I've been thinking about a house rule for Eclipse that region 2 hexes are available only after all region 1 spaces are filled and similarly for region 3 hexes being available only after region 2 spaces are filled.
This helps a bit with uneven momentum since region 3 tiles are th most unbalanced. It also forces players to connect regions and pretty much elimiates the incentive to turtle up by building a long corridor out into region 3 space.
Region 3 tiles have the most discoveries, true, but they're the least powerful in terms of resources. Also, Region 1 and 2 tiles put you closer to more players (meaning more alliances) and allow you faster access to the central tile (which you can pretty easily take by turn 4). Also, region 3 tiles have fewer wormholes, so you're more locked into the region.
I'd be interested in seeing what happens in a game where someone goes for turtling in region 3 while someone else goes for an aggressive expansion into regions 1 and 2.
Looked at the spreadsheet. Tiles 306-310 are just better. Two cubes down with no aliens to fight. 304,311-314 are also just better, cube plus discovery token. 315-318 are dick. 302,303,305 are all dick as they have two cubes, but you have to fight the ancients. If you draw them early, you are hurt even if you discard them because you waste an action. Getting them later, especially 301, is awesome.
I really like the I and II first rule, tho I'm not positive it makes a ton of sense to force players to all move inward before moving out. But I like how it would pace the game; first a scramble for resources, and then a scramble to explore outward for victory points or to go straight for other players and the middle tile.
I really like the I and II first rule, tho I'm not positive it makes a ton of sense to force players to all move inward before moving out. But I like how it would pace the game; first a scramble for resources, and then a scramble to explore outward for victory points or to go straight for other players and the middle tile.
I definitely want to play with this rule at least once, but I am always extremely hesitant to change rules. The people who made the game playtested it and made a decision. Who are you to change it? Don't remove the AWP from your Counter-Strike server.
Another interesting variant would be to draw some number of hexes out of the bag every round like science. They might be 1s, they might be 2s, they might be 3s. It's random, but it gives more advantage to first player, which is supposed to be an advantage.
Looked at the spreadsheet. Tiles 306-310 are just better. Two cubes down with no aliens to fight. 304,311-314 are also just better, cube plus discovery token. 315-318 are dick. 302,303,305 are all dick as they have two cubes, but you have to fight the ancients. If you draw them early, you are hurt even if you discard them because you waste an action. Getting them later, especially 301, is awesome.
Only some of those are two cubes down. There are two color columns; the ones on the right are only available with science. Only 306 and 310 have two cubes down off the bat with no fighting; everything else is 1 cube and a science space.
201, 210, and 211 all have 2 cubes down with no fighting. 211 is even a choice, which is powerful. And all of the region 1 tiles are worth more victory points.
You also have to remember that not all of the region 3 tiles will be available in every game, so you actually have no idea if any of the valuable region 3 tiles will be available.
And early aliens aren't necessarily a problem - you just have to gear up to fight them. Build two interceptors to go with your first, and put either a +1 computer, ion cannon, hull, or shield in the extra slot. Single aliens no longer present a problem. The odds are that you'll lose one interceptor in the fight. Big deal.
EDIT: I want to figure out a way to have the ancients attack players. Right now, there's really no penalty to finding ancients on a tile, plunking it down, and coming back to it later. The odds of someone else getting to it before you are so slim that they might as well not exist.
I'd also like to run into an ancient dreadnought somewhere, because fuck you.
EDIT 2: The problem I see with "go through the Region I tiles first" is that the game will become more dependent on luck. One of those tiles has 2 ancients on it, while others are easier to take. So someone will have to do more work and has a chance of getting outright hosed while someone else gets a cakewalk.
I definitely want to play with this rule at least once, but I am always extremely hesitant to change rules. The people who made the game playtested it and made a decision. Who are you to change it?
I'll ask Touko about this when I see him next week (if he shows up for dinner).
I'd be interested in seeing what happens in a game where someone goes for turtling in region 3 while someone else goes for an aggressive expansion into regions 1 and 2.
We had that game. I won by turtling. The reason was that early aggression from all other players resulted in a mexican standoff at the galactic center. No one could move into my territory without leaving the door wide open for the other to attack them. I didn't even need a single interceptor guarding my passage to the GC ;-).
Oh hey cool, apparently there's going to be an iOS version of Eclipse at some point, as it's listed on Big Daddy Creation's product page: http://www.bigdaddyscreations.com/products/
When? I want it right "meow"! I've also been looking forward to the iOS game of Word Fighter that I saw at PAX Prime 2011. Seems their developers have had some delays.
Neither their site or ipadboardgames.org has an actual date, but I'd guess some time this half of the year, given Caylus is already submitted for approval and it looks like they don't have too much on their plate.
Someone in Touko's playgroup just posted a game report on a 9 player Eclipse game. Notable mentions of the Rho Indi syndicate (stealth faction possibly for a future expansion) and cloaking tech!
I got the chance to interview the VP for Toys & Games as well as the games buyer for Barnes & Noble about their big expansion into board games. My posts at MTV are usually re-hashed news with interjections of my personal opinions, so it was very refreshing to be able to dig up some original information and tell some stories that would probably have otherwise gone untold. It's not journalism at its finest (I do not have any formal training in this area) but I am proud today regardless.
Jeremy recently picked up Infinite City. We played it on New Years and I wasn't really paying attention. Jeremy won and enjoyed it so he bought it. It's a tile laying game where you build a city for victory points along with color chits. Each tile has an action that you will have to take in order to help make your city larger.
I'll have to play it again to see if I really like it.
Also over the weekend we played Core Worlds with friends. It's a deck building game where you collect either Ground Strength or Fleet Strength cards to conquer planets that give you more actions/energy to do more things.
I had a fun time playing it. I recommend checking it out. I don't know if I want to buy it, but I definitely like it a lot more than Race For The Galaxy, but that's only because I had difficulties remembering all the symbols.
I got the chance to interview the VP for Toys & Games as well as the games buyer for Barnes & Noble about their big expansion into board games. My posts at MTV are usually re-hashed news with interjections of my personal opinions, so it was very refreshing to be able to dig up some original information and tell some stories that would probably have otherwise gone untold. It's not journalism at its finest (I do not have any formal training in this area) but I am proud today regardless.
Awesome interview, it's really interesting to read about their decision to move into hobby gaming. I was curious what the thoughts were, when I saw them start increasing the games they carry, and I got even more interested when I saw Munchkin at Target.
I got the chance to interview the VP for Toys & Games as well as the games buyer for Barnes & Noble about their big expansion into board games. My posts at MTV are usually re-hashed news with interjections of my personal opinions, so it was very refreshing to be able to dig up some original information and tell some stories that would probably have otherwise gone untold. It's not journalism at its finest (I do not have any formal training in this area) but I am proud today regardless.
Awesome interview, it's really interesting to read about their decision to move into hobby gaming. I was curious what the thoughts were, when I saw them start increasing the games they carry, and I got even more interested when I saw Munchkin at Target.
Munchkin at Target whatever. I've seen Apples to Apples at Duane Reade and CVS.
I really need to play Munchkin just once to say that I've played it and be done with it.
The only SJ games I own are Ninja Burger and Greed Quest. I hear Revolution is pretty good, but I don't think I'll buy it. I'll probably just check it out at PAX sometime.
Me too. I'm usually down for just about anything at PAX. I really want to play House on Haunted Hill again because it was just so fun and uncomplicated.
I really need to play Munchkin just once to say that I've played it and be done with it.
The only SJ games I own are Ninja Burger and Greed Quest. I hear Revolution is pretty good, but I don't think I'll buy it. I'll probably just check it out at PAX sometime.
Ro, I'll play either with you at PAX.
I should play this game of Munchkin just to force the stupidity out into the open for all to see.
I should play this game of Munchkin just to force the stupidity out into the open for all to see.
It is an incredibly stupid game. I wasn't denying that. I've had games of Munchkin where I've wanted to jump out of a window by the end.
Ro just said she's never played but wanted to try it out for, shall we say, "research purposes?" It's more like I'm throwing myself in front of the bus to save the uneducated gamer. I'll be so happy to be at PAX that I'll have fun regardless of what I'm playing.
I've read the instructions and have seen several cards. I ran a tournament at PAX East!
I recall the last tournament at PAX Prime, there is this one guy who pretty much sticks to tabletop tournament and he pretty much broke the tournament and made it unpleasant for other players because he brought a bag full of boons for the game. The are fixing the rules for East this year by stating you can only play at most one boon more than the highest amount your opponents played.
I expect nothing but silliness from this game and that's about it.
I've read the instructions and have seen several cards. I ran a tournament at PAX East!
I recall the last tournament at PAX Prime, there is this one guy who pretty much sticks to tabletop tournament and he pretty much broke the tournament and made it unpleasant for other players because he brought a bag full of boons for the game. The are fixing the rules for East this year by stating you can only play at most one boon more than the highest amount your opponents played.
I expect nothing but silliness from this game and that's about it.
The only games of munchkin I've enjoyed were with good friends who don't really play to win, but play to have some silliness and fun. If you play to win or try to interpret the rules in any sort of concrete way, the game falls apart (and thus it's not a game I play often). But around beers at the end of a night it can be fun.
Living in Austin, where they playtest SJ games all the time, it's almost a taboo to say anything bad about munchkin. You can say, "it's fun for casual play" or "perhaps it's not for me", but you can never call the game outright bad.
Comments
I'd be interested in seeing what happens in a game where someone goes for turtling in region 3 while someone else goes for an aggressive expansion into regions 1 and 2.
Here's a spreadsheet comparing all of the hexes in the game.
Another interesting variant would be to draw some number of hexes out of the bag every round like science. They might be 1s, they might be 2s, they might be 3s. It's random, but it gives more advantage to first player, which is supposed to be an advantage.
201, 210, and 211 all have 2 cubes down with no fighting. 211 is even a choice, which is powerful. And all of the region 1 tiles are worth more victory points.
You also have to remember that not all of the region 3 tiles will be available in every game, so you actually have no idea if any of the valuable region 3 tiles will be available.
And early aliens aren't necessarily a problem - you just have to gear up to fight them. Build two interceptors to go with your first, and put either a +1 computer, ion cannon, hull, or shield in the extra slot. Single aliens no longer present a problem. The odds are that you'll lose one interceptor in the fight. Big deal.
EDIT: I want to figure out a way to have the ancients attack players. Right now, there's really no penalty to finding ancients on a tile, plunking it down, and coming back to it later. The odds of someone else getting to it before you are so slim that they might as well not exist.
I'd also like to run into an ancient dreadnought somewhere, because fuck you.
EDIT 2: The problem I see with "go through the Region I tiles first" is that the game will become more dependent on luck. One of those tiles has 2 ancients on it, while others are easier to take. So someone will have to do more work and has a chance of getting outright hosed while someone else gets a cakewalk.
It should be released next month.
/sad panda
I'll have to play it again to see if I really like it.
Also over the weekend we played Core Worlds with friends. It's a deck building game where you collect either Ground Strength or Fleet Strength cards to conquer planets that give you more actions/energy to do more things.
I had a fun time playing it. I recommend checking it out. I don't know if I want to buy it, but I definitely like it a lot more than Race For The Galaxy, but that's only because I had difficulties remembering all the symbols.
The only SJ games I own are Ninja Burger and Greed Quest. I hear Revolution is pretty good, but I don't think I'll buy it. I'll probably just check it out at PAX sometime.
Ro just said she's never played but wanted to try it out for, shall we say, "research purposes?" It's more like I'm throwing myself in front of the bus to save the uneducated gamer. I'll be so happy to be at PAX that I'll have fun regardless of what I'm playing.
I've read the instructions and have seen several cards. I ran a tournament at PAX East!
I recall the last tournament at PAX Prime, there is this one guy who pretty much sticks to tabletop tournament and he pretty much broke the tournament and made it unpleasant for other players because he brought a bag full of boons for the game. The are fixing the rules for East this year by stating you can only play at most one boon more than the highest amount your opponents played.
I expect nothing but silliness from this game and that's about it.
Munchkin is basically D&D Nerd Patty Cake.
Also, Steve Jackson Games is run brilliantly, and they know exactly how to please their target demographic. Steve himself is a stand-up dude.