Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

This is the place where you can conflab about all the other stuff besides videogames
The Sonic Mole

Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by The Sonic Mole »

I love a good board game session so thought I'd start a thread for them and CCG/LCGs, etc.

I'm currently really into Eclipse and Alien Frontiers. I'm hoping to convert a friend this weekend via the latter.
Xantiriad

Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thre

Post by Xantiriad »

I've got the Alien Frontiers expansion Factions now (backed on Kickstarter). Really adds a lot more strategy to the mix in the middle.
Mr Nicey

Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thre

Post by Mr Nicey »

On kickstarters & bored games I am currently backing DreadBall by mantic games - its more of a model/figure base board game but rules look good and I am pretty excited.

Outside of that our recent games have been the card game Blood Bowl & the odd Game of Thrones.
Xantiriad

Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thre

Post by Xantiriad »

We've been enjoying Infiltration in our game group. It's a 30-45 min push your luck game where you play "agents" in a cyberpunk universe (Android) breaking into a facility to steal data.

It's luck based but great fun as a filler game.
The Sonic Mole

Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory

Post by The Sonic Mole »

Xantiriad wrote:We've been enjoying Infiltration in our game group. It's a 30-45 min push your luck game where you play "agents" in a cyberpunk universe (Android) breaking into a facility to steal data.

It's luck based but great fun as a filler game.
Ah, I saw Rab Florence waxing lyrical about this on Twitter. It looks pretty cool and quick to learn.
Bakers_12

Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by Bakers_12 »

A Mate of mine has started up a table top game night at a cafe that his family runs. I went to show some support and got to play the X-wing minitures game, really enjoyed it. liked the way you don'y react to the other players move but have to antisapte them. Also they are starting a Necromunda leage ,Im going to have to dig out my old gangs!!
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KissMammal
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Board Games

Post by KissMammal »

I probably spend more time and money these days on board games vs videogames, so I was wondering if there are any board game players in the C&R team/community?

If so, thought it might be cool to have a thread discussing all things board game related - news, apps, recommendations etc
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Board Games

Post by KSubzero1000 »

How does one even spend large amounts of money on board games? My brain can't comprehend that concept. Is there a massive and luxurious underground board games industry I don't know about?

In any case, I enjoy both chess and go very much. Alas, I'm not particularly good at either of those. And to make matters worse, I don't know anyone to play with even semi-regularly. Don't see myself joining a club and playing with randoms either.
eastmcduck

Re: Board Games

Post by eastmcduck »

I actually love analog gaming. Most of what I play is pretty classic and well known stuff, but I've been tempted to delve into other games. I went into what I thought was a classic video game shop one time and most of their floor space was filled with tabletop games that I'd never even heard of before. There are literally thousands of different board games. I could definitely see how someone could end up spending a lot of money on it as a hobby, especially if you have a fair number of friends who like to play with you.

I wish I lived in a better community. I live in a small city that's being pretty well ravaged by heroin addiction. Some friends and I have discussed organizing community gaming events before, but we haven't had many people show interest. I actually wish I could get out of this town so I could move to a larger city where I would hopefully find more like-minded individuals. Our city is even the County seat, but there's nothing here to do for entertainment, which is probably a big reason why people sit around doing drugs all day. It's almost a ghost town anymore. Once Walmart showed up a few years ago, everything seemed to turn to crap and almost all of our local businesses ceased to be. All we have for entertainment now is the movie theater, which is part of our antique town square that was built in the 1880s.
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Alex79
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Re: Board Games

Post by Alex79 »

Are you in the US? No reason for asking, just things you mentioned and I wondered.

Anyway, board games. I'd love to get in to them, but have the same problems most other people do I guess - nobody to play with! I've seen on TV board game bars where it's just a bar or cafe where they have 100's of board games you can borrow to play. It looks great, but none round by me. My town is pretty small and most the people just want to go out and get smashed at the weekend which isn't really my scene. Any more.
Bakers_12

Re: Board Games

Post by Bakers_12 »

I do like a game or two. My mate runs a game night that is free witch is nice. Been playing a lot of X-wing and munchkin. Like the look of the battle star glactica borad games
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Flabyo
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Re: Board Games

Post by Flabyo »

KSubzero1000 wrote:Is there a massive and luxurious underground board games industry I don't know about?
Apparently :)

Spiel Essen 2016 was earlier this month. 156,000 people attended.

Image

Board game are not quite as big a market as video games, but its growing at a much more rapid rate.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by ColinAlonso »

Definitely seems like a growing thing.

About two years ago a friend of mine started an irregular board games night among some of our friends playing games like Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Carcassone and some less board based games like Coup, Resistance and Masquerade. Its a nice change from just going to the pub or watching a movie and not really talking as much as we should. I'm not really into the scene enough to recommend things but I do feel like I see Catan in a few more shops these days.
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Re: Board Games

Post by KissMammal »

KSubzero1000 wrote:How does one even spend large amounts of money on board games? My brain can't comprehend that concept. Is there a massive and luxurious underground board games industry I don't know about?
Ha! You'd be amazed. The board game scene is going through a bit of a renaissance/golden age these last few years, and it often feels like dozens of new releases come out every week. And they're not cheap, especially at full retail price. Perfectly normal for a game to cost in the region of $50/£40 (though obviously it varies greatly depending on the game). I probably own around 50 games, as well as various expansions.
About two years ago a friend of mine started an irregular board games night among some of our friends playing games like Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Carcassone and some less board based games like Coup, Resistance and Masquerade. Its a nice change from just going to the pub or watching a movie and not really talking as much as we should. I'm not really into the scene enough to recommend things but I do feel like I see Catan in a few more shops these days.
Ah, Coup - fantastic game! We probably play that more than anything else. I love secret role/social deduction games like Coup and Werewolf (even though I'm pretty terrible at them!) - they tend to get very lively and really get people out of their shells! I love the social aspect, as you say - since the advent of smartphones and tablets, for a few years Christmases with my extended family would devolve into everyone sitting round being really antisocial. But then a few years back, I started introducing tabletop games, and now it's a real delight every year to convene and play board games late into the night - everyone gets really into it! As with similar advances in videogames, modern board games are far more dynamic and smartly designed than what they used to be - I think a lot of people associate board games with traumatic childhood memories of tedious, endless rounds of Monopoly, but it's a million miles from the experiences available now.

Like others here, I have often struggled with a lack of players, but I've slowly managed to convince most people I know into casual game fans - as I like to think with videogames, there is a board game out there for everyone. It's all a matter of pitching it right, choosing the right game for the right social occasion and audience and to know when you're flogging a dead horse. :lol:
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Flabyo
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by Flabyo »

I buy physical games, particularly CCG's, mainly to study their rules and see what I can learn to apply to video game design.

The main difference between video game design and board game design is mechanic hiding. In a board game you have to straight up show the players how everything works. There's no hiding any unseen calculations (well, unless it's one of the newer games that uses an iPad app to drive the turns). That makes it a lot easier to *analyse* the rules, because I can see them all.

Sometimes things surprise me. For example, the newly released (in the west) Final Fantasy card game is significantly simpler to learn and play than the My Little Pony one.

I also like reading RPG rulebooks for much the same reason. A lot of those would translate to computer role playing pretty easily, but sometimes you find a system that straight up can't, like Fate Core or Fiasco. And I find that fascinating.
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by Tleprie »

As others have said, I wish I had more time and people to play with, but on average we find time about once a month or so. Usually getting several nights in when people are home for the summer or holidays.

Some of my favorites are 7 Wonders, Cranium, Citadels, and Pictionary. Of course can't leave out the classics, like Monopoly and Clue. I also really enjoy Arkham Horror. It's an incredibly difficult co-op game. I'm quite excited for the Bloodborne card game. I heard about it forever ago, and seeing this thread prompted me to check in on it. It comes out this month!
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by Tleprie »

I also want to give a shout out to tabletop roleplaying games.

Some of the most fun I've had are in games of D&D and the like. They take and expand all of great storytelling aspects that games provide, without pesky things like hardware limitations to get in the way of me pulling a Star Destroyer out of the sky, crushing the Emperor, and unleashing a bionic plague on Coruscant.

If anyone is looking to get into tabletop RPGs D&D 4e is a good simple starting point, though I think 3.5 gives a lot more freedom and is more fun overall. I've heard a lot of good things about the latest 5e stuff, but haven't had the money to get into it. Otherwise if you're less into fantasy and prefer sic-fi, WotC's Star Wars RPG is great. Fairly similar to D&D mechanically.
Finally, Fantasy Flight's Star Wars game, Edge of the Empire. It is much more story and imagination driven, with less focus on stats and numbers (though those are still there), and it is probably one of the cheaper games that I've played, as you really only need the main book and a pack of dice. We've had entire sessions without any sort of physical map or characters.
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by KissMammal »

Tleprie wrote: Some of my favorites are 7 Wonders, Cranium, Citadels, and Pictionary. Of course can't leave out the classics, like Monopoly and Clue. I also really enjoy Arkham Horror. It's an incredibly difficult co-op game. I'm quite excited for the Bloodborne card game. I heard about it forever ago, and seeing this thread prompted me to check in on it. It comes out this month!
I just got 7 Wonders. I like it but to me there's a bit of a jarring disconnect between how bright and breezy the game plays and how complicated it is to figure out the scoring. I like that it can support up to 7 players though - a lot of the games I have top out at 4, which can be awkward for larger group.

My favourite games would be Splendor, Star Realms, Exploding Kittens, Coup, Ticket To Ride, Carcassonne, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Monikers, Dead of Winter and Qwirkle. I honestly defy anyone to not enjoy any of those games (with the exception of Star Realms and Dead of Winter, which are probably a bit nerdier than the average punter would want to go).
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by Tleprie »

KissMammal wrote: I just got 7 Wonders. I like it but to me there's a bit of a jarring disconnect between how bright and breezy the game plays and how complicated it is to figure out the scoring.
The scoring can be a bit messy. We usually have one person in charge of tallying it all up, they just go around and ask each person how many points they have in each category/color.
KissMammal wrote: My favourite games would be Splendor, Star Realms, Exploding Kittens, Coup, Ticket To Ride, Carcassonne, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Monikers, Dead of Winter and Qwirkle. I honestly defy anyone to not enjoy any of those games (with the exception of Star Realms and Dead of Winter, which are probably a bit nerdier than the average punter would want to go).
I've heard a lot of good things about Ticket To Ride, need to check that out. And I just played One Night Ultimate Werewolf for the first time about a month ago, and goodness was it fun!
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Re: Board/Card Games - The obligatory "analogue" gaming thread

Post by KissMammal »

In some ways Splendor feels like a boiled-down version of 7 Wonders - it has similar mechanics but it's always close and tense, and you're always keenly aware of who's in the lead. With 7 Wonders, when a game ends it feels a bit anticlimactic. Plus, with Splendor, you get to play with proper weighty poker chips.

Ticket to Ride is great - that one's very popular with the family. I have the 'Europe' version, though on balance I'd actually say that I prefer the original (USA) version - it's easier to pick up and a bit more cutthroat - the Europe version is fun but has a few too many concessions to 'fairness' that take some of the bite out of the game. I have the UK map pack too which is great.

The app version of TTR is fantastic as well. To be honest I almost always end up buying the app versions of any board game I buy (if available) so I can use them as an interactive tutorial. I've learned so many games this way.
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