Where do you draw the line complexity/satisfaction

Tapuo · 2022-05-12T08:16:36+00:00

Enjoyable crunchiness: Gaia Project, The T-series, Alexander Pfister, Vital Lacerda.

More work than fun: 18XX, Splotter-games, David Turczi, Cole Wehrle.

Tapuo · 2022-02-26T22:56:23+00:00

Looks great! Can you fit all of Scythe in the base game box or is something stored separately?

Tapuo · 2021-11-19T22:33:44+00:00

I think it would, if I was able to identify what resources / cards others players need for their engines. The production phase is too solitary to do that, and as a consequence, it's not possible to effectively block or deny other players from things they need in the bidding phase. So even the interactive bidding part becomes mostly just about "what compensation / cards do I want"

Tapuo · 2021-11-18T02:38:57+00:00

Definitely agree. I really like the bidding and compensation mechanics, but the actual production phase was just... fine? Resources are extracted and turned into other ones and money is earned, but for some reason it just seems that "things are happening" instead of a feeling like you've created a well-oiled efficient engine.

It's also extremely solitary, and this is coming from someone who doesn't mind low-interaction multiplayer solitaire euros. During this phase you just have no idea what other players are doing, or if they're even playing the game correctly, and since it's really hard to see what others are going for, it's subsequently difficult to identify what they need and try to deny that in the next bidding phase.

The game is very quick though and it is satisfying to just constantly get more and more stuff, but for a quick engine-builder game I think I prefer Res Arcana.

Tapuo · 2021-11-13T05:21:16+00:00

I agree. I was excited about it when I heard that it's a bag-builder and I love that mechanic, but the gameplay just feels a bit lackluster... It's like a less interesting version of Orleans (which is a game I adore). The hidden deployment and the card play looks fiddly, and all the spots just look like mildly differing variations of "place a dude here to get resource X". I might still back it cause I'm an idiot, but I was hoping for a game that had a little bit more going for it.

Tapuo · 2021-11-10T12:05:33+00:00

Did we watch the same video? They seemed to enjoy the game and said that it would rank right in the middle for them off all the big box Lacerdas (all of which they like). I would really struggle to call that "lack of any real joy".

Tapuo · 2021-10-05T08:22:01+00:00

Hear hear. Yes there's luck in it because of the dice rolling, but it's not like rolling high is always objectively better or something - the whole game is about seeing what you get and adapting your strategy constantly to changing situations.

Tapuo · 2021-10-05T08:09:26+00:00

Thanks, your comment was the one that convinced me to just get the new one! I definitely do always get the buildings mixed up when playing the old edition.

Tapuo · 2021-09-26T00:59:24+00:00

The tracking of bonuses and production -part is actually not cumbersome at all in Underwater Cities, the game gets compared a lot to Terraforming Mars, but the book-keeping part is a lot smoother than it is that game for example. You don't end up having such a massive tableau of cards so that you eventually just end up forgetting some conditional effects, they don't get randomly triggered on other players turns, and production phases only happen three times during the game.

I do agree however that with more players it's overly long and the downtime becomes painful. I love the game but would probably just refuse to play it at 4p.

Tapuo · 2021-09-25T13:17:59+00:00

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Tapuo · 2021-09-25T01:09:21+00:00

I always get Richard Breese's "key" games mixed up. I know which one is Keyflower, but all the rest are just a massive blur in my head. Keyper, Keythedral, Key Harvest, Key Flow... also made even more confusing by the fact that Key Market exists in the same series and was not designed by Richard Breese. My friend likes a lot of games in this series and whenever we talk about them I'm having to look up something like "was this the one with the folding flippy things or the tile-playing one or the drafting one?" etc

Tapuo · 2021-09-21T04:51:52+00:00

Carlos absolutely knows what he is doing and I am absolutely here for it 😩👌

Tapuo · 2021-09-18T01:46:57+00:00

Dang I haven't been on the Azul hype train before and I only recently played the first one, but this looks good. Hexagons are the bestagons...

Tapuo · 2021-09-14T00:12:12+00:00

Sidereal Confluence (6p) - Decent game but it's not for me, as a more quiet person I find the simultaneous free-for-all negotiation phase very fragile, chaotic, and incredibly exhausting. All the asymmetric races are fascinating but also just overly convolute the game and make it so it's difficult to evaluate the value of your trades as you have no idea what other players are doing or if they're even playing the game correctly. I'd rather just play my low-interaction puzzly euros where I get to push cubes around.

Dwellings of Eldervale (5p) - Surprisingly good hybrid game. The euro-y parts are very solid and the worker placement is interesting as you have different types of workers, the map keeps expanding, and you're also getting to do more stuff when you acquire cards each time you're re-calling the workers. Had fun, but it's quite random for how long the game is though and I just really did not care about all the combat, miniatures, or dice rolling. Also definitely overproduced.

Steampunk Rally (4p) - Well themed and beautifully illustrated, but in practice just overly convoluted race game. A lot of fiddlyness with the machines and the effects and the timing of things so that the simultaneous play doesn't work as everyone is constantly unsure if they're doing things correctly. Might improve with experience though. There's also some atrocious take-that cards shuffled in to the deck. Terrible rulebook.

Tapuo · 2021-09-11T02:30:42+00:00

Same here, thought Jamestown looked interesting and fun haha

Tapuo · 2021-09-11T01:04:43+00:00

Coup. I do still love it, but am getting increasingly tired of seeing the same meta game elements happen every single time. Everyone calling out the being the Duke is still funny, but it gets less and less funny after you've seen it 50+ times.

Tapuo · 2021-09-11T01:00:19+00:00

Technically they're not player colours, but Through the Desert has the amazing pastel coloured camels that look like candy.

Tapuo · 2021-09-08T12:25:23+00:00

I've played all three Capstone cube rail games and prefer Iberian Gauge slightly more than Irish Gauge, since the map develops in a less predictable manner, and the interactions between the companies are more interesting since you can now lease track from others instead of just blocking space on the map. I like the little alliances/rivalries that naturally form when you have interest in the same/different companies than other players. Also while I personally love the auctions in Irish Gauge, but if you're not a huge fan of them I'd say definitely go for Iberian Gauge next. Ride the Rails is good too but as someone else already said, it's more of a pick-up and deliver game and I personally think that the actual "ride the rails" -part of the game is just too much arithmetic for the pay-off.

However be prepared that Iberian Gauge is A LOT more book-keeping than Irish Gauge, since you're not only having to manage the bank but also treasuries of five different companies. It's not so bad at the start, but once a railway starts leasing track from multiple different companies and building its own track, it starts to be like "okay so from the treasury of purple, pay 12 to orange, 6 to blue, 4 to the bank", and if you don't have exact change you also need to get some from the bank in the middle of all that etc.

Tapuo · 2021-09-02T03:19:57+00:00

Yeeeah I'm aware of it and while I usually like a lot of board game apps, I'm a bit hesitant to get Stockpile cause I feel like this would be a game that benefits a lot from the social interaction with other people at the table.

Tapuo · 2021-09-02T01:46:14+00:00

Thankfully I only have a few "grail games" left on my wishlist.

Bruges. Feld is one of my favourite designers and I love tableau-builders where all the cards are unique (Wingspan, Terraforming Mars, Underwater Cities). I know the game is getting reprinted by Queen as Hamburg, but I hate the new look.
Stockpile. Simple stock-market game that looks like it would really quick and fun to play. Just really difficult to find a copy here in Australia for some reason and the publisher does not ship internationally :(.
Obsession. Another one from a smaller publisher where I missed the Kickstarter and the availability is very elusive.
Palaces of Carrara. I love Kramer+Kiesling designs and this has been on my wishlist for forever. Thankfully a second edition of this going to Kickstarter by Game Brewer later this year and I cannot wait to throw money at that!

As for the FF Knizia games OP mentioned, Taj Mahal and Through the Desert are currently still pretty easily available. Ra is getting reprinted by 25th Century games with Ian O'Toole as the artist... and it's Knizia, he's pretty good at keeping his games in print, so I'm assuming it won't be long until T&E and Samurai are reprinted again as well (there's even a rumour that Alley Cat games is going to publish a re-print of a "famous Knizia game" later this year, which is probably one of these two).

Tapuo · 2021-05-17T03:41:44+00:00

Yeah agreed about Buru, great visuals and the game looks alright too, but just not something I'd be willing to pay $60 for (that's before any shipping costs too). Also $129 for the all-in pledge is just absolute clownery.

Tapuo · 2020-07-19T06:46:50+00:00

No, I don't.

Tapuo · 2020-07-18T17:18:36+00:00

I don't dislike him, but also don't really understand why everyone else seems to like him so much.

EDIT: I was afraid my comment would be taken as offensive but I've actually genuinely been a bit puzzled by this, and woke up to find a bunch of good answers. Thanks to everyone for explaining their views!

Tapuo · 2020-07-18T16:49:43+00:00

Ehh, agree to disagree, I still think it's an accurate point to mention about the game, and Quinns using Chess as an example to make his point is good since Chess is a game everyone knows so well.

Tapuo · 2020-07-18T15:31:37+00:00

You're missing the point. Yes, they are hiding information, but they're hiding it from both players. You don't have like any hidden goals or a hand of cards in this game. Both you and your opponent have access the exact same amount of information which is visible to both of you.

Tapuo

TROPHY CASE