I played Seven Wonders about a week ago after hearing lots of positive things. Similar to Stone Age / Catan, but you collectively use and pass resources instead of roll dice (so, you know the resources the next player will have available and the player before you knows the resources you currently have). A bit of a twist on the settlement building concept. I enjoyed it though.
I am a bit thrown off by your comparison, since Seven Wonders is a hand-passing card game without really involving a "board".
(The "diet" version would be something like Sushi Go, where you don't even have something like the civilization cards for each player, and very little resemblance to Catan that I can think of)
It's a fun game, and a neat gameplay concept.
(i.e. the balance of risk/reward in taking a known play versus card counting and hoping to get something later).
I meant it only in the realm of "building your settlement up" allowing you access to more resources or abilities as you progress through the game. Catan is just my go-to for reference since its the most borderline nerdy / normal person game that people can associate with.
I do think that 2-player version of Catan (Rivals of) is pretty sweet. It keeps the same theme and many gameplay fundamentals, and takes it in a new direction.
How well does it play compared to the multi-player version?
Well, Catan is an institution nowadays because it plays so well for casuals and more hardcore players alike. And looking at the scores Rivals is considered the inferior product. But I think it plays quite well. The luck of rolling dice is compounded by the luck of also drawing more kinds of cards, but there is a good amount of strategy in populating your cities/settlements, its easy to learn, easy to setup, and doesn't take an excessive amount of time either. And there are a number of "decks" can use each game to keep it fresh
I'll probably skip it, since it's hard enough to get my wife to play standard Catan, when there are multiple other people to team up against me... she wouldn't be up for 1-on-1 in a game that involves dice
BTW, I saw you had a bunch of Descent stuff in your listed collection.
I keep meaning to snag a copy, and never really get around to it.
My only other familiarity with Fantasy Flight games of that style would be DOOM, which I thought played a lot more cumbersomely than advertised.
(the box claimed 1 hour games... but they take more like 2 - 3)
How is the flow in Descent?
(and how would you stack it up against more classic dungeon crawlers like Heroquest or Warhammer Quest? -- or even against some of the odd-ball classics like Dragonstrike)
My attempt at a Descent campaign got derailed by us having our first kid. We only got like 3 scenarios into it. It was fun though
Then a friend of mine got the entire thing (every expansion included) and they had a blast doing the full campaign. So if you can get a dedicated group its probably worth it. That new Star Wars game is basically the same engine believe, and is supposed to be even better.
As far as flow, Fantasy Flight games are infamous for being fiddly. So if I'm running things I generally just know I have to dedicate some time beforehand getting everything (re)understood and set up. We played Chaos in the Old World last night for the first time in a couple years and there were probably about 45 minutes of added time throughout just remembering how it all worked
BTW, I saw you had a bunch of Descent stuff in your listed collection.
I keep meaning to snag a copy, and never really get around to it.
My only other familiarity with Fantasy Flight games of that style would be DOOM, which I thought played a lot more cumbersomely than advertised.
(the box claimed 1 hour games... but they take more like 2 - 3)
How is the flow in Descent?
(and how would you stack it up against more classic dungeon crawlers like Heroquest or Warhammer Quest? -- or even against some of the odd-ball classics like Dragonstrike)
My attempt at a Descent campaign got derailed by us having our first kid. We only got like 3 scenarios into it. It was fun though
Then a friend of mine got the entire thing (every expansion included) and they had a blast doing the full campaign. So if you can get a dedicated group its probably worth it. That new Star Wars game is basically the same engine believe, and is supposed to be even better.
I'm pretty out-of-the-loop on new stuff (was simultaneously surprised that a new Warhammer Quest was finally released, like the re-release of Space Hulk, but HUGELY disappointed by the motif and style they went with, versus what actually gave the classic game charm).
I'll have to check out the Star Wars game you're talking about.
A generic license like Descent is likely to be around for awhile.
But whatever FFGs access is to the Star Wars license is probably time limited and up for review with some regularity.
Can't necessarily count on that one being available, down the line.
EDIT: on Descent... any comparison to other dungeon crawlers?
As much as I would love to try stuff like HeroQuest, I never did back in the day, and its impossible to find nowadays. So I cannot compare, sorry. I can say its a lot less random and luck-based than DungonQuest!
Always loved HeroSCAPE as a kid. I love the map building ability and hex based movement. It's a little easier to get into than most table top games. And I think player versus player is more fun than campaign style games. I just found the base set, a few regular expansions, and the marvel expansion at the thrift store and I've been dying to play some.
Always loved HeroSCAPE as a kid. I love the map building ability and hex based movement. It's a little easier to get into than most table top games. And I think player versus player is more fun than campaign style games. I just found the base set, a few regular expansions, and the marvel expansion at the thrift store and I've been dying to play some.
That's pretty lucky. I've only ever once found a set (Marvel) and sold it for profit. It'd be nice to do something crazy if you had the space and money for it,
Always loved HeroSCAPE as a kid. I love the map building ability and hex based movement. It's a little easier to get into than most table top games. And I think player versus player is more fun than campaign style games. I just found the base set, a few regular expansions, and the marvel expansion at the thrift store and I've been dying to play some.
That's pretty lucky. I've only ever once found a set (Marvel) and sold it for profit. It'd be nice to do something crazy if you had the space and money for it,
Damn...that is crazy. To amass that amount of pieces is a feat in and of itself. I wish I had a few other people who were interested in setting up a map like that! I didn't pay more than $7 for anything I found, so I did pretty well.
Just picked this bad boy up as all of FFG's Games Workshop products go out of print in a month.
Already have Horus Heresy, Chaos in the Old World, Blood Bowl, and Space Hulk Death Angel. Now I have to figure out if I want to bother trying to scrouge together some of the LCG stuff before its gone
So sad that FFG has lost it's partnership with GW. I've never liked GW as a company but I have always enjoyed their IP. Meanwhile, FFG was a company that's always maintained good quality-control, customer-focus and has an eye for good game designers and good game design. The Blood Bowl Card Game is one of my particular favorites from this line up.
FFG is actually responsible for most of my favorite games (but certainly not all of them). Cosmic Encounter is my absolute favorite game and I don't know that it could ever be dethroned.
I put together a list of my "Top 33 Board Games" not too long ago with some notes on my selections and it can be found here:
The recently released DOOM board game has been steadily working it's way toward the top of my list. For me, it's better than Descent 1 or 2 and better even better than Imperial Assault. I'm quite impressed by it.
Comments
I played Seven Wonders about a week ago after hearing lots of positive things. Similar to Stone Age / Catan, but you collectively use and pass resources instead of roll dice (so, you know the resources the next player will have available and the player before you knows the resources you currently have). A bit of a twist on the settlement building concept. I enjoyed it though.
I am a bit thrown off by your comparison, since Seven Wonders is a hand-passing card game without really involving a "board".
(The "diet" version would be something like Sushi Go, where you don't even have something like the civilization cards for each player, and very little resemblance to Catan that I can think of)
It's a fun game, and a neat gameplay concept.
(i.e. the balance of risk/reward in taking a known play versus card counting and hoping to get something later).
I meant it only in the realm of "building your settlement up" allowing you access to more resources or abilities as you progress through the game. Catan is just my go-to for reference since its the most borderline nerdy / normal person game that people can associate with.
I do think that 2-player version of Catan (Rivals of) is pretty sweet. It keeps the same theme and many gameplay fundamentals, and takes it in a new direction.
How well does it play compared to the multi-player version?
Well, Catan is an institution nowadays because it plays so well for casuals and more hardcore players alike. And looking at the scores Rivals is considered the inferior product. But I think it plays quite well. The luck of rolling dice is compounded by the luck of also drawing more kinds of cards, but there is a good amount of strategy in populating your cities/settlements, its easy to learn, easy to setup, and doesn't take an excessive amount of time either. And there are a number of "decks" can use each game to keep it fresh
Catan - 221nd
Rivals of Catan - 537th
I'll probably skip it, since it's hard enough to get my wife to play standard Catan, when there are multiple other people to team up against me... she wouldn't be up for 1-on-1 in a game that involves dice
BTW, I saw you had a bunch of Descent stuff in your listed collection.
I keep meaning to snag a copy, and never really get around to it.
My only other familiarity with Fantasy Flight games of that style would be DOOM, which I thought played a lot more cumbersomely than advertised.
(the box claimed 1 hour games... but they take more like 2 - 3)
How is the flow in Descent?
(and how would you stack it up against more classic dungeon crawlers like Heroquest or Warhammer Quest? -- or even against some of the odd-ball classics like Dragonstrike)
My attempt at a Descent campaign got derailed by us having our first kid. We only got like 3 scenarios into it. It was fun though
Then a friend of mine got the entire thing (every expansion included) and they had a blast doing the full campaign. So if you can get a dedicated group its probably worth it. That new Star Wars game is basically the same engine believe, and is supposed to be even better.
As far as flow, Fantasy Flight games are infamous for being fiddly. So if I'm running things I generally just know I have to dedicate some time beforehand getting everything (re)understood and set up. We played Chaos in the Old World last night for the first time in a couple years and there were probably about 45 minutes of added time throughout just remembering how it all worked
BTW, I saw you had a bunch of Descent stuff in your listed collection.
I keep meaning to snag a copy, and never really get around to it.
My only other familiarity with Fantasy Flight games of that style would be DOOM, which I thought played a lot more cumbersomely than advertised.
(the box claimed 1 hour games... but they take more like 2 - 3)
How is the flow in Descent?
(and how would you stack it up against more classic dungeon crawlers like Heroquest or Warhammer Quest? -- or even against some of the odd-ball classics like Dragonstrike)
My attempt at a Descent campaign got derailed by us having our first kid. We only got like 3 scenarios into it. It was fun though
Then a friend of mine got the entire thing (every expansion included) and they had a blast doing the full campaign. So if you can get a dedicated group its probably worth it. That new Star Wars game is basically the same engine believe, and is supposed to be even better.
I'm pretty out-of-the-loop on new stuff (was simultaneously surprised that a new Warhammer Quest was finally released, like the re-release of Space Hulk, but HUGELY disappointed by the motif and style they went with, versus what actually gave the classic game charm).
I'll have to check out the Star Wars game you're talking about.
A generic license like Descent is likely to be around for awhile.
But whatever FFGs access is to the Star Wars license is probably time limited and up for review with some regularity.
Can't necessarily count on that one being available, down the line.
EDIT: on Descent... any comparison to other dungeon crawlers?
Forbidden bridge, Axis and Allies, Scrabble, 13 dead end drive, Battleship, Weapons and warriors, so many to name!!
13 Dead End Drive was sweet!!!
Always loved HeroSCAPE as a kid. I love the map building ability and hex based movement. It's a little easier to get into than most table top games. And I think player versus player is more fun than campaign style games. I just found the base set, a few regular expansions, and the marvel expansion at the thrift store and I've been dying to play some.
That's pretty lucky. I've only ever once found a set (Marvel) and sold it for profit. It'd be nice to do something crazy if you had the space and money for it,
Always loved HeroSCAPE as a kid. I love the map building ability and hex based movement. It's a little easier to get into than most table top games. And I think player versus player is more fun than campaign style games. I just found the base set, a few regular expansions, and the marvel expansion at the thrift store and I've been dying to play some.
That's pretty lucky. I've only ever once found a set (Marvel) and sold it for profit. It'd be nice to do something crazy if you had the space and money for it,
Damn...that is crazy. To amass that amount of pieces is a feat in and of itself. I wish I had a few other people who were interested in setting up a map like that! I didn't pay more than $7 for anything I found, so I did pretty well.
Just picked this bad boy up as all of FFG's Games Workshop products go out of print in a month.
Already have Horus Heresy, Chaos in the Old World, Blood Bowl, and Space Hulk Death Angel. Now I have to figure out if I want to bother trying to scrouge together some of the LCG stuff before its gone
So sad that FFG has lost it's partnership with GW. I've never liked GW as a company but I have always enjoyed their IP. Meanwhile, FFG was a company that's always maintained good quality-control, customer-focus and has an eye for good game designers and good game design. The Blood Bowl Card Game is one of my particular favorites from this line up.
FFG is actually responsible for most of my favorite games (but certainly not all of them). Cosmic Encounter is my absolute favorite game and I don't know that it could ever be dethroned.
I put together a list of my "Top 33 Board Games" not too long ago with some notes on my selections and it can be found here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/216097/celebrating-333-games-rated-my-top-33-games-so-far
The recently released DOOM board game has been steadily working it's way toward the top of my list. For me, it's better than Descent 1 or 2 and better even better than Imperial Assault. I'm quite impressed by it.