• Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:

    1. The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
    2. Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration

    Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.

The Board Game Thread!

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
I agree. The hobby can weather the loss of Asmodee if it comes to that, but it's very unlikely to disappear wholesale.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
That is, I think, why it's being leveraged so hard: it's the profitable arm, with the most valuable assets to sell off.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Last weekend we happened to be at a gaming bar and randomly picked up Takenoko off the shelf of free board games. I liked it quite a lot! It's pretty breezy, but it felt (at least on first play) more like something I'd want to replay than other, let's say, "lightweight-ish resource management" games I've played recently. Thing like Tiny Epic Galaxies Blast Off and House of Plants come to mind, where playing them once or twice was fun enough and the theming is intriguing or pretty, but after a couple plays I just kinda feel *done* with it, ya know?

I guess I won't know for sure unless we buy our own copy, but Takenoko feels fun to pop out every so often, even if there's not a whole lot of depth to it or anything. I think part of it is I enjoy building maps, and the simple 3D building on top of that is fun too. And there's very little to keep track of as most resources are shared, so you don't have to keep a lot in your head or your hand to implement little strategies. Just a nice time farming bamboo.

(Of course it also didn't hurt that on the final play of the game, after my wife hit the end-condition and I had one wrap-up turn, I managed to sheer luck draw one more victory point card with conditions that were already fulfilled, leading me to win 44 to 43!)
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Oh yeah, we borrowed that from the library a while ago and liked it. Same as you we wondered if we'd keep playing it, but in the two weeks we had it from the library we played it a few times and did continue to enjoy it.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
So my wife picked up Five Minute Dungeon nominally as a fast adventure game to play with her younger therapy clients, but we've been trying it out and having a blast. It's a hella frantic little game where the main enemy is the clock and you're just trying to play cards to defeat the enemy deck as fast as possible at all times. Seems almost impossible at first but as you get more familiar with how things work and the players coalesce on strategies things start to go more smoothly. We've made it a bit more than halfway through the boss ladder at this point. It's listed as a "party game" but there's slightly variant rules for just two players and it's been working for us. We also got the Curses expansion which adds some fun cards and complications, though a few of the titular curse cards are gimmicky irritations I could maybe do without.

Anyway, fun game if you're up for yelling frantically at people you're cooperating with to defeat dungeon-crawl monsters. But for only five minutes!

Oh, also, do download the branded timer app for your phone, at first I was like "do I need a download for a glorified stop-watch?" but the voices are fun and the once-a-minute reminders are helpful even if a bit anxiety-spiking at times. Although I can't recommend the spooky/scared voice that I assume was added for the expansion, it's a little *too* yell-y. I'm pretty sure they got the Honest Trailers guy for one of them, though, and Scottish is also fun.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
I'm realizing that this game is the tabletop equivalent of an Action-RPG, as compared to most card games' Turn-Based RPGs. No turns! Just go!
 

Games Played from September through December 2024​


Board Game: Agricola
Agricola (3)​
Board Game: Dominion
Dominion (3)​
Board Game: Manhattan
Manhattan (2)​
Board Game: Ark Nova
Ark Nova (1)​
Board Game: Caylus 1303
Caylus 1303 (1)​
Board Game: Dead Last
Dead Last (1)​
Board Game: Evolution
Evolution (1)​
Board Game: Mogul
Mogul (1)​
Board Game: Municipium
Municipium (1)​
Board Game: Port Royal
Port Royal (1)​
Board Game: Sakura
Sakura (1)​

Produce your own graphic like this by BGG -> User -> Logged Plays -> Enter a date range -> Format: Thumbnails -> Go. Copy and paste into talking-time.

I am perhaps stuck in a rut in that my favorite games are still possibly Agricola and Great Western Trail, after all these years. Each one will make 3 hours pass in a snap, and I'll lie in bed that night thinking about my turns.

Dominion is an endless classic for me.

Manhattan and Caylus are older Euros, a bit too much interaction for my tastes, with other players easily destroying your plans, and Caylus can be actually mean.

Evolution - I didn't like it at all. Too many attacks! Mogul - didn't like at all!

Ark Nova I really enjoyed, but it did take a long time to play. Looking for another opportunity.

Port Royal remains a fun filler game. Tybor somewhere in between a filler and an expert game, although it doesn't leave much of an impression.
 

Mr Bean

Chief Detective
Has anyone bought / played anything from Smirk and Dagger games before? I ran across this Kickstarter a few days ago and the flavor is very appealing but I’ve never heard of the company before.


I was hoping someone had played one of their games before and could tell me if the mechanics are generally pretty fun. I’m real tempted to grab a copy just on vibes like I did for Ex Libris.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Has anyone bought / played anything from Smirk and Dagger games before? I ran across this Kickstarter a few days ago and the flavor is very appealing but I’ve never heard of the company before.


I was hoping someone had played one of their games before and could tell me if the mechanics are generally pretty fun. I’m real tempted to grab a copy just on vibes like I did for Ex Libris.
I also saw this project and was intrigued! Building up your social battery to go out of the house and buy books is an amazing mechanic. But same as you I'm unfamiliar with them.
 
Top