BOARD GAMES: Need recommendations

[Silva]

You seem to have an unusual definition of what constitutes a Euro game. I (and I don't think many others) would include Eclipse and Arkham Horror in that list.

See the part "..or at least euro-infused ameritrashes" of my post. Both Eclipse and Arkham Horror 3e clearly fuse ameri and euro sensibilities.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

I was unfamiliar with the terms Eurogame and Ameritrash, so I had to look up the deifinitions.
From the games I've played, it seems like they're a bit of both. Bit of resource management and pvp combat.
I don't like too much randomness, but no interactions with the other players, while managing your resources gets a bit too dry for my taste.

 

[Silva]

Hasn't much to do with ameritrash vs eurogames imo.
TI just doesn't work as a game that you bring to boardgame night and say "hey, lets try this one out, I'll quickly explain the rules". You need a handful of people that know what they're in for, set aside a whole afternoon for the session, ideally have read the rulebook well before that date and then still you gotta deal with 30 minutes of downtime between your turns.
Other Ameritrash I know and own, e.g. Descent or Battlestar Galactica, I would totally bring to a casual board game night with 'normies' and it usually works just fine.

Looking at Battlestart Galactica on bgg, and it seems to have considerable playing time, rules weight and player count requirement, which seems far from a casual game to me.

I agree both ameritrashes and eurogames have their parcel of casual and hardcore titles but, in general, it seems the euros take shorter, have less rules crunch to learn and work at more flexible player counts, which is my point here. EDIT: also, the experience is usually more predictable with Euros, while with Ameris it depends too much on the players playstyles. In other words, Dune Imperium will produce the same experience no matter how it's played, while classic Dune will vary it's resulting experience wildly depending on how who the players approach it (to the point of flopping bad with the wrong players).

 

[Forest Dweller]

You seem to have an unusual definition of what constitutes a Euro game. I (and I don't think many others) would include Eclipse and Arkham Horror in that list.

See the part "..or at least euro-infused ameritrashes" of my post. Both Eclipse and Arkham Horror 3e clearly fuse ameri and euro sensibilities.

What exactly in Arkham Horror is a euro element?

 

[Silva]

I was unfamiliar with the terms Eurogame and Ameritrash, so I had to look up the deifinitions.
From the games I've played, it seems like they're a bit of both. Bit of resource management and pvp combat.
I don't like too much randomness, but no interactions with the other players, while managing your resources gets a bit too dry for my taste.

Yep, these days most games are a fusion of both styles. But they usually retain a majority part. Like say, Eclipse is a 4X-inspired ameritrash with some euro elements, while Scythe is it's mirror image: a similarly 4X-inspired euro with ameritrash elements.

Tangent to make an analogy to tabletop RPGs:

Ameritrashes would be like those GURPS games where the group takes 2 hours creating characters to then be thrown in the dark at whatever the GM has prepped for the week. And if it was something the players were expecting and like, fine. If not, good luck enduring 5 hours of a boring ass game where everyone YAWNS at each other faces at 10min intervals. These days I would only play light and fast stuff like OSR or PbtA where you create chars in 30min and know EXACTLY what the GM will bring to you (a dungeon to crawl in the former or some charged PvP situation in the later), so there's no chance you will waste 5 hours in boredom while thinking how your wife will beat you when you get home or how it would be much better had you opted for that barbecue and beers with the other group of friends.

 

[Silva]

What exactly in Arkham Horror is a euro element?

Have you played the latest edition (3rd)? It's full of streamlining that would make old fans puke in disgust. Things like going around taking out doom like in a Pandemic game, the fact every player has only 2 unrepeatable actions (combat included), the mythos cup that spawns more doom in an artificial feeling way, etc. It's simplified to make the game more manageable to learn and play in shorter time. Which is exactly what made me buy it, don't get me wrong, because I could finish it in 2.5 hours max and have fun. But I ended up selling my box, because the game is based on tight narrative scenarios that get repetitive after consecutive plays. More or less like Mansions of Madness.

..which is another pet peeve of mine, these narrative games. They should either a. cost way less, or b. come with dozens of scenarios in the base box. Otherwise they're not worth it.

 

[spectre]

IIRC, Battlestar Galactica's sweet spot is at 4-5 players, so I'd get this one if your guys can dig it.
Being familiar with the modern series isn't mandatory, but lets you nerd it out all the way if that's what you're looking for.
It's a coop game with betrayal mechanics and can get pretty tense up until the last die roll.
Base game can feel a bit barebones, but don't get any expansions unless the whole group is really into it.

I recommended Libertaria in the other thread and can vouch for it. To repeat myself: the new edition (Winds of Galecrest) is superior when it comes to mechanics, as long as you can look past the aesthetics.
Or you can try and get your hands on the older edition (good luck). There's plenty of negative interaction, bluffing, pirate banter and what have you.
Needs 3 people to get decent, should be great at 4-5 players.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

My friend made a board game called Power Mongers.
He paid like $5k to get a prototype made, with art, board pieces and such.
It had some interesting mechanics, but also some I'd remove. Sadly he wouldn't budge at all.
He sent it to some publishers, but I'm not sure of the reaction he got.
He was also considering making a Kickstarter for it, but couldn't be bothered managing it. It has to be really well planned these days.

 

[Forest Dweller]

IIRC, Battlestar Galactica's sweet spot is at 4-5 players, so I'd get this one if your guys can dig it.
Being familiar with the modern series isn't mandatory, but lets you nerd it out all the way if that's what you're looking for.
It's a coop game with betrayal mechanics and can get pretty tense up until the last die roll.
Base game can feel a bit barebones, but don't get any expansions unless the whole group is really into it.

FYI, Battlestar Galactica (and the expansions) are also out of print.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Scythe

This is full on euro, don't let the cool art and mechas fool you.

 

[Silva]

This [Scythe] is full on euro, don't let the cool art and mechas fool you.

I think it has some ameri elements in it's area control but yeah, it's mostly an euro.

 

[skeletonmeister]

Talisman for D&D Candyland

 

[InspectorRumpole]

I think I've settled on Cyclades (seem very similar to Inis) Question is, original or Cyclades:Titans? Anyone care to chime in.

 

[lobsterfrogman]

I might be wrong because I did not play either, but Titans is an expansion, not a standalone version, I think.

 

[Azalin]

Yeah as far as I remeber it's an expansion unless they released some deluxe edition that includes both,if I remeber correctly it changes the base game significantly