Octopus Overlords

For our Q4 charity effort we had a fundraiser by way of auctioning off stuff to each other. I put up $100 in board games with personalized recommendation. The winner doesn't play games I play so I need you guys to do my work for me! Below is the info I have gathered so far.

Rube:
So, a short list of my favorites
Terra Mystica, Mage Knight, Tesla v Edison

Part of the joy for me is sitting down with a big rule book and spending a while working through it
but I haven’t added anything to my collection in probably a few years
so I’m really excited to have my horizons expanded

Coop:
You know about Star Trek: Frontiers which is an updated reskin of Mage Knight?
Rube:
I did not know about that actually

Coop:
any specific player count gaps or themes you are particular interested in covering?
Rube:
as far as themes and player count, I have a definite interest in high fantasy or Lovecraftian styles, but I also dig sci fi. Player counts can be anywhere


Coop:
Also, since you mentioned Lovecraftian, there is a new edition of Arkham Horror that smooths out the gameplay a bit.

Rube:
I’ve never actually played Arkham Horror

So this person likes fairly heavy-ish games.

Root -- Great if you enjoy learning rules, since each faction has an entirely different ruleset.

AuZtralia -- I played a demo of this recently at PAX Unplugged. Railway building, resource harvesting, combat against Lovecraftian beasts. I think it might be just the right kind of complex for this person.

Twilight Imperium -- The auction winner would have put up some of their own cash to buy this one.

Inis -- Not heavy, but super well-designed. I will never not recommend Inis to any serious boardgamer.

Spirit Island -- Another very tight design, this time in a co-op game.

AWS260 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:01 pm Root -- Great if you enjoy learning rules, since each faction has an entirely different ruleset.

Chaos in the Old World?

I don't think you'd need to have played any Arkham Horror games to really enjoy Arkham Horror 3rd Edition. It really does take some of the best bits from all the FF Arkham games and combines them into one.

This will be arriving on my doorstep in a few days so no impressions yet but if you want to expand his horizons...

SpaceCorp

From the GMT games website:

SpaceCorp: 2025-2300 AD is a fast-playing board game in which one to four players explore and develop outer space over three eras. Each player controls an Earth-based enterprise seeking profit by driving the expansion of humanity into the Solar System and beyond. In SpaceCorp you can …
Assemble a spaceport at a Lagrange Point.
Launch an exploration mission to Mars.
Mine the asteroids.
Earn profit from exotic resources discovered on the Jovian moons.
Discover microbial life in the subsurface oceans of Charon.
Decode exo-DNA to develop radiation resistant human pioneers.
Undertake a mission to Alpha Centauri in a generation ship.
Break through technological barriers to achieve faster than light travel.
Establish a colony in the Tau Ceti star system.
Each of the three eras is played on a different board:
The first era, Mariners, covers exploration and development out to Mars.
In Planeteers, players settle the outer solar system.
In Starfarers, players send missions to nearby star systems and establish interstellar colonies.

And there are solo rules designed by the king of solo rules, John Butterfield.

Gaia Project might be a safe bet if he likes Terra Mystica. It's basically the sequel.

AWS260 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:01 pm Root -- Great if you enjoy learning rules, since each faction has an entirely different ruleset.

He's very interested in Root, which is currently impossible to get hold of.

Terraforming Mars.