Play to win, win to play edition.

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This general encompasses all board game genres - Eurogames, Ameritrash, Ameritreasure, Abstracts, Wargames, and especially the genre that one anon is autistic about at this very moment.

TQ:
When teaching a game, will you let your opponents win, or crush them like the plebs they are?

Confess your bgg sins. What's that slop game you're always down to play?

Dayumb is this a weak ass OP.
The sloppiest slop Ive ever seen.
Whens your KS campaign launching, OP?

>>96160193 (OP)
I always trying my best but since I'm also giving tips and answering questions I usually lose if there is at least 1 other player that knows how to play

>>96160306
This, except I don't try my best, just do whatever out of hubris, and end up losing. Legit embarassing mindset, I kick myself every time after doing it.

>>96160193 (OP)
>When teaching a game, will you let your opponents win, or crush them like the plebs they are?
I usually deliberately play very loose and from the gut, usually because I keep a lot of my focus on every player so no mistakes/gamechanging errors happen

>Confess your bgg sins. What's that slop game you're always down to play?
Defining slop by the very vague /bgg/ standards, I do enjoy Terraforming mars a lot.

>>96160306
I always thought it was corny to introduce a game to someone and then beat them at it. But the alternatives are worse.

>>96160193 (OP)
>What's that slop game you're always down to play?
Mansions of Madness. I hate that I love that game. Flawed on every level. The mechanics are awful, but damn, so fun.

>>96160193 (OP)
>What's that slop game you're always down to play?
I'm always down to play -A- slop game, but not the same one multiple times in a row. Been a while since I've played Mansions of Madness, wouldn't say no to a game of Nemesis either.

I love boardgames, hate TTS, and play on BGA mostly. Is TTS more bearable in actual VR?

>>96160729
What do you dislike about tts?
If it's the shortcuts ('it's so cumbersome') spend literally 10 minutes to learn them.

>>96160773
The UI, the fact that I need to drag the pieces using the mouse like it's my hand.

>>96160786
How else would you move pieces around? The reason bga doesn't work this way is because it's all scripted. You can go to the trouble to do that in tts as well

>>96160806
A fully scripted TTS game is not always available, as I can see.

>>96160838
It's the cost of having a fully customizable sandbox to try out games that either aren't on BGA or haven't been scripted yet.

I personally hate BGA because of its UI and cumbersome need of having to confirm every single little thing so i guess we're different sides of the same coin. I really appreciate however being able to have several asynchronous games going at once which is something TTS cannot do.

>>96160868
I can't believe BGA has been around since 2010. I don't necessarily understand how the licensing works on it, but I'm assuming companies offer to have their game hosted? It's strange that it seems like community members are the ones making the tutorials and scripting, then.
I enjoy BGA, its only downside is lack of games. Hopefully more companies see it as a avenue of free advertising as I've bought a few games I wouldn't have after trying them on BGA.

I asked for TI4 advice for my first game last thread (playing with 3 others, all newbies)
No one cares but giving an update anyway.
It's going well, they all seem to like it a lot
Wheeling and dealing abound
The fact that there are 4 means every strategy is taken each turn, which I suppose changes the feel a bit, but no one has played any other way, so we aren't feeling disappointed.
The board feels a lot smaller than I had originally expected, we've taken all planets already and fights are starting to break out here and there

Overall a really good experience, at least a solid 7/10 so far
I can tell this is going to take a very long time though

>>96160956
>I don't necessarily understand how the licensing works on it
Here's the blogpost from a designer that got his game implemented in BGA https://prometheusgamelabs.wordpress.com/2023/08/14/how-a-game-gets-on-board-game-arena/

I only wish BGA didn't feel so i don't know if "outdated" is the word, but it does feel stuck in 2010 in terms of website tech. I guess migrating to a different language or updating their internal workings must be quite the undertaking, and very inconvenient for all the games in there.

>>96160993
I imagine when AI reaches a non dogshit level it will become trivial.

>>96160980
>No one cares but giving an update anyway.
I care. Keep us in the loop on the journey your group takes, and if you ever get 5th/6th players and how that changes the experience in your eyes.

>>96160956
>I don't necessarily understand how the licensing works on it, but I'm assuming companies offer to have their game hosted?
Somewhat. Usually BGA reaches out to the company and not the other way around, but it goes both ways.
They keep a roster or which companies they have good relations with and which companies and which publishers aren't interested so people won't get heckled.
It's also common for publishers to say "here's a bunch of other licenses if you want them" when asked for a license to a specific game.

Free games on BGA have a standard license agreement where BGA doesn't pay the publisher anything but can't charge money for the game.
There's no standard license for premium games. The details are worked out between the publisher and BGA on a game-by-game basis.

>>96160729
>bga
>want to use a card
>are you sure you want to use this card? [y/n]
>are you sure this is where you want to put your card? [y/n]
>are you going to use any reactions? [y/n]
>are you sure you want to end the turn? [y/n]

>tts
>just pick up a card and use it
I guess it works slower overall because it's more manual by design, but the BGA way of doing it is just pure AIDS. Not to mention the UI scaling which is ass cancer on top of it.

Several days late due to summer fun, but once again I shall try to beat my "other, superior self" in solo Imperium.
Per anons request, I'm piloting Olmecs vs Minoans, seeking that first win.
The starting Olmec deck looks like trash, not gonna lie. 2 powerful cards for acquiring from the market, 6 mask cards that must be spent to power my powerful tools but are largley useless otherwise, and some regions (I guess to garisson some masks so you dont flood out).
Meanwhile Minoans are vps go brrrrrrrr.
If I can get that W, these two handed games will be put to rest and I'll start using the solo bots to explore the rest of the civs.

>>96160193 (OP)
>a game, will you let your opponents win, or crush them like the plebs they are?
Not playing to win is disrespectful to all players at the table and create an advantage for the player acting after you, if I'm really good at a game I will talk strategy tips at the end of the teach to give everyone a better chance.

>>96161113
>bga reminds you when you're about to fuck up your turn
>tts just lets you cheat
very cool

>>96161155
I used to give tips in the middle of the game but one player in my group kept giving me the evil eye when the tips helped other players at their expense.

Anyone played the new Kemet expansion? Any thoughts? I just got mine in the mail but have nobody to play it with just yet.

>>96160193 (OP)
>When teaching a game, will you let your opponents win, or crush them like the plebs they are?
The play groups I teach games for are usually pretty sharp so I still have to play hard. I don't sandbag but I usually will give a strategy tip or two after the teach if I suspect a player or two are lost in the sauce.

>Confess your bgg sins. What's that slop game you're always down to play?
I don't think it's actual slop, maybe not much of a game, but I will always play Obsession and I'll always do voices and I'll always have fun.

you guys weren't joking, pax ren is peak

>>96161265
They were joking though. It's a great game but it's way too fiddly and it's not really fun at 2p like everyone on here says. You either get stomped and there's really nothing you can do about it or you stomp and there's nothing really they can do about it.

3p is the correct player count and anyone suggesting otherwise is trying to distract you from the Epstein files.

>>96161265
I havent played in a full moon, but I really miss it.
It's a fun puzzle figuring out which levers to pull, how to grind out a win, balance your very obvious win condition while either stalling the other ones out or maybe even pivoting and upsetting your opponents religious victory by getting in on that sweet jihadi hottie action.
Honestly, Ive never played an Eklund game that bored me. Even if I didnt jive with the mechanics or theme, Ive always been interested in seeing how the session plays out and what angles to shoot to upset the ecosystem the players collectively build.

>>96161284
Next you'll say 3p Porf > 2p Porf. How do I know you're not in the Epstein files?

>>96161284
It felt pretty competitive but it was only our first game, second player won with a renaissance victory.

>>96161265
Pax Ren is peak tabletop, but it's a real pain to teach well.

You either go for broad stroke and leave stuff out and then people stare at the card row like it's a black abyss or you teach the full game, corner-cases and all, and your teach encroaches on the game length itself. I'm getting better at teaching it, but for as good as it is, I've had a lot of people bounce hard off the their first game.

>>96160729
the VR implementation in TTS is horrible, do not use it
but if you can stomach BGA's interface, TTS is way better but also doesn't hold your hand so you can do shit you'd usually do in a normal board game night IRL like "oh i forgot to do this one small thing on my turn is it ok if i do it now?" and so on.
>>96160838
just script them yourself lol. it's that easy.

>>96161358
most of the exceptions are pretty intuitive, but even when the actions are as limited as they are, 16 actions are a lot to remember. Not sure why the second edition has worse iconography for the ops.

>>96160980
I care. Battle reports are good for the health of the thread, and the stories can be fun sometimes.
What factions are you using? Is everyone scoring at least one public objective per round? Those two questions are usually the dererminant in how long the game takes. with weak scoring factions and everyone missing points the game can last an extra round which can add an hour or two to the game time, but with strong factions and lots of bonus points like from Agenda cards or somesuch the game can be over by round 4. Playing all strategy cards also can accelerate the game,

>>96160956
>>96161284
>it's not really fun at 2p like everyone on here says
Are you insane anon
The game is dramatically worse at more that 2. Still good, but not great anymore.

>>96161634
Maybe the problem is you.

>>96161634
Not this anon >>96161717
but having a 3rd player forces negotiation and interaction. Too many times, a 2p game just devolves into a run away where the market can't help you and nothing you do is going to change the outcome. 3p gives you the opportunity to fix that.

I'm just gonna say it; I don't care for worker placement games.

>>96161817
Shut your whore mouth.

>>96161155
>tts just lets you cheat
so just dont cheat...? what kinda people do you play with that cheating is an actual issue?

I'm just gonna say it; I care for worker placement games.

>>96160980
>The board feels a lot smaller than I had originally expected, we've taken all planets already and fights are starting to break out here and there

The first round is the only peaceful round in TI4. Everything else is cut throat and contentious as shit

>>96161862
I think anon means accidentally cheating. The "ah fuck I couldn't have put that tile there 3 turns ago" kind of cheating

>>96162225
Counterargument: tabletop simulator lets you doodle on the table.

>>96162225
thats what happens in IRL games too. Just like git gud and don't do misplays.

>>96162167
No it's not. It stays passive aggressive throughout the game until someone declares they won by reaching some arbitrary goal.

>ludically innovative bidding mechanic
>it's stapled to the most boring engineslop imaginable

Guys this castle combo shit is addictive.
I could play this all day.

>>96162241
>>96162316
Oh don't get me wrong I don't think it's an argument against tts, just thought I'd clarify what I think anons intent was

marrakesh owns. i even like the cube tower

Lads we've been there and all but I really think Toy Battle is a standout game of 2025. I've done it and gotten the physical version for I have +70 games on bga and it's really fucking great.

>Game lasts not even 15 minutes
>Suprisingly deep gameplay
>Mario kart-esque 'Skill wins you 9/10 games, 1/10 is luck'
>Just random enough to keep the monkeybrain engaged
>small box chock full of chunky components
>Relatively cheap
>Half the box consists of the insane amount of maps they put in when 1 or 2 would've sufficed

Now the biggest hurdle is looking at it and giving it a chance because it looks like a fucking chinese mobile game. No idea what the intention there was. Surely Paolo moris best 2p design I've played, and that includes blitzkrieg and caesar

>>96162686
>fucking chinese mobile game
No it looks like a chinese mobile game. Zero marriageable waifus in your picture.

>>96160193 (OP)
>When teaching a game, will you let your opponents win, or crush them like the plebs they are?
Depends on the person and how they're playing, if they are really getting into I try to let them win. If it's obvious they are not understanding the game I just can't because it looks like I'm giving them a pity freebie.

>What's that slop game you're always down to play?
Eldrich horror and space alert. First one takes forever but is fun even when you lose. Space alert is just good old death in slow motion.

I gotta say though, if you're playing a competitive game like Root and you play an aggressive faction and you don't attack the vagabond/Woodland alliance because
>I don't want to be mean
Then goes out of their way to attack the guy who is dealing with them at the other side of the map because they understand pest control.
Well you're officially forbidden from coming to my wedding you dicksucker.

What do you think of the big japanese games making a breakthrough in the west?
Anyone played games like Ostia or Amalfi?

>>96162754
>What do you think of
I don't think of it. The only Japanese games I play are smallbox games.

>>96162602
>marrakesh
This is just one of those games that all seem the same to me and I can't tell them apart. Kind of like those "european city name game" or "ancient game that starts with a T". Never played any though (except Tzolkin).
>Merv
>Sabika
>Men-nefer
>Resafa
>Sankore

>>96161948
Which ones?

>>96162427
apparently it's getting a duel version.

>>96162686
this game is cool, i suggest it as well

>>96162789
Once I thought the exact same thing, then I played marrakesh. Or wait, I still think the whole series is the epitome of the stereotypical beige euro that sees you exchange resources for other resources for VP. It's just that - at least marrakesh - despite all these things still manages to be really fun and a good game

Today I learned and played Search for Planet X.
I will not be playing it again, and I think deduction games just aren't for me.
Felt bad as it's one of the owners favorite games and he was convinced he could get me to enjoy deduction games. But if that was suggested again at a game night, it's a no from me, dawg.

>>96161147
>figure out Olmecs pretty quickly
>have more available actions and combos than I have exhaustion and action markers
>accumulate several "X" vp/[suite/icon/resource] cards and the requirements to back them up
>end score, 92, feels pretty confident
>Minoans went vp!vp!vp!vp! all game and nabbed some solid Fame cards, ended game with 40+ points just with progress tokens
>"lose" 105-92
Grim.

>>96162902
What's so good about it? What game is it similar to?

>>96162754
>Ostia or Amalfi
I don't know how obtainable these games are. I heard you can get them through KS if you order one of their games (like Sweet lands) but I don't use KS.

>>96162905
Interesting... What do you think of Anno 1800?

>>96162982
One of the least fun games I've ever played. Utterly boring series of resources conversion. Either the people who like Martin Wallace suck for liking his worst output or he is just awful on his own.

>>96162982
Never played it, both board,- and videogame

>>96160193 (OP)
>When teaching a game, will you let your opponents win,
No

> or crush them like the plebs they are?
Also no. If I'm teaching, then I'm explaining rules, presenting strategic and tactical options, and pointing any odd / edge-case type rules that would reasonably influence a knowledgeable player's choices. I'm not going to make sub-par choices just to make my fellow players (temporarily) feel good. Nor am I going to focus on winning to the point that I do a poor job teaching.

If done correctly, teaching a new game to your players should give them a general understanding and feel for the game so that they can make an informed choice as to wether or not they want to play again and explore the game further. If done well, teaching not only accomplishes the the previous objectives, but allows the player to enjoy playing the game and hopefully instills the desire to play the game again going forward.


> What's that slop game you're always down to play?
Colt Express. It's so goofy it's hard not to laugh at some of the unexpected outcomes when blindly pre-programming your next turn's choices.

>>96160980
The nice part is the game will proceed at a faster pace as more of the players become comfortable with the game mechanics and choices available to them. Glad to hear you and your group are enjoying the game.

>>96162754
It's basically 99% smallbox tricktakers and I find it very puzzling how there is a whole big scene about the most minuscle variations to the formula

>>96163217
>DAAAAAAVE CAN YOU HEAR ME?
>I WANT TO MAKE A DEAL
>JUST MAKE SURE ANDREW CANT HEAR US, I WANT TO INVADE HIM NEXT TURN

>>96163258
>not physically standing up from the table and walking to whoever you wanna make a deal with
off to the Sidereal Confluence Correctional Facility with you, lazy bum

>>96162909
Yeah, most gamers have at least 1 or 2 types of games that they just don't get much enjoyment from. I'm not into super mathy Euro-games. Agricola, Caverna, etc, are a hard pass from me. I'm the same way with certain deck-builder style games. Dominion is a solid game, but I have zero interest in ever playing it again. I've got a friend I love gaming with, and have gamed with for decades. But I know he simply loaths any sort of social deduction game like Werewolf for the most part. So I don't suggest those style games when he's gaming with the group. The flip side is being gracious when declining a game. I've seen some people act hurt if one wants to sit out a game, but mature players are OK with someone opting out of a game they're not interested in while allowing others who enjoy it to have a good time.

>>96163322
>>96162909
Have you considered you're just brainlets?

>>96163307
>Sidereal Confluence Correctional Facility
MFW

>>96163340

>>96163307
>Sidereal Confluence Camp
But what would be the nastiest faction to give anon for his reprogramming?

>>96163340
Ive considered that I dont care for games offering that type of player interaction and puzzle solving.

>>96163217
I always mire that table for around 3 seconds, then realize how insanely impractical almost everything about it is. Also that beer placement seems like a desaster in waiting

>>96163354
Alt Imdril or Base Unity. Both have shit internal economy and basically no planet support so they have to go around and try to peddle their starting shit for a profit, and that means walking to each opponent and talking to them and then walking to other opponents to talk to them, and don't forget to try and sell the planet pick or excess ships, gotta use all the opportunities you got.

>>96163383
>Also that beer placement seems like a desaster in waiting
Years ago there was a story (with Pics) of a TI game where one of the players was drinking beer out of a large glass-bottom stein. The player set the stein down on the table (didn't slam it down) and the bottom of the stein sheered off and flooded the entire board with copious amounts of beer. The pictures show the aftermath with the game owner attempting to dry the wrinkling hex tiles and cards. Liquids in general are anathema to board games.

>>96162909
Same boat as you. It's not social deduction, more like subterfuge, but 23 Knives is a pretty good game that scratches a similar itch without being just educated guessing.

>>96162982
I love it. I don't know why but I find it very relaxing.

>>96163242
>99% smallbox tricktakers
true but I think anon is asking about the 1%

>>96162789
Do these games even sell? They seem to disappear as soon as they come out despite the good ratings. Is it the theme? Bad marketing?

>>96163604
Small print runs.

>>96160193 (OP)
>Confess your bgg sins. What's that slop game you're always down to play?
King of Tokyo. If anyone has a better light dice chucker to recommend then I am all ears. Bonus points if it plays up to 6 and is very interactive.

>>96163741
Age of War
Spots

Decided to take the plunge and get viticulture. How easy is it to teach to normies?

>>96163813
It isn't a difficult teach. It just requires giving new players a heads up on the need to think a few turns ahead and which areas they'll be placing workers on. I'd also recommend teaching about selling an unused plot early for cash resources in the early game. It's a solid game even if the theme doesn't grab me personally.

>>96163873
Yeah, same, I hate wine but everybody says it's a great game. Was considering either that one or aeterna as a worker placing game. Aeterna has a far better theme but seemed too complex to teach

>>96162945
Ok, take number seven.
Anons, please pick one of the remaining civs for me to main and one to oppose.
Both will be piloted to the best of my ability, no sub par plays to sabotage that smug jerk living in my left himsphere.

>>96163813
Hopefully you got it with the Visitors from the Rhine Valley deck. Anyways, the game is quite simple so it shouldn't be too hard to teach, they might get confused by the turn order choices and the fact that you have to wait to do the later season actions but nothing major.

>>96163889
you play Atlanteans vs Arthurians

>>96164073
Ive got a sinking feeling about this...

>new Yucata site design
change scary

>>96164133
ikr
what's with all this stuff that appears dynamically when it's relevant
it took me forever to find stuff that needed me to provide context for it to show up
at least the games aren't any different

>>96163813
You are the normie, Stonemaier slopgobbler.

>>96160729
TTS in VR is awful. And if you have bad wifi or bandwith issues it will ruin the game for everyone involved cause VR makes it 1000 times worse. Especially if there is a lot of movinf parts. TTS on desktop isnt hard to learn nor use and for most scripted games it works like a charm.

>>96160193 (OP)
>When teaching a game....
I play very weak in the beginning, mainly by introducing gameplay concepts each turn even if it's at my detriment to do so. The goal is to offer the most complete understanding of the core game possible by not only showing options but by also teaching counters to those options. When I feel they understand the flow of the game well, I go full force. Most of the time this results in me losing one or two games during the instructional phase for more complex pvp games. From that point onward though, I win the majority however the other player understands why they lost and get better at playing as a result.
Ideally, I am teaching someone to be a challenging opponent.

>Slop game you like
Depends what you mean by slop. If its a game that is midwit bullshit with a ton of randomization and no real strategy involved? DungeonQuest and Dungeon Ball. If its just mass market appeal? D&D adventure board games.

>>96162789
>>96162789

>>96164340
>D&D adventure board games

As an aside, how the fuck are these games so god damn good? They are like a step above HeroQuest but well beneath Gloomhaven or Descent to hit a sweet spot of easy to setup, play, and teach with fun exploration elements without being a boring piece of shit or having a dozen moving parts and AP roadblocks each turn.

>>96164346
I wonder if the OG guild will meme a MarraCash reprint into existence.

>>96163873
>>96164346
The rebirth/renature/revive one hits home hard

Also Forbidden desert/through the desert for me

>>96164816
Dont you forget forbidden stars.
Imperium/Imperial is also just about the worst name you can slap on a box these days.

Tried Arcs for the first time. I don't know how I feel about it because I really had a weird experience. There was like two moments where things connected and I did moves that flowed well but several rounds where I just didn't have the cards I needed and couldn't do much, especially when some people had already horded a resource, gotten their ambition declared and the combat dice, Jesus Christ, the combat dice to raid. I did a Hell Mary to stop someone winning and rolled 7 raid dice with not one key appearing.

>>96164862
True but I appreciate when mediocre games have mediocre names.

>>96164425
I think I've read somewhere that Playte is already making one, but I don't know what the theme will be. I swear I saw it say MarraCash/Texas on Dorra's website before but it's not there now.

>>96164073
>>96164108
Its over...it's finally over.
Spanked the welsh sheep fuckers 74 - 36.
Thise two civs were the most fun decks so far among the classics and legends civilizations.
The Arthurians garissoning knights to then abandon them for payoffs created these neat recursive combos and gaining new cards via completed quests, while the Atlanteans start the game as an Empire (unlocking all those sweet Civilized market cards) and had to sink region cards in order to acquire more goodies. The game ended with 12 cards in my sunken pile, taking a whole lot of bodies to the bottom of the sea (including several tributaries, rip Phoenicians and Persians).
I think the Athurian problem is once you complete all your quests (ending with the grail), you are supposed to play grail and trigger game end. They dont have a lot of ways after that to score new points, meanwhile the Atlanteans had many bonus actions and gobbled up market cards or generated tons more resources to fuel their x [pop/resources] / VPs cards. Instead they faffed around for a turn or two longer than they should have, not realizing: this was it, you peaked.
Thank you for reading my blog. Next I return to Imperium, it will be the true solo Bot module, and possibly some Horizons content.
Gotta say, despite its flaws, this game is a ton of fun.

>>96162754
I'm really into Japanese games. I got Ostia and really enjoy it. However I had to constantly check their site to see when it would be restocked. Considering getting Aqua Garden from them now, seems cool. I also enjoy Jap trick-takers, but that’s an acquired taste here it seems.

What I'm playing tonight!

Feeling like we want to try kingdom death again. Havent pulled it out since it was released. Can anyone tell.me how necessary all the extra shit is? I feel like I constantly see "Titty monster expansion girl with a fuck ton of cards and shit". Do these add more to the game or is it just really expensive hero packages like some gatcha shit? I loved the game but I am actually little overwhelmed with the amount of extra releasea.

>>96164816
>>96164862
> Forbidden Island - 'Rescue priceless artifacts before they're lost beneath the waves.'
> Forbidden Desert - 'Rescue pricelss artifacts before they're lost beneath leagues of sand.'
> Forbidden Stars - 'Fuck it! LET THE GALAXY BURN!!!'

>>96163421
Jesus dont go into any actual education camps, the damage you can cause may be astronomical.

>>96166276
>Forbidden Stars - 'Fuck it! LET THE GALAXY BURN!!!'
But arent you still rescuing some sort of long forgotten relics abandoned on planets in ages long forgotten?

>>96166289

>>96164425
you know its going to get awaken realm'd

>>96164862
>>96166289
Isn't it actually forbidden sky?
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/245271/forbidden-sky
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175155/forbidden-stars

>>96166318
We do not speak of 'Forbidden Sky' and the mediocrities it contains least they spread to other games that are actually good.

>>96166318
Don't forget Forbidden Jungle.

>>96166148
>'m really into Japanese games
So what are some of the best ones? Especially the bigger ones - not just small-box/card games?

>Ostia
Is it worth it? Is it unique in any way?

>>96166277
Ok smartass, which factions would you give to someone sent to the SCCF with the sole purpose of them learning how to stand up and walk around the table during board gaming? Or what other game would you use instead? I can see an argument for Galaxy Truckers being the correctional instrument of choice, one of the phases is literally "everyone stand up and look at each others ships, both to check for errors and to just have a laugh at how fucked up the ships look because you were building under pressure", But I wanna hear your take on this problem.

>>96166693
Is that a second edition change? The rulebook doesn't say to stand up.

i really wanted to hate on Vantage with you guys, yet I enjoy it a bit too much to partake
it's not exactly a game, however there's just enough One Deck Dungeon in there to chew on fueling the exploration. there are cool surprises to find! eventually i would get tired of playing this; i just think that would take quite a while. even if you've already seen a location before, taking the other actions you didn't get to try before still gets me curious
you can also become addicted to space mushrooms

>>96166690
>best ones
Well, unfortunately, I really only have small-box games. I have like 10 Oink games (Startups being my personal favorite), and about 4 other small box games (recommend Trick and Snipers, and Big Shot). Tokyo Highway is great as a filler-type game to get the spirits up. Then Sakura Arms, of course, is totally up to how you feel about ween shit.
>Is it worth it? Is it unique in any way?
It's a good euro, competition is tight and it's very simple to grasp. The mancala-action system is definitely a really fun and clever mechanic. Setting yourself up for huge plays turns later and watching your plans come to fruition turns later is very satisfying. The only con for me is that the endgame scoring is way too point salad despite gathering all your point resources feeling so elegant in the design itself. It's like bringing a boat in from a beautiful day on the water and you accidentally hit the dock a bit too hard.

>>96166690
NTA but I liked Unicornus Knights a lot.
Some chuckle fuck killed the king and put his followers in control over most of the kingdom's domains. The daughter of the dead king is now dead set on killing the guy who offed her dad and getting her throne back.
You do NOT control her. You are her advisors. That murder princess is going on the war path tearing ass across the land as fast as possible in straight line to the evil king's stronghold and you can't stop her. Instead, you try to weaken or clear the path so she isn't killed enroute and has enough strength to kill her target..
Heavy co-operative resource and troop management as you try to kite the enemy lords away from the princess's path. The Lord's all behave a little differently and when you first encounter one you flip a plot twist card that alters them further. Not all of those cards are bad with a notable example being one that reveals the Lord is actually your cousin or childhood friend who then just straight up defects to your side.

>>96167074
Testament by the same designer is also quite good. not quite as fun a theme as UK, but it's a nice tabletop JRPG

>>96162734
>space alert
>slop
huh

>>96167203
The only big complaint I got about testament is that you are controlling multiple characters for any count under 4.
The wording for Taunt was whacky as hell too. We played it as dropping agro on your character while removing it from another character (which is how it is supposed to be) but the card as written has you assigning aggro to both characters which was just retarded.

Interesting character customization stuff though.

>>96167543
I can understand not wanting to multihand characters. I only play it at 1p or 2p, so splitting them up or handling them all is fine for me.
I was able to get some errata cards from the publisher for the Taunt weirdness. You might be able to contact them if you wanted. I think there were some other changes (like to the level 5 mage), I just can't remember what they are since I've never played without them.

>>96167543
found a link for the errata:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lTR0cYTX3-JMESMPYXYXOfRurgZ7FvUF/view

>>96166693
Dude that was snarky praise.
You'd be TOO GOOD of a camp director

>>96167901
Oh, sorry. I don't do well with subtext. Thansk.
>>96166892
From the 1e rulebook, page 5
>SPOT CHECK
>Check everyone else’s ship to be sure they are all built according
to the rules.
Now sure, that doesn't mean stand up, but the table is usually somewhat big, and the details on the pieces are small, and you shouldn't move the boards lest some components get jostled out of position, so the only solutions are "i trust you're playing by the rules and aren't tired enough to make mistakes" and "stand up to get a closer look". Maybe I did hallucinate the stand up part, or maybe different translations do add that part in, i dunno i don't remember it's been a while since i last read the rules in their entirety.

>>96163580
My bad, I misinterpreted 'big' as 'popular'

>>96164425
I'd say monkeypaw'd but there's no furries this time

>>96161022
Thanks, I will
>>96161523
We didn't look over every race in detail and didn't want to wait, so everyone had 3 factions dealt to them and picked between them. We have Sol, Ghosts, Nekro, and Muaat (Me). Maybe not the best to start with, but we are grasping the basics of them at least I think. We have done 3 turns and 2 players have 3 points, I and Sol are still lagging behind, but I think we both have strategies to catch up.
>>96162167
It is definitely getting there quick
>>96163217
Definitely, saw the friends in another context yesterday and we spent a good 40 minutes just talking about future possibilities and the state of the board, so I think they are hooked

>>96168005
God, I would hate when we all check each others ships, and that one dudes is always flawless while he finds 2 or 3 errors in mine.
Then my wife got the app and became a top 20 player on ranked and now curbstomps me.
We talking building lasers in order to tie just for the situations where she is first and can make sure slavers or pirates hit me when I am most vulnerable and either get enslaved out of the race or blown to smithereens.
I've had games where she ends in triple digits while I am lucky to make ten bucks.
I am living in a waking nightmare.

>>96168911
>we spent a good 40 minutes just talking about future possibilities and the state of the board,
Some of my favorite board gaming moments have been post-session chit chat. Talking game design, alternate builds/decision paths, strengths and flaws. Even if some players disliked the game. Gets people to reflect on their tastes, our group dynamics, friendships, etc.

The sessions where no one had fun AND there was nothing to talk about, now those are the garbage games.

>>96164346
You forgot Recall

>>96166182
Oh hell yeah

>>96166269
I actually wonder how many people that buy KDM actually play KDM or just like the idea of playing it. Like how 80% of bought steam games never get played more than once

>>96168632

>>96168632
They kind of already reimagined Samurai with Pollen (2023) which is natureshit(but not furries). I think people look back too fondly on Samurai though. It has some issues.

>>96170430
Pollen is Samurai: the Card Game.

>>96170430
>It has some issues
Elaborate.

>>96162754
>>96167074
>Half of the 1% are Feld Euros
>Other half are Dice Chuckers and LCG/Deck Builders
fuck it, I'll make the anime farm game, throw in the horse breeding if I need to
didn't realize Harvest was made in '92

>>96170482
My main issue with the game is that there is no mechanism to resolve the first player advantage. The game can end prematurely in turn order giving the start player more actions than the rest of the table. It also gives the first player the tempo advantage when capturing Edo which nets the most tokens. If players aren't of equal skill it can often washout because of how the scoring works, but it's still a pretty big advantage that puts the hones on players farther in the turn order to end the game on their terms in addition to finding token majorities.

>>96170580
Some of that would be valid in a shitty rigid game with bad design but Samurai is much too flexible for that and players should be balancing each other, equal skill or not. Also it's lightning. You can easily give 5 or 6 people a chance at going first, rotating people in and out, in less time than it takes to play some stuffy euro with autistic mathematical solutions to turn order/advantage.

>>96166269
No clue as to how deep all the expansions go (especially shit like gambler's chest) as i've only played the base game on TTS until like LY15 before I got tired of chucking those stupid dice all the time.

But I'm pretty sure none of the pinup big booba content has anything to do with gameplay.

>>96170580
That board looks absolutely disgusting.

>>96170580
>hones

>>96170665
That basically just reads as cope. If your game requires self-balancing by players farther in the turn order that means there's an inherent imbalance to begin with. A game can be elegantly designed and still have flaws. My beloved Hansa T is the greatest 5 player game of all time, but I'll freely admit it's flaws.

>>96170703
Bitoku is an acquired taste. That color palette will fucked me up the first time I played it.

>>96170703
>>96170778
>That color palette

Never played it, but I want to try it based off of the sovl board

>>96170703
There's a bunch of filters contributing but yeah it's a mess of colour. Doesn't look bad, though. But the game was very much slop tbqh

>>96170778
>Acquired taste
How so? I played it twice and found it to be a mediocre experience that implemented a myriad of different things to (unsuccessfully) distract from the fact that it's a disjointed point salad with slapped on theme, but not in the good feldian way

>>96170742
SAR

>>96170778
Imbalanced doesn't mean flawed. As you said, there's usually a player skill imbalance. If you think that is less of a factor, I want to see your published study, because that's the degree of rigor I'd expect for this level of persnickety. A German mathematician was less autistic about this than you.

>>96170960
Meaning it's a divisive game, most people love it or hate it. I do think it has some novel mechanics for a worker placement game, unlocking your workers vs choosing to burn a pilgrim to go first, I also liked the hard blocking of spaces based on the worker value. You can really fuck people up in the later rounds by powering up a worker to shut them out of an action they really need. That being said I am an enjoyer of games with dice you're not allowed to roll.

>>96171086
There used to be stats when an online version of the game was hosted on Mabiweb, but that site went down a couple of years ago so I can't dig them up anymore. If I recall correctly in a 2 player game, the second player had like a 40% winrate. It would be a bit more smoothed out in higher player counts, but it's still pretty obvious that if you can end the game with one more action than the rest of table you'll have more tokens on average than the remainder of the players.

I'll be having either a 4 or 5 player board game night next week, where most of the people never played board games before or played things like Avalon at best. What would you guys play as an attempt to hook them into the hobby?

Something I'm considering:
> Las Vegas Royale - I never had someone outright dislike this game
> Through the Desert
> Chinatown
> SCOUT
> Seas of Strife
> Coloretto
> For Sale

I'm leaning towards Las Vegas Royale, and maybe if that goes well enough I'll consider to even transition over to El Grande, but I don't want to overwhelm them too much (or scare them away kek) for their first game night.

>>96171712
i'd personally go with Ra and Scout, and if there's more time, El Grande, Hansa Teutotinca, or Lords of Vegas.

>>96171215
>if you can end the game with one more action than the rest of table you'll have more tokens on average than the remainder of the players.
That being an issue is just a heuristic people have based on an entirely different breed of euro. Samurai is a game of tempo through strategic hand management as much as it is about tactical tile placement. Well before the end of the game, on the first turn, the first player can play 1 tile and the second play 5. Even before the first turn, that can be determined by the choice of starting hand. You're implying a static metagame.
>>96171712
I wouldn't play Through the Desert with 5 with that kind of crowd.

>>96171712
Definitely Eclipse Second Edition.

>>96171712
One of your lightest full games. I'd go with Chinatown, personally.
Newbies definitely won't have the stamina to learn two big box games in one night. I've tried.
Keep it to a party/filler game and a big box game a session

>>96171712
Seas of Strife is not an entry level trick taking game, so I would advise against it.
I don't see Skull King, but that's a blast even for beginners.
I recommend Camel Up and 6 Nimmt. Also, if they are Monopoly junkies, Power Grid is an excellent starter. If they don't play Monopoly ofter, do not bring Power Grid.

>>96171712
I think that's a fine bunch of games you've picked, easy to pick up, fun but with reasonable depth.

Thing is, you really, REALLY can't know beforehand where people stand, you just have to try. I've had people go smoothly from monopoly to Ti, I've had people who've been playing games for years and consider themselves hobbyists run against a brick wall with everything heavier than queendomino. It's bizzare. One of my goto games is sheriff of nottingham, but even with that I've had some people not 'get' it.

Only thing that has always, always worked is Ra, which might just be the best design in all of gaming.

Point being, I think you'll do well with your selection. I think buying more games you don't really enjoy just as entry level fodder is a mistake