Board Gaming Era |OT| (Mostly) Unplugged Gaming

napk1ns · Jan 21, 2020

Mikeside said:
Can't speak to that site, but Tainted Grail pledge manager will re-open, so if you can find somebody local to you that pledged, they could add a copy for you to come when wave 2 comes out?

That's great news - I couldn't get any confirmation on the pledge manager opening again. That might be a great option.

XShagrath said:
thegamesteward is a legit site. I've ordered some stuff from them, as well as several friends. However, their business is mainly about providing an option for people who missed out on KS projects (and obviously charging more for them).

For Tainted Grail, I'd try to find someone who got in on the campaign and piggy-pack with them on the second wave pledge manager. I'm not sure if you'll be able to order additional core games in the second wave, but it's definitely something to look into.

I'm in the US (Florida), and wouldn't be opposed to adding an additional copy for you, if that is an option.

Dude - is this the best community on the internet or what? I'll report back in when the manager relaunches and we can talk - I'd certainly be good for a quick, upfront payment. I think I've learned that theme-rich games with high quality components are important to me with this hobby, so the Awaken stuff is definitely appealing. Thanks for the responses!

nuffDREW4two · Jan 21, 2020

KDM is one of our group's favorite games, so here are some thoughts:

- the aesthetic is polarizing. The dark (and heavily anime inspired) fantasy imagery is incredible and creative with an entire lore buried within the game, and at a bit of a deficit, in the creator's mind. There's certainly pieces of lore within the game itself, but there's also some found in interviews with Adam Poots which will likely get included with new expansions. Much of the polarization comes from the oversexualization of its imagery which does tend to lean towards the male gaze, but does also provide male nudity as well. The most overt content is usually found in expansions, or in non-gameplay content like the pin-up models

- the models are great, especially the monsters. The survivors in the core box are a bit less interesting since they're made up of legs, torso, arms, head, weapons, etc. - meaning that they seem kinda static and all look a bit more similar. On the plus side, they're making the effort in having survivors look more dynamic and interesting by having unique sculpts instead of build your own.

- the game is long and the core box can easily last you 100+ hours. A single campsign is about 30(!?) "lantern years" with each year consisting of the settlement, hunt and showdown phases. Each year can run you ~1.5-2 hrs. Eventually you will start to tire of facing the same first lion monster over and over, but that's when adding an expansion like the Gorm can help. Each monster is tailored to fit into an early, mid or late game niche, and their difficulty can also be changed in order to get more resources. Some expansions are recommended over others as a couple of them also include alternate campaigns (Sunstalker and Dragon King).

- the gameplay is about settlement building and monster fighting, with the game broken down into 3 phases.
1. Settlement Phase - where you use resources collected from monster to upgrade your stuff and build new weapons. The choices are interesting and it's fun to kit out your survivors, but I do find we tend to min/max a lot and don't just experiment a whole bunch.;
2. Hunt Phase - where you track your quarry (monster) down a linear track and experience random events that often hinder you more than help. The events are simply rolling two D10's and check which of the 100 events you experience. This is often seen as the weakest part of the game;
3. Showdown Phase - this is the meat of the game where you learn how to best approach each monster to maximize gaining resources and trying not to die. It's a lot of fun. Each fight brings in 4 survivors (barring any deaths during the Hunt Phase) and pits you against the monster that you chose to pursue.

- I've only played at two and three player. At two, each person controls two characters, and at three, you'll have one person controlling two characters. Many people solo it, but I haven't tried that yet. Some play four player, but that's often not seen as the best player count since a player can die early in the showdown, or even the hunt phase before the showdown, and would have nothing to do other than help control the monster. Also, since you're playing as a settlement, it's not as though you'll be playing a single character the entire campaign. Characters will die and we found more often than not, that it was the equipment loadouts that became more the of "character" that we passed from one survivor to the next.

- Randomization: besides the art, this is the other consideration that can make or break it for people. It's dice heavy and you roll for events that can just kill you out of nothing but bad luck. There are ways to mitigate and improve your odds during the fight, but there are other times where rolling dice can be cruel and you'll get pounded down with not much other option than to restart a campaign. Some people give each character one free re-roll during their lifetime, or remove some of the more nasty random event cards like Murderer from the settlement event draw deck.

PanzerKraken · Jan 21, 2020

KDM can be so insanely random, no matter how well you plan or play, the dice can just wreck an entire campaign easily very quickly. I love the game but also it can be incredibly frustrating to see a big long campaign you've been working on flush down the drain due to a couple unlucky rolls. Events can have such random huge impacts on the game. Its part of the experience but sometimes feels a little like just awful bad game design too as they went with a ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN mentality with so many event charts.

Chromie said:
I need some KDM impressions for ERA people. I don't plan on buying it but it looks amazing to me and like a mini painters dream.

The game is impressive product, if you are more into it for miniatures I would go elswhere and buy unique minis from other places though as the KDM figs are quite overpriced for their component quality. The sculpts are nice but their final construction for the multipart kits are often sloppy and you need to do lot of putty work to fix big seams for a good hobby finish.

Takamura-San · Jan 21, 2020

Can I have a link to the discord?

XShagrath · Jan 21, 2020

Takamura-San said:
Can I have a link to the discord?

Here ya go!

https://discord.gg/96SmtP

MrFarenheit · Jan 21, 2020

Really wavering on my Oath pledge. Just not sure how much play I would get out of it. Leaning towards all in on Everdell.

ArkkAngel007 · Jan 21, 2020

Xater said:
I would add Onitama to the list of great two player games. If you want to get into something a little more complex for two Watergate is also quite good.

Second for Onitama. Quick to set up and take about 15 minutes to play. The extra card expansion is quite good too, and there's another out there called Way of the Wind that adds a piece that both players control if you want to shake it up further.

MrFarenheit said:
Really wavering on my Oath pledge. Just not sure how much play I would get out of it. Leaning towards all in on Everdell.

Have you ever played Everdell or are you just referring to Spirecrest and Bellefair? If you're just starting, I'd say just go for Everdell CE and Spirecrest CE.

MrFarenheit · Jan 21, 2020

ArkkAngel007 said:
Second for Onitama. Quick to set up and take about 15 minutes to play. The extra card expansion is quite good too, and there's another out there called Way of the Wind that adds a piece that both players control if you want to shake it up further.

Have you ever played Everdell or are you just referring to Spirecrest and Bellefair? If you're just starting, I'd say just go for Everdell CE and Spirecrest CE.

I've never played and I see that I can order the all in KS stil. It's just pricey lol

ArkkAngel007 · Jan 21, 2020

MrFarenheit said:
I've never played and I see that I can order the all in KS stil. It's just pricey lol

If you want to save a bit for Oath, I really just recommend the two I mentioned, likely coming out to $104+shipping. Bellefair has no CE, so you can pick it up whenever for probably around the same price as it is in KS online or at a Con. Pearlbrook isn't quite as cohesive to the rest of the game as the other two and will see the least amount of use, but it's not difficult to get a hold of either if you feel you want more Everdell. I gave my impressions a page or so back on that expansion in particular.

MrFarenheit · Jan 21, 2020

ArkkAngel007 said:
If you want to save a bit for Oath, I really just recommend the two I mentioned, likely coming out to $104+shipping. Bellefair has no CE, so you can pick it up whenever for probably around the same price as it is in KS online or at a Con. Pearlbrook isn't quite as cohesive to the rest of the game as the other two and will see the least amount of use, but it's not difficult to get a hold of either if you feel you want more Everdell. I gave my impressions a page or so back on that expansion in particular.

So i was looking at the late pledge thing and see that some how I am confirmed for an all in? How can i delete this?

Mashing · Jan 21, 2020

Played Here I Stand for the first time this weekend. I played the protestants and finished with a score of 21 (you need 25 to win). This was a incedibly fun experience as everyone involved was well into what the game has to offer. It did last a bit longer than it should (12 hours, people I played with said it shouldn't usually last more than 10 hours), but I was having fun througout. I was wary about the diplomacy aspects of the game, but it turned out not to be so bad (even though I sucked at that aspect of the game). Atleast the Papacy didn't win (in fact I cost them the game on the last turn). ;)

Rover · Jan 21, 2020

Mashing said:
Played Here I Stand for the first time this weekend. I played the protestants and finished with a score of 21 (you need 25 to win). This was a incedibly fun experience as everyone involved was well into what the game has to offer. It did last a bit longer than it should (12 hours, people I played with said it shouldn't usually last more than 10 hours), but I was having fun througout. I was wary about the diplomacy aspects of the game, but it turned out not to be so bad (even though I sucked at that aspect of the game). Atleast the Papacy didn't win (in fact I cost them the game on the last turn). ;)

I've been getting more into wargames lately and that game looks interesting.

Feel like doing a big write-up about wargames (from a sort of "normal gamer" perspective) soon.

Chromie · Jan 21, 2020

Bought them both off someone in my discord server for local board gamers NYC. Thank goodness for moving sales! Now I own two core sets of Arkham Horror and an expansion for $15 and Sekigahara for $20.

Rover · Jan 21, 2020

Sekigahara for $20 is a steal

Chromie · Jan 21, 2020

Rover said:
Sekigahara for $20 is a steal

Yup. I won't feel bad if I don't get it to the table right away.

Spookie · Jan 22, 2020

Sekigahara for $20

What mad bastard sold that?

Xater · Jan 22, 2020

Man Shut Up and Sit Down is on a roll. A War of Whispers looks amazing. A war game that is based on area control, works with all player counts, has easy rules and can be played in an hour tops? Sign me up!

Edit: It seems like it's not widely available (yet?). What a bummer.

GrimGrinningGuy · Jan 22, 2020

Atlantis rising delayed 2 weeks uggggg it'll miss my game day now

BlueRose · Jan 22, 2020

Batman: The Animated Series Adventures - Shadow of the Bat launches on Kickstarter on February 18th and will be delivered to backers and available at retail in Fall 2020.

Running off the AUGS engine, Shadow of the Bat offers unrivaled flexibility and player choice. Players can take the role of any hero in their roster in the game's 24 unique missions, all inspired by fan-favorite episodes. Likewise, even villains can be swapped out in every mission to change up the threats that players will face. In Shadow of the Bat, 1-4 players will take to the streets as Batman, Batgirl, Robin, Commissioner Gordon, and Catwoman, each with their own unique character abilities, skills, and custom dice. And they'll have to work together in order to take down the likes of Two-Face, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, Scarecrow, Man-Bat, The Joker, and Harley Quinn. As with other AUGS games, villains can be controlled by the game itself for full co-op play, or by a 5th player. AUGS' modularity means that players can even create their own dream scenarios and teams, including bringing in elements from other AUGS products.

Launching alongside Shadow of the Bat is the Arkham Asylum expansion, which will add 13 more missions to play through, and an all-new game mode: Clayface mode. In Arkham Asylum players will explore the halls of the infamous psychiatric hospital as they tangle with Clayface, Poison Ivy, Jervis Tetch, The Ventriloquist, Killer Croc, Maxie Zeus, Lock-Up, Clock King, Baby Doll, and Hugo Strange. In Clayface mode, each hero will be given a card that will indicate if they are who they appear to be, or if they're actually Clayface in hiding. At any time, the Clayface player can reveal their true identity, transforming into the massive Clayface, and turn on their former friends!

Players will also have the option to expand their roster of heroes and villains with The New Batman Adventures character pack, containing Nightwing, Tim Drake as Robin, Calendar Girl, and Firefly. Story Packs for Mask of the Phantasm and Mystery of the Batwoman will also be available, adding new missions and characters–The Phantasm and Bruce Wayne in plain clothes, and Batwoman and Bane, respectively–that follow the films' stories.

This will be compatible with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures products. IDW Games also have a Mutanimals expansion coming to retail for that line this year and a Krang War/Dimension X follow up Kickstarter launching next year.

I can't wait for this! I'm still waiting for my all-in TMNT Adventures pledge to arrive, but I love Batman: The Animated Series. I passed on Gotham City Chronicles in favour of this solo/co-op game when it was first announced last year. I was honestly anticipating another 12-15 month wait for fulfilment, not 6-9 months.

Invicta Fide · Jan 22, 2020

BlueRose said:
Batman: The Animated Series Adventures - Shadow of the Bat launches on Kickstarter on February 18th and will be delivered to backers and available at retail in Fall 2020.

This will be compatible with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures products. IDW Games also have a Mutanimals expansion coming to retail for that line this year and a Krang War/Dimension X follow up Kickstarter launching next year.

I can't wait for this! I'm still waiting for my all-in TMNT Adventures pledge to arrive, but I love Batman: The Animated Series. I passed on Gotham City Chronicles in favour of this solo/co-op game when it was first announced last year. I was honestly anticipating another 12-15 month wait for fulfilment, not 6-9 months.

This looks so much more appealing than GCC. Unfortunately I already bought GCC, so I'm in a conundrum here. lol

BlueRose · Jan 22, 2020

Aeon's End Outcasts is coming to KS in early February, continuing the expeditions introduced in New Age.

affeinvasion · Jan 22, 2020

BlueRose said:
Aeon's End Outcasts is coming to KS in early February, continuing the expeditions introduced in New Age.

Dang. I haven't even broken into New Age yet.

BlueRose · Jan 22, 2020

Invicta Fide said:
This looks so much more appealing than GCC. Unfortunately I already bought GCC, so I'm in a conundrum here. lol

Use the miniatures as proxies/alternate models in Batman: The Animated Series Adventures!

The first big box expansion to Journeys in Middle-Earth leaked.

the_lord_of_the_rings_journeys_in_middle_earth_shadowed_paths_expansion_board_game.jpg

Expand your adventures across Middle-earth with the Shadowed Paths expansion for The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth! This expansion adds new heroes, enemies, terrain, and items to all of your adventures, unlocking more ways for you to explore this iconic land. Meanwhile, an all-new campaign containing thirteen scenarios invites you to walk the tangled paths of Mirkwood and venture into the shadowed halls of abandoned Moria to face ancient evils. Will you heed the call? Prepare your heroes and brave the terrors of Shadowed Paths!

It seems to be hitting retail in February.

Chromie · Jan 22, 2020

BlueRose said:
Use the miniatures as proxies/alternate models in Batman: The Animated Series Adventures!

The first big box expansion to Journeys in Middle-Earth leaked.

It seems to be hitting retail in February.

So whats the consensus on this? I love Star Wars: Imperial Assault a lot.

piratepwnsninja · Jan 22, 2020

Chromie said:
So whats the consensus on this? I love Star Wars: Imperial Assault a lot.

Very different game. I really enjoy it.

Joeyjoejoeshabadoo · Jan 23, 2020

Chromie said:
So whats the consensus on this? I love Star Wars: Imperial Assault a lot.

It's awesome. They got rid of dice and use a card system for skill checks. My only complaint was I felt it rewarded gunning the goals over just exploration. I still need to complete main quest in the base box so maybe later missions are different.

Invicta Fide · Jan 23, 2020

Joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
It's awesome. They got rid of dice and use a card system for skill checks. My only complaint was I felt it rewarded gunning the goals over just exploration. I still need to complete main quest in the base box so maybe later missions are different.

This is my sentiment as well. I enjoy the game but the times I lost have all been because I decided to explore more. I wish they gave you a little more time before threat gets out of hand. Even if you try and control it, it just seems like you don't have the time to really check out the neat side quest things.

Deleted member 9241 · Jan 23, 2020

Grabbed Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters on sale last week for $17. I played the basic game with the family and it was kind of a dud. Then we switched to the advanced rules an it was so much more enjoyable. It was a great purchase for that price.

Fonst · Jan 23, 2020

What's the word on Sub Terra (II)? I am curious but skeptical that it is just a light filler game that may take too long and have a large table footprint?

SillyEskimo said:
Grabbed Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters on sale last week for $17. I played the basic game with the family and it was kind of a dud. Then we switched to the advanced rules an it was so much more enjoyable. It was a great purchase for that price.

Love that game! I heard mixed things about the expansion though.

Joeyjoejoeshabadoo · Jan 23, 2020

SillyEskimo said:
Grabbed Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters on sale last week for $17. I played the basic game with the family and it was kind of a dud. Then we switched to the advanced rules an it was so much more enjoyable. It was a great purchase for that price.

I imported this game back when it won or was at least nominated for the kinderspiel and it's been a hit with my kids.

Fonst said:
What's the word on Sub Terra (II)?

I'm not the biggest fan of the first Subterra. There is a serious problem with the end game and it sort of ruined the little bit of fun I was having playing the game. Our game literally came down to passing a skill check or die. We all died. Spent about 90minutes making it to the end tile and then the entire game hinged on one die roll. It left a serious bad taste in my mouth.

The one thing I did like about it was the tile laying exploration bit, which is a majority of the game.

AaronD · Jan 23, 2020

Skulldug is my go to game for tile exploring. Its competitive but also can be played in teams.

jhawk6 · Jan 23, 2020

Invicta Fide said:
This is my sentiment as well. I enjoy the game but the times I lost have all been because I decided to explore more. I wish they gave you a little more time before threat gets out of hand. Even if you try and control it, it just seems like you don't have the time to really check out the neat side quest things.

They've added a new "adventure" difficulty that reduces the emphasis on threat. Haven't tried it personally. I am excited about this new expansion though!

Invicta Fide · Jan 23, 2020

jhawk6 said:
They've added a new "adventure" difficulty that reduces the emphasis on threat. Haven't tried it personally. I am excited about this new expansion though!

I haven't heard about that. I'm going to have to check it out. That may be exactly what I was looking for.

GrimGrinningGuy · Jan 23, 2020

Anyone backed and want to sell their Atlantis rising? Retail got pushed passed my next game day, would love to get a copy for next week

Thordinson · Jan 24, 2020

BlueRose said:
Aeon's End Outcasts is coming to KS in early February, continuing the expeditions introduced in New Age.

How is Aeon's End in general? The gf and I have been eyeing it.

Does anyone on here or in the Discord use Tabletop Simulator? It's on sale on Steam and I wondered if it would be worth it since I don't know anyone else with it lol

Man-is-Obsolete · Jan 24, 2020

Thordinson said:
How is Aeon's End in general? The gf and I have been eyeing it.

Does anyone on here or in the Discord use Tabletop Simulator? It's on sale on Steam and I wondered if it would be worth it since I don't know anyone else with it lol

i got it in the last sale and would love a patient group to learn how it works.

Deleted member 4452 · Jan 24, 2020

Thordinson said:
How is Aeon's End in general? The gf and I have been eyeing it.

Does anyone on here or in the Discord use Tabletop Simulator? It's on sale on Steam and I wondered if it would be worth it since I don't know anyone else with it lol

Aeon's End is great. Best coop deckbuilder imo.

Neverfade · Jan 25, 2020

Loathed Aeon's End. Anyone want to trade for my copy?

XShagrath · Jan 25, 2020

I enjoyed Aeon's End Legacy, but have not really had fun with the base game, from the few times I've played.

In my experience, at least, the non-shuffling aspect of it causes turns to feel very repetitive once you get going, and since it's a co-op, I don't feel I can make sub-optimal plays just for fun. So, I end up just firing off my previous spells, and prepping the same ones again every few turns as I cycle through my deck.

With other deckbuilders (like Dominion), you'd have different choices every turn due to the different ordering of cards. In those games, I might buy a card for my deck just because it's interesting, and want to see how it plays out.

The Wizard · Jan 25, 2020

Any recommendations for two player games that are similar in feel to games like King of Toyko or Betrayal at the house on the hill? By that I mean they have clear theme, are approachable and easy to learn and not very think-y. These two games in particular always go down a treat in our 5 player group.

I'm about to move to another country and want to start playing tabletop simulator with my brother. Over the holidays introduced him to some heavier campaign style games (Gloomhaven and Arkham horror LCG) but before continuing those campaigns digitally I'd like to find some lighter fare as I completely skipped over any gateway games and feel like he now has the impression that tabletop games are more complex and involved than they have to be.
Here are a few I was considering but I'd love to hear if there's something similar to what I'm describing that I've missed out on:

Dice throne - has King of Toyko style dice rolling, seems to work great 1v1 and there's a lovely looking official mod on the workshop. Only downside I see is the different phases and status effects make this harder to each upfront for what is at its core a low complexity game.
Forbidden Island - looks like Pandemic lite. I think this would be a good showcase of a lighter co-op game that offers a decent challenge in shorter single sessions.
Clank!, Smash up and Star Realms - grouping these together as I don't know s lot about them other than they each contain deckbuilding elements. Deck manipulation is where TTS really shines in my opinion, being able to shuffle and mix in cards from different piles with ease is a big improvement over real life card management.
Horrified - great theme, nice introduction to moving around a board and manipulating different game pieces without having an overwhelming amount of components.

According to bgg most of these games seem like they should work well at 2 player (even if they support higher) but would love to hear if anyone has played them at those counts. I'm also curious to discover any other Ameritrash / Beer and pretzel games for 2 as I want to highlight that modern board games don't need to be a brain burning strategic challenge.

AaronD · Jan 25, 2020

Horrified is excellent at all player counts. I've played it both 2 and 5 and it's great fun either way. Replaced my Pandemic games.

Invicta Fide · Jan 25, 2020

The Wizard said:
Any recommendations for two player games that are similar in feel to games like King of Toyko or Betrayal at the house on the hill? By that I mean they have clear theme, are approachable and easy to learn and not very think-y. These two games in particular always go down a treat in our 5 player group.

I'm about to move to another country and want to start playing tabletop simulator with my brother. Over the holidays introduced him to some heavier campaign style games (Gloomhaven and Arkham horror LCG) but before continuing those campaigns digitally I'd like to find some lighter fare as I completely skipped over any gateway games and feel like he now has the impression that tabletop games are more complex and involved than they have to be.
Here are a few I was considering but I'd love to hear if there's something similar to what I'm describing that I've missed out on:

Dice throne - has King of Toyko style dice rolling, seems to work great 1v1 and there's a lovely looking official mod on the workshop. Only downside I see is the different phases and status effects make this harder to each upfront for what is at its core a low complexity game.

Forbidden Island - looks like Pandemic lite. I think this would be a good showcase of a lighter co-op game that offers a decent challenge in shorter single sessions.

Clank!, Smash up and Star Realms - grouping these together as I don't know s lot about them other than they each contain deckbuilding elements. Deck manipulation is where TTS really shines in my opinion, being able to shuffle and mix in cards from different piles with ease is a big improvement over real life card management.

Horrified - great theme, nice introduction to moving around a board and manipulating different game pieces without having an overwhelming amount of components.

According to bgg most of these games seem like they should work well at 2 player (even if they support higher) but would love to hear if anyone has played them at those counts. I'm also curious to discover any other Ameritrash / Beer and pretzel games for 2 as I want to highlight that modern board games don't need to be a brain burning strategic challenge.

Dice Throne is easily the most played game in my house. It's just so easy to pick up and play. All of the heroes feel so different that the replayability is incredibly high. My wife and I play this 1v1 regularly and honestly it's the best way to play the game. The more players you add, the down time can add up, especially if they are new to the game.

JSR_Cube · Jan 25, 2020

What is good about Dice Throne is that the characters have a wide range of complexity, so someone who is new to gaming can learn with a simpler character while you can play a more complex one.

I would take Horrified over Forbidden Island. Horrified has more theme. Forbidden Island is less complex.

Good choices overall though.

Fonst · Jan 25, 2020

The Wizard said:
Any recommendations for two player games that are similar in feel to games like King of Toyko or Betrayal at the house on the hill? By that I mean they have clear theme, are approachable and easy to learn and not very think-y. These two games in particular always go down a treat in our 5 player group.

I'm about to move to another country and want to start playing tabletop simulator with my brother. Over the holidays introduced him to some heavier campaign style games (Gloomhaven and Arkham horror LCG) but before continuing those campaigns digitally I'd like to find some lighter fare as I completely skipped over any gateway games and feel like he now has the impression that tabletop games are more complex and involved than they have to be.
Here are a few I was considering but I'd love to hear if there's something similar to what I'm describing that I've missed out on:

Dice throne - has King of Toyko style dice rolling, seems to work great 1v1 and there's a lovely looking official mod on the workshop. Only downside I see is the different phases and status effects make this harder to each upfront for what is at its core a low complexity game.

Forbidden Island - looks like Pandemic lite. I think this would be a good showcase of a lighter co-op game that offers a decent challenge in shorter single sessions.

Clank!, Smash up and Star Realms - grouping these together as I don't know s lot about them other than they each contain deckbuilding elements. Deck manipulation is where TTS really shines in my opinion, being able to shuffle and mix in cards from different piles with ease is a big improvement over real life card management.

Horrified - great theme, nice introduction to moving around a board and manipulating different game pieces without having an overwhelming amount of components.

According to bgg most of these games seem like they should work well at 2 player (even if they support higher) but would love to hear if anyone has played them at those counts. I'm also curious to discover any other Ameritrash / Beer and pretzel games for 2 as I want to highlight that modern board games don't need to be a brain burning strategic challenge.

Draftosaurus is fantastic. 2-5 and 2 player players very strategic gameplay but Is very light and you got super cool dinosaur meeples.
Silver & Gold: super addictive 2-4 player marker game where you put X's on treasure maps to score points.
Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters is a good one for 2-4.
Century: Golem Edition is easy to play but has a lot of depth. The Golem version has better components and super cute!

Thordinson · Jan 25, 2020

The Wizard said:
Any recommendations for two player games that are similar in feel to games like King of Toyko or Betrayal at the house on the hill?

I echo the recommendations for Dice Throne. It's a great game that doesn't last too long 1v1 and it's fairly easy to get the hang of especially with the less complex characters.

Kharnete · Jan 25, 2020

Second Twilight Imperium 4 game in my club, and my love for it after the first impression hasn't changed any bit. What an insanely good game.

This time we have played with non-basic races, assigned randomly, and oh boy. Nekro Virus here, and what a treat. I finished once again second (tied at 9 points with another player), but it was just a late comeback without any real chance to win it all, mostly to certain lonely basic Infantry unit that defended Mecatol Rex from my invasion fleet (he alone killed 3 of my own uber-upgraded guys) and crushed my mid-game plans. Going from the "boring" +1 to combat rolls racial to this "you can't research technology, you must assimilate all the things" makes for an insanely different approach even if both habilites are related to combat at the end. What a fun thing to be a totally-not-a-Borg.

The Wizard · Jan 25, 2020

AaronD said:
Horrified is excellent at all player counts. I've played it both 2 and 5 and it's great fun either way. Replaced my Pandemic games.

That's very encouraging to hear, Pandemic was the game that got me and my girlfriend into modern games but we played in a board game café and then jumped straight into Legacy Season one. I'm really looking forward to trying Horrified it seems like it'll work with a varied audience.

JSR_Cube said:
What is good about Dice Throne is that the characters have a wide range of complexity, so someone who is new to gaming can learn with a simpler character while you can play a more complex one.
I would take Horrified over Forbidden Island. Horrified has more theme. Forbidden Island is less complex.

Yeah I saw that character have variable complexity although I might start off with two of the simpler characters as it seems like they have fewer status effects to explain for a teaching game.
Yeah thinking it over Forbidden Island might be inessential as it's a gateway to games like Pandemic which I feel work great as an introduction to co-ops on their own.

Fonst said:
Draftosaurus is fantastic. 2-5 and 2 player players very strategic gameplay but Is very light and you got super cool dinosaur meeples.
Silver & Gold: super addictive 2-4 player marker game where you put X's on treasure maps to score points.
Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters is a good one for 2-4.
Century: Golem Edition is easy to play but has a lot of depth. The Golem version has better components and super cute!

Thanks for the recommendations, hadn't heard of any of these outside of ghost fightin' treasure hunters (which seems to be aimed at younger audiences but apparently has some advanced rules to make it interesting for adults?)
Love that each of these games have some great looking components like the Dino meeples of Draftosaurus or the gems in Century: golem, which nearly look edible!

Glad to hear all the positive impressions for Dice Throne, I think a night of that and Horrified should be a great jumping off point to discover even more new games and nice light break from the heavier campaign games.

GrimGrinningGuy · Jan 25, 2020

The Wizard said:
Glad to hear all the positive impressions for Dice Throne, I think a night of that and Horrified should be a great jumping off point to discover even more new games and nice light break from the heavier campaign games.

dice throne is incredible. Glad people already gave you the advice!

GrimGrinningGuy · Jan 25, 2020

Just want to vent: I hate when people list stuff on BGG market then never reply to questions . The last three items I asked about I never got a reply

GrimGrinningGuy · Jan 25, 2020

Finally got The Magnificent to the table and we really really like it

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