Stone Age

[Phage]

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34635/stone-age

A simple worker placement game with a little luck and surprising depth.

Anyone else a fan? Luckily nobody in my group has used/attempted the cheeseball "starvation" strategy. I've won the three games we've played, always prioritizing agriculture, then early point multiplier cards, then whatever I have multipliers for. I also always aim to get 5+ different types of the culture/tech cards since they're a nice boost of points at the end.

There's also an exapansion, but we're not sure if we want to buy it or not.

 

[oldmanpaco]

I've been tempted to buy this game for a few years now.

 

[Phage]

It's nowhere near as deep as, say Dominant Species (trying to compare Worker Placement games), but it's still really good. IMO it's got a great balance between being deep enough that those who have a good grasp of the game will consistently win, but is accessible and has just enough randomness (dice rolling) that new players don't feel completely trounced.

 

[TOME]

There is strategy to this game? I bought this years ago and played once before getting bored. If I remember correctly, the game was mostly about math. Which card gave the most points for least resources, how many workers you need to place for certain resource square to get optimal number of resources etc. It got tiring pretty quickly.

 

[Phage]

Were you playing by yourself or with creatures devoid of intelligence? If that's the case then yes, it is purely a math game - otherwise it's all about denying your opponents while getting what you need (who in turn are trying to deny you).

You also just boiled down every single worker placement game and many other genres of boardgame (dominion, etc) in that they're ultimately math.

 

[TOME]

Now that I think about it, it wasn't my normal boardgame crew I played with so there weren't much tactical aspect to the game. Maybe I'll give this game a second chance someday.

Btw. what is starvation strategy?

 

[Phage]

I'm not 100% how to use it, but basically there's a strategy that involves completely ignoring feeding your meeples, letting them starve, and rushing a shitton of resources/huts/cards to make up for the point deficit - so while everyone else is hunting/farming, you're just rushing points/cards.

 

[Blaine]

I'm a big board game enthusiast myself, I own Stone Age, and I find it quite enjoyable despite the fact that pure luck can occasionally win the game for someone. The best part about Stone Age is that my "normal" (read: non-grognard) family members enjoy playing it as well. Stone Age, along with Scrabble Apple and Traders of Genoa, has become a family tradition during our annual family vacation in Hatteras, NC.

To date, my younger sister has never beaten my score in any Stone Age session, though other family members have. For various reasons (leftover sibling rivalry, her firecracker personality, the passive-aggressive nature of Stone Age's mechanics, etc.), this can lead to her becoming super-pissed at me for hours or days afterward. It probably doesn't help that I always win Scrabble Apple, no matter who else happens to be playing.

As a result, I have to be very careful not to gloat, brag, or taunt anyone else in any way while playing Stone Age, or the beach house would probably end up burned to the ground and those things are expensive.

THERE'S AN EXPANSION? I'm definitely going to have to get that.