Board Games: The Thread (Come say hi!)

[Erik_Twice]

Whats the average price to post a mailer to Spain from the US? I might have a spare, I am not sure. We are rearranging our library/gameroom right now so I do not know how many spare copies I have. I am surprised that you havent had Barnes shoot you one. He was all about the pocket version for a while.

I have no idea, but if you can check I'll be more than happy to get one from you. I really think I could do a lot with a game like this and I really like the premise.

[strangenova]

So I need a little help deciding what to get next. My group needs a new game, something exciting and adventurous for us to play. So far all we have to play are euros and a coop game or two, we really like them but need something else.

So I've been reading into American style games, a flair for the dramatic and conflict seem like they might be what we need. I just don't know what to get, I've read that nexus ops and cosmic encounter are good starting points in the genre. Can anybody attest to that or have a suggestion?

The only requirement I have is not too long, I've seen that most American style games can last 3+ hrs. We don't have that kind of time. 1 1/2 to 3 would be good and preferably nothing coop heavy.

There isn't anything wrong with coops, we just want to duke it out for once.

[Erik_Twice]

Not only I would recommend Cosmic Encounter to anyone, I would actively avoid playing games with anyone who didn't have fun with it

Really, if there's a game I would recommend to anyone, no matter what kind of games they like it's Cosmic Encounter. It's the embodiment of this diffuse "fun". It's easy to play, takes very little time and has strategy, negotiation and psychology going on at the same time.

You do need 4 players for it to shine, though.

[strangenova]

My usual group is myself and two others. We do have an on again off again fourth, he just moved closer though. Hopefully that means he'll be around more often.

Okay so that's one vote for cosmic encounter. Do you have any other recommendations of American style games for us to try?

[noiseredux]

so this showed up at my house...

[fastbilly1]

So its been a month, how is it noise?

I received copies of Formula De and AotP Zendikar this week. Formula De is an old favorite I have spoken about at length before - I just have not owned a copy in a long time. In 2005, the founder of my college gaming club, stopped his globetrotting and came to join us for his masters. Every Tuesday he had a boardgame night at his shack/converted garage apartment. This is where I was introduced to a handful of games that he carried with him when he drove his 67 Westfalia around the world. The three big ones we would always play were Mississippi Queen, Samurai, and Formula De. Stick was a master of Formula De. He had worn the first map down to where the edges were tattered and placed in one of the big tournaments in France in 2000 or 2001. So after he died I always wanted to get a copy like his*. He had a version with cars molded out of different colored plastic, not painted. After many years of searching and asking experts on the game, I found out this was a Promo copy. It only took me nine years but a promo copy finally showed up on Ebay. It arrived Monday and when I was explaining it to my wife I was instantly taken back to that hovel with Stick explaining it to me. Now I have to find a cheap place that can print 40"x30" maps, so I can get the rest of the circuits printed out on something heftier than standard plotter paper.

*The week after he died, his wife called me asking if I wanted his copy. About a month before he had told me how much the guys he was working with at the VA loved playing it and I thought it was only right for them to get his copy.

On a lighter note, Arena of Planeswalkers is our current favorite game. It his Heroscape with a spell system and it plays fast. Once everyone knows the rules, most turns are over in a few minutes. Zendikar adds two new generals, six mobs, and a boss. There are a lot of neat parts to this expansion and I cant wait for it to the hit the table. I picked up a spare copy of the base game (it is $12 on Amazon right now), so we can play mirror matches and have more of the base mobs (even though they are unique).

[noiseredux]

So its been a month, how is it noise?

yeah we haven't played it yet. We talked about playing it the other day. Then we didn't.

[mjmjr25]

We're having fun with the Gryphon Games series. They are all the same size box and same quality of cardboard / tray / cards / components. This sadly is very important to me - I love the way they look all lined up.

So far we are 4 for 4.

Incan Gold is great - it's a sort of russian roulette mechanic.
Masters Gallery - is very good; it's an update of Modern Art w/o the auction element, a very quick, very easy, strategy game.
For Sale is just too easy, too fun. You have money, you buy homes at auction, you sell the homes, plays super fast and is super fun.
High Society we've only played once, but it was also good.

If you have friends who are very casual gamers - and don't want to play things like Coup or Werewolf all the time, these are great easy to learn options that play fast.

[strangenova]

So my usual group has fallen apart. One guy moved away, the other only wants to play video games now (jeez what a loser), and my wife no longer seems interested in them either.

So I'm constantly like "hey man I got these games! Man!"

Anyways you guys ever have your gaming group just fall apart and you have to go long periods without being able to play? It's the biggest fault and the biggest positive with board games vs video games, I need people to play with!

[Stark]

We've been playing a bunch of Superfight, it's a great little social party game. It's pretty straight forward, two players draw some cards and make a fighter, using a noun card and an adjective card. And then once they square off, you draw another adjective card. There are add-on decks that have certain flavors too which is fun. Nice if you want something anyone can play and be entertained by, but you hate Apples to Apples.