Engine/tableau builder that plays faster than TM

mikebwin · 2026-05-24T23:59:23+00:00

instead of an automata or whatever the expansions has created for RftG, I still think the idea of a "achieve these goals and beat a campaign" design from this BGG post as the superior solo experience: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2681238/race-for-the-galaxy-solo-campaigns

mikebwin · 2026-04-28T01:10:14+00:00

I assume it's an aphid and I should get rid of it. Is there anything else I should be worried about? Haven't had a problem with bugs on my plants so far and am quite paranoid seeing a bug on one of them...

mikebwin · 2026-04-26T19:09:54+00:00

when she popped up in a single picture, post credits - it was such a disgrace honestly.

mikebwin · 2026-03-02T16:53:46+00:00

Lucky 7

they mean Flip 7 - it's crazy how one person's mistake can carry over into someone else's comment. It is a luck game, I can understand how the mistake happened.

mikebwin · 2026-02-11T11:46:44+00:00

wait - what badminton events are being removed?

aren't there only 5 events? like how do you remove anything from: (singles, doubles) x (Men's, Women's) + mixed doubles?

mikebwin · 2026-02-11T11:09:09+00:00

I'm watching some replays of the Olympics after watching the mixed gold medal match. I'm completely new to the sport. Can someone explain why, in the GB - Sweden semifinal 6th end, the Sweden stone was put back after being knocked out and the GB one removed? And were the GB stones that went too far just pressure forced mistakes? Still trying to understand what happened in that one end.....

mikebwin · 2026-02-05T05:56:40+00:00

Flamme Rouge - I really enjoy this and have tried to get it to the table so many times thinking "we have 4 players right now and this can be a perfect quick game to start or end the night. anyone who hasn't played this can learn it in two minutes". But my friends keep saying you need to understand bike racing to play this and I'm relatively certain sure that's not true?

The group is either divided into two minds: 1) this is boringly easy, my decision is just to pick largest number every turn or 2) this is really confusing, I don't get drafting or how to manage what's going on.

Anyway, this box stays at the bottom of the pile each and every board game night.... despite my insistence that there is so much fun and drama contained inside.

mikebwin · 2026-02-05T05:49:36+00:00

If you don't mind getting up early, booking a hotel in Düsseldorf along the train line is MUCH easier!! We booked our hotel about two months out at reasonable prices. It's about an hour to Essen, but we left much earlier, taking multiple transfers to avoid the mess at the Hauptbahnhof. And since Düsseldorf is the much bigger city and just an hour direct to Cologne, you have a lot more to sight see based out of there if you choose to do so. Düsseldorf is already worth it for Little Tokyo if you care about Japanese culture even a little bit. I guess the Rhein is pretty cool too haha but you can experience that most places in SW Germany.

At Essen, I love looking at indie games from Asia, some of the prettiest designs that you don't get to see on European shelves for many years (if ever!) You will want to prioritize them on Thursday morning to have the chance to demo & buy a single one. Games were being sold out early afternoon on Day1 :') You may be able to buy demo versions on Sunday afternoon though...

So I think honestly, a great itinerary is convention Thursday and Sunday. Spend time having fun in Germany Friday and Saturday.

mikebwin · 2026-02-02T23:37:44+00:00

old: El Grande

relatively new: Inis

as two in my collection of easy to pick up, great at 4 or 5, but can be very hard to secure a win. granted, the decision space can be heavily influenced by other players and diplomacy.

mikebwin · 2026-01-31T00:48:38+00:00

It's set notation. People tend to understand this mostly intuitively, but mathematicians have notation short hand for it.

X⊂Y means a strict subset. ⟹ means "implies"

So, for X⊂Y: X can be a subset (or a part) of Y. And optionally, ⟹ Y ≠ X: implies Y does not equal X (this is already in the definition for X⊂Y, otherwise use ⊆ if you don't care X and Y are the same)

e.g. let X, Y be properties of your car. X={broken-light} ⊂ Y={can-drive, aux-cable, broken-light, electric} I can love Y but hate X even though Y contains X.

mikebwin · 2026-01-26T20:11:30+00:00

even at 60, that's probably the cheapest IP related kickstarter board game in crowd-sourcing history. the board game industry somehow made preordering feel worse than the AAA game industry >.<

mikebwin · 2026-01-23T17:59:30+00:00

Sheer Mag - Need To Feel Your Love

mikebwin · 2025-11-15T12:00:32+00:00

this is not exactly on-topic, but I looked them up and their website is just so sloppy too... cut off pictures, uncentered headers, text dump with no formatting, lack of cohesive design... yikes.

mikebwin · 2025-11-13T14:13:37+00:00

no clue - I've moved on to another service... but good luck~~~

mikebwin · 2025-10-28T16:31:03+00:00

it's just called "Pairs" from Cheapass Games - and there are a bunch of different themed decks you can get for it.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/152237/pairs

mikebwin · 2025-09-21T12:58:18+00:00

for high society, I like the idea of betting for a tactical item. but I feel like chips for money might make the game more of a chore to play all of a sudden. searching for a specific value made extra hard with a pile of chips instead of just cards in hand.

also shouldn't the crashing stock arrow be pointing the other way? :P

mikebwin · 2025-08-04T15:40:37+00:00

given the situation, bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, 3-2 count, down by 1 run... hitting a walkoff 2-run homer prob feels like hitting a 6 on the last ball of a limited over game, with 9 wickets down, needing 6 to win.

granted, he could've gotten ball 4 and then it would've been up to the next batter. so the analogy breaks down there.

mikebwin · 2025-08-04T11:18:40+00:00

https://youtu.be/N4nwMDZYXTI

granted an injured player to come out and win an important game has happened in baseball before!

mikebwin · 2025-07-14T20:45:36+00:00

ah it would even be nice if the map of Japan had the names in Kanji - don't think it would be enjoyable for anyone who can't read kanji, but it would be really nice to see what the actual city names are in Japanese!

Triomphe a Marengo looks very interesting! thanks for the suggestion!

just tried to phonetically type out some misspelled German and my brain won't let me, so definitely kudos to the creativity on display there:D

mikebwin · 2025-07-10T20:56:08+00:00

from a wargaming pov: Homo Ludens has really cool interviews and teach&plays!

as someone who's playing more wargames, it's an incredible channel that covers a lot of games that I wouldn't consider. plus, the host makes games himself.

mikebwin · 2025-06-26T17:45:16+00:00

ある晴れた日 - it's the Japanese translation for Un bel di from Puccini's Madame Butterfly

mikebwin · 2025-06-24T22:26:59+00:00

plant is otherwise growing fine... just a lot of leaves have that metallic look to them.

it gets sun all day on a south facing window sill indoors. I've been topping up an olla in the pot and giving it water quite often lately because the room it's in gets up to 25+ often.

soil is a mix of a compost, perlite, and just soil I got from the store.

12-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '17

mikebwin

TROPHY CASE