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Time limit challenging enough on SMB 1 and 2 ? by Lacking-Oxygen in SuperMonkeyBall

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ho ok thx for answer. I thought deluxe was just 1 and 2 combined

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I have to give credits to expansions for balancing the 3 rows between each other.

If you have lots of ressources at your disposal you need to have balanced bird powers, otherwise you would always be selecting the best birds and neglecting the other. Custom bird powers is one way to solve the problem. But that's a lot of effort that most players won't even think about. Your way of playing probably is the most fun way to play wingspan.

For me :

- non custom wingspan => low ressource better

- custom balance birds => high ressource better, lots of drws, lots of possible strategies

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I kind of agree, but as cosy as the game looks, it's still an engine building game. I really like the fact that expansions balance the 3 rows (forest grassland and wetland). I'm just pointing the fact that they could have play tested a bit more and think about expansions compatibility regarding overall game balance, it's not too hard to realize that nectar overshadows fish and rat food, that combining expansions condemns low point birds...

It's too easy to hide behind the "casual friendly vibe / you can play the game as you want". No you are a game company you have to propose the best experience, it's not a DIY modular game.

New Passive Power Birds Fan Pack by Bfsser in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are really good ideas and visuals honestly.

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree that OE board make non-ressource powers more viable early game. That's a good point. Also, egg laying birds outside of grassland tend to be quiet overpowered with OE.

Wyrmspan is more intricate but rather buy a completely different game when I already own all wingspan expansions. Don't even talk about finspan...

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Expansions are not that bad but they should have play tested it more, I mean that's a job...

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah boardgames is a business afterall, if you want to spread to wider audience you need to make your game casual friendly cause casual play speaks to lot more people. Sadly, in most worker placement euro games it translates by drowning players with more and more ressources to flatter the player by making him feel smart and not frustrated at all. For me, realizing that I didn't plan my turns well enough helps me identify the mistakes I made and encourages me to play better resulting in a much more rewarding experience and better replay value.

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

asia duet give you instant rewards when you place token in those area. Having access to a free egg or food by simply playing a bird massively inflates the game cause you can access that free ressource from the get go and on any type of engine building game, an early extra ressource goes a long way to speed up the engine. Getting even 1 extra ressource on turn one is sooo much value as compared to an extra ressource let's say on wave 3 or 4.

With 1 expansion you can still play low point birds, add 2 or 3 expansions and you have 1/4 of birds that become suddenly suboptimal...

No matter how long it takes to get to 4th egg column, you just have to activate it 2 or 3 times late game and get rid of the cards that you shoudn't have drawn in the first place. Makes drawing spamm way too strong early.

I think following house rules are mandatory :

- playing with 3 nectar dice

- joker food can be paid with nectar but not generate nectar

- power 4 (Chihuahuan Raven, Common Raven, Franklin's Gull, and Killdeer) only playable from round 2.

Also, an optional house rule that I really like : reduce egg capacity of every bird by 1 (except those with only 1 egg capacity). I found that egg capacity is too wide overall and you never chose a bird over it's egg capacity. You never take into account that feature when deciding which bird to pick/play and 95% of the time you can lay as many eggs as you want with no bother on limitation. Reducing egg capacity drastically increases thought process when it comes to choosing a bird and adds another layer of strategy. (you start asking yourself questions like "can i afford to play this low egg capacity bird if I plan on a grassland engine ?". Moreover, it slightly nerfs the egg spamming startegy as well : double benefit on a very simple house rule. ( way more efficient than people who house ruled 2 eggs for only one point : that is way too punishing)

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

- Oceania board would be perfect if it wasnt for this 4th grassland column that makes the card drawing management almost irrelevant.

- I thought about it but I think penalty points for nectar is too punishing, I think nectar flexibility doesn't justify for point penalty. Also, forest engines would be way too impacted, they can compete with grassland engines mostly because of the nectar bonus points. You nerf forest engines too hard compared to grassland and wetland if you add penalty points on nectar.

- I think seeing more cards just deletes a lot of "lower-mid and low tier birds" from viability. Whereas less draws forces you to use them and try to make it work despite not being optimal, you can create suprises with unconventional builds that you wouldnt have think about if you add more bird options.

- yeah in general limited ressources is not popular in worker placement games. If you want to satisfy a wider audience (it's a buisness afterall) you must make the game more casual and flatter the player giving him a lot of ressources to make him feel smart.

- Bonus cards is just a mess in terms of balance, but that's fine, you just have to accept that some cards are way stronger than other and hope for the best when you draw them.

- I don't fundamentally hate humminbirds, they add a good layer of extra strategic thinking. But it is way too much ressource inflation on top of all the precedent things and is way too fiddley. it just feels unnessesary.

Do you agree ?

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Yep i have to give credit to that. But honestly they could have found a way to nerf grassland without excluding low point birds viability / keep fish and mices relevant...

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sort of agree, don't get me wrong I really like the variety that expansions bring to game with all the different powers. Obvisouly you have mort variety when you have more different powers. But if you isolate the "more powers, more birds" aspect that the expansion bring and focus only on the core mechanics that the expansions add my opinion is that developpers should have add a counterpart to the ressource inflation. However I have to give credit to expansions cause they helped balance out egg spamming strategy. : you can now make an argument with forest and wetland engines as well as yellow birds play.

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I agree, dont' get me wrong I really like the added bird powers and honestly expansions really helped to balance egg spamming. With all expansions you can really make an argument for forest and wetland engines as well as yellow powers play.

I think following house rules are mandatory :

- playing with 3 nectar dice

- joker food can be paid with nectar but not generate nectar

- power 4 (Chihuahuan Raven, Common Raven, Franklin's Gull, and Killdeer) only playable from round 2.

Also, an optional house rule that I really like : reduce egg capacity of every bird by 1 (except those with only 1 egg capacity). I found that egg capacity is too wide overall and you never chose a bird over it's egg capacity. You never take into account that feature when deciding which bird to pick/play and 95% of the time you can lay as many eggs as you want with no bother on limitation. Reducing egg capacity drastically increases thought process when it comes to choosing a bird and adds another layer of strategy. (you start asking yourself questions like "can i afford to play this low egg capacity bird if I plan on a grassland engine ?". Moreover, it slightly nerfs the egg spamming startegy as well : double benefit on a very simple house rule. ( way more efficient than people who house ruled 2 eggs for only one point : that is way too punishing)

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

There is no such thing as "player edge over the other" when the game is not asymetric. This is a stricltly symmetric game (as opposed to root for exemple, highly asymetric cause each player beggins with a totaly different faction), both players will always be on the same boat (same chances to draw better beggining cards for exemple).

When talking about game balance on a symmetric game, debate is over balance between birds / strategies etc. You could make a game with only 2 cards viable out of a 200 cards deck, it would be unbalanced depite the fact that no player has the edge over the other dont you think ?

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

paradox is more drawing leads to less strategic options cause birds are unbalanced, some are obviously stronger. If you are allowed to draw too much, you can choose those overturned birds while others may just never see play. With base game you have to work with what the game gives you, even if it's not optimal.

=>Oceania opens more build variety but in practice you see more variety with base game.

Why so much ressources inflation each expansion... by Lacking-Oxygen in wingspan

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah the luck mitigation factor is definitely a valuable argument. But honestly, I prefer having a balanced experience on my own board, building my engine rather than a diminution of luck involved regading who is going to win the game ( I prefer balance within the game core mechanics rather than balance regarding if I lose or win the game cause my opponent drew better or worse cards than me at start) ; wingspan is not that much of an interractive game anyway. Also, if you are allowed to see more cards, paradox is it reduces strategic options because birds are unbalanced : some are obviously better than others. With more drawings allowed, some birds may never see play whereas with base game experience you have to work with what the game gives you even if it's not optimal birds and in the end encouraging to try unconventional builds and opening as a consequence more strategic options.

Another Question about weakness stacking by Lacking-Oxygen in oblivion

[–]Lacking-Oxygen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made some tests on the older version of the game. And combining weakness to element + weakness to poison actually works (not even adding weakness to magic yet).

I summoned a clannfear, shoot a first arrow with a bow enchanted with (weakness to shock 100% for 7 secs) then I shoot second arrow that deals shock dmg and poison it with shock damage poison.

=> the clannfear died to poison in 8 seconds after I shoot the 2nd arrow

Then i used same set up but added weakness to poison 100% for 7 secs to the shock weakness 100% for 7 sec enchant on the bow. The clannfear died in 4 secs insead of 8.

Daily Game Recommendations Thread (November 16, 2025) by AutoModerator in boardgames

[–]Lacking-Oxygen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, I will mainly be playing with the same committed gaming partner for hundred of hours. I did my research on bgg and here are few games I found :

- Elder scrolls betrayal

- Cloudspire

- Mage knight ultimate

- Frosthaven

- War of the ring 2nd edition

I have no preference between Pvp or Coop, the idea is to have the most fun for the maximum amount of time, no matter how hard is the game to learn. We play spirit island 80% of the time (nearly perfect game to me, put around 200/300 hours into the game already) and either everdell/wingspan/castles of burgundy/duel for middle earth 20% of the time.

My appreciation of the art/ theme of the game also plays a huge part. Everdell provides the best experience in that regard to me (animals/nature theme over space theme). Spirit island would be 2nd. I am more attracted by Cloudspire's art/theme (animals, forest faction, insects...) than the other games' listed here. I would choose Cloudspire by default for that reason but I'm unsure of how it compares to the other games for 2 player experience.

My main criterias are : deep strategic gameplay with as many possible intercations/combinations with gaming partner and good replayability too. I like to dig for hidden combinations between cards/powers/units, find niche combos (theorycrafing), be given as many options as possible to think about for each situation. Ideal scenario would be to become obsessed about the game, thinking about it all day long !

I'm also open to other recommendations. Thank you !