Hmm, fair enough regarding the multiplayer solitaire complaint (that is what I dont like about dominion but I guess it bothers me a lot less in rftg) but I love the symbols and visual design. It is the kind of visual design that is obtuse in the first few games but obvious and intuitive once you understand the grammar of it.
iāve been playing this a bit lately and i agree. itās almost funny how quickly it goes from seeming like nonsense to seeming pretty graceful. the solitaire thing definitely crosses my mind too, but i think the peurto rico shared phase-selection is enough for me in the end. i wonder if the expansions introduce any more direct interaction?
I also hate rtg. Iām not always the first one to complain about multiplayer solitaire but I find it so joylessly efficient. I have no idea how shut up and sit down are so down on agricola but love rtg.
I like cosmic more than any of the rest of my game group but they always enjoy it when I talk them into it. Also a big fan of tash kalar. I wonāt ever play TI again in a world that has eclipse.
Iām on the fence regarding RFTG. Iāve only played the PC version which is nice because I can bang out games in like 15 minutes, but stretch that out to what Iām assuming is about an hour length game in realspace and Iād probably get somewhat more irritated at how random it can feel. Leeching off of other playerās phase selections is really fun though, and I like the funny endgame situations you end up in because of it where no one wants to be the one to pull the trigger on a produce.
This is totally achievable in tabletop play, depending on your playgroup.
I finally found a boardgame on Kickstarter that looks good:
Yeah the shared phase selection is definitely why it doesnt cross the boring threshold of euro game designs for me. Since each turn resolves quickly, I mostly think about how I can leverage what the other players are doing to my advantage (after the first few turns it is pretty easy to figure out what someone else might play in a given round) instead of what to do with my hand (because hand management is usually self-evident in rftg)
Have you played Eminent Domain by any chance? It sounds like youāre not a fan of Dominion, but EmDo is basically deckbuilding + role selection so you might like it a bit more. It and Dominion are basically the only pure deckbuilders that I can stomach nowadays at any rate.
Iāve been meaning to play EmDo, because it does sound good and like something that would appeal to me. While Iām not a fan of Dominion, I do acknowledge that it is a very sound game design, just one that doesnāt do much for me by itself.
While I have a particular ire for central market row deckbuilders (with the notable exceptions of Legendary Encounters: Alien which is a co-op and I tend to be forgiving of co-op designs; and Valley of the Kings because its design not only fixes the problems with market rows but manages to fix what I dislike about Dominion)
My actual dislike for Dominion stems from this feeling that all the interesting decision making happens as soon as you see the kingdom layout, with occasionally interesting play happening in response to other playerās card buys. For the most part, youāre just playing to see who solved the puzzle better on turn 1. I believe this is what motivates people to make market row based deckbuilders, even though those are almost universally terrible. The idea that you are likely to regularly make interesting choices past deciding your initial strategy is tempting, but most market row designs are so high variance that it makes all choices either meaningless or obvious.
just for clarification, āmarket rowā means like the legendary games, where the available cards change whenever someone buys from them, right?
this reminds me of the dc comics deckbuilding game, which is kind of terrible (and also has a cross-compatible street fighter version). definitely the worst deckbuilding game iāve played
Yeah, thatās correct. From what Iāve heard, dc deckbuilding game is a particularly egregious game
DC Deckbuilder is pretty mediocre for sure, but at least itās fast. I still need to play VotK speaking of which, havenāt seen anyone around here with a copy to mooch off of though. It does sound like it fixes the market row problem at least.
Who all has Tabletop Simulator? Iād like to play some quick-ish (2 hour or less) (HeroQuest) games while Iām on holiday break. Steam IDās in my profile.
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I picked up the new version of Medina last month. Iād been interested in this game for years, but Iād never had a chance to try it. It sounded like a good strategy game, possibly like a lighter Tigris and Euphrates. And the components are attractiveāyou actually build a little city.
Iāve played the game twice now, and I think itās going to be a favorite. Thereās a nice tension in just about every turn after the first few. You have to constantly consider the timing of your short-term and long-term goals in relation to what the other players are doing. Although the theme involves no combat, you frequently get to frustrate the plans of others in direct ways.
I like Eclipse, but have never tried Twilight Imperium. Iād probably try it at least once if presented with the chance at some point.
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Consider me interested: I have played T&E somewhat infrequently on my phone and canāt seem to get a solid understanding of the strategy involved. I just donāt do well at the game though conceptually it would be something I love. A lighter take on similar game mechanics might be what I need to wrap my head around it.
I think itās funny how some players consider Tigris and Euphrates a perfect, if not the perfect, board game while others canāt stand it and refuse to play it. I wouldnāt go too far in calling Medina similarāthat was simply my first impression when I saw the components. But while particular strategies may not translate between the two games, they do share some common elements.
Thereās so much silly shit in the DC deckbuilder, but some people at work like it, so I play it. Thereās a definite focus on making it less āsolitaireā, but all that means is that there are a lot of attack cards that donāt really do a whole lot other than slow shit down and make sure everyone has to be constantly paying attention, which is OK, but gets really annoying if even one person stops being fully engaged. A friend was trying to text while playing the other day, and holy shit did it annoy everyone.
The other problem is that each player is assigned a hero at the start, most of which get bonuses based on specific kinds of cards. The problem is that due to the shared-line-up (like Star Realms, Ascension, etc.), a player with an actually decent hero can be completely screwed by the right type of card not showing up in the line-up, or completely dominate based on that, which is pretty shitty both ways.
Whoa, love the look of the bits in Medina!
I played a ton of tabletop T&E, it was one of the game club founderās favourite games. From what I remember:
- track other playersā lowest points
- build one temple
- go to war to get the other two colours (via tributes from winning and/or getting another temple)
- go big or go home: when you war over black (say), have some black in your hand to add to it
- use desolations to give you time to prepare defense for an attack
A few of my favourite games are market row-ish: Through the Ages, London, Glory to Rome. None of them are deckbuilders.
yeah I like market row games but hate deckbuilders. idk. I think dominion was a pretty terrible influence on tabletop game design for a few years there but Iāve been a videogame snob for so long that I hesitate to stake out ground as a tabletop snob.