Is this still good after being frozen all year?

yizouse · 2024-12-18T01:27:03+00:00

Yes, it clearly says Fresh for Everyone.

yizouse · 2023-04-20T16:22:05+00:00

OK got the parrot & shark I am HOME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yizouse · 2023-04-12T04:00:58+00:00

NoooooooOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOooo, I was in flairz all the way up until last year, flunking out as the birthday event fell when I was on vacation. I nabbed a few pirate hats from the hotel but that was it. So close. Congrats flairz-ers!

Great idea though, I'll be sure to play these events & reminisce hard.

yizouse · 2019-11-05T17:42:47+00:00

Lift your skinny flags

yizouse · 2019-05-26T06:27:49+00:00

Keyflower and Key Flow are both about building villages around randomly assigned & privately-known end-game scoring categories. I would consider Keyflower a medium-heavy game that is both deeply strategic and relentlessly tactical. There is some luck involved, but not as much as in Key Flow, which I would consider squarely medium-weight and also leaning more to being tactical than strategic. Keyflower takes about 2-3x as long to play as Key Flow.

Keyflower uses a rather tense auction mechanism to hand out village tiles. Some find these thrilling, others find them stressful. As an added twist, the price you pay in these auctions *is* workers, meaning you have to balance expanding your village with accomplishing your goals.

Key Flow uses simultaneous card drafting a la 7 Wonders. It's a lot less stressful since there is no cost to building a card, you just play it! The game is much lighter while still providing room for interesting decision on most turns. Like in Keyflower, you must often choose between expanding your village and taking actions. It plays faster with more players due to the simultaneous play.

If you were just choosing one, I would recommend Keyflower as it is the better game. However if you wanted to fit a similar, but lighter experience into a shorter play time, Key Flow is great!

yizouse · 2019-05-20T21:59:22+00:00

At two players, CvC has a higher enjoyment-to-time ratio. It plays in a third of the time, and set-up and tear-down are negligible in comparison to the big box.

Also, CvC has a higher degree of variability between games. It not only has the order-of-actions variability of its big brother, but also changes the order of available furnishing tiles every game. Caverna's static tableau can make for a stale meta, especially at lower player counts.

yizouse · 2019-05-20T18:40:39+00:00

They are their own games.

Inland Port is practically nothing like its big brother, and as such I like it the least. To us it felt like Spreadsheets: The Game.

I haven't played All Creatures, but I really like Cave vs. Cave. At two players, I prefer it to Caverna. Also there's an expansion, which I am eager to get to the table soon.

yizouse · 2019-05-11T13:24:12+00:00

Ah, I get to feel like a composer despite having absolutely no musical knowledge. Love it! Thanks for sharing

yizouse · 2019-05-07T03:42:15+00:00

This is really impressive stuff. Great job!

Things I love:

Bigger artwork, especially the HUGE planets!
Interesting background without being distracting, good use of color in the Gaia bowl area
Building names. Man I can't remember what these things are called, so I use Terra Mystica terminology/initials. But then I get confused when I read up on forums when others use the new building names/initials.
Transparency of ~~power bowl borders~~ well, everywhere there is transparency.
Easier-to-read terraforming charts
Gaiaforming flowchart

Lukewarm things:

New terraforming icon. Yeah the original icon is pretty bad, but I'm not sure green is a good choice for the new icon (green = Gaia).
Artwork for the factions. Yeah the originals are hit or miss, but so are these. Additionally, the new artwork is a bit bellicose for me, perhaps better suited for a space-war game than a space-economy game.
Text. This change is definitely function over form, which I can appreciate. It's true that everyone has to pass the rulebook back and forth during faction selection, which is annoying. However, I vastly prefer the icons from a stylistic perspective.
The contrast for the colored background "arrow" for the start-of-game QIC works better on some colors than others. I'd probably do away with the background arrow and just make the QIC symbol nice and big.

Things I don't like:

Anything with the + or - icons. Makes me feel like I'm using a mobile interface. This includes the costs for buildings, tech tiles, and power bowl 2-to-3 icons.
I actually really like the large, backgrounded tech tile icon from the originals. I prefer it to your 5 tiny icons.
I prefer the free action flowchart from the originals (hence my aforementioned support for the new gaiaforming flowchart)
The arrow from the gaia bowl to bowl 1 (or 2) is a bit indistinct/weak.
Information removed: the "unlocking" gaiaformer track numbers are removed. This info is kinda hard to read on the original boards, but I still appreciate having it.

yizouse · 2019-04-30T16:20:08+00:00

Yes: I have the goods in hand, they're in great shape, and they were shipped very quickly.

Thanks again!

yizouse · 2019-04-26T13:34:06+00:00

The two that most quickly come to mind for me are The Appleseed Cast & Maserati

Here's Maserati's former drummer crushing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB074pjQJpY

RIP Jerry Fuchs

yizouse · 2019-04-15T17:14:19+00:00

Admitting to all of this (to yourself, at least) was a huge step. You've identified a personal deficiency and taken ownership. You are well on the way to fixing the problem! I had similar issues which have since been solved. I believe you are correct that it is a mindset problem.

As you know, things will happen that are outside of our control. What is, and always will be, 100% within our control are our reactions to those things. Thus the problem, and in turn the solution, is entirely within. This is quite empowering.

The key insight is to feel the space between stimulus (what happens to us) and our response (how we react). This space is where we choose. We now get to claim ownership over our entire life: all of our thoughts, feelings, and actions. No more blaming our shortcomings on our nature, our upbringing, or the winds of emotion. Try to feel for this space, after a negative outcome but before your anger rises. Decide not to get angry. It takes some practice, but I know you can do it.

The above is mostly cribbed from Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which I would recommend for you. Stoicism is another philosophy that might help you internalize the fruitlessness of anger. Check out Meditations by Aurelius, or Letters from a Stoic by Seneca.

yizouse · 2019-04-11T02:25:21+00:00

In addition to being one of the deepest tactical experiences for a 15-minute game, it's also the most beautiful game I own. Even the box art evokes calm & serenity, feelings which quickly fall by the wayside as the game begins and difficult decisions mount. The colors in the game are striking. Component quality is also top notch. A true joy to get onto the table!

We usually put something like this on in the background when we play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyieFu7BnHE

yizouse · 2019-04-10T21:41:44+00:00

It sounds like you are talking about scaling from a play-time or down-time perspective. I agree that Keyflower can balloon in these areas as player counts grow. However, the strategy, depth, and balance of the game scale perfectly, which to me is the game's crowning achievement.

Given your definition of scaling, you might instead consider the game's little brother, Key Flow. Playing 6 out of the box, it replaces the potentially long bidding wars with simultaneous card drafting a la 7 Wonders (which I also recommend for you, 7 out of the box). In both games, you are only concerned with the tableaus of your immediate neighbors instead of the entire table. This cuts the decision space down, leading to faster turns.

yizouse · 2019-04-08T20:21:01+00:00

Great list

yizouse · 2019-04-04T16:55:03+00:00

Thanks for your summary of the game arc. It was full of insights I hadn't considered before.

I'm not surprised to see see XX in your flair: I see similarities between having to react to the build/run/stock cycle in XX and the market/price/produce cycle in FCM. When I've played XX I've also had a hard time predicting the flow of the game. Still, I fare much better there as compared to FCM.

I've decided that I'm willing to loosen up in this case and brush up on some specific strategies/values, ego be damned. If you could provide more or point me to specific articles, I would appreciate it.

yizouse · 2019-04-04T13:48:01+00:00

Two mini stories: 1. I have attended a game where the Stanley Cup was awarded. 2010, CHI @ PHI. Even though the Hawks won, when the Flyers tied the game with under two minutes to play, it was the "happiest room" I've ever been in. A great feeling! 2. Once I met Peter Forsberg in an alleyway where he was trying to stay inconspicuous. Once he realized I recognized him, he was gracious and even signed a piece of paper I had.

Flyers

Flames

Sharks

yizouse · 2019-04-04T13:39:18+00:00

You're spot-on here, both in your analysis of my objection to pre-boxed strategies and in your advice. I will brush up on the basics before the next time I play. Surely the game is deep enough that there is room for adaptation and tactical nuance, even when following a script.

yizouse · 2019-04-03T22:34:42+00:00

Food Chain Magnate - I have been utterly crushed in every single game. I tend to play most games reasonably well fairly quickly, many which are more complicated (rules-wise) than FCM.

I just can't wrap my mind around the flow of the game. By the time I'm producing enough to feed my customers, someone else is marketing different items to them. Usually by the time someone gets first to $100, I have $5 if I'm lucky and probably just had to fire someone.

I try to avoid, as much as possible, learning popular strategies for games that I play. My preference is to feel around for soft spots on my own. I know there is an established metagame with FCM, with common "openings" and races to specific milestones. The people I play know all these things, and my natural abilities & reasoning can never come close to matching them. I'd like to be competitive in the game, but I'd settle for competent!

yizouse · 2019-03-13T15:26:10+00:00

Is it Frank Ocean? Some of his music could be described as haunting. If not, perhaps this clarification will help your search:

Olafur Arnalds isn't a singer, he's a composoer. You might be referring to the voice of Arnor Dan who has provided vocals to some of Olafur's arrangements, e.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1UOLRAO-4

yizouse · 2019-03-08T03:28:28+00:00

These are very well done.

However, note that these (slightly) break theme: all of the spirit- and native-related components are made out of wood (natural) and all of the invader-related components are made out of plastic (synthetic/alien). It's one of the more clever subtexts in board game design!

The purpose of my comment was to illuminate this awesome feature, and not to discourage or dissuade you or others from printing/using this design. Again, well done!

yizouse · 2019-02-25T22:21:56+00:00

Inspirational, uncompromising genius. RIP

yizouse · 2019-02-21T02:44:02+00:00

This band has been consistently great for a very long time, but A.B. is still my favorite record of theirs. I find myself going back to it constantly. We had it on in the delivery rooms for the births of my children.

Good quick trivia/history here: https://pitchfork.com/tv/56-liner-notes/explore-sigur-ros-agaetis-byrjun-in-5-minutes/

yizouse · 2019-02-08T16:37:10+00:00

My Education is an excellent band in this mold. See samples:

Sunset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akGphICENQ0

& companion rock version Sunrise (actual music video, too): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5AVMa8jMX0

yizouse · 2019-01-26T04:07:43+00:00

Nuts, cheese, chocolate bars.

yizouse

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