Tried Destinies; it's one of those hybrid boardgame and app things. While interesting, it did leave me a bit conflicted, since a lot of the functionality of the "game" is in the app. It does make me wonder where the line should be drawn on those things.
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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I have not tried anything like it. Maybe no line needs to be drawn as long as it was fun?
Well, the line is there because at some point, you wonder if there's a need for a board at all.
I think the neatness of board games is also in having some level of self-contained mechanics. A companion app to help keep track of stuff, or add some value (ie music or narration) is neat, but this was like, more than half of the mechanics in the app. The map tiles weren't even needed, as were the location tokens and frankly, the really neat minatures. It was just a few steps from being a completely digital game.
Thank you for the explanation :) I totally understand your point. For me the most important aspect is if its fun, if it fits into a specific category or not is secondary in this case :)
I guess, I just felt a bit uneasy. I suppose the feeling of redundancy made it feel a bit weird for me, like, this is almost not-a-board-game, or the why-are-we-not-at-the-computer-instead feeling.
Sorry, it really is about the feels here, I don't have a better set of reasons to give.
dont worry, I really understand you. And if the game didnt click, thats all good :)
I find myself in agreement with u/dpunked.
No line need drawn, what we should look for is a common lexicon for describing the level of app engagement.
Ra, D&D, Baduk, Magic, and Hansa Teutonica. Ra was good. Hansa Teutonica was… well, most actions won 🤷🏻♀️
And then, reading on BGG, people are like "lol if the player who gets the most actions win then you all suck, everyone who has played at least 400 times know that it's possible to every now and then win without having the most actions you dumb scrubs". OK. Good for them.
Hansa Teutonica I have not played it but I guess you will find elitists in everything :D Play for the fun, the company and not about optimizing every little thing
We had a busy week but managed to meet up with some friends this weekend and played some Everdell with 4 players - it was a good game and a tight race with the top 3 players all differing only by 1 point each. I think its a solid game which is a more complex gateway game into the world of boardgames. Its almost more complicated to explain vs playing
We also played Secret Valley which is a neat little card drafting and laying game. Each card has certain victory conditions to score points and during drafting you select on card and pass on the rest to the player next to you until you just get the final card left over from your neighbor. Each player will have 5 cards with differing victory conditions. You the start laying down the cards in a 4x4 grid layer, one card per player at a time. The cards usually score points based on what kind of cards are around them and you will try to maximize your own score while diminishing your opponents. Its a fun little game that can be played in 20min
We also played Ark Nova in a two player session, still the best game :)
König und Konsorten by Parker games.
No idea what's the English name.
It's a better version of Uno for me. It has a bit more options and variants for players and leans into the funny stuff more than Uno ever did.
Fun game for casual players to not play Uno
We played a couple games of Caylus 1303. In the first game I went all in on bundling and milking point generation tiles and managed to win without building any residences or monuments. In the second one my partner stole it by grabbing the 20 point monument last turn.
It's really cool that despite being one of the earliest worker placement games Caylus has held up so well. Still feels quite unique.
On BGA I've been enjoying Knarr a lot. Simple rules but crunchy decisions. I love the way you can destroy part of your engine but get permanent upgrades or points.
Did you play Caylus with only two? How well does it play as a duel game?
Yes, we play at 2 and I like it a lot at this count. The main thing you miss out on is negotiating about moving the Provost but on the plus side you can keep a closer eye on your opponent's strategy and you can plan ahead more since things are a less chaotic.