Board Games

#WhatDidYouPlayMondays Feed The Kraken

@boardgames @geekygoodies #boardgames

Pretty solid German social deduction game. It gives up on minimalism to achieve
great replayability and balanced games. The mechanics are reminiscent of big US
classics like The Resistance and Secret Hitler.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/271601/feed-the-kraken

Photo from the publisher's website.

Im familiar enough with board games to know that I’m asking a lot here. My goal is to have a game that I can carry around with me, walk up to people I meet in public, and ask them to play.

The most obvious path here I thought of would be some type of game played with a standard deck of cards. While I’m not opposed to this, I fear the randomness that comes with that might not be what I’m looking for. I want the game to be strategic with minimal luck but simple enough that a first time player could reasonably win against someone experienced.

Something like Hive comes to mind, as it has the pocket variation and seems like it could be easy enough to teach, but I have yet to play it so I fear it might be daunting to newcomers in ways similar to chess.

Thank you in advance for any and all answers, and if you would like further clarification I’d be happy to elaborate!

#WhatDidYouPlayMondays Prey Another Day

@boardgames @geekygoodies #boardgames
Simplest bluffing game I know. If you hunt using animals from the top of the
food chain, you have greater survival chances, but don't get the highest score.
The strategic-depth-to-rule-complexity ratio is not low at all, and even
tiebreakers give everybody a shot at winning, so you are never really out of the
game.

A quicker Skull done right. Also, I love the artworks.

PH: @BG_Geek on BGG

Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children's Game of the Year)

Topp die Torte

Nominees:

• Cascadia Junior
• Le Clan des Souris/Die Mäusebande

Kennerspiel des Jahres (Connoisseur-gamer Game of the Year)

Endeavor: Deep Sea

Nominees:

• Faraway
• Looot

Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year 😉)

Bomb Busters

Nominees:

• Flip 7
• Krakel Orakel

I'm the sort of weirdo that sees a movie-length game review and am desperate now to find other weirdos who got just as excited about it to play Blighted Reach.

Innovation on BGG.

And I totally agree with his opening remarks about the early phase of Civilization being the best part!

So excited to play it

Hello everyone!

I made an app that allows you to create custom trackers (you can change the values of everything and even if they add, subtract, multiply or divide) the idea was to make it versatile (though it has a very ugly UI).

There's also the option to make notes for every tracker and the last thing I added was the ability to save! So you can even use it to save your games for playing later on.

In the beginning I just wanted to make a simple tracker without thinking too much for others to use but then I kept adding ideas and now hopefully is useful to someone else too.

If you have any feedback let me know and I'll see what I can do. I've made some apps but I'm not an expert!

#WhatDidYouPlayMondays John Company

@boardgames @geekygoodies #boardgames
All other semi-cooperative #boardgames I know focus on a clearcut distinction between (semi-)good players and traitors, given by secret personal role/objective card(s). This game is innovative in that *everybody* is driven by personal gain, and the only reason players don't screw each other over all the time is that people still need the company to stay afloat.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/332686/john-company-second-edition
Photo by @bladerunner007 on BGG.

I know, there are fancy editions with Swarovski, golden pawns, inlaid wooden boards etc. But what are the most expensive base editions?

Some games are complicated - they have really complex rules. Examples of this are games where you have to track many different types of tokens, with different rules for each.

Other games have really simple rules, but still manage to produce extreme complexity in they way they are played.

Go is the perfect example of this. It literally has 2-3 rules, but because you can play anywhere, the complexity it can produce is wide and deep, to the point that tomes have been written on how to play it.

What other boardgames exist that have very simple rules, but produce complex and interesting game play?

Panda has expanded its production operation outside of China for the first time by launching a joint venture in Brazil, as unpredictability over US tariffs continues to weigh on the tabletop industry.

Panda has manufactured more than 70 million board games from China since it was launched in 2007, for companies ranging from Asmodee, Stonemaier and Leder Games to first-time creators launching their projects on Kickstarter or Gamefound.

We'll start off with Catan at 4 and hopefully hit Terra Mystica by 8 🙏

Obviously! From the makers of Strategy

I learned about postmark games a couple years ago, found the print and play format quite interesting and wanted to try something. But it looks like all their games are competitive, which I often don't enjoy.

Mostly I really like talking about the game while playing, so I wouldn't mind a game that's mostly luck-based or where there's little player interaction.

Please recommend me some print-and-play games if possible! I'd love to know if any other publishers do this too

I’ve been working on this concept for 16 years, and just launched a playable MVP it’s called JuryNow, and I’d love your take on it.

The idea: You ask any personal dilemma or life choice (serious or silly) and get a snap verdict from 12 real people from around the world, anonymously, within 3 minutes.

But here's the game loop: 💡 To get your verdict, you "pay" with ** Jury Duty** answering other people’s questions for a 3 minutes. The questions can be on any topic from a fashion dilemma to a workplace problem, to a big life decision or a mini political poll.It’s fast, instinctive, and weirdly addictive.

There is no commentary, discussion or debate...it's just a binary choice powered by human collective intelligence. It gives you a global perspective on a decision if you are stuck, and if you aren't! JuryNow plays like a global social deduction/party game, where objectivity, empathy, and instinct matter more than logic or debate.

You can ask questions like:

"Is Atlas more of a girl name or a boy name?"

"Celery vs. broccoli/ which is more hated by kids?"

"Someone keeps ripping down my LGBTQ activism stickers off of lightposts. Should I super glue them or give up?"

It’s kind of like Wavelength, Cards Against Humanity, or The Resistance, but... micro-sized and real-time.

🎮 Play it here: https://www.jurynow.app/

Would love your honest feedback as board game fans ...what works, what doesn’t, how you’d explain it to others, or whether this could ever make sense as an app or even a table top version one day?

Thank you! 🙏 Just to clarify up front: JuryNow® is trademarked and not open source and not designed for self-hosting. It’s a live, centralized platform I’ve built over many years, and I’m sharing it here and would love feedback from board ganers! (not to release the code or architecture.)

For anyone interested in checking this game out, but daunted by the very large card pool, this article is pretty good. The goal is to give people suggestions without triggering FOMO over stuff that's out of print or way too expensive.

I think it does a good job. Maybe too good: there is still a big wall of text. The core recommendations, which are accompanied by a lot of additional explanation and alternatives, are the following.

1. There is not a single [expansion] for this game that you NEED to enjoy what is available. Even if you never lay your hands on [some particular expansions], you will still be able to have a great experience. Your cardpool will be excellent and you will be able to play great campaigns.

2. You do need a Revised Core Set; the box labeled FFGAHC60, from 2021. That box has everything you need to play the game and see if it's for you. Many of the cards in that box are still regularly used by experienced players---the core set is very good.

3. First investigator expansions: Edge of the Earth or Drowned City, or [other discussion].

4. First campaign expansions: Drowned City or Innsmouth Conspiracy, or [other discussion].

5. Is this game for you!? This is a good question, and there is some discussion of it at the end of the article.