Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35150 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20825 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7405 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3967 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3498 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2076 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2583 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2255 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2496 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3016 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3692 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2625 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2461 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2290 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2506 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Use the stickied threads for short updates.

Please consider adding your quick impressions and your rating to the game entry in our Board Game Directory after you post your thoughts so others can find them!

Please start new threads in the appropriate category for mini-session reports, discussions of specific games or other discussion starting posts.

What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

More
21 Jan 2020 15:31 #306455 by Msample
Games played at the Winter Offensive con this past weekend:

Arrived 3ish and ran into Wray "Kwisatz Haderach" Ferrell and ASL crack dealer Scott "Stringer" Blanton in the lobby going out to buy extra tables to accommodate what turned out to be another record year for attendance. Bryan Collars also arrived around the same time.

The four of us eventually wound up playing ANGOLA on the big map set. My FNLA freedom fighters made quick work of the Communist oppressors of Cabinda and returned from the jungle citadel into northern Angola at the start of turn 4. Meanwhile in the south the Communists conducted a skillful delaying action, foiling my UNITA allies played by Bryan from consolidating the southern regions to the extent that the main road from Zaire was contested well past the games halfway point . On a side note, Bryans missile fire was ferocious, pretty much every Soviet made armored car ended each battle in a burned out hulk on the side of the road .

In the center, I had expanded from my starting position in Malanje and had slowly but surely eradicated the Communist infested hinterlands, but at the cost of my forces in the jungles overlooking the coastal plain. By late game we had linked up with our allies to the south, but the Commies had not been idle, taking back the coastal city strip and eventually forcing the game to go the entire 10 turns. Going into the last turn it was tied, and both sides furiously attacked in hopes of winning. Partway thru the turn, both FAPLA and UNITA had lost all their original VP chits, making them worthless to attack. When the dust cleared , we had ended in the rarest of outcomes, a tie.

After that, it was getting late so Wray and Scott showed us SKULL a quick bluffing game where you place discs face down and bid to see how many you can turn over w/o getting a skull. Pretty fun late night fare with no shortage of profanity uttered. You could home brew a set using beer coasters if you wanted to .

Friday morning James "Thank God I moved from Jersey" Terry and I took NEVKSY out for our first crack at this new game. Write up submitted as a separate article.


This took us well into Friday afternoon . A couple games of SPACE BASE were followed by a dinner phase at a nearby Mexican place where we witnessed the hilarity of them scrounging up a gluten free menu for Special Needs Stein. We returned to play ECOS aka Animal Bingo . Pete was not impressed to say the least but I enjoy it for what it is. After one game of that we finished the night with the ever popular GLORY TO ROME where I edged out the others.

Saturday dawned with a chill in in the air due to the impending game of NEMESIS with the Jersey gang. The line up;

Chad - Mechanic

Foley - Scout

Wray - Pilot

Bob - Captain

Me - Soldier

After the rules explanation I asked whether they wanted to play co-op ( friendly ) or semi ( watch your back ) . It took the table about .3 seconds to yell SEMI and we were off exploring the bowels of the ship.

True to his nature, our so called Scout ( Foley ) managed to find , in his first three rooms, a room covered in Alien Slime, another on Fire, and a third that was Malfunctioning. Early on everyone was busy Searching for better stuff to kit themselves out and while we started in two groups, eventually we started to split up for various reasons, one of which was we were running out of items to Search for and people started to pay attention to their individual objectives. Mechanic Chad verified the engines were in working order and cleverly used the air ducts to move across the ship.

Soon of course we had some aliens show up . I dispatched one , while Wray managed to become something akin to the Alien Whisperer due to his luck in moving out of alien occupied rooms w/o being attacked. This included the alien Queen herself. Since my objective was to kill the Queen I sought her out and started pumping round after round into her after tossing a grenade in to start things off. After emptying my first clip I slapped another in with a shout of LETS ROCK !! I emptied the entire clip into her on Full Auto, killing her. This left me however with no Ammo, my armor having been expended to stave off Infection, and too far to travel to the Armory to get more. So I tip toed into the Hibernation chamber with aliens in three adjoining rooms and went to sleep hoping the rest of the crew would pull thru.

This however was not to be. Wrays luck was soon pierced as Bob used a Decoy to lure three adult aliens into Wrays room ( Bob needing to kill Wray for his objective ) . Wray managed to escape, but he was wounded badly, and to boot he was collecting Contamination cards like Eddie Murphy collecting FCOJ futures in Trading Places. Meanwhile Foley and Chad were dodging aliens while trying to get rid of potential chest bursters in the Surgery Room.

While all this was going on a pair of separate Fires suddenly spread and the ship blew up. Game over Man ! We just got our asses kicked !

Much fun was had by all and I am sure GMT East will see more play of this fine game. This took us to mid afternoon where we broke our WESTFAILIA. The misspelling is intentional. I didn't like this game. At all. During the rules explanation I had flashbacks to CASE OF THE CATALANS. While maybe not quite that bad I felt the game is too much work for too little payoff. It needs six - and only six - players. I was Spain, and during three military phases I made one attack in total . The diplomacy phase is somewhat hindered by players not knowing ( w/o repeat play ) what the worth of a deal is - each power has unique victory conditions . I just don't think the effort to learn the game is worth it.

Another quick game of SKULL was followed by LLAMA, a game akin to UNO where you are trying to empty your hand of cards. Quick and fun for what it is.

Next was PUSH, which is best described as CANT STOP with cards and far more enjoyable, in that you can screw over other players. Dr Rob joined us for the second go around of this entertaining game.

Final game was PAX PAMIR with four of us. My Brits against both Chad and Bob backing the Russians and Foley backing the Afghans. Early on I gathered half the cash available and held it pretty much the rest of the game. Bob and Chad shared the first Dominance ( double card ) check and then Bob pulled ahead on the next one while I finished second. Going into the last check I had a large tableau of cards available , further enhanced by many being in the Preferred suit allowing a lot of free Tax actions. So I was basically buying cards for close to no cost. Since the final Dominance check was double points, I was able to sneak by Bob for the win.
The following user(s) said Thank You: southernman, Gary Sax, lj1983, Nodens, DarthJoJo, Ah_Pook

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
21 Jan 2020 19:18 #306467 by Jexik
Showed my parents Kingdomino and we banged out 3 or 4 plays in a row. They want to play it again. It really is so great at what it does.
The following user(s) said Thank You: jeb

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2020 15:16 #306490 by Sagrilarus
Leaving Earth. I'm writing an article.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ubarose, Gary Sax, Msample, cdennett

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2020 18:29 #306495 by mc

Space Ghost wrote:

ubarose wrote: @engelstein

I believe that it is 1960 or thereabouts. It's just such a great game. It is hard to believe that it came out so long ago. It feels so modern.


This is one of the few older games that I am on the look out for -- loved it when I played it; hard to find a reasonable copy though.


Does anyone know how it compares to Regatta? It looks kind of similar.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2020 23:07 #306502 by Sagrilarus

Msample wrote: Games played at the Winter Offensive con this past weekend:


You know I've probably sat in that room with you in the past. I need to figure out who the heck you are so I can introduce myself and buy you a beer.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Frohike

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jan 2020 23:52 - 22 Jan 2020 23:55 #306503 by ubarose
I've never played Regatta.

Yacht Race is kind of cut throat. You have to circle flags that are in the 4 corners of the board, and there are land masses that you have to maneuver around. How fast you can move and which directions you can move in is determined by which way the wind is blowing. So you have to tack.

Each player can change the direction of the wind a set number of times during the games. So there is a good deal of playing chicken hoping that someone else will change the wind to a direction favorable to you. There are also random events that can be triggered when players sail over certain spots on the game board. You can block other people from moving by being directly upwind of them, or being in their path infront of them.

A lot of the strategy is trying to stay in the middle of the pack without getting blocked up, as the majority of the players will be changing the wind so it is blowing in a direction that will get you all where you want to go. Getting too far ahead or too far behind puts you at a disadvantage, but it also means changing the direction of the wind will screw with the pack.
Last edit: 22 Jan 2020 23:55 by ubarose.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Jackwraith, engelstein, mc

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 15:09 #306548 by Space Ghost
Pathogenesis (w/expansion) -- this is a deckbuilder where you are pathogens trying to invade the body. You can either play cooperatively or competitively - we played coop because that seemed to make the most sense.

Deckbuilding is pretty straightforward, and in the Ascension family of games in terms of a center-row, etc. What sets it apart is the pathogens you build remain in play and you can beef them up by adding toxins and traits, continually wearing the body down. However, once the body notices your assault, the immune system kicks in and starts destroying your pathogens.

Overall, good game that is different enough from most deckbuilders that it is worth playing. The rule book is pretty shoddy in my opinion -- mainly how it is organized and how relevant information is fragmented throughout. I am fairly tolerant to this kind of thing; however, this was on the more extreme end.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, charlest

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 15:17 #306549 by charlest
Oceans is excellent, much better than Evolution (a game that underwhelmed me). My group is smitten with this one at the moment.

878 Vikings surprised me. My favorite of that series so far.

Barenpark was dull and I'd rather play Silver & Gold.

Zombie Kidz Evolution may be the best kids game designed.

Galaxy Trucker has returned to the table after a hiatus. One of the best still.

The King's Dilemma is wonderful.

Posthuman Saga is too Euro for its shirt.

LOL Surprise: 7 Layers of Fun has me hating life.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Jackwraith, barrowdown

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 15:33 #306550 by southernman

charlest wrote: Posthuman Saga is too Euro for its shirt.


I'm glad you said that, I had the chance to get this and an expansion for a good price a few weeks ago but noticed the tone of the comments at BGG so sat down and read the rulebook - very clever but a multi-player solitaire (again) with puzzle solving and task races, I'm sure it is a good game with replay potential but for a different type of gamer to me.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jackwraith

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 16:09 #306552 by charlest
Yes, exactly. I think it is a well designed game - and it's structure is very unique for an adventure game - but it's just not what I want from the genre.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 16:25 #306553 by southernman
Instead I splashed out on Dungeon Degenerates (it looks like an online store here splashed out on a few retailer pledges from its latest kickstarter) and it arrived today, there is a bit of a wait for games hitting my table but I suspect it will be doing some queue-jumping.
The following user(s) said Thank You: charlest

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 20:33 #306558 by Sagrilarus

charlest wrote: Posthuman Saga is too Euro for its shirt.


Wow. I've been looking at Posthuman. Never would have expected THAT from it.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2020 21:20 #306559 by charlest
So it's important to note this is Posthuman Saga, which is the sequel to Posthuman. I believe the original was not quite as Euro/strategy focused over theme.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Sagrilarus

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Jan 2020 02:55 #306562 by marlowespade
Played Aventuria for the first time tonight, a couple of 2P games then a couple solo rounds of the first scenario.

I like it, I think. The combination of cardplay and die rolling is one I enjoy, and the decision of which cards to burn to pay for others later on down the road (combined with the fact that there's no reshuffle once you're out) was frequently excruciating, in a good way.

I also like the fact that I don't have to construct a deck ahead of time - just take a character deck and go, learning how to pilot it along the way and each one playing differently to some degree. 2P was surprisingly quick, and fun.

I'm less sold on the solo aspect, because it seems to be a few die rolls pre-game to throw some random elements in the main game, followed by a pretty standard "whittle down the trash mobs and eventually the boss". That said, I only tried the first solo scenario so I'm curious to see how a longer Adventure plays out. And I do appreciate that the two modes play essentially the same way.

So far, I like it enough to want to play more (and a damn sight better than Pathfinder ACG).
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
25 Jan 2020 17:51 #306612 by Jackwraith
Played a 4-player Spirit Island. We didn't use an Adversary, since a couple people were only on their second play, but used all the rest of the B&C/advanced rules. We had Rampant Green, Sharp Fangs, Slumbering Serpent, and Bringer of Nightmares; so, quite an eclectic bunch. I think Sharp Fangs was the least effective, mostly because I just couldn't get enough presence on the board to really bring the Beasts tokens into effect. As usual, Green sprawled across the map and basically kept too much damage from happening, although we only had one Blight left on the card at the end. But the end was the snowballing effect of both Bringer and Serpent, where we ended up smashing through the 2nd Fear pile in a couple turns and opening up stage III just as we had cleared the cities. Still a very cool game.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, WadeMonnig

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 1.894 seconds