Author Topic: Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competetive Perspective (Read 109626 times)

mouser · « **Reply #75 on:** July 11, 2016, 12:21 PM »

So, I see that you have to keep track of stuff- permanently. Is that the case? Or did you find a way around that?

It's absolutely the case. you add stickers to the board and to cards, you write on cards, you tear up cards, etc.

I embraced it and didn't want to find a way around it. We played it 18 times, running 60-90 minutes per game. That's plenty of entertainment for me for $55. No need to find a way around it.

In fact I would say that a huge part of the enjoyment of this game is how weighty every decision feels because you know there is no turning back. Consequences are permanent.

wraith808 · « **Reply #76 on:** July 11, 2016, 09:57 PM »

So I'd guess that you want to be careful who you play with. I mean, I've played big box games with people that I've regretted it, because you end up getting things all set up, and they get bored with it. That would be catastrophic with a game like this.

mouser · « **Reply #77 on:** July 11, 2016, 09:59 PM »

Yes that is definitely true.. You'll want to find someone who you are not only compatible with, but who will be able to play 12-24 games with you.
The rules suggest you play a practice game if you have never played the normal Pandemic game, which involves no marking up of anything. So my suggestion is play that, and figure out if you have found your partner(s), and only play the real thing once you have.

tomos · « **Reply #78 on:** July 24, 2016, 07:04 AM »

[edit] not sure does this even qualify as a 'board game' but here it is anyways [/edit]

Codenames:
nothing really to do with (spy) theme -- it's a word game.

Roughly:
a bunch of word cards are displayed on the table.
There's two or more teams, each with a 'spymaster'.
With two team, (almost) half the word cards belong to each team. Only the spymaster knows which cards -- they have to give their team clues, if their team correctly guesses the related words, the cards are covered/marked with the team colour.

It took us a round or two before we got into the game -- and into the way of thinking of the spymaster. It was very enjoyable -- our spymaster was pretty adventerous at times with the clues which made it interesting. Note: one clue can be used for multiple cards. (Spymaster states how many cards.)

Playing in German was helpful: you can string words together to make new words. (We didnt inspect the rules too closely to see if this allowed.)

The spymaster's view with three teams playing:

Micro Reviews of Board Games From a Non-Competetive Perspective

(whoever guesses the dark card by mistake loses instantly)

image from this review:
http://www.theboardg...s-party-game-review/

mouser · « **Reply #79 on:** July 24, 2016, 07:15 AM »

Codenames is a GREAT GREAT ingenious game. Super easy to teach, playable with family, friends, etc. Women really like it. (not great for very young kids).
Highly recommended.

ps.
They are coming out with a new spin-off called Codenames: Pictures that uses pictures instead of words, ~~but the consensus seems to be that the original is better~~ seems like some people prefer the original and some prefer pictures.

mouser · « **Reply #80 on:** October 01, 2017, 07:15 AM »

It's been a while since I posted to this thread -- I'll try to do better.

Today's mini-review of a board game is for a card game called "Fabled Fruit":
https://boardgamegee.../203427/fabled-fruit

I've played this game with my serious board gamer friends, my 12 year old niece, and my mom, and they all loved it.

It plays from 2-5 and all player counts are good. The basic rules are quite simple, you lay out 6 piles of cards and on each turn a player choose which card to visit, either performing the unique special action specified on the card, or paying the "cost" on the card in with different kinds of fruit mini-cards and claiming it. First player to claim a certain number of cards wins.

What makes the game quite unique and special, is that the game comes with 70+ different cards, and as you play the game over the course of multiple sessions/days/weeks/month, old cards are removed from play and new ones are revealed. So the game is introducing new elements each time you play it, but the rules only change a tiny bit each time. It's wonderfully entertaining to adjust your gameplay to the new changes that come each time you play it.

Highly highly recommended for all variety of gaming personalities.

mouser · « **Reply #81 on:** February 21, 2019, 11:21 AM »

It's been a long time since I've posted on this thread.

But I recently played a game that I feel compelled to talk about: Chronicles of Crime.

This is a cooperative deduction board game where you play as detectives trying to solve crime stories.
You don't replay this game over and over, you only play each scenario once (each lasting a few hours), which tells a story as you try to solve the crime. More downloadable scenarios are coming soon.

The game makes excellent use of a phone/tablet app, where you can scan item cards in order to ask certain characters about certain evidence. It's a brilliant design and it works.

This will probably be made into a pure computer game soon -- as the actual physical pieces are not essential -- but for those of us who appreciate the tactile element of board gaming in a group, it works.

I'm a huge fan of these deduction mystery games like Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, but where this one really shines is in scratching that open-ended itch that you find in classic computer adventure games, where you can basically ask anyone about anything and really have to sit and think and discuss clues while you try to figure things out.

Highly recommended.

Note: The crime stories are for mature players, not young children.

mouser · « **Reply #82 on:** April 12, 2019, 11:23 AM »

We've been playing through Chronicles of Crime, and it continues to impress.
If you think you'd like being a detective and solving a real crime with a partner, I cannot more highly recommend you and a friend give this one a try.

holt · « **Reply #83 on:** April 12, 2019, 11:12 PM »

a.k.a. Talicor
The Ungame - Wikipedia
Rhea Zakich, then a young mother from Garden Grove, California, was forced not to speak for months after her doctor found polyps on her vocal cords. Although the polyps were removed and she made a full recovery, the experience affected her: unable to speak for that long period, and afraid that the problem might return, she felt emotionally estranged from her family. This led her to the realization that, as she put it, "we all spend so much time talking... but we never really communicate."

As a remedy, she decided to write down on paper cards a number of questions that she wanted to ask her husband and children. Some were light-hearted ("What do you like to do in your spare time?"), some serious and intimate ("If you could live your life over, what would you change?"). Before long, with nearly 200 cards on her hands, she realized that she could turn them into a sort of board game.

She played it with her family, and the results were surprising: her husband revealed for the first time how frightened her illness made him; her son, a bright student, expressed how he hated the constant pressure to perform well in school; the other son talked about how his brother's constant teasing hurt him. At the end of the game session, her husband said: "I've learned more about all of you in these twenty minutes than in the past five years." It was the first time each family member really felt listened to and heard, since the game rules state that players can only talk on their turns.

Later, they let their neighbors borrow the game to play with their children; the oldest son took it to his school psychology class, and his teacher asked for copies. Soon, a company was founded by someone whose family was dramatically changed by playing The Ungame. The new Ungame Company began to produce and market it, and as their line expanded, it was renamed Talicor. In 2008, the sales topped 4 million in more than 14 languages. The Ungame was the first non-competitive learning/communication game on the market and has been used in schools, churches, businesses, counseling centers, hospitals, and prisons, as well as in families and party settings.

Board game version
Pocket Ungame kids version
Pocket Ungame teen version
Pocket Ungame all ages version

Full size board versions:
-The Ungame Board Version
-The Ungame Christian Board Version
-The Ungame Catholic Board Version

Pocket versions - These include cards only in a smaller travel sized box.
-All Ages
-Kids
-Families
-Teens
-Couples
-Christian
-Seniors
-20-Somethings

mouser · « **Reply #84 on:** May 20, 2019, 09:51 PM »

Just a quick note, if you fancy yourself a detective, Chronicles of Crime has become my favorite board game of the last 12 months or so. Absolutely outstanding. The Noir expansion is great.

mouser · « **Reply #85 on:** July 10, 2019, 11:50 AM »

We had a 2-person board game convention this week

About a year ago I made a new friend in my town (Champaign, IL) who has similar tastes and appetite as me in cooperative board games, and most importantly a compatible disposition, and we have been playing a lot of cooperative board games together.

After about a year we decided to host our own 2-person "convention" this week. 3 days of gaming at our local game shop.

All of our friends and the people at the board game store were confused, startled, and then got a chuckle out of our badges and shirts, when they realized it was just the 2 of us "attending" the convention

And we got inquiries from people who want to be part of it next year

I highly recommend the idea for anyone who wants to create a fun little event for their friends or family.

Badges:

Shirts:

We play 15 hours the first day, 9 hours the next, and then 14 hours on the last day. How's that for commitment ?

We played some old favorites, but spent most of our time on a new game that we'd both been looking forward to playing for a year.

Games played: Pandemic Fall of Rome (not our favorite pandemic but interesting), Cahoots (small coop filler), Orleans w/ Invasion co-op expansion (super cool Euro deck builder), Chronicles of Crime (app-driven detective game I have written about in this thread before, one of our favorites).

The game we played the most of (18 hours?) was 7th Continent, a massive, amazing adventure/exploration game.

It's a co-op/solo board game, heavy on exploration, with lots of story, very long duration scenarios that you are meant to play over the course of 6+ hours, split into different sessions. It was a kickstarter exclusive but they are going to release a version to retail soon that is much more affordable. It feels like an open world and is the most thematic adventuring/exploring games I've ever played. It's difficult, and has some real gaminess/strategy to it, so I would only really recommend it to serious players who can commit the time to it, but wow is it good.

wraith808 · « **Reply #86 on:** July 10, 2019, 12:25 PM »

That's a really cool idea! We did something similar at one point, but didn't have the cool props!

Deozaan · « **Reply #87 on:** July 10, 2019, 12:50 PM »

Care to explain the catchphrase "show her the negatives"?

mouser · « **Reply #88 on:** July 10, 2019, 01:05 PM »

It's sort of an embarrassing/off-color inside joke. In chronicles of crime, one of our real favorite new board games, you basically spend the game gathering evidence and asking people about it, and trying to solve a mystery. In one mission we found some compromising photographic negatives of a model, which explained one of the motives for a murder. While playing we got into the habit of showing everyone the negatives just to see what they would say. We got some very entertaining responses -- with some people even kicking us out and not talking to us anymore, etc. I'm not proud of what we did in that game, but we did solve the mystery and it led to some funny moments...

Deozaan · « **Reply #89 on:** July 10, 2019, 02:25 PM »

The "people" you showed the negatives to weren't actual people, right? They were just AI/NPCs? And there weren't any actual compromising negatives, right? They were just kind of a conceptual/abstract thing you could use as part of the game?

If that's the case, then IMO you don't need to be embarrassed/ashamed by it, and it does sound like the kind of thing that would lead to a fun(ny) inside joke.

tomos · « **Reply #90 on:** July 10, 2019, 02:48 PM »

Teeshirt is lovely

ewemoa · « **Reply #91 on:** July 11, 2019, 07:10 PM »

We had a 2-person board game convention this week
-mouser (July 10, 2019, 11:50 AM)

Awesome!

When's the next one?

mouser · « **Reply #92 on:** July 16, 2019, 07:00 PM »

When's the next one?

I assumed we would have it every year but now I'm thinking we may have to hold it several times each year

mouser · « **Reply #93 on:** July 16, 2019, 08:04 PM »

Another board game experience I loved is:
Escape Tales: The Awakening

There are a bunch of great escape-room style board games that have come out in the last couple of years, where you have to solve puzzles and there is a thin narrative story element.

This one is heavy on the story and thematic element, and is the longest escape room style game currently out there. You'd be hard pressed to solve it in under 6 hours without cheating, and if you like to talk and discuss like we do, and avoid hints, it could easily take you 12 hours to solve.

I've been told that the "Exit" game puzzle are better quality, but for me the heavy story and theme and serious length made it a favorite.

mouser · « **Reply #94 on:** April 19, 2020, 12:55 AM »

This is a brief review for the new cooperative trick-taking card game "The Crew":
https://boardgamegee...ew-quest-planet-nine

With all the hype this game received, I was full expecting to be let down, but I have to say it's a pretty damn good little cooperative trick taker.

I was recently quite disappointed by the recent 2-player cooperative trick taker "Fox in the Forest Duet", which I felt was overly complicated with uninteresting choices. [The original 2-player competitive game Fox in the Forest is great btw].

But "The Crew" gets it right -- the games are fast and interesting, and the basic rules could not be simpler.

It's really built for 3 or 4 players, but I've found the 2-player variant works surprisingly well, despite sounding awful. You essentially have a dummy hand that is half-exposed and controlled by one of the players. But in practice it creates an interesting puzzle element and works well.

The "innovative" part of the game is the fact that you are meant to play it in a "campaign" of 50 missions of increasingly challenging tweaks to the goals.

It's not like a legacy game or a strict campaign -- people can jump in and out, each mission is a standalone thing that simply specifies different kinds of goals that need to be achieved in different orders. So there's no need to keep playing with the same group, etc.

The variety of missions and the short length of the games and the simple rules, makes it ideal for non-hardcore gamers. Yet the strategy is rich enough to make it interesting for more serious gamers. And the campaign of games essentially gives everyone time to get more sophisticated as they learn how to play better over the sequence of games.

Highly recommended, both for 2 players, and for mixed family groups during vacations, etc. .

mouser · « **Reply #95 on:** January 09, 2021, 08:24 PM »

Just wanted to mention on this thread that I've finally bit the bullet and done something I've been thinking about for a while -- I made a YouTube channel with a good friend of mine, playing and discussing boardgames. You can read all about it here:
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=50896.0