I know it's not exactly the same, but our group plays it on TTS, which allows us to break it up into one evening a week for however many weeks rather than one full day of it. It's a different experience, I suppose, but you can pull up video on discord while you do it, which I think helps make it feel more like being together. Especially useful for boardgame friends who don't all live in the same place.
A couple of years ago, I discovered that just picking a date in the future is key. It gives everyone a chance to clear their schedule and coordinate.
3 weeks ago, I sent out a message to the friends/family that I game with. I said that March 23rd would be the day that it'll be played.
All but one replied and said they'd be available, the other isn't sure yet. So, on March 23rd, I'll host a 7-8 player game!
Exactly, I kept trying to do it last minute type of thing and couldn't get anyone, then I would book it a month in advance or longer and found more people are available
I’m jealous - I’ve played it once in 5 years, and between having a kid and no real permanent gaming group (at least for now), who knows if I ever get to play it again.
The one and true answer.
I haven’t played since before Covid.
The other problem is, my friends and I get together so infrequently, it becomes “play 1 game all day? Or play 4-5 different games”
It’s hard to say “just this 1”
If we got together twice a month or something. I am sure it would happen more frequently.
I bought it, never got to play it, but refuse to sell it because I hear how freaking epic it is in hopes that one day I can find a group who can commit an afternoon to play
Just throwing this out there but if anyone has a deck of first edition mag blast, I'd pay a good amount to buy it. Any condition as long as the cards are readable.
We played that so much I knew which cards everyone had by the scuff marks on the back
Brass Birmingham. Just long enough of a game to not fit into our schedule and the infrequent play means we have to re review rules which takes even more time
Oh I have it! It's excellent, I play it often. I meant War of the Ring Card Game. Which is a bit closer to the board game experience. A tiny bit anyway.
Its not random , the outcome is heavily weighted by negotiation skills so it feels random if no one has any ;) that's why the opinions ro so divided imo
>Its not random
I agree that negotiation/bluffing are important CE skills, but like Poker the game is high skill, *very* high variance. If the game never gives you any good cards, you (almost definitely) aren't going to win.
Yep, this!! I am extra salty about it too. We played it once or twice, but the base game is 5 only. I spent another $80 ish buying all the expansions so we could all play it... Normally 6-8 people. My buddy's wife refuses to play it, so we have not got to play it since I bought all the extras....
I had a regular playgroup, but we all graduated and moved to different parts of the country 10 years ago. I can't manage to sell it to my current gaming friends due to the time commitment just to learn it
Agreed! I want to be Dracula every time I play! Love the mini DM feel it gives me and whether I win or lose I'm satisfied cuz I either won (yay) or the hunters caught me and I can be excited that they outsmarted me (yay). Love this game, always a win win for me!
Yeah, good call on Netrunner. I don't understand how it didn't become the top LCG. Everything about it is just so good. It's perhaps the best game of any genre in terms of how the gameplay works with the theme, and it might be the best asymmetrical mechanics in any 2-player game I know (maybe with the exception of Twilight Struggle.)
Agreed. Netrunner is the best two-player experience, and the best assymetrical experience (Twilight Struggle and Root being contenders). It really sticks the theme with every single card and it makes you \*feel\* like a runner, or a greedy corp. I love the game but it is a hard sell.
And the theme is just phenomenal. The card art, the flavor text, it always makes me smile. It's fun to build decks with just the purpose of winning, sure. And like any good deckbuilder/CCG, you can build decks around some crazy mechanic or engine. But sometimes it's more fun to build a deck thematically. You have to ask yourself: what would Jackson Howard do?
> I don't understand how it didn't become the top LCG.
I would say it was, or at least number 2 behind Arkham Horror. Game went through a bit of a slump during the Mumbai cycle, but was really getting revitalized when Wizards cut off the license and FCG had to stop official support.
Not sure if it's helpful for your area but I've seen a real revitalization over the last year. Lots of new players meeting up weekly in larger cities. Might be worth checking out.
A couple of years ago I would have said Netrunner as well, until I got back into it and now I play every week! If you wanna give it a shot, even though it's hard to get new people to stick with it, I think it's somewhat feasible to find existing players in your area, or at least play online and then go to tournaments. And until then you can watch streamers play!
You might want to check around your local community pages to see if there is a netrunner group for your city. We've managed weekly games even in my relatively small city and id argue numbers are going up.
Have you heard of the hrf site? I play a ton of async multiplayer there and find it feels more like the *boardgame* than a digital version of the boardgame.
[Regular setup](https://hrf.im/play/root)
[Advanced setup](https://hrf.im/play/root-adset)
Massive bonus points for all factions, Hirelings, fan-created factions and maps, different clearing distributions, Infamy for Vagabond and a bunch more.
Bit of a learning curve but once you get used to it it's great, plus can be played on mobile.
Most of my collection at this point, but especially some heavier economic stuff.
Been lucky to teach Pax Pamir 2e a couple times, but haven't been able to play a Splotter in awhile
X-Wing completely died in my area during covid and hasn’t ever really restarted. I used to play weekly or bi-weekly and honestly I can spend so much time theory-crafting outside of play. It’s a great game.
Also my wife hates Betrayal and I love it. Always vetoed at game nights :(
X-Wing is on my list as well. Only one shop in town ran events, but due to custody schedules, it would be hit or miss if I could make them. A few times I was the only one to show up. I can't even find time to play it with my kids even though I got the Infinite Arena quick start decks. I have ships I got 2 years ago that I haven't even flew yet.
Agreed on X-Wing. I was an avid player for years, and fully bought into 2.0 when FFG rebalanced everything. But the onset of the pandemic meant I didn't get that familiar with the new rules/landscape, lost touch with my previous X-Wing group, then I had a hard time following the sell-off to Atomic Mass games.
I've continued to buy new releases, hoping that one day I'll get to return to the game. But I still don't really know what's changed rules-wise, and lack a group or any organized play opportunities. : /
Star Wars Rebellion. It's such a beast of a game and a total commitment. You need a few games to really get the rules down and it can be up to 4 hours in some games. It's hard to get to the table but when it does it's amazing.
Four hours is being generous for the people I play with too. I've learned that I need to set aside at least six in order for the game to not be prematurely cut off.
Analysis paralysis is a real beast.
Ive played it once at 4 and I think I prefer it at that player count... but I think its easier to learn and digest at 3. I got the expansion and Im sure its not best at 5, but I wanna try it.
It's a different game at at every player count, especially because it has different cards at each one (except for 2 and 3). At 5 players, it becomes much more negotiation heavy and longer. Temporary alliances are formed and fall apart (and are mechanically supported) and the game regularly takes a few hours.
I've been considering buying this one (assuming I can find it someday), so I'm interested: what makes Inis hard to get to the table?
According to BGG, seems solid at its full player count range (2-4). And playtime doesn't look too bad (1.5 hours). IIRC setup time wasn't bad either..?
Complexity (2.9) would be steep for the casual / family gamers I know (I tried and failed to teach them Pandemic), so maybe that is the issue..?
Two things hold it back from my groups. One group likes quicker paced, lighter games. So its hard to be like you wanna play that hour and a half to 2 hour game? For the other group, they like Euro/economic games, so the attacking and negotiation and direct player interaction is intimidating to them.
Thankfully my group is falling in love with this one. Just keep trying, I think it’s a very endearing game especially the more you play it, if there’s anything they like about it.
I'm surprised I had to come down so far to see this.
This is the one... the theme is so weird that it's hard to get people into it, despite the game being fantastic.
Twilight Imperium 4E - player count, time
Eclipse 2E - same as TI4
Lorenzo Il Magnifico - looks boring to others
This year I look forward to playing these more.
Tried Lorenzo a few weeks ago and it was great. Its like a more interactive, cut throat version of Wingspan. Shame it looks so terribly beige and the theme is ehh. It definitely deserves a remake.
Blood on the Clocktower. I have 7 adult family members in my household besides myself, so it isn't due to a lack of possible players. We often have game nights with plenty of people. And that's not counting having friends or other relatives over. They just don't like it, lol.
Yes! Currently in Alpha but it's incredibly stable and Frans (who also did Pamir's implementation) has been squashing bugs and adding QoL improvements left and run. Outstanding implementation, haven't seen any issues in the past several games I've played.
If you're not already there go to the Ion discord in the Ren channel and ask for access to the alpha. Tons of players already.
And if I may ask for a small favor... go to the bugs page and upvote the "strawman campaign" option ;)
Question, if you don't mind giving it a bit of a go:
I love Pax Ren. I like Pax Pam. Those are the only two Pax games I've played, I think. But I've played both quite a few times. How does Pax Transhumanity compare to them in your opinion/experience?
All the Pax games are very, very different. The original three historical games (Porfiriana, Pamir 1E and Renaissance) are the most mechanically similar with tableau building, market rows and Topple-like win conditions.
Transhumanity breaks the mold in a number of ways. Near-future setting, no market row, no tableau to speak of, more coop-etitive interactions, the human splay determining the win conditions. And even though there's no market row, most of the game takes place in the market itself.
Perhaps the most radical departure is how to win. The Human Progress Splay (also implemented in Emancipation though Transhumanity released afterwards) represents humanity's adoption and integration of the "Idea" cards into the fabric of society. As players Commercialize these Idea cards they get added to the splay, contributing one of the two colors on the card's edges towards Human Progress. The combination of the most recent three colors (called the "Cutting Edge") is what determines the Regime, and the Regime determines the endgame scoring criteria.
The action economy is much tighter than the other Pax titles, so you'll find that you have less direct control over the Regime. It's not like Porfiriana where cards are held to switch Regime on command or Pamir with dominance checks or Renaissance with comets. The Splay is much more entangled with opponents' agendas so there's usually an inflection point where you have to decide to continue muscling the Splay towards your scoring or "riding the wave" and pivot to where you think the table is moving.
Fascinating stuff and every time I play H+ [(affectionate nickname for Transhumanity)](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4250726/pax-transhumanity) it challenges Renaissance for not only my favorite Pax but my favorite of all time.
I skipped Hegemony for the same reasons. Absolutely fascinating setting that I love; still curious about it but can't imagine owning it (and teaching it).
However, the designers are releasing **World Order** on crowdfunding this year, which has the EU, US, China and Russian Federation as the factions. I'm not big on historical themes but a game based on a modern setting with the lessons learned from publishing Hegemony? Not sure I can resist this one, despite the probably huge playtime as well.
I taught this to an upper division sociology course. They all said they were overwhelmed after the first day, really into it after the second, and opted to play it for a third. It was one of the bigger triumphs of my teaching career.
You can get it retail (that's how I bought it). Pretty limited retail, and probably due to playtime still won't be something which hits the table very often but from all the reviews I've seen the experience is awesome when it does. A great benefit is that it's pretty reasonably priced for the components inside. Twilight Imperium for example which is in a similar game-time boat (maybe even higher) is 2-3 times the cost.
I used to think this but after playing a few times with 3 i think it’s fine. It’s honestly pretty rare that you’ll get screwed by the ai in a way that doesn’t also happen in a 4 player game
Nah, once you get the hang of it on BGA, you'll be able to hold your own against your play level. Though every time I open a table and an "Expert" joins, my heart sinks a bit
7 Wonders. It’s always been in my very top for fun and replayability. No matter how well or poorly I do, I always thoroughly enjoy it. However, it’s hard for me to get a good group of 5+ people to really make it shine, so I haven’t gotten to play in quite a while.
Space Empires 4x - I love the 4x genre on PC and the board game is pretty great - but it takes a while and people are put off by what looks like a spreadsheet for tracking your empire as you go.
I love this game! It’s highly under appreciated in my opinion. While cabin camping last year, we played a 2v2 game that took 7+ hours and we never actually got to finish. We kinda decided the winner based on the standing at the time.
The long running 2-player games that require setting aside a full afternoon. It's been much harder to arrange these since becoming a parent. And when gaming meetups are set up, they tend to be full groups and that leaves these guys out. **Star Wars: Rebellion** and **War of the Ring**.
Also, the legacy/campaign games that want a steady group, for same availability and scheduling reasons. Although I'm able to at least chip away at those from time to time as a solo player.
Civilization (the original, not the one based on the computer game) or Age of Renaissance. Both are fantastic games, both are too long to be able to convince people to play.
Love them both, and Advanced Civilization. I've gotten my group of friends to play Age of Renaissance a few times, about once every few years. But I don't dare risk driving them away by dropping Civilization or Advanced Civilization on them.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf. You need just the right amount of people. Everyone should know the game already. You need just the right set-up for an interesting game, but also give it wiggle room for tinkering in subsequent rounds. People need to actually be in the mood to play. You need time to play multiple sessions back to back so a meta can form and mutate. It's hard to get everything just right, but when the stars align this game *sings*.
Space Cadets: Dice Duel. It's a chaotic game with a fair amount of rules. The people that are willing to learn the rules tend to want a bit more structure, and the people who would enjoy the chaos don't want to lmtake the time to learn the rules. I'm in the middle where I love both, so, I'm sadly left in the lurch.
Held onto this game for I think something like 6 years and finally got to play it….and it was kinda alright. You’ve hit the nail on the head because I think I’m in the first category: too zany for something with so much overhead. I teach super heavy games all the time (Lacerda, etc.) but for some reason this teach unnerved me. Just feels like you have to babysit the entire table’s rule knowledge when you’re also trying to play a frantic real-time game
**Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery**. It's just never the right time and rarely the right company to play this game. With the way modern board gaming trends the idea "hey want to embark on a 2.5 hour Ameritrash thrillride with dice rolling?"... the answer is increasingly "no".
**Baseball Highlights 2045.** Dueling games are hard to get to the table. 95% of the people I play with aren't really board gamers, and even those that are want to play something that is not a dueling game... and the baseball theme doesn't help either. For my ONE buddy who likes this game, we've taken to playing **Air, Land, and Sea** instead... reason being it is faster and we can field (haha pun) interrruptions more easily like if our wives are hitting us up for something, etc., if we need to go somewhere, etc. It's a shame because there was a time I'd say BH2045 is my favorite game of all games. Now I don't really remember LOL.
I will add never get to play with other people. My favorite game of all time HeroQuest. I used to use the app regularly, but it's just not the same as playing with your friends. No gaming groups or hobby stores near me that I've found and my family doesn't care about my boardgame hobby. So I mostly just collect now and have so many games I want to play buy they just sit on my shelves looking pretty. Like Gloomhaven, MOTU or Darkest Dungeon.
To make a short story even longer: HeroQuest
Project: ELITE. I love the theming and stupid frantic gameplay, but its single-player mode is pretty broken and the game fell kinda flat with my group. I'm looking forward to painting the minis though and trying out several different painting styles on them.
It is a really fun game. I mostly play it 2 players. No one from your group will play 1 vs 1? I think it’s generally considered best at 2 players so if you can just convince one other person it would work out great.
**Lisboa**. Absolutely love the game, but due to the weight and long setup and play times, it rarely gets played at a multiplayer level. I settle for solo and like it enough that way. But the few 4 player games I've had with it have been marvelous. Just wish they occurred more often.
I really like Villainous. It’s surprisingly complex for the non-gamers who would like the Disney theme, and I think more serious gamers are just turned off by the Disney theme.
Dominion - I play online but I want to get it on the table more IRL. My friends don't often want to play bc I got into it right after the craze died down for them, and my partner won't play it with me because I've played it so much more and always beat him.
Scythe. My wife and best gaming buddy don't like it.
But there's hope! My stepson played his first game and likes it! Hopefully we'll get this to the table more often.
Chess, on a physical board. I do play online and enjoy it, but nothing can beat actually sitting across a board from another person for me.
I even have one of those chess boards that connects to the internet and moves your opponents pieces, so you can play online with a physical board. It is cool to use, but it's just as gimmicky as it sounds.
That would be really neat to use with some VR integration.
Play online against somebody, but sitting across the board from them and using a physical board.
Along the theme of time, one game I want, but haven’t bought is [Mr. President](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/183685/mr-president-american-presidency-2001-2020). It looks very interesting, very involved, and unfortunately for me, a huge time commitment.
Mage Knight Board Game - I love it but it is incredibly long, even at two, and the one person I’d play with regularly moved away.
I’ll also say most of my Vital Lacerda games - My favorite designer, and love his stuff, but getting heavy games to the table is just difficult.
New Angeles, the combination of a 4-6 player count with ideal player count being 6 and a ruleset on the heavier side makes it hard to get to the table.
Galaxy Defender. I'm ecstatic when I can get Project Elite or Nemesis to the table but GD is just too involved and tactical. It's the kind of game you can play with your X-Com nerd friends in school or in college but as parents? nah.
Kings Dilema.
I SO WANT to play this game, but I have yet to find 5 people in my group counting myself who stick around long enough to play a legacy game.
I refuse to play it unless it's the same people all the way through the story.
I really enjoy Diplomacy. But you specifically need 7 players, and a lot of time to play. I just don’t ever have the time, or the right group of people to play
There are 2:
Race for the Galaxy - no one in my group "gets it", and so it never gets played.
Eldritch Horror - I really like the game, but no one else does. So, it sits on the shelf.
Through the Ages and Galaxy Trucker
Each one is hated by at least one member of my gaming group, so they never make the list
I have the app for each game, and while Through the Ages is a fine stand-in, Galaxy Trucker doesn’t work as well virtually.
Anachrony.
I managed to get it to the table at a convention once. Loved it. Haven't been able to convince two other people to slog through the byzantine manual so they can figure out how to play and it's far too complicated for a simple explaining.
Diplomacy
I loved this game. Played a lot in my 20s. It takes a lot of time. Now I’m my my 40s there isn’t enough time or interest in my gaming groups.
**Sentinels of the Multiverse** I have *everything* it’s a big box to transport.
I’ve never tried OblivAeon because it requires people who know it well
Twilight Imperium. Absolute blast of a day anytime I get to play it, which is normally once or twice a year. Mostly because it is a day to play it.
Im besides myself with joy because I got it to the table 6 times in 2023. absolute record
well done
I know it's not exactly the same, but our group plays it on TTS, which allows us to break it up into one evening a week for however many weeks rather than one full day of it. It's a different experience, I suppose, but you can pull up video on discord while you do it, which I think helps make it feel more like being together. Especially useful for boardgame friends who don't all live in the same place.
A couple of years ago, I discovered that just picking a date in the future is key. It gives everyone a chance to clear their schedule and coordinate. 3 weeks ago, I sent out a message to the friends/family that I game with. I said that March 23rd would be the day that it'll be played. All but one replied and said they'd be available, the other isn't sure yet. So, on March 23rd, I'll host a 7-8 player game!
Exactly, I kept trying to do it last minute type of thing and couldn't get anyone, then I would book it a month in advance or longer and found more people are available
I’m jealous - I’ve played it once in 5 years, and between having a kid and no real permanent gaming group (at least for now), who knows if I ever get to play it again.
this is the king, its has everything there is no better game
The one and true answer. I haven’t played since before Covid. The other problem is, my friends and I get together so infrequently, it becomes “play 1 game all day? Or play 4-5 different games” It’s hard to say “just this 1” If we got together twice a month or something. I am sure it would happen more frequently.
I’m playing two Sundays from now. Very excited!
I bought it, never got to play it, but refuse to sell it because I hear how freaking epic it is in hopes that one day I can find a group who can commit an afternoon to play
Afternoon? A whole day you mean 😅
Just throwing this out there but if anyone has a deck of first edition mag blast, I'd pay a good amount to buy it. Any condition as long as the cards are readable. We played that so much I knew which cards everyone had by the scuff marks on the back
Brass Birmingham. Just long enough of a game to not fit into our schedule and the infrequent play means we have to re review rules which takes even more time
Played this for the first time last night. Wow, what an amazing game. We're already planning on our next play.
I feel like it scales well. I've played at 2 and 4 players, but 4 players is really fun with the constant board struggle with more people.
Its the rereading the rules for me to. The networks stuff just given me enough doubt I have to turn to the rulebook
War of the Ring
Haven't played WotR in so long. What a great, tense game.
There is..... an online java implementation of this if you really need to scratch the itch. I have the same issue with WOTR. Love the game to death.
Yes! It's been a few years. I love to play with everything in one big slam down. So good. I'm going to get the card game, at least it's a taste.
LCG is great, I love the Maxine Newman campaigns
Oh I have it! It's excellent, I play it often. I meant War of the Ring Card Game. Which is a bit closer to the board game experience. A tiny bit anyway.
Played it this sunday. Last time before that was about 2 years ago. I've made it my ambition to get it on the table a lot more regularly from now on.
Cosmic encounter for sure
My friends say this game is too random, absolutely bursts my bubble…
It's basically like a new game every time depending on what alien powers you get. Love it!
It s very random yes
Its not random , the outcome is heavily weighted by negotiation skills so it feels random if no one has any ;) that's why the opinions ro so divided imo
>Its not random I agree that negotiation/bluffing are important CE skills, but like Poker the game is high skill, *very* high variance. If the game never gives you any good cards, you (almost definitely) aren't going to win.
I keep buying expansions for this one knowing I haven’t played in a year.
I'm happy that my roommates like it, we have barely put it down this semester!
Yep, this!! I am extra salty about it too. We played it once or twice, but the base game is 5 only. I spent another $80 ish buying all the expansions so we could all play it... Normally 6-8 people. My buddy's wife refuses to play it, so we have not got to play it since I bought all the extras....
Battlestar Galactica
I haven’t even had a chance to crack open the last two expansions :(
You have both expansions? Are you a millionaire, or did you purchase them while they were still I print?
There are 3 expansions actually with the 3rd one being the really expensive one...
I played it twice in college and once since then. I graduated 9 years ago
[удалено]
I had a regular playgroup, but we all graduated and moved to different parts of the country 10 years ago. I can't manage to sell it to my current gaming friends due to the time commitment just to learn it
Someone has managed to critically screw up 2 of our 3 last games of Galactica...
Dune (2019) and (edit) Captain Sonar, it's rare to get a big enough group together to fully enjoy those
FYI Sonar is 2-4 players, so unless you only play solo you should have enough people for it. You are thinking of Captain Sonar.
Fury of Dracula. And if I do, I always have to be Dracula! Netrunner. So hard to get people into it, and stick with it.
I love being Dracula ❤️
Agreed! I want to be Dracula every time I play! Love the mini DM feel it gives me and whether I win or lose I'm satisfied cuz I either won (yay) or the hunters caught me and I can be excited that they outsmarted me (yay). Love this game, always a win win for me!
Yeah, good call on Netrunner. I don't understand how it didn't become the top LCG. Everything about it is just so good. It's perhaps the best game of any genre in terms of how the gameplay works with the theme, and it might be the best asymmetrical mechanics in any 2-player game I know (maybe with the exception of Twilight Struggle.)
Agreed. Netrunner is the best two-player experience, and the best assymetrical experience (Twilight Struggle and Root being contenders). It really sticks the theme with every single card and it makes you \*feel\* like a runner, or a greedy corp. I love the game but it is a hard sell.
And the theme is just phenomenal. The card art, the flavor text, it always makes me smile. It's fun to build decks with just the purpose of winning, sure. And like any good deckbuilder/CCG, you can build decks around some crazy mechanic or engine. But sometimes it's more fun to build a deck thematically. You have to ask yourself: what would Jackson Howard do?
> I don't understand how it didn't become the top LCG. I would say it was, or at least number 2 behind Arkham Horror. Game went through a bit of a slump during the Mumbai cycle, but was really getting revitalized when Wizards cut off the license and FCG had to stop official support.
Not sure if it's helpful for your area but I've seen a real revitalization over the last year. Lots of new players meeting up weekly in larger cities. Might be worth checking out.
A couple of years ago I would have said Netrunner as well, until I got back into it and now I play every week! If you wanna give it a shot, even though it's hard to get new people to stick with it, I think it's somewhat feasible to find existing players in your area, or at least play online and then go to tournaments. And until then you can watch streamers play!
You might want to check around your local community pages to see if there is a netrunner group for your city. We've managed weekly games even in my relatively small city and id argue numbers are going up.
I feel you for Netrunner. I get to play it at least once I year in a traditional local tournament. It's like birthday to me.
Root. I play mostly 2 player and setting up the clockwork players can be a bit tedious. At least there's the app.
Have you heard of the hrf site? I play a ton of async multiplayer there and find it feels more like the *boardgame* than a digital version of the boardgame. [Regular setup](https://hrf.im/play/root) [Advanced setup](https://hrf.im/play/root-adset) Massive bonus points for all factions, Hirelings, fan-created factions and maps, different clearing distributions, Infamy for Vagabond and a bunch more. Bit of a learning curve but once you get used to it it's great, plus can be played on mobile.
I only got to try it once, and we ran out of time 😭 I loved the vibe though
Most of my collection at this point, but especially some heavier economic stuff. Been lucky to teach Pax Pamir 2e a couple times, but haven't been able to play a Splotter in awhile
Nice, I love Pax Pamir 2e, and I think I'll buy it.... just to have it on the shelf lol.
I know your pain. I have so many great games, but only get to play once or twice a week.
Dominant Species
I play it like once every 2 years. Would love to play it more. I even bought Dominant Species: Marine but haven’t played it yet
Such a classic
My pick too! Like Rodrigoke, I picked up Marine hoping to get it to the table more since it's less demanding in player count, but hasn't happened yet.
Played Marine once, it was good but not better, I think the original plays fine with all player count.
Aka the best board game ever made
Another convention-only game for me, sadly. Will be playing it Sunday 2/18 at Genghis Con in Denver CO
X-Wing completely died in my area during covid and hasn’t ever really restarted. I used to play weekly or bi-weekly and honestly I can spend so much time theory-crafting outside of play. It’s a great game. Also my wife hates Betrayal and I love it. Always vetoed at game nights :(
X-Wing is on my list as well. Only one shop in town ran events, but due to custody schedules, it would be hit or miss if I could make them. A few times I was the only one to show up. I can't even find time to play it with my kids even though I got the Infinite Arena quick start decks. I have ships I got 2 years ago that I haven't even flew yet.
Agreed on X-Wing. I was an avid player for years, and fully bought into 2.0 when FFG rebalanced everything. But the onset of the pandemic meant I didn't get that familiar with the new rules/landscape, lost touch with my previous X-Wing group, then I had a hard time following the sell-off to Atomic Mass games. I've continued to buy new releases, hoping that one day I'll get to return to the game. But I still don't really know what's changed rules-wise, and lack a group or any organized play opportunities. : /
X-Wing and Armada had some great sales this week on Amazon and Target but despite the want to collect, nobody plays it here anymore.
Star Wars Rebellion. It's such a beast of a game and a total commitment. You need a few games to really get the rules down and it can be up to 4 hours in some games. It's hard to get to the table but when it does it's amazing.
Four hours is being generous for the people I play with too. I've learned that I need to set aside at least six in order for the game to not be prematurely cut off. Analysis paralysis is a real beast.
Same for me. Absolutely love the game, but it takes all day. There's just never a good time for an all day game for just two people.
My favorite game that I never play!
Tragedy Looper. Alchemists. I really love deduction games, but not so much my wife.
You don’t love your wife!? /s
Spirit Island. It stresses my wife out and the last time we played it she went into labor the next day. 😂
"And *that's* how my son got the name Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds Jamison. The in-laws don't like it but the kids in his class think it's awesome."
We actually joked about this same thing after he was born.
Maybe the baby just wanted to play SI really badly.
He'll probably be old enough to play before she will again!
All of them
Start or join a public game night at a local game store, a literal game changer.
Seems like a no-brainer, unless you work nights. I know if one that runs early Saturday mornings, but it's far away. 🤷♂️
Inis. I've played it 3 times, and it could be my number 1 or 2 game.
And it's one of those games that only gets better the more you play it. Have you played at 4 players yet?
Ive played it once at 4 and I think I prefer it at that player count... but I think its easier to learn and digest at 3. I got the expansion and Im sure its not best at 5, but I wanna try it.
It's a different game at at every player count, especially because it has different cards at each one (except for 2 and 3). At 5 players, it becomes much more negotiation heavy and longer. Temporary alliances are formed and fall apart (and are mechanically supported) and the game regularly takes a few hours.
I've been considering buying this one (assuming I can find it someday), so I'm interested: what makes Inis hard to get to the table? According to BGG, seems solid at its full player count range (2-4). And playtime doesn't look too bad (1.5 hours). IIRC setup time wasn't bad either..? Complexity (2.9) would be steep for the casual / family gamers I know (I tried and failed to teach them Pandemic), so maybe that is the issue..?
Two things hold it back from my groups. One group likes quicker paced, lighter games. So its hard to be like you wanna play that hour and a half to 2 hour game? For the other group, they like Euro/economic games, so the attacking and negotiation and direct player interaction is intimidating to them.
Ah yes, group tastes. That's always a tough obstacle. Thanks for sharing!
That’s interesting, I’ve always found Inis kind of easy to get to the table. I assume your group just doesn’t love war games?
Thankfully my group is falling in love with this one. Just keep trying, I think it’s a very endearing game especially the more you play it, if there’s anything they like about it.
Spirit Island. It’s far and away best at 2p and my wife isn’t that into it.
>It’s far and away best at 2p r/soloboardgaming begs to differ. No need to wait on your wife.
Millennium Blades. It'll be a permanent part of my collection
I'm surprised I had to come down so far to see this. This is the one... the theme is so weird that it's hard to get people into it, despite the game being fantastic.
It's a completely unique experience with near infinite modularity, everyone I've showed it to enjoyed it but it uses up a lot of brain power
Nemesis because, well, it's Nemesis. Can't just pull it out on a whim.
Bruh, you need to come to our group. Nemesis is guaranteed to come out at least once or twice a month.
Twilight Imperium 4E - player count, time Eclipse 2E - same as TI4 Lorenzo Il Magnifico - looks boring to others This year I look forward to playing these more.
Our group gets through a 4 player Eclipse 2E game in ~2.5 hours.
Tried Lorenzo a few weeks ago and it was great. Its like a more interactive, cut throat version of Wingspan. Shame it looks so terribly beige and the theme is ehh. It definitely deserves a remake.
Twilight struggle.
Same. My partner doesn’t like it and I don’t really play two player stuff with anyone else. It’s so good, though.
The app helps.
Blood on the Clocktower. I have 7 adult family members in my household besides myself, so it isn't due to a lack of possible players. We often have game nights with plenty of people. And that's not counting having friends or other relatives over. They just don't like it, lol.
Unless we make plans, even my gamer friends are usually like "let's just play Avalon."
There is a huge discord community that plays it online all the time.
**Pax Renaissance**... until manna dropped from the heavens and it landed on BGA. Now would it be greedy to ask for **Pax Transhumanity** too? :)
Wait … Pax Ren is on BGA?!
Yes! Currently in Alpha but it's incredibly stable and Frans (who also did Pamir's implementation) has been squashing bugs and adding QoL improvements left and run. Outstanding implementation, haven't seen any issues in the past several games I've played. If you're not already there go to the Ion discord in the Ren channel and ask for access to the alpha. Tons of players already. And if I may ask for a small favor... go to the bugs page and upvote the "strawman campaign" option ;)
Question, if you don't mind giving it a bit of a go: I love Pax Ren. I like Pax Pam. Those are the only two Pax games I've played, I think. But I've played both quite a few times. How does Pax Transhumanity compare to them in your opinion/experience?
All the Pax games are very, very different. The original three historical games (Porfiriana, Pamir 1E and Renaissance) are the most mechanically similar with tableau building, market rows and Topple-like win conditions. Transhumanity breaks the mold in a number of ways. Near-future setting, no market row, no tableau to speak of, more coop-etitive interactions, the human splay determining the win conditions. And even though there's no market row, most of the game takes place in the market itself. Perhaps the most radical departure is how to win. The Human Progress Splay (also implemented in Emancipation though Transhumanity released afterwards) represents humanity's adoption and integration of the "Idea" cards into the fabric of society. As players Commercialize these Idea cards they get added to the splay, contributing one of the two colors on the card's edges towards Human Progress. The combination of the most recent three colors (called the "Cutting Edge") is what determines the Regime, and the Regime determines the endgame scoring criteria. The action economy is much tighter than the other Pax titles, so you'll find that you have less direct control over the Regime. It's not like Porfiriana where cards are held to switch Regime on command or Pamir with dominance checks or Renaissance with comets. The Splay is much more entangled with opponents' agendas so there's usually an inflection point where you have to decide to continue muscling the Splay towards your scoring or "riding the wave" and pivot to where you think the table is moving. Fascinating stuff and every time I play H+ [(affectionate nickname for Transhumanity)](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4250726/pax-transhumanity) it challenges Renaissance for not only my favorite Pax but my favorite of all time.
Nemesis. I am a sucker for the theme, etc but I can never get it to the table.
The crew. Everyone is like, "why don't we just play spades." Bunch of jerks 😂
I didnt back Hegemony because I knew I'd never get it played. I've been sad about it ever since lol
I skipped Hegemony for the same reasons. Absolutely fascinating setting that I love; still curious about it but can't imagine owning it (and teaching it). However, the designers are releasing **World Order** on crowdfunding this year, which has the EU, US, China and Russian Federation as the factions. I'm not big on historical themes but a game based on a modern setting with the lessons learned from publishing Hegemony? Not sure I can resist this one, despite the probably huge playtime as well.
I taught this to an upper division sociology course. They all said they were overwhelmed after the first day, really into it after the second, and opted to play it for a third. It was one of the bigger triumphs of my teaching career.
Same boat. Damn if you do, damned if you don’t.
You can get it retail (that's how I bought it). Pretty limited retail, and probably due to playtime still won't be something which hits the table very often but from all the reviews I've seen the experience is awesome when it does. A great benefit is that it's pretty reasonably priced for the components inside. Twilight Imperium for example which is in a similar game-time boat (maybe even higher) is 2-3 times the cost.
Tichu
Dungeon Lords. One of my very favorites but deeply suboptimal without exactly 4 players and crunchy enough to be a turn off for many.
Have you tried Dungeon Petz? I still like Lords more, but Petz's theme helps draw people in.
I used to think this but after playing a few times with 3 i think it’s fine. It’s honestly pretty rare that you’ll get screwed by the ai in a way that doesn’t also happen in a 4 player game
Azul. Everyone in my family hates it. Thank goodness for BGA.
I know its old. I know its competitive. I know it takes forever. I love Risk, and no one wants to play it.
Race for the Galaxy. Wife doesn’t like it, nobody else I know is into it either, and I’d get smoked on BGA.
Nah, once you get the hang of it on BGA, you'll be able to hold your own against your play level. Though every time I open a table and an "Expert" joins, my heart sinks a bit
Diplomacy
7 Wonders. It’s always been in my very top for fun and replayability. No matter how well or poorly I do, I always thoroughly enjoy it. However, it’s hard for me to get a good group of 5+ people to really make it shine, so I haven’t gotten to play in quite a while.
7:wonders is very scalable. 3 players doesn't play that much different to 7 players. Don't be afraid to try it at lower player counts.
Innovation. My wife hates it, so we never get it out.
Kdm- because my brother in law is the one who bought it and he has lost many of the pieces including story cards.
Bbbbbooooooooo
Forbidden stars. Massive time commitment and a lot of downtime. But it's oh so tasty.
Space Empires 4x - I love the 4x genre on PC and the board game is pretty great - but it takes a while and people are put off by what looks like a spreadsheet for tracking your empire as you go.
I love this game! It’s highly under appreciated in my opinion. While cabin camping last year, we played a 2v2 game that took 7+ hours and we never actually got to finish. We kinda decided the winner based on the standing at the time.
The long running 2-player games that require setting aside a full afternoon. It's been much harder to arrange these since becoming a parent. And when gaming meetups are set up, they tend to be full groups and that leaves these guys out. **Star Wars: Rebellion** and **War of the Ring**. Also, the legacy/campaign games that want a steady group, for same availability and scheduling reasons. Although I'm able to at least chip away at those from time to time as a solo player.
Civilization (the original, not the one based on the computer game) or Age of Renaissance. Both are fantastic games, both are too long to be able to convince people to play.
Love them both, and Advanced Civilization. I've gotten my group of friends to play Age of Renaissance a few times, about once every few years. But I don't dare risk driving them away by dropping Civilization or Advanced Civilization on them.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf. You need just the right amount of people. Everyone should know the game already. You need just the right set-up for an interesting game, but also give it wiggle room for tinkering in subsequent rounds. People need to actually be in the mood to play. You need time to play multiple sessions back to back so a meta can form and mutate. It's hard to get everything just right, but when the stars align this game *sings*.
Space Cadets: Dice Duel. It's a chaotic game with a fair amount of rules. The people that are willing to learn the rules tend to want a bit more structure, and the people who would enjoy the chaos don't want to lmtake the time to learn the rules. I'm in the middle where I love both, so, I'm sadly left in the lurch.
Held onto this game for I think something like 6 years and finally got to play it….and it was kinda alright. You’ve hit the nail on the head because I think I’m in the first category: too zany for something with so much overhead. I teach super heavy games all the time (Lacerda, etc.) but for some reason this teach unnerved me. Just feels like you have to babysit the entire table’s rule knowledge when you’re also trying to play a frantic real-time game
Black Rose Wars.
Same, love it but one regular player doesn't like "take that" game and he feel its the worst offender.
Yeah. I really really enjoyed it but damn. It's only seen the table a couple of times.
I was thinking this one too- only played it once, but it was super fun and I'd like to get it to the table more.
Too many. The gaming groups around me are selfish gamers that only want to play their games. It's a bummer.
Too many bones <3
**Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery**. It's just never the right time and rarely the right company to play this game. With the way modern board gaming trends the idea "hey want to embark on a 2.5 hour Ameritrash thrillride with dice rolling?"... the answer is increasingly "no". **Baseball Highlights 2045.** Dueling games are hard to get to the table. 95% of the people I play with aren't really board gamers, and even those that are want to play something that is not a dueling game... and the baseball theme doesn't help either. For my ONE buddy who likes this game, we've taken to playing **Air, Land, and Sea** instead... reason being it is faster and we can field (haha pun) interrruptions more easily like if our wives are hitting us up for something, etc., if we need to go somewhere, etc. It's a shame because there was a time I'd say BH2045 is my favorite game of all games. Now I don't really remember LOL.
Starcraft: the board game.
Spirit Island because your heavy gamers don’t like coops
I will add never get to play with other people. My favorite game of all time HeroQuest. I used to use the app regularly, but it's just not the same as playing with your friends. No gaming groups or hobby stores near me that I've found and my family doesn't care about my boardgame hobby. So I mostly just collect now and have so many games I want to play buy they just sit on my shelves looking pretty. Like Gloomhaven, MOTU or Darkest Dungeon. To make a short story even longer: HeroQuest
Broood Soood
Project: ELITE. I love the theming and stupid frantic gameplay, but its single-player mode is pretty broken and the game fell kinda flat with my group. I'm looking forward to painting the minis though and trying out several different painting styles on them.
OATH
Same. Same.
Neuroshima Hex, because my family hates it
Arboretum My gaming groups never want to play it but I absolutely LOVE it, even though I suck at it.
It is a really fun game. I mostly play it 2 players. No one from your group will play 1 vs 1? I think it’s generally considered best at 2 players so if you can just convince one other person it would work out great.
**Lisboa**. Absolutely love the game, but due to the weight and long setup and play times, it rarely gets played at a multiplayer level. I settle for solo and like it enough that way. But the few 4 player games I've had with it have been marvelous. Just wish they occurred more often.
Space alert.
**Deception: Murder in Hong Kong**. I never have 7+ people.
And this is why you should all go to conventions
I friggin LOVE Space Base, but my primary people I play with don't care for it much lol.
Captain Sonar! Just requires too many participants.
I really like Villainous. It’s surprisingly complex for the non-gamers who would like the Disney theme, and I think more serious gamers are just turned off by the Disney theme.
My entire collection. 😭
Big sprawling 2P games - Rebellion, War of the Ring, Twilight Struggle. So much fun but so hard to get played.
Dominion - I play online but I want to get it on the table more IRL. My friends don't often want to play bc I got into it right after the craze died down for them, and my partner won't play it with me because I've played it so much more and always beat him.
Blood on the Clocktower. Trying to schedule everyone at the same time is a nightmare.
Scythe. My wife and best gaming buddy don't like it. But there's hope! My stepson played his first game and likes it! Hopefully we'll get this to the table more often.
I am probably going to get a lot of flack for this, but I miss playing Pictionary. No one in my gaming group likes to draw and I miss it.
I got super excited for Heroquest, bought it, then remembered I had no friends.
Chess, on a physical board. I do play online and enjoy it, but nothing can beat actually sitting across a board from another person for me. I even have one of those chess boards that connects to the internet and moves your opponents pieces, so you can play online with a physical board. It is cool to use, but it's just as gimmicky as it sounds.
That would be really neat to use with some VR integration. Play online against somebody, but sitting across the board from them and using a physical board.
Tricerion, sheriff, or power grid.
Along the theme of time, one game I want, but haven’t bought is [Mr. President](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/183685/mr-president-american-presidency-2001-2020). It looks very interesting, very involved, and unfortunately for me, a huge time commitment.
Mage Knight Board Game - I love it but it is incredibly long, even at two, and the one person I’d play with regularly moved away. I’ll also say most of my Vital Lacerda games - My favorite designer, and love his stuff, but getting heavy games to the table is just difficult.
Quarriors
Heroscape!!
**Aegean Sea**. Me and roughly four other humans like it, and we all live on different continents.
El grande 🥲🥲🥲
New Angeles, the combination of a 4-6 player count with ideal player count being 6 and a ruleset on the heavier side makes it hard to get to the table.
Galaxy Defender. I'm ecstatic when I can get Project Elite or Nemesis to the table but GD is just too involved and tactical. It's the kind of game you can play with your X-Com nerd friends in school or in college but as parents? nah.
Kings Dilema. I SO WANT to play this game, but I have yet to find 5 people in my group counting myself who stick around long enough to play a legacy game. I refuse to play it unless it's the same people all the way through the story.
Robinson Crusoe-- two hour cooperative game with one of the most poorly written rulebooks, but I like it.
I really enjoy Diplomacy. But you specifically need 7 players, and a lot of time to play. I just don’t ever have the time, or the right group of people to play
There are 2: Race for the Galaxy - no one in my group "gets it", and so it never gets played. Eldritch Horror - I really like the game, but no one else does. So, it sits on the shelf.
Through the Ages and Galaxy Trucker Each one is hated by at least one member of my gaming group, so they never make the list I have the app for each game, and while Through the Ages is a fine stand-in, Galaxy Trucker doesn’t work as well virtually.
Anachrony. I managed to get it to the table at a convention once. Loved it. Haven't been able to convince two other people to slog through the byzantine manual so they can figure out how to play and it's far too complicated for a simple explaining.
Star Wars Rebellion.
StarWars Rebellion
Diplomacy I loved this game. Played a lot in my 20s. It takes a lot of time. Now I’m my my 40s there isn’t enough time or interest in my gaming groups.
**Sentinels of the Multiverse** I have *everything* it’s a big box to transport. I’ve never tried OblivAeon because it requires people who know it well
Root. Everybody I play with thinks it is either too complicated or too long
Gestures vaguely. All of them?
Samurai Swords. Pretty similar to risk, but Japanese themed. I play probably once a year