acheron
Diamond Member
- May 27, 2008
- 3,171
- 2
- 81
My wife and I have been playing Agricola a bunch. Maybe should check out Power Grid sometime.
Through The Ages is a 3-4 hour game. The thing about the game is that you can lead by double the culture points and still lose it in the final few turns (kind of like how the first few rounds of Family Feud just do not matter).
Twilight Struggle is a good 2 player game, it is VERY dependent on draws though. If you get the other nation's cards back to back turns you have major problems. I do like winning from the Olympics though (done it twice now).
Race for the Galaxy I thought had a HORRIBLE 2 player mechanic. I prefer San Juan 2-player to Race to the Galaxy. 3 or more though and I like Race for the Galaxy.
Have either of you played Small World yet? I find the game highly entertaining.
Monopoly at least has the depth of deal making. Settlers card trading does not come close to making up the luck in rolling 4's back to back and cashing in while people on 6's and 8's are left stagnant.
mugs
Lifer
- Apr 29, 2003
- 48,920
- 46
- 91
Re: Luck
There was a poll at Boardgame geek on which games are more luck-based or skill-based. The results:
http://boardgamegeek.com/article/4663153#4663153
The dice rolling adds more luck to the game than some people prefer. You can replace the dice with a set of dice cards to ensure that you don't end up rolling 11s more than you roll 8s and 6s.
Did you play it with the "experienced" rules (2 actions per player)? That improves it a lot for two players.
There was a poll at Boardgame geek on which games are more luck-based or skill-based. The results:
http://boardgamegeek.com/article/4663153#4663153
The dice rolling adds more luck to the game than some people prefer. You can replace the dice with a set of dice cards to ensure that you don't end up rolling 11s more than you roll 8s and 6s.
Did you play it with the "experienced" rules (2 actions per player)? That improves it a lot for two players.
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Another thumbs up for Catan and its many expansions. The main downside to the game is its so expensive. For some cardboard tiles and little wooden pieces, I would have hoped the price would go down eventually, but no, still super expensive.
One thing I really like about the game is it provides a good "canvas" for making up new rules or modifications. So if you get bored with the official rules, you can spice it up in a lot of different ways.
One thing I really like about the game is it provides a good "canvas" for making up new rules or modifications. So if you get bored with the official rules, you can spice it up in a lot of different ways.
Interesting poll. I think some people really can't be objective in their results though. There are certain games that I can easily attribute luck to be the deciding factor. Amazingly, Monopoly is low on that list (I guess it is all in the manner of gameplay and deal making... if you are a shrewd deal maker you can overcome the luck easily). Topping mine would be Killer Bunnies and way up there would be Settlers of Catan.
Strangely enough we played Catan with dice cards and we all agreed that is just plain wrong. It is similar to playing Axis and Allies/Risk as you would Diplomacy with just strength of armies deciding the battle.
Of all games I own, there is one universally enjoyed. My 60 year old Step Dad loves it, my sister who hates games loves it, and my die hard boardgaming friends love it... and it is not really a board game. Wings of War... who doesn't want to be making propeller noises while pushing their miniatures around and Pew Pewing other planes!
Yep, that killed it for us. Once you started military than you won quickly. Settle every turn (free card for settling, maybe you settle twice if you got 2 mil worlds) and if you have a resource on one (I forget the term used for the ones that start with a resource) you also cashed that in for more cards on the same turn. Otherwise you combined it with explore to draw another military world. The fact that you only needed the military threshold to play a military world meant that you had a hand while the other player had to keep discarding to play developments/non military worlds. Even worse is if the other player had production worlds and had to waste his turn trading/producing without playing any cards.
Now, granted, we only played *two* rounds of this game 2-player. After the second basically identical playing of the game we said no more. I still like it at 3 and up though. Perhaps I am missing a key strategy for non military world quick buildups.
Interesting that Settlers is too random but you're on an Acquire kick where so much hinges on random tile draws!
I used to play a lot of Settlers, but it's gotten kind of long-in-the-tooth. Last time I played it, I didn't really enjoy that much. But as others said, it's a great "Gateway" game to show people that there is more to board gaming than just Risk/Monopoly/Axis.
mugs
Lifer
- Apr 29, 2003
- 48,920
- 46
- 91
Military doesn't work in every game. I pretty much only play it if I have +2 military on my start world (New Sparta) and +2 more in my starting hand. Otherwise you risk having too many rounds where you're not able to settle. Each round you're not able to settle gives your opponent a chance to produce/consume more. If they're able to get a good produce-consume engine going and run out the VP chips, you're done. If they're trying to build faster than the military player, they're done. It really is a race to end the game (through whichever way you can end it faster).
Leeching off your opponent's actions is a big part of the game. If you're playing against a military player, you can leech off his settles. He can't leech off your produces.
Edit: When playing a produce-consume strategy I usually only end up with ~8 cards in my tableau, because once I have enough production worlds and consume powers for 3-4 VP per turn I switch to Consume 2x VP and end the game ASAP
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BoberFett
Lifer
- Oct 9, 1999
- 37,562
- 9
- 81
What datalink7 said. Catan is a very good game, and if you like it there are even better games coming out now. The days of roll the dice and do what the card says are over. Today's games are leaps and bounds better.
Here's my game list:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/BoberFett
BoberFett
Lifer
- Oct 9, 1999
- 37,562
- 9
- 81
Interesting that Settlers is too random but you're on an Acquire kick where so much hinges on random tile draws!
The draws in Acquire are random, but you have enough choices in front of you that there should always be a good choice. It's rate that I feel trapped by my tiles in Acquire.
On a side note, somebody needs to do a high quality reprint of that game. The original one with the plastic board and tiles was great. The new one not so much.
FuzzyDunlop
Diamond Member
- Jan 30, 2008
- 3,260
- 12
- 81
yllus
Elite Member & Lifer
- Aug 20, 2000
- 20,577
- 432
- 126
I own both this and the Battlestar Galactica board game and have barely played either. I really need to rectify that.
Don't listen to anyone in this thread who says that Settlers of Catan is a luck based game. They clearly don't know how to play this game at all. In a 3 player game, it is often quite difficult to stop a player from expanding or building. In that game, you can say there may be an element of luck if a player wins. Even then, the 2 other players can interfere with his building, or build through trades on their own turns to bring themselves in the game. 3 player is shallow in comparison to 4 player imo.
The 4 player game is so balanced (except monopoly cards imo), that the game is scary good. In almost every game we play the end game comes down to all 4 of us sitting at 8 VP. There is just such a limit to building areas, that the only way to win is through the longest road and knight cards. Both of which (through group play) can be easily interfered with.
If your group is smart enough to realize when and where to place robbers, when and who to trade/not trade with, when to trade to another player so he can build roads and settlements to cut off the group leader, then this game is a blast every single time you play. However, if your group refuses to make trades with the people who are not in the lead, doesn't allow "table talk", or doesn't take cards through robber placement on the person in the lead, well thats your groups fault and not the games. This game is meant to be a strategic diplomacy game. In 4 player, the only card in the deck that i think is so overpowered that the other players can't slow you down, is the monopoly card. A well played monopoly card is an I-win card if you don't restrict how many resources it can pull.
If you like risk, you will love Settlers. I'm a big fan of strategy games and I think Settlers is a fun game for everybody. I can say without a doubt that Settlers is probably my favorite board game of all time. I haven't met a single person who has played this game that hasn't enjoyed it. It is that good.
The 4 player game is so balanced (except monopoly cards imo), that the game is scary good. In almost every game we play the end game comes down to all 4 of us sitting at 8 VP. There is just such a limit to building areas, that the only way to win is through the longest road and knight cards. Both of which (through group play) can be easily interfered with.
If your group is smart enough to realize when and where to place robbers, when and who to trade/not trade with, when to trade to another player so he can build roads and settlements to cut off the group leader, then this game is a blast every single time you play. However, if your group refuses to make trades with the people who are not in the lead, doesn't allow "table talk", or doesn't take cards through robber placement on the person in the lead, well thats your groups fault and not the games. This game is meant to be a strategic diplomacy game. In 4 player, the only card in the deck that i think is so overpowered that the other players can't slow you down, is the monopoly card. A well played monopoly card is an I-win card if you don't restrict how many resources it can pull.
If you like risk, you will love Settlers. I'm a big fan of strategy games and I think Settlers is a fun game for everybody. I can say without a doubt that Settlers is probably my favorite board game of all time. I haven't met a single person who has played this game that hasn't enjoyed it. It is that good.
mugs
Lifer
- Apr 29, 2003
- 48,920
- 46
- 91
Go back and read all of the rules again. When playing a new game you almost invariably get one rule wrong (though this seems unlikely if you were following along with the rule book, but it's still possible), and a simple change to one rule can drastically alter the game. The rules make a lot more sense after you've played the game once.
If you have any questions about any of the rules you could ask them here, or as mentioned previously http://www.boardgamegeek.com is a great source of information. Every game has its own set of forums there, including a rules forum. Each game has a strategy forum too, in case you need a little help beating your wife and kids.
- Jun 5, 2000
- 36,410
- 616
- 126
lol i did. i purposely left out the maritime trade until everybody got a hang of it. i waited until they had a bunch of Resource Cards and had to dump half of them because of the robber roll. hehehehehhe. you should heard the protest.
"OHHHH NOW YOU TELL US!!!!!!"
everybody is eager to play again tonight.
Illusio
Golden Member
- Nov 28, 1999
- 1,448
- 0
- 76
I love catan so much I bought this version a while ago. It's pretty slick. http://www.amazon.com/Settlers-Catan.../dp/B000FDEW3S
- Jun 5, 2000
- 36,410
- 616
- 126
- Mar 20, 2000
- 102,402
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