a superhero themed thing, it should be so easy to find artists. Anyone at the comic-con doing Spider-Man fan arts will do better than what they have now.
The only Catan I want to play is Starfarers. I own it, but it's too big to take to MAGFest. If someone wants to stop at my apartment on the way there, you are free to load it into your car. I've also been considering donating it to a convention library, perhaps PAX or CTCon.
I'd potentially be up for one game of Cities and Knights, because I've only actually played it a few times.
I have yet to play a game where someone didn't immediately get razed by barbarians. Is there anything actually there, because it doesn't seem like a good game? (I own it, played maybe five times.)
So it looks like Fantasy Flight just announced a Euro-style board game in the Android universe, called Android: Mainframe. It looks interesting, though I'm not entirely sure if it'll be any good.
So it looks like Fantasy Flight just announced a Euro-style board game in the Android universe, called Android: Mainframe. It looks interesting, though I'm not entirely sure if it'll be any good.
The styling looks good, even though much of the art is reused. The people who made that game have made a few other games that I've never seen before, and know nothing about.
I would be up for one game of Settlers just to remind myself that I can play it perfectly.
Never played Cities and Knights, but I'm not sure I want to... I played a single game of Catan last year where all the normal Catan things happened... stealing someone's spot with a Road Building card, rolling a disproportionately low number of 6s, taking someone's brick with the robber and then offering to trade it back to them. No one took too long to make a trade, and no one refused to trade (at least until there were 7-8 points showing). It was pretty much the ideal Catan, and I don't know if you could add anything to that game without taking something away.
(Man there are a lot of sci-fi Catans... Starfarers, Star Trek, the two-player Starship that isn't-really-Catan)
The only Catan I want to play is Starfarers. I own it, but it's too big to take to MAGFest. If someone wants to stop at my apartment on the way there, you are free to load it into your car. I've also been considering donating it to a convention library, perhaps PAX or CTCon.
Would be glad to tag and add a copy of Starfarers to the TT library. Always room for classic games. I proudly rescued a copy of Lowenherz from the cull pile post-South.
Would be glad to tag and add a copy of Starfarers to the TT library. Always room for classic games. I proudly rescued a copy of Lowenherz from the cull pile post-South.
I didn't even see Lowenherz on the table at South, which I thought would have jumped out at me (I really enjoy it, and you don't see it around very often)
It actually hasn't been in the library for a year. We were carrying some bins of stuff to donate out of the library, since the tables were way jam packed with the bins we already had out there. The excess had just been following us from PAX to PAX, though. I made sure it got taken care of this time around, but there were 3 games that I added back into the library. Lowenherz, Villa Paletti, and something else I can't remember (but it was good). I question the judgement of whoever kicked those games out of the library.
We did a kickass job of soliciting new games the past few months, so those former bins of excess have all been filled up with stuff that just came in. We'll be expanding the table layout at East to accommodate several more bins of games going out into the library.
In person is best. Be professional and approach them as a representative for a specific convention. See if you can weasel your way into Toy Fair this weekend.
When I arrived on Friday, two people I rarely see at the store had independantly brought copies of Hero Quest and Dragon Strike. No word on whether the VHS tape that comes with Dragon Strike is still intact. My collection should be stabilizing again, now that Anthony (and his own board game collection) has moved in, and we've nearly finalized the storage situation.
Collection Played in 2016: 18%. 115 games to go. Added this week: Frank's Zoo, Space Beans. Trade pile: Tales of the Arabian Nights
Mottainai - Holding up to repeated two player games very well. This is a smoother design than Glory to Rome - I like the way you no longer discard to use actions (missing a Patron in GtR often feels terrible) and the timing of cards entering the floor/pool (you are always guaranteed your last action at the start of your turn)
The Institute for Magical Arts (new to me) - The second Steve Finn design I've played after Biblios Dice, neither of which appeals to me. You spend a lot of time undoing your opponent's progress in small increments, while making incremental progress yourself.
Thebes - I've only played Thebes four times, which surprises me. I got another friend hooked on it this week, so maybe that will drive some more plays.
Glass Road - Two plays after picking up my own copy (I played this several times in 2014). Anthony and I discovered that it makes a particularly apt two player game - selecting your hand becomes a very thoughtful process with only one opponent.
Super Motherload (new to me) - Anthony showed me a deckbuilding game that I enjoyed quite a bit, though it's not really a deckbuilding game in the sense anyone would think of. Motherload couldn't exist without Dominion, but it really reminds me (this is an oddball comparison) of Goa. You compete for the resources displayed on the central board, limit your opponents' opportunities, work your way down different upgrade tracks, and select from a menu of actions to suit your position. Great theme, too.
I'm curious about something: What's the absolute maximum level of complexity that you'd tolerate in a game before you'd rather play any other game but this one? What game required the most full playthroughs before you had a good understanding of the "flow" of the game?
I had a conversation about designing a game last week, and I was trying to explain the need for a certain amount of accessibility in game design. Even going so far to adding or allowing scale-able complexity. That's sort of what brought these questions on.
Battletech, I'd say. But I have a high tolerance for rolling dice and looking things up on tables. I don't classify it as a "wargame" in the conventional sense.
Obviously, your typical wargame is full of complicated nonsense. I enjoy complicated nonsense, so I'm willing to put up with a lot.
Battletech, I'd say. But I have a high tolerance for rolling dice and looking things up on tables. I don't classify it as a "wargame" in the conventional sense.
Obviously, your typical wargame is full of complicated nonsense. I enjoy complicated nonsense, so I'm willing to put up with a lot.
Both Battletech and Warhammer are fairly straight-forward though. "Move your guy, Shoot your guy"
I'm thinking more along the lines of Chess and while someone explains the game they leave out the fact (or gets lost in the explanation) that the Knight can jump over pieces. It's a relatively tiny fact to absorb, but changes your strategy when you know about it, also not knowing it completely blindsides you.
BTW there's a new Eclipse expansion out, anyone want to try it at MAG?
What game required the most full playthroughs before you had a good understanding of the "flow" of the game?
One full game: Mottainai, Brass, Mage Knight 2+ games: Netrunner, Race for the Galaxy, Tigris & Euphrates
Still surprised every game: Food Chain Magnate
Special recognition: 504
Edit: It also took me a few plays to realize how effective praying for food is in Tzolk'in, how good the 1 earth tile is in Terra Mystica, and why the craftsman is dangerous in Puerto Rico.
Battletech, I'd say. But I have a high tolerance for rolling dice and looking things up on tables. I don't classify it as a "wargame" in the conventional sense.
Obviously, your typical wargame is full of complicated nonsense. I enjoy complicated nonsense, so I'm willing to put up with a lot.
Comments
Did Anthony finally get Tuscany and will he bring it with him?
SotM doesn't line up. They have money already, but still have the bad arts.
Being a superhero themed thing, it should be so easy to find artists. Anyone at the comic-con doing Spider-Man fan arts will do better than what they have now.
I'd potentially be up for one game of Cities and Knights, because I've only actually played it a few times.
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/2/9/android-mainframe/
https://slack-redir.net/link?url=http://www.esparrajocs.blogspot.com/p/juegos-publicados.html
Based on the FFG site it appears the game is just a more complex version of dots, and probably not worth the price they are going to charge for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_and_Boxes
Castellan was a similar situation. Looked quite similar to dots. Had a good theme and production value. Didn't do so well and wasn't that great.
(Man there are a lot of sci-fi Catans... Starfarers, Star Trek, the two-player Starship that isn't-really-Catan)
We did a kickass job of soliciting new games the past few months, so those former bins of excess have all been filled up with stuff that just came in. We'll be expanding the table layout at East to accommodate several more bins of games going out into the library.
Collection Played in 2016: 18%. 115 games to go. Added this week: Frank's Zoo, Space Beans. Trade pile: Tales of the Arabian Nights
Mottainai - Holding up to repeated two player games very well. This is a smoother design than Glory to Rome - I like the way you no longer discard to use actions (missing a Patron in GtR often feels terrible) and the timing of cards entering the floor/pool (you are always guaranteed your last action at the start of your turn)
The Institute for Magical Arts (new to me) - The second Steve Finn design I've played after Biblios Dice, neither of which appeals to me. You spend a lot of time undoing your opponent's progress in small increments, while making incremental progress yourself.
Thebes - I've only played Thebes four times, which surprises me. I got another friend hooked on it this week, so maybe that will drive some more plays.
Glass Road - Two plays after picking up my own copy (I played this several times in 2014). Anthony and I discovered that it makes a particularly apt two player game - selecting your hand becomes a very thoughtful process with only one opponent.
Super Motherload (new to me) - Anthony showed me a deckbuilding game that I enjoyed quite a bit, though it's not really a deckbuilding game in the sense anyone would think of. Motherload couldn't exist without Dominion, but it really reminds me (this is an oddball comparison) of Goa. You compete for the resources displayed on the central board, limit your opponents' opportunities, work your way down different upgrade tracks, and select from a menu of actions to suit your position. Great theme, too.
I had a conversation about designing a game last week, and I was trying to explain the need for a certain amount of accessibility in game design. Even going so far to adding or allowing scale-able complexity. That's sort of what brought these questions on.
Obviously, your typical wargame is full of complicated nonsense. I enjoy complicated nonsense, so I'm willing to put up with a lot.
I'm thinking more along the lines of Chess and while someone explains the game they leave out the fact (or gets lost in the explanation) that the Knight can jump over pieces. It's a relatively tiny fact to absorb, but changes your strategy when you know about it, also not knowing it completely blindsides you.
BTW there's a new Eclipse expansion out, anyone want to try it at MAG?
2+ games: Netrunner, Race for the Galaxy, Tigris & Euphrates
Still surprised every game: Food Chain Magnate
Special recognition: 504
Edit: It also took me a few plays to realize how effective praying for food is in Tzolk'in, how good the 1 earth tile is in Terra Mystica, and why the craftsman is dangerous in Puerto Rico.
Let me finish buying a house before I embark on the next stupid thing.