We still got to play it. I made a few missteps and allowed Ro to block me out of the spot I needed for the winning resources. If I had supported my agenda card towards dystopia, I would have won.
I'm not sure it's ever worthwhile to take the extra recruit unless multiple advancement tracks are at the end. 1 card / 1 action for a star is the most efficient possible point in the game.
One of my local gaming groups was having a "we don't go to Gen Con" gaming blowout. Sadly I could only go on Friday, but it was a good time and any games were played. Of note:
- Played Brass for the first time. Got the shit kicked out of me. I realized my poor decisions halfway through the first age and could never catch up. I didn't fully grasp how limited you can be by your hand. You absolutely cannot hold out on a strategy in hopes of drawing the right card next turn. This game takes "do what the other players aren't doing" to the max. Observe their moves, and then play with the cards you've got.
- Had a 6-player game of Small World and Small World: Underground combined, with all expansions thrown in. It was nutty. We knew it was going to be a cluster. It actually went a lot smoother and faster than anyone anticipated, and we luckily avoided any broken combos popping out. I would never recommend anyone else ever do this, but I have a soft spot for Small World and am glad I've done the combined game now.
- Played The Speicherstadt for the first time. Awesome game! Deep thinking yet quick playing. Love the twist on bidding for resources. Not a simple auction game at all. I love Stefan Feld and this is regarded as one of his better games. I can see why.
Count me as interested. I've never played, but if I ever get the chance, I'll be sure to share my thoughts.
Martin Wallace is another designer where I'll never turn down an offer to play one of his games. Prior to Brass, I'd only played (and enjoyed) his more recent stuff, not what made him a big name: Automobile, London, Discworld: Ankh Morpork, Aeroplanes. The only thing I didn't care for from him was his Civil War game, Test of Fire.
One game I read the rules to in anticipation of playing this past weekend was Myrmes, a pretty heavy game with an interesting theme: running an ant colony. Seems like a good game, but plans for that one fell through. Holding out judgement until I get to really play.
I'm not sure it's ever worthwhile to take the extra recruit unless multiple advancement tracks are at the end. 1 card / 1 action for a star is the most efficient possible point in the game.
In a 2 player game getting at least 1 additional recruit is a good idea, but having all 4 is a gamble. But Jeremy could have easily won if he did the same to me as I did him. Fortunately, he did not realize such things. =P
A similar scenario also occurred in our game of Splendor afterwards. 2-0!
Martin Wallace has also re-implemented Age of Steam as Steam.
I played Impulse this weekend with Coldguy and Raithnor, and immediately bought my own copy to play with Anthony the next time he's here. All the cards are unique, but not as unique as Innovation's. The consequences of your actions are initially unclear, but not as unclear as Glory to Rome's. Bankler said that it has "chutzpah"... seems about right for a Chudyk game. In Glory to Rome, Innovation, and Impulse, victory often feels like it should be followed by a booming "fatality".
I played my first game of Caverna over the weekend. It was the full 7 player experience with a bunch of veterans. It seems that focusing on animals and adventure is the most ideal way to get points. Although never adventuring and only having two dwarves is still enough to beat the majority of players so long as you focus on denial.
That game earned me third place and the leery stares of some grumpy people.
I played Impulse this weekend with Coldguy and Raithnor, and immediately bought my own copy to play with Anthony the next time he's here. All the cards are unique, but not as unique as Innovation's. The consequences of your actions are initially unclear, but not as unclear as Glory to Rome's. Bankler said that it has "chutzpah"... seems about right for a Chudyk game. In Glory to Rome, Innovation, and Impulse, victory often feels like it should be followed by a booming "fatality".
So this basically this means I must buy it. I'll stop holding out for the black box version of Glory to Rome, that shit has been on pre-order since late 2013.
That game earned me third place and the leery stares of some grumpy people.
I have never played with 6-7 players - I would think that having fewer rubies per player than the 4 player game would have a chilling effect while increasing the value of Ruby Supplier and Start Player, but it's possible that Weekly Market, along with plentiful Imitation spaces, solve that problem.
What kind of scores did you see in a 7 player game? Did anyone get into triple digits?
You would think so, until someone starts being a dick and taking the imitation spaces just for sheer spite as the second and third disc placement. (It's my favorite part when they realize what I did when they needed it.) Also, the random harvests became less random when they were the last three rounds in the game.
The top player won with 82 having all 6 dwarves, pretty decked out gear and a full board. Kind of expected with how he was rolling. Second place was 79 with the guy having a full board and 30 animals. He had 7 dogs in one tile. I had 68, going for the vegetables and wheat. Not bad considering only two dwarves, no weapons, and six missing squares. Then it was 58, 55, 44, and the owner of the game with 39. He spent so many turns taking first player just because I was looking at his board so much.
Imperial 2030 is very entertaining - there's a feeling of sadistic glee in purchasing entire countries and making them fight for your profit. Open season on opinions of other Mac Gerdts rondel games - is Imperial the best of the lot?
Maybe late but the site us good. Speaking of; winning-moves.com is a website where you can purchase "classic" games (i.e. 1968 version of the game of life).
Imperial 2030 is very entertaining - there's a feeling of sadistic glee in purchasing entire countries and making them fight for your profit. Open season on opinions of other Mac Gerdts rondel games - is Imperial the best of the lot?
Opinions on BGG seem to be divided as to which is better, Imperial, or Imperial 2030. In terms of other Gerdts rondel games, Antike is out of print, but there are rumors that a new edition is forthcoming, hopefully at Essen, or at least an announcement. I really enjoy Navegador as a rondel-based market manipulation game, but having bought his newest game, Concordia, which was nominated for a Kennerspiel award, I think I prefer that more, even though they're not exactly the same and Concordia uses a deck-building mechanic as opposed to a rondel.
At the end of the day though, Gerdts is one of my favorite designers and I will pretty much buy anything he comes out with, so I'm biased.
Tabletop is taking submissions for Season 3 of their show, and I don't know why it bothers me, but they require a publisher to send them 12 copies of a game for it to be considered for use in an episode. Copies are not returned, and there is no explanation of why they need 12, or what the copies are used for after the show.
Given the impact that the show is proven to have on a game's sales, it really isn't asking much. Production cost of a game is between 1/8 to 1/4 of its MSRP, so this is costing $50-250 depending on the game, plus shipping, which is a reasonable gamble to take for most any publisher.
It just seems arrogant to me though. Last season they said they started with a list of ~180 games. You couldn't weed that out a little bit first before telling people to send in their truck-loads of games? Where the fuck do they all go? 12 is an arbitrary number, and I can't fathom whey 12 copies are required for some prep-work and a 3-hour shoot, even if you sent a copy to every guest scheduled to appear that day.
I'm all for taking advantage of your position, and Tabletop earned it. I think I'd be more comfortable with them straight up charging a submission fee, because at least then it would be clear what they were doing.
They need to assess the game, which means playtesters. We know that each guest has played the game at least once (at least, for Season 1), so perhaps they were each mailed a copy beforehand?
If there were a submission, they'd still have to go buy the games, which would be more expensive given the markups you detailed.
I feel like Wil Wheaton started the show by choosing games that he owns, plays, and really enjoys - wanting to share them with everyone. If this is changing to 'give us your game and maybe we will advertise it for you,' especially after kickstarting this season, then the show might be going on my Bad List.
Depending on the direction it takes I may be off in recommending it. I am advanced enough to realize the show is good for those who are simply not well versed in TT. The sad part is that there isn't a really good alternative to share.
I have never recommended it, but I don't actively hate on the show. If I was in a position to recommend Tabletop, I know I could do a better job of giving an intro to tabletop games myself. I stopped watching it almost immediately in season 1 when they couldn't get the rules right for the games they were playing.
I agree that 12 is high but not extreme. If each guest needs a copy in advance to play, plus a few copy for producers, plus a few copies for the day of filming, then it all works out. It's also a bit of a barrier to prevent them from getting too many shitty submissions, and to make sure the publisher really supports the game. They have been burned w/ their audience getting fired up for out-of-print games and then getting hit with disappointment. Don't want to let your viewers down.
The core of what irked me is that I don't feel 12 copies will put much of a dent in the number of submissions they receive. They are in an incredible position of power. There are not many ways to get serious buzz in the tabletop industry, and this show is one of them. Simply asking for 12 copies is the lazy way to put up a barrier to entry. It would go a long way if they just did an ounce of pre-screening.
In no way am I suggesting that this is some scam for them to get tons of free games. Coming from someone who for several years had box after box stuffed with free games showing up at his doorstep, that shit gets old fast, and most of the games are not great. So they're just clutter. The Geek & Sundry offices are going to have some impressive piles of 12 games, where the producers were able to rule a game out simply by looking at the back of the box.
Asking for 12 copies of your game is probably a lot more inclusive than asking for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars and going whole hog into being a de facto advertising company.
Played Euphoria, Splendor, King's Forge and Sushi Go with a friend yesterday. I won the first three, he won Sushi Go. After playing the first three again, I realized that I really like all three games and want to play them much more, and with more people.
First time playing Sushi Go. It is a drafting/set collection game by Gamewright, and I have enjoyed the other games of theirs that I have played including Dweebies and Zeus on the Loose. The game is very fast paced, and our two player game of three rounds took about 15-20 minutes, with only about 5 minutes of learning. It's a fairly simple game with cute art. It is one of those games that can for sure make you hungry while playing it though.
I have been trying to get a copy of Sushi Go! since PAX East. The game store here has a copy of the old printing that I played a few times while waiting around at Netrunner tournaments. It's like 7 Wonders, but faster and simpler.
I have been trying to get a copy of Sushi Go! since PAX East. The game store here has a copy of the old printing that I played a few times while waiting around at Netrunner tournaments. It's like 7 Wonders, but faster and simpler.
I have been trying to get a copy of Sushi Go! since PAX East. The game store here has a copy of the old printing that I played a few times while waiting around at Netrunner tournaments. It's like 7 Wonders, but faster and simpler.
Also, I'm waiting for the game store to get it. Not for the reasons most people buy things from the local game store, but because I won a bunch of store credit playing Netrunner. I can get it for free!
Comments
- Played Brass for the first time. Got the shit kicked out of me. I realized my poor decisions halfway through the first age and could never catch up. I didn't fully grasp how limited you can be by your hand. You absolutely cannot hold out on a strategy in hopes of drawing the right card next turn. This game takes "do what the other players aren't doing" to the max. Observe their moves, and then play with the cards you've got.
- Had a 6-player game of Small World and Small World: Underground combined, with all expansions thrown in. It was nutty. We knew it was going to be a cluster. It actually went a lot smoother and faster than anyone anticipated, and we luckily avoided any broken combos popping out. I would never recommend anyone else ever do this, but I have a soft spot for Small World and am glad I've done the combined game now.
- Played The Speicherstadt for the first time. Awesome game! Deep thinking yet quick playing. Love the twist on bidding for resources. Not a simple auction game at all. I love Stefan Feld and this is regarded as one of his better games. I can see why.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65901/age-industry
Martin Wallace is another designer where I'll never turn down an offer to play one of his games. Prior to Brass, I'd only played (and enjoyed) his more recent stuff, not what made him a big name: Automobile, London, Discworld: Ankh Morpork, Aeroplanes. The only thing I didn't care for from him was his Civil War game, Test of Fire.
One game I read the rules to in anticipation of playing this past weekend was Myrmes, a pretty heavy game with an interesting theme: running an ant colony. Seems like a good game, but plans for that one fell through. Holding out judgement until I get to really play.
A similar scenario also occurred in our game of Splendor afterwards. 2-0!
I played Impulse this weekend with Coldguy and Raithnor, and immediately bought my own copy to play with Anthony the next time he's here. All the cards are unique, but not as unique as Innovation's. The consequences of your actions are initially unclear, but not as unclear as Glory to Rome's. Bankler said that it has "chutzpah"... seems about right for a Chudyk game. In Glory to Rome, Innovation, and Impulse, victory often feels like it should be followed by a booming "fatality".
That game earned me third place and the leery stares of some grumpy people.
I'll stop holding out for the black box version of Glory to Rome, that shit has been on pre-order since late 2013.
What kind of scores did you see in a 7 player game? Did anyone get into triple digits?
The top player won with 82 having all 6 dwarves, pretty decked out gear and a full board. Kind of expected with how he was rolling. Second place was 79 with the guy having a full board and 30 animals. He had 7 dogs in one tile.
I had 68, going for the vegetables and wheat. Not bad considering only two dwarves, no weapons, and six missing squares. Then it was 58, 55, 44, and the owner of the game with 39. He spent so many turns taking first player just because I was looking at his board so much.
At the end of the day though, Gerdts is one of my favorite designers and I will pretty much buy anything he comes out with, so I'm biased.
Given the impact that the show is proven to have on a game's sales, it really isn't asking much. Production cost of a game is between 1/8 to 1/4 of its MSRP, so this is costing $50-250 depending on the game, plus shipping, which is a reasonable gamble to take for most any publisher.
It just seems arrogant to me though. Last season they said they started with a list of ~180 games. You couldn't weed that out a little bit first before telling people to send in their truck-loads of games? Where the fuck do they all go? 12 is an arbitrary number, and I can't fathom whey 12 copies are required for some prep-work and a 3-hour shoot, even if you sent a copy to every guest scheduled to appear that day.
I'm all for taking advantage of your position, and Tabletop earned it. I think I'd be more comfortable with them straight up charging a submission fee, because at least then it would be clear what they were doing.
I agree that 12 is high but not extreme. If each guest needs a copy in advance to play, plus a few copy for producers, plus a few copies for the day of filming, then it all works out. It's also a bit of a barrier to prevent them from getting too many shitty submissions, and to make sure the publisher really supports the game. They have been burned w/ their audience getting fired up for out-of-print games and then getting hit with disappointment. Don't want to let your viewers down.
The core of what irked me is that I don't feel 12 copies will put much of a dent in the number of submissions they receive. They are in an incredible position of power. There are not many ways to get serious buzz in the tabletop industry, and this show is one of them. Simply asking for 12 copies is the lazy way to put up a barrier to entry. It would go a long way if they just did an ounce of pre-screening.
In no way am I suggesting that this is some scam for them to get tons of free games. Coming from someone who for several years had box after box stuffed with free games showing up at his doorstep, that shit gets old fast, and most of the games are not great. So they're just clutter. The Geek & Sundry offices are going to have some impressive piles of 12 games, where the producers were able to rule a game out simply by looking at the back of the box.
First time playing Sushi Go. It is a drafting/set collection game by Gamewright, and I have enjoyed the other games of theirs that I have played including Dweebies and Zeus on the Loose. The game is very fast paced, and our two player game of three rounds took about 15-20 minutes, with only about 5 minutes of learning. It's a fairly simple game with cute art. It is one of those games that can for sure make you hungry while playing it though.
Also, I'm waiting for the game store to get it. Not for the reasons most people buy things from the local game store, but because I won a bunch of store credit playing Netrunner. I can get it for free!