Talisman was my first "real" board game. My "cool D&D uncle" showed it to me and my brother. While I appreciate the introduction to tabletop gaming that it gave me, it is now the least played game on the shelf. I'm more of a co-op gaming guy as it is. Has anyone tried the most recent version from FFG that apparently addressed some character balance issues? I'd never get around to buying it, but I'm curious.
It's just like the previous versions, Blind Piper. Some of the stuff got more balanced, but some is merely "simpler". Not that it matters, though - the best way to get anything resembling balance in any games like that is to include house rules.
FYI, the new Geek and Sundry YouTube channel has a show called Tabletop where Wil Wheaton and guests explain and play through a board game each episode. The first one is Smallworld with Grant Imahara, Day[9] and Jenna Busch. http://tabletop.geekandsundry.com/
Some of the best multiplayer games don't actually need balance because teaming up takes care of that. Best example of that is Cosmic Encounter. With skilled players, it's actually very balanced because people know who is likely to be a big problem ahead of time. I can't tell you how many times when I've showed the game to other people, they tell me that a certain alien (typically Virus) is far too strong. The odd thing about the game is that the alien powers that seem on the surface to be the strongest probably win less often than the more average aliens.
"Sentinels of the Multiverse", a cooperative superhero card game, has been getting a lot of play with our group lately. The "Rook City" expansion just came out and I'm excited to get to play it later tonight. The new print-on-demand expansions to "Space Hulk: Death Angel" have gotten us to pull that card game back out recently, and I haven't regretted it at all. The tyranid expansion is super difficult, but the probably over-powered marines in the most recent expansion seems to mostly swing the difficulty/balance back towards normal when used together. "Miskatonic School for Girls" is an amusing deck-building game that subverts some of that genre's usual weaknesses by having you build your opponents decks as much as your own. Plus, silly cthulhu jokes. It's the only non-cooperative game my wife has cared for lately. She normally doesn't like games where you're out to get each other, but Miskatonic has enough mandatory maniacal cackling to over-come that inclination.
Interesting looking game. Is there a link to a review of it anywhere you know of? I might be interested in buying a copy, but I'd like to more about gameplay and I'm having trouble finding anything but promotional materials right now...
I was hoping to get Miskatonic School for Girls in a Math Trade, but got the 2000 co-op Lord of the Rings game, instead. I'll have to hunt it down.
I've finally ordered myself Death Angel and after some reading, I've decited to take Munchkin too. It sounds like a fun little game, so we'll see.
Munchkin is very good if you have a few people that are RPG players, or something akin to that at least (because they need to be capable of backstabbing and openly lying). And you should get a team of 4 or more people, since it's less interesting with 2 or 3 (because there's not enough chaos)
Hooray for Munchkin as an introductory drug for card/paper/board games! Double hooray for games that don't make you choose between either losing, or being a giant jerkface!
I've played M:tG since 4th Edition, off and on. Invasion Block was my favorite. The rules are so very detailed and extensive, which allows for some fantastic scenarios and tactics in duels. I also enjoy Risk, though nobody will play with me anymore. They claim I am too "deceitful, conniving, and manipulative." I play the occasional game of Dungeon Quest, as brutal and unforgiving as that game can be. Nothing worse than walking into the dungeon, running scared from cobwebs you walked into head first, and falling down the the pit you hopped over the turn before, straight down to your immediate death. Or getting stuck in a rotating room with no door out. Or getting lost in the catacombs for 8 turns straight. Or getting to the dragon's room and having some other idiot wake it up and kill you both. Actually, I think I hate that game.
I need to engage in a bit of self-promotion on two points: 1 - I am one of the world's foremost experts on Cosmic Encounter. For reals. I won the world championship in CE back in 1998 at DexCon 6 (flew out from Oregon to NJ to attend). I've probably played it a thousand times. It is, indeed, a nicely balanced game - mostly because winning doesn't actually advance you towards victory the way it might seem to. 2 - I just last week signed a publishing contract to get my original board game published. It will still probably be 6 months before it's in stores, but I'm just thrilled to be getting it out to the public.
1. I'm not a bad player myself, though I never knew there was a 'world championship'. I was voted most creative player at Origins one year (the prize didn't exist, and I can't even recall what it is that I did that earned me that honor). The game does reward creativity and thinking outside of the box. Also, it never pays to seem like the frontrunner, so I do agree with you in principle. BTW, my favorite alien power to have in a game is Gambler. 2. Congratulations! You'll have to keep us updated on that. I used to try to make up board games when I was in High School, but never completed anything I started. At one point I was trying to design a kind of a espionage game that was a cross between SPI's "Spies" and some time travel game I played years ago (can't recall the title but I think it was from Yaquinto games). I never got further than a vague outline which just kept growing out of control.
First game did end horribly because one of the players's English is weaker (though she at least showed some interest and asked us about the cards and such). Then other people came and the other player started chatting with them about other games he brought with him and played just between the conversation. We have ended playing Panic Station (I believe that is the original name in English) which IMO sucked and then two rounds of Death Angel. Sounds interesting. Care to enlighten us more about your project? If it hits the right spot, then you might have an extra sale.
Probably the best place to learn more is my blog... I've written about the process a few times: http://strangedesign.typepad.com/strange_design/2011/01/mass-victory-development-diary-1.html http://strangedesign.typepad.com/strange_design/2011/04/mass-victory-development-diary-2.html http://strangedesign.typepad.com/strange_design/2011/11/mass-victory-development-diary-3.html
I'm not sure if my gaming group will like it, but it really sounds interesting. If anything, I can mention it (even may be able to translate it if needed) on one of the bigger local boardgame websites we have in this hellhole. EDIT: One thing from your blog baffles me a bit. The mention about boardgame piracy. You know, this is the first time I've ever heard of such thing. Heck, even when I wanted to start playing MtG with my friend, none of usactually thought about that, even though it would save us quite a money.
The best ever multiplayer cardgame is, in my experience; vampire: the eternal struggle. Unfortunately it's defunct, so you basically have to buy the cards from another player. Another downside is that it requires a decent sized group of players, and games take a long time, like a quick game might be an hour, a slow one might be six or more. Ideal group size is around 6 players, but 4 will do in a pinch, more than 6 can be fun, but also very slow. I say this as someone who has played M:tG on and off since Revised. Arkham Asylum is a good cooperative board game. The players don't always win, and it's pretty well balanced. In our local houserules we draw our characters randomly. If you get to pick and choose, winning becomes much easier(some combinations are unbalanced). Nuclear war makes for a fun competitive boardgame. As does Battlecars(aka Combat Cars). Just to name some that probably haven't shown up in the thread yet. Also if you like munchkin, you'll probably like Spank the Monkey.
Anyone here play Illuminati? It's a good, somewhat humorous multiplayer card/board game from Steve Jackson, where players take the role of a different secret society, each with its own special victory conditions, special ability, and attributes, and compete by trying to take control of everything from the Pentagon,, to the I.R.S., to the Orbital Mind-Control Lasers. It is similar to Cosmic Encounter in that the players can create the game balance, rather than the powers themselves. You form chains of control, so you can wind up with weird situations where, for example, Texas controls the Mafia, which controls the Trekkies, who control the Kremlin. I will grant that the game is flawed in that it is possible for games to seemingly drag on forever, depending on how aggressive people are and how willing they are to make deals, but also to some extent, based on the luck of the deck and die-rolls. But when it's good, it's very good. There's another decent Steve Jackson game called "Hacker" -- for some reason, I was a much bigger fan of the game than any of my friends, so I didn't get to play it as much as I would have liked. It's like Illuminati in that the cards form the game board. You try to hack your way through, and take control of various computer systems, avoiding I.C.E. (Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics), etc. in order to achieve victory. I loved the game, but my friends were less enthusiastic, so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Anyone here cn recommend me a card game playable solo? I own Space Hulk: Death Angel and I've played Lord of the Rings: TCG, though that one didn't appeal to me.
