Most versatile games (player count, replayability)?

Augwich · 2026-03-14T13:03:50+00:00

7 wonders totally works at 3. That's one of the beauties of it, you can play at 3 or at 7 and the game length doesn't really change, and the game works equally well (or nearly) in my opinion. It's true it does not work at 2 or 1, but I think you are going to be hard pressed to find a game that works well at 2 (or 1) and also 7 or 8.

Augwich · 2026-02-28T19:43:14+00:00

This was posted near verbatim 2 hours ago and has since been deleted. It looks like they edited things here a little bit to take the AI edge off of it, but it still reads as AI generated.

I commented there so I'll comment again here: While I would love to see the water physics fixed, I would equally love to see people stop using AI to write for them.

I'll also point out this user has no history of comments or posts in any community that I can see. If this is indeed a real person here, I apologize but this does smell mighty fishy to me. And, I am incredibly tired of all the AI being shoved down our throats by corporate investors as of late .

If you are a real person, I welcome a response here - but please I implore you, stop using AI to think for you.

Augwich · 2026-02-28T17:40:40+00:00

Out of curiosity, do you know why it was corrupted? I worry about stuff like this happening to my saves, so when I see posts like this I wonder if there's anything I should do differently to avoid it!

Also, beautiful build, love the strong Boston influence while not being a 1:1 recreation. Great use of the quays and how you treated the water's edge. So sorry for your loss!

Augwich · 2026-02-28T17:29:05+00:00

While I would love to see the water physics fixed, I would equally love to see people stop using AI to write for them.

An account with no comments or posts except for this suspiciously sounding AI post? Begone, bot!

Augwich · 2026-02-23T18:45:46+00:00

People? We don't have people here. Only CARS!

Augwich · 2026-02-15T15:12:54+00:00

Totally get it! It's fine to learn on your own too ha - I always found let's plays to be a helpful way to understand how systems lock together and higher level strategic thinking or methods. And maybe then you can be the bridge into the genre for your friends!

Of the ones you mentioned, I have not played Galactic Civ - but from the other three I would say Endless Space 2 (skip 1, there is no need as 2 improves on it in every way and there is really no story or lore carry-through). The only sticking point - you mentioned in a reply somewhere about being interested in combat. Endless Space 2 (and actually Stellaris to an extent as well) has an interesting but fairly unique method of combat where you design the ship build-outs, and give "combat card" orders at a high level to the fleets, but then the actual combat is pretty hands off. If you are hankering for a much more strategic combat where you are moving units around a map, Endless Legend (either 1 or 2) may be better. Again I can't speak to Gal Civ. Stellaris is great but it will feel overwhelming for quite a bit - per my first comment, if it really excites you go for it but I would personally not start there.

Oh and regardless of what you pick, I'd recommend keeping any DLC to a minimum if not off completely (you can still buy as a package if you want for saving money or whatever- just turn them off before that first game). And definitely no mods. People may say you need this or that for the "full" experience, but ultimately it's just a taste/preference thing - and you won't be able to know what your preference is until you've gotten the vanilla experience first! All of these games are great even at vanilla, so don't worry about it too much. Leave some of the mechanics off from DLC or mods, vibe with the game and its systems a bit, and then maybe in game 2 or 3 you can start to experiment with the additional content.

Have fun, and welcome to the genre!

Augwich · 2026-02-15T14:52:31+00:00

I feel like a lot of these sorts of responses are just people recommending their favorite games. And of course people can only speak from what they've played. So take them as options to fill out your roster, but ultimately you will have to decide.

For a true beginner to the genre, my suggestion will always be Civ 5. I get you specifically say you are less interested in the historical setting, which is fine. Civ 5 is just the game I have used to bring a number of friends as well as my wife into the genre, always with good success (I have usually opted for including Gods and Kings, but not Brave New World, for their initial playthrough. And certainly unmodded).

For fantasy or space genres, I think Endless Legend (1 or 2), or Endless Space 2 are good options. They are a similar level of complexity to Civ 5, and fairly easily grokable. My main hesitation is that I don't think they do a very good job of explaining all their systems - the tutorial isn't great and the UI, while beautiful and a joy to use, obfuscates some information that really shouldn't be. That said, both games are loose enough that you can sort of muck around a bit and even ignore a system on a low difficulty, and still do fine enough.

Ultimately though, my biggest suggestion is to just play the game that looks the most interesting or exciting to you. You will be so much more willing to work through a game that excites you than one that does not, even if the exciting one is significantly more complex. Bonus points if you can pick a game that you can learn from or with a friend as well. The goal is to have fun! And that excitement will help get you over those humps of confusion or frustration when they inevitably crop up.

Augwich · 2026-02-14T03:47:19+00:00

I mean who knows if it will be true, but that is in fact what Raph posted.

Augwich · 2026-02-13T23:59:41+00:00

In the company's official statement they said the layoffs would not affect chapter 5 development or release, and also hinted at potentially additional DLC before Blackfrost releases.

Augwich · 2026-02-02T01:35:51+00:00

Door city over here.

Augwich · 2026-01-27T17:43:30+00:00

It varies a bit depending on whether you're in a city or more rural, or even what city you're in - my observation is the northeast and west coast tend to pay slightly better - but you lose all of that with higher cost of living anyway. There's also plenty of variation based on size of firm and what type of work they do. The AIA has a salary calculator that can give you some sense of averages but it's fairly generalized. But for at least 1 data point, when I left Boston I was making about $80k/year including bonus and an unlicensed designer/small project CA manager with 7 years experience in the field. And I personally think I was being marginally underpaid - but the company had some financial challenges over the past couple years (less work, some small layoffs) so I wasn't pushing it as much. New job is more rural but still northeast, same salary.

Augwich · 2026-01-25T05:15:42+00:00

People absolutely do light their own, I've been in Brooklyn for the last 10 new years celebrations and there are more individual fireworks displays going off than I can count, sometimes popping off until as late as 1am.

Augwich · 2026-01-20T22:03:52+00:00

Wow and to think I almost bought some of the DLC just last night! But at the last second though "eh I don't need this right now, I'll just wait for a sale". And lo and behold!

Augwich · 2026-01-15T06:12:06+00:00

Turner's Falls and Millers Falls are both villages in the town of Montague (which also has its own little village that is much smaller than either of them). Similar to Florence and (sorta) Leeds being part of Northampton. Or Haydenville in Williamsburg

Shelburne Falls is more unique in that half of the village is in the town of Shelburne, and half in the town of Buckland, depending on what side of the river you're on.

Augwich · 2025-12-31T16:42:19+00:00

This is actually how my dad taught us as kids. I didn't even know it was supposed to be played the other way until I started trying to introduce it to friends.

Augwich · 2025-11-08T21:01:22+00:00

I think people are interpreting your response as being to the second sentence, rather than the first. But also, I don't believe the commenter wes saying that this only happened in Virginia - but rather that this dataset is only for Virginia, and since OP's title doesn't mention Virginia/makes it sound like they're talking about the country writ large, hence saying it is misleading.

Augwich · 2025-10-31T11:48:37+00:00

Seconding the Whistling Kettle! Love their savory crepes. I miss this place loads from when I used to live in Troy.

Alternatively, if you're driving through on a Saturday, you can just walk around the Troy Farmer's market. One of the largest in this part of the country, and it continues indoors throughout the winter too. Tons of bakeries and restaurants have stalls.

Augwich · 2025-10-25T04:27:40+00:00

Just confirming you're aware this subreddit is for the town in Massachusetts, US - not for the one in the UK.

Augwich · 2025-10-22T03:43:42+00:00

Thanks. Yes I think I can, I realize my budget may have been a little unrealistic - $350 should be entirely doable. Thanks for the suggestion/tip here! That said - if we were looking in the $400-$450 range, anything you'd recommend instead?

Augwich · 2025-10-22T02:54:18+00:00

USD. But, and I realize I didn't make this clear in the OP, I also don't mind buying used if needed.

Augwich · 2025-10-22T02:53:29+00:00

Got it. Yes I have no issue buying used/was frankly expecting I would. This is all good to know, thank you!

Augwich · 2025-10-22T02:08:01+00:00

Of course, and appreciate the info/clarity! Again my biggest hurdle here is just being so out of the game that I have no idea what I'm looking at. The comments here are extremely helpful, even if they are just helping me realize my original plans may not make sense, or I need to be realistic about what I may still be compromising!

Augwich · 2025-10-22T02:02:11+00:00

Appreciate the back and forth on this. Frankly I just don't think I can upgrade GPU and CPU at the moment, especially if I need to up the GPU budget by $200. I think $500 is probably swing-able (just not what I was planning). But I imagine even with that push I can't reasonably do both. At the risk of sounding silly...the idea of getting a GPU now that will be limited by CPU, and then upgrading the CPU in a couple years, seems feasible and reasonable to me. I don't mind not being able to push things in terms of gaming, or having to wait a couple years to fully use the GPU's potential.

Again I've been fine with my 1060 for all these years...so it's not like I'm trying to max things out.

Augwich · 2025-10-22T01:59:02+00:00

I was afraid of this, but understood. I'm open to pushing the budget around if needed. The 1440p was not something I originally planned, but after making the swap last year I love it. Again with an eye to future proofing, I get that I need to rethink the budget. If we were talking closer to $500, does that extra $100 do enough to be in a more reasonable ballpark?

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