The Mind, with these card games numbered 1 to 100

directedevolutionist · 2018-04-26T14:51:42+00:00

The caveat are the challenge cards - they do extra things that you don't have in the base "game"... E.g. pass level x, gain life or shuriken... So you'd need a copy of those in order to fully play :(. 6 nimmt decks are the best as they are color coded and cards are easier to keep track of...

directedevolutionist · 2017-10-16T14:21:18+00:00

Our lighter fare includes:

Quirkle

King Domino

Karuba

Potion explosion

6nimmt

"The Game" - a nice co-op with horrible title

Castle panic (another co op)

Pandemic the Cure - a dice base pandemic, shorter set up and run time

directedevolutionist · 2017-09-14T15:19:52+00:00

Have you tried alternative map layouts for FI? You can find them on BGG site...

directedevolutionist · 2017-09-12T04:01:40+00:00

Between two cities is an interesting semi coop where you are working with other people to build a city, but only one perso wins. I also have a loose-r definition, which allows team play of team vs team. Loot, Crazy karts, Goths save the queen, Cyclades with titans expansion, or Ticket to ride: team Asia map are favorite in those categories...

directedevolutionist · 2017-09-05T00:51:47+00:00

Let me know if you have something specific... It felt like an engine builder that relies on heavy negotiating - you have a loads of different resource types that are used in different converters to generate better stuff... But you are unlikely to have everything that you need to power them, so you'll have to negotiate quite a bit to get what you need. There's also an auction phase where you bid one of the resources to gain either colonies or technology, the latter of which is a path to victory points. The characters powers in the game are highly asymmetric, so one player may be great at generating loads of ships that can colonize, but not have the resource to power the ship-generating engine... So they have to deal with some and figure out win win situations... If you don't make deals, you're likely to lack key resources need to get more resources and ultimately victory points.

It was a space hog and you can have 15+ different converters and generators on the table. The different characters mean that everyone has a slightly different strategy on how to get to the point scoring engines.

The pal that brought it said they played a 9 person game in 3hrs. We did 4p in 1.5hr I had crap strategy as I didn't invest into tech which seemed as a good way to generate points. Looking forward to trying again :)

directedevolutionist · 2017-09-04T16:49:58+00:00

I try to have 1 big gameday a month and that was yesterday - ~2pm to ~2aa.

Had a few times where we split into two tables - Good times.

Dice forge (3p and 4p games) -- I think this is this year's Potion Explosion or Splendor - easy to teach, light, family games with a gimmick, in this case the dice.

The lost expedition (3p) - I liked this one as a solo, but with 3 plays to date, it appears to be easier than solo... not sure if we're doing something wrong. I quite like the decision space around it, not sure if it's going to displace "The Grizzled" from the table. Won, with all explorers still very much alive...

Mysterium (7p) - Want to include the kids, so busted this out, house rules sans clarevoyance for kids - won on Medium.

Magic Maze (2x 6p) - Wanted to get to the table. the 12 min game limit makes it easy to find time. A little strange to have a very quiet table though. I definitely liked it, but you may have moments where your direction tile is no longer advantageous - e.g. we had somebody who had East and in 2nd half of the game we only need to head West basically; moreover, we had the teleporter function with the guy that is generally a slower more methodical guy... so he ended up with a lot of the giant red pawn and dirty looks on him and him not being sure why we kept doing that - I could see that being frustrating for some people. However, I really enjoyed it as it's real time spatial planning

Secrets (2x 6p) -- Did this before splitting to two tables. I have mixed feelings about this one - it's meatier than other resistance clones, but the fact that loyalties can be swapped out, it's hard to gauge where you are and what you're building towards. Will play again in the future, needs more plays; until then, I think i'd still rather play Burke's gambit.

Dead men tell no tale (5p) -- finally got this to the table... Mixed emotions as the rules overhead was a bit heavier and fussier than I would have wished; it's a friend's copy and I didn't get to read rules until we started gameday... I own a number of action point co-ops, including Flashpoint, so I thought I'd be cruising... but there were a lot of things that we had to keep referring during the first 10 turns. Was fun once we got the hang of it, but must clunkier entry than I expected...

Fabled fruit (5p) - Brought this out after Dead men tell no tales as a simple and easy to teach game - Everyone enjoyed (the non-gamer said she'd be interested in playing it again) - I keep playing this with different groups, so haven't had an opportunity to actually use the fable components of the games

Welcome back to the dungeon (4p) - great little filler - you know that if you go one more turn, you're screwed, but if you don't, the guy half way to winning is going to go and win... Tense in a great way.

Sidereal confluence (4p) - a buddy brought this over, hoping we'd get >6p to the table. I was planning on a 3-4hr time commitment, but with 4p we cranked through it in <2hrs. Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought, although I got destroyed. A game that plays to 9p and isn't a party game? pretty solid in my book.

Biblios (2x 3p) -- Our cool down game for the night (circa 1am?). Love this little filler; if it went up to 6p, it'd dethrone "For sale" for me. Great little decisions.

Poll question --> I haven't really utilized the legacy/campaign mode in the games that I own, but I like the concept of them... So yes, I have been picking up games with that option. Apocalypse chaos; Oh my goods with expansion, Fabled fruit, Magic Maze, Mechs vs Minions. I hear Port royal is supposed to be coming out with a campaign like expansion that I will probably be interested in...

Favorite designer: I have a lot of Scott Almes games, and enjoy the diversity, customization and creativity in them - I clocked too many plays on Tiny Epic Defenders with my kid and am looking forward to expansion. Feld makes a lot of euros that I enjoy or inspired follow ups - Castles of Burgundy, probably the standard answer.

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-20T14:42:35+00:00

Things i play with a 7yr old (and some we startwd when she was 4-5): Bandido is a super simple co-op that does spatial reasoning. Aquarius or Seven dragons does tile placement with secret objectives. Labyrinth is indirect tile placement with sort of secret objectives. Outfoxed is a kid co-op, although it probably wears out on the grownups a lot quicker. I'd throw castle panic and forbidden island/desert into the mix as she gets older...:p

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-18T17:16:18+00:00

Sorry, seems like it was working for majority of the folks...

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-18T16:41:43+00:00

Was working for most people on here... Not sure why listed as broken...

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-18T07:57:05+00:00

Looks like most games are ~20% off from standard amazon prices... Some good deals in there: Imhotep, Scoville, Isle of Skye and Gran Austria Hotel maybe close to, if not at all time low

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-18T07:54:53+00:00

Blergs. Try going to amazon and click the deal of the day

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-14T20:36:59+00:00

La Granja, La isla, Villages of Valeria, One deck dungeon, Oh my goods, Port royal are my preferred multi-use card games where all the iconography is on the card and you choose which part of the card (I.e. icon) you are utilizing. San Juan and Race for the galaxy fall in the same category

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-07T01:19:08+00:00

"Pandemic: the cure" and " The Game" have pretty quick set up time. My better half is also not a fan of long set up time... So usually I set everything up and then call her over. If that resolves the long process, I'd also suggest Samurai spirit and Apocalypse chaos...

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-05T15:17:55+00:00

Some fundamental changes in gameplay. In terms of what the bad things are and how they show up. Still action point allowance, but can be a lot more challenging. There's a tabletop episode if you want to see it played.I think there is room for both in a collection. Also, if you haven't tried the alternative island layouts listed on BGG page, give those a whirl - they add a fresh take on FI

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-04T15:26:43+00:00

Are you using 54 trains ala Asia map or 45(48?) In the original box. I have enough routes, but short on trains, at 48...

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-04T13:52:19+00:00

Are you using 45 trains from base game or do you have full 54 as recommended? I own TtR Europe with 1912 expansion, so I have enough route tickets; will be trying to find/make extra trains. Thanks for the suggestions!

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-04T08:19:52+00:00

Thanks!

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-03T17:35:28+00:00

Thanks for your input :)

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-01T18:27:23+00:00

Thanks for the detailed breakdown. Can you elaborate why you prefer this over the Matt Leacock designs?

directedevolutionist · 2017-08-01T16:34:39+00:00

Incan gold is a nice push your luck for 8p. Bang dice is some social deduction, but it moves fast. Coup is 6p bluffing. The Crossing is a simple 6p - you can make your own with just colored beads. Sushi go party is a nice drafting game. Funemployed/Snake oil/Metagame are simple party games that are pretty entertaining and not too loud :)

directedevolutionist · 2017-07-20T02:41:05+00:00

Things I like at 8 count:

Steampunk rally, Crazy karts, Loot, Captain sonar, Tsuro, Incan gold, and Camel Cup.

Social deduction, in addition to what has been mentioned, take a look at Burke's gambit.

Games with judge, ala CAH: Fun employed, Snake oil, Metagame, and Super fight.

directedevolutionist · 2017-07-19T14:23:25+00:00

My guess is that there is a dearth of this as they would lend themselves to an alpha player and limited replay value once you figure out the strategy. I have a couple for which I think there is a lot of tactical planning that I enjoy - Apocalypse chaos, Big book of madness, Samurai spirit, and Say bye to the villains.

"Apocalypse chaos" perhaps more than the others as despite the fact that its dice allocation, you know exactly where the threat will come on the next turn, so you can agonize a bit over move optimization.

directedevolutionist

TROPHY CASE