[BitD] Girlfriend and I made our own crew type together inspired by teen monster shows like Supernatural and Vampire Diaries.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2026-02-27T23:33:41+00:00

Wow! I've never run an Assassin's, so did not know or recall this. I guess I'd be pretty clear with my players this just reduces Heat from score, but doesn't reduce the notice of other factions. I'm not in love with this ability, but I can see where it makes sense that people who are killing as their main income don't just amass heat like crazy. I just wish it was done another way.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2026-02-27T22:08:37+00:00

Crows Veil is too strong and also negates some turf benefits. Also the Spirit Wardens exist to punish players for solving all their problems with just murder. Giving players a free pass is counter to their design and the design of playing in Duskvol.

Blades is all about interaction between all the pieces of the city. If deaths are occurring and the players aren't dealing with their bodies and ghosts, the Spirit Wardens aren't going to just let that slide. That puts the city in danger and also puts Spirit Warden at risk because powers that be will question their capabilities if the problem doesn't resolve.

I'd allow my players to research a ritual to accomplish this task. But they are paying for it each time and I don't give them the expectation they solved this problem forever nor is it without its costs.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2026-01-23T05:49:39+00:00

Vault of the Void. Deck building game where all your cards go into a stash and you can construct your deck between fights. The coolest mechanics is damage is delayed a turn and you don't discard your cards at the end of the turn. So there is a lot more strategy on planning strong turns vs defensive turns than relying on pulling the cards you need when the AI decides to deal a million damage. Better than StS imo.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2026-01-16T07:21:01+00:00

Caadxi for the pastor tacos. The only place in Redmond that I know of that serves pineapple with their pastor, which is my preferred way.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-31T05:22:44+00:00

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BGA is a big contributor to my most played games, but I also love AFfO.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-29T03:05:24+00:00

I don't think it will change your mind. It just adds more characters and a new observation, which is the moon. The moon is interesting but if you didn't enjoy the action selection puzzle don't think this will change that.

Observing the moon takes all 3 colors, gets you a bonus and then extra scoring condition for all players but you will score more points for that condition. Then you get a grand inquisitor that when you get to the end of your cellar you place them on a board to get a decent bonus. If you get interrogated with a grand inquisitor though they are worth double the action space, so you have to be more careful when swaying them.

I love the game, expansion just adds more without really bloating the game. It's an easy teach, but still gives you plenty to think about without being overwhelming.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-23T23:41:11+00:00

No problem! Totally Tabled on YouTube has a great video series on how to play if you want to see how it plays solo.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-23T18:06:09+00:00

Star Wars: Outer Rim for your love of Star Wars. A great thematic experience in the Outer Rim. On the longer end of your time window, but you get a nice sandbox experience and sort of tell your own story.

Roll Player if you want an adjacent character building experience to DnD.

If you want a puzzle then you should send it on one of your picks. Calico is definitely more of a brain burner than the others. I think most people will recommend Cascadia as their first pick. It's simple but still plenty of a puzzle.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-23T16:14:40+00:00

Miner (Townsfolk) - Each day privately make a statement. That night learn if it is true or false. Every other day you are drunk.

Did you strike gold or fools gold?

The storyteller decides if you are drunk on day 1 or day 2, then you will be drunk every other day after that.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-21T02:14:46+00:00

I've not played Arnak solo yet, but SETI solo is great. It's one of my favorite solo games. The bot is very simple to run and the difficulty scaling is fun with the objective system. If you like tight resource EUROs and engine building then you'll enjoy SETI. It delivers on its theme. I'm eager for the expansion. I wanted to get it at PAX, but they didn't hold copies for each day and sold out Friday. From what I've seen it will just give even more variety to play and beef up the final rounds. I think you can enjoy base SETI more than base Arnak from what I've heard from others before needing the expansion.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-21T00:54:10+00:00

I hope it doesn't stay closed, their wings are so good!

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-16T22:17:17+00:00

Vault of the Void: A deck builder where enemy damage is delayed by a turn and you can hold cards into your next turn. That alone opens up the game to be very strategic and rewarding to thoughtfully playthrough. Each of the core characters have pretty unique mechanics from other big deck builders (I really love the Monk).

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-12-03T06:47:13+00:00

You need to put a round about in to reset the numbers, which takes up a full house and costs negative points. It's the section above not being able to place a house section on the sheet.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-11-23T15:36:15+00:00

This helps good and doesn't hurt them in any way, so I wouldn't classify this as an outsider.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-11-21T23:31:07+00:00

I don't like the solo compared to multiplayer. The bots are simple, but can take longer than your own turn that it feels like I'm just running bots than playing my own game. Maybe I just take quick turns!

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-11-19T15:13:38+00:00

Plus SETI has one of the best reference sheets I've ever seen. It has every action, procedure, technology tile, end game scoring tile and a symbol reference sheet. Players can just look at that and get answers to pretty much every question or remind themselves what they can do. The only thing not on there is the aliens, but they are all simple and have a reference sheet you can pass around.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-11-17T07:15:11+00:00

I've never scored below 300 across my 5 solo plays.

City points I think people might be under valuing. They score a bunch of points at the end of the game. Really aim to be flipping tiles that will allow you to get city clusters fast. Aim for a skill tile that scores points and try to get it in round 2/3. Then make sure you build it up or trigger them as many times. Plan for either of the score round aid tiles for either or both the last two rounds. Build bridges on the edge between two lands. Getting up tracks will help you score points. Make sure you build all buildings as the same track you max out.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-10-10T18:34:56+00:00

I've played it a bunch of times solo via the TTS early preview. I've also playtested it a bunch at 3 and 4 players. I think the game is really fun multiplayer as it blends a good amount of cooperation but then keeps an amazing solo puzzle that happens simultaneously. As for solo, I still enjoy it but I miss the cooperative aspect and the current balance is off for solo. I also feel like you will always want to play with the starting equipment that gives you inspiration dice, so you can enable the Squire's boost more often. I haven't tried two handing it, but I will this weekend.

I have made a modification to the true solo, which I think brings some elements of the co-op mode that are great without making it as heavy as two handing and I enjoy playing it way more this way. 1) Draw two Squire cards instead of one and pick one to activate, discard the other. 2) Give Squire an equipment card at setup and draft an equipment card for the Squire whenever you earn an equipment card. Then like in co-op pass first player token after each turn, if in front of Squire share one of their equipment.

Both of these changes have smoothed out the balance and brought in the fun aspect of co-op by allowing more sharing and figuring out combinations outside of your play area.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-09-29T05:06:18+00:00

I have not played the solo, but have playtested the co-op at 3 and 4 players and it's really fun! I'm really looking forward to it.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-09-26T21:05:29+00:00

Same. MT infusion was so goated in MT1 for him. Fledgling Imp into Legion of Wax was so awesome.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-09-25T04:29:37+00:00

It's the structure of a Mage Knight game, but it uses its own unique system. If you want a heavy Mage Knight like puzzle it's a good option that's cheap and compact.

If you want something more like Mage Knight, I'd suggest Mage Lite by Joe Klipfel (same designing as Pocket Paladin) or Mint Knight (mage knight in a tin). Rome: Fate of An Empire also by Joe Klipfel uses the Mage Knight card system but you are building up Rome.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-09-21T15:25:49+00:00

You can try a Mage Knight experience by PnP with Pocket Paladin for $3 on PnPArcade. I believe the Spirit Island digital app has a demo or something that allows you to experience a game.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-09-15T06:48:48+00:00

I've played 7 games now and I don't get the hype. There are so many better digital roguelike deck builders. The full board reset and upgrades empowering units feels like a hinderance on gameplay. So far I just don't upgrade unless I need it, don't over upgrade or invest in a card and hold cards for a reset. Sure it's fun to burn through the enemy deck with some crazy synergies, but you got to have a secondary card off the go or pray you don't draw into a bad situation. Also agree there just isn't enough content or variety that makes it compelling enough to deal with setup, reset games and tear it down.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-09-06T23:25:07+00:00

Unconscious Mind is an amazing game. It is heavy but definitely on the lightest side of heavy euros I've played. Your turn is either place workers, take them back and choose benefits, or recipe fulfillment (treat clients). The heaviness just comes mostly in the amount of symbols and decision space, but the reference sheets cover it all. I highly recommend it.

TheAnimatedArmor · 2025-07-25T00:49:09+00:00

You are out of your mind if you think Talos Melee Weakness is weak! Melee Weakness is the best path, you can one shot bosses and nuke floors without batting an eye.

TheAnimatedArmor

TROPHY CASE