OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

All discussions regarding Board, Card, and RPG Gaming, including industry discussion, that don't belong in one of the other gaming forums.

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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by $iljanus »

hepcat wrote: Fri May 11, 2018 10:34 am
$iljanus wrote: Fri May 11, 2018 9:48 am Thanks to this thread it has given me an excuse to buy Space Empires 4X and the Replicator expansion! More counters to organize and robust solo rules. Yea!
I have both and STILL haven't played them. :oops:

Also, check out Talon from the same designer on GMT. It's pure Star Fleet Battles for us old folks. :wub:
I love me some Star Fleet Battles and I know that the Talon expansion will have solo rules. I've been staying away from the Talon threads in BGG because it would just be too tempting.

I'll have to figure out a good image hosting service to use and take some pics of either Space Empires or some other game for a good AAR sometime.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

$iljanus wrote: Fri May 11, 2018 9:48 am Thanks to this thread it has given me an excuse to buy Space Empires 4X and the Replicator expansion! More counters to organize and robust solo rules. Yea!
Happy to enable! And yes, organizing is at least 25% of the hobby (for me). Reading the rules is another 25%. Not sure where playing fits in. I think I looked at Space Empires 4X but was too intimidated by the chit count or the rules. I'd probably need to see it played to verify if it's something I'd like.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Jeff V »

Back in the 80's, I used to play a lot of solo games, especially after college when many of my gaming friends drifted off in pursuit of life. This changed around 1990 when computer wargames became good enough to capture my attention full time. I've not played a solo board game since (and sorry folks, I've long divested most of my game collection -- I used to have some of the titles mentioned here).

While I played plenty of games designed for (or including mechanics for) solo play; my two favorites were the monster game The Longest Day and Third Reich. The former because it was so immense only once was I able to play against another person, and that took all summer to get through just 10 turns. The later because I was determined to beat a friend who was a savant in the game -- once I succeed, I never lost to him again.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

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Smoove_B wrote: Fri May 11, 2018 11:39 am
$iljanus wrote: Fri May 11, 2018 9:48 am Thanks to this thread it has given me an excuse to buy Space Empires 4X and the Replicator expansion! More counters to organize and robust solo rules. Yea!
Happy to enable! And yes, organizing is at least 25% of the hobby (for me). Reading the rules is another 25%. Not sure where playing fits in. I think I looked at Space Empires 4X but was too intimidated by the chit count or the rules. I'd probably need to see it played to verify if it's something I'd like.
I'll have to figure out a good image hosting service to use
I gave up trying to embed images here using anything other than imgur.
The review videos on BGG kept talking about the low number of pages the rulebook had and how they were up and playing relatively quickly. I'll be putting that to the test for myself. The chit number looks substantial but once that's organized it will be easy to set up. Gotta find a use for those 7 counter trays waiting to be filled. And like you, organizing the components is the exciting part of the game. I wonder what pleasure receptor gets stimulated by that sort of thing?

Update: Games came in and the box with the game plus expansion was pretty hefty. Now begins the organizing! Also, I've decided to go down the rabbit hole and got one of these which will come in next week...

It's what all the cool obsessive compulsive boardgamers are using!
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

Oh yeah, corner clipping. I don't have that particular obsession (yet), but my buddy does. Good luck. :D

And with that, I'll make the first official entry for solo gaming: One Deck Dungeon. I figured it would be best to start with something a bit lite.

Enlarge Image

Dice still hate me, but scotch helps...

I managed to get three rounds in last night while hiding from my MIL doing important things in my basement. At first glance, this game seems mindless and simplistic, but in practice I think it's quite the opposite. Yes, you're just chucking dice and trying to fulfill requirements on the monster or trap card. However, there is a bit of strategy in where to place them and how to activate various special abilities. In addition to being forced to use them in some areas (like requirements that have a shield), you also need to meet the dungeon level requirements as well. So it's a constant juggle trying to move dice around to make them all "fit", or suffer the consequences (usually lost health or time). I played with the Warrior, Paladin and Archer, reaching dungeon levels 2, 1 and 3, respectively. I know some people are turned off by the art (it's a bit cartoony) or that all the characters are female (gasp!), but the fact that you can really bang out a game in 30 minutes (or less) is a huge draw. The box is tiny and you don't need a big play area. My only knock is that after three games the edges of the cards were starting to split, and I'm someone that is rather gentle with shuffling. While cleaning up, I just slapped cheap penny sleeves on them and everything still fit in the box- which is nice.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Daehawk »

Oh why did I see this thread???? Being disabled I have all the time in the world and little money but board games cost little usually. I did not know there was a solo playing board game area. I own one maybe two and they are very old ones. One is a Indiana Jones one.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

I haven't even mentioned the Print and Play stuff - though I can try to highlight then when applicable. There's a ton of free solo games you can just print out -- boards, cards, counters, etc... All you need is the paper, glue and dice. There's one solo game popular right now - D100 Dungeon that you can just print out the ~50 page book and start playing. All you need is dice and maybe graph paper - that's it. Totally free.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hepcat »

So I played through the tutorial for Renagade yesterday. I gotta say, it’s like GMT produced a version of Pandemic as created by Vlaada Chvatil.

I normally don’t like the whole net runner theme in games. But Renegade does a good job of losing the goofy aspects and concentrates on a solid puzzle game.

In short, you set up a game board that represents 5 computers with 6 hexes each. Then you choose a player mat from 11 different characters, each with their own unique ability.

Everyone has a set of 15 starter cards that give you command points from one or two of the game’s 5 different color based actions.

Red lets you infect the partition (space) you’re on with a red virus token, blue is used for movement, green allows you to shift an enemy spark (more on those in a bit) to an adjacent hex, yellow allows you to convert an enemy spark to one of the action colors, and purple is a wild color that can be used as any of the aforementioned colors.

The computer fights back with black tokens called sparks. If three of them are in the same hex, they create a more powerful spark called a Guardian. If a spark is placed on a space with a Guardian, it sets off a spark explosion, which cascades to other nearby hexes and creates new sparks along the way.

When setting up a game, you choose from one of about 5 master computers with a set of countermeasures you have to defeat to win.

Each turn consists of 3 rounds as you use up all your cards. You can also buy new cards from the Hack Shack, so there’s some deck building too.

It’s a tough game that feels a bit like an abstracted puzzle as you try to figure out how to achieve the goals on each of the countermeasure card that come up.

It plays great solo, but can take up to a whopping 5 players. All in a surprisingly small box.

Two thumbs up so far!
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by MonkeyFinger »

My copy of Renegade is here and at least I've opened it so far. Next step? Read the manual! :D
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

Is the theme overwhelming for Renegade? I remember seeing it when the KS was running and similar to Netrunner, I didn't think I could follow along with all the computer-y tech mumbo jumbo. It felt (to me) like I was supposed to know that a Murphy bearing was for compiling code and of course I'd use that card to attach to a Johnson rod - what else would you use it for???
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by $iljanus »

Smoove_B wrote:Is the theme overwhelming for Renegade? I remember seeing it when the KS was running and similar to Netrunner, I didn't think I could follow along with all the computer-y tech mumbo jumbo. It felt (to me) like I was supposed to know that a Murphy bearing was for compiling code and of course I'd use that card to attach to a Johnson rod - what else would you use it for???
It's useful as a debugger in a pinch. But only when connected to the hyper flange.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

I managed to get another quick-to-the-table game in last night. I figure that I should ease into this solo gaming experience. And with that, I played a round of Escape the Dark Castle (if you haven't seen the commercial they made for the KS, go watch it.



The game is essentially a love letter to the fantasy game books of the 1980s, both in style and structure. Here's the game all setup:

Enlarge Image

You always play with two characters and each has their own set of skills, represented on special dice unique to each. You're prisoners that are trying to escape, so the general theme is you roaming around and having random encounters as you try to get out. The top left is the cover card, the center is the boss card, and the stack of 15 cards all the way to the right (with the matte black back) represents the actual adventure. Those 15 are randomly selected form a pool of 45 and the boss is randomly pulled out of a pile of three.

All you do then is stack the adventure chapters on top of the boss card, add the cover card and flip each over like the pages of a book.

Enlarge Image

I wanted to capture the art more than the writing, but each card has a description and then some type of choice. Usually it will involve checking a skill or meeting some type of challenge and then depending on how that works out, you might lose health or gain an item. After you move through the 15 adventure cards, you then fight the boss and if you win, escape. I didn't, but it was close - missed it by a single die roll. Each character has a unique set of stats, represented by each side of the die (labeled for each character). So (ideally) you select characters that balance each other out, or you can just randomly select them too.

So with that, it's probably not a game for everyone (particularly those that wouldn't even consider it a game). It does play fast (~30 minutes) and I love the art and how much it reminds me of being a kid and playing through those game books. I think the biggest knocks are going to be the likely repetition of events. With 45 cards in the pool and using 15 each time, there's bound to be overlap. From the core box you have some additional variation then in the characters you'd choose as well as that final unknown boss. There's an expansion out now that includes another 15 chapter cards, more characters and another boss, so that's a bit more variation. Starting on 6/1, they're launching another KS to publish three more expansions, which I think is a great idea as each one of those adds another 15 cards, some new mechanics and a few new characters.

While I enjoyed this solo, I do think it would work well with 2 to 3 others as a lite filler game, simply because of that RPG theme and how fast it plays. But in terms of setup and play, it's absolutely something you can get through in 30 minutes (or less).
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

FWIW, I think Star Trek: Frontiers makes for one of the most enjoyable solo-able gameplay experiences I've played. For anyone unfamiliar, it's basically a streamlined Star Trek reimplementation of Mage Knight (YMMV, but I much prefer the Star Trek theme over Mage Knight's clunky fantasy theme).

I suggest watching Ricky Royal's Box of Delights Star Trek: Frontiers play-throughs, which provide a great feel for exactly how the solo game plays:

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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by YellowKing »

I jumped on the Four Against Darkness bandwagon. Been a while since I pulled out some graph paper and mapped a dungeon. Figured I'd give it a whirl on Wednesday.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hepcat »

MonkeyFinger wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 9:23 am My copy of Renegade is here and at least I've opened it so far. Next step? Read the manual! :D
Just jump to the back of the manual and set up the tutorial. It walks you through a full cycle. Then go back and read the stuff you didn't get to/need clarification on. Much easier that way.
Smoove_B wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 9:30 am Is the theme overwhelming for Renegade? I remember seeing it when the KS was running and similar to Netrunner, I didn't think I could follow along with all the computer-y tech mumbo jumbo. It felt (to me) like I was supposed to know that a Murphy bearing was for compiling code and of course I'd use that card to attach to a Johnson rod - what else would you use it for???
I can't stand games/movies about "hacking". They're usually the most boring thing possible. But Renegade's theme is really just there to help add context to the mechanics of the game. At it's heart it's a big ol' puzzle game. You could easily drop the theme and just call it a puzzle game in my opinion.

I bought into it because it's by Ricky Royal, and I've been a fan of his solo game reviews for years, not to mention his numerous solo variants for other games. The guy really knows his stuff. Hopefully this leads to more games from his mind.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

YellowKing wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 3:42 pm I jumped on the Four Against Darkness bandwagon. Been a while since I pulled out some graph paper and mapped a dungeon. Figured I'd give it a whirl on Wednesday.
I could probably start another thread - "Rules on your table" (or whatever). I read probably 5x what I actually get to play. I'm hoping this changes that a bit, but I still think I end up reviewing rules more than anything. 4AD is on my table right now as well - I even went deep into my RPG closet to find my old graph paper pads. I have pretty low expectations for the game, but I'm definitely intrigued.
hepcat wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 7:13 pm I can't stand games/movies about "hacking". They're usually the most boring thing possible. But Renegade's theme is really just there to help add context to the mechanics of the game. At it's heart it's a big ol' puzzle game. You could easily drop the theme and just call it a puzzle game in my opinion.
I'll probably need to watch some videos then. I don't typically like puzzle-y games (which is what I think my issue with Mage Knight is). Puzzle elements can be part of something I'd enjoy, but if they're the entire focus, I'm just not sure.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hepcat »

Yeah, it's very Mage Knight in the way it approaches the puzzle aspects. So if you don't like that, you'll probably not find much fun in Renegade.

Dungeon Alliance (my current solo craze) also uses the MK model for its game play, just in case you were looking at that one too.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

I did look at Dungeon Alliance, yes. However, I ruled it out because (I think) each person needs to play 4 characters. That's something I try to avoid at all costs (controlling 2+ characters), particularly when it's quasi-mandatory and/or it dramatically changes how the game plays (difficulty, missing out on game play options, etc...). There's always exceptions, but generally speaking the more fiddly bits there are, the less likely I'm going to try and keep track. I honestly don't know how some people can keep track of 3 or 4 characters in games where you need to remember how items or abilities impact game decisions.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hepcat »

The beauty of Dungeon Alliance is that while you play four characters, you only ever have one hand of cards. That's it. The four characters bit is to limit what types of cards you can use, making the deck building portion of the game more exacting and thoughtful by forcing you to both select a team of 4 characters with the best possible synergy (don't take 4 magic users unless they're really, really fast runners), and to purchase only those cards you can use from the shop, not just the most expensive card you can afford. It's nothing like a game in which you have to maintain multiple hands of cards to support every character.

Each character acts alone on its turn, too. So they're also there to remind you that you have four turns before the round is over.

You do get to push 4 minis around the board though, but I see that as plus. :wink:
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

Ah, ok. Maybe I'll need to add that back to the list then as it doesn't sound like what I thought it was. Apparently there's an expansion coming in June that will maybe update/modify some of the complaints I've read about the game's solo AI? Regardless, thanks for the assist! :D
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

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I love that Andrew Park (the designer) takes criticism to heart. Before Dungeon Alliance was released, he took to heart all the kickstarter complaints about the solo mode in the game being a simple points salad, and added actual quest goals you could complete. It took the game from "it's okay" to "ah, that hits the spot". Whatever he cooks up next for the solo mode is going to be pure gravy.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Blackhawk »

I've really been in the mood for a good, thematic fantasy solo game lately. A dungeon crawl would be a blast, but I do have Mage Knight sitting on my shelf unplayed. Components are sorted, though! I really just need to take the time to bust it out and learn it all.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hepcat »

MK is another game with a really good walkthrough. Just grab that and go to town.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

Blackhawk wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 2:07 pmI've really been in the mood for a good, thematic fantasy solo game lately.
I'm currently setting up Runebound and I'm hoping to get to it over the next day or two...
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Blackhawk »

Smoove_B wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 2:18 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 2:07 pmI've really been in the mood for a good, thematic fantasy solo game lately.
I'm currently setting up Runebound and I'm hoping to get to it over the next day or two...
Somebody gave me a copy of Runebound for Christmas. It's first edition (current is third), and is missing several cards, so I haven't tried to give it a go yet.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

Oh wow. I don't know the differences between the versions either, other than reading that people love the 2nd edition and didn't like the third. It's a game I've avoided for years mainly because of my general distaste for Descent. However, in reading up and doing lots of legwork, the newest edition of Runebound seems to hit a few of the game play element boxes I'm looking for. I'd imagine the 1st edition is quite different than what I have!
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hepcat »

From what I read, the third edition was initially met with some criticism, but the later expansions seem to have quelled some of those complaints. Especially Unbreakable Bonds. I've still got the 2nd edition and some expansions, so I'm not sure I'll be getting into this. But I have liked what I've read.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hentzau »

I enjoy 2nd edition Runebound enough that I haven't sold off my copies (yet.) As someone stated once somewhere, it's like Talisman but on a hex grid.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by YellowKing »

Blackhawk wrote:I've really been in the mood for a good, thematic fantasy solo game lately. A dungeon crawl would be a blast, but I do have Mage Knight sitting on my shelf unplayed. Components are sorted, though! I really just need to take the time to bust it out and learn it all.
I'm in the same mood, and I think I'm going to satiate it by finally going all in on SWORD & SORCERY. I've owned it for months and have painted about 2/3 of the minis, but only got halfway through the prologue before shelving it. It can get quite fiddly solo because you have to juggle a lot of characters, and there's a lot to keep track of.

However, I'm probably never going to own GLOOMHAVEN since our gaming group already has it, so this is kind of my big fantasy dungeon crawler I can really get immersed in. Brought out all my unfinished minis to start working on this week, and plan on ordering the doors and chests upgrade minis. I've also got a little table in the office now where I can set it up and leave it, so I can pause and resume over multiple nights if need be.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Blackhawk »

That actually looks kind of cool. I'm going to check out some reviews. It'll be limited to my wish list for now, but finding the right game is where half of the challenge is.
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

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Smoove_B wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 2:43 pm Oh wow. I don't know the differences between the versions either, other than reading that people love the 2nd edition and didn't like the third. It's a game I've avoided for years mainly because of my general distaste for Descent. However, in reading up and doing lots of legwork, the newest edition of Runebound seems to hit a few of the game play element boxes I'm looking for. I'd imagine the 1st edition is quite different than what I have!
My son and I have played Runebound 3rd Edition about 10 times and really like it. I have no experience with previous editions so I can't compare them personally.

At the time it was announced, 3rd Edition seemed to get a lot of flak over:

1. Sticker dice. These dice are used for movement and when "exploring". 10 or so games in and I haven't had a problem with them. So long as you're not eating cheetos and ribs while playing I don't think they'd be a problem.

2. Casting tokens vs. dice combat. 3rd Edition uses two-sides cardboard tokens as "runes" in combat, I gather previous editions used d6 (not sure if they were custom or regular d6). Lots of people seemed to think this was inferior but we like the system. Heroes all have 3 fixed starting tokens and each side has a certain number of damage, surges (used to power special abilities), defense or other symbols on them. There's a lot of what can be subtly important gameplay in the order in which you spend the tokens after they're cast, abilities that let you flip over or recast runes and so on. Another nice part about them is that when buying various weapons, armor and items you not only get a card that often has stat buffs or special abilities but you also add another token to your pool. Weapons generally have damage and surges, armor has defense, etc. So those items aren't just cards, but more runes that afffect what you can do in combat.

The base game can be played solo so long as you don't mind playing the enemy as ruthless as possible. You have to cast their tokens and make decisions which might tempt you to cheat a little. Otherwise the base game is a competitive 2-4 player game with some slight cooperative moments in some scenarios. In all but one scenario you're looking to be the first player to kill the big bad guy. You're usually travelling the world on your own and doing your own thing but certain public events will pop up and they're usually first come, first serve. Sometimes you'll be able to attack the other player to set them back a bit. The undead scenario spawns zombies across the world and players are encouraged to work together to fight them off as the final boss is stronger based on how many zombies are around... but you "help out" killing zombies while still hoping to be the first to kill him.

We're terrible at the game, or at least find it very unforgiving. We've only had a winner in the usual scenarios once, our only other "winner" was an expansion scenario that ultimately results in a player free-for-all melee so we knew going in one player would win :P

There are 4 small expansions that each add a new hero and either a new scenario or a new collection of items and skills. There was grumbling over the perceived cost/value in those.

Ultimately there was a large box expansion, Unbreakable Bonds which makes the game a true coop or solo experience. It provides coop-versions of all of the games existing scenarios (except the melee free-for-all one) and two new coop scenarios. It also adds two new heroes, new items and skills and AI "flowcharts" for controlling how enemies fight so the player(s) don't have to make those decisions. It's a solid addition to the game.
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Smoove_B
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

I did finally manage to setup and play through three turns of Runebound last night and I'm really liking it so far. I'm not sure how this would play with more than two people, but as a solo experience I really like the cards and the rather epic feel of the game. I don't have any experience playing any other version (this is the vanilla 3rd edition) or Tailsman, so I can't really make a comparison.

I am playing an unofficial solo version (making decisions for the enemy) instead of using the official cooperative/solo add on that came out last Fall. I'll get there eventually, but I don't have a problem making the AI as brutal as possible.

Enlarge Image

I wish there were official non-sticker dice, but that's a minor complaint. I was initially against the token casting resolution for combat, but I've come to really like it. It has a much more...crunchy (?) feel than just tossing dice as you're able to then apply the tokens as they are cast or use abilities or skills to manipulate what side is active (both for yourself and the enemy). I also like how when you get armor or weapons, you then get additional tokens to toss during combat. Because organizing/sorting/upgrading is half the fun, you might notice my tokens are inside of coin capsules. While not necessary, I do think they make the casting more fun and there's no risk then of them getting banged up.

Anyway, I see now why people like this game and it's definitely scratching an itch for an RPG-like experience. I'd also imagine between playing through the various characters (including ones that are in the expansions) as well as the expansions themselves, there's quite a bit to see and do here. I'm actually now going to try and figure out how to start paining the miniatures, though the weather needs to cooperate a bit so I can prime them.

I don't know how long a full game will take me, but I'm guessing about 2 hours or so. Setup wasn't too bad, despite all the parts on the table. It's just a matter of sorting cards and shuffling them. I did learn that as part of this solo experience I do need to keep a journal nearby. Not only does it help me keep track of where I am (as it's unlikely I can finish something in a single session), but it does serve as an excellent way to track everything that has happened so far.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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hentzau
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hentzau »

You have me tempted to pull out Runebound again tonight. It's my gaming night, and I've been trying to decide what to play.
“We can never allow Murania to become desecrated by the presence of surface people. Our lives are serene, our minds are superior, our accomplishments greater. Gene Autry must be captured!!!” - Queen Tika, The Phantom Empire
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YellowKing
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by YellowKing »

I read through 4AD last night and remembered why I no longer play D&D. :D

Seriously though, it's old school as advertised and very rules heavy. I'm not sure how to even keep up with it all. Guess I'll type up a cheat sheet and give it a whirl tonight.

It's not something I see investing a lot of time in given that I already have a fiddly, rules-heavy dungeon crawler with S&S, but i'll keep an open mind.
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Daveman
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Daveman »

Daveman wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 4:07 pm Another nice part about them is that when buying various weapons, armor and items you not only get a card that often has stat buffs or special abilities but you also add another token to your pool. Weapons generally have damage and surges, armor has defense, etc. So those items aren't just cards, but more runes that afffect what you can do in combat.
Smoove_B wrote: Thu May 17, 2018 1:17 pm I also like how when you get armor or weapons, you then get additional tokens to toss during combat.
Great minds think alike! :P

Two pieces of advice I'd give a new player:

1. Items/skills that give you an extra movement die are very valuable. Not just for the added movement, but for all of the quest type adventures that require dice rolls. There are skills and items that require dice checks too I believe and they'd benefit from more dice too.

2. A big strategic part of the game is keeping an eye out for items and skills that make good combos. Even simple stuff... one game I had one item whose token had lots of surges, then found another item or a skill that let me convert surges into pierces (that's an expansion trait I believe, it's unblockable damage but using it prevents you from using any defense that round).
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Smoove_B
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

I think that bonus token stuff (from gear, etc...) is what converted me from not wanting to use them over dice to being a fan. I'd imagine creating and including those tokens is much easier than creating and potentially providing dice for all those items - so it works out. I am actually considering doing token "pulls" from a bag instead of trying to cast them. For some reason, it just doesn't feel random enough when I toss them out (even after shaking them up quite a bit in my hands) and more often than not, one jumps off the table.

Regardless, with the amount of *stuff* available for this game (cards, characters, gear, etc...), I'd imagine that each play through would be quite different and trying to discover how all the things work together is part of the fun.
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YellowKing
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by YellowKing »

OK 4AD thoughts:

First off, Gray Board Gamer did an excellent playthrough on YouTube which helped a lot getting me up and running. I highly recommend watching that before your first run through as he hits a lot of rules that are very easy to forget.

PROS:
- Very old school D&D feel. Mapping dungeons again was quite fun.
- Challenging - at least at 1st level, it's VERY tough. Depending on dice rolls, of course.
- The random room generation oddly works pretty well. When I was done for the night I had a pretty spiffy looking dungeon map.
- Leveling up can come through killing minions, bosses/weird monsters, or other effects. The non-linear possibilities of leveling (allowing you to survive just a little longer) is somewhat compelling.

CONS:
- Yo dawg, I heard you like random so I randomly made some random rooms so you can randomly get some random treasure. This entire game is chance-based, with very few strategic decisions to be made other than party and combat order. Other than that, you're at the whims of Fate, and she can be a cruel mistress.
- Very bookkeep-y. You will be flipping through tables CONSTANTLY. Roll to map the room, roll for what's in the room, roll to attack, roll to defend, roll for the treasure you find. Oh you're backtracking through a room you've already visited? Roll for wandering monsters. Then roll to see what they are.
- Limited options. As you might expect, a limited set of tables means you'll be seeing the same monsters and treasures over and over through the course of an adventure.

The good news is that my thought was NOT "Well, I'll never play that again." There is certainly some retro-satisfaction in a pencil/paper dungeon crawl, and as a solitary D&D experience it works pretty well. The only problem is that it reduces D&D to the math components, and strips away most of the role-playing. If you're analytical and enjoy the mechanics, it's still fun. However, it is still a very sterile game unless you have a vivid imagination.

I want to give it another whirl, but I'm DEFINITELY going to do some streamlining to make it play faster. Flipping through all those tables gets ridiculous. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but it's probably going to involve making my own table sheets on one page that I can refer to quickly at a glance without flipping back and forth. It's kind of funny to think about how easily an app would make this game play better, but I guess that would kind of defeat the purpose of it being old-school.
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hentzau
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hentzau »

I pulled out my copy of Runebound. Laid it out for gaming tonight, and...no character cards. Checked in the expansion box, Isle of Dread...no character cards.

No clue. At a loss. I now have a worthless game.

Grr.
“We can never allow Murania to become desecrated by the presence of surface people. Our lives are serene, our minds are superior, our accomplishments greater. Gene Autry must be captured!!!” - Queen Tika, The Phantom Empire
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Smoove_B
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by Smoove_B »

That seems strange. Maybe you know someone that was just playing his copy last night and has access to a scanner? Maybe that person would be willing to help you figure out a short term solution?
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hentzau
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Re: OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

Post by hentzau »

Not sure how compatible the 2nd/3rd edition character sheets are, but if said person were willing to invest the effort, I would be grateful...

I think what may have happened was that about 5-6 years ago, I signed up for BGG Secret Santa, and the guy I assigned had the Midnight Expansion for Runebound about as high as possible on his want list. I had a never played copy, so I sent him that. I'm wondering if all of the character cards were in that box? Although that doesn't make much sense, I never played the midnight expansion, just opened it up and looked at the contents.
“We can never allow Murania to become desecrated by the presence of surface people. Our lives are serene, our minds are superior, our accomplishments greater. Gene Autry must be captured!!!” - Queen Tika, The Phantom Empire
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