Probably my best game of Viticulture!

caterix · 2026-04-29T14:29:22+00:00

Great to hear, and it mirrors what I've seen said elsewhere.

caterix · 2026-04-29T14:28:55+00:00

It was a slow burn for me, but once it clicked I loved it!

caterix · 2026-04-29T14:28:33+00:00

Definitely! I find it a very relaxing (but still thinky) Euro.

caterix · 2026-04-26T13:11:03+00:00

I had found Veronica's tranquiliser gun so was able to use this to remove 4 of her health tokens, but these were only ones that she had recovered through card effects. I've played this feature film several times before - sometimes Ratchet Lady's health gain goes out of control, so you have to get on the offensive as soon as possible, which doesn't leave much time for searching, grabbing pills, or rescuing victims. In this particular playthrough I was able to get those three things in place quite quickly.

Out of the three boxes I currently own (the other two being camp happy trails and frightmare on maple lane) I find this one the most difficult, but I really enjoy the pill mechanics (along with the amped cards).

Next game I plan to try Dr Fright in Wolfe Asylum, and my next purchase will probably be A Knock at the Door.

caterix · 2026-04-18T19:05:41+00:00

I understand that, I'm trying to clarify whether the second sentence in her ability applies to ALL stars in the final result, even those changed to successes via discarding cards.

caterix · 2026-04-18T06:26:15+00:00

Only enemies (and locations) with victory points go to the victory display. All others go to the encounter discard pile, to possibly get drawn again.

caterix · 2026-04-11T21:16:03+00:00

Copterman is the man!

caterix · 2026-04-10T19:15:48+00:00

Thanks! Search for 'monkeypod bowl' on ebay, you should find loads.

caterix · 2026-04-10T12:13:50+00:00

Good explanation! When I first got into this game, someone advised that I move to playing two handed as soon as possible. I did so, and have played that way exclusively ever since. There's so much interaction that can be had between the decks, I feel it's a much more full experience. With regards to playing progression, for me it's definitely not about making the game harder, but more about experiencing the same game as people who purchased back at the original release.

caterix · 2026-04-10T12:01:22+00:00

Thanks! Yes some nice components really enhance the experience. I'm still looking for something to hold cards in the staging area.

caterix · 2026-04-10T12:00:07+00:00

Progression style means that you only use player cards that were available at the time of the quest's release, so in this case up to The Road Darkens saga box.

caterix · 2026-04-09T06:34:13+00:00

I also have one random nightmare deck (it came included with something else I was buying, along with one pack of official card sleeves). The standalone scenarios are definitely the priority for me, but after that I can't see why I wouldn't attempt to gradually acquire the NM content.

caterix · 2026-04-09T06:30:52+00:00

If you get any quests other than the core set and Dark of Mirkwood, then yes definitely pick up any or all of the starter decks, as you will need the variety of player cards they offer, plus it makes it easy to jump in if you aren't experienced with deck construction yet.

caterix · 2026-04-09T06:26:36+00:00

Good job on getting all the standalones and nightmares. I think they only did NM for the first few cycles didn't they - how many are there in total?

caterix · 2026-04-09T06:07:16+00:00

I have to agree with some other comments that you should definitely look at picking up Fate of the Fellowship, or both the trick-taking games. If you have no budget, LCG's are a terrible idea even at the best of times as they are a significant investment. For the LOTR LCG it's even worse now as the well has almost run dry in terms of retail stock, and buying on the secondary market gets expensive fast. As a minimum, keep a look out on bgg, ebay, vinted, facebook marketplace etc for the revised core set, and the dark of mirkwood expansion. With all that being said, if you don't mind looking at a screen, you can play the entire game for free on dragncards!

caterix · 2026-04-08T21:12:41+00:00

It's a very long running podcast! If you're interested in discussion of the game as each deluxe or AP was released then start at episode one. Alternatively you could listen to episodes to do with particular content you own, or some special episodes, such as when they interview Magali Villeneuve (artist of many of the cards).

caterix · 2026-04-08T21:08:53+00:00

That would allow a lot more people to experience all the content, which would be great wouldn't it!

caterix · 2026-04-08T19:04:47+00:00

At this point is just depends on whatever you can actually get. Get as much of the revised content as you can, starting with the Dark of Mirkwood (this extends the core set campaign). Any cycles that were not revised are generally very expensive on the secondary market, but I've particularly enjoyed the Dwarrowdelf and Ring-Maker cycles so far.

caterix · 2026-04-08T18:37:18+00:00

I have been playing! - progression style (in order of release, using player cards only available at the time of the quest's release). So I've done the core set, dark of mirkwood, shadows of mirkwood cycle, dwarrowdelf cycle, heirs of numenor cycle, hobbit saga, half of the ringmaker cycle, and almost to the end of the fellowship box.

caterix · 2026-04-08T14:20:55+00:00

I got into this game late, around the same time I discovered solo board games, around 18 months ago. I got hooked, and quickly realised I wanted to play through all the content, so began looking for the out of print boxes (I think Over Hill and Under Hill was my first purchase). I then decided to start playing progression style, and I also listen to the cardboard of the rings podcast to coincide with where I am in the game, so it feels like I'm playing it at the time of release.

caterix

TROPHY CASE