Jeremy and I can teach you the ways. Seriously. However, I didn't think of that and will incorporate that into future storage.
Wal-Mart crafting section is where I picked it up, surprised I could not find it in the tackle boxes, but it fits in the original game box and works really well.
When I used to play w/ miniatures, I used to find craft boxes like that all the time that had removeable sidewalls. The horizontal walls created fixed rows, but they had slots to drop in little vertical walls at regular intervals.
I don't do a whole lot of re-packaging (only when expansions are involved) but every board game podcast seems to recommend Plano brand boxes for this purpose. Will check it out one day when I have a need.
Well we mainly re-package because we need the space as well as whenever we go to anyone where gaming is involved it makes it so much more convenient.
We've learned that you can store rules and some small game boards in expanding poly file folders. Small plastic containers that are normally used for snacks or foods are great for chits and pieces. You can normally get really good ones at any discount or dollar store. Also thrift stores sometimes sell brand new stuff.
Card boxes that are used for storing things like Magic Cards or baseball cards are great for card games. Just get or make dividers and you can fit so many card games in one box.
Also, I played Burrows the other day. It's from Z-Man games. I picked it up because it was another tile placing game to where you try to create long paths for your burrow holes to claim gophers to not get "disappoints" from tourists coming to see your gophers. The only randomness is the type of tiles you get to choose from. Other than that, it's mainly strategy of how to build your tunnels as well as which color you want to claim.
It's not a hardcore game, but a casual quick game to play with people.
So six player eclipse last night... one player basically got crushed by bad luck right off the bat. And that game, while not mechanically overwhelming, was apparently too "hardcore" for more people than Power Grid was. So that wasn't very successful. And one of my friends that I would enjoy playing this with was able to play sim-city on his side of the board because the other players didn't want to be aggressive, so-far winning him every game. Meanwhile I'm constantly in conflict so I can't just jump to him.
Also played twilight imperium for eight hours a couple nights ago. Huge problems in that the guys that showed me the game didn't even understand it particularly well and were playing with some expansion rules that they majorly fucked up because we literally could not score victory points besides our secret objective until we realized the 8 card they had picked wasn't going to work for that game. Then the one they replaced it with wasn't much better, especially given the psychology of the group, because it essentially assigned the victory randomly at the end of the game.
In both cases, I want to play these games... but not necessarily with those groups.
I almost got to play Eclipse last night, but immediately before then someone made me play Core Worlds, aka space Ascension. It's not that it's a difficult or hardcore game, it's that the people I was playing it with were morons who made a 45 minute game take 90. All my patience was lost, and I ended up going home, but I have made plans to play it (Eclipse) next week, and I am totally psyched for it.
Going to DexCon (local NJ hotel con) this weekend. Not huge on the whole scheduled events thing but I put in for pre-reg and am pretty happy with what I got:
Nefarious (new game from Donald X Vaccarino), Space Cadets, Merchants & Marauders, Dominant Species, Ora et Labora, Trajan, Small World Realms, City Hall, and Bohnanza.
Going to DexCon (local NJ hotel con) this weekend. Not huge on the whole scheduled events thing but I put in for pre-reg and am pretty happy with what I got:
Nefarious (new game from Donald X Vaccarino), Space Cadets, Merchants & Marauders, Dominant Species, Ora et Labora, Trajan, Small World Realms, City Hall, and Bohnanza.
I might be stopping up there on Thursday to check the place out, I can do free gaming on every other day I think a one day pass is all I am going to need. However I could go for another go of City Hall.
Dominant Species - I can definitely see why this game is so highly rated, but playing it for the first time with six people was probably a little extreme. The game lasted for about 4 hours, and there was way too much debating of every single move. Will have to play again, probably with less people, to get a better idea of how the game should go.
Puerto Rico - Finally got around to playing this game. It is soooo good. I probably don't really have to explain why, since I assume most people have played it by now. I'm glad that I have a game in that category that my girlfriend can get into since it's on the simpler side.
I managed to play some Ice Flow yesterday. A simple strategy game that requires you to move your men from one side of the board to the other. However if you are playing with people who are playing to win this game becomes evil. A good middle game.
I also played Felix the cat, a point bidding game involving cats, dogs, and pink bunnies. A quick game that is simple to play and a decent warm up title. I was bummed out when the Felix was not "Felix" but instead another cat named Felix.
The finished product actually showed up on Saturday but I haven't gotten a chance to play. I playtested a few earlier versions and it's definitely a fun game, but I have to spend some time with the final set to determine whether it is lukewarm, good, or great.
Went to open board game night at the local gaming store, The Game Matrix.
I played the print & play version of Velociraptor! Cannibalism!. The game is very random and fun. It seems that they were supposed to already have shipped out the final copy of the game, but due to feed back from playtesters, they are changing/fixing a few things. The rules aren't clear on certain parts, so that could be one of the things they are updating.
Overall, the game is easy to learn and quick to play. Silly and fun, but no real strategy.
I then played Castle Panic. It's a co-op tower dense game, to where you and your teammates work together to fight off trolls and orcs from destroying your tower. It may seem easy at first, but we barely won.
Then I played Quarriors. I remember Matt saying good things about that game, and I agree. It's battle dice. I think I may get that game. My only gripe is about the bags used to store the dice. I was assigned the black color, and the material/fuzz start rubbing off and was all over my clothes. I may just make my own bags and embroider them.
I also purchased Small World: Realms. It adds terrain and scenarios to the game. I love Small World, so I think this will bring more fun and variety to the game I already enjoy.
I brought Timeline, but didn't play it. While the cards are a bit small for my liking, the art on it is cool. It's in the essence of Chrononauts. You basically place cards that are either inventions, events, or discoveries in the right chronological order. One thing that I didn't care for is the cover tin having shape to the steam punkish girl, especially with the boobies. They really didn't need to do that. T_T
I met up with some Chicago enforcers last night and played Zombie Fluxx. It's not a terrible game, but it is random (in the same sense as Settlers) and pretty basic. I figured out the optimal strategy about 20 minutes in, set myself up to win, and then spent an hour waiting to randomly draw the one necessary card I needed. Perhaps if the game had more interaction (being able to steal/trade keepers with other players) it would be better, since we always got into a situation where two players need each other's "keeper" card to win, and drawing the "steal keeper" card was basically random.
Oh, and there were only two of those cards in the entire deck.
I've only played Zombie Fluxx, but from what the Internet tells me it isn't much different. I like the idea of the game (changing rules and win conditions), but the actual gameplay leaves much to be desired.
EDIT: I would recommend it as a short line-entertaining game if there were more interaction (stealing and trading) cards. Otherwise, the game just drags on too long.
Is there any difference between Fluxx and Zombie Fluxx or any of the other Fluxx besides the theme? I've only ever played regular Fluxx.
Looney Labs has slowly been adding new gameplay elements to Fluxx. Zombie Fluxx is an early one still so the only thing versus original Fluxx is the addition of "Creepers" which are anti-Keepers. You can't win if you have them. If you draw them, they immediately go in front of you.
In later sets they added the Surprise cards which act as instants and can played out of turn, mostly for defense. The also added the occasional "ungoal" card which is a goal that causes everyone to lose.
I did enjoy the ungoal "Zombies Win" and its corresponding rule "Zombie Boss" (which makes the player with the most zombies more powerful and causes them to win if the ungoal is met).
I also purchased Small World: Realms. It adds terrain and scenarios to the game. I love Small World, so I think this will bring more fun and variety to the game I already enjoy.
I was able to play one scenario of Small World Realms at DexCon last weekend, and I wasn't blown away. I will probably get it eventually b/c there are so many scenarios, and I'd like to try them all once. My fear is that I'll only want to play each of them once!
The one we played was "Go East." Everyone has to start on the left side of the map, and there are permanent double-point spaces on the other side of the map. The game was over as soon as someone got heroic halfings, letting him start on the double-point spaces, and have 4 invincible territories for a total of 8 free points each turn. Also, since he only needed one person per territory, he could put fat stacks on two more territories, getting an easy 12 per turn.
Speaking of DexCon I was very skeptical of returning to this hotel con that I last attended in 1998. I encountered a lot of neckbeards, weirdos, and creepy old dudes, but by the end of the weekend I had a run of great games with normal people, and can honestly say I met more cool people than strange ones. The con was 15 min from my house and I plan to go back. I would not recommend making a trip from any distance for this event though, even the New Yorkers on this forum.
I was able to play a lot of games I hadn't gotten the chance to before. Merchants & Marauders, Ora et Labora, Trajan, Nefarious, Space Cadets (prototype), and City Hall (prototype). All good stuff.
This post is already getting long but I'll add one more thing. Wife and I have been playing the Paint the Line card game after work this week. It was enjoyable in the short demos I played at PAXes, but sitting down and really sinking our teeth into the finished product? This game, it is not so hot.
From what I remember about Fluxx it is not really meant to be a serious game, more of a warm up or cool down game or for your non-crazy board gaming types.
So I want to have my very own Cool Board Game Collection, but Im not sure what to get. I like games that have pretty simple-ish rules but super cool strategy, like Carcassonne (which Im going to get, yes).. and hopefully are cheapish so I dont have to spend too much on any single game. Anyone have any suggestions and whatnot?
Castle Panic looks kind of cool too, is it terribly complicated rules-wise Rochelle?
Fuck everyone elses's beans. My beans are the best. Trade with me!
Don't let that charlatan sell you a line. Her beans don't amount to a hill of beans! Real men choose Rym's patented wax bean for all their beaney needs.
So I want to have my very own Cool Board Game Collection, but Im not sure what to get. I like games that have pretty simple-ish rules but super cool strategy, like Carcassonne (which Im going to get, yes).. and hopefully are cheapish so I dont have to spend too much on any single game. Anyone have any suggestions and whatnot?
Castle Panic looks kind of cool too, is it terribly complicated rules-wise Rochelle?
As the semi-official "Board-game guy" of my group, here's some tips:
1) Cons and Yard Sales are great places to get weird, cheap games. While, say, Barista may not have the name recognition of Carcassonne, it's still pretty fun, and even if it weren't, it cost me 2 bucks, so what do I care? At cons, discount bins are king.
2) Barns and Noble, generally around this time of year, is trying to clear out all the old board games they bought last Christmas to make way for the new board games they're going to buy for this Christmas. You can generally find good things if you dig around there normally, and with discounts they're even better.
3) In terms of finding new games, if a local store has a "board game night" or something similar, go there and play any game that looks up your alley and needs players. It's a good way to test out a game before you drop cash on it.
In terms of specific suggestions for cheepish games, Spot-it, Bananagrams, Munchkin can be fun if a bit random...
Fuck everyone elses's beans. My beans are the best. Trade with me!
Don't let that charlatan sell you a line. Her beans don't amount to a hill of beans! Real men choose Rym's patented wax bean for all their beaney needs.
Mo (my friend from outside the forum) played over the course of our game all four ultra rare Cocoa Beans. He lost in points, but won in feat.
Simplish rules but super cool strategy can be tough criteria to find in one game. Most strategy games are going to run $50-60 at retail. You can easily find discounts of 20+%, but does that still exceed the bounds of "cheapish?"
You mention liking Carcassonne, so have you played through Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan yet? These are the "textbook" games for introduction to strategy, because they are easily teachable yet do a good job of presenting skill-based competition.
I'm going to throw out Survive: Escape From Atlantis, Zooloretto, and Sunrise City as other suggestions. These are all legit full-size board games. You might have better luck finding affordable light strategy games if you look more into card games.
So I want to have my very own Cool Board Game Collection, but Im not sure what to get. I like games that have pretty simple-ish rules but super cool strategy, like Carcassonne (which Im going to get, yes).. and hopefully are cheapish so I dont have to spend too much on any single game. Anyone have any suggestions and whatnot?
Castle Panic looks kind of cool too, is it terribly complicated rules-wise Rochelle?
2) Barns and Noble, generally around this time of year, is trying to clear out all the old board games they bought last Christmas to make way for the new board games they're going to buy for this Christmas. You can generally find good things if you dig around there normally, and with discounts they're even better.
They do this three times per year to clear out stagnant inventory. The sales start at 50%, then a few weeks later they bump to 75%. Shortly after, everything that doesn't sell goes to $2. I've gone in and scooped up multiple copies of decent but mediocre $50 games for $2 a pop, then put them up for trade on BGG or sold them on eBay for $25-30. Make friends with your local bookstore employee. They will tell you when $2 day is, and you will get your ass to the store when they open.
I've been to a few of the Barnes & Noble shops that I pass on my commute through NJ, and this selection this time around is particularly good. I've even seen Fresco with the red sticker on it.
Comments
However I am open to any and all lessons.
I don't do a whole lot of re-packaging (only when expansions are involved) but every board game podcast seems to recommend Plano brand boxes for this purpose. Will check it out one day when I have a need.
We've learned that you can store rules and some small game boards in expanding poly file folders. Small plastic containers that are normally used for snacks or foods are great for chits and pieces. You can normally get really good ones at any discount or dollar store. Also thrift stores sometimes sell brand new stuff.
Card boxes that are used for storing things like Magic Cards or baseball cards are great for card games. Just get or make dividers and you can fit so many card games in one box.
Also, I played Burrows the other day. It's from Z-Man games. I picked it up because it was another tile placing game to where you try to create long paths for your burrow holes to claim gophers to not get "disappoints" from tourists coming to see your gophers. The only randomness is the type of tiles you get to choose from. Other than that, it's mainly strategy of how to build your tunnels as well as which color you want to claim.
It's not a hardcore game, but a casual quick game to play with people.
Also played twilight imperium for eight hours a couple nights ago. Huge problems in that the guys that showed me the game didn't even understand it particularly well and were playing with some expansion rules that they majorly fucked up because we literally could not score victory points besides our secret objective until we realized the 8 card they had picked wasn't going to work for that game. Then the one they replaced it with wasn't much better, especially given the psychology of the group, because it essentially assigned the victory randomly at the end of the game.
In both cases, I want to play these games... but not necessarily with those groups.
Nefarious (new game from Donald X Vaccarino), Space Cadets, Merchants & Marauders, Dominant Species, Ora et Labora, Trajan, Small World Realms, City Hall, and Bohnanza.
http://teleology.com/wp/?p=9
Seems clever and useful. Also these lidded boxes seem great for sorting some upgrades...
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/Board Games/Counter+Tray+-+GMT+Style+2+Piece/Acc-BGSupplies050/#Counter
I'm thinking I want to trick out a box for travel/setup.
Dominant Species - I can definitely see why this game is so highly rated, but playing it for the first time with six people was probably a little extreme. The game lasted for about 4 hours, and there was way too much debating of every single move. Will have to play again, probably with less people, to get a better idea of how the game should go.
Puerto Rico - Finally got around to playing this game. It is soooo good. I probably don't really have to explain why, since I assume most people have played it by now. I'm glad that I have a game in that category that my girlfriend can get into since it's on the simpler side.
I also played Felix the cat, a point bidding game involving cats, dogs, and pink bunnies. A quick game that is simple to play and a decent warm up title. I was bummed out when the Felix was not "Felix" but instead another cat named Felix.
The finished product actually showed up on Saturday but I haven't gotten a chance to play. I playtested a few earlier versions and it's definitely a fun game, but I have to spend some time with the final set to determine whether it is lukewarm, good, or great.
I played the print & play version of Velociraptor! Cannibalism!. The game is very random and fun. It seems that they were supposed to already have shipped out the final copy of the game, but due to feed back from playtesters, they are changing/fixing a few things. The rules aren't clear on certain parts, so that could be one of the things they are updating.
Overall, the game is easy to learn and quick to play. Silly and fun, but no real strategy.
I then played Castle Panic. It's a co-op tower dense game, to where you and your teammates work together to fight off trolls and orcs from destroying your tower. It may seem easy at first, but we barely won.
Then I played Quarriors. I remember Matt saying good things about that game, and I agree. It's battle dice. I think I may get that game. My only gripe is about the bags used to store the dice. I was assigned the black color, and the material/fuzz start rubbing off and was all over my clothes. I may just make my own bags and embroider them.
I also purchased Small World: Realms. It adds terrain and scenarios to the game. I love Small World, so I think this will bring more fun and variety to the game I already enjoy.
I brought Timeline, but didn't play it. While the cards are a bit small for my liking, the art on it is cool. It's in the essence of Chrononauts. You basically place cards that are either inventions, events, or discoveries in the right chronological order. One thing that I didn't care for is the cover tin having shape to the steam punkish girl, especially with the boobies. They really didn't need to do that. T_T
Oh, and there were only two of those cards in the entire deck.
EDIT: I would recommend it as a short line-entertaining game if there were more interaction (stealing and trading) cards. Otherwise, the game just drags on too long.
In later sets they added the Surprise cards which act as instants and can played out of turn, mostly for defense. The also added the occasional "ungoal" card which is a goal that causes everyone to lose.
The one we played was "Go East." Everyone has to start on the left side of the map, and there are permanent double-point spaces on the other side of the map. The game was over as soon as someone got heroic halfings, letting him start on the double-point spaces, and have 4 invincible territories for a total of 8 free points each turn. Also, since he only needed one person per territory, he could put fat stacks on two more territories, getting an easy 12 per turn.
Speaking of DexCon I was very skeptical of returning to this hotel con that I last attended in 1998. I encountered a lot of neckbeards, weirdos, and creepy old dudes, but by the end of the weekend I had a run of great games with normal people, and can honestly say I met more cool people than strange ones. The con was 15 min from my house and I plan to go back. I would not recommend making a trip from any distance for this event though, even the New Yorkers on this forum.
I was able to play a lot of games I hadn't gotten the chance to before. Merchants & Marauders, Ora et Labora, Trajan, Nefarious, Space Cadets (prototype), and City Hall (prototype). All good stuff.
This post is already getting long but I'll add one more thing. Wife and I have been playing the Paint the Line card game after work this week. It was enjoyable in the short demos I played at PAXes, but sitting down and really sinking our teeth into the finished product? This game, it is not so hot.
I like base original Fluxx and that's about it.
Castle Panic looks kind of cool too, is it terribly complicated rules-wise Rochelle?
Small World and Power Grid I've found relatively simple to teach.
1) Cons and Yard Sales are great places to get weird, cheap games. While, say, Barista may not have the name recognition of Carcassonne, it's still pretty fun, and even if it weren't, it cost me 2 bucks, so what do I care? At cons, discount bins are king.
2) Barns and Noble, generally around this time of year, is trying to clear out all the old board games they bought last Christmas to make way for the new board games they're going to buy for this Christmas. You can generally find good things if you dig around there normally, and with discounts they're even better.
3) In terms of finding new games, if a local store has a "board game night" or something similar, go there and play any game that looks up your alley and needs players. It's a good way to test out a game before you drop cash on it.
In terms of specific suggestions for cheepish games, Spot-it, Bananagrams, Munchkin can be fun if a bit random...
You mention liking Carcassonne, so have you played through Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan yet? These are the "textbook" games for introduction to strategy, because they are easily teachable yet do a good job of presenting skill-based competition.
I'm going to throw out Survive: Escape From Atlantis, Zooloretto, and Sunrise City as other suggestions. These are all legit full-size board games. You might have better luck finding affordable light strategy games if you look more into card games.
I've been to a few of the Barnes & Noble shops that I pass on my commute through NJ, and this selection this time around is particularly good. I've even seen Fresco with the red sticker on it.