Board Game Purchases

[Tayaya]

Originally Posted by Abyssion

I can't wait to get my Risk - Metal Gear Solid Edition. Only problem is I have never played Risk before...

That makes two of us, though I played a bit of Conquest of Nerath, and the other players said it's pretty much Risk with 1-2 extra D&D mechanics. It was a lot of fun (so fun it made me sad when 2 of the players bailed mid-game because it was late).

My copy of Fortune and Glory is here. I'll punch it out at work on Sunday (I would do it tonight, but I'm off to see my girlfriend for the weekend!), but just from hefting the box I can understand why it's as expensive as it is. For a small company like Flying Frog to pump out a game whose box is bigger than Space Hulk's, and even more heavy, it's pretty impressive. The guys are itchin' to play this one, which is always a good sign, and everything I've read so far makes it sound like a blast. I rarely get truly hyped about a board game, but this on has me all kinds of looking forward to it.

[Blue]

I'd love to hear how it is. After it was mentioned here I started digging and I've been mulling adding it to the Christmas List but I'm still a little hesitant.

[Arphahat]

Picked up "That's My Fish" for my daughter's 8th birthday. Pretty easy to learn, but looks like there can be some serious strategy involved.

[TheKeck]

Originally Posted by Arphahat

Picked up "That's My Fish" for my daughter's 8th birthday. Pretty easy to learn, but looks like there can be some serious strategy involved.

I've played that game.





I don't remember anything about it.

[Arphahat]

Originally Posted by TheKeck

I've played that game.





I don't remember anything about it.

Rules are crazy simple.

1. Layout tiles in a square-like pattern.
2. Put penguins on the board.
3. Move one penguin in one direction as many spaces as you want without bumping into other penguins or gaps.
4. Pick up tile you started on.
5. You are done when you cannot move your penguins any more.
6. Winner is the one with the most fish. Each tile has 1-3 fish on it.

[Camel]

Can't wait for your impressions, Tayaya!

Also, That's My Fish sounds like something I'd be interested in. I am starting to look for more simple, fast-playing games. I'd like to get Bottle Imp at some point (TheKeck mentioned it before I think) as well as Kung Fu Fighting.

[Tayaya]

Punched out Fortune and Glory (and Betrayal at House on the Hill, which I got as a gift from the GF this weekend). Really high quality stuff. The board and all of the cards are super glossy, and the cards are on some very thick stock. If you've played Last Night on Earth, you have seen this quality of card stock before. The only problem is that out of the packaging the cards tend to stick together. Bending them slightly while stacked will pop 'em all loose. It's standard Flying Frog fare. The board is nice, and again very shiny. The coins and minis are all pretty decent. The character cards are really thick. There's definitely a lot of crap in the box, and it's all very vividly printed and sturdy.

The rules don't seem overly complicated, but the rulebook is quite thick. There is a very handy little "quick start" 4-page booklet for people that want to jump right in and play the competitive game with the very basic rules (no temples, no zeppelin, no villains (just henchmen)). I like the level of customizability this gives the game. The foundation seems simple enough, and each "advanced" element can be added in individually as players get comfortable with the mechanics. I haven't decided what we'll add in this week, though... depends on how much time we have! There are separate rules for team play, and a co-op game as well as the competitive one, and yet even more rules for a solo game.

I'll quit rambling about this one until it's actually played... but for those that were a bit put off by the high price, I can say that it's justified by the amount and the quality of what's in the box... it's a definite showpiece for what a modern board game can look and feel like (even if it is a bit campy... the art on some of the cards is hilariously bad in the best possible way).

[Tayaya]

Well we finally gave that copy of Fortune and Glory a whirl last night, and I have to say it was actually a little underwhelming, considering the monetary investment and all the nice bits. HOWEVER, we only played with the basic rules, and we didn't play a full game (Betrayal at House on the Hill came first).

In the basic game, there wasn't as much interaction between the players as I really hoped. It was a lot of sitting around while one player ran through his challenges, then doing the same for the next player. One player had enough Glory to buy the rifle from the common items stack at one point, which then subsequently made him pretty much unstoppable in any situation where a fight was involved (the rifle lets you roll 3 extra dice, but if that's not enough it also resolves its damage before the enemy even gets to attack). After just a few rounds, he was 2/3 of the way to victory, while the rest of us had just a few points of fortune. I did learn a bit about the dangers of going all-out and trying to get each treasure in one shot... it pays to camp down at least once per adventure to earn a little glory - that way you have a cushion of glory to spend if you DO fail, and can go back to a city and buy some items like the game breaking rifle. When you fail a cliffhanger, you have to discard artifacts, gear, allies, glory, or fortune (one d6 worth), so if you have nothing but fortune, you essentially get sent back to square one on a bad die roll.

No one at the table really seemed like they were having any fun except for the guy that bought the rifle (and I do think he was abusing it, as he would let us read the text on the card ourselves....I gotta pull it out and take a look). We were all actually happy we ran out of time... which is never a sign things went well.

We did take some time to look at the advanced rules though, and I think they'll add enough of a dynamic to the game to warrant another go. With the addition of the temples, villains, and zeppelin, as well as fast travel for those with the fortune to spend, I think the game will actually improve... it'll give players more options for earning fortune, and make the game more exciting than the rather bland game we tried last night.

[TheKeck]

Originally Posted by Camel

Also, That's My Fish sounds like something I'd be interested in. I am starting to look for more simple, fast-playing games. I'd like to get Bottle Imp at some point (TheKeck mentioned it before I think) as well as Kung Fu Fighting.

I did indeed mention it and it fits your description perfectly. Come to think of it, I should maybe pick the game up myself.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by Tayaya

Well we finally gave that copy of Fortune and Glory a whirl last night, and I have to say it was actually a little underwhelming, considering the monetary investment and all the nice bits. HOWEVER, we only played with the basic rules, and we didn't play a full game (Betrayal at House on the Hill came first).

In the basic game, there wasn't as much interaction between the players as I really hoped. It was a lot of sitting around while one player ran through his challenges, then doing the same for the next player. One player had enough Glory to buy the rifle from the common items stack at one point, which then subsequently made him pretty much unstoppable in any situation where a fight was involved (the rifle lets you roll 3 extra dice, but if that's not enough it also resolves its damage before the enemy even gets to attack). After just a few rounds, he was 2/3 of the way to victory, while the rest of us had just a few points of fortune. I did learn a bit about the dangers of going all-out and trying to get each treasure in one shot... it pays to camp down at least once per adventure to earn a little glory - that way you have a cushion of glory to spend if you DO fail, and can go back to a city and buy some items like the game breaking rifle. When you fail a cliffhanger, you have to discard artifacts, gear, allies, glory, or fortune (one d6 worth), so if you have nothing but fortune, you essentially get sent back to square one on a bad die roll.

No one at the table really seemed like they were having any fun except for the guy that bought the rifle (and I do think he was abusing it, as he would let us read the text on the card ourselves....I gotta pull it out and take a look). We were all actually happy we ran out of time... which is never a sign things went well.

We did take some time to look at the advanced rules though, and I think they'll add enough of a dynamic to the game to warrant another go. With the addition of the temples, villains, and zeppelin, as well as fast travel for those with the fortune to spend, I think the game will actually improve... it'll give players more options for earning fortune, and make the game more exciting than the rather bland game we tried last night.

Appreciate the review!

Is there a co-op version of the game as well? That's typically what I, and my friends, play so it sounds like that may help some of the tedium?

[Tayaya]

Originally Posted by Blue

Appreciate the review!

Is there a co-op version of the game as well? That's typically what I, and my friends, play so it sounds like that may help some of the tedium?

Yes, there is a co-op variant as well, but we've been in a competitive mood lately. There is enough potential here to turn the game into something fun... our first run at it just didn't meet up with the hype. The advanced rules should spice up the game a lot.

[Camel]

Hmmmmm, looking forward to your impressions once you've played with the full rule set. The zeppelin and villains and other little things seemed to be the stuff that stuck out the most when I read the Rock Paper Shotgun review, so maybe they really make the game special.

I hate it when the first play of a game is lukewarm. Hopefully it doesn't discourage your group and you all end up loving it the next time. The game seems pretty awesome to me and I'm really interested in what you end up thinking, so don't forget to check back in once you've played it again!!

Also...bought Bottle Imp. Awesome little game, although a bit hard to wrap your head around the strategy at first. Hoping to play The Resistance for the first time tonight as well!

[Wilkz07]

just bought Elder Sign though we didn't have time this weekend to play it. Also got my wife Smallworld for christmas.

[Tayaya]

Originally Posted by Camel

Also...bought Bottle Imp. Awesome little game, although a bit hard to wrap your head around the strategy at first. Hoping to play The Resistance for the first time tonight as well!

The Bottle Imp, huh? Well if Z-man's other recent offerings tell me anything it should be a fun little game. I like the premise behind it, and I'm always of the mindset that we need more card games at the table (less set up, sometimes even more action than board games). I see this one's a reprint by them but so is Tales of the Arabian Nights, and that's one of our absolute favorites right now.

As for Fortune and Glory, everyone does seem to want to give it another go with the added rules, so hopefully in a few weeks I can write something better about it.

[Camel]

King of Tokyo



This game is awesome. How awesome is it? So awesome I think I might sell Quarriors and just keep this to get my dice-rolling fix.

At the beginning of the game, everyone picks a monster. There's Giga-Zaur (a Godzilla lookalike), a giant monkey with a cyborg eye named The King, a giant sea monster called the Kraken, and a few more. My personal favorite is Cyber Bunny.




Everyone starts off at 10 health 0 victory points, and the first player to get 20 victory points (or the last monster standing if everyone else dies) wins. You do this by rolling dice, which can give you VP, let you attack other monsters, heal yourself, or give you energy cubes which you can spend to get cards. The cards are great and give you powers like a spiked tail or flame breath that can add to your damage, or cards that increase the number of VP you get per turn, or a bunch of other things. The artwork on these cards is very well done and usually hilarious.



Over the course of the game, monsters battle back and forth for control of Tokyo. Being in Tokyo is a good thing, because you get victory points just for being there at the start of your turn. Unfortunately, all the other monsters get to beat on you while you are there and you aren't allowed to use your dice rolls to heal yourself. The person who wins is usually the person who best manages the time they spend in the city. The games we played went back and forth all the way to the end, and nobody was ever so far out of the running that they lost interest.

Besides the increible artwork, I think the best part of this game is that it is fast. The box says 30 minutes to finish a game, and that's about right. As soon as we were done we played it again immediately because of how much fun we had. Highly recommended!

[LongStepMantis]

King of Tokyo seems so much right-up-my-alley that I think it might have knocked over my garbage cans this morning.

It's a Richard Garfield game as well, which as a former Magic tourney player, means it's as close to a game designed by God as one can get.

[Blue]

Thanks Camel, added to the ever-growing list.

[SilentScreams]

That definitely looks and sounds interesting.

[Hotcod]

I want this so very badly. Star Trek - Fleet Captains looks to be the first real star treky star trek game in a good long time.



But seems a tad expensive

[Ravenlock]

Miami Dice is a fantastic name for a board game show.

That is all.