I don't necessarily collect them, but I've got a lot and love to play them
The Greats
Catan - one of the best, though more mainstream than it used to be
The Pretty Goods
Agricola - Some sort of Catan / Stone Age cross-breed. Only have played it once, but I see potential
Agricola (and Caverna) are both superior games to Catan, IMO.
The worker-placement mechanic still makes you compete "for board space" on a turn-by-turn basis, but the actual core objectives are more independent than Catan, so as long as somebody doesn't forgo getting their extra workers then the potential discrepancy between decent players is greatly diminished.
The biggest difference between the two series is that Catan has an enormous element of luck, in terms of resource generation.
Agricola has a luck injection from the cards, and Caverna has no luck whatsoever (all "cards" are replaced by buyable rooms/items that everyone can access and it's a race to get what you want).
The planning elements of Agricola/Caverna are much more dominant, and superior strategy is generally what wins the game, versus luck being able to bridge the gap on a worse strategy.
Those two games also scale in complexity/item-diversity the more players you have. (Catan just gets "bigger", but in turn becomes more crowded faster)
I don't necessarily collect them, but I've got a lot and love to play them
The Greats
Catan - one of the best, though more mainstream than it used to be
The Pretty Goods
Agricola - Some sort of Catan / Stone Age cross-breed. Only have played it once, but I see potential
Agricola (and Caverna) are both superior games to Catan, IMO.
The worker-placement mechanic still makes you compete "for board space" on a turn-by-turn basis, but the actual core objectives are more independent than Catan, so as long as somebody doesn't forgo getting their extra workers then the potential discrepancy between decent players is greatly diminished.
The biggest difference between the two series is that Catan has an enormous element of luck, in terms of resource generation.
Agricola has a luck injection from the cards, and Caverna has no luck whatsoever (all "cards" are replaced by buyable rooms/items that everyone can access and it's a race to get what you want).
The planning elements of Agricola/Caverna are much more dominant, and superior strategy is generally what wins the game, versus luck being able to bridge the gap on a worse strategy.
Those two games also scale in complexity/item-diversity the more players you have. (Catan just gets "bigger", but in turn becomes more crowded faster)
Man, I find it hard to believe that you of all people would make such a comment as the bolded one. Sure, there is randomness in the individual dice rolls, but it is governed by basic probabilities and statistics throughout the course of the game. There is a huge element of strategy in that alone, but even moreso when you factor in other things such as trading with other players, cornering specific resources, using ports effectively, and using development cards at appropriate times. Also, when you move into the expansions (especially Cities and Knights) you vastly increase the number of strategies and paths to win in addition to making the game longer, which increases the number of dice rolls as well as normalizes even further the distribution of dice rolls (increaseing the number of dice rolls increases the normal distribution-ness of the dice rolls).
Either way, I've only played Agricola once so I'm not a very good judge of the game. Just seemed way too straight forward and only minimal interactions with other players. Like I said though, it's definitely got potential - I just have to play it a few more times.
The biggest difference between the two series is that Catan has an enormous element of luck, in terms of resource generation.
Man, I find it hard to believe that you of all people would make such a comment as the bolded one.
Obviously, there is strategy in how you select your initial territories, but while the distribution of the numbers is fixed (the spiral placement of the alphabet tiles) the lands they applied to are also luck-based (so you can end up with wierd clumps of resource generators that skew the overall game).
(and strategy as well in one's acquisition of territory, road placement, and board control)
In terms of luck, though, we had a game a month, or so, ago, with 4 players. Not a single "8" was rolled the entire game, versus probably 50% of the rolls of that game being a "6".
(and the "7" for the robber came up twice, i think)
Similarly, I've had games where what would have otherwise been a settlement-for-points (stuck between a 3 and an 11) along the road of development/expansion -- or maybe for port control -- ends up paying HUGE dividends when the 3's or 11's just start pouring in every other turn.
Probabilities give you a notion of what is likely to happen over a long period of time (assuming perfect dice and a repeatable style of rolling), but luck is the practical word for the outcome in the short-term...
The flipside of that is a game like Caverna (basically a more complex Agricola, but the cards are replaced with a tile "shop" available to all) that is purely strategy-based, leaving you to out-plan and out-maneuver your opponent.
The "interaction" with other players is in the worker placement mechanic and your ability to block your opponent's actions or prioritize your own development.
It's a planning game, where your overall plan has to adapt to how the available actions are revealed, and how early you're able to fill up your family (and keep them fed).
Both have their merits, and their time and place, but in my circle of friends I'm generally recognized as having "too much luck" to be a fun opponent for dice-based or card-based games.
(and beyond that, it's rare that I've played a game with a trading mechanic where people are willing to trade with me more than a couple of times in the course of the game... )
I love both series of games, as well, so my post certainly isn't an attack on Catan... just an observation that luck plays a noticeable role.
(Maybe your specific objection is to my use of the hyperbole "enormous role" making it sound more like a game of Monopoly where your luck on the first pass, or two, around the board can make or break the game -- so let's revise that to my above comment of "luck plays a NOTICEABLE role" in Catan... I think that is an indisputable statement )
Also, Robbie -- I have Cities and Knights as well as Seafarers, but I haven't had the opportunity to play them yet.
They're in my pile of board game collections that likely won't get much play until my kids are older and we can take the time as a family to learn the extra mechanics.
My wife definitely prefers Agricola/Caverna precisely because of the LACK of dice-rolling-mechanic, though, so they get more play at my house, currently.
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
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 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.
There's some new card game version of it that is supposed to be awesome. Haven't played it though.
I can't believe this is the first time seeing this thread. I enjoy strategy games and did quite a bit of tabletop gaming when my bother-in-law lived in town.
Settlers of Catan is what immersed me into the genre.
Other games I enjoy are:
Cosmic Encounters
Power Grid
Takenoko
Exploding Kittens is a great card game
I kickstarted Seige of Sunfall and received it a couple weeks ago. It looks like a lot of fun but haven't had a chance to play it yet
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 do like that Seven Wonders plays pretty quickly, so the idea is that you get a bunch of games in with different starting players and alternating directions of hand-passing.
Originally posted by: Brock Landers
Originally posted by: dr.robbie
There's some new card game version of it that is supposed to be awesome. Haven't played it though.
On the personal collection front, I'm finally making some headway spec'ing out the miniatures I want to use for my heirloom version (all metal) of Heroquest.
Also, planning to sort out and sell off my expansion packs (since I only ever had Witchlord as a kid, and the others were cobbled together from trades on Bartertown, back when I made tabletop terrain as a hobby).
I've been trying out some neat card-making techniques now that I have a color laser printer.
Still working on finding an adhesive that results in a nice "snap"/"shuffle".
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 do like that Seven Wonders plays pretty quickly, so the idea is that you get a bunch of games in with different starting players and alternating directions of hand-passing.
Originally posted by: Brock Landers
Originally posted by: dr.robbie
There's some new card game version of it that is supposed to be awesome. Haven't played it though.
That looks like "7 Wonders Duel" versus "7 Wonders".
Both are card games.
"Duel" sounds like it's been recrafted to work as a 2 player game.
The entire hand-passing concept of the original game breaks down with fewer than 3 players.
I only played the game with 4 players, and I thought it flowed really well, and that provides a long enough gap between you passing along a hand, and getting it back, that the risk of missing a card is real. (it also introduces more unknown-to-each-player cards into the game that shifts the strategy)
That looks like "7 Wonders Duel" versus "7 Wonders".
Both are card games.
"Duel" sounds like it's been recrafted to work as a 2 player game.
The entire hand-passing concept of the original game breaks down with fewer than 3 players.
I only played the game with 4 players, and I thought it flowed really well, and that provides a long enough gap between you passing along a hand, and getting it back, that the risk of missing a card is real. (it also introduces more unknown-to-each-player cards into the game that shifts the strategy)
Yeah I've only played 7 Wonders once, and I heard about the new game anecdotally, so its no wonder I mangled the details.
But I guess what I'm getting at is a new game in the 7 Wonders-verse that is supposed to be pretty sweet. I haven't played it.
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.
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?
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 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)
Comments
I don't necessarily collect them, but I've got a lot and love to play them
The Greats
Catan - one of the best, though more mainstream than it used to be
The Pretty Goods
Agricola - Some sort of Catan / Stone Age cross-breed. Only have played it once, but I see potential
Agricola (and Caverna) are both superior games to Catan, IMO.
The worker-placement mechanic still makes you compete "for board space" on a turn-by-turn basis, but the actual core objectives are more independent than Catan, so as long as somebody doesn't forgo getting their extra workers then the potential discrepancy between decent players is greatly diminished.
The biggest difference between the two series is that Catan has an enormous element of luck, in terms of resource generation.
Agricola has a luck injection from the cards, and Caverna has no luck whatsoever (all "cards" are replaced by buyable rooms/items that everyone can access and it's a race to get what you want).
The planning elements of Agricola/Caverna are much more dominant, and superior strategy is generally what wins the game, versus luck being able to bridge the gap on a worse strategy.
Those two games also scale in complexity/item-diversity the more players you have. (Catan just gets "bigger", but in turn becomes more crowded faster)
I don't necessarily collect them, but I've got a lot and love to play them
The Greats
Catan - one of the best, though more mainstream than it used to be
The Pretty Goods
Agricola - Some sort of Catan / Stone Age cross-breed. Only have played it once, but I see potential
Agricola (and Caverna) are both superior games to Catan, IMO.
The worker-placement mechanic still makes you compete "for board space" on a turn-by-turn basis, but the actual core objectives are more independent than Catan, so as long as somebody doesn't forgo getting their extra workers then the potential discrepancy between decent players is greatly diminished.
The biggest difference between the two series is that Catan has an enormous element of luck, in terms of resource generation.
Agricola has a luck injection from the cards, and Caverna has no luck whatsoever (all "cards" are replaced by buyable rooms/items that everyone can access and it's a race to get what you want).
The planning elements of Agricola/Caverna are much more dominant, and superior strategy is generally what wins the game, versus luck being able to bridge the gap on a worse strategy.
Those two games also scale in complexity/item-diversity the more players you have. (Catan just gets "bigger", but in turn becomes more crowded faster)
Man, I find it hard to believe that you of all people would make such a comment as the bolded one. Sure, there is randomness in the individual dice rolls, but it is governed by basic probabilities and statistics throughout the course of the game. There is a huge element of strategy in that alone, but even moreso when you factor in other things such as trading with other players, cornering specific resources, using ports effectively, and using development cards at appropriate times. Also, when you move into the expansions (especially Cities and Knights) you vastly increase the number of strategies and paths to win in addition to making the game longer, which increases the number of dice rolls as well as normalizes even further the distribution of dice rolls (increaseing the number of dice rolls increases the normal distribution-ness of the dice rolls).
Either way, I've only played Agricola once so I'm not a very good judge of the game. Just seemed way too straight forward and only minimal interactions with other players. Like I said though, it's definitely got potential - I just have to play it a few more times.
The biggest difference between the two series is that Catan has an enormous element of luck, in terms of resource generation.
Man, I find it hard to believe that you of all people would make such a comment as the bolded one.
Obviously, there is strategy in how you select your initial territories, but while the distribution of the numbers is fixed (the spiral placement of the alphabet tiles) the lands they applied to are also luck-based (so you can end up with wierd clumps of resource generators that skew the overall game).
(and strategy as well in one's acquisition of territory, road placement, and board control)
In terms of luck, though, we had a game a month, or so, ago, with 4 players. Not a single "8" was rolled the entire game, versus probably 50% of the rolls of that game being a "6".
(and the "7" for the robber came up twice, i think)
Similarly, I've had games where what would have otherwise been a settlement-for-points (stuck between a 3 and an 11) along the road of development/expansion -- or maybe for port control -- ends up paying HUGE dividends when the 3's or 11's just start pouring in every other turn.
Probabilities give you a notion of what is likely to happen over a long period of time (assuming perfect dice and a repeatable style of rolling), but luck is the practical word for the outcome in the short-term...
The flipside of that is a game like Caverna (basically a more complex Agricola, but the cards are replaced with a tile "shop" available to all) that is purely strategy-based, leaving you to out-plan and out-maneuver your opponent.
The "interaction" with other players is in the worker placement mechanic and your ability to block your opponent's actions or prioritize your own development.
It's a planning game, where your overall plan has to adapt to how the available actions are revealed, and how early you're able to fill up your family (and keep them fed).
Both have their merits, and their time and place, but in my circle of friends I'm generally recognized as having "too much luck" to be a fun opponent for dice-based or card-based games.
(and beyond that, it's rare that I've played a game with a trading mechanic where people are willing to trade with me more than a couple of times in the course of the game... )
I love both series of games, as well, so my post certainly isn't an attack on Catan... just an observation that luck plays a noticeable role.
(Maybe your specific objection is to my use of the hyperbole "enormous role" making it sound more like a game of Monopoly where your luck on the first pass, or two, around the board can make or break the game -- so let's revise that to my above comment of "luck plays a NOTICEABLE role" in Catan... I think that is an indisputable statement )
They're in my pile of board game collections that likely won't get much play until my kids are older and we can take the time as a family to learn the extra mechanics.
My wife definitely prefers Agricola/Caverna precisely because of the LACK of dice-rolling-mechanic, though, so they get more play at my house, currently.
also, get on vassal (www.vassalengine.org) and play em all online!
I have weapons and warriors and its a blast... I'm just waiting for my 3 year old to be a little older to play with me.
I also used to like the goosebumps games but I don't have them anymore or remember the names....
It from the pit
Grape escape..
Love board games though. Wife got me legendary for my b-day. Absolutely loving it. Its the marvel version.
https://vimeo.com/62676658
Infinite City
Kingdom Builder
Space Hulk the Card Game
Citadels
Ticket to Ride (your gf/wife will love it)
Chaos in the Old World
Boss Monster (NES-style theme)
Tornado Rex
Hot Shots
Dynamite
13 Dead End Drive
Siege
Don't Wake the Dragon
Clue
Mouse Trap
Super Mario Bros
Tmnt Tower of Doom
Tmnt Pizza Power Game
Dracula
Calfornia Raisins
Trouble
Monopoly
Hungry hungry hippos
X-Men Crisis in the Danger Room
All I can think of. These are mine and my brothers
Couple more good ones that I don't think have been mentioned:
Boss Monster (NES-style theme)
Picked that one up for my little brother a couple years ago.
Keep intending to get a copy for myself.
Couple more good ones that I don't think have been mentioned:
Boss Monster (NES-style theme)
Picked that one up for my little brother a couple years ago.
Keep intending to get a copy for myself.
Is it any good? I have seen it many times but never picked it up. I play Magic with some of my cousins and wanted to try this out with them.
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
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.
There's some new card game version of it that is supposed to be awesome. Haven't played it though.
Settlers of Catan is what immersed me into the genre.
Other games I enjoy are:
Cosmic Encounters
Power Grid
Takenoko
Exploding Kittens is a great card game
I kickstarted Seige of Sunfall and received it a couple weeks ago. It looks like a lot of fun but haven't had a chance to play it yet
Just want to shout out Star Wars Episode I as the best version of Monopoly.
My brother is big on board games. He has something new every month. The one we have been playing a lot recently is Codenames.
Just want to shout out Star Wars Episode I as the best version of Monopoly.
I collected Monopolys as a kid and Star Wars Episode 1 was the only one that actually got play time. ..and it got alot...
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 do like that Seven Wonders plays pretty quickly, so the idea is that you get a bunch of games in with different starting players and alternating directions of hand-passing.
There's some new card game version of it that is supposed to be awesome. Haven't played it though.
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders
It has been a card game for as long as I've heard of it.
Is there some version that is a board game, instead?
(or are you referring to a new revised rule/card set, or something along those lines?)
Also, planning to sort out and sell off my expansion packs (since I only ever had Witchlord as a kid, and the others were cobbled together from trades on Bartertown, back when I made tabletop terrain as a hobby).
I've been trying out some neat card-making techniques now that I have a color laser printer.
Still working on finding an adhesive that results in a nice "snap"/"shuffle".
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 do like that Seven Wonders plays pretty quickly, so the idea is that you get a bunch of games in with different starting players and alternating directions of hand-passing.
There's some new card game version of it that is supposed to be awesome. Haven't played it though.
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boa...
It has been a card game for as long as I've heard of it.
Is there some version that is a board game, instead?
(or are you referring to a new revised rule/card set, or something along those lines?)
Maybe I was mis-remembering the new game. I can't get to BGG at work so I can't see the details:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173346/7-wonders-duel
https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Brock Landers?rankobjecttype=subtype&rankobjectid=1&columns=title|thumbnail|status|version|rating|bggrating|plays|comment|commands&geekranks=Board+Game+Rank&own=1&ff=1&subtype=boardgame
I can never keep it up to date on plays and such, but I think I have every game represented
Maybe I was mis-remembering the new game. I can't get to BGG at work so I can't see the details:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardga...
That looks like "7 Wonders Duel" versus "7 Wonders".
Both are card games.
"Duel" sounds like it's been recrafted to work as a 2 player game.
The entire hand-passing concept of the original game breaks down with fewer than 3 players.
I only played the game with 4 players, and I thought it flowed really well, and that provides a long enough gap between you passing along a hand, and getting it back, that the risk of missing a card is real. (it also introduces more unknown-to-each-player cards into the game that shifts the strategy)
Maybe I was mis-remembering the new game. I can't get to BGG at work so I can't see the details:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173346/7-wonders-duel
That looks like "7 Wonders Duel" versus "7 Wonders".
Both are card games.
"Duel" sounds like it's been recrafted to work as a 2 player game.
The entire hand-passing concept of the original game breaks down with fewer than 3 players.
I only played the game with 4 players, and I thought it flowed really well, and that provides a long enough gap between you passing along a hand, and getting it back, that the risk of missing a card is real. (it also introduces more unknown-to-each-player cards into the game that shifts the strategy)
Yeah I've only played 7 Wonders once, and I heard about the new game anecdotally, so its no wonder I mangled the details.
But I guess what I'm getting at is a new game in the 7 Wonders-verse that is supposed to be pretty sweet. I haven't played it.
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.
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?
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 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)