i haven't; it seems to me that it'd be annoying to have them in sleeves (disclaimer: i haven't tried this, so i could be wrong)

i do shuffle the money/victory point cards after each game so that the same top ones aren't used in people's "decks" every game, leading them to get worn while the other stay brand new...by shuffling them around, it takes more games for them to be worn and it'll be more even


i figure if i play enough that they get too worn, then i got my $30 worth from the game and can buy a replacement

I've played a couple games with sleeved cards, and it didn't bother me as much as I would have assumed. You get used to it really quickly.

For a $30 game, I'd probably just buy a replacement. For a bigger game that uses cards, you'd probably want them in sleeves so you're not paying $80 for a new board/pieces/etc just to get new cards

do sleeved cards slip and slide more than unsleeved?

I didn't notice a problem with it, but I wasn't playing a card game; it was a board game with cards.

It's really bugging me that I can't remember what game it was. I remember holding the cards in sleeves and using them, but not what I was playing. Stupid memory

interesting thing I learned, browsing the discussion on BGG about this - apparently the standard shuffle for CCG players is to

1) cut the deck in two
2) put the halves side-by-side *lengthwise* - long ends
3) push the halves into each other
4) (repeat)

so the opposite of a poker shuffle, which merges the halves on the short ends.

or, exactly like a one-handed chip stack shuffle.

& the sleeves make this *easier* to do.

I'm still a fan of holding the actual cards, but I might try sleeving something, just to see.

i'm not talking about shuffling

i'm talking about the piles of cards....u have a lot of them in dominion and would suck if they slipped and slid a lot

Yeah I want to sleeve all my Illuminati and Arkham Horror cards and laminate the role cards for Arkham
Unfortunately the Arkham cards are in lotastic sizes so it'll take some searching

I used to have my Magic cards sleved, didn't mind the feel etc at all

They seem to always do this anyway, even without sleeves. OTOH, I play Race for the Galaxy with sleeves and it works just fine. In fact, I like the feel slightly more.

My favorites are:

Dominion. Great game with excellent replay value. The amount of different variations create new dynamics all the time, giving the game a fresh twist every time you play. I haven't played Seaside yet, but it looks awesome!

Carcossonne. Just got this, but it's lots of fun so far. I'm actually thinking about getting an expansion soon, but am not sure which to get. Any recommendations?

Race for the Galaxy. Great game. My biggest complaint is that there is much less interaction with other players than in other games, but it's still really fun.

Settlers of the Stone Age. I like the original Catan too, but I dig the way things progress more in Stone Age. Haven't played any of the others.

Seaside really is awesome. Adds a whole new level to the already great game.

Yes. And they sometimes stick if you get any moisture on them. But they still feel good, imo.

Once you use the sleeves a bit they don't slide anymore, the tiny scratches they get helps keep them together. I'm considering trying it, though I know I already like them from magic a while ago. Could just buy it again later instead but w/e.

Other than Dominion I've been playing Carcassonne, Catan (w/ cities and knights), Munchkin and just got bohnanza which is pretty fun. I def think Dominion is the best by far followed by Carcassonne (with expansions) then Munchkin. I'm probably getting a bunch more to try for Christmas

A "newish" game ( < 1 year old) that's quite good is Endeavor

Noone has tried to solo that coop monk game I linked to earlier (can be played online)?

Bump! I'd love to hear who has played various Carcossonne expansions and what they think of them. I'm especially interested in 'Abbey and Mayor' and 'Princess and Dragon'

We played Storm the Castle at work last week and it was fun

it's like pandemic, but u get individual points when u are the one who kills the beast...so u all lose together, but if u win by beating all the monsters, most points wins individually

it's a version of tower defense basically

Traders and Builders + Inns and Cathedrals imo are must haves, they just make the game better and I wouldn't play without them.

I also use the River II (small expansion) which just extends the river and adds a split in it, I'm assuming you have the RiverI if you bought the newer version of the game.

I just recently got Abbey and Mayor and it adds quite a few new pieces that I definitely like a lot and probably will end up using every time, I've only tried it once so far though.

I've played with the Kings expansion online (small expansion) that gives you bonus points at the end if you completed the largest castle or road, I plan to get it at some point.

I've heard that the Princess and Dragon expansion is the worst but I haven't tried it, my friend has it so I'll post about it whenever I play.

I think I'm also getting the catapult expansion for Christmas but I expect it to be more gimmicky and probably won't end up using it a whole lot.

Cool, I'll definitely check out Traders and Builders and Inns and Cathedrals. Thanks!

Lots of great games have been mentioned in here,

Agricola is a good game, I got in on the initial preorder they did to see if it was worth printing so I got a few of the bonus junk they threw in with it. Animeeples I think and some cards.

I haven't tried Le Havre before but I'd like to give it a shot, unfortunately I don't know anyone around here that likes board gaming so I pretty much just have to stick to stuff I can play solo. (Loser imo.)

Anyways someone mentioned Race For THe Galaxy being tough to learn and I agree it kind of is, but it really is a great game and worth trying out, there are some awesome videos on it here:

http://www.weihwa.com/~whuang/videos/rftg/rftg.html

Ditch the rule book and just watch those and you're good to go.

This here guy has posted some strategy articles on it that I've only half read but they sound good to me, I'm sure you folks will be able to figure out if they're strategically sound or not. I've grabbed a few tips from them for sure though.

http://linnaeus.wordpress.com/catego...xy-boardgames/

And finally if you want to give RFTG a shot without buying it, watch the videos then try it out with this AI someone took the time to make, the UI isn't always that great but it plays a decent game and you can try out RFTG for free.

http://keldon.net/rftg/

T

I got a couple games for Christmas. We've been really enjoying Carcassone and playing that alot. Also got the Europe edition of ticket to Ride, played once and liked it. We got a game called Cathedral but haven't tried it yet.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Illuminati; I had great fun playing it.

ROBORALLY

that is all

Somewhat recently I got Puerto Rico, Agricola and Race for the Galaxy and they are all awesome playing with anywhere from 2-4 people. I want to get Stone Age and Le Havre sometime soon.

Also got Power Grid and Ticket to Ride Europe which are better for playing with people who want something a little less complex, though I don't think they are as fun as the other three.

has anyone played Cosmic Encounter? a friend of mine was talking about it, he and some other guys seem to be big into it

99% sure my parents have a 70's copy of it with this cover:



which looks like it might retail for >$100 in the secondary market. I don't think we ever played it.