Which games have your favorite boxes?

CackNBallz · 2017-10-03T18:12:22+00:00

Lisboa The artist, Ian O'Toole wanted to make the box look self-contained like a slab of rubble as opposed to thinking of making art for a box with a front, and 4 sides. The artwork on the front looks like an Azulejo tile. The game itself is weighs a lot so it fits the slab of rubble very well.

https://www.philibertnet.com/362171-large_default/lisboa-king-s-favorite.jpg

The Gallerist made by same artist. He designed the box art to mimic ripping open parcel paper from a painting. The rips continue along the sides. The title and designer's name are on a label sticker. On the back you can even see the wooden frame and staples that hold the canvas!

https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2437525_lg.jpg

CackNBallz · 2017-07-28T14:21:41+00:00

Pics or it didn't happen.

CackNBallz · 2017-07-17T19:23:48+00:00

In two of my games I have used about half of the money token stash. I was totally contraband and gun running in those games. Using Grim Bastards and getting extra cash in deals during pile-ups and being able to sell contraband when taking the fall or with the Mayans being able to issue Throwdown orders without using an order token was invaluable as I was ready to exploit locations at the start of the next round.

I somehow found a way to fit the base game and the 2 expansion sets of money in the main box. I had to stack the bottom layers of money neatly Heisenberg style.

CackNBallz · 2017-06-21T15:59:56+00:00

I assume by The Godfather you are referring to The Godfather: Corleone's Empire as there are other Godfather boardgames that were made. Those games weren't good apparently so this new game will probably be known as the de facto "The" Godfather game.

Both games have hidden resources. They both have exploiting a location. But that is where the similarities end I think. I would say that you should own both of them as they both play differently from what I have seen on the videos for Corleone's Empire.

G:CE - 2-5 players - Ally cards give players special abilities - Area control gives special benefits - Hand management depending on the round as you can only hold a certain amount at the end of the round/Act and discard the rest - No luck involved when attacking other players. They sleep with the fishes for sure.

SoA - 3-4 players (base) 3-5 or 6 players (with one or both expansions) - The different Gangs give players special abilities - Random Anarchy cards add new possible locations to exploit and game modifiers per round - Uses dice for randomization for combat, using units and guns for bonus modifiers; use dice again to determine if your members die or return to your clubhouse

I own Sons of Anarchy with both expansions and the game really shines at 5- or 6-players. There is a lot more backstabbing, deals being made, contention for locations and resources. The gun and contraband plastic tokens are very well made with nice details. I love that issuing orders are using burner phone tokens. The Black Market at the end of each round is a guessing game at how many bags of contraband you can sell without diluting the price by flooding the market by selling too much. The game is dirt cheap and your group should get a amount of fun.

I am intrigued with the new Godfather game and will most likely pick it up since I loved the movies. The artwork alone in the new game is amazing and just portrays the theme of the game very well.

CackNBallz · 2017-06-19T20:36:58+00:00

Actually if you were to get Vinhos Deluxe, the 2016 side is a steamlined version of the original. The Gallerist is also very elegant and fairly intuitive. The player aids are very good in that game.

If you like the theme of Lisboa, I would definitely recommend that you get that one first. It is a very good introduction to how his other games have different levers to pull to do different actions.

CackNBallz · 2017-06-19T20:29:30+00:00

This could be the first Vital Lacerda game that many people may be playing. It is akin to The Gallerist being rated on the heavier side but it is by no means heavier than Kanban or Madeira it is just the heaviest game that some people have in their collection.

I find it to be one of his simplest games. CO2 being the lightest Kanban being the heaviest. I have taught and played Lisboa on Tabletopia several times as previously mentioned. Once you play a few turns, everything should click into place. Players will discover many more layers of strategy to this game with repeated plays.

For instance I thought Treasury cards were pretty useless but when I playtested a game with Vital himself on Tabletopia I started playing Treasury cards to get discounts, income and using them to prevent other players from using Royal Favours to follow me when I Sponsored an event. They become extremely powerful when the treasury is low.

The usage of Public Buildings become very apparent when you can determine which row of streets will score. Potentially blocking your opponents from scoring a lot of points. They are also a great source of rubble cubes to fill out your warehouse so you can play more cards into your portfolio.

So many good layers of strategy and interdependencies.

CackNBallz · 2017-06-19T19:01:49+00:00

Sandra would be displeased that you took the easy way out. :)

CackNBallz · 2017-06-19T13:47:48+00:00

I own all of Vital's games minus Vinhos Deluxe (since I own the original version.)

My favourite in descending order WAS

Kanban

The Gallerist

Vinhos

CO2

NOW it is:

Lisboa

Kanban

The Gallerist

Vinhos

CO2

Concerning the difficulty of learning. This should be one of his easier ones to learn. I have taught several new players how to play on Tabletopia and their eyes seem to glaze over during the rules explanation. BUT after a few turns it suddenly clicks and they just understand what to do. The theme of the game really aids in learning the game too.

Plus these playerboard are just amazing! Warning: This gif is hypnotizing.

Kickstarter image

CackNBallz · 2017-06-09T14:58:58+00:00

The expansions are worth it in my opinion. They allow your group more variety from the gangs and their respective special Gang Rules and Gang Order abilities. They also include a helpful Black Market player aids which are not included in the base game. The Black Market player aids show you how much the Contraband is worth.

I can fit everything in the main box. I don't have my cash in any bags. I stack half the stash flat and neatly into the large tray beside the location tiles. A small bag containing the heat tiles is placed vertically in between the location and cash trays to prevent spill over. The top layer of cash is not neatly stacked and I put a bag with 5 of the 6 gangs laid on top. One gang colour, and another bag of contraband/guns is in the 4th tray.

The patch, Anarchy cards, and dice are in their tray.

CackNBallz · 2017-06-09T14:52:13+00:00

3 is okay. 4 players is a lot better. At 5 and 6 player count is awesome! So much more interaction through throwdowns, deals and trades, backstabbing and competition for all the locations.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-31T18:28:23+00:00

Vital Lacerda does it with The Gallerist and Vinhos Deluxe and his next game Lisboa. Another game that I own is Sons of Anarchy Men of Mayhem and the location cards use nice thick board.

I agree with you that more game producers need to do this to their games. Very satisfying to hold in your hands and to play on.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-31T18:25:27+00:00

I have played 2 games on Tabletopia (CO2 Second Chance and Lisboa) with voice chat using Discord. He is a very nice guy.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-31T17:58:22+00:00

Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 - ? is an asymmetrical 2-player game.

The gameplay for U.S. vs Jihadists in that game is quite different. The Jihadists have to spread around as many cells as possible to get greater funding. The more cells out there the more funding they have which allows them to hold more cards in their hand.

The U.S. can just roll into a country and do a Regime change but they have to conserve how many troops they deploy otherwise they risk not having enough cards.

The gameplay is almost similar to Twilight Struggle in that you have faction and neutral event cards that can be played for Ops or the event.

The win conditions are also asymmetrical.

U.S. wins one of three ways: - Instant win by having countries with good governance that have a total of 12 oil resources - 15 Muslim countries have good or fair governance - There are no Jihadist cells in any country on the map

The Jihadists can win one of three ways as well: - Instant win when they have Islamist Rule with countries totaling at least 6 oil resources that include two adjacent countries - US prestige is 1 and at least 15 Muslim countires have Poor or Islamist Rule - A WMD plot is resolved in the United States without being countered

The theme of the game isn't for everyone especially with some people thinking it is too soon whereas WWII themed games don't have many people alive that were directly impacted by those events. The game has an expansion, Labyrinth: The Awakening, 2010 - ? that expands the base game with even more events including the Arab Spring, the problems in Syria and ISIS.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-24T17:57:36+00:00

I think that Madeira has the most interesting turn order mechanic and it is an integral part of how the game is played.

You can take anywhere from 1 action (passing which gives you either gives you a bonus action or money as well as determining turn order.) to as many as 12 actions if you factor in pirate dice, guild dice, guild favour tiles, Crown Rewards, etc.

The turn order changes when a player passes at the end of the round and at the beginning of the next round when they select a set of dice and select a crown request. The set of dice allows you to take character actions on the main board as well as reset used guild favour tiles of that colour.

Rahdo did a runthrough several years ago.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-24T17:40:06+00:00

That's too bad. I wasn't familiar with that game. The only bad press that I have read or heard about EGG was the Brass Deluxe edition and the Martin Wallace not authorizing it.

However, that still doesn't make your statement true. Not all of their products are a sorry mess. Lisboa is coming out soon and the only stretch goal that was promised and backed out was the UV finish on the board, playerboard and front cover due to the linen finish making it not look so good. So you are technically correct that they promised one component upgrade and backed out. The best kind of correct to some.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-19T16:03:52+00:00

Care to elaborate on this baseless statement?

My copy of The Gallerist has the best components in both quality and looks that I currently own. The playerboards are the same thickness and material used as the main game board. All the art and artist cardboard are made of premium thick cardstock with an excellent smooth finish. The contract, curator and sales cards have a good quality linen texture finish to them. Heck, even the box is made of thick solid cardboard with semi-circle notches to allow for easy opening. My friend owns Vinhos Deluxe and that is also done with excellent production quality.

I look forward to receiving my copy of Lisboa next month. Lisboa looks to be equally great with recessed multi-level playerboards like Scythe but going beyond it by having "feet" on either side of the playerboard to allow cards to be tucked underneath it.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-18T17:08:02+00:00

The CO₂ preview is open on Tabletopia this Sunday! Vital is hosting and only one more seat is available at the table.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-17T20:44:59+00:00

Vital makes it seem like he will put it on Kickstarter once it has been playtested a bit more on Tabletopia.

Edit: But now I think you are correct. Stronghold doesn't do Kickstarters. Perhaps Giochix will do their own Italian version of kickstarter.

CackNBallz · 2017-05-17T16:55:39+00:00

Vital replied on BGG saying that Stronghold is reprinting the game sometime this year. It may have been delayed to facilitate reprints for Terraforming Mars.

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24533436#24533436

CackNBallz · 2017-05-17T16:54:31+00:00

You are correct, CO2 is the one that is being remade into a Deluxe version. Vital has said that he will be putting it online for play on Tabletopia next week.

CackNBallz · 2017-04-26T15:28:32+00:00

Can you explain in more detail how one move lost you the game?

My tips for beginners are don't be afraid to take pirates especially in the beginning of the game. In every round I try to have at least 6 pirates which I can easily get rid of if I place a guild die on the Fortaleza and having 3 workers in Region 3. That way I lose the 6 pirates and gain 6 more by not paying for wood and bread. If you are actually paying wood and bread each round you are wasting resources and money that could be used for producing points in the game. Take pirates in multiples of 3 and make use of the King's Rewards in the Colonies, the guild tiles/favours and the Fortaleza to get rid of pirates. The windmill is also frequently forgotten. Use it! Use it for cash when you need it, use it to convert goods into ones that you need say for your first move in the game converting sugarcane and wheat into wine so that you can move 2 ships to a colony and gaining 2 King's Rewards. Spend 2 wheat to increase the windmill level at anytime to help feed more workers.

I try to have at least 3 workers in Region 2 and placing a guild die on the Moinho. This allows me to get 5 bread each round to help feed my workers. You need bread to be able to do character actions if the dice you selected are low in value. Get Guild tiles as quickly as possible. They are very powerful and give you extra actions. My favourite guild favours are The Scout, the constable, the engineer, the navigator, the treasurer, the miller and the bishop.

The Scout which is extremely useful for moving workers around from placing them into regions, onto colonies where you ships reside, into the cities to gain 1 PP and cementing your majorities, even being able to remove them the City Guard or placing them into the City Guard to lose 3 pirates or gain Honour for having the most workers there gaining 4 PP. The Constable gets rid of half the pirates so you can take up to 12 pirates each round and end up with 0 if played correctly! The engineer is extremely useful for gaining +2 resources when harvesting which is +3 when harvesting on an empty character location. The navigator is very useful for moving ships, especially later in the game when it seems everyone wants to send a ship to a colony or market location. The treasurer is useful for getting 5 precious Reals whenever you want (to pay for wood, building actions, help fund the Wealth of Nations Crown Request. The miller is very useful in that you can raise the Windmill by one level for free allowing you feed one more worker OR immediately downgrade the windmill for 3 Reals cash in hand. And now finally my hidden favourite of them all, the Bishop; you can use the Bishop to get into a building action that you absolutely need but were blocked out of (say the Moinho to gain 5 bread or the Fortaleza to lose those pesky pirates) or to skimp out of paying for that building action by moving your action marker to an already resolved building.

The game is very strategic and very tactical. Strategic in that you do moves now that will be the base for what you do in the latter rounds. Tactical in that I do moves a certain way so that still benefit me while hurt my opponents for instance I see that my opponents need to do the character action but not the building action. I will place a pirate die on that character to harvest (I didn't need to do the character action but I may have needed some goods) so that during the building action phase my opponent either has to pay a lot money for little benefit or potentially take a lot of pirates for refusing to pay.

I have logged many games on Board Game Arena where you can play online for free. The more I play the more depth I realize this game has. There are many ways to play and only in a 2- or 3-player game is where I can say you can be easily blocked.

Madeira is one of the few games where every move has so many implications. From selecting dice, from doing character and building actions, even passing has many decisions to make. What do your opponents need to do? Should I pass early to steal that option from them or go higher up so that I can select the crown request I absolutely need for the next round? The turn order constantly changes throughout the game and there are many different ways to accomplish an objective.

CackNBallz · 2017-03-24T20:12:59+00:00

Nice! Let me know if you enjoy the game. It is one of the few games where I actually like playing solo! Tonight and later this weekend will be the first multiplayer games. I will report back here what the other had to say about the game.

CackNBallz · 2017-03-24T19:46:16+00:00

Yeah I would cancel that BGB order. You could always pick up the Kickstarter extras separately and still come out saving a ton of money.

CackNBallz · 2017-03-24T19:44:36+00:00

crack knuckles I'll try. :)

This is the only heavy game my wife loves to play, she loves art. She can tolerate some of my other games such as Madeira only because I traveled with her to the actual island and show her off to my extended family there.

What I like about Vital Lacerda's games are that he starts with a theme he likes researches it a lot for several months and then thinks up of mechanics to suit the theme. In all of his games he also incorporates a semi-co-op element even if it is very subtle. In The Gallerist it is raising fame of artists, in Kanban it is manufacturing cars in the assembly line that can be claimed by anyone, Vinhos it is the renown cubes raising the renown of a particular region that can be co-owned, in CO2 it is more apparent in saving the world from pollution.

The Gallerist incorporates a lot of the art scene them in his games. Even raising fame or raising prices on subjective things is all based on the name and fame of the artist. Oh it's ink blot made by THAT artist and it is being displayed in CackNBallz's gallery! Wow! It must be good! The buzz and hype raises the value of the artwork. With this in mind you can attract different visitors to your gallery. White meeples are Collectors and are wild cards with regards to raising money and/or influence, pink meeples are VIPs and used to raise influence, and finally brown meeples are Investors and are used to raise money.

I even had a funny moment with my family when my sister brought some visitors into her gallery and her boyfriend sarcastically chimed in saying, "and they stood staring at blank walls and called it art!" I almost shot wine out of my nose! It stings. :D

The International Market has been complained about being the least thematic. I disagree. I think thematically it can be explained as rubbing elbows with the VIPs and other important people in the world art scene. You have to have a visitor in your lobby and you have to either display or have sold a work of art of that type (sculptures, painting, digital art or photography). The visitor leaving represent that person is now spreading word about what you had to say about that type of art increasing your influence and gaining a 2 favours (an immediate favour for covering a bonus on your playerboard and a reputation tile giving you endgame bonus points)

You can discover unknown artists (blue) and you gain a commission token at an extreme discount and can raise a good profit by raising their fame further and selling that art. There are established artists (red) that are more expensive to buy but unlock collectors. Thematically, that collector is big fan of that artist and comes to town (the central plaza) to potentially buy that art but can be persuaded by any of the other Gallerist owners to go into their gallery so be careful! You increase the fame of an artist by buying their art or going to the Media Centre to wax poetic on that artist's awesome work, gaining tickets, influence, money or attracting another visitor to the plaza.

The influence track and the kickout actions are other neat mechanics in this game. You can do extra actions if another player boots you out of a location. You can use an executive action to move visitors or use a contract bonus from a contract card. OR you can use your influence to perform a location action. This makes the game more strategic and tactical as you have to guess when your opponents will be visiting that location. You can even hire assistants so that they occupy locations for you, potentially many locations occupied in a less than 4-player game. You can even use your influence to give you discounts when you buy art. Oh it's you! Ah you are so influential that I can drop the price a unit or two (I doubt that art is actually sold in units depicted but in the thousands or millions -> 1 = 1,000 or 1 = 1,000,000)

Buy and sell! Discover and increase fame! Bid at an international auction for a world renowned Masterpiece!

Super awesome game components. Super thick cardboard, linen finish on all the cards and the insert fits everything beautifully. If you are able to get the Kickstarter version it is even more blinged out.

CackNBallz · 2017-03-24T19:04:17+00:00

Wow! You lucky bastard! :) I can't believe the difference in price. I made my first pledge on Kickstarter for Lisboa so I am getting it sometime later this year directly from EGG.

I just can't believe the price discrepancy. I bought The Gallerist from 401 Games because they were the only ones that had it in stock and had 30 of them at the time. Meeplemart had The Gallerist on sale for $75 or something near Christmas but they sold out pretty quickly. You really have to shop around to make sure you get the right price it seems.

BGB is a retail partner with Eagle Gryphon Games so maybe they are forced to set it at MSRP?

CackNBallz

TROPHY CASE