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Post by flagrantangles on Oct 3, 2016 13:12:20 GMT 1
I figured since our Other Games selection is primarily comprised of video games, I would branch out and make a thread for board games, card games, and basically any game that isn't a video game. So, in light of that, let's discuss some board games! Discussion Prods *poke, poke* - What game or games do you find yourself playing a lot? What keeps you coming back to it?
- Do you have any games that you prefer in specific contexts? If so, which games in which contexts?
- What do you enjoy most in a game and what game delivers that to you?
- What game/games are you looking forward to trying/playing?
- What games were you disappointed by?
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Post by scymrian on Oct 3, 2016 13:29:58 GMT 1
My local Board Game Café has like 400 games in its library and frankly I won't rest until I've played them all. Uh, content.
As discussed in the "talk about your life" thread (because most of my life is hanging at the café), we play a lot of Betrayal at House on the Hill, because it's simple enough and lighthearted enough for people like my partner who aren't the cutthroat strategist type. We've played it probably a dozen times by now? We use it to introduce new board gamers to the shop a lot, really. It's the type of game I like to play in a group.
I most enjoy games with tricky decisions and a lot of interactivity between players, usually optimized for one-on-one game. Asymmetry is great, too. It's not that I'm trying to describe Yomi, it's just that Yomi does a lot of things I really like, which is why forums discussing Yomi are the only forums I frequent these days.
I've found that the perfect game to play when it's just Emily and I is probably Gin Rummy. It's simple enough for her, complicated enough for me, doesn't have enough interactivity for me to be mean and make her cry. It's great.
I finally have a Codex date tomorrow! So that's awesome. Gonna take it down to the café and have a good night. I don't keep enough track of board games to know what's coming up, though, to know what to be excited for. There's a Betrayal expansion that we're pumped for, soon? The game that has been out that I most want to try and haven't yet is probably Fury of Dracula, so that's probably a good answer to that question, too.
I was disappointed by Sushi Go, but that's probably on me. Pure drafting games just aren't that interesting. The game is well-loved, so surely there's something legitimately good about it. I just want my drafting to lead into more play, not for the drafting to be the play.
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Post by Kraetyz on Oct 3, 2016 15:08:52 GMT 1
So, a couple of days ago I had a realization as to why I'm craving board game playing more than ever - I enjoy games that are fun just to play, where winning and losing is secondary to having a pleasant time. Board games, even "competitive" ones, do this fantastically. I'm not having particularly fun with the current "competitive" video game titles I'm currently playing, because shit, I just wanna sit down and enjoy myself, y'know?
Board games I enjoy: Anything except a quiz game, Risk or Monopoly. I'm definitely a strategy gamer, but since I'm not particularly good at strategy, I'll never shy away from a round of something like Aquarius, Fluxx or Munchkin. My favorite five board games, in no particular order, would probably be: Ad Astra, Citadels, Civilization (from FFG, with expansions), Quoridor and... fuck I can't think of a fifth one. Those four are just so WAY above anything else I've played. I love them to no end.
Ad Astra and Civilization are games that I adore for their scope. They're huge games, take quite a while to play, yet are still so god damn accessible that even first time people can join and play along (as long as they actually listen to the rules first). Like, holy shit. Civ has a 36 page rulesbook, going up towards 50-60 pages with the expansions, yet I've never had anyone be confused about game rules halfway through a round. Not many games of that size can boast that. Both those games also contain a whole lot of awesome and interesting choices and strategies, but building a grand strategy isn't even necessary in order to just join along and play for fun. Which is awesome!
Citadels... loss for words. This game is fucking pure genius. It's probably the game I've had the most fun with, the most awesome plays in, and the most cutthroat strategy in. And it fits in a tiny god damn box that you can put in your back pocket. And it's up to EIGHT FRIGGIN' PLAYERS. It's a social game, it's a strategy game, it's a game that you both make and break friendships in. Gaaaaaah. And a third edition is coming out my dick is diamonds.
Quoridor is a different thing entirely. Abstract one on one strategy game. The reason I love it - it's incredibly elegant. Pylos, another game from the same makers, is just the same, though Pylos falls a little short IMO. Quoridor is a game that takes two minutes to explain the rules to, yet you can sit and play it for hours if your opponent is dedicated and interested. It's an incredibly intelligent game with lots of room to learn. And, unlike Chess or Go, games take maybe 5-15 minutes, which is just amazing. Also, the game is god damn beautiful. I crave more wooden games.
... anyway, enough gushing about my favorite games. Time to talk disappointments: I have very few. I've played a few bad board games, but they're hardly worth mentioning. Kittens in a Blender is underwhelming, I mostly bought it because the narrative was funny. Uh, I think Settlers is probably mildly overrated and that people should definitely just play Cities & Knights instead.
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Post by scymrian on Oct 3, 2016 15:26:38 GMT 1
I loved Munchkin the first two times I played it, back in high school, but something about it I just can't stand anymore. Can't really put my time on it. Fluxx is good though. Never played Aquarius.
Of Gigamic's games, I've played Quoridor, Quarto, and Pylos, and Quoridor is actually my least favorite of those three. I prefer Quarto, but we usually end up playing Pylos instead.
Settlers is definitely overrated imo as well. Again, I loved it when I played it years ago as a kid, but today I'm not interested. It's the only game my sister ever wants to play, too. I think maybe I'm not that into trading games, anymore? Hmm.
I really like Jaipur, which is a fun one-on-one commerce game. I easily recognize it as being an advancement on Whiskey Poker. Which I haven't played yet, but ought to, because it's come to my attention that my partner doesn't even know hand rankings.
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Post by Kraetyz on Oct 3, 2016 16:46:21 GMT 1
Well, your issue with Munchkin is probably that is has approximately 0% mechanical gameplay? That's a lot of people's big gripe with it, as far as I've understood it. I've not played Quarto yet, I will get it eventually. I think Quoridor is way superior to Pylos. It just never feels like there's all that many good options in Pylos, the game kinda plays itself? Maybe I just don't get it. Quoridor is a game I get. Like, I actually understand how the openings play out and what kind of branching paths you can take depending on how you play it. I don't really get much of that in Pylos. Especially the second half of Pylos rounds feel pre-determined, and there's almost never anything you can really do to stop someone from winning. Again, maybe I just don't get it. Playing with the "advanced" rules, btw, where lines count for removing pieces. Jaipur, I haven't heard of. I've played Kahuna and Hive, which are both great one-on-ones. Caylus is cool 1v1 too, but has the same issue as 1v1 Civilization - quite a lot of figures and stacks of things for just two people.
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Post by flagrantangles on Oct 3, 2016 19:18:08 GMT 1
I suppose I can also answer my own questions. I play a lot of Yomi and Lords of Waterdeep. I would also play a lot of Bananagrams but I apparently drive people away from that game since I can go on sustained PEEL runs that may possibly raise people's blood pressure. That's what my good friend tells me, at any rate. I like Yomi for the usual reasons. It feels like a fighting game in a lot of regards and that's delightful. I like Lords of Waterdeep and I play it a lot because it's relatively accessible and doesn't tend to have a lot of feel-bad moments which my friends prefer to avoid. I'm good with that. Broadly, I enjoy non-cooperative games. Co-op games tend to, in my experience, devolve into other people telling you what to play and that really grinds my gears. I really want to be able to play badly and have that be okay. I'm fine with losing, but I want to have complete autonomy. Yomi delivers this to me in spades, but I have a hard time finding opponents. D: Ultimately, I really enjoy games where you earn your win or your loss. As for games I'm looking forward to: Tak. I Kickstarted that against my better judgement in large part because I wanted the little companion book that Patrick Rothfuss is writing for it. Additionally, I like games made out of wood. I look forward to playing more Codex and Scythe as well. I can't really think of a game I was disappointed by. I have a good sense for what games I will and will not enjoy and that sense skews negative so it's more common for me to be pleasantly surprised by a game than anything else. As time goes on I feel like Small World runs very thin and has become a lot less pleasant to play. Speaking of Quoridor, I saw it Gen Con but couldn't talk myself into buying in light of how much money I had already spent, but I was soooo tempted. Munchkin has also become less fun for me over time and I attribute that very heavily to the Wizard class. HOWEVER, Adventure Time Munchkin is a true delight. It has the same kind of snowball/draw variance problem that regular Munchkin has but is so ludicrous that I love it anyway. Gunter and Peppermint Butler really seal the deal for me.
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Post by CarpeGuitarrem on Oct 3, 2016 22:23:44 GMT 1
I was disappointed by Sushi Go, but that's probably on me. Pure drafting games just aren't that interesting. The game is well-loved, so surely there's something legitimately good about it. I just want my drafting to lead into more play, not for the drafting to be the play. For me, Sushi Go is 90% of the goodness of Seven Wonders in a faster, more bite-sized package. But then again, I'm guessing you don't take too fondly on Seven Wonders either? Uh, lessee, other games... My biggest trial is finding games that my local friend circle wants to play. They're not always the keenest on more involved games like I prefer (it varies per person), but I try to introduce bits of my collection to them when I can. A big obstacle, I think, is that the most vocal people in the group tend to prefer familiar games instead of trying new stuff, or maybe I'm just not confident enough. (Maybe a part of it is that the most vocal folks are concerned about the ability of a more involved game to do well socially?) Anyhow! This is a lead-up into a lovely success story I just had. I introduced a little game called Hey, That's My Fish! to three friends. It's amazing, it's simple, and it's pretty much perfect for our situation. The best part is that it's a good game! You play as penguins moving around on hexagonal tiles; you can move as many squares in a single direction as you want, as long as you don't jump over other penguins...or a hole in the ice. Because after you move, you claim the tile that your penguin started the turn on. :-O So every time someone takes their turn, the board is slowly getting whittled down and cut apart, its ever-decreasing space being sliced into pieces by greedy penguins trying to claim as many fish from the tiles as they can. It's absolutely wonderful.
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Post by scymrian on Oct 3, 2016 23:20:10 GMT 1
Haven't gotten to Seven Wonders yet, but if it's a pure draft like that then, no, I probably don't care for it so much.
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Post by Plum on Oct 4, 2016 13:00:09 GMT 1
My people! I'll play pretty much anything so long as it fits the group, and I'm fortunate enough to be part of a huge game group so there's always something different hitting the table. Last week was Blood Bowl and Captain Sonar, and before that it was Ra, Powergrid and Scythe. This week we'll be be trying a first play of Mythos Tales and Tiny Epic Western I'd say my all time top five games (warning: subject to change constantly and without warning) are: Forbidden Stars - favourite strategy game Caylus - favourite worker placement, though Three Kingdoms Redux is a close second Ponte del Diavolo - favourite abstract Powergrid - favourite straight-up euro, though Food Chain Magnate is pushing for the spot Aaand I'm finding it really hard to pick a favourite social game; it depends so much on the group. Maybe Spyfall, Cockroach Poker, Resi: Avalon, CSI, Nosferatu, Bang: Dice or Coup: Ref?
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Post by Plum on Oct 4, 2016 13:03:35 GMT 1
Oh, and that's probably my favourite Looks-like-a-kids-game-but-is-actually-an-incredibly-cutthroat-and-tight-area-control-game!
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Post by flagrantangles on Oct 4, 2016 13:47:12 GMT 1
Preliminary research shows me that the theme of 3 Kingdoms Redux is exactly what I thought it would be. I'm super interested in it for that alone. I also desperately want Tzolk'in but how many worker placement games does a girl need?! I'm glad you found us, Plum. I was just about to tag you if you hadn't found your way to this thread. P.S. I'm relatively new to board games and I have a question. I have normally understood worker placement games to be Euro games so I'm curious about your distinction. Are worker placement games also Euro games? Are they a subset? Or are they a truly separate category? What is a Euro game?
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Post by Kraetyz on Oct 4, 2016 15:40:44 GMT 1
Hey That's My Fish is an absolutely brutal experience. Kids game? Kids don't know SHIT. flagrantangles From how I've understood it, Euro games tend to center more on simple rules that play out in dynamic, interesting ways. If they offer random elements, these are often kept to one or two central things while everything else is manipulated directly by players. American games often tend towards the opposite, with many rules and systems that interact in complex ways, and if random elements are involved, they are often allowed to rule over gameplay to a significant margin and in many different ways. Perhaps I'm way off base with that, but it's been my experience when people have talked about the distinction Euro/America.
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Post by scymrian on Oct 4, 2016 16:10:59 GMT 1
I haven' played Hey That's My Fish but it sounds incredibly up my alley. The talk of it reminds me of Bullfrogs, an area control game that I adore that is also very simple on the surface but has some play to it. So, I'll have to keep my eyes open.
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Post by Plum on Oct 4, 2016 16:46:02 GMT 1
Ehhh to be honest it's all a bit fuzzy these days. Back in the day, there was a very definite schism between european style games (typically dry theme, low conflict, low randomness, complex point scoring) and american style games (typically showy theme, high conflict, high randomness, winner takes all). These days though the spectrum is far broader and while the labels remain, and there's a lot more crossover with hybrid games. Recent hotness Scythe is an excellent example, having all the hallmarks of a big flashy americlash game but actually playing much more like a euro. On the flip side, Automobiles is a really solid deckbuilder that features a racetrack on which you will actively block, swerve and generally be a huge dick to the other players.
Worker placement in particular is a very stereotypically euro mechanic. I can't actually think of any non-euro games that make use of it - maybe Age of Empires III, but I'd still put that closer to the euro side of the scale. It's probably the most easily recognised euro mechanic though, so I could understand the confusion. It's also one of the biggest sub-genres, which is why I felt happy picking a specific game of that type. Other common euro mechanics are auctioning, card drafting, rondels, stocks and shares, collection and deliver... actually most of those can probably be found in hybrid games too these days, so maybe worker placement really is the purest euro mechanic.
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Post by FraaOrolo on Oct 4, 2016 17:29:29 GMT 1
7 Wonders is less "pure draft" than sushi go because cards have costs that you have to meet and you get the resources with other cards you draft. So there is a little bit more "game" to the drafting but it's still over when you finish drafting which seems to be what you don't like scymrianI'd say the difference between american games and euro games is how thick the rulebook is American games like complex rules that require a lot of explaining of all the interesting and complex interactions that could occur. Euro games like simplifying things and depicting them with images (those don't require translation) so that the game mostly doesn't need a rulebook after you've played it once. I'm a big fan of euro games personally. If it's a chore to read a rulebook then I typically am less excited by the time I start playing a game. So those questions. I have been bad about seeking out new friends since I moved so I haven't played board games since then but I was playing board games once a week before then. Obviously questions like 1 are shaped by playgroups so I figured I'd mention that. - The games my old playgroup played the most were Powergrid, Kingdom Builder and Terra Mystica probably. Powergrid is definitely the most played game (though it's not my favorite game the group loves it) Dixit gets an honorable mention because it's the most played one when more than just the core playgroup is present
- I guess I answered this question in my last sentance. Dixit is the best casual game because I've yet to find a person who doesn't have fun with it. I guess it's context is more casual game nights
- I like lots of moving parts (to an extent) My favorite game is Terra Mystica atm and I think it does a good job showing that the thing I like most is cute synergies and lots of room to play. I like winning but dislike a hardcore PTW attitude because winning is only half the fun, gotta have fun on the way there.
- Mal recently bought a game called Broom Service that he has spoken highly of. He will be visiting me in a couple weeks and I look forward to playing it.
- One of the earliest "real" board games my family bought was Arkham Horror. It was the first step down that past after Settlers of Catan and my dad had no clue where to go next so that's what we ended up with. It was pretty cool the first couple play throughs but got really old fast. Too much random, too much setup and too much playtime for my liking. I am glad that I got to play it before I started spending money on board games because it was useful to know that I wasn't very interested in that type of game.
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Post by Plum on Oct 5, 2016 9:38:30 GMT 1
Oh, I never actually followed up on the Three Kingdoms Redux comment. I love it! It was hard to get hold of and its tricky to get to the table as it requires exactly three players and a BIG play area, but if you have the chance to pick it up I do recommend it.
It's not super newbie friendly though - being asymmetric, it helps if all of the players have a vague idea of what each of the factions can do, otherwise a strong early faction like Wei can bully the other two players. The game itself provides a counter to this, with the two players that did the least 'stuff' in the previous round able to team up on one particular action space, but it requires that the players involved know how to use the alliance token effectively. Further, when Wei grabs a border space or two and starts hopping up the military track, it's very tempting for Wu and Shu to follow suit, but the opportunity cost for them is much, much higher. BUT once you've played your first game, everyone will be cussing about "oh man I should have doubled down and kicked you off the market spot", "why didn't I draft Guan Yu when I had the chance!", "I knew I should have grabbed the spear border while you were distracted", "god damnit taking tea with the emperor was a terrible mistake - I really needed that general", "I should have let you take the borders and focused on civic buildings"... and then you'll play again.
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Post by flagrantangles on Oct 5, 2016 14:37:06 GMT 1
Plum I am 100% here for that description but I know I would be such an insufferable bitch while playing. "That not how you pronounce 'Qian'!" I'll keep my eye for it and see if I can't purchase it sometime. Or convince someone to get it for me as a gift. That's probably far more likely.
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Post by Plum on Oct 5, 2016 15:25:39 GMT 1
Plum I am 100% here for that description but I know I would be such an insufferable bitch while playing. "That not how you pronounce 'Qian'!" I'll keep my eye for it and see if I can't purchase it sometime. Or convince someone to get it for me as a gift. That's probably far more likely. Force all of your players to listen to the excellent Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast. That should help a lot with pronunciation
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Post by snoc on Oct 5, 2016 23:42:02 GMT 1
I went to the university board game society for the first time today! It was fun. We played: - Bang: The Dice Game. Just a quick icebreaker and to wait for other people to turn up. I died extremely quickly, partly due to getting half the arrows on my first turn and partly due to not being loud enough to get other people to heal me with beer. Generally I am not that much of a fan of bluffing games but this was mostly constrained enough that I didn't mind it too much?
- Coup: More bluffing, so not really my thing again, but still not too bad. I managed at least to last to be the 3rd of 5.
- Hansa Teutonica: Definitely the meatiest game we played all afternoon. I make some stupid inefficient plays early on, but as I get the hang of things I manage to rally and get a reasonably large connected network with a 2x bonus to pull me into joint second in a very close game (winner was about 8 points ahead with the other two players tied just one point behind us)
- Dominion: Intrigue: I'm incredibly rusty at Dominion, and this was pretty much a disaster for me. We played with Conspirator, Ironworks, Pawn, Saboteur, Shanty Town, Steward, Swindler, Trading Post, Tribute and Harem, and somehow almost every single Swindler flipped copper->curse for me. Twice I get 3-4 estate dead hands and managed to finish with a final score of a truly abysmal 1 point.
Overall I had a good time. I definitely want to play Teutonica again now I understand the rules properly and can make good plays right from the start, and I feel like I need to play Dominion again to redeem myself and actually post a halfway reasonable score.
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Post by FraaOrolo on Oct 6, 2016 3:12:18 GMT 1
I've never played Bang: The Dice Game but I have played the original Bang card game. A number of people in the boy scout troop I was part of really liked it and it was played a fair bit. How does the dice game compare? (if you know)
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Post by Plum on Oct 6, 2016 10:05:06 GMT 1
I've never played Bang: The Dice Game but I have played the original Bang card game. A number of people in the boy scout troop I was part of really liked it and it was played a fair bit. How does the dice game compare? (if you know) I've not played the card version, but I asked the same question of a friend who had, while we were playing the dice version. He said that he preferred the dice version as it was simpler and faster - both in terms of total game length, and in reducing downtime between turns. He said he'd always choose the dice version over the card one buuuut he hadn't tried the expansions, so maybe they would change his mind.
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Post by Zejety on Oct 6, 2016 10:26:13 GMT 1
Any must-see things at Essen this year? I haven't made my homework yet. So far, I just want to chekc out First Martians and play a demo of the Arkham Horror LCG.
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Post by Plum on Oct 6, 2016 15:35:01 GMT 1
My hit list includes Inis (Irish dudes on a map game), A Feast for Odin (patchwork x vikings x worker placement), Terraforming Mars, Mistfall: Heart of the Mists, Powergrid: The Card game and Key to the City: London (rework of Keyflower). I have a bunch of other stuff that I'm curious about, but those are the things that I'm expecting to get while I'm there. There's an excellent Tabletoptogether website that lists all of the games that will appear at Essen and lets you mark them for easy printing. Here's my complete list, ordered by priority: tabletoptogether.com/essen-spiel/share.php?key=d40ddf77926e618f2276da212d69f8f3
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Post by Plum on Oct 6, 2016 15:50:27 GMT 1
Oh, there's other stuff too but my bf has them on his list, so I don't need to worry about them. Adrenaline, and Seiji Kanai's first big-box game Unicornus Knights spring to mind
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Post by flagrantangles on Oct 6, 2016 18:00:48 GMT 1
snoc Hansa Teutonica sounds like just the kind of game I would enjoy but suck at. Have you ever played Terra Mystica? It seems like it might be similar-ish. Plum Your descriptions of Inis and A Feast for Odin have caught my eye. The former is because I've been studying Irish for a bit so I'm just in a mode. The latter because that combination of things sounds delightful!
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Post by copper8642 on Oct 6, 2016 18:30:18 GMT 1
My two favorite board/card games are Cosmic Encounter and Sentinels of the Multiverse. The first is amazing for replayability and also a good mix of skill/diplomacy/luck; the second has really fun theme and story to match the mechanics (usually).
I also played several hours of Secret Hitler this weekend, I really enjoy social deduction games.
I also wish I liked Blood Bowl more than I do: really fun game mechanically, but character advancement can be cookie cutter and some skills exist solely to cancel out other skills.
Yomi's alright.
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Post by Plum on Oct 7, 2016 9:12:11 GMT 1
I want to like Cosmic but every time I play we have some new players, which tilts the game massively towards a quick finish and people are too keen to bring others in on attacks. I've seen games end before a player has even taken a turn With a bunch of experienced players it's more interesting but with a bunch of experienced players we usually go for something more meaty. Is there a particularly set of expansions that you recommend using that might help to ameliorate this?
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Post by Zejety on Oct 7, 2016 12:36:43 GMT 1
Anyone tried Mechs vs Minions already? The Dice Tower people seem to have fallen in love with it. I'm impartial to LoL but the game looks cool!
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Post by Plum on Oct 7, 2016 13:12:07 GMT 1
I've heard good things about it, so I'd like to get hold of a copy but I think it will a) sell out instantly, and b) have exorbitant shipping to the UK Edit: Oh, actually EU shipping seems really good
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Post by snoc on Oct 8, 2016 12:44:53 GMT 1
snoc Hansa Teutonica sounds like just the kind of game I would enjoy but suck at. Have you ever played Terra Mystica? It seems like it might be similar-ish. My board game experience is embarrassingly limited, so no.
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