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Mo (66 KP) rated Agricola in Tabletop Games

Jul 31, 2018  
Agricola
Agricola
2007 | Animals, Economic, Farming
Variable game play (2 more)
Lots to do
Set amount of game turns
Tough game to play well (2 more)
Games can run long
Can be difficult for beginners
Who knew farming was so fun
Move over Catan, this farming game is going to sell your place in history. It is fun trying to figure out what to do and what everyone else is doing. There is negative scoring and many different ways to collect points. An early lead can work against you, especially when people know what you are doing. There are always a way to turn the game around.
Can have some funny exchanges on what to do especially when you have a player say they are buying themselves some kids.
Would love to see how the expansions change the game play.
  
Super Fight
Super Fight
2014 | Entertainment, Humor, Party Game
An excessive amount of cards in the base game which allows for a great amount of replayability. (2 more)
Allowing players to debate about how their character would win the fight is a fun and unique mechanic that works out verl well.
Adding a random attribute card onto each character makes for some hilarious and surprisingly interesting combinations.
While there are a lot of cards in the base set after you begin to loop through the cards they do get old as they lose that initial shock factor. Buying the expansions will prolong this. (1 more)
Players tend to talk over each other while "debating" and end up shouting at each other for 5 minutes. (can be fun at times, but when it keeps happening it gets irritating)
A great way to settle arguments.
  
7 Wonders
7 Wonders
2010 | Ancient, Card Game, City Building, Civilization
7 Wonders is one of my go-to games for larger groups. Capable of handling up to 7 players, it's both strategic and a good casual game. As the game that brought drafting as the primary game mechanic into the forefront of tabletop gaming, it still remains on the top of the list. It does take a game for a new player to understand what they need to prioritize and need to keep an eye out of cards, but once they make it through a round, they'll be enjoying it in no time. Quick gameplay with lots of decision space allows for a fulfilling game that you can look back on and realize oh I should have done this!. There are issues with a lack of player interaction with people not next to you, but expansions do offer solutions to that.
  
Orléans
Orléans
2014 | Medieval, Religious, Travel
The many different options on how to play (1 more)
I kinda like the old european art
The theme isn't great (0 more)
A multi dimensional multipath to victory game with bag building and worker placement.
This game is one of my wife's favorites too. So many different ways to win this game, and the special buildings are the key to different paths. I will warn you as a first time player, make sure you don't neglect the knowledge path (books) or the map, those are the key to the game, how you get those down are how you win. This game is all about how you find your personal efficiency, and use your strengths which you've built better than you neighbor. I've not yet played the expansions as we've played the central game only about 20 times so far, holding out on opening those up till after the base game gets stale.
  
Borderlands 3: Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck
Borderlands 3: Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck
2020 | Shooter
The last of the four announced DLC expansions for Borderlands 3 has arrived with Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck. This time around the Vault Hunter(s) must travel into the mind of the unstable Krieg and work with his good and bad sides to research the psychos of the Borderlands universe.

Players will go through various locales but many of which will seem very familiar to fans of the series. The prior three DLC were set in a Casino, A creepy town, and an Old West Planet; and the locales this time out are not as distinct.

Players will see many familiar enemies and faces as well as this time around the emphasis is not on creating multiple new enemies. Instead it is more of a trip down memory lane as Psychos, Mechs, and familiar enemies come into play. There are naturally some new wrinkles such as Psychos riding rockets who make for a nice new wrinkle and there are some familiar faces in some of the Boss Battles players will encounter.

The game setting is not as engaging as the prior DLC as to me the settings seemed too familiar and lacked the fun of some of the locales of the prior DLC. The prior DLC also had more engaging settings and scenarios and introduced many new characters. This time around it is more like a trip down memory lane; literally and figuratively.

In the end the expansion offers more loot, more adventures, and a few hours of diversion; but for me was the least engaging and interesting of the four DLC offerings for the game.

That being said; I did have fun even if it was not as much as with the prior expansions and I hope that more DLC will be coming soon and Gearbox has teased some new announcements coming soon, perhaps as soon as today at PAX Online.
  
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Mo (66 KP) rated Scythe in Tabletop Games

Feb 20, 2019  
Scythe
Scythe
2016 | Civilization, Economic, Fighting, Miniatures, Science Fiction
Different mechanics each game (1 more)
Many different means to win
Beginning of the game is quite uneventful (0 more)
It is a good game over all
This was an interesting game. I had heard a lot of good stuff about it and had to try it. In the beginning I can say I hated it, there was nothing to really do and the game seemed overly complex. Later in the game I still looked at it unfavorably, winning combat was difficult and most of the game you are shepherded by the person who first manages to get to the main bit of land on the map. In the end I started to enjoy it, with the strategies which could come into play, actually sneaking in the points, and the multipliers for being a liked person in the game. This game has a lot of potential and I hope future expansions find a way to improve the experience
  
Terraforming Mars: Prelude
Terraforming Mars: Prelude
2018 | Science Fiction, Space
Massively increased variability (even more so!) (0 more)
Excellent expansion
Out of all of the expansions for TM so far, this is probably the easiest to incorporate, but the most game-changing. With each corporation having additional variables from how they were funded, it is possible to get some really, really specialised resource synchronisation, butnequally it is possible to turn a corporation which excels at one resource into a much more generalist, and gain boosts to several.

For some of the Prelude cards, they appear to be are a bit of a "dud", but sometimes getting a boost of a few Titanium right at the start can be a massive advantage, whereas others having an increase in Tree production can be a game winner. I have found that the main factor in success is still the Corporatation, but the Prelude cards certainly turn some of the "easy" Corps up a few notches, and can turn some of the "advanced" ones up to 11!
  
Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
Terraforming Mars: Venus Next
2018 | Space, Territory Building
Great, but fully optional, expansion
There are lots of things about Venus Next which are enjoyable. The addition of a new card resource (floaters) adds an interesting mechanism, which with a bit of luck can really be a huge boost to your game (in some cases, however, they can be a bit of a damp squib).

Venus itself isn't a game changer, and it is absolutely viable to completely ignore Venus - remember, Venus itself it supposed to be the next challenge for Humanity after Terraforming Mars (hence "Venus Next..."!). I have had a couple of games where Venus' terrforming didn't get beyond a couple of percent (but there were plenty of Floater cards!) but equally I've had a couple of games where Venus was developed as far as the Board would allow, before Mars was even half-way completed.

It is a very good expansion, but personal opinion it would be one to get after the other expansions - some of the others offer much more
  
The Red Dragon Inn
The Red Dragon Inn
2007 | Card Game, Fantasy, Humor, Medieval, Party Game
With friends like these...
Red Dragon Inn is a very fun game; you are adventurers AFTER the adventure, spending their spare gold in the tavern on drink and gambling.

The mechanics are simple enough, and the game is varied and random, although it can become a bit of a gang-up to force someone out quickly, if they are falling behind, which is a little bit of a spoiler for the player.

You are trying to be the last adventurer standing, either by not getting as drunk, or keeping a higher constitution.

I think it would be a longer game with a few more ways to reduce your drink level, or boost your health (like a hearty snack, or a meal etc). It is a good game for a few friends getting a few games in, but it wouldn't be a main-game.

There are expansions, but from what I've seen they seem to be a bit on the expensive side.
  
Above and Below
Above and Below
2015 | Adventure, Book, City Building, Economic, Exploration
Design is awesome (2 more)
Mechanics are fun and easy to teach
Mechanics have lots of replayability
Stories can get repetitive (0 more)
Above and Below is a great introductory game to adventure mechanics. Nothing in the game is difficult, and players can feel accomplished, even in their first game. But there is also enough variety to allow for great replay ability and to still keep the game interesting for experienced tabletop players.

And oh man, is the design awesome. You'll be amazed at the level of detail that went in to the cartoony graphic design.

Ultimately, the biggest downfall is the lack of adventure stories. You might think I'm crazy, because there are 208. But in just a few games, we managed to replay quite a few stories. This is less than ideal, because not knowing the outcomes of the stories is integral to the gameplay. Perhaps this is something that the expansions fix, but I have not played them.