.This is the thread for discussing things played on tabletop.
We have a stack of unplayed board games, but managed to play a few wedding gifts. Takenoko is the game of Panda feeding. A deceptively simple game that plays quickly and can be reset very quickly for another round.
Clare played her first game of D&D which ended with a TPK. In all my years I’ve always had one character left alive, but she still loved it.
We were two players down for yesterday’s RPG so I decided not to go ahead with it. Instead we played a board game. Plague Inc.. You each play a different virus and the aim of the game is to kill more of the world’s population than the other players. I decimated Africa, got myself carried to Asia by migrating geese, and wiped out Australia after a spontaneous outbreak at the Melbourne Olympics, and was sure I was going to win but was just pipped to the post by the player who infected India, dammit 
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The rules are really simple, it claims to be playable in an hour (it probably is, we took two but we’re not a fast group), and it really is a lot of fun. Recommended.
My players excelled themselves in the RPG today.
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The year is 1969, and they are a group of supernatural investigators — the tone is meant to be that of a bad Hammer Horror movie.
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So, in a small English village, they have correctly identified the teenage girl who is a werewolf and want to get her away from the village before the next full moon. So they lure her into their car, give her a spliff and a flask full of brandy, wait till she passes out, and drive off with her.
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It’s not actually the direction I saw the game going in… 
I bought a copy of Jaws: The Board Game recently.
Nice, one versus many mechanic which is split between two slightly different halves of a game.
In the first half one player is the shark, moving around the coast and trying to eat as many swimmers as possible. The shark uses hidden movement like Jack in Letters from Whitechapel or Mr X in Scotland Yard. The other players take the roles of Quint, Brody and Hooper trying to keep swimmers safe, locate the shark and attach barrels to it.
Once either the shark eats 9 people or has two barrels attached to it the board is flipped over to reveal The Orca.
In this section the humans are trying to kill the shark and the shark is trying to either eat the crew or sink The Orca. Again there is some aspect of hidden move, with the shark appearing at one of three random locations each round.
The game ends when either the shark is dead, the crew are eaten or The Orca sinks.
The game comes with a rather unimpressive triangular wooden token for the shark. At the weekend I stumbled across one of Wizkidz D&D miniatures of a shark. Seeing the opportunity to pimp my game I bought it.
Last night I finally got round to painting it.
Played Cthulu Wars for the first time. It’s a monster of a game (pun kinda intended) with an enormous box and massive, solid resin playing pieces. It’s the kind of game that they would have made 30 years ago with cardboard counters for a quarter of the price. But that’s how the game industry is today . The size of the pieces is a hindrance, in fact, as the map isn’t big enough to fit everything in some territories when you’re playing Napoleon style.
It also fibs about the playing time. It says 90 minutes, but we were nowhere near finishing when we had to stop after four hours because my friend’s wife wanted dinner. (Honestly, wives, what is the point? ). Ok, it would probably get faster once you know the rules, but not that much faster.
Complaints out of the way, it’s a really clever and fun game. Every Great Old One has his own special abilities. When you read one you think, “That’s so unbalanced. Then you read the next one and go, “That’s so unbalanced!” So on balance it’s probably balanced, but you really need to understand the game and your abilities to play your side well. I imagine it’s a game with a very steep learning curve (despite simple rules) and will constantly change depending on the factions in play.
In conclusion: I really recommend it. But get your friend to buy it because it costs a small fortune and will need a extra room in your house to store it.
I went with friends to Draughts, a game cafe in North London.
We tried a game that was new to most of us; ‘Secret Hitler’.
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Secret Hitler is a dramatic game of political intrigue and betrayal set in 1930s Germany. Each player is randomly and secretly assigned to be a liberal or a fascist, and one player is Secret Hitler. The fascists coordinate to sow distrust and install their cold-blooded leader; the liberals must find and stop the Secret Hitler before it’s too late. The liberal team always has a majority.
It was a lot of fun! Everyone was accusing each other of being fascists and even being Hitler, so it was a bit like being on Twitter?
We don’t play often (the last time was two months ago) and this was only the second time I’ve been to a games cafe. The experience was mixed. a lot of the staff were great but there were a couple of hipper-than-thou types who need a reality check.
Next time we play, I’ll suggest we stick to someone’s flat.
I realize now why my chess has gone down. I have this habit of trying to make a quick move that will win the game instead of slowly gaining advantages and then building up to a win.
I try to rush things which is bad chess.
FWIW, I played Arjan online years ago and he won a game and I won a game. We left it at that, as breaking even.
So in lockdown I’ve played Godtear on Tabletopia, then Guildball on vassal. At home we’ve played the new edition of Fury of Dracula and have started a duet campaign of D&D. The duet is good as we can play short sessions and the narrative is far more collaborative. One intended adversary NPC is now a companion to Clare’s main PC as she saw a far more sympathetic character in him than I originally intended.
So a thought popped into my head as I’m searching out Black Friday deals.
Maybe I can get a good deal on one of those board games I’ve had in the back of my brain if we can ever get that going again.
On that note it was tough before the pandemic. I can get 6 people together, but all at the same time?
Generally, the wives and girlfriends aren’t so much into what we want (war and/or nerd stuff) and when some do come over and try a movie night, well my living room is adjoined to my dining room and distracting on both sides.
Anyways, it’s tough to get a guys night, so a new purchase has to be justified (especially if pricey).
So hey! I remember one of you giving a good review to Nemesis – Survive an alien-infested spaceship but beware of other players and their agendas
Holy F***! I found a variety of prices for me, best (quick search) is $149.99 CDN (so with the U.S. exchange rate at 1.31 think about $115 U.S)
Are they bastards for charging so much? Or am I just a cranky old man out of touch with reality?
Hard sell for me given the current conditions.
But the thing is, going by the description this would fit right in everyone’s wheelhouse.
I guess I’ll keep my eyes out when it’s a vaccinated world.
Hope the price or exchange rate doesn’t go up by then.
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Heh, I actually backed the kickstarter for the new Nemesis stand-alone game, added the original to my pledge and only paid off the pledge manager last month.
So I had a friend (my best friend) over last night (yes, socially distant, and this is rare but it’s my B-day weekend. I’m 26 for the second time…)
He’s a gamer, and I tell him of my post. He responds; “I’ve got games I haven’t opened. I’ve knowingly over-paid to get used things I had when I was young, and things I never had. You’re worried about 150 bucks? You’ve probably made mistakes worse than that in the last 20 years, and definitely multiple times in the ’90’s at the bar”
There may have been a bit more, but you get the gist. He didn’t know of it, but now intrigued and is encouraging me (he quickly reads he could re-sell easily, but I probably won’t want to).
Only thing is, it may not be the full group until October.
Won’t bore you, but a guys-getaway at a cabin… just now needs vaccinations and approval from the females.
I hope this all goes well.
a guys-getaway at a cabin
Play by the rules. Pants on until 11 PM.
Sad part is they’re in bed by 10:45
I mean, I’m asking for a friend?
Sad part is they’re in bed by 10:45
Wow, they stay up really late!
Only thing is, it may not be the full group until October. Won’t bore you, but a guys-getaway at a cabin… just now needs vaccinations and approval from the females. I hope this all goes well.
Back in the 90s we had “games week”, where the gang (anything up to about eight of us at the time) all took the same week off work and we played games solidly round at my house, all board games but book-ended by my Saturday RPG. We did it three years running before wives and other such adult commitments made it too hard to organise.
I was on the phone with one of my old friends the other night and we agreed that we’ll do one next year for sure, as soon as we’re safely and legally allowed to.
New tabletop game ‘Death in Space’ lets you mine for precious gems in the ravaged Tenebris system – Space.com
Free League and Stockholm Kartell team up for this old-school RPG adventure in outer space</strong
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Award-winning Swedish gaming studio Free League Publishing is well-known around the globe as a producer of prestige-quality tabletop games across the entire spectrum of sci-fi, horror and fantasy.
Those acquainted with the acclaimed firm should be well aware of their sterling reputation for delivering engaging RPGs like “The One Ring,” “Blade Runner,” “Alien,” “Tales From the Loop,” “Coriolis,” “Vaesen,” “Symbaroum,” and the upcoming “Dragonbane” and “The Walking Dead Universe.”
Now, Free League and Stockholm Kartell have partnered to venture into the cold abyss of the cosmos for a haunting new science fiction role playing game titled “Death in Space(opens in new tab),” which drifts into the marketplace starting April 26. If you’re looking for more space game goodness, check out our picks for the best space board games.
“The world is broken. In a collapsing universe, your crew is your only family. ‘Death in Space’ takes you to a grimy blue-collar future in a universe filled with risk, but also opportunity.
“‘Death in Space’ is a game about adventure and uncertain journeys out into the darkness of space, where the void whispers to the unlucky and imbues travelers’ bodies with strange powers. It is about you and your crew making a home of your spacecraft or station, your only sanctuary in a dangerous universe. Most of all, it is about surviving in an abandoned frontier system where resources are scarce, and competition is fierce. Engage in power struggles and build your crew’s reputation. Salvage and steal to endure a ruthless universe. Do anything you can to get that next job. Your life will depend on it.”
Created by “Mörk Borg RPG’s” Christian Plogfors and Carl Niblaeus of Stockholm Kartell, “Death in Space” will be printed and distributed by Free League Publishing under their Free League Workshop sub-label specifically arranged for indie games.
“Space is vast, empty and lonely, something we try to convey in for example the game’s layout and traveling rules,” Niblaeus told Space.com. “With a PhD in physics, I always had cosmology and astronomy in the back of my head when designing the game. It’s very liberating though, to leave the rigor of scientific research and take that knowledge and get creative with it in a roleplaying setting, just going wherever your imagination takes you.”
The new tabletop Death In Space is set in the war-ravaged Tenebris system where the mining of rare gems kicks off an interplanetary war.It’s set amid the war-ravaged Tenebris system where the mining of rare gems began a conflict that devastated the local planets. You and your crew are everyday explorers and laborers trying to strike it rich while signing up for dangerous contracts. “Death in Space” has its roots in the Old School Renaissance scene and follows similar design principles. Its pitch-black style and grounded tone are influenced by the grim-dark future of early ’80s sci-fi films and vintage westerns.
“We have been inspired by the brutal reality of our universe, where space is empty, lonely and hostile, and combined it with gritty sci-fi as exemplified by movies like ‘Outland’ and ‘Prospect,'” added Plogfors. “It is a game about the end of a universe where only crumbs remain of civilization, and you have to fill in the gaps to understand what has happened. Layers upon layers of history buried and forgotten.”
“The Tenebris system is a pretty bleak place, but you still have your family in the form of your crew. They might be the only ones to trust in this place filled with corrupt company officials, old warlords and space pirates. At its heart, “Death in Space” is about ordinary folks and the jobs they end up doing in order to get by. Hopefully they can end up with extra rewards in the process.”
A look at the tabletop role playing game guidebook for Death In Space from Free League Publishing.
“Death in Space” is now offered for pre-order on Amazon(opens in new tab) and from the the Free League Webshop with immediate access to the PDF. An official game soundtrack is also available at major streaming services that contains 90 minutes of moody atmospheric music.
And it was so immensely successful that of the two reviews it got on that website, the first one (posted 20 years ago) was actually posted by one of the designers of the game who pretended to be a random player.
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/29395/user-review
Very funny. Uh, my guess is that this actually doesn’t exist anymore.
Cards against Humanity is a lot of fun.
I’m mostly running D&D, boardgaming once a week and playing a mixture of Pirate Trolls for Warmachine or Hunters for Guildball.
