The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

Nutmeggers wrote:Dominion is a game that since this thread went up, I have played with some additional expansions. I have a friend who has almost all of them and I have 5 now. I won't be buying any more because there's really only so many you need and I don't care for some of the more aggressive/frustrating cards. What I continue to like about the game is that each time you start with a new tableau of cards to use in a game, it's like a new logic problem to solve in terms of what combination of cards will get you where you want to be. The mechanics from game to game are the same, but the path to victory is different each time. Often, the winner is whoever seems to have figured out the best combination of cards the quickest.

I agree wholeheartedly with Frank here on all points. We own the original Dominion, the Intrigue expansion (which also can be played as a base game), and we just got Prosperity for Christmas. I REALLY like the Prosperity expansion, even more than Intrigue - it adds some elements that make Dominion seem more like a whole new game. I've heard a lot of folks say that the Dark Ages expansion is too weird to be enjoyable. I've played with Seaside and Alchemy. I really don't like the potions mechanic added by Alchemy. Seaside is unmemorable to me. Intrigue is a very natural, seamless extension of the original game, and allows you to expand (if you also own the original game) to a 5 or 6 player game - that may not be important to you, as games with more than 4 people drag on quite a bit.

I have now played 2 games of Machi Koro, a fun little card acquisition game that you can play in 25 minutes, tops. It seems like a nice gateway game; it may break down to be too simple on repeated playings, I will let you know.

I actually started Dominion with the Intrigue expansion (it comes as a standalone package) and later added the base game, Alchemy, Seaside, and Prosperity. Alchemy is the one I'm least interested in. I actually love Seaside, in particular the duration cards that can be used twice on consecutive turns. I get a bit nervous with Prosperity as some of the card combos lead to long games.

We got our friends a copy of Hanabi for Christmas, which they obligingly let us play with them. It's a very simple cooperative game where you are trying to play cards in a certain order except that you cannot see your own cards. You have some rules about how to share information with other people and then hope that when it's their turn, they interpreted your clues correctly. Quite fun and real easy to learn.

I also introduced Love Letter to some non-gaming family and they enjoyed it quite a bit. The theme and packaging (our copy came in a magenta velvet pouch with gold stitching on it) take a moment to get past, but the game play consists of never holding more than 2 cards in your hand at a time out of a 16 card deck. It's a bluffing game that goes quick and has levels of depth.

Lacking a playing partner, I still haven't delved into any of the interesting games highlighted in this thread. (It will happen someday ... someday.) But perhaps inspired by this thread, I have been hitting up ebay to recover the old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books of my youth. Of course, I can't play AD&D for the same reason that I can't play these other games, but I at least can enjoy reading the familiar old text and looking over the familiar old pictures. And oh, those pictures! I received my copy of the first edition Dungeon Master's Guide in the mail and was instantly reminded why parents worried that this game was turning their children into Satanists.
Yeah, that kind of cover art is going to ruffle some feathers. Imagine trying to get something like that published today, let alone turned mainstream! You often hear how morals are constantly loosening as we progress from generation to generation, but in a lot of ways, we're more conservative today than ever before. Don't know if that's good, bad, or neutral. I'm just happy to have this old book back in my collection.

Its tough finding gaming opponents. We are in a sort of golden age of board gaming though where there are some very compelling solo designs. Here's a few:

Nemos' War
http://www.victorypointgames.com/nemo-s-war.html
Play as Captain Nemo in command of the amazing Nautilus submarine in this solitaire game of you against the world!
( wait for the upcoming reprint on this one! http://www.victorypointgames.com/news/n ... r-article/ )

Dan Verssen games has a good series of solo designs. http://www.dvg.com

Warfighter is a new release that seems well received. I personally own and have played Hornet Leader, Phantom Leader, Thunderbolt/Apache leader and Field Commander Alexander. They are all fun, quick playing, easy to get into with good replay value.

Two of the deeper and more challenging titles I need to get back on the table are GMT's 'Navajo Wars' (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/ ... avajo-wars) and 'Enemy Coast Ahead: The Dambuster Raid' (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/ ... uster-raid)

I guarantee any of those will scratch that itch when you want to enjoy a solo board game. There are so many others!

Thanks, Frank! I promise to take a look.

Longshoremen wrote:I have now played 2 games of Machi Koro, a fun little card acquisition game that you can play in 25 minutes, tops. It seems like a nice gateway game; it may break down to be too simple on repeated playings, I will let you know.

As promised, an update on this one. Machi Koro has proven to withstand the test of repeated play. It's a deck builder. . . except your deck is all in play at once. The goal is to build 4 final buildings, which cost money, which you get from building your deck. There's enough interaction that the best strategy is dependent to some degree on the strategies that other take and to some degree on luck (i.e. the results of rolling either one die or two dice).

Once you know the game, you can knock a game out in 15 minutes or so, and playing two or three games in a row does not get boring.

Robert Florence of Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote:Board gaming is booming. Sales are up, and climbing. Kickstarters are launching every week. Board game coverage is blossoming, and people are earning a living talking about these things. Wil Wheaton is rolling in all that Tabletop cash. The Dice Tower (the best board game coverage on the internet) is expanding and being supported by its viewers. The big publishers are launching big games based on big intellectual properties and making big, big money. It is a golden, perfect time for board gaming. We are in the sunshine. But where do we go from here? Let’s talk about the state of board gaming, now, in 2015.

Since we have so many boardgamers here, I thought this preview of the upcoming year in boardgames might be of interest. It doesn't really highlight specific games so much as discuss the state of boardgaming in general. Cardboard Children is a regular Tuesday feature on rockpapershotgun.com, so you might want to keep an eye out for it if you like this column.

I think the article hits the nail on the head... board gaming allows us to gather together in a socially competitive way as we age. It's more social than movies, and really I feel that to a large extent, the list of movies I'm genuinely interested in watching gets smaller every year. I think board games also tickle my intellectual itch to solve problems. That said, we are in a board game bubble that will eventually burst. We'll come out of it much better than how we went in. Kickstarter produces tons of dud board games and ones that never get shipped, but the number of designers is encouraging. The cat is out of the bag and the best part of it is that good board games never get old.

http://www.notboredboardgames.com/

Hey guys,

I just thought that I would do a little shameless free advertising. I have been buying and selling various board games over the years, but with all my extra time that I have with my current job, I decided to create my own website(wordpress) and online board game store for reasons explained on my about page.

I started out a bit smaller than I would have liked, and my goal of doing a video review (along with my mandatory written review) is a little behind, but I'll be constantly growing with new games so keep checking in.

Margins are very slim, but I'd like to give you guys a discount if you contact me. I'm doing this because I love it and want to share my love of board gaming with others, not to get rich.

daniel@notboredboardgames.com

I'm always interested in feedback and constructive criticism, so don't hesitate to be harsh. The only test groups I've had so far is close family and friends. They all love my idea so far, but it could still bust.

Thanks

That's really cool, Daniel. I'm going to pass the word about your site around to some of my boardgaming friends. Hopefully it will net you a little extra traffic. And I encourage our boardgaming PEBA members to take advantage of Daniel's generous offer. I might even dip a toe in myself: I love The Witcher computer game, and Daniel's review of the boardgame version has me curious. :)

Neat stuff! The review section is useful and informative. Best of luck with the site! Stick with it; I think you're approach is one that will appeal over time. :)

Sounds like a fascinating venture, Daniel. Good luck with it.

But, man, like you need a baseball game! APBA, Stratomatic, All-Star, something to represent the sport we love.

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

I'm also looking for constructive criticism if you have any thoughts. Don't be afraid to be harsh.

I'll definitely check this out a little deeper when I get some free time, looks like a great way to further explore your hobby and - hopefully - make a little extra loot on the side! Good luck!

Nice! I'm a little jealous - I wish I had the ambition to try something like that. I'm currently reading The $100 Startup about the recent changes in the ability of small entrepreneurs to start a business now using easy things like wordpress and paypal.

I checked out the desert game too...trying to sell my daughter on it.