OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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Lorini
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Lorini »

I should have mentioned that I"m a member of the Game Brain Podcast: Matthew Robinson and his Gaming Group should find it on any podcast app. I'm Jennifer Schlickbernd and my last podcast went up on Monday July 27th. It's on Tekenhu among other stuff :) which is the latest from the T guys. They did T'zolkin, Teotihaucan, and now Tekenhu.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Moat_Man »

Lorini wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 12:35 pm I should have mentioned that I"m a member of the Game Brain Podcast: Matthew Robinson and his Gaming Group should find it on any podcast app. I'm Jennifer Schlickbernd and my last podcast went up on Monday July 27th. It's on Tekenhu among other stuff :) which is the latest from the T guys. They did T'zolkin, Teotihaucan, and now Tekenhu.
A saw a post of yours on BGG and was like, hey that's Lorini! :)
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Skinypupy »

Skinypupy wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:38 am
hepcat wrote: Fri Jul 31, 2020 9:37 pm Yeah, if you successfully block you flip the token to its power side in the game and gain it. Sounds like a bug.

I bought it, but before I could play it, I got the urge to play the analog version again. So I’m setting that up now.
That’s what I thought. Definitely a bug.

Also ran into another game-killing bug. You can pinch and drag go expand the gameboard and see it better. However, there’s no way to minimize after you do. Makes it impossible to continue playing because most of the cards are now hidden under the board, and it won’t go back to its original size. I had to simply restart the game.

Feels like this app isn’t quite ready for prime time yet.
Dev responded to let me know the map zoom issue would be solved in an upcoming patch.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by YellowKing »

I found another issue with the Street Masters app today. I lost twice in story mode, and both times there was no way for me to return to the main menu or do anything. The game just "froze" on the failure story screen and I had to just kill the app and re-open it.

I think I'll wait for an update before diving back into it. It definitely has some kinks to work out.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by YellowKing »

Finished the Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion campaign. Great fun, and satisfying to finish a game and feel like I got my money's worth. This one certainly won't be added to the Shelf of Shame. While overall it falls on the easier side if you're a veteran Gloomhaven player, it still had enough challenging scenarios to keep me engaged and entertained.

I also tried Pandemic: Rapid Response solo 2-handed, and I'll probably shelve it for now. It's decent enough - simple rules, plays fast. However, it's tough to juggle solo since you're trading off turns while the timer ticks down. Glad to have it in my collection since I love the series and got it dirt cheap, but I think it will play better with a group.

Next up on the slate I'm debating whether to jump back into Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth and do some DLC I haven't done, or hit Big Trouble in Little China with the Legacy of Lo-Pan expansion I just got. Probably the latter; I'm kind of holding off on LOTR until I can get my hands on the big box expansion.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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YellowKing wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:52 am Next up on the slate I'm debating whether to jump back into Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth and do some DLC I haven't done, or hit Big Trouble in Little China with the Legacy of Lo-Pan expansion I just got. Probably the latter; I'm kind of holding off on LOTR until I can get my hands on the big box expansion.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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The name's Plissken?
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by coopasonic »

I'm sure hepcat has already seen it but Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn is rising from... the... uhh... ashes. Quarterly updates in a subscription model. $30/update.

https://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/2020 ... es-reborn/

Why am I considering this?
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Tao »

Ashes is a game that has appealed to me for a while now. There is a copy that sat/sits on the shelf in my FLGS that I picked up every time I went in (pre-pandemic) and then put back down. The issue I have is the game really seems designed for multiple players and I had only just gotten in to the groove of having a small gaming group when the pandemic hit.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by coopasonic »

Tao wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:57 pm Ashes is a game that has appealed to me for a while now. There is a copy that sat/sits on the shelf in my FLGS that I picked up every time I went in (pre-pandemic) and then put back down. The issue I have is the game really seems designed for multiple players and I had only just gotten in to the groove of having a small gaming group when the pandemic hit.
Specifically for TWO players. No more, no less.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by hepcat »

We play Ashes with 2, 3 and 4 all the time. It’s designed for that. It is most definitely not a two player only game. Hell, we even played a 6 player game once. Won’t do it again, but it worked.

I highly recommend Ashes. It’s in my top 10 for card games easily. I’m still mad it’s been discontinued. :(
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by YellowKing »

I broke out Legendary: X-Files because I was in the mood for a deck builder and I've played Alien so much that I figured it would be worth giving X-Files another shot.

Played extremely well, getting all three evidence cards (which nullified 3 of the final boss's abilities). No Strikes on either character, and in excellent shape headed for the final confrontation. Get to the end, and the final boss has 11 HP and one-shot kills you if he does any damage. I have no way to generate that kind of damage in two turns. Boss one shots Mulder and Scully. Game over.

That was the moment I remembered why I don't particularly care for Legendary: X-Files. Back in the closet she goes. :grund:
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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I would play Ashes at 2-4. Really good game.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by hepcat »

Well, that's two of us. Tao, you have our endorsements for Ashes. Please purchase immediately.

Oh, and since it's going out of circulation, you can get a lot of the character decks super cheap at some FLGS and online retailers. Keep your eye on clearance sales as they always pop up there nowadays.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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hepcat wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:50 am Oh, and since it's going out of circulation, you can get a lot of the character decks super cheap at some FLGS and online retailers. Keep your eye on clearance sales as they always pop up there nowadays.
Then you missed the news item I posted above. They are bringing it back to life.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by hepcat »

coopasonic wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:57 am
hepcat wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:50 am Oh, and since it's going out of circulation, you can get a lot of the character decks super cheap at some FLGS and online retailers. Keep your eye on clearance sales as they always pop up there nowadays.
Then you missed the news item I posted above. They are bringing it back to life.
:shock:

I did miss that!

F'ing excellent! I'm in. Subscribing now. This makes my day!

Did you see something stating that the new reboot would be 2 player only elsewhere or something? Because it sounds like they're just doing some clean up and rewording for clarity in the upgrade kit. Making me think this isn't going to change the gameplay in any significant manner.

edit: I'm fine with 30 bucks every few months to support this game. I just wish the shipping was a little cheaper than 10 bucks. Ah well, if I don't support it, it ain't gonna get made. I'm doing this for all of you, in the end. You can thank me later.

another edit: tao, they're selling the previous decks super cheap. I would highly recommend grabbing 'em up if you're even remotely interested. I'll probably review the upgrade after/if it gets released and let folks know if it's worth it, or it was a misfire. But good or bad, the original game and its decks are still very much worth getting.
Last edited by hepcat on Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Skinypupy »

YellowKing wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:07 pm
That was the moment I remembered why I don't particularly care for Legendary: X-Files. Back in the closet she goes. :grund:
I have a similar reaction every time I dust off Legendary: Firefly. Which is odd, since I really love Legendary: Marvel.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by coopasonic »

hepcat wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:20 am Did you see something stating that the new reboot would be 2 player only elsewhere or something? Because it sounds like they're just doing some clean up and rewording for clarity in the upgrade kit. Making me think this isn't going to change the gameplay in any significant manner.
The game page only shows a 2 in the player count box:
https://www.plaidhatgames.com/board-gam ... oenixborn/

I sold my copy quite a while ago for lack of opponents and I never played it any other way.

The description from BGG:
>> In Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, a two-player expandable card game, players take on the roles of Phoenixborns, demi-gods and protectors of this world.

The recommended player count poll results, specifically see 59% of players do no recommend playing at 3 or 4 players, the population is very small:
How many players do you recommend for this game? (OK to select more than one as "Best")
Best Recommended Not Recommended Vote Count
1 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 100.0% (43) 43
2 91.4% (74) 8.6% (7) 0.0% (0) 81
3 1.7% (1) 39.0% (23) 59.3% (35) 59
4 1.6% (1) 39.3% (24) 59.0% (36) 61
more than 4 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 100.0% (40) 40
Total voters 81
Having no experience at higher counts I'd defer to your experience.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by coopasonic »

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:31 am
YellowKing wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:07 pm
That was the moment I remembered why I don't particularly care for Legendary: X-Files. Back in the closet she goes. :grund:
I have a similar reaction every time I dust off Legendary: Firefly. Which is odd, since I really love Legendary: Marvel.
The Legendary Encounters games look the same but work quite a bit differently so it's not that odd to me.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by hepcat »

coopasonic wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:50 am
hepcat wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:20 am Did you see something stating that the new reboot would be 2 player only elsewhere or something? Because it sounds like they're just doing some clean up and rewording for clarity in the upgrade kit. Making me think this isn't going to change the gameplay in any significant manner.
The game page only shows a 2 in the player count box:
https://www.plaidhatgames.com/board-gam ... oenixborn/

I sold my copy quite a while ago for lack of opponents and I never played it any other way.

The description from BGG:
>> In Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, a two-player expandable card game, players take on the roles of Phoenixborns, demi-gods and protectors of this world.

The recommended player count poll results, specifically see 59% of players do no recommend playing at 3 or 4 players, the population is very small:
How many players do you recommend for this game? (OK to select more than one as "Best")
Best Recommended Not Recommended Vote Count
1 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 100.0% (43) 43
2 91.4% (74) 8.6% (7) 0.0% (0) 81
3 1.7% (1) 39.0% (23) 59.3% (35) 59
4 1.6% (1) 39.3% (24) 59.0% (36) 61
more than 4 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 100.0% (40) 40
Total voters 81
Having no experience at higher counts I'd defer to your experience.

Not sure why the box lists two when the rules inside the box clearly state 2 to 4. Odd. In any case, it is perfectly fine with 3 and 4 players.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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coopasonic wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:53 am
Skinypupy wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:31 am
YellowKing wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:07 pm
That was the moment I remembered why I don't particularly care for Legendary: X-Files. Back in the closet she goes. :grund:
I have a similar reaction every time I dust off Legendary: Firefly. Which is odd, since I really love Legendary: Marvel.
The Legendary Encounters games look the same but work quite a bit differently so it's not that odd to me.
I've been tempted by the Legendary:007 game. Anyone tried that out yet?
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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I dumped my extra Legendary games (Predator and Firefly and I swear there was another...) and am unlikely to buy any more. Marvel, Alien and Buffy is all the Legendary anyone needs!
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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hentzau wrote:I've been tempted by the Legendary:007 game. Anyone tried that out yet?
I played it at GenCon last year just before it was released and had a great time with it. Even though it's not an "Encounters" game, they incorporated some Encounters elements into it so that it still played very similarly. So for example, while you're fighting a standard boss Legendary style (as opposed to completing objectives ala LE: Alien), you're still getting events that come up which require you to succeed at certain objectives. So it comes off as a bit of a hybrid.

It allows you to play though three different Bond eras, with elements from 3 movies in each era as I recall.

I've been tempted to pick it up multiple times since it was released but just haven't gotten around to it, and the times I have looked for it it's been out of stock. There's an expansion out now as well which makes me even more tempted.

Anyway, from my limited time with it, I recommend it. Aliens is still my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed 007 more than any of the others I've played. As a matter of comparison, I've played Marvel Legendary, LE: Aliens, LE: Predator, LE:X-Files, and Legendary Buffy.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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I've got Legendary Marvel and like it quite a bit, but I've been wanting to try out some of the Encounters titles for a few years now. It won't happen for a bit ('fun stuff' budget is going to be zero for a while), but they're high on my list when the time comes.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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We finally got to Star Wars Rebellion last night today. Really interesting game. We need to give it another play before I solidify my opinion but we found it engaging if a little hard to keep track of everything.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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malchior wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 7:50 pm We finally got to Star Wars Rebellion last night today. Really interesting game. We need to give it another play before I solidify my opinion but we found it engaging if a little hard to keep track of everything.
If you play regularly, the OldStoneDesigns Battle Mat Guide for Star Wars Rebellion can make for a worthwhile upgrade. You can have it printed on an Inked Gaming 16x10" roll-up-gaming mat, and it then provides a terrific way to handle even the largest space and ground battles, and greatly minimises the hassle of otherwise needing to fiddle around with damage tokens and such.

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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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Star Wars Rebellion is one of my favorite games. It does a great job of making you feel like you're in an alternate-universe version of the movies.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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That place mat would be helpful. For us, the number of planets was most of the challenge for various reasons. I got to the point where I had enough coverage that the Rebels could move to maybe three or four places but I had to keep 're-calculating it'.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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I set Sword & Sorcery back up, trying to wrap up the final two scenarios in the base game. Failed miserably on scenario 6 twice (RNG gods destroyed me), and came away quite frustrated.

I find myself struggling lately with games that require a 45 minute setup, have an absurdly large table footprint, a 2-3 hour playtime, and absolutely crushing difficulty where the slightest strategic miscalculation or unlucky die roll/card draw can send things spiraling. Sword & Sorcery is likely going to join Mage Knight and Gloomhaven (the original, not JotL) on my "games I really like but don't have the patience for" shelf.

Thankfully, Mrs. Skinypupy brought home a goofy card came called Furball, which was great fun to play with the kids. It's super simple and very luck-driven, but the kids had a blast with it. Was a good palate cleanser to take the foul taste of my S&S defeat away.

Also ordered Minecraft: Builders & Biomes to play with my Minecraft-obsessed kids. Looks like it could be fun, and it was on sale on Amazon.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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I've been running through Harry Potter: Hogwart's Battle again with the Monster Book of Monsters expansion. I never actually beat the expansion, so I decided to just try to get through the whole shebang with Harry and Neville. Just about to hit Book 6 where things start to get interesting.

It has its flaws, but it's a nice break from the brain burning that was GH: JotL.

I think I'm in a bit of what we would call in Nemo's War a "lull turn." By that I mean, I'm not motivated enough to dive into another big campaign game, and most of my lighter stuff isn't interesting me. This is the danger zone where I'm apt to buy something new on a whim, so I'm trying to lay low and not get caught up in any new hype. :D TTS has been a nice way to demo some stuff and scratch the "new game itch" without spending money.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by hentzau »

I've been watching gameplay videos for Black Sails and I'm really interested in the game. It scratches many itches for me:
  • Model Building
  • Painting cool models
  • Fun gameplay
The drawbacks are that I'm not that into Napoleonic-era naval battles. Plus, still not gaming in person. This one could possibly be played via webcam though...
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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Skinypupy wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:23 am Also ordered Minecraft: Builders & Biomes to play with my Minecraft-obsessed kids. Looks like it could be fun, and it was on sale on Amazon.
This is a surprisingly fun game. It incorporates the primary themes of Minecraft (gathering, building, exploring, and fighting) in a really unique way. There’s lots of different strategic options for winning, and the theme is very well integrated.

I don’t know how much it would resonate with non-Minecraft players, but the kids absolutely LOVE it.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by YellowKing »

I played a 3-player game of Back to the Future: Back in Time over TTS the other night. My record with the game has been pretty terrible - I think I was 1-6 going into this session, so I didn't hold out much hope. However, unlike past sessions, the guys I played with this night were part of my gaming group and co-op veterans.

We figured out some solid strategy early on that really helped us get ahead, and by mid-game we had our objectives pretty much in hand. Then it was just a matter of survival and keeping Biff at bay until lightning struck the clock tower.

We had a great time with it, and the strategies we came up with really helped me get past the difficulty curve I kept running into. I threw them into spoilers below:
Spoiler:
- Complete as many opportunities as possible early in the game to build up your number of power tiles. The more you accumulate early, the more actions you have over the course of the game.

- Ignore/re-roll Biff power tiles are extremely useful in overcoming tough challenges. These will allow you to roll a lot of dice at once and keep re-rolling to get what you need without fear of Biffs. I can't stress enough how crucial this was in our win, as there were times when we were able to roll 6-8 dice to virtually guarantee a tough challenge roll.

- Don't forget to use your character abilities. For some reason I find remembering to use special abilities tougher in this game than in other co-ops, but they can be critical in saving actions.

- Knocking out Biff seems to be one of the most underused challenges. However, we found that if we used any spare actions to knock him out, it made the game much easier. If you've got a power tile or two left over, don't overlook the opportunity to delay him a turn or two.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

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I’ve tried multiple times now, and the solo campaign for Hero Realms just doesn’t click with me at all. While I really enjoy playing head-to-head against others, the campaign is just ‘meh’.

I’m also annoyed because it’s the first game I went all-in on sleeving, and now it doesn’t fit in the box at all. :(
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by hepcat »

I have to agree with you. The Hero Realms solo/coop experience just isn't all that good, in my opinion.
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Tao »

Skinypupy wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 1:09 pm I’ve tried multiple times now, and the solo campaign for Hero Realms just doesn’t click with me at all. While I really enjoy playing head-to-head against others, the campaign is just ‘meh’.

I’m also annoyed because it’s the first game I went all-in on sleeving, and now it doesn’t fit in the box at all. :(
I picked up Deck Box Dungeon a while back and sleeved the cards, which caused everything not to fit in the box any longer as well (game comes with a two sets of dice too). I picked up one of these on sale for $6 or $7 bucks and it works great.

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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Blackhawk »

They do make a larger box for Hero Realms that fits all of the expansions, including the one that just came out, all sleeved. It comes with a full set of dividers, too.
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Malificent
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Malificent »

Played a couple games of Heroes of Tenefyr, a co-op deckbuilding game with some push your luck elements. There are 10 "dungeons" set up, 2 level 1, 2 level 2, so on up to level 5. Each dungeon is 4 monsters and has a random reward associated with it. Each monster has a new skill at the bottom, so when you defeat a monster, it goes into your deck as a skill card.

You pick a dungeon to enter (you can choose any level, although best not to start with level 5) - the first player draws 3 cards and can choose to keep them or draw 3 new ones. You can do that until your deck runs out (if you wanted). Then you play your skill cards, each of which has a power level and potentially an ability. You total up your power. If you have enough to beat the monster's power, the combat is over and you get the monster skill in your deck. If you don't, move on to the next player and they will add their power in to yours, and if they defeat it, they get the monster skill. When you've defeated all 4 monsters, the group gets the reward. The rewards are things like getting to remove cards, shifting cards to other people's decks, and getting new cards from the dungeon reserve. And they are usually either something each player gets to choose between 2 options or the group has to choose between 2 options.

Where the push-your-luck part comes in is what was entertaining for me. If your deck runs out of cards at any time, you're exhausted and can no longer contribute to combat. You can leave the dungeon and return to town to reset your deck, but that moves the boss monster 1 down his boss track and when he gets to the end, you have to fight the boss, ready or not. If you lose a combat, you're forcibly kicked out and the boss monster advances 2. And every time you defeat a dungeon, you leave and advance the track one. So there's this constant pressure to keep going, but losing a couple combats can really throw you out of whack.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. There's a fair amount of randomization which keeps it generally fresh. It has an expansion coming (it was kickstarted 6 months ago) and I think an extra set of content could take it from good to something I regularly pull out when I want a change of pace game)./
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Lorini
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Lorini »

Played 18Chesapeake yesterday. Came in third, $50 off from second, and $900 off from third. Went with Baltimore and Ohio as my starter and while it has good long term prospects, its early game is slow, meaning that I was continually behind in stock ownership until the end of the game. Couldn't overcome a fast start by the Philly railroad. Still getting to know the meta of this particular 18xx, but our friend who had been really skittish about 18xx games thought 18Chesapeake was the best he'd played.
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Skinypupy
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Re: OO Boardgamers, what did you play this weekend?

Post by Skinypupy »

Picked up Cowboy Bebop Space Serenade as an early birthday present. Fun deck builder, in the vein of Legendary Marvel. Great use of the theme, and I imagine it’d be a blast with a group that was familiar with the show.

As a solo game, it’s...ok. The gameplay is decent enough, but it's basically just a “win or lose against one big bad” every time (Vicious whooped me all three times, for the record). Feel a little, I dunno, unsatisfying. Seems to lose a lot without the competitive aspect, as there are a number of cards that let you do effects to other crew members that simply don't happen in a solo game.

On the plus side, the artwork is spot on for the series. Really well done. The player boards and location maps are very solid and chunky, with a cool inset for fuel cubes and renown tokens. Also, the box insert is absolutely fantastic. One of the best I’ve ever seen.

On the negative side, the cards feel a bit flimsy and I wish that Ganymede and Earth didn’t look so similar.

6/8 initial impressions, hoping it improves as I start figuring out strategies.

EDIT: Finally caught Vicious on the fourth game. :dance:
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
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