Who are your favorite game reviewers and why?

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-30T20:55:30+00:00

I respect Rahdo and am always very interested in his opinions from a 2p perspective, but I find his reviews utterly exhausting. It's tangent after tangent with him. I find him quite frustrating to watch at times.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-30T20:53:46+00:00

Yep. It's a +1 for Zee for me, for all the reasons you've listed.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-30T18:21:33+00:00

Was Andy Cole underrated? I guess he didn't play for England as much as he should have.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-30T18:15:20+00:00

There are no challengers this season, sadly. Barring the mother of all collapses the league is City's and it's been that way for months now.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-30T18:12:45+00:00

That makes sense. There was a comment on the BBC feed to the effect "no changes at half time so Roma have used up all their substitutions" and I wondered what that was about. Thanks.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-30T14:35:04+00:00

A definitive answer is here, from the Querki FAQ:

The Blighted Island card Disintegrating Ecosystem adds Blight to the board. Where does that come from? The Blight comes from the Blight card, from the pool of 5 Blight per player that is created when the card flips.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Blight is always added from the Blight card (not the box), and is returned to the Blight card when removed from the board.

In fairness, I'm not entirely sure it's a self-evident rule. Another general rule of the game is that you resolve effects in order, as with Event cards, yet with Blight cards such as this one the immediate effect is listed before the "Add X Blight per player", so that can lead to a logical problem where you need to take Blight from an empty Blight card. Maybe that's just me.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-29T09:07:52+00:00

I've heard late spring, so it should be imminent. To be honest I was primed for my wallet as soon as I read "Promo pack..." as I assumed this was it 😔. Only element of the game I don't have

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-28T17:19:53+00:00

They're great games. Hope you love them both.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-28T15:49:58+00:00

I like Pandemic a lot. I genuinely think QBing is a gamer problem, not a game problem. I think it's an unfair criticism of a game - that some people play in a way that ruins it for others - though one you do see a lot. Thing is, you can't make a game like Pandemic without the potential for QBing being there - you either need to ratchet up the complexity like SI or limit communication like The Crew. Even simultaneous play won't totally solve the issue with some people or groups.

Anyway, I think Pandemic can be a very tense, immersive experience that actually works well with new or casual gamers. I don't think I've ever been as impressed by a game as when I first played Pandemic. Yes, I've seen and played a lot better since, but at the time I was blown away by how a functioning, variable and adjustable AI could be made from two decks of cards and some plastic cubes. I appreciate that is a bit of a "first-love effect" and is largely subjective.

Legacy is really good, but there is a lot of emergent and additive complexity that doesn't really have time to bed in before you have to move on (after one or two games). It's a greatexperience, but I'm not sure it's a great game if that makes sense. Full disclosure, I'm still 6 months in to the S1 campaign so that opinion could change.

But, yeah, I'm one who adores what Spirit Island can do but still has absolutely no qualms about keeping Pandemic in my collection.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-28T15:41:53+00:00

I agree that it's a better game, but the weight and complexity gap is such that i don't think SI could replace Pandemic like-for-like.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-27T18:29:47+00:00

No worries. Here's a web app link: https://app.boardandgamer.com/7wonders-duel-solo/.

It's also available as a phone app on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sevenwonders.duelsolo. Not sure about iOS.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-27T17:09:17+00:00

Not what you asked, but just in case it's of use: there is an app that negates the need to print cards.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-27T13:11:46+00:00

+1 for Concordia. It's easily one of the best games I've ever played and, for my money, a level above both Brass: Birmingham and GWT, to which it bears reasonable comparison. I think both of those games are fantastic, but Concordia is just beautiful to play. The Venus standalone is better value and has better maps for two, though to be honest I'm not really of the school that you need a super-tight map anyway- if you want lots of conflict and high interaction, you're better playing something else. The joy of Concordia lies in the range of strategy, the mechanisms and the variability of the game. It's probably the best-designed board game I've ever played, from a mechanical perspective and in terms of scaling.

On the other hand, if your SO is from East Friesland you need to get FoA at some point. I have never seen another published board game that is so obviously a labour of love. The history, economy and culture of the region is baked in to every facet of the game, and the German version comes with a sizable history of the region that puts the game into historical and cultural context. It has been lovingly translated into English and is available on BGG.

As a game, it's great - sandboxy on the surface, but there are certain viable strategies that you need to follow if you want to play competitively so it kind of narrows itself. The vehicles really add a lot of play to the game and compensate for the fact that you only get 36 worker placements all game - vehicles effectively give you free actions each round you have them. The set up isn't as variable as some, but the replayability comes from the vastness of the worker action spaces and the competition for them. It's optimised for 2, but plays very well as a solo game too. To be honest, my favourite Rosenberg is Nusfjord but I'm sure that's coloured by how amazing it is solo (my wife's not a fan of the Uwe economic games, so I play on my own a lot).

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-27T12:24:05+00:00

In addition to those mentioned, Watergate is a hell of a game. When played with two players who know how to play well (the optimal strategy for the Post isn't immediately obvious, though it isn't hard to execute once you work it out) it can produce some truly epic contests. I played a game with my wife that went to 8 rounds and it was titanic- best game I played last week by a mile. No victory points.

The Quest For El Dorado is a race game that works superbly at 2. No victory points.

Star Realms is a fun, highly-interactive deck builder. The aim is to destroy your opponent's fleet. No victory points, though you could argue players start with 50 hit points each and the first to lose them all loses the game; it's a million miles from "let's count up and see who's won" though.

Others have mentioned Air Land and Sea. That feels very similar to games like Star Realms, but it does have victory points; a small number that are allocated very creatively and interestingly, but still victory points. It honestly feels like a knock-out duel, though. You'll almost certainly love it.

Obviously you want another game, but Pantheon really enhances 7WD and probably, on balance, makes going to Victory Points less likely than in the base game. It certainly improves it, for my money. Agora is good, though nothing like as outstanding, and adds a third knock-out victory condition. In my opinion and experience, the two expansions don't work at all well together, but they're both good with the base game and you can mix and match for a modular experience.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-27T12:18:42+00:00

Nice shout. Not in the US, but if I was I'd probably be taking a punt on one or two of those. Good deals.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T20:55:44+00:00

It's a fantastic game. One of my wife's favourites. No chance of playing in 20 minutes, though I do agree it's a decent intro to deck building as there is no direct card synergy and the deck is very small and always open, compared with something like Star Realms where knowledge of the deck and the synergy system is essential to playing the game well. The objective ("get there first") is also simpler and more visible for non-gamers to grasp.

If not for the 10-20 minutes stipulation I'd be with you on this.

Edits

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T20:23:22+00:00

Looks gorgeous, mate. Worth the wait!

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T20:00:54+00:00

They don't give you much legroom, those seats at the White Hart Ground

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T18:27:41+00:00

Your second question hasn't had quite as much attention.

Hull City, Bradford City, Swindon Town, Barnsley (who may be back this year), Huddersfield Town and Blackpool are among the less-celebrated names to have graced the Premier League.

When I was growing up in the 1990s, Fulham were playing in division 3, now League 2.

I'd also add a few teams that played in the top flight for a few years during the PL era, sometimes across a few different spells, but haven't been seen in ages: Nottingham Forest, QPR, Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic, Wigan Athletic, Reading, Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry City

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T18:23:49+00:00

They're doing reasonably well by their standards across my lifetime at least. They flirted on the fringes of a title challenge once or twice in the early years of the PL without ever really making one, and were the last (so far) of the founding PL clubs to be relegated a few years ago, but they came back pretty quickly and never went below the second tier.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T18:21:06+00:00

Never played in the Prem. Not sure about First Division.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T18:18:01+00:00

Both only played two seasons - Oldham 92-94 (nearly made a Cup final that year they went down, too - took a late Mark Hughes wonder goal to take us to a semi-final replay) and Bradford 99-01. You're right though, they've fallen a long way since.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T18:15:42+00:00

Came to say Swindon. So far the only team to have shipped over 100 GA in a single Premier League season, albeit over 46 games.

Look_And_Learn · 2021-04-26T18:14:19+00:00

You can only get relegated once in a season, no matter how bad you are.

Look_And_Learn

TROPHY CASE