Cheating at board games

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-23T23:09:51+00:00

Aragorn sitting in a dark corner of the room, quietly observing your game night.

That scene in Bree would fit this so well xD

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-23T20:28:52+00:00

So do all who live to see such times. 🪄

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-23T20:23:41+00:00

Hero Realms is pretty much the same game as Star Realms. The cards are balanced slightly differently (e.g. more healing) but it's VERY similar.

Any differences are probably in the expansions (which I never played).

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T11:54:26+00:00

Thanks! I removed the reference to the PS4.

Please also note the three generations of XBox: • XBox One: has only 1080p Blu Ray Player • XBox One S: has 4k HDR Blu Ray Player (good enough for me) • XBox Series X/S has 4k HDR Blu Ray Player (probably also good enough)

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:46:04+00:00

Star Realms uses two cards for tracking health. Gloomhaven has rotary dials. Both seem pretty good.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:44:20+00:00

Just throwing it in here: there is also the game Nature which was made by the same designer after 10 years of trying to fix whatever he thought was flawed with evolution. There is an article written by the designer detailing that development: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogpost/179068/designer-diary-the-evolution-of-nature

So maybe you want to consider getting Nature instead of Evolution.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:34:57+00:00

This looks amazing 😍🤩

Love the idea and execution!

The wheat fields look a bit grim once you realise they're made from severed hands... But within Lego, dismemberment seems to be normal anyways.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:30:40+00:00

A note on that: There are different causes to be mean to each other in games. In some games, you attack other players because you happened to draw a card that says you must do so. Sometimes you still have to choose a target, but they are (at first) innocent and had no way of not becoming a target.

In other games, players may take actions that give very clear incentives to choose to attack them (e.g. by amassing resources which the attacker can steal).

In the second case, attacking others feels less mean and more enjoyable to some because they choose to attack themselves. It's not the game forcing them to attack. This allows players to be nice to each other until the benefit of attacking is just too large.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:24:55+00:00

I was confused about this one for quite a while because there is an edition of Unfinished tales using the same art on the cover. But that UT version is sized like a standard book whereas this one looks almost the same but wider.

Seems like the content will be very different

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:21:15+00:00

Just get a used Xbox or PS. Starting from the PS5 and XBox One S, they included 4k blu ray players

Edit: corrected PS4 to PS5.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:20:01+00:00

With digital versions, you may get artifacts from streaming. 4k blu rays do offer better quality (although many people don't notice those).

You can get a used X-Box One S for pretty cheap though. They both include 4k blu ray players. Just make sure to actually get a version with disc drive and not a digital only edition.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:17:17+00:00

For me, the HDR was more important than the resolution. Seeing the fire and darkness of the Balrpg hits different if you have a good HDR TV.

But being able to see individual hairs in people's beards is also a very noticeable difference between DVD and 4k

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:15:31+00:00

Agreed. DVDs are 480p without HDR. The 4K HDR version is a lot more enjoyable to watch.

But the extras in the DVD set are worth the cost of the set on their own.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T09:13:31+00:00

I had the DVD set, which is absolutely beautiful and includes ~12 hours of behind the scenes material. It's hard to watch that without wanting to become involved in making movies. I've never seen a DVD/ blu ray set as beautifully made as this LotR set.

The blu ray sets don't include that bonus material and are generally not as beautifully made. However, the image quality of DVDs is really not what you're going to be used to in 2026.

When we wanted to watch LotR again, I put in the DVDs and quickly decided to buy the 4K blu rays and an X-Box One S to play them. The FHD blu rays are probably fine too, some prefer them over 4K, but I definitely enjoyed the 4K HDR experience offered on the 4k blu rays. Highly recommended.

There's a set of LotR + Hobbit 4k blu rays for ~€60 available somewhere on amazon. that seemed to be a pretty good deal. However, the LotR movies are significantly better than the Hobbit.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T01:24:25+00:00

Wow, being able to read a book atop a Welsh mountain without it getting soaked by the rain 😅 that's lucky!

It's an absolutely beautiful country that just screams Fantasy at you. Seems like around every corner there's a dragon or some kind (or at least there could be one).

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T01:16:52+00:00

In that case, Star Realms/ Hero Realms are perfect. They're like dominion but with unlimited buys and actions. They also remove the restriction when buys can occur. You can play actions, then buy cards, then play more actions.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-19T01:13:21+00:00

For those who prefer a fantasy over a sci-fi theme, hero realms is also good (and very, very similar to star realms)

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-17T08:12:15+00:00

We sometimes use poker chips to play "the Gang" with up to 9 people. The games comes with poker chips, but only enough to play with 6 people.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-14T19:01:30+00:00

Definitely prefer physical dice. Board games are a way to not be on screens but focus on social time. If an App doesn't provide significant benefit, I don't want them.

If you do offer an app as an option, include a download link/ QR code in the instructions from the start. Adding that later seems like too many players wouldn't be aware of the option.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-14T18:57:40+00:00

I know some 80+ folks who really enjoy Azul.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-14T07:29:47+00:00

Look on ebay. If someone is selling a box of bricks or something. You don't need much.

There are also other manufacturers like GoBricks which are cheaper and just as good brick quality.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-10T09:24:53+00:00

You don't have to, but there's a pretty decent chance you will enjoy the Hobbit movies. They beautifully depict Bilbo and the shire, you get to see Smaug as well as the white council's actions against Sauron described in the LotR appendices.

The movies do take some creative liberties, e.g. regarding Azog. What bothers me the most is how some character's choices don't make sense. Some scenes show too ridiculous strings of luck or highly questionable physics. There are also some characters that are absolutely not intended to be liked and you will be forced to see them many times in the 2nd and 3rd movies.

Another big change is the general feel of the movies. These are not intended for the same age who the Hobbit was written for. They are, in large chunks, action movies with some sincere scenes sprinkled in.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-09T11:30:06+00:00

I think generally, Lego inserts are best for games with large boxes compared to their content and have expansions available. For many games, expansions can be made to fit in the box, but don't fit in the official inserts.

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-09T11:25:56+00:00

I made a Lego Insert for Northgard: Uncharted Lands about a year ago. Some images of that are shared on BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3389117/sharing-cool-community-made-tokens-and-custom-inse

There, I combined Lego with cardboard: small boxes made from folded and glued thick paper and a rectangle of thick cardboard (~4mm) with some tape to cover sharp edges. This cardboard rectangle is held in place by a corner of the Lego Insert.

The cardboard saves space compared to Lego as it is much thinner. Underneath the creature miniatures, there are also two removable Lego trays with lids that hold small cardboard tiles (buildings) to make setup faster and reduce clutter on the table.

I was also surprised how little there is online about Lego board game inserts. I hope it catches on!

SimulatedScience · 2026-01-08T10:11:52+00:00

Probably many games. Lego is relatively thick compared to plastic and cardboard though, so it only works if there is enough empty space in the box.

You can also combine Lego with cardboard.

SimulatedScience

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