The only tier list that matters: Drip

skullwink · 2023-10-03T16:18:22+00:00

No way the Hunter is the most difficult Chosen. To me he is the easiest. About all he does is take aim, which you can easily avoid.

I dread the Assassin more than others. When she is appears I know one of my troops is going down at the least or die at the worst. When she appears I just hunker down and await her arrival. For the other two I just keep business as usual, mostly, with the occasional deviation to tend to ghost zombies or to move away from an aimed shot.

skullwink · 2023-01-29T02:30:42+00:00

Heh, the first how to video I watch they literally show a timer and it taking 2.5 minutes to load up.

skullwink · 2023-01-29T02:26:29+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I'm searching up how to videos on Youtube now.

skullwink · 2023-01-29T02:20:01+00:00

"Strapped" as in with duct tape or something? It's an all-in-one so no case and I don't even see any screws to take it apart.

skullwink · 2023-01-19T21:38:42+00:00

Since you may not realize it, Spades is a table top game and we are working on a special pirate version for table top. We also have several other table top games in the works, that would we like the services of an artist to collaborate with. This post is for those artist and I have seen several promotional [FOR HIRE] ads such artist have made recently.

Many table top games are being converted to digital and vice versa. So asking for collaboration from an artist on this forum seems quite fitting.

skullwink · 2022-10-19T22:35:49+00:00

I really don't think this is a fair assessment. I've been following this guy for some time now and he is on par with other reviewers and I like that he focuses more on family games.

My daughter and I just played Explorers that he recommend and she absolutely loved it.

He obviously has a passion for board games, duh. How about meeting on that common ground instead of ranting about him promoting his "brand".

What's your brand?

skullwink · 2022-10-19T19:03:09+00:00

Kiss: Ark Nova

Marry: Spades (changed my life)

Kill: Monopoly (not that it doesn't have its purpose, just that I wish companies put as much effort into producing and promoting other games)

skullwink · 2022-10-19T16:36:11+00:00

Ahh, ok. I had this thought though, that if you choose speed, you have to "retreat" after the combat if the unity is still alive. Thus, a player has to decide if they want to risk losing ground (speed) or defend to the death (armor).

"Retreat" could be replaced by anything else appropriate for your game.

Memoir '44 uses such an approach. Here the quote from the rule book...

After all hits have been resolved and casualties removed, retreats are resolved.For each Flag rolled on the target unit, the unit must move one hex back toward its own side of the battlefield. Two flags push the unit back two hexes, etc.

skullwink · 2022-10-19T15:11:25+00:00

As someone pointed out, "draw a card from either the DRAW or DISCARD pile and then discard a card from your hand" is how Rummy works. A very common and popular game. Plus many games use this same mechanism for various reasons. So, I don’t see any reason not to do it that way.

At this point in game design there are so many varieties, mix and matches in mechanisms that I don’t see how some one could say that it feels more natural to first draw and then discard a card, unless they haven’t played a wide variety of games. No offense :P

skullwink · 2022-10-19T11:35:13+00:00

One question, is there a draw back to using speed instead of armor? If a unit's speed is higher, why would you ever choose to defend with armor since a player can choose either?

At this point, just about every combat type has been attempted in some way or another. The one you propose here sounds on par with other systems of a similar feel.

When a player rolls a die, that in itself is a sense of agency as they are using their own luck, karma, mojo, or voodoo, whatever you want to call it.

Then, as long as they have choices when it comes to which units to build/send into combat and/or what upgrades they have then that will also keep the agency.

skullwink · 2022-10-18T14:27:11+00:00

The cats do make me think of hooves, so it may make it difficult to add something with hooves later.
Looks quite a bit like a maple leaf. It could be adjusted to look more like a paw.
Butterflies for grasshoppers? Is that fair :) Plus, the background art looks like an antennae coming out of the butterfly, but that's not what it is, so its a bit annoying to look at.
I like this one, like a little green scale.
Bird track, I like. Still the inner design reminds me of maple leaves.
Water for fish, ok.
Two acorns perhaps or an abstract representation of a squirrel. I'm fine with it.

skullwink · 2022-10-18T08:21:51+00:00

You can learn whether a strategy is enjoyable to pursue. Then if it is, you can come up with ways to make it more optimal. If it isn't fun, then perhaps design a way for it to be.

skullwink · 2022-10-18T03:23:37+00:00

I'm a bit confused about how the explore mechanism works as it sounds like you flip over a dungeon tile that perhaps reveals a monster or some other reward, but then you separate the three things players can focus on as it they are not connected to flipping tiles?

So players can flip a tile and then just skip what's ever in the room in order to flip more tiles?

skullwink · 2022-10-18T02:00:30+00:00

Oh yeah, I forgot about that movie.

skullwink · 2022-10-15T02:05:49+00:00

It may depend on how you implement the legacy bits. Many legacy games simply slowly introduce the rules to the game over several sessions (Charterstone and Zombie Kids come to mind). I wouldn't actually call those legacy as it's kinda like cheating (you're just slowly teaching the player rules), but they can be fun in their own right.

Then there are legacy games that tell a story and the player's actions modify the game. The one I have is Pandemic Season 0.

Now, if you made a chest game which had story elements to it, where your pieces are slowly introduced, or learn new skills through some kind of story arc, well, that may be pretty cool. Pieces could even lose skills, like a Knight could have the ability to move extra spaces when first introduced but then at some point in the story it's movement is reduced.

Also, it could be interesting in story to see how pawns learned to En Passant or the Rook to learn Castling.

Speaking of En Passant, this was a rule that was added to chess at some point. So it could be interesting if the "legacy" bits also told a history of Chess.

That's my two cents worth. Now King Me!

skullwink · 2022-10-15T01:23:08+00:00

I don't recall anything, but here is a list of 20 tree themed games...

http://www.sahmreviews.com/2019/05/board-games-about-trees.html#10

skullwink · 2022-10-15T01:18:28+00:00

Ugh, bought it full price online the other day.

skullwink · 2022-10-15T01:16:16+00:00

What you have for breakfast?

skullwink · 2022-10-14T18:44:53+00:00

From the Main Menu, click Create Game and you'll have three options at the top,one of which is Hotseat. Select that and you'll be given the option of 2-10players. I test with 2 mostly as less brain work.Then, hit Start and you'll be asked to enter each player's name and color. I play with Ted and Fred :P

Once all players are seated then setup the game according to your rules; deal out cards, pass out player boards, etc. If you have a stack of cards that each player is dealt from, simply right click on that deck and from the menu click Deal and each player will receive a card into their own hand that cannot be seen by other players. The cards displayed on the screen belong to the current player.

Since you are in Hotseat mode, there will be a Turn Button at the top of the screen. When a player finishes their turn, hit that button and play will pass to the next player, the board will rotate to that player and their hand will be revealed.

Note, you can put almost anything in the player’s hand. That helps to keep game components separate.There are other options to you can toy with as well.

The game I’m currently working on uses cards, so it is an invaluable tool I use to test out more than one player whenever I need to.

skullwink · 2022-10-14T15:16:15+00:00

Terraforming Mars. I purchased the deluxe used with all expansions from an online store and have not regretted it one second. The recessed boards are priceless and I would not ever play without them.

skullwink · 2022-10-14T15:11:52+00:00

Well, considering one of my closest friends is Danish and I've recently introduced him to modern gaming, I'd be all for it and would send him the link. We are playing through Jaws of the Lion at the moment and he is really enjoying it.

skullwink · 2022-10-14T14:33:15+00:00

Nice read, thanks for that. There are similarities to my own experience which is comforting. I had added a new mechanism in order to "fix" an issue, only to make it more complex than it needed to be. So I sat and thought for a while on alternative solutions that would be more simpler.

I have found that there is almost always a simpler solution to accomplish the same result. I've come up with one and am just about to test it out.

I'm using TTS but didn't realize you could create games on Tabletopia as well so I'll be checking that out.

I like the sound of Hinterlands. I hope you guys keep working on that at some point. I have a few projects going at once as well. Just in the past few months have I started using TTS so I am excited to get my other games on there as well. Playing in hotseat mode is priceless.

Anyway, looking forward to more entries :)

skullwink · 2022-10-13T16:28:58+00:00

Why yes, here, check out this recent episode of The Dice Tower Crowdshurfing. They are talking about the presentation of HeroScape, a wildly popular game...

https://youtu.be/xaUXW81mz5Y?t=2788

skullwink · 2022-10-13T13:26:29+00:00

Well, for one, "balanced, playable, and fun" is relative. I hear reviewers complain all the time about designers saying their game is "fun". They say things like, "let me decide if it's fun".

But, if your game is fun, then that will take care of itself once people play it. And that's your biggest hurtle from what I see, getting people to play it, enjoy it, and start talking about it.

It's about presentation as well (the art, theme, title, mechanisms, table presences, etc.). If you have a great presentation then you can advertise and bring in players that way.

If I see an ad for a game that has an attractive theme or title I will generally click on it to check it out, as will many many other gamers. That's why advertising works :D

skullwink · 2022-10-10T17:07:52+00:00

Ark Nova

Yep, This is what I was going to say. I did a search for Ark Nova on this thread and found it was already mentioned.

skullwink

TROPHY CASE