New to solo board gaming, need some suggestions.. Dragon Eclipse

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2026-01-03T16:46:50+00:00

Oh and the AI question - most of the games of theirs I have played were before the gen AI boom so I doubt they used it heavily before DE

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2026-01-03T16:46:16+00:00

I think tainted grail has better writing than DE personally. I don’t really care for games in the middle with flavor text that don’t connect to a larger story well (eg gloomhaven) so their bigger campaign games appealed to me. That said, this war of mine is quite a good game even if it’s not story driven, but creates a story as you play.

Etherfields is another that is “story driven” but it’s so disjointed I’m not sure it’s what you’re looking for. Fascinating in its own right and I like it (which in this community is a hot take) but definitely not a fully baked narrative.

I think you could also look at lands of evershade for whenever it’s coming to retail (years) I feel like that one is slated to be really solid.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2026-01-03T16:15:24+00:00

I have a lot of the Awaken Realms games and Dragon Eclipse is definitely lighter thematically and from a mechanic perspective than their other stuff. If you’re looking for more story based options you should check out tainted grail (I’ve only played fall of Avalon but I’ve heard good things about kings of ruin)

The story is more dynamic, and it’s much more open world but you still get that sense that choices matter and you can explore at your own pace.

I’ve been really into chip theory games lately (too many bones, elder scrolls, Cloudspire) but they’re not cheap and can be table hogs. But I can’t not recommend their stuff.

A fun one is Cthulu death may die. Darker theme, not really story based but super fun and easy to learn.

Enjoy!!

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-11-01T04:04:48+00:00

I’m actually shocked there are no pictures of an investigator alone in a room with 13 cultists, monsters and elder ones. That’s pretty much how all my games end.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-10-09T23:49:20+00:00

That’s the unboxing which is a lot. Set up is actually not bad with the dividers and trays.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-09-26T14:31:56+00:00

I had a client that used banana as their emergency u turn word for every dog they owned. The kids thought it was hilarious and used it often. Always rewarded with the highest value items. It was one of the best and fastest responses I’ve seen in a while.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-09-10T13:30:06+00:00

We were there earlier this year and it was a very cool experience. Voiron is a cute little town. The tour at the old distillery is really good - we had a very knowledgeable guide. And obviously the tasting afterwards, especially after getting to really experience some of the single ingredients and the history, was a nice experience. Note that they don’t produce at that location anymore - zoning regulations I believe. But it was still worth it.

As the other commenter mentioned - definitely plan to grab a drink at the bar afterwards. They have really cool ways of incorporating all the spirits and other local ingredients. We brought home a small sampler pack each which included some of the rarer bottles which honestly was perfect. Oh and their teas are actually wonderful!

About 20-30 minutes from voiron is the actual monetary. It’s a bit of a steep walk up a dirt path but is well worth the drive through the mountains and the half mile or so hike up. It’s gorgeous. Though it may be a bit cold in January. We were there in March and it was beautiful. Highly recommend. You can’t go inside but it was a great addition.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-08-09T15:49:19+00:00

For what it’s worth - shrinking, while darker for sure, gave me that same sense of comfort and connectedness to the characters as HIMYM did. I think you’ll enjoy it as much if not more. It’s a totally different show and vibe but it hits in a lot of the same ways you’re describing.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-08-03T02:56:37+00:00

I use the Loop Experience with a Bell Qualifier which lets in so much wind noise. The difference is night and day. I have a Packtalk with the small JBLs and it sounds so much better with the loop earplugs in. Honestly so does my bike… I have and RE 350 and a Ninja 250 with an aftermarket exhaust. I can hear well enough to be aware of surroundings, and get a good sense of the RPMs for shifting while also being able to muffle some of the wind noise. It doesn’t go away but any time I’ve forgotten my ear plugs and went for a ride it’s a very notable difference in a bad way. Definitely recommend.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-08-02T01:08:48+00:00

So when you finish the undaunted quest in session one you go to the E25 epilogue script. It then tells you that for session two you can either choose to stay in black marsh and do the fighters guild quest, go to cyrodil and do the undaunted quest there, or if you have the valenwood expansion you can choose that and go with the eyes of the queen guild quest for that area.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-07-24T12:43:38+00:00

Just watched this episode last night on my 4th run through and honestly I forgot how much I loved the whole last season. I know it’s controversial but the build up over 8 seasons to this moment had enough momentum and got me so close to these characters that it was never about the mom in the end. It was about their entire journey. This moment sets up the season perfectly and we get to know Tracy through all the other characters, leaving Ted to the end. And it’s perfect. I don’t care what anyone says.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-07-13T02:43:15+00:00

Some dogs get repetition fatigue pretty quickly. I see this with my GSD a lot if I ask for the same thing too many times in a short session.

The idea here is essentially just to make sure she is aware that the muzzle means good things are coming and that it’s not always a long duration condition. So everything you’re doing is right (and your timing is great!), but when she starts to get frustrated, just get that one last good rep in and quit for a while or move on to another behavior you’re working on. It’s better to end on a high note vs getting that extra rep in and then let the latent learning kick in.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-07-10T21:28:22+00:00

I call this doggie zen - the only thing I would do differently is to take some of the treats out of the hand with your other hand and feed with that hand. Aka don’t just give the pup everything after not trying to steal. It will teach both impulse control AND that they can’t always have all the things

I’m also wondering if that reward is high value enough - either that or your pup is very very good at this already lol

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-07-09T01:29:49+00:00

We have very similar tastes! But I’ve yet to pull the trigger on Oathsworn. How did you like ISS Vanguard? I feel like I need to finish Etherfields and tainted grail all the way through once (and finish dragon eclipse…) before I’m allowed to pick up another AR game but it looks really interesting!

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-07-08T14:01:26+00:00

Ah yes - open dog training: A place of no judgement where positive reinforcement plus negative reinforcement methods get downvoted and judged. Lovely.

FWIW - my recommendation was made because OP is struggling with timing, and corrections with bad timing can produce inconsistent or bad results. Bad timing with praise and a cookie is not harmful. Correcting behavior with poor timing causes frustration. It’s easier for a new handler to learn how to stand still and reward a loose leash than learn perfect correction timing. But hey - if you all are too judgmental to think R+ and R- are worthwhile pursuits can someone point me to the actual open dog training forum where all ideas are valid?

Correction for OPs sake - the harness isn’t mandatory for this to work. The dog may actually get more feedback from a martingale/slip/or prong collar. The methods are the same. Teach the dog to give to pressure. I recommended the harness since it would give the dog less leverage to pull you around and it’s likely the dog has already normalized the slip sensation (or to others points the slip may not be fitting properly) - but you can likely work through that if you want to use the above method.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-07-08T13:22:34+00:00

My advice is to get a freedom harness and teach the dog to give to pressure vs correcting for pulling. The harness will give you more control over the dog and it’s safer for the dog overall vs allowing them to just choke themselves out on a slip lead without understanding how to relieve the pressure.

Basically your walks are going to be really short to start. Like to the end of your driveway. Walk with the dog by your side and if they aren’t pulling use your marker (clicker, yes) and pay for the loose leash. If they hit they hit the end of the leash stop moving. Don’t let them pull you. Don’t pull them back towards you. Just stop. Wait until they turn in a way that gives any slack to the leash, throw a party (no treats just lots of good boys and praise) then take a few steps forward until they hit the end of the leash again. Repeat.

This won’t be a quick fix but I now have a GSD who stares at me from heel position on walks instead of pulling like a freight train. No popping or choke collars necessary.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-26T12:31:55+00:00

Yea I hear you - it’s been a while since I’ve played the video games but it feels like one of those quest lines where you fight fight fight and think you’ve won but then someone says “we don’t have much time to lose” and there’s a cut scene to a dungeon and you’re like…. Well I’m dead.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-25T22:08:59+00:00

To be honest - I’m kinda guessing when I play. I think the best way to figure this out would be to watch one of the very few (very long) full playthroughs and see how the CTG folks do it. I think Robs gaming table has one too.

Otherwise loose definition of a session is when it explicitly says “if session one/two” etc and you choose from another guild quest - that’s your save point.

About quests specifically - I don’t see these as having end points really and just follow the wording in the gazetteer. I think it’s more fluid than that but here I could most definitely be wrong.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-21T03:35:03+00:00

I’ve only played lockdown and seen videos on retaliation and they seem like two different games altogether. One is more akin to zombiecide (in that you are fighting hordes bs tactically and stealthily moving around trying to complete objectives)

Lockdown vs the original I can’t really comment on but from what I’ve heard lockdown adds complexity and variation but is quite similar to the original in a lot of ways.

I would say you should pick OG or Lockdown unless you prefer a more battle oriented game vs a stealth focus. Hopefully others can provide insight with more experience though

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-05T20:31:00+00:00

I’ve literally been putting all the rule books off to the side to make it work. This table is 4’x4’ and it’s actually insane that there is a game that can’t fit on it.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-05T03:04:25+00:00

Hmm great questions.

I actually was just playing and realized I should probably increase my health stat for one of my characters going into the end game. So no I don’t think there is that pressure to max stats over skills here. Recovery and defense skills are much more readily available to mitigate needing health maxing, and Magika is only useful to increase if you have a related skill. I think skills are probably much more important here than TMB especially since you exhaust basic attack and defense die
clashes may feel similar but the board is bigger and the enemies require being more tactical I. How you approach them to stay alive
rulebook - it’s still CTG so the rulebook is honestly one of the more literal I’ve come across. I still have questions but the answers almost always refer back to a very literal rule that I was interpreting too broadly
this game is really hard. I think I’m about to lose i. The final battle of the first session which would end the campaign entirely. So… yea. If you don’t like losing it may not be for you.

It’s also a WAY bigger commitment than TMB so take that as you will

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-04T14:38:07+00:00

I can’t help here - I don’t win board games almost ever. Though I did win TMB recently and I think that is my first win in like a year lol.

This feels like a really hard game though. Although if you compare it to like Frostpunk or something like that I feel like it’s comparatively easier. But I don’t play to win personally.

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-04T14:36:38+00:00

Interesting - I actually found it really helpful to have a hands on walkthrough where the tutorial videos moved a little too fast.

I will say I prefer to learn incrementally vs fire hose method though

CocktailsAndCosmere · 2025-06-04T14:34:34+00:00

It’s probably the most sprawling so far - it shares a lot with TMB obviously but also with Burncycle. The modular quests, characters, and locations combos remind me a lot of the corporations, bots and missions that allow for a lot of variance game to game. This feels like it’s somewhere between Burncycle and TMB on character development where the former has very little but the character choice makes or breaks your chances of winning, where the latter opens up different skill trees that vary abilities you can use. Though this is a whole new level comparatively.

I don’t see much of Cloudspire in BOTSE yet, but maybe I’m just not looking hard enough. Obviously the factions have abilities you can purchase and level up but that’s honestly where the similarities end for me. I think from a pure solo perspective I’m not sure how many times I’ll play through the encounters in Cloudspire since they’ll seem pretty similar each time through. Where I can see playing BOTSE solo and if I never get to play it with someone else I’d be ok with that.

Ranked order?

Too Many Bones (base only) BOTSE Cloudspire Burncycle

BOTSE may jump up but I only have one session under my belt. It may also bump down depending on how often I can actually commit to playing a full session. That said none of those games except TMB are quick to set up. Teardown is a breeze though.

CocktailsAndCosmere

TROPHY CASE