Board Games!

[Mina]

Isn't that more a function of your group than the game itself? I didn't have that problem with Pandemic. (Granted, we were only two players, and won really easily both times we played.) I like co-op games because I enjoy working as a team and discussing our next move together.

Either that, or I'm secretly the bossy one everyone hates, and they're all just too nice to tell me.

[Mina]

If you play with a bad loser they are.

Also it always feels really tense. Idk how to explain it.

Yeah, as maligned as

Arkham Horror

is, what I like is the creeping sense of dread as the Elder Track advances and monsters fill up the board. It's an actual challenge (unless we accidentally place too many clue tokens like at

Balto Meet

), and feels like a huge accomplishment to beat, particularly if it's by defeating the Elder One.

[Mina]

co-op dexterity games

These exist? Do you know any good examples?

I enjoyed Pandemic, but it seems like it'd get old upon a replay.

You might like Hanabi, since it's a game where every person has to contribute.

[Mina]

The rules for

Pandemic

actually have a clause that on harder modes, you're not supposed to show your cards "so everyone can play a part in solving the game!" But that stupid and tacked-on solution causes more problems than it solves.

This conversation makes me wish I had someone to play board games with right now. I can't wait two weeks!

[Mina]

sthar8, do you work in a games store?

[Mina]

At the Reckoning, AngryPidgeon called it "the game where everything's made up and the points don't matter." I still enjoy it because I don't care much about balance and haven't played enough to know most of the scenarios--the mystery and flavour behind each haunt are what appeal to me.

Also, Axxle, you are a genius. How did not a single person on the game design team think of that?

[Mina]

This seems like the thread for it:

The Hanabi game that has made Faraday swear off ever playing Hanabi again--or talking to me.

I was too busy gloating to people about our imminent 25 to pay attention to which card I was submitting...

[Mina]

Pandemic is along the same vein, though it is frustratingly difficult to win.

Huh, if anything, I found it easier than Forbidden Island/Desert when I played it.

[Mina]

To be fair, I think we accidentally played with easier rules the first couple of times, and lost more than once. But yeah, someone figured out that on Impossible, the trick is to adjust your strategy to which cards are left in the draw pile, and also try to bloat the discard pile and reduce the frequency of Water Rises cards.

I still sucked when I tried to play Forbidden Desert again months after that, though.

[Mina]

I'd prefer Forbidden Desert over Island, as it doesn't have the feelbad of immediate game loss due to board state.

I actually feel like Forbidden Island is more of a slow build toward victory or defeat, whereas Forbidden Desert has more annoying "Oh, you're crushing the game and about to win next turn? SUCKER! You just drew two Sun Beats Down cards in a row and instantly lost!" curveballs.

Also, add me to the list of people who'd like to spectate a BSG game. (I've only seen part of a game being played, and it seems way too overwhelming for me to jump right in, but I'm kind of curious.) Feel free to ping me if one happens on the 10% chance I'm actually free.

[Mina]

This seems like a good place for this video:



I feel like I've played numerous iterations of both of these games.