So, I am working on my game (the hedge one) and trying to figure out the best colors for the squares. After a bit of research, I have found that some where between 5%-12% of European descended Males and between 0.5% and 1% of Females suffer from Red/Green Colorblindness. Total Colorblindness (only Grey/Black/White) and Blue/Yellow are extremely rare.
If I understand this correctly, then if I use Blue, Yellow, Brown and Orange as the colors of the squares (and the respective cards that place hedges on them), I would be able to cater to normal color viewers and the Red/Green colorblind players as well.
I am not a total fan of that color palette, but I could make it work. Alternatively, I could place symbols on the squares and cards (lightning bolt, circle, star, cross) and be able to cater to all forms of colorblindness without having to figure out the best color palette to cater to all players, and would keep the game more visually appealing with Traditional colors (Green, Red, Blue, Yellow).
I suppose the question here is should I go with shapes (appeals to most/all players) with traditional colors, or should I go with the Yellow, Brown, Blue, Orange Palette? Also, the hedges are green (can't think of a better color for them) but are distinguishable by their size compared to other cards.
Got in a whole raft of new games in the past two weeks, across several game sessions:
Yacht Race is an older Parker Brothers game from the 1960s that has great components - felt-bottomed plastic and metal boats, a huge nautical board, and chunky cardboard cards with mid-century illustrations. It's a yacht racing game. Sometimes you draw a card and get an extra turn. Sometimes someone blankets you and you lose a turn. It's dated, but it's got some merit as a curious historical oddity.
I won't have anything illuminating to say about Tichu, considering how many people play this as a lifestyle. It's a fun partnership game, fast, and the rules book is full of puzzling, dated orientalism.
Parade is light. Short. Unremarkable.
Blood Bowl: Team Manager is a stupid, fun card game where you play out a whole Blood Bowl season over the course of five hands. Draw a hand of Blood Bowl players and play them out onto this week's games to strip/pass the ball or attempt to tackle (tap) opposing players. You empty your hand, resolve the winner of each game, and either collect new players to add to your deck (they go on top, like Mage Knight) or new staff for next week's games. Then you draw a new hand, deal out new games, and do it again. Nine different teams, stupid fun.
Primordial Soup is a Euro from 1998 which is an evolutionary dead end as far as Euros go (see what I did there?). You're competing over shared resources, but you also have chaotic randomness in the movement on the board. So, while you have control over your genetic upgrades and cell division, you can never really get your amoebas to move to the spots you want - even if you upgrade to perfect movement, no one else will have it and they end up stumbling around and eating the cubes you wanted. Unique mechanics in a game where everyone starts the same and ends up specialized.
More games of note:
Hansa Teutonica is interesting, even if it's beginning to look like taking bonus markers is an absolute requirement to win. Had a game where no one upgraded their actions for several turns because everyone moved in fast and blocked up all the roads to Göttingen, and the bonus marker that removes three cubes from the board ultimately unclogged it. If there's a bonus marker in a place you don't want to go, it seems like a good idea to go there anyway, and make the best of it.
Homesteaders is still fun. Newbies always seem to pass on the auctions too early and let people take them on the cheap, I've had two games now where I've well surpassed everyone, coming in at 60+ points. Still exploring the game, but it definitely allows for some blowouts.
Played a couple games of Ladies and Gentlemen over the weekend. It's a pretty fun game that has an interesting asymmetric design to it. Having played this, I want to see more games where half of the players are playing one game while the rest play a different one, and the two are bridged together through a common goal. My only real gripe with the game is that the gentlemen's side has a significant amount of luck tied to it, which allowed me to win one game and get last (of 4) in another, despite making the same decisions. The winners were the people who just happened to find the right resources first. Even with that it was still a lot of fun.
It seems to be the Days of Wonder game that just slipped past everybody, myself included. It's an entry-level worker placement with some bidding, which is about all I know of it. Reviews were mixed when it first came out, but that does mean there were some people who loved it. Just never got an opinion on the game from anyone that I actually trust to review a game.
I finally got my Kickstarter copy of Coup, so I can play without my messy printouts.
I also purchased a copy of Duel of Ages II. It is going to be difficult to get the table (two hours, two players), but I wanted something sprawling, tactical, and a little dumb to break up the Euros, and Duel of Ages fits the bill. Maybe it'll keep longer than Wiz-War did.
Otherwise, Homesteaders, Innovation, Glory to Rome, Race for the Galaxy and Netrunner - the hardest part is picking which one not to suggest at game night so I can actually try new stuff.
I hate how the gaming industry is moving towards a default launch day DLC. Here's 3/4 of the game we have to offer, pay 2x the price to get our whole offering.
Meh. It kinda makes sense for a board game, as those are expansion packs; you get the full experience with just the base game, and people who care can get the expansion pack dlcs.
Meh. It kinda makes sense for a board game, as those are expansion packs; you get the full experience with just the base game, and people who care can get the expansion pack dlcs.
I think that it makes sense for the physical board game but not on a zero day launch of the digital game. Not even one, but three separate payments for the extra races. It feels disingenuous.
I don't even know why we use the term DLC any more, the vast majority of people are not buying software on physical media any more. All the content including the game is downloadable content.
Eh I dunno. I still see it as a forgivable sin for the same reasons Nate does, although I often get bothered by both physical expansions and digital content myself. I still clutch this ideal of the optimal game state, where too many little bits to add in or take out become noise, and sour the experience.
OK so on to games I've played recently. I went to game night last night, played two new games and won them both, so it was a good night.
Coup: I really liked this one. It's king of the micro-games in my eyes right now. It's basically double Love Letter with a big bluffing element. I'd rather play 2 rounds of Love Letter at once rather than playing numerous rounds in a row, so Coup wins here. The bluffing element is strong enough that it also replaces Skull and Roses for me. After 1 play, I bought a copy off another guy who had it and was not happy with his Kickstarter purchase.
Carson City: Overly complicated worker placement game with heavy player interaction. You buy plots of land, then buy buildings to put on them, in order to generate cash. Alternatively, you can take guns, and use them to shoot opponent's workers off spaces. Draft new player power each round, have to manage fiddly bits like roads when building, etc., etc. I'm greatly oversimplifying.
Converting progress to points is its own row of spaces, and you can individually get points based on your plots of land, the building, your guns, and your money. I had possibly the worst start I've ever had in a worker placement game, got a decent foothold and once set, went all guns. On the last turn, I claimed every points space and just shot everyone the fuck up, scored all the points and leapfrogged everyone for a 1 point victory.
This game did some interesting things but I am not a fan of the complete package.
Was just at the Strat picking up new Netrunner cards. They were stocking their holiday shipment. I asked if there were any hot new games, and he pointed out Nations. He was also quick to note that it's $100, and we both lol'd.
Damn, some games are getting quite expensive these days. At list it's Asmodee, and they don't have any crappy price restrictions. They're definitely trying to catch the Eclipse lightning in a bottle a second time around. Lots of similarities just from a publisher standpoint (haven't looked into the game itself). Those with patience were able to grab Eclipse for $50 after a while, and I'm sure that will be the case with Nations as well.
So, H-Index is a metric I learned about from this thread, which measures your board gaming e-peen by giving you a quick idea of whether you play lots of different games lots of times. It's the measurement of H games, which you have played at least H times each.
In 2013, I have a ridiculous H-Index of 14: there are 14 games which I have played at least 14 times. I'm using my BGG recorded plays here, and leaving out the games I played solo against AI.
Android: Netrunner, Race for the Galaxy, Dominion, Puerto Rico, Carcassonne, Innovation, Coup, Glory to Rome, Galaxy Trucker, Magic: the Gathering, 7 Wonders, and Eclipse all made it to the table 14 times during the year. Mage Knight and Friday also made it to the table 14 times, but as solo games. In the future, I'm guessing Netrunner and Race will stay close to the top; both usually get half a dozen games every month since they're fast. Dominion, Glory to Rome, and Puerto Rico probably aren't going anywhere, either. Eclipse and Galaxy Trucker both had good, long runs but haven't seen much play since. Innovation is currently a wildcard, but Anthony and I play it a lot. 7 Wonders - I never suggest it, but I rarely turn down a game.
Eclipse last week, Eclipse this week. Different groups, though, so both are learning games. Totes worth it, though, because the more people know Eclipse the more people I can play it with in the future.
Eclipse last week, Eclipse this week. Different groups, though, so both are learning games. Totes worth it, though, because the more people know Eclipse the more people I can play it with in the future.
Go to MAGFest there will be about 5 to 6 games of that going, possibly all at the same time.
Jeremy traded in 60-70 M:TG cards for store credit, this is what we got with $39 leftover:
The store owner showed us Octopus Garden and it looks like fun.
I ended up using the last of the store credit (+$18) to get a copy of Lords of Waterdeep after playing it with friends. I like the theme of it, which is dungeons and dragons, but can be a general fantasy setting as well. It is a worker placement game with quest objectives. I decided to buy it after playing about 3-4 rounds.
We played a 5 player game of Castle Panic (just the basic set to learn), which we one with 5 towers left.
Played a couple of games of Boss Monster. One with just Ro and I, and a 4 player game. It is really fun, and there is a level of strategy to building your dungeon, if only to make sure a hero doesn't get to go to an opponents dungeon first. \
I picked up the Green/Yellow Castellan so we can play it with up to 4 players.
Eclipse last week, Eclipse this week. Different groups, though, so both are learning games. Totes worth it, though, because the more people know Eclipse the more people I can play it with in the future.
Go to MAGFest there will be about 5 to 6 games of that going, possibly all at the same time.
It's the same weekend as the Art History field trip to NYC. MAGfest is a once per year chance, New York with Ms Freeman is a once in a lifetime.
Comments
If I understand this correctly, then if I use Blue, Yellow, Brown and Orange as the colors of the squares (and the respective cards that place hedges on them), I would be able to cater to normal color viewers and the Red/Green colorblind players as well.
I am not a total fan of that color palette, but I could make it work. Alternatively, I could place symbols on the squares and cards (lightning bolt, circle, star, cross) and be able to cater to all forms of colorblindness without having to figure out the best color palette to cater to all players, and would keep the game more visually appealing with Traditional colors (Green, Red, Blue, Yellow).
I suppose the question here is should I go with shapes (appeals to most/all players) with traditional colors, or should I go with the Yellow, Brown, Blue, Orange Palette? Also, the hedges are green (can't think of a better color for them) but are distinguishable by their size compared to other cards.
- Yacht Race is an older Parker Brothers game from the 1960s that has great components - felt-bottomed plastic and metal boats, a huge nautical board, and chunky cardboard cards with mid-century illustrations. It's a yacht racing game. Sometimes you draw a card and get an extra turn. Sometimes someone blankets you and you lose a turn. It's dated, but it's got some merit as a curious historical oddity.
- I won't have anything illuminating to say about Tichu, considering how many people play this as a lifestyle. It's a fun partnership game, fast, and the rules book is full of puzzling, dated orientalism.
- Parade is light. Short. Unremarkable.
- Blood Bowl: Team Manager is a stupid, fun card game where you play out a whole Blood Bowl season over the course of five hands. Draw a hand of Blood Bowl players and play them out onto this week's games to strip/pass the ball or attempt to tackle (tap) opposing players. You empty your hand, resolve the winner of each game, and either collect new players to add to your deck (they go on top, like Mage Knight) or new staff for next week's games. Then you draw a new hand, deal out new games, and do it again. Nine different teams, stupid fun.
- Primordial Soup is a Euro from 1998 which is an evolutionary dead end as far as Euros go (see what I did there?). You're competing over shared resources, but you also have chaotic randomness in the movement on the board. So, while you have control over your genetic upgrades and cell division, you can never really get your amoebas to move to the spots you want - even if you upgrade to perfect movement, no one else will have it and they end up stumbling around and eating the cubes you wanted. Unique mechanics in a game where everyone starts the same and ends up specialized.
More games of note:I also purchased a copy of Duel of Ages II. It is going to be difficult to get the table (two hours, two players), but I wanted something sprawling, tactical, and a little dumb to break up the Euros, and Duel of Ages fits the bill. Maybe it'll keep longer than Wiz-War did.
Otherwise, Homesteaders, Innovation, Glory to Rome, Race for the Galaxy and Netrunner - the hardest part is picking which one not to suggest at game night so I can actually try new stuff.
Here's 3/4 of the game we have to offer, pay 2x the price to get our whole offering.
Thanks console developers.
I don't even know why we use the term DLC any more, the vast majority of people are not buying software on physical media any more. All the content including the game is downloadable content.
OK so on to games I've played recently. I went to game night last night, played two new games and won them both, so it was a good night.
Coup: I really liked this one. It's king of the micro-games in my eyes right now. It's basically double Love Letter with a big bluffing element. I'd rather play 2 rounds of Love Letter at once rather than playing numerous rounds in a row, so Coup wins here. The bluffing element is strong enough that it also replaces Skull and Roses for me. After 1 play, I bought a copy off another guy who had it and was not happy with his Kickstarter purchase.
Carson City: Overly complicated worker placement game with heavy player interaction. You buy plots of land, then buy buildings to put on them, in order to generate cash. Alternatively, you can take guns, and use them to shoot opponent's workers off spaces. Draft new player power each round, have to manage fiddly bits like roads when building, etc., etc. I'm greatly oversimplifying.
Converting progress to points is its own row of spaces, and you can individually get points based on your plots of land, the building, your guns, and your money. I had possibly the worst start I've ever had in a worker placement game, got a decent foothold and once set, went all guns. On the last turn, I claimed every points space and just shot everyone the fuck up, scored all the points and leapfrogged everyone for a 1 point victory.
This game did some interesting things but I am not a fan of the complete package.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/126042/nations
Looking forward to trying this overnight at a convention some time.
Agricola is $40.85 on Amazon today, if you don't have it and can't wait for Caverna.
In 2013, I have a ridiculous H-Index of 14: there are 14 games which I have played at least 14 times. I'm using my BGG recorded plays here, and leaving out the games I played solo against AI.
Android: Netrunner, Race for the Galaxy, Dominion, Puerto Rico, Carcassonne, Innovation, Coup, Glory to Rome, Galaxy Trucker, Magic: the Gathering, 7 Wonders, and Eclipse all made it to the table 14 times during the year. Mage Knight and Friday also made it to the table 14 times, but as solo games. In the future, I'm guessing Netrunner and Race will stay close to the top; both usually get half a dozen games every month since they're fast. Dominion, Glory to Rome, and Puerto Rico probably aren't going anywhere, either. Eclipse and Galaxy Trucker both had good, long runs but haven't seen much play since. Innovation is currently a wildcard, but Anthony and I play it a lot. 7 Wonders - I never suggest it, but I rarely turn down a game.
The store owner showed us Octopus Garden and it looks like fun.
We played a 5 player game of Castle Panic (just the basic set to learn), which we one with 5 towers left.
Played a couple of games of Boss Monster. One with just Ro and I, and a 4 player game. It is really fun, and there is a level of strategy to building your dungeon, if only to make sure a hero doesn't get to go to an opponents dungeon first. \
I picked up the Green/Yellow Castellan so we can play it with up to 4 players.