mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5056
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

If you read the history of DROD, you will notice that DROD actually started out as a board game of sorts. Erik Hermansen prototyped the idea of kings on a chessboard wielding swords. Turns could be spent either moving your king or rotating it to face another direction. Since the feedback Erik got was positive, a legacy was born.

The DROD experience is possible largely thanks to tight game mechanics. Deterministic, turn-based, tile-stepping mechanics with clear movement rules (well, mostly). Were it not for the fact that DROD rooms each contain over a thousand tiles, often filled with hundreds of monsters, and featuring dozens of distinct game elements, it might be feasible to present DROD in a board game format today. However, for better or worse, I doubt that players would be interested in, first, setting up a thousand-tile board, and second, moving a hundred monsters around each turn by hand. Or third -- paying well over a hundred bucks for the mound of game components such a direct translation of the DROD experience would require. Computers take care of all of those details for you and electrons are quite cheap. Still, there is a play experience that board games provide that can not be produced by video games: you get to play with toys.

There is something intrinsically satisfying about beautiful game components that you can hold in your hand and look at in three dimensions -- cards, dice, colorful wooden bits, plastic figures, cardboard tiles, and maybe a beautifully-drawn game board that, for a while, becomes your world. On top of this, there is something irreproducable about being able to sit around with friends and family and share a memorable gaming experience together. Where you look at each other instead of at a monitor. Board games provide not only small children -- but also responsible, mature adults, and even grumpy, old men -- a perfect excuse to play with toys together.

In the USA, we know all about mass-produced Hasbro games like Monopoly, Risk, Life, Stratego, and others. The aforementioned games have been around for fifty years or more. Gaming technology and design has advanced a lot since then, but families are still often buying these same old, tired titles, often because it's what's on the store shelf and they just don't know any better. Popular American games have a flow that goes something like: 1) Roll some dice, 2) move a pawn, 3) do what the board says where you land. This allows for a very limited amount of strategy and is almost entirely luck-driven, and as such, has a limited appeal for adults. If the game takes a while to play (you know who you are), kids often lose interest before the end too.

This play style has turned off a lot of people from board games in America and elsewhere. This is regrettable, because there are literally hundreds of designer games available that for many people are much more interesting to play. There have always been designer games in the US, but the great majority of these have come out of Europe. In particular, as with fine-tuned cars, Germany is a hotbed of fine-tuned game design. As I understand it, while many Americans spend a large chunk of leisure time watching TV, Europeans more often tend to activities that promote family interaction. Board games easily fill this role, and over the last twenty years or so, there has been an outpouring of "Euro-style" board games. Thanks to the internet, these have become quite accessible in the US and US game publishers are importing these titles for local sale.

Your typical mass-market American game like Monopoly has little strategy, typically involves knocking players out of the game along the way, and might take several hours to play (which long duration becomes unbearable when players are knocked out early and have nothing to do while the last few players finish). In contrast, Euro-games as a rule are more strategic, with luck playing a smaller role, with more streamlined rules and tighter play mechanics. They typically don't knock players out of the game mid-stream, and are usually relatively quick to play. They are generally non-violent and not fiercely competitive, so it's easier for the whole family to be involved in a fun gaming experience without worrying so much that your child's feelings might be hurt when they land on your hotel on Boardwalk and run out of money, or they only have one country left on the map, and you are rushing in with your fifty armies. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with that when you've got a group of guys together who can take a hit to their gamer ego, but when you're looking for a more casual gaming experience, it doesn't always satisfy the crowd.

A grandfather of the Euro-game movement is SETTLERS OF CATAN. In Settlers, players compete to build settlements, cities and roads in order to become the dominant tribe on the island. I'm sure many of our international audience here have played and love this game. Being wildly popular, as far as board games go, there are several expansions and spin-offs to the game. It has even popped up recently on XBox Live. SETTLERS is considered a "gateway" game -- it's the type of game that gamers might use to introduce non-gamers into the larger world of board gaming, giving them a feel for what a game with strategy beyond Monopoly might feel like.

If you've tried and enjoyed playing SETTLERS once upon a time, some other gateway games you might like are TICKET TO RIDE, a card-based trick-taking game where you build railways across the country to earn points, and CARCASSONNE, a tile-based game where you compete to develop your community by placing your followers on roads, cities, and fields. Each of these games also has inspired a slew of sequels. If you're looking for some new and interesting board games to play with family or friends, you might try some of these out. I like games of all kinds, but more importantly, these games are something I can always play with my wife and kids.

This article is already getting pretty long so I'll break here, but I've barely scratched the surface of strategic and tactical board games. Please share your thoughts on board games! If this topic is interesting to you, I'd like to follow up in future editions of the Illumination with some more great games that might be of particular interest to those who love the way DROD plays thanks to similar types of play strategies.


RoboBob's Topic Picks: Succumbing to Deadlines Edition

Happiness is...
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=30067
Happiness is gloating. Have you stolen a high score from anybody recently? Do you have anything at all that you'd like to gloat about? Darn it - tell the world!

DROD Wiki
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29942
A fan-driven effort has started to collect DROD universe information into a Wiki. Feel free to contribute!

Using additional tools in DROD RPG
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29840
When you play DROD RPG, do you just plow through the level sets, or are you a meticulous notetaker? Do you use a spreadsheet or an abacus? What gets you through the game? Come see the advice, strategies, and tools that other players utilize, and give us some of your contributions!

Why DROD doesn´t appeal to the masses
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29781
You're a refined gamer with copious amounts of indie cred - you understand that DROD is a niche game. But what exactly is it about DROD that makes its audience so specific?



DROD: The City Beneath Holds
Flight of the Fegundo
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=30023
soco ban sword
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=30014
Zen
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29874
One Step Ahead
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29792
Puzzlemania
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29769
No-monster hold compilation
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29761
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly compilation
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29752
Empire's power: And Beethro comes along
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29750

DROD: RPG Level Sets
Hold Anonymous
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29932
Cludo's dungeon
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=29766

-----------------------------------

Thanks, Robobob! Till next time!

- Mike

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 10-22-2009 04:13 AM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

mrimer wrote:
This article is already getting pretty long so I'll break here, but I've barely scratched the surface of strategic and tactical board games. Please share your thoughts on board games! If this topic is interesting to you, I'd like to follow up in future editions of the Illumination with some more great games that might be of particular interest to those who love the way DROD plays thanks to similar types of play strategies.

I am a huge fan of strategic and tactical board games. A few years back I tried to drum up some interest in some of the online versions of popular board games (via www.spielbyweb.com), basically taking the full boardgame experience and putting it into a turn-based play-by-web version.

Oddly (some may consider), I'm less of a fan of Settlers itself, because it involves negotiation. To me, the game becomes less about playing with what you're given and more about convincing others to give you what you need. It's a mechanic that works for some, and I do enjoy the game on occasion, but usually I tend to steer clear of games with a built-in negotiation element.

Particular favorites of mine include: Ra, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Agricola, and Reef Encounter. But there are so many.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
IP: Logged

I belong to a board game group which meets once a month (although not so much lately). The guy who runs it is a board game nut, and has many if not all of the games you mentioned. We also get together to play table top RPGs.

I thought about creating a "DROD" board game based only on the mechanics of serpents. I wanted to put it on a hex board, but a square board would have worked as well. Each turn, your serpent would move forward or turn and move like serpents in DROD while the tail follows along (perhaps you could make a variable number of moves each turn). The object, very similar to one of the contests we ran way back, would be to trap the heads of your opponents' serpents long enough for them to shrink down to one square (ala DROD). There would have been special squares to allow you to grow your serpent, or possibly to split off a second serpent. I think it would be an interesting and strategic type of game.

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

stigant wrote:
I thought about creating a "DROD" board game based only on the mechanics of serpents. I wanted to put it on a hex board, but a square board would have worked as well. Each turn, your serpent would move forward or turn and move like serpents in DROD while the tail follows along (perhaps you could make a variable number of moves each turn). The object, very similar to one of the contests we ran way back, would be to trap the heads of your opponents' serpents long enough for them to shrink down to one square (ala DROD). There would have been special squares to allow you to grow your serpent, or possibly to split off a second serpent. I think it would be an interesting and strategic type of game.

Programmed movement games are fun. The serpent idea reminds me of a game called 'Fearsome Floors', in which players try to escape from a dungeon while being chased by a monster. The monster has very specific movement rules but a random amount of movement every turn. In practice, the game is fairly chaotic -- the last person to move can predict with certainty how the monster will move (but not how far), but each previous person needs to worry about all the previous players.

Of course, the king of programmed movement games is RoboRally, which has an online version at http://www.eyeplaygames.com. The online version isn't the same as the board game, but it's quite close and really a lot of fun.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Dischorran
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3407
Registered: 09-10-2005
IP: Logged

Played Settlers of Catan, but being used to Risk and the like think it needs more fighting? First, try it again, but make sure this time to block people in with your roads and settlements, use the robber to steal cards from someone just after they bust their hand limit, and of course use a Monopoly card to collect back all the cards you just traded out. Second, try Nexus Ops.

Also, breaking the standard rule of licensed properties leading to crap games, Galactica the game is to board games as Galactica the show is to shows.

And, of course, the lack of any mention of The Next Big Project (unless, of course, it's a board game) annoys me.

____________________________

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

I just want to recomend Race for the Galaxy. It's fast, it's complex and non-bulky, since it's a card-game. It's an excellent game for two players, and pretty good with more players as well. Me and my girlfriend have spent quite some time playing it.

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

When playing boardgames, who you play with is more important than the game, IMHO. We tried to play some board/card games as a family, and some in my family people didn't want to think too much in their games, and others are incredibly bad sports.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Race for the Galaxy is great (and if you like that, you may also like Dominion).

I am not a huge fan of the Battlestar Galactica boardgame, in spite of the excellent source material. My main complaint with it is that it seems excessively long and not particularly varied from turn to turn. I would probably have loved it at two hours. At four plus, it gets an 'OK, but...' from me.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

NiroZ wrote:
When playing boardgames, who you play with is more important than the game, IMHO. We tried to play some board/card games as a family, and some in my family people didn't want to think too much in their games, and others are incredibly bad sports.

You're right in that it does matter whom you play with. In many cases, it's possible to pick a game that works well for a particular crowd.

For a family where people prefer games that aren't serious brainburners, things like Carcassonne or Ticket to Ride may work well. (I also like Blokus and Ingenious, but some may disagree as to how thinking-intense these are.)

Roll Through the Ages is another excellent game that's low on required thinking and still is a lot of fun.

As for playing with poor sports, well...that's more difficult. My own personal poor sport is currently six years old, so I have hopes that he'll grow out of it.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
IP: Logged

Of course, the king of programmed movement games is RoboRally

Indeed! In fact, I used to play as "Stigs" at eyeplaygames.com

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1302
Registered: 02-12-2006
IP: Logged

jbluestein wrote:
As for playing with poor sports, well...that's more difficult. My own personal poor sport is currently six years old, so I have hopes that he'll grow out of it.

Josh

6 year olds are easy, because you can expect them to be that way, and easily find games that they won't like/find a way to distract them.

When your bad sport is closing on 60, it's much worse. Which is why my siblings much rather LAN games.

Ravon
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 220
Registered: 02-19-2004
IP: Logged

jbluestein wrote:
Of course, the king of programmed movement games is RoboRally, which has an online version at http://www.eyeplaygames.com. The online version isn't the same as the board game, but it's quite close and really a lot of fun.

RoboRally is loads of fun. Eyeplay, on the other hand, is somewhat lacking. It has been without an active developer for some time (a couple years, if I'm not mistaken). Luckily, Opti, one of the big players at Eyeplay and also my uncle, put together roboracer. A couple of the better players from the old site and I have started playing on the new site. It is a pretty straightforward clone of eyeplay (though not of the boardgame? I'm not sure), but changes a couple rules to make for a more fun game and adds a couple new elements.

So, maybe play over there? It'd be nice to have some robos who I could reasonably compete against (read: are not fantastically good).

---

[Last edited by Ravon at 09-29-2009 03:41 AM : Quoting woes.]

Oneiromancer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2936
Registered: 03-29-2003
IP: Logged

jbluestein wrote:
Oddly (some may consider), I'm less of a fan of Settlers itself, because it involves negotiation. To me, the game becomes less about playing with what you're given and more about convincing others to give you what you need. It's a mechanic that works for some, and I do enjoy the game on occasion, but usually I tend to steer clear of games with a built-in negotiation element.

That's a very good point, and it definitely starts to get annoying when someone pulls something like "I'll trade you only if you don't move the robber to one of my squares next time" or something like that. But I still enjoy the game if for nothing else than the way the board is different every time.

I played Goa at a friend's board game party and liked it enough to buy it. If you enjoy auction games like that Ra, Traumfabrik/Hollywood Blockbuster, or Amun Re, I'd recommend Goa.

Another game I've enjoyed playing a few times is El Grande.

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

Yes, I always urge for a rule that you can't trade with future resourses or actions while playing Settlers. Apart from that I'm in the qourner that really likes the negotiation aspects of Settlers. Probably partly because I'm a very good negotiator (at least within the game), and I almost always win.

However I would argue that the negotiation arguments are almost "worse" in Puerto Rico, where you sometimes have to argument against other players taking certain actions, since that would be "too" benificial for another player. Negotiations like this are frequent when I play the game: "If I take producer, and you take captain and put XXX in the big ship the leading player won't be able to ship his YYY, and they will rot away. Sounds like a plan?"

That's one aspect I like about being two players. It's all strategy (and a bit of luck). No possibility for multiple player to gang up against the leader.

---

[Last edited by Blondbeard at 09-29-2009 07:20 AM]

zaubberer
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 251
Registered: 03-29-2005
IP: Logged

about playing board games via computer i would like to recommend a webside from germany: Brettspielwelt (webside also available in english and 16 other languages)

there you can choose from more than 50 board and card games and play them online with other people. there are two ways to play on this portal. first and may be easiest is to play via your browser, second and most times the better one is to download a little client programm. it runs with java and is much more stable than the browser variant.

about the community there: usually more than thousand players from around the world are online so it should be possible to find a game to play nearly every time. if help is needed there are some tutors, who explain the important things if you ask. also there is a meta game about the world of those board gamers. if you are a registered member at Brettspielwelt.de (don't panic, it's completely free!) you earn points for every game you played. with those points your nick grows up in one of two categories: secular and clerical ranks. while the games splitted in multi user and single user games you will get a clerical rank when you got one third (or more) of your points in single user games. when your nick reached the second rank (more than 100 points needed, i.e. 10 times playing settlers of catan will bring this points) you cam get a member of a virtual town. there are at the moment 240 towns, also with english speaking members.

in the community lots of activities get startet. so you can play in different leagues, a world cup similar to the olympic games comes around, marathons (selected games for a selected period in one town) and more.

to find a game you like you can use a manager which shows all the game tables where players wanted. also there is a special chat channel to find games or players. usually it is a good way to say hello when you entering a room and ask for playing with the people who staying there. the designated netiquette is similar to the caravel forum, the difference is just that you interact directly with other players.

about the games: i.e. you have the choice from Settlers Of Catan, Carcasonne (also with some extensions), Caylus, DOG (a ludo style games with cards instead of dices), Dominion, Power Grid, Kingsburg, Pandemic, To Court the King, Vikings, Wizard and many more.

if you like to try out games you've neever played before you will find help on the webside. also learning rounds are provided to learn new games.

so feel free to visit the Board Games World. hope you enjoy it...

zaubberer

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Oneiromancer wrote:
I played Goa at a friend's board game party and liked it enough to buy it. If you enjoy auction games like that Ra, Traumfabrik/Hollywood Blockbuster, or Amun Re, I'd recommend Goa.

Another game I've enjoyed playing a few times is El Grande.

All great games. Rudiger Dorn (who did Goa) recently published a new game called Diamonds Club, which is a lot of fun as well.

(One of my other recent favorites is Brass, by Martin Wallace. It's about the Industrial Revolution in Lancashire, England...excellent stuff.)

Speaking of games, I had my weekly game night last night. We played Race for the Galaxy, Jenseits von Theben and Dschunke.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Blondbeard wrote:
However I would argue that the negotiation arguments are almost "worse" in Puerto Rico, where you sometimes have to argument against other players taking certain actions, since that would be "too" benificial for another player. Negotiations like this are frequent when I play the game: "If I take producer, and you take captain and put XXX in the big ship the leading player won't be able to ship his YYY, and they will rot away. Sounds like a plan?"

The difference for me is that, in Puerto Rico, such planning/negotiation isn't intrinsic to the game. Our group encourages a certain degree of trash talk ("If you produce now, Fred will get to sell coffee and run away with the game!") but we frown on any sort of formal agreement. Not that it stops people sometimes...

That's one aspect I like about being two players. It's all strategy (and a bit of luck). No possibility for multiple player to gang up against the leader.

There are a lot of great two-player games out there as well. San Juan is great with two.

Josh



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1486
Registered: 03-31-2005
IP: Logged

Yes, it is. But I like Race for the Galaxy better. I also like The Castle (a nifty two players version of Carcasone), and right now I'm trying to teach my girlfriend Magic. Magic is a great game, although terribly expensive, but since I already have several thousand cards I might as well use them. I'll probably buy Dominion as well. Do you have any other two player recomendations.

Dischorran
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3407
Registered: 09-10-2005
IP: Logged

Blondbeard wrote:
Yes, it is. But I like Race for the Galaxy better. I also like The Castle (a nifty two players version of Carcasone), and right now I'm trying to teach my girlfriend Magic. Magic is a great game, although terribly expensive, but since I already have several thousand cards I might as well use them. I'll probably buy Dominion as well. Do you have any other two player recomendations.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with the games you've mentioned so far, but I'm a big fan of Khet. It's more of a vaguely chess-style game (with lasers!), but a lot of fun, and not at all lasery-gimmicky.

____________________________

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Blondbeard wrote:
Yes, it is. But I like Race for the Galaxy better. I also like The Castle (a nifty two players version of Carcasone), and right now I'm trying to teach my girlfriend Magic. Magic is a great game, although terribly expensive, but since I already have several thousand cards I might as well use them. I'll probably buy Dominion as well. Do you have any other two player recomendations.

One of my favorite two-player games is Starship Catan. It's based on Starfarers of Catan, which is (as you may guess), a space-themed Settlers variation. Starfarers is a lot of fun and one of my favorites, and Starship Catan is really one of the best two-player games I've encountered.

I also love StreetSoccer, by Cwali, which has the advantage of being fairly quick to play.

Kosmos in general makes a huge number of two-player games of varying quality. I like: Lost Cities, Balloon Cup, Pyramid of the Jaguars, FlowerPower, Odin's Ravens, Hera & Zeus, Babel, Jambo, Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. I don't so much like: Hellas, The Reef (which is OK but not great), Lord of the Rings: The Search.

If you're in the mood for something more involved, Twilight Struggle and 1960: The Making of a President are both very well-done...but they move slightly closer to a wargamey feel.

I could probably go on for a while, but I guess I'll stop here.

For now.

Josh

Umm...also, Battle Line, GIPF/ZERTZ/DVONN/YINSH/TAMSK/




____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

zaubberer
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 251
Registered: 03-29-2005
IP: Logged

*smiles* the GIPF project is also part of Brettspielwelt, you can play there Dvonn & Yinsh. Street soccer also is a game to be played there. //"advertisement" finished

P.S.: i met Kris Burm to times at a fair in Essen (Spiel '09 is coming up in about four weeks), and talked to him about the idea behind the GIPF project. be sure it was very funny and interresting he also signed two of my games...

zaubberer

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

zaubberer wrote:
*smiles* the GIPF project is also part of Brettspielwelt, you can play there Dvonn & Yinsh. Street soccer also is a game to be played there. //"advertisement" finished

P.S.: i met Kris Burm to times at a fair in Essen (Spiel '09 is coming up in about four weeks), and talked to him about the idea behind the GIPF project. be sure it was very funny and interresting he also signed two of my games...

zaubberer

I used to spend a lot of time on BSW...mostly playing Tichu, although I did take a few shots at Doppelkopf while I was there. Less time to do it these days, most of my online gaming time is spent with DROD.

As for Spiel, well...let me just say that I am green with envy. I would love to be able to go someday, but it's probably just as well for my finances that I can't afford the time.

Enjoy yourself there!

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

zwetschenwasser
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 200
Registered: 05-22-2007
IP: Logged

www.boardgameswithscott.com

is a great website for those trying to dive into the wonderful pool of higher level board games.

____________________________
Currently working on GaTEB and KDD (never finished the silly thing).

GigaClon
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 21
Registered: 02-08-2007
IP: Logged

Neuland is a great game for people that like Action Maximization / Resource Management.

Aton is a quick, cheap and fun game for two people.

Tsuro is a simple game that goes up to 8 People.

If you want to play these kind of board games, hit up your local comic / hobby / geek store. If they don't play them there they know people who do. You might also check out www.boardgamegeek.com they have lots of members and you might find someone local

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1308
Registered: 11-24-2005
IP: Logged

I don't think I could pass by this thread without dropping a plug for Magic: the Gathering... but I'll throw in a suggestion of Cosmic Encounter, a rather off-beat (and very fun!) game which contributed to Magic's design.

The game has each player playing as a different alien race, each with a special power. The gameplay consists mostly of "encounters" with other players, which are primarily one-on-one, but you can have allies on a per-encounter basis. Each of the main players reveals a card, attack or negotiate. If you both attack, the person with the higher strength wins (each attack card has a strength associated with it; the number of ships in the encounter and other cards or alien powers can influence it). If one player attacks and the other negotiates, the negotiator loses, but gets to collect compensation in the form of cards or restoring destroyed ships. If both players negotiate, in one of the awesomest board game mechanics of all time, the two players have one minute to reach an agreement, or everyone present loses. The goal is to win encounters to force your ships onto opposing planets and establish 5 colonies, while defending your own planets (you don't actually need to defend your planets to win, but without ships on your planets, your opponents may beat you to the 5th colony).

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

GigaClon wrote:
Neuland is a great game for people that like Action Maximization / Resource Management.

Aton is a quick, cheap and fun game for two people.

Tsuro is a simple game that goes up to 8 People.

It's funny to see Neuland in a list with two comparatively light games such as Aton and Tsuro. Although, to be fair, almost anything is light compared to Neuland.

Neuland is one of my favorite games, but it requires a lot of analysis and careful planning. Certainly not for everyone, but a definite gamer's game.

Aton and Tsuro aren't bad either, although neither has really grabbed enough of my interest to merit further attention.

As for coppro's comments on Magic and Cosmic Encounter:

Cosmic Encounter is a wonderful game, but it's worth noting that playing it properly requires a considerably different mindset than most of the modern 'Euro' games that are currently the rage. Your average Euro designer takes pride in a set of consistent and simple rules that combine to make a complex game. Cosmic Encounter is a game for rules lawyers. If you're not willing to go down to the smallest detail in deciding how things work with each other, you're going to be pretty disappointed in the game. Also, because of its expandable nature, there are quite a few 'killer combos' in CE that can be really difficult to beat. That said, I do love the game.

As for Magic...well, I used to play it a lot. Back from 1994 to sometime around 2000. I liked the interplay of different elements, but ultimately I got overwhelmed by the volume of cards and the rules changes. I finally divested myself of the remainder of my Magic cards earlier this year, having sold off most of the high-powered ones. Now I just have a little stack of super-rares that I am trying to work up the energy to sell on eBay, or something like that.

These days, I usually scratch my itch for that kind of game by playing Race for the Galaxy or Dominion -- both expandable but not collectible card games, and I like that they don't require a lot of advance prep time. In Magic, deck building was a big part of the game, and it wasn't something I particularly enjoyed.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

coppro
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1308
Registered: 11-24-2005
IP: Logged

jbluestein wrote:
Cosmic Encounter is a wonderful game, but it's worth noting that playing it properly requires a considerably different mindset than most of the modern 'Euro' games that are currently the rage. Your average Euro designer takes pride in a set of consistent and simple rules that combine to make a complex game. Cosmic Encounter is a game for rules lawyers. If you're not willing to go down to the smallest detail in deciding how things work with each other, you're going to be pretty disappointed in the game. Also, because of its expandable nature, there are quite a few 'killer combos' in CE that can be really difficult to beat. That said, I do love the game.

Interesting... my experience with CE has been pretty good with regards to ruleslawyering (and my friends and I are attorneys-at-rules).

As for Magic...well, I used to play it a lot. Back from 1994 to sometime around 2000. I liked the interplay of different elements, but ultimately I got overwhelmed by the volume of cards and the rules changes. I finally divested myself of the remainder of my Magic cards earlier this year, having sold off most of the high-powered ones. Now I just have a little stack of super-rares that I am trying to work up the energy to sell on eBay, or something like that.

PM me a list... I might be interested (or not).

Tim
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1979
Registered: 08-07-2004
IP: Logged

Mike just informed me that it's that time of the month again.

Therefore, if anyone has something important to say (like contests info, or a hold that is worth replaying, Forum Picks, etc.), PM me (or e-mail Mike) with some text and he can probably include it in the next Illumination.

____________________________
The best way to lose customers is to let little kids running loose on a forum with too many mod points.

Lamkin
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 606
Registered: 08-17-2008
IP: Logged

Tom Wham's Snit's Revenge and The Awful Green Things from Outer Space are both excellent board games, but they're also both fairly old and each has been out of print for quite some time, so they're not easy to find and are a bit pricey—and probably far from being in pristine or mint condition—when you do finally manage to track down a copy that's up for sale.
Also, I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has ever played (or even heard of) either one of those games.

---

[Last edited by Lamkin at 10-22-2009 05:25 AM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Lamkin wrote:
Tom Wham's Snit's Revenge and The Awful Green Things from Outer Space are both excellent board games, but they're also both fairly old and each has been out of print for quite some time, so they're not easy to find and are a bit pricey—and probably far from being in pristine or mint condition—when you do finally manage to track down a copy that's up for sale.
Also, I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has ever played (or even heard of) either one of those games.

I used to own copies of both, back in the 80s. Awful Green Things is still not that hard to find a copy of, as long as you don't mind used.



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck