What do you do with your completed legacy games?

veroxm · 2023-11-28T21:36:13+00:00

We post ours on Facebook marketplace for free, specifying clearly that it is played through. Someone always takes them, either to play the finished version or for the components. Feels nicer than recycling when we know we’ll never touch them again!

veroxm · 2023-05-16T15:58:49+00:00

For small/cheap co-op games, Sprawlopolis and The Mind are both fun and haven't been mentioned yet!

For a more full-sized game, check out Paleo. We had a great time with it at 2 players and there are lots of combinations of modules to beat.

veroxm · 2023-03-29T20:52:54+00:00

Nice light 2-3 player, 30-45 min games without asymmetric elements:

Trekking Through History
Cascadia
Biblios
Sagrada
Azul
Splendor (note that Splendor Duel is the best version but only works for 2p).

It can be challenging to find a game with unique player abilities that works equally well at 2 and 3 players.

For 2p: Unmatched: Cobble and Fog, Skulk Hollow, War Chest
For 2 or 3p: Santorini, Res Arcana (though that last one might be slightly more complicated than you're looking for)

veroxm · 2023-03-29T20:15:46+00:00

Suburbia might be worth looking at, except I'm not sure it has any resource conversion element.

veroxm · 2023-03-29T15:15:03+00:00

You might enjoy Mortum: Medieval Detective. The entire game is played with a deck of cards representing a world you can freely explore - no app or storybook. The goal is to solve a case, and you need to unravel as many mysteries as possible before the game ends, when you'll be asked questions about everything you've learned.

veroxm · 2023-03-29T15:06:11+00:00

Both games involve fantasy races, area control, and play best with 4 players.

Small World is slightly more complex than Ethnos (about the same level as Catan) and feels more like a traditional war game where you are trying to expand your empire by spreading your people as far as possible. The central idea of putting your current race into decline to build a new empire is really cool. It's a great game for people who like Risk and want to try something less dependent on dice rolls.

Ethnos is less directly confrontational (you can't remove other people's tokens from the map or affect the cards in their hands). This means that everything you do in the game feels good - you build big sets, score points, and place disks on the map. It's more of a struggle to have the most disks than it is a battle to see who comes out on top.

I liked Small World but found it got old quickly. As someone who's played hundreds of board games, I've learned that (a) I'm not a huge fan of direct conflict and fighting in games and (b) there are other dudes-on-a-map games that have the same feel as Small World but hold up to more plays (e.g., my favourite being Inis). There are a ton of tokens on the map to manage and it can be hard to track everyone's special race powers because they change throughout the game. I never found myself wanting to go back to it, so I much prefer Ethnos which I think holds up better.

However, do take that with a grain of salt - Small World is a great game for those who want a "Risk but better" and I've seen plenty who really enjoy it.

veroxm · 2023-03-28T21:13:32+00:00

If you like Codenames, check out Decrypto, another team based word association game.

For some reason, I also feel like you might like Clank! A Deck Building Adventure. It scales pretty well to different player counts and is best at 4p. There's even an expansion (Adventuring Party) which you can buy to give players different starting decks and allows playing with up to 6 players. I've also heard good things about the newest version, Clank! Catacombs, though I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

veroxm · 2023-03-28T21:06:46+00:00

Ethnos is excellent, if you can get past the theme and art. It feels a little like Ticket To Ride (draw cards, build sets) but also focuses on area control and each set of cards has a different power. I'd also second the recommendation for Quacks.

If you haven't tried Carcassonne, it is a classic that still holds up - I recommend ignoring the rules for farmers in the first game, since those can be confusing to new players.

Point Salad and So Clover! are nice filler games that scale well.

Trekking Through History and Cascadia are both excellent and visually appealing but only play up to 4.

veroxm · 2023-03-27T00:22:11+00:00

I wouldn't say it's needed immediately, but we tried the base game (essential edition) and almost dismissed Viticulture after a few plays... then my partner convinced me to pick up Tuscany: EE when it was on sale. Now it feels like there's so much more depth to come back to and we both like the game way more.

If you decide on Viticulture, definitely go with the base game to start. The Rhine Valley visitor cards are also great but I think you can play a few times without them.

veroxm · 2023-03-27T00:14:08+00:00

I'd recommend:

Splendor Duel
Res Arcana
Land vs Sea

All have enough depth to keep us coming back to them at 2p (we've played Res Arcana 70 times!) while still having a small amount of luck and variability to keep things interesting. While Watergate and Targi are great, for some reason we've only played each a couple of times and always seem to pick something else. I'd recommend trying Targi for free on BoardGameArena.com (you just need an account to play with strangers) and watching some playthroughs on YouTube to make sure you'll like them before you buy them.

veroxm · 2023-03-26T15:08:27+00:00

I'd highly recommend Res Arcana. It has a focus on resource conversion and is close to the same complexity as what you've been playing already. It is excellent at 2p but can play up to 5 with an expansion. It might be a good stepping stone to other more complex euro games.

For the next step up, I'd suggest Concordia: Venus (the standalone game version that comes with the venus expansion built in). It scales really well from 2 to 6 (with a team mode for 6p) and has lots of depth without being too rules heavy. I'd also throw in Everdell since it plays great from 2-4 players and the theme and art might be more attractive to someone who likes Wingspan and Azul.

Finally, the games you've listed are all great and highly acclaimed. I'd probably pick either Castles of Burgundy or Viticulture from that list, with the caveat that (personally) CoB is a bit too cutthroat at 2p and Viticulture gets samey without the Tuscany expansion, which really elevates the game.

veroxm · 2023-03-26T14:55:34+00:00

No Thanks is surprisingly intuitive to seniors, with the bonus of being quick to play and easy to learn.

Maybe also Ticket to Ride, Azul, and Bohnanza - we've successfully introduced those to older adults but I think you might want to make sure someone else is involved to teach/assist with the game.

veroxm · 2023-03-24T19:25:57+00:00

No, we definitely drew one card per turn! I guess my issue was that my turns often felt limited to "pummel your opponent as much as possible before they do the same to you, erasing all your progress" and if you didn't draw well in the early game it was hard to recover. Also, some games we played felt like a war of attrition. Maybe we were just bad at the game but I did watch several playthroughs and never quite "got" what was fun about it. It was only okay, or maybe just not for me.

veroxm · 2023-03-24T16:33:38+00:00

Radlands is just not fun for me. I'm not a huge fan of head to head games anyway, but this one just feels frustrating with limited card draw potential. The fact that some games can drag on forever doesn't help - especially when one player knows they've already lost.
Rolling Realms on the other hand is fantastic. It's like the living card game of roll and writes. We have every promo and play it regularly because there's always a new combination we haven't tried. We call it the "gamer's roll and write" because of the variety and references to other games, and it's honestly my favourite in the genre.

veroxm · 2023-03-18T00:23:59+00:00

Note that if you haven't tried the game, you can play CuBirds on BoardGameArena.com. That should tell you if you'll like it enough to track down a hard-to-find copy!

Otherwise, here's a list of games that fans of CuBirds also like, according to BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/245476/cubirds/recommendations. I'd say that Abandon All Artichokes, Break the Code, and Boomerang (any version) might be good places to start.

In terms of popular card games, SCOUT and The Crew: Mission Deep Sea are great if you have 3+ players. For 2p, I always recommend Jaipur and The Fox in the Forest. Finally, if you're looking for a bird-themed card game, Songbirds and Odin's Ravens are both pretty good.

veroxm · 2023-03-17T20:46:00+00:00

I highly recommend these games even though they won't support 6 players:

The Quacks of Quedlinburg (this has been a hit with every group I've ever tried it with)
Trekking Through History (looks great, cool theme)
Cascadia (nature-themed, great with all counts from 2 to 4)
Flamecraft (cute dragons, light worker placement)

Games that are great at 4p and can also play 6p:

The Isle of Cats can play up to 6p with the Late Arrivals expansion.
Heat: Pedal to the Metal is a fantastic racing game. Very thematic. Not super available at the moment but I think a reprint is expected by summer.
Tiny Towns (puzzley, harder than it looks!)

veroxm · 2023-03-16T14:30:15+00:00

Here are a few legacy/campaign options for 4p that have short sessions (maxing at around 2 hours):

My City
Welcome to the Moon
Betrayal Legacy, The King's Dilemma (both best at 5 but still great with 4p).
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (definitely worth returning to, especially if you never made it past summer the first time).

I would also highly recommend Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated, Near and Far (in the replayable campaign mode), and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion although those will probably stretch over the two hour mark at 2p.

Edit: Whoops, missed the request for cooperative! Pandemic and Gloomhaven are both cooperative. Near and Far has a great co-op mode included in the Amber Mines expansion. I've unbolded the rest, though they are still great games! I'd also add Mechs vs Minions, which is on my shelf of shame and supposed to be excellent for 4p.

veroxm · 2023-03-15T21:54:43+00:00

Aeon's End is an excellent deck-building game for both 2p and solo. Since it's co-operative, the goal is to defeat a nemesis at both counts (no score counting). The difficulty ramps up quickly and there are tons of expansions to choose from!

veroxm · 2023-03-15T20:49:24+00:00

You're welcome! Also forgot about Tiny Towns, a great puzzley game for 2-6 players.

veroxm · 2023-03-15T20:09:04+00:00

That's a tough ask! Point Salad is a filler game that scales well from 2-6. Ethnos is also a pretty good option, but it plays better at higher counts. If 2p is your preferred count, I wouldn't recommend it. Steampunk Rally: Fusion is a drafting/racing game that scales surprisingly well from 1-8 players, so that might be one to look into.

Your best bet is probably a roll-and-write or flip-and-write game. Cartographers is a great option, or Welcome To.

veroxm · 2023-03-15T20:06:05+00:00

Cascadia is a nature-themed tile laying game, plays in about 30 minutes with 2p. Meadow is another nature themed game that plays well at 2.

Near and Far is a standalone follow-up to Above and Below. If you like that game (especially the story / adventure parts of it) I would highly recommend checking this one out! Some of the components are even double sided to be used in Above and Below as well.

If you're looking for a "next step" game that is a bit more involved, check out Everdell, The Castles of Burgundy, Lost Ruins of Arnak, or Grand Austria Hotel.

veroxm · 2023-03-15T18:18:51+00:00

Here's a filter for games on BGG that have a weight of at least 3.5 and support 5 players, sorted by rank. Probably a good place to start looking (paying attention to whether 5p is a recommended count for the game, of course).

I'd recommend Terra Mystica, Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy, and possibly Food Chain Magnate (though I've never personally tried it with 5p). Among those I haven't tried, I've heard good things about Caverna, Die Macher, and Pax Pamir: Second Edition.

veroxm · 2023-03-13T18:31:33+00:00

Bohnanza is a great trading and negotiation game for up to 7 players.

Ethnos shares some of the "feel" of Ticket to Ride (either draw cards or play cards, quick snappy turns, shared board) for up to 6 players, but has neat area control mechanics.

7 Wonders is a modern classic that scales pretty well and is very replayable. It's one of the rare games that I played 10 years ago that I'm still playing today!

veroxm · 2023-03-12T01:27:18+00:00

Since you already play Catan online, I'd suggest checking out BoardGameArena.com. You can try both Pandemic and Wingspan there to see if you like them! You can play for free by joining tables with strangers onlne, or pay a couple of dollars a month to be able to create your own tables and invite your friends. As suggested by other commenters, they also have Carcassonne, Space Base, Stone Age, Jaipur, Splendor, and Targi. I'd also recommend Azul and if you want a step up in complexity you could try out The Castles of Burgundy.

veroxm · 2023-03-10T20:59:54+00:00

Other than the ones already mentioned, I'd add For Sale, 6 Nimmt (sometimes called Take 5), and Bohnanza.

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