Not a board game per se but I don’t know where else to put it
John Harper, author of the excellent tabletop RPG Blades in the Dark has been compiling a list of RPG recommendations and I can vouch for it as an excellent list. I’ve played most of the games listed here and aside from quibbles about personal taste, I think most of these games are essentials.
If you want to understand tabletop roleplaying in the year 2018 there isn’t a better place to start than checking out some of these games.
I think the board game I have owned the longest without getting a chance to play is Reef Encounter. I finally tried it last night. Although one game is not enough to really form an opinion, I think it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of the other three people I played it with liked it much so it may be another 10+ years before I get another shot at it. Oh, well.
I finally had the chance to play Bloodborne: the Card Game a couple of times since getting it from SB’s Secrete Santa
I love the way it handles the cooperative aspects. By making the game ultimately competitive you mitigate so much of the alpha player problem: now players only communicate what is needed because saying too much or being too honest will guarantee that the other players will take advantage of them. That being said, I’m not a fan of permanent player elimination so Rom is soft-banned from the table when I play.
The way the dice are used in this game is interesting: on the surface its something I would typically dislike (a random number generator that has a chance of instantly knocking out all the players in a round) but the way it interacts with the card economy makes the game have a strong push-your-luck feel. Players play one card a round, and this card determines whether they act before or after a monster. Its the centrality of this choice that makes it feel like a risk-reward situation. Trading off guaranteed damage for a chance to get the final blow is an interesting choice in this game because both choices can situationally be the correct play.
I have begun watching Gloomhaven videos to see what all the fuss is about, and I’m now convinced that either my friend or I will own this game within the next two years, assuming no further production delays. I can see why people are so hot on this, as well as why it’s really not for everyone; it’s definitely labor-intensive, but I agree with the SU&SD argument that it’s still fundamentally elegant.
it’s slick as hell, i love it
oh dear
I SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO SCROLL THAT FAR TO GET TO A ROGER NO SALE
Designed by James M. Hewitt - the brains behind the likes of DreadBall, Blood Bowl 2016, Necromunda: Underhive, and Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower
Immediate red flag imo
Dont support games workshop or their “game designers”
what if I just really want a figurine commemorating the greatest three panels in comic book history : (
Dreadball is really good tho
Spent this weekend at the UK games expo to play Netrunner. The top 16 finished up today and I spectated a bunch of the matches. Feeling really euphoric about how interesting, exciting, and creative the game is, having seen matches from a broad spectrum of archetypes and playstyles (from some of its best players). Its community is so kind and mature and dang, had such a fun weekend. Continually can’t recommend Netrunner enough, it’s in the best place it’s been since the core set in 2012.
wow
I mean - if you’re going by what @count_slackula said, it’s probably the best time for this to happen
it’s weird to me that they can just stop making it, but it also makes me weirdly optimistic because it will no longer be a thing I need to “keep up with” and just be something I can play with people
Woah, they’re not just ending production of new expansions, they’re also going to stop selling Netrunner completely starting in October. Wonder if stuff’s about to start going way up in value after then.
wow that’s fuckin crazy what the hell
Must’ve lost the license
Edit: I did not click the link lol
I’m really sad.
But also it’s kind of an amazing game, that’s ending in a really good place and I’m gonna be playing with its cardpool til the day I die.
WOTC own the system and FFG own the android universe so some kind of middle ground seems unlikely unless there’s some kind of meaningful change in either of their perspectives on the IP’s worth.
it seemed like such a big success and also like it was clearly not past its peak at all, it seems wild that some kind of agreement wasn’t reached
I haven’t heard anything, but judging from what I’ve heard in the past it’s probably related to Star Wars Destiny
What I imagine happened is: WOTC thought the license was worth more and FFG thought the license was worth less. Netrunner had a big lull of two years and only just recently got new life with the revised core, but from what retailers are saying, FFG completely messed up the shipping/printing on the revised core set, and it was sold out and difficult to get, so I wouldn’t be surprised if on FFG’s side they saw its recent sales history and decided WOTC wanted too much.
Also, internal politics at FFG seem pretty wild. If anything, I’d say their focus is now on L5R. It’s pretty straightforward when you look at the prize support (and thus, money) they’re putting into each franchise. At Euros each participant in L5R got a playmat, which is usually a prize they print 8 of per tournament for the best 8 players… L5R players also got “a commemorative collectible pin, and three copies of their clan’s Seal extended art prize card,” while Netrunner participants got one alt art card…
Still so bummed out here…
