^^^ i haven't been to the game night in awhile, but they're very open to having people join in and teaching new games. though some are a bit more opinionated about the style of games they like.

^ i've enjoyed betrayal as when everyone knows what they're doing you can play in about 20-30 minutes. but otherwise the first half of the game seems a bit tedious. however, I am terrible at rolling and often trigger the haunt with 3 omens in play.

I had picked up unspeakable words after seeing it on tabletop and got to play it saturday night, there are a fair number of times when you're just completely unable to come up with any words, due to not being able to work off of other players words like in scrabble. It was still fun, but it certainly felt like it was missing something.

Others I got to play were Tsuro, Guillotine, Anomia, and Love Letter. Pretty much all quick, filler/party games. Which seemed to work out nicely to let people get to talk, drink, and chat.

12/9/2013 2:33:38 PM

I know it was mentioned about 6 months ago, but how does love letter hold up?

I was thinking of making my own version and theming it with Arrested Development characters, but just haven't taken the time. Plus I already have so many games that need to get played and not enough people to play them.

12/9/2013 5:00:09 PM

Love letter is amazing. For only having 16 cards it plays fast, fairly easy to explain, and complex enough that even after you know how its played you can have a hard time with the game.

Definitely best with 3-4 people though

12/9/2013 8:09:07 PM

Played Keyflower last night. 4 rounds of bidding and rebidding to build a town.

Not a game to play with people that take a long time deciding actions though.
5 people took about 2.5 hours to play.

12/18/2013 2:31:20 PM

I'm still disappointed that Firefly is getting so mediocre reviews

12/18/2013 2:33:36 PM

Its long, its tedious, its not fun when its not your turn.

If they could wrap the game down to 90 minutes it would do much better I think.

[Edited on December 18, 2013 at 2:40 PM. Reason : clarity]

12/18/2013 2:37:18 PM

Maybe TWW could schedule a monthly? game night somewhere. I see people playing chess and other games at Cafe Carolina in Cary so maybe they'd be cool with it.

12/18/2013 2:46:47 PM

we've tried to arrange get-togethers to play games, but they mostly fall apart trying to organize to too many schedules. (especially with the holidays and parties that hit around this time of the year)

There are weekly game nights hosted at a number of the local game stores though:
Mondays - Atomic Empire
Tuesdays - Game Theory
Wednesdays - Gamers Armory
Thursdays - All Fun n Games

Also finding people that enjoy the same types of games can be a bit of a challenge

12/18/2013 2:54:35 PM

Where is All Fun N Games now? They moved last year to James Jackson in Cary, but I think that location is closed.

12/18/2013 3:04:13 PM

I should be more free for board games after I move into my new place.

12/18/2013 3:12:16 PM

^^ looks like its at 220 W Chatham in Cary.

^ When is move-in date?

12/18/2013 3:14:54 PM

Mid-Jan

12/18/2013 3:15:32 PM

so...maybe don't open the Do Not Open Ever. Seriously packet in Risk Legacy...

12/18/2013 3:16:00 PM

Check out The Resistance: Coup.

You'll thank me later.

12/19/2013 3:25:56 PM

^ Have you/Can you play it with 2?

12/19/2013 3:27:38 PM

disco_stu, if you have facebook we have a board game group. You could add yourself to that or add me and I will add you. I think my Facebook is /maryelise315

12/19/2013 4:07:53 PM

anyone here play dungeons and dragons? what do i need to buy to start w/ 4 people?

1/8/2014 4:07:04 PM

^ played it in high school. technically you don't REALLY need anything, but buying some of the guides doesn't hurt. we used to just print player sheets and the like online. having some miniatures is nice too but not technically required.

1/8/2014 4:16:43 PM

oh we definitely want the miniatures

are there boards or anything to play on? i just need a complete noob starter kit basically

1/8/2014 4:23:04 PM

if you're interested in creating your own setup you can get the books online easy enough, then hit a hobby shop to pick up a little slew of minis (i'd have the players provide their own to get what they want)

if you're fine running something else look into a game like descent journey in the dark which will provide minis and a bit of a campaign to run

1/8/2014 7:31:31 PM

I've recently got into Catan (never played it before) now I'm addicted to it.

1/8/2014 7:36:45 PM

Quote :

"are there boards or anything to play on? i just need a complete noob starter kit basically"

We played on a large dry-erase board last time we played. It came with squares already on it, so it made movement very easy and was very cheap. Writing on it was a plus. There are probably laminated posters of a similar nature that would work as well.

1/8/2014 9:22:22 PM

Bbehe, we have catan and most of the expansions. Come play with us! Also, they had Star Trek Catan at Target once.

1/8/2014 10:00:51 PM

i've been thinking about getting one of the catan expansions. which would you recommend if i were only getting one for now? seafarers seems like not enough difference, and cities and knights sounds like maybe too drastic of a change to be fully embraced by the family. i enjoy playing it, but its just getting a little stale and my wife's family loves to play every time we visit.

1/8/2014 10:21:44 PM

That only leaves traders and barbarians. Husband says he would get that or seafarers. Seafarers adds scenarios, ships, and a pirate.

1/8/2014 10:29:15 PM

Seafarers is fantastic. While its true that the new components seem minimal, the subtle differences completely change the game. There are no more obvious "best" spots during placement. Most of the 'better' spots are 1-2 territory choices instead of the typical 3. The gold is an interesting tile that has high risk/reward and is often blocked. There are more strategies that open up with the placement changes.

On the other hand, Cities and Knights is an awful expansion. It feels poorly planned and tacked on. Out of 10 games we played, not a single raid occurred. Knights don't feel like they get enough use for their cost. The bonus cards are helpful early on, but then it just snowballs and everyone gets them and plays the max number per turn. It just feels like most components never come into play, and those that do are game breaking.

I never gave Traders and Barbarians or the other expansions a chance after that. They just looked like they would be on the same lines as Cities and Knights. Then the company came out with a ton of other standalone games (Junior, America, etc), so I figured they were just riding their popularity wave and trying to make a quick buck by flooding the market.

IMO, after Seafarers you would be better off spending money on new games than building off Catan.

1/9/2014 12:38:50 AM

Me and my girlfriend have been playing Settlers of Catan for a while with another friend. Recently got the base game for Christmas. Thinking we might pick up Seafarers sometime soon.

1/9/2014 1:04:46 AM

I think seafarers is the expansion we pull out most often. For those interested if I get to go home I will be on modified bed rest and sitting on my ass all day and would thoroughly enjoy letting you come over and try out the expansions. We have all three.

1/9/2014 4:19:04 AM

There is also the Helpers of Catan addon that gives player cards to essentially turn the game into star trek catan (star trek catan already includes the Helpers but they are themed)

I think just about every board gamer owns a copy of Settlers of Catan.

1/9/2014 2:47:00 PM

Sorry for the delay Drovkin, but yes, you can play Coup with 2, but it is ideal with a few more. Sweet spot is 3-6.

1/9/2014 4:19:07 PM

^^ Never was a fan. Not a grizzled old gamer that hates it, but in my collection of 15 or so hobby games + 10 "traditional" games, I just can't find room for it.

THAT SAID, I'm surprised at all the cities+knights hate. It was my understanding that most people felt that expansion added the most strategy.

1/9/2014 5:00:05 PM

I'm also not a fan, but still a game I have (granted if i could sell it i would) its one i think i could play with the character cards as it can circumvent players all screwing you over near the end of the game by not trading and trying to steal away longest road

1/11/2014 1:18:11 AM

Quote :

" Bbehe, we have catan and most of the expansions. Come play with us! Also, they had Star Trek Catan at Target once."

By the by, they still have it. It's $50

1/12/2014 3:31:20 AM

My oldest son has been asking for the X-Wing Board Game, so I looked for one for Christmas. They started running out of stock and the price went in the $35-$40+ price range online, so I skipped it. Right after Christmas we went shopping with gift cards at Target and found it on clearance for $19.99!

Secondly we got Monopoly Empire for Christmas. I like Monopoly, but its usually such a long and drawn out game that I was a bit concerned. But this game is a lot of fun and much easier. Even my youngest son who is 6 can play it. In fact he won the first two games we played. Games are much shorter and can run as short as 15 minutes.

1/12/2014 11:16:45 AM

All the boardgame nerds say monopoly is much better if u play with the "real" rules. Aka rtfm. I cant confirm or dent.

got to go to our wekely board game group. Didnt get to play the game i brought but tried out caverna, viticulture, and village. All were ok though prob not games i would buy. I can only imagine how...interesting (prob in bad way) caverna would be with 7.

[Edited on January 12, 2014 at 11:53 AM. Reason : .]

1/12/2014 11:52:43 AM

caverna would certainly not be a short game.

played it last night though and it seems pretty fun, just tricky to figure out any type of strategy for it.

i'm not sure how they will introduce any expansion for it like agricola has since there are no upgrade cards to take

1/12/2014 5:05:44 PM

yeah, i probably wouldnt go above 5. we had a 3 player game with each person doing something fairly different.

1. person 1 was the experience agricola player (meaning its her favorite game and she plays games every week). she beat everyone's ass with a mass production of farms, donkeys, with a mix of other stuff thrown in.
2. person 2, me, worked on being efficient. i had just enough food, filled in almost every space, and then for points tried to stockpile resources (coal in this case), adding buildings that gained points per coal. it didn't work so hot, but it was worth a shot.
3. person 3 went exclusively on adventures. he did the worst overall.

person 1 in this case was a bit concerned about the replayability since it doesnt have those more random/differing factors like agricola does, but i dont play any of those games enough for it to be too much of a concern. i still enjoyed myself despite not usually playing games that are that heavy.

1/12/2014 5:41:21 PM

It seems to lend itself to having one strategy and sticking to it completely. although I think if you kept playing only that strategy that others would soon take it and you'd be left with no options. Outside of getting new boards I'm not sure how things could vary enough though.

I think Agricola will still be played a lot by the fans of the misery farm experience.

1/12/2014 6:10:00 PM

I enjoyed old school Monopoly. But it is not something that can keep a 6 and 10 year olds attention for long enough to finish a game.

1/12/2014 9:29:34 PM

I think someone was saying acquire was a much better game to monopoly for a similar concept

1/13/2014 1:45:50 PM

as noted, if played "correctly" it also is supposed to last MUCH less time (no free money from parking, auto auctions if person doesnt buy property, etc).

also got to play robinson crusoe about 4x on sunday. fun if you like coop. we were playing the rules wrong which made it almost impossible. that'll happen.

[Edited on January 14, 2014 at 2:47 PM. Reason : .]

1/14/2014 2:46:52 PM

I was curious about that game.

Is it designed well enough that one player couldn't take control and tell everyone what to do?

1/14/2014 2:53:20 PM

Ah, the old Pandemic switch-er-oo. Says 2-4 players, but that's like saying a turn based JRPG (Dragon Warrior, for instance) is for 4 players because that is the number of party members you have .

Good CO-OP games definitely are hard to come by.

1/14/2014 4:20:54 PM

so far the best co-op game i've played was hanabi, but thats due to not knowing all the information.

similarly, i think forbidden desert does fairly well as no one is able to give complete directions, just make note of what things will need to be taken care of before it kills you. i think it could still easily fall into a single player game though.

no other "co-op" game stands out as something you can't inadvertently take over by purpose or accident though

1/14/2014 4:24:37 PM

by that argument, no, it doesnt do anything to stop alpha player. it does fit into the forbidden desert mold you list above in that many things will kill you though and 1 resource can be used for many things. for example, in scenario 1 you need wood for:

1. the wood pile. you need 15 in the pile by turn 10,11,or 12...or you lose.
2. to build a shelter initially. you take dmg every turn you don't have it. if any dies...you lose.
3. to build a roof or palisade. you likely will lose additional wood/food every turn you don't have these in winter/fall.
4. some inventions. these help you get more resources later on.
5. weapons. to fight beasts for more food/pelts. the less weapons you have, the more likely you take dmg... the more likely you die and lose.

there are a lot of choices and its really about minimizing your risks. those risks are a little more varied and (sometimes) random than in something like pandemic.


that said, most groups i play with are fairly open to discussion about what we think is optimal on any given turn (aka no one is a douche who bosses ppl around). you ultimately are working as 1, but still get the social enjoyment of a game.

if you are worried about said douche, you could just play a coop with traiter mechanic like BSG or Shadows over Camelot.

OR you could play something like Dungeon Fighter which is a dexterity game too. no way for someone to boss you into throwing the die any better. good drinking game too (check this out if you like that stuff).


[Edited on January 14, 2014 at 4:32 PM. Reason : .]

1/14/2014 4:30:59 PM

Other CO-OP games (previously mentioned):

Arkham Horror - Many people do say this one can be taken over by one player, and it can, but it is much less so than Pandemic. Lots of rolling dice and choices where to go that we usually feel like each person is in control of their destiny. Occasionally you hit panic mode where the game will end if someone doesn't perform a specific action, so there are those forced choices; however, the game has always felt more like cooperation to me. We played one game with 6 people where one person literally just worked on purchasing skill cards and ignored all monsters and gates.

Betrayal At House on the Hill - Very similar to Arkham in theme but simpler. This one really is impossible to take alpha control over until the Haunt. Everyone wants to be strong, but no one wants any one person to be overpowered. (Of course this is a traitor mechanic).

1/14/2014 4:40:12 PM

I feel betrayal at house on the hill (and mansions of madness for that effect) aren't as much co-op when placing a player against the rest of the group at some point, since you'll never know who the traitor is in betrayal (and you're straight up against a dungeonmaster figure in mansions)

arkham i've seen done with 2 people, its just hard to develop a sense of characters. elder signs has the same problem (the ipad is probably designed for pass and play, but you'll essentially taking on the role of the 4 characters)

^^ i think what i mean by the forbidden game series is that forbidden island lays out all the tiles for you, you know where everything is located at the start of the game and can quickly tell people where to head to stop from losing a piece. forbidden desert all the tiles are flipped over and all you see is...well...desert. you have to explore in order to know what is under them, so you can't as quickly tell them exactly what to do, but follow more guidelines.

it does sound like crusoe is along those lines though

i'm somewhat worried about douches, but most of the players i know are more interested in straight strategy games as opposed to coop games.

1/15/2014 8:29:55 AM

Quote :

"as noted, if played "correctly" it also is supposed to last MUCH less time (no free money from parking, auto auctions if person doesnt buy property, etc)."

I've been teaching my son (5) to play Monopoly on his iPad. This works well because the computer keeps track of the moves, money, rules, etc. It does play faster if you have to follow the rules. (however, the rules are customizable when you set up the game i.e. auctions on, double salary for landing on GO, sleight of hand, $ at start, $ at pass GO). He is still working on the reading portion, but he is quickly learning strategy. It is also helping him learn about money. He realizes the point of the game is to make the other person run out of money and the way to do this is to make it so expensive to get around the board. An average game on medium difficulty with standard rules takes about 30 minutes with 2 players.

1/15/2014 9:07:35 AM

Another game that might be good to look into is Mr Jack. Its a 2 player game where you're trying to discover which 1 of 8 characters is Jack, and catch them in a set amount of time. You have to eliminate options down by determining who is visible and invisible.

Similarly if you have more people playing Nuns on the Run seems like it would be a good one, but probably one to play a couple more years from now.

1/15/2014 9:38:02 AM

i thought nuns on the run was ok (and i say that drawn out)...but we haven't played it since (and my buddy owns it).

im with you though drew. the group that games consistently is more strategy fans. i mean we played those 3 i mentioned earlier while the other group played nations a few times and a side group played dominant species. luckily i have a few other groups which like the relaxing nature of a coop, even if monkeys do steal your food.

1/15/2014 10:18:33 AM