Octopus Overlords

Hmm... I don't know. I love me some XCOM and I've always wanted a board game that combined a digital element, but for some reason, this doesn't have me jumping out of my pants. I didn't see a designer mentioned anywhere either. But hey, they've proven me wrong before!

Thanks for sharing!

Designer: Eric M. Lang

It's on the box cover.

coopasonic wrote:Designer: Eric M. Lang

It's on the box cover.

Reading is HARD!!

And my enthusiasm wanes a bit more. I think the only game of his I've liked is Chaos in the Old World.

Ænima wrote:And my enthusiasm wanes a bit more. I think the only game of his I've liked is Chaos in the Old World.

Yeah, but that one's really, really damn good. I'm curious to see what they can pull off when the app is a mandatory part of the game. On the other hand, it makes me wonder what kind of staying power the game will have. I know it's probably silly, but one thing I like about board games is that they're permanent. I can buy a game now, and know that it'll still be playable in ten years, and I have visions of breaking them out for hypothetical kids down the line. Tying it into an app limits that a bit.

Still, there's obviously potential for the app to allow interesting things, like releasing new scenarios/whatever directly to the app.

Chaz wrote:

Ænima wrote:And my enthusiasm wanes a bit more. I think the only game of his I've liked is Chaos in the Old World.

Yeah, but that one's really, really damn good.

Agreed, but it's offset by the abomination known as Quarriors .

Have you played Marvel Dice Masters? He learned.

coopasonic wrote:Have you played Marvel Dice Masters? He learned.

I have not. I'd give it a try if someone pulled it out, but I generally try to avoid collectible games.

Come to BGGcon I'll teach it

Someday!

I'm with Chaz here.

I love that it is a grand strategy, rather than a rehash of Galaxy Defenders. But I'm skeptical about the app. I'm not too keen on electronic distractions that pull you away from the board.

I was just about to post this after reading about it on Eric Lang's Facebook page. Eric and I spent many a late nights chatting while playing LOtRO. He is a great guy and it's been fun watching his name appear on more and more games. Unfortunately he doesn't have time to play MMO's anymore but that means more CCG's and boardgames made by him.

Chaz wrote:

Ænima wrote:And my enthusiasm wanes a bit more. I think the only game of his I've liked is Chaos in the Old World.

Yeah, but that one's really, really damn good. I'm curious to see what they can pull off when the app is a mandatory part of the game. On the other hand, it makes me wonder what kind of staying power the game will have. I know it's probably silly, but one thing I like about board games is that they're permanent. I can buy a game now, and know that it'll still be playable in ten years, and I have visions of breaking them out for hypothetical kids down the line. Tying it into an app limits that a bit.

Still, there's obviously potential for the app to allow interesting things, like releasing new scenarios/whatever directly to the app.

I figure that someone will come up with an offline version that'll work well enough, especially if the company later shuts the app down.

El Guapo wrote:

Chaz wrote:

Ænima wrote:And my enthusiasm wanes a bit more. I think the only game of his I've liked is Chaos in the Old World.

Yeah, but that one's really, really damn good. I'm curious to see what they can pull off when the app is a mandatory part of the game. On the other hand, it makes me wonder what kind of staying power the game will have. I know it's probably silly, but one thing I like about board games is that they're permanent. I can buy a game now, and know that it'll still be playable in ten years, and I have visions of breaking them out for hypothetical kids down the line. Tying it into an app limits that a bit.

Still, there's obviously potential for the app to allow interesting things, like releasing new scenarios/whatever directly to the app.

I figure that someone will come up with an offline version that'll work well enough, especially if the company later shuts the app down.

Very possibly, though it might be either difficult to do or a pain to use depending on how much the app does.

Really, it's probably a moot point. With the short attention span of the current board game market, everyone will have forgotten this game exists within three years of its release anyway.

Eric confirmed that the app can be used on your phone or from your computer for those without a smart phone. You'd just have to have your computer close to the gaming table.

If it drains devices like the one for Golem Arcana, and outlet will also be mandatory for phones or tablets.

Feeling generally neutral about this announcement, will wait and see. I hope they'll announce a Battlelore 2nd edition expansion at Gencon though.

Count me in with the "wait and see" crowd. While the potential is there, I'm actually getting a bit tired of the repeated tie-ins to existing themes and franchises. I'd be more excited if this were the same game, but not "XCOM: THE BOARD GAME".

I'm all for it, I've always thought that the use of a computer AI for boardgames, specifically co-op boardgames, was a good idea.

It can help keep a game balanced and prevent wilder, random swings in difficulty that you can get from purely random card or other rules based AI, by having the game itself react to player actions.

Over on BGG, the mention of an electronic app as necessary for a board game is like throwing chum in the water. As for me, it's a matter of waiting to see how it's implemented. I don't know how interested I'd be in this particular game truth be told but having an electronic AI could be interesting for future games. I don't think it would displace "pure" board games though.

$iljanus wrote:Over on BGG, the mention of an electronic app as necessary for a board game is like throwing chum in the water. As for me, it's a matter of waiting to see how it's implemented. I don't know how interested I'd be in this particular game truth be told but having an electronic AI could be interesting for future games. I don't think it would displace "pure" board games though.

I think you meant to say that a boardgame having an electronic AI could be interesting for PAST games. Specifically, 1981... http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30/dark-tower

Kidding aside, I read some more about this on Rock, Paper, Shotgun and I think I'll probably be in. If the Electronic companion does all the heavy lifting, that would be excellent! Although I wonder how ponderous it is to input all of the results from the previous turns?

Love the idea of this game. Love the way FFG executes games, happy to see them with the license. Cautiously optimistic about this. I love XCOM so this could be great, but then again it may just be something better fitted for the medium of video games, time will tell.

Anyone heard anything more on this? I saw some of the actual board game pieces at Gen Con this past year, and I think I saw the electronic app, can't remember if it was this or a different game, but I am not seeing anything else out there.

Granted, I have not looked that hard..Okay, I am at work and have not looked at all. So has anyone seen or heard anything?

RMC wrote:Anyone heard anything more on this? I saw some of the actual board game pieces at Gen Con this past year, and I think I saw the electronic app, can't remember if it was this or a different game, but I am not seeing anything else out there.

Granted, I have not looked that hard..Okay, I am at work and have not looked at all. So has anyone seen or heard anything?

Fantasy Flight will be at BGGCON in less than two weeks. I will be looking to check it out there.

Still looking towards a Q4 release but since the since their site doesn't show it "on the boat" yet, it's going to be late Q4.

coopasonic wrote:

RMC wrote:Anyone heard anything more on this? I saw some of the actual board game pieces at Gen Con this past year, and I think I saw the electronic app, can't remember if it was this or a different game, but I am not seeing anything else out there.

Granted, I have not looked that hard..Okay, I am at work and have not looked at all. So has anyone seen or heard anything?

Fantasy Flight will be at BGGCON in less than two weeks. I will be looking to check it out there.

Still looking towards a Q4 release but since the since their site doesn't show it "on the boat" yet, it's going to be late Q4.

Well, since it is November, does that mean a December Release, or next year Q4?

Less than a week ago FFG confirmed Q4 this year, so sometime in December.

coopasonic wrote:Less than a week ago FFG confirmed Q4 this year, so sometime in December.

Awesome. Thanks for the information.

RMC wrote:Anyone heard anything more on this? I saw some of the actual board game pieces at Gen Con this past year, and I think I saw the electronic app, can't remember if it was this or a different game, but I am not seeing anything else out there.

Granted, I have not looked that hard..Okay, I am at work and have not looked at all. So has anyone seen or heard anything?

They may have their hands full with the upcoming Star Wars: Imperial Assault and Star Wars: Armada games perhaps?

Edit: Oh, thanks Coop! That's earlier than I expected.

Keep in mind ffg has a history of being later than anticipated release dates. X wing has taught me this well. Usually a quarter late. It's possibly still q4, but yeah... I usually add a quarter to their dates.

This thread has some discussion from folks that demoed it at gencon:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/122 ... actually-p

XCOM was released recently...has anyone had a chance to play it?

Yup played it twice so far. I really like it. I can get into more detail later bit it is a really good game. It could be a great game and it isn't quite, but it has been really fun and really tense in a good way.

Good to hear...I'm hoping to check it out at my local game stores board game night here soon. Assuming someone bought it and brings it to play.

Alright home now, can share a bit more.

First off it's a FFG game so of course the components are fantastic. The artwork is great, and very much in the theme of the most recent XCOM games. The only complaint I have about the components is the complete lack of any rule book. It really is irritating not to have one. Sure the app teaches you how to play but if you need to look something up quickly during the game you have to do it through the app which is running your game. It isn't too bad for me since I have the app on my tablet and on my phone so I run the game with my tablet and if I need to look something up I refer to my phone app, but I really wish they would have included a real rule book as well as the app, even if it made the game cost a few more bucks.

I'm no longer concerned about the app becoming obsolete since they also included a windows and mac version online, and rest assured the people at BGG will have that archived forever (I know I have it loaded on several devices already and many there are more neurotic than me).

The app itself works really, really well to run the game. I don't want this to become the norm, but it actually does work for this game and I like it. It takes care of a lot of things that would be a bit of a pain in the butt otherwise. And in my opinion the timed phase takes care of another issue in many cooperative games: the alpha player. Sure someone still could be alpha and you need to converse with your teammates but ultimately the time is so fast that at least right now (having only played twice) you really only have time to try to figure out what you are going to do during your 20-60 seconds of fame during the timed phase. It's very intense. It also does one more thing that is problematic... it makes the game harder to solo, there simply isn't enough time to get everything done (at least it feels like that right now). So the timed phase is both good and bad. But overall it helps with the alpha player.

The 4 roles that the players take on are distinct, and I think fairly balanced. Everyone has some interaction with others and is invested in what they are doing, which makes it really enjoyable. But again, not enough time to control, just enough interaction to help each other. Some roles are more fun than others, but I think that criticism is overplayed a bit. For instance one player is in charge of balancing the budget, but all players are spending the money so you have to keep track of what everyone is spending and help advise along the way. If you mess up a different player can spend some of their resources to bring resources off the board to stop spending the money but by the way you have to manage to do this in 30 seconds while you are also placing new UFOs. Another example is one player chooses which crisis cards will be faced, and then a completely different player can spend their resources to alleviate or eliminate these crisis cards. Lots of interaction between players, but again not enough time to tell people what to do, which is the most terrible aspect of cooperative games if playing with less vocal players.

I don't think the game is the most casual friendly cooperative game. It simply is too hectic on your turn and you really don't have time to get help. Sure you could do the tutorial with them which gives you the time to understand it... but then you aren't really playing it. In my opinion I put this in a similar area as Robinson Crusoe (which I love but never play enough)- really good cooperative game, but simply not a good game for casual players as it will scare them away. None of the mechanisms are similar BTW, just the fact that I wouldn't introduce it to casual players. This is not pandemic is basically what I am saying. Gamers will take to it quickly I think though. Also I think many people will want to play the same role multiple times because there is specific strategy for each role, and understanding them will really help

Some of the thematic choices don't really make sense... for instance satellites shoot down UFOs in orbit... not really what they do in XCOM but eh oh well. It's also very difficult to stop panic from rising, and very difficult to drop it.

The other big negative I have is the harshness of failing. For instance if you fail with a team on a mission everyone assigned dies. Yup. They die. Squad wipes for everyone! Wow. So that's something that is a bit annoying when it happens. And in my experience, it happens enough to really get to you.

I haven't come even close to winning yet, but hopefully next game I do! Unlike the video game you never really feel like you are in control when playing, in fact the two times I have played I have felt like I am slowly sliding into chaos. And then I lose.

Overall I really like this game though, it's just different. In a very good way. It could have been a little bit better for sure, there are things that keep it from being a homerun, but I'm very happy with it. And it inspired me to play XCOM on my xbox again (first time I have fired up my 360 since the XB1 launched). It has the atmosphere. It doesn't hurt that I leave the music on in the app which really helps set the mood too.

Hepcat posted a link to this review of the game over in the What Did You Play This Weekend? thread... awesome review, btw.

MonkeyFinger wrote:Hepcat posted a link to this review of the game over in the What Did You Play This Weekend? thread... awesome review, btw.

Yeah I really got a kick out of that video, and I agree with it for the most part. Pretty spot on in my experience. Really fun game, but it has a few flaws. I'm really happy I picked it up still because it fits well for me.

Amazon has it today for $39


I realize that link isn't through the affiliate link above so just use that and give it a quick search.

Picked this up, now to get LordMortis, redrun, Remus West, bb2112 a date to try it out.