good one. fun and fast.

Fields of Arle is the 1v1 Rosenberg we enjoy most.

I don't mind; I'm just saying at that point you may as well say you have the white 5

Through the ages just got an iOS app as well so you can learn it and play it through there before buying

I own the physical version and it's a great game

A game doesn't have to be solely 2-player for it to be a great 2-player game. My wife and I own about 30 games and the majority of them are 2-4 or 2-5 player, yet all of them work well with 2 player (although some are admittedly better with 3+).

Imo just find a game you like the look of, then check it out on BGG. They have a poll for player-count for each game and it will show you how people have voted. You can see if people have voted to say not-recommended for 2 player, while some 2-5 player games are actually voted as having 2 as their recommended player count.

Fwiw my favourite game is a 2-player which seems to have flown under the radar - Akrotiri. It has recently had a new release which allows 4-player but you have to buy 2 copies of the game.

A few other recommendations for multi-player games that work as well, if not better with just 2 players:

Jump Drive - Quick tableau-building card game, a lighter version of Race For The Galaxy. It's essentially a solitaire game with minimal player interaction so works well for all player counts.

51st State - Another tableau-builder, but with resource management, hand management and drafting. It's a reimagining of Imperial Settlers. Plays up to 4 players but imo is best with just 2.

Barenpark - Tile placement game. Kinda like a more complex Patchwork. Plays up to 4 players but works just as well with 2.

The Captain is Dead - A co-op game based on the Pandemic mechanics. I think it plays up to 7, but it works really well with 2. You can either play the 2 player rules, or we prefer just to take on 2 characters each and play it as if we were playing 4-player.

If anybody wants to do a bit of FOMO-inspired spending, check out The 7th Continent on KS. It's currently on track to become the 3rd highest funded boardgame on KS, as well as possibly a top-10 all-time KS project.

The reviews have been insanely positive with many saying it's the best game ever in the genre, one of the best of all time, easily the best game of the year etc etc.

The developers have stated that due to costs/margins, it's very unlikely to ever come to retail, so these final 4 days are possibly the last chance you'll have to get hold of it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...wn/description

Finally got someone to sell me their KDM... cannot !@($ing wait
also gloomhaven in the mail
also pledged 7th continent earlier last week

some sweet ones coming up, w00t

what a nerd

such a nerd 7th continent looks awesome, im in on it!

I love kickstarter cause i always just forget what i ordered and get random games in the mail

Have you guys gone all-in on 7th Continent? $250 seems like an insane amount to spend on a game but it looks so fkn good. I dunno if I could live with myself if I only buy the base game and it turns out it's the best game ever and I've passed up on the expansions that will never be available again.

I'm getting the Rookie pledge for 7th Continent and debating on adding the $50 expansion bundle. Seems like that should be plenty of content (and $$). Still waiting on 11 other board game kickstarters.

Just ordered Star Wars: Rebellion, some Android Netrunner stuff, and pre-ordered the Fallout game from Fantasy Flight.

I'm in for Rookie; All-in is just too much

I may get the journal and playmat and maybe the dice, but I don't think I'll get any expansions until I've played it extensively; if so I'll get in on 3rd kickstarter for expansions; rookie should keep me busy for awhile

Did anyone kickstart 18CZ? I didn't but now that it shipped am having some regrets because of the two player map/variant that got included. If anyone has played, is it worth it for me to track down a copy?


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Waited almost 5 years for Fields of Fire and it was worth it imo. Mindblowingly awesome solitaire wargame.

if you love heavy eurogames; lisboa

everything about the game is gorgeous

Never heard of it and it is rated quite poorly at BGG

I like solo player games, because with my kiddos I cannot really play the heavy games that I like. This would be something you recommend?

This 7th contintnet game, where can I buy it? Seems to fill that slot as well

It was Kickstarter only, and they say they're never taking it to retail. Your only hope is a ridiculously priced sell-on or another KS at some point in the future.

You can still Late Pledge for 7th Continent on Kickstarter.

and then I have to wait until march 2018

No thanks

Any other awesome 1 player game I can get? How good is gloomhaven for 1p?

gloomhaven update hasn't shipped yet either (and retail not out yet). Been waiting on mine for months

Just looked the game review of Eldritch Horror
That sounds like a nice 1p game that I can get right away and doesn't cost 1 mirrion dorrars

Clans of Caledonia is awesome

If I want to buy a 1 player game, what would be the best choice between Mage Knight and Eldritch Horror?

I liked B-17 queen of the skies. It was a good solo war game. Not so much strategy I don’t think, but allowed room for you to fill in narrative imagination.

Went to a convention this past weekend. Here's a TR with summary of all the games I played. Ones I actually signed up for are in blue.

For those that I had never played before, I'll give my first impression rating. My first impressions aren't always perfect. Some games I loved at first, but I now feel are middling to below (e.g. Ticket to Ride). Others didn't impress me at first, but now I love (e.g. Puerto Rico). But most of the time, I feel they're pretty good.

A = Would be very excited to play a second time
B = Would absolutely play again, but not as excited
C = Would play again, but would probably suggest other options
D = Would actively steer others away from playing, but would try again if people really wanted to
F = Would never play again even if it was the only game going

Friday:
Anachrony (BGG link) - I almost dropped this one from my schedule. I watched an online video and was confused as hell. It looked a bit heavier than most of the games I like. In the end, I just decided to go through with it. So glad I did. The GM of the game knew the designer personally, and did a fantastic job explaining everything. It's a worker placement game with a time travel element that allows you to go back to the past and supply yourself with resources. I didn't do too much of that and just supplied myself with a bunch of geniuses and buildings. Lost by a single point. Would have to play it again to really get a feel for it, but I'm truly amazed. First impression: A+

Blueprints (BGG link) - Roll dice, draft them and construct buildings with them. You get an architectural blueprint that you're supposed to follow, but you can often get more points by not following it, which seems dumb thematically. It's a decent enough way to pass 20 minutes. First impression: C-

Compounded (BGG link) - Credit for trying to be thematically cool, but it didn't hook me at all. You pull out random elements out of a bag and play them to score points. I saw very little strategy, as everyone can see what you have and what you're trying to do. Really disappointed, as I had high hopes for the theme. First impression: D

Terraforming Mars (BGG link) - This was THE hot game of the convention. They opened up many more slots of this, plus there were pickup games of it all over the place. Everyone wanted in. It's a combination card drafting and tile placement game. It lives up to the hype. There are so many different cards that you're bound to see something you like. Really liked the element of only 3/5 of the milestones and awards being available. Was able to score a lot of points there and win even though my initial TR rating had me in last. Lots of fun. The GM of the game had bought some Broken Token trays for the cube mats. These (or something similar) seem almost essential. Would imagine it's a mess without it. This would have easily been my favorite game of the weekend if Anachrony was not a thing. First impression: A

Sagrada (BGG link) - My second dice drafting game of the night. You roll dice and try to construct a stained glass window by putting dice of different colors on a grid. There are restrictions on what you could put where. Concept is far superior to Blueprints. Was probably too tired to fully appreciate it. First impression: B

Saturday:
Le Havre (BGG link) - A worker placement industry game. Had a horrible strategy that I’m blaming partly on my misunderstanding that others visiting your buildings would be a much bigger deal than it actually was and partly on the fact that it was 8 in the morning. Ended up in last place with less than half the points of the 1st place player. Need to play this again and try not sucking at it. First impression: A-

Power Grid (BGG link) - The only game I signed up for that I’m familiar with. For those not familiar, it’s a city networking and auction game with the best catch-up mechanism I’ve ever seen. 3 had played before and 3 hadn’t. Fastest game I’ve ever played. Only took 75 minutes. I won with the step 3 card still 7 cards away. Can’t really give a first impression, but this game has always been an A+ for me.

Visitor in Blackwood Grove (BGG link) - A still unreleased game where two people battle to figure out the pattern of the third player. The game mechanics are that one player (the Visitor) makes up a rule like “things found in the kitchen” and shows a few cards that are either in (e.g. a saucepan or a pie) or out (a whale or a tree). One of the players “tests” cards by asking the Visitor if the object is in or out; the other tries to guess whether the things are in or out. The goal is the same: to identify the pattern and test it on 4 new objects. If you get all 4 right, you win. It’s a fun filler that I definitely enjoyed playing; my biggest concern is whether it has much replay value. I don’t know how many different flavors of rules you can make without it getting boring. First impression: B-

The Oregon Trail Card Game (BGG link) - I was looking for a light ~30 minute game before I went into the pool. Some people grabbed this, and it looked cute and full of nostalgia. I joined in. Big mistake. The premise is that you play road cards on your way to Oregon. Some of these cards have calamities where you need to fix your wagon or take your medicine. If even one of your group survives, the team wins. On my very first card I played, the calamity read “You have died of snakebite”. That’s it. No way for me to avoid it or save me. The first player to die is supposed to take over the role of shopkeeper (basically the banker) so I guess I had something to do while I just waited for everyone else to die, which they did about 20 minutes later. Not that it matters, but the rulebook is terrible and full of unanswered ambiguities. Possibly the worst game I’ve ever played. First impression: F- (or lower if there’s any grade less than that)

Grifters (BGG link) - My favorite of the games of the weekend that I would consider "filler". A deck builder where you use your criminals to steal money. Great if you like being mean to other players. First impression: B+

Ora et Labora (BGG link) - My 2nd Uwe Rosenberg game of the day. I wish I had played this one first. I would have done much better in Le Havre. You have your own board and build various buildings that come out at certain times. There are a lot of different resources, and I was hurt by the fact that I confused two of them. This set me back a few turns. Ended up coming in 2nd of 4. Would definitely play this again, but I feel like this game isn't as good as Le Havre or Agricola. First impression: B+

Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King (BGG link) – A tile placing game that looks a lot like Carcassonne, but plays much differently. Each turn, everyone draws three tiles and puts up two of them for sale at a price set by each player. After that, each player gets a chance to buy one of the tiles from another player at that price. Any unsold tile must be bought by the seller at the price he/she tried to sell it for. I played horribly, but it’s a great game. First impression: A-


Sunday:
Power Grid: The First Sparks(BGG link) – Power Grid might be my favorite game of all time, so I decided to give this spinoff a shot. It’s advertised as a more compact, faster game. It has a lot of the same feel as regular Power Grid in terms of mechanics. The auction mechanic is similar, but not the same. The first player puts out a technology (equivalent to power plants) that has a fixed cost. Then the second player says if he/she wants it or not. Then the third is asked the same question, and so on. The last player that wants it, gets it. As expected, a very interesting spin on the game. Had a lot of fun. Won by a fish (food is the tiebreaker). First impression: A

Cities of Splendor (BGG link) – This is an expansion for the popular game Splendor. I’m pretty middling on Splendor (it’s probably about a C for me). The expansion improves the game a little bit. It’s really four expansions in one; we tried two of them. Would be interested to try the other two, but this doesn’t rocket Splendor up to the echelon of games that I’m really excited about. It’s still easy to learn and goes quickly. First impression: B-

Mottainai (BGG link) – A game that I joined at the end while waiting for my ride. A seemingly simple little card game that is actually confusing as hell. Each player is performing tasks and collecting materials to make things. I might be so negative on this because I just wanted something simple before going home, but I didn’t have fun at all. The player who won had never played before, was just as confused as I was, and seemed to only win based on the luck of the cards. First impression: D-

Had a lot of fun at the event (except for that ****ing Oregon Trail game). Looking forward to next year.

i don't think a 30 minute game can possibly be the worst game ever

a feast for odin is a good single player game