The Not Worth Its own Thread - Meatspace Games Edition

[will]

Has anyone played The Ravens of Thri Sahashri? I picked it up on a whim at this past Arisia. It's a very pretty, nicely-packaged asymmetric hidden-information two-player cooperative card game with a tantalizing set of sealed envelopes (and the instructions to open the first when you win your first game, but no word yet on how to open the others...).

It seems very cool so far, though I've only played a little bit. Fluffwise, you're playing a psychic investigator and an amnesiac trying to recover her memories. One player draws cards and plays them onto a structure called the Atman, the other plays cards from the Atman to complete sets (along with hidden cards) called Poems. You're both trying to manipulate the Atman into certain configurations, but you're forbidden from explicitly sharing information, so you have to communicate through your choice of plays. Meanwhile, Ravens are trying to eat your memories, so you may have to play quickly to conserve resources for later on, or play configurations of cards that chase the Ravens off temporarily.

I'm looking forward to seeing what's in those envelopes...

[Daikaiju]

Inside the Box reviews Scythe

[Ventrue]

So I'm gonna be playing in my first physical larp. Post Apocalyptic game called Dystopia Rising. My social anxiety is at an all time high compared to running a game for about 20-30 people on average with a world of darkness larp, vs a much more intimate and immersive larp. I also bought physical copies of every book I could and they are so well written. Ahh!

[Daikaiju]

New Boardgame Con in Vancouver, BC

[JBear]

God, I'd love to go, but it's at the wrong end of the country. I idly priced airfare back when they sent out notice to donors a while ago, but I just can't justify the expense. Man, a Megagame though, HRNGGG.

I find it pretty funny that a Canadian convention organized by British people has all of the prices in USD.

[Daikaiju]

Hey escapologists!

The Franklin Institute to launch two escape rooms this summer

The Franklin Institute’s inaugural foray into reality entertainment kicks off June 14 with the launch of Intergalactic Escape, followed by the debut of Island Escape on June 28. The rooms -- with technology like wrist scanners and set across about 4,000 square feet of space -- are touted as “the largest and most technologically advanced escape room” games in Philly.

[Red Hedgehog]

Okay, this is pretty amazing. I have no idea if the system is any good, but I want that packaging:

[JBear]

YES PLEASE

[Daikaiju]

Dang, that is solid.

[Daikaiju]

Hide your wallets! The 3rd Apocalypse approaches!!

[Bulgakov]

Originally Posted by Daikaiju

Hide your wallets! The 3rd Apocalypse approaches!!

I'm probably not cynical enough, but is there REALLY going to be a sustained market for that beyond 3 months of novelty purchase?

[Westerhof]

Originally Posted by Bulgakov

I'm probably not cynical enough, but is there REALLY going to be a sustained market for that beyond 3 months of novelty purchase?

By all accounts, it's quite a popular, active, and well-designed CCG. The first two series sold out everywhere.

[Bulgakov]

Originally Posted by Westerhof

By all accounts, it's quite a popular, active, and well-designed CCG. The first two series sold out everywhere.

God help us all.

[JBear]

Originally Posted by Westerhof

By all accounts, it's quite a popular, active, and well-designed CCG. The first two series sold out everywhere.

Not all accounts. The only mention that I've heard of it was on the SU&SD podcast, and they were pretty down on its design. IIRC, they were essentially of the opinion that it was mediocre, and the only reason to play it is if you want to have Edgar and Cecil team up with Cloud to fight Ultros, sort of thing. Which, admittedly, a whole lot of rabid FF fans probably want very much, but it doesn't sound like there's much meat there otherwise.

[aturtledoesbite]

Friends of mine who are super into competitive MtG do play FFTCG competitively, so I assume that there has to be some substance to it.

[Westerhof]

Interesting. Most of what I know comes from this Waypoint article praising it, and friends of mine who are pretty into it.

[aturtledoesbite]

Originally Posted by Lucas

Exceed (very similar to BattleCon but it doesn't feel so much like chess)

please, continue

[Kirin]

Just saw the FF TCG posts from when I was out of town due to the thread bump and that looks... dangerous. I should probably forget that it exists.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by aturtledoesbite

please, continue

Ok, so, Exceed. Comes from Level 99 and the first set actually has the same artist as BattleCon too (I think. There aren't any credits on the Exceed boxes). The board looks just like BattleCon's except you use a card to represent your character instead of a standee. It's a fighting game where each player picks a character with unique abilities. The move cards can be almost instantly understood by a BattleCon player:



I mean, just look at that. Same terminology and everything. If it looks funny it's because that's a TTS screenshot. Fastest way I could get a pic.

The big differences? First off, each character is represented by a randomized deck of thirty cards that are each an attack (as above) rather than BattleCon's system of putting two cards together and recycling your attack parts. There are actions you can take other than attacking, but if you declare an attack your opponent puts one down as well and it can go either way - it's totally possible to declare an attack and get your clock cleaned by the counter. Each card also has two parts: the attack that takes up most of the card and the Boost effect at the bottom. Boosts can be one of two types, either an instant effect like moving or a "continuous" boost like the card above that stays in play until and modifies the next attack. Finally, the two most complex mechanics for beginners every time I've taught the game: Force and Gauge.

Force is another word for discarding cards from your hand to pay for an effect, usually Boosts (frex, the 0 in red on the Boost above shows it has no Force cost. If that was, say, a 2 instead, you would have to discard two cards in addition to playing the card).

When you successfully hit with an attack, the card goes to your Gauge instead of your discard. Gauge is spent for powerful effects like ultra attacks or Exceeding (flipping your character card to their more powerful side) or as a "free" source of Force.

Oh, and the game is cheaper than BattleCon. There's no big set of Exceed, but it instead comes in boxes of four characters that cost around $17-25 each, depending where you get them.

There, I think that's most of it. All I'm willing to write up right now, at least.

(The chess comment? One of the things I've never liked about BattleCon is that you have perfect information; knowing I theoretically know and can/need to analyze everything my opponent can do is just way too much pressure for me, especially when I'm already trying to make my own attack pairs. I much prefer the randomness and hand management aspects of this or Yomi.

Also, having to hold all those cards in BattleCon is just plain uncomfortable.)

[Lukyn]

Came into this thread to talk about the Final Fantasy TCG, and am glad to see a few posts on the subject. Dumped a small sum into it at Comic Con after a demo, and am meeting up with a play group for an Opus 3 draft tourney this weekend. Looks like there are some pretty active groups all around.

Anyway, only have a game under my belt but this game definitely has some promise and I'm looking forward to more.

[Daikaiju]

Lukyn has fallen...

Who shall succumb next?

[Lucas]

I was interested when I first saw it because from the description I thought it would be more of a fighting game, but when I read how it actually plays I lost pretty much all of my interest in spending money on it. I guess someone could still sell me on it if they wanted to teach me?

[Issun]

As a Civ fan Through the Ages looks right up my alley but I wanted to see opinions here.

[Red Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by Issun

As a Civ fan Through the Ages looks right up my alley but I wanted to see opinions here.

Through the Ages is amazing. Leagues better than the Civ board game.

My only critique is that playing it in person is a little fiddly.

[Mogri]

I recommend A New Story of Civilization -- the visual design is much better than the original, and they made a few rules tweaks, too. But even the original is a very good game.

If you like, I can walk you through a game on BoardGameArena (which plays the original game).

[JBear]

I'll echo both Redge and Mogri (well, sans the offer to play a game). Through the Ages can sometimes be difficult to recommend to people in general (it's probably the Vlaada game I've played with the narrowest appeal), but it's an easy recommendation for a Civ fan. Just make sure to clear an entire afternoon, and possibly an evening as well for your first game.

(Oh, and to be clear, when Mogri says "A New Story of Civilization", he's not referring to a different game, but rather the newest edition of Through the Ages, which makes some tweaks for the better.)

[Lucas]

I'm thinking of cutting down my RPG collection a bit but not sure what I want to do the books I'm cutting out. Donate to the library? Sell them? I can't imagine the market for old D&D rulebooks is terribly strong.

[Egarwaen]

Originally Posted by Lucas

I'm thinking of cutting down my RPG collection a bit but not sure what I want to do the books I'm cutting out. Donate to the library? Sell them? I can't imagine the market for old D&D rulebooks is terribly strong.

Depending on edition, they sometimes sell well?

[Westerhof]

If you're of a donating mind, libraries and prisons are both excellent places to donate old gamebooks.

[Issun]

Thanks, guys! Looks like Through the Ages is definitely going on the birfday wishlist.