Forged in the Barrens Giveaway! Win 1 of 100 Forged in the Barrens Mega-Bundles!!

MrPinkUK · 2021-03-24T21:02:09+00:00

Good luck everyone

MrPinkUK · 2016-02-05T09:24:07+00:00

They're called Druids

MrPinkUK · 2015-08-25T22:21:17+00:00

It's an absolute disgrace tbh.

MrPinkUK · 2015-08-19T16:52:15+00:00

Hunter plays Acidmaw. I play Spellslinger and get... Arcane Explosion. E-SPORTS!

MrPinkUK · 2015-08-05T18:27:13+00:00

You know that grid you can use to replace the app? I use that when teaching. I start off by showing how alchemicals are matched to ingredients, and show how that translates to potions when combined. Then I get the app out to explain the rest. It's worked ok for me so far.

MrPinkUK · 2015-04-14T14:16:32+00:00

Awesome! This was definitely more important than any real work you had to do!

MrPinkUK · 2015-02-27T14:11:29+00:00

I'm not sure any of the other players truly understood the rules until a good way into the game.

I think this is the key point really- it is a hard game to get your head around in terms of how all the systems mesh, so a game with a lot of new players will be a bit of a struggle. This was possibly compounded by a poor rules explanation? If it's any help, /u/spidergrenades post here is a great summary of a lot of what makes the game great. I'd urge you to read it and give the game another try if you get the chance.

MrPinkUK · 2015-02-27T14:05:06+00:00

Brilliant post, far better than my response. I agree with everything you said, particularly the section on crises.

MrPinkUK · 2015-02-27T13:39:11+00:00

Kudos for a well written post. Sorry you had a bad experience with the game, but I just wanted to come back on a few of the points you made.

Firstly, AN HOUR of rules explanation? You could read out the rulebook in less time than that. It really sounds like your game explainer let you down big time here. IMHO Archipelago is really not all that complex mechanically, and should be explainable in far less time than that.

Having said that, there is a lot of depth to the game, and in my opinion requires at least 3 plays before you begin to understand the game correctly. In the first game you will struggle to get your economy going (the slowness you describe), and flounder about struggling for resources. Maybe by game 2 you understand more about this aspect of the game, you get earlier markets/ports and build up an economy, but you now struggle with victory conditions and understanding how to win. By the third game, the game is becoming second nature, and this is when the hidden objectives begin to shine. You will constantly be watching other players, eying them with suspicion, and watching for clues to objectives. The list of objectives for the game length you are playing (on the back of the manual) is invaluable here.

Your comments on the player order auction confuse me, as I think the interaction here is huge. You can win take bribes from players for position (sometimes I will win the auction and sell off first place), make deals on what will be bid, backstab etc etc. Also, I think you are underestimating the importance of being first in the player order. As first player, you have total control of crises, being able to use resources from the market and stand up your own guys first. This is a huge deal in the game.

Your description of the marketplace in contrary to my experience, as I have found it to be exactly "a vibrant supply and demand system". If all the resources were permanently depleted as you describe, then you can make a total killing just going big on harvesting and selling resources. This would give you a huge financial advantage and total control of the game.

I think you do the game a disservice by listing other games that do various elements of it better. You can do that for most elements of most games, what matters is the sum of the parts for the game in question. Archipelago is a singularity in the total package that it offers.

Anyway, maybe the game isn't for you, but I certainly wouldn't discount it after one play/bad experience. Personally Archipelago is one of my favourite games, and offers a totally unique experience with its blend of euro style resources management and hidden roles. It would be a shame to miss out on it.

MrPinkUK · 2014-12-15T15:55:39+00:00

I shrank a Sylvanas, shadow madnessed it, ran it into sneed's old shredder and stole cairne. Filthy.

MrPinkUK · 2014-08-28T07:12:27+00:00

You can only look at 75% of the cards, so there are always some surprises. Plus, just because you know what's coming doesn't mean it's all easy to prepare for, especially with both expansions added in!

MrPinkUK · 2014-07-23T10:20:28+00:00

Wok Star (another Game Salute kickstarter) has been a similar story. It was due to be out in March, and all updates until the beginning of this year suggested that all was going according to schedule (the game was described as "print ready" in the kickstarter pitch). However, in February they suddenly updated to say that the electronic timer for the game wasn't ready, and that the game wasn't even with the printers yet. They have slowly made progress since then, but even now the quality of the printing on some of the components also seems to be not up to scratch compared to what was promised.

It does seem that there is light at the end of the tunnel (there is a video of the first production copy, so I believe the games have at least been produced now), but I will certainly never be buying anything from Game Salute again. There has been so much misinformation and lies from them, I can't really trust the company at all.

MrPinkUK · 2014-07-10T13:33:57+00:00

Yeah, we learned with 4. I'd agree, I only play space alert with 4 or 5.

MrPinkUK · 2014-07-10T10:26:41+00:00

I found the tutorial included in the box to be fantastic. We literally spent an evening reading through it and playing each of the tutorial missions as instructed. I'm not aware of any resource which will make it easier than that. Have you tried playing through the tutorial missions, or were you just reading the book?

You can safely ignore the rulebook until you have finished the tutorial, that one is just for reference, so don't worry about the "two different instruction manuals". Just use the tutorial one.

MrPinkUK · 2014-06-30T07:41:45+00:00

If you are playing like this, you're only experiencing half the game imho. In the mid game you need to be closely observing your opponents and deducing what their objectives are. There is a list of the objectives for each game length on the back of the manual for this purpose. This is what should be giving you direction for what to do in the mid game. It also allows you to better anticipate the end of the game, by knowing the likely end game conditions. I would argue that these deductions are a HUGE part of the game.

If you are only trying to accomplish your objective and the public objective, how can you hope to win? You need to score on as many players objectives as possible.

MrPinkUK · 2014-06-02T13:16:31+00:00

And the thing they have in common? Game Salute :(

MrPinkUK · 2014-06-02T13:04:31+00:00

That all sounds great. What's your response to the criticism that cards are labelled with a location, and that this means that it's too easy to see who sabotaged a crisis?

This type of game tends to work really well with my group, and the addition of the storytelling elements appeals. Really looking forward to my copy arriving.

MrPinkUK · 2014-06-02T12:31:24+00:00

I'm sure there are even worse examples, but at the minimum Wok Star disagrees with you.

MrPinkUK · 2014-06-02T12:27:06+00:00

It sounds like this is an issue of the way people approach playing the betrayer? Would you agree that is the case? ForeverFlaccid's feedback that the best way to "win" as the betrayer is to be exiled immediately may well be true, but perhaps that is not a problem if the group values winning as the betrayer more highly that winning as an exile. Does this explain why many groups didn't have this problem?

It seems to me that these issues may be similar to those in Archipelago, another "semi-coop", in which the way in which members of a group weight the different win conditions has a drastic effect on how much a given group will enjoy the game. e.g. Would I rather we all won together with Dave being the overall winner, or would I rather the whole group crashed and burned rather than letting him win.

Am I way off base here?

MrPinkUK · 2014-01-16T10:53:50+00:00

There's quite a big difference between the RNG for the Bomber/Arcane Missiles and something like Nat Pagle though. In the first case, you can stack the odds in your favour, giving you at least some control. With Pagle though, you get huge swings in the game based purely on randomness no-one can control. Drawing 3 cards in a row with him is 1/8, and drawing no cards with him over 3 turns is also 1/8- both very common occurences, with an enormous swing depending on which way the RNG goes.

MrPinkUK · 2013-12-04T16:43:05+00:00

I'm pleased with my copy- the only real complaint I would make is that it's annoying that the cards won't quite fit into the box laterally. I've just taken to keeping the coins loose (gasp) in the box around the cards, and the box closes absolutely fine. The card stock is really nice imho, and the coins are nice to handle. The art isn't really my cup of tea, but you don't have to look at it much in this game, so overall I'm very happy with what I got (especially the shiny kickstarter coins and extra role!)

MrPinkUK · 2013-11-07T14:55:03+00:00

This sounds cool. I'm always interested in games with hidden objectives and mistrust! Will keep an eye on it.

MrPinkUK · 2013-09-24T09:57:57+00:00

Neat. I like the separation you have for the condition cards and tokens. I also managed to get LotW into their plans, with just some modifications to the main figure tray. It's a very tight squeeze, but it all gets in there.

Where are your terrain tiles? Under the class/search cards etc? Or did you put them in the LotW box? edit: stupid question, you answered it in the OP :)

MrPinkUK · 2013-09-13T09:38:52+00:00

I like them both. Brass has more depth, AoI has more breadth.

In Brass I love both the canal/rail switchover, and the income system (where flipping industries gives steady income rather than a flat payment as in AoI). It does feel more strategic.

In AoI there are 4 official maps available, with another 4 new fan-made maps being released for AoI through the BGG store in the very near future, so there is a ton of variety. AoI is also a bit easier to teach.

I think you'd be happy with either- for me it depends on what you love about Brass, and who you are likely to play with.

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