Dominion

[Matt]

Has anyone played Dominion by Rio Grande Games?

[jameson (ST)]

Yup! Fantastic game, and extremely replayable thanks to the many many many combinations of cards that can be used from game to game. Add in a number of expansions (I think 5 at this point) and there are probably literal billions of possible set-ups for play.

[jameson (ST)]

I knew I had mentioned this before so I did a search. I have posts here and here about the game. I enjoy it quite a bit.

[Matt]

I thought is sounded familiar.

Have you played it with people that aren't accustomed to playing non standard card games?

[jameson (ST)]

I have, with mixed results. If the person can grasp the core mechanic of bettering your deck for future hands then they will pick up the game pretty well and run with it, but some don't seem to get the premise and just never really click with the game.

[RushingMountain]

For people that don't pick that concept up easily, Jameson, I've found that ascension is a good gateway to Dominion. It's easier, and a little more random, but stil has a skill component, and you're still choosing between bettering your deck and getting points. It isn't Dominion, but people seem to grasp the concept behind Dominion more easily after having played Ascension.

In a slightly different vein, have any of you played 7 Wonders, by any chance?

[jameson (ST)]

I have not.

[Matt]

I had a gift certificate so I picked up Dominion and Ascension. I also got Castle Panic which looks like it could be fun.

7 Wonders looks cool, but I am struggling to get one other player so anything that requires 3 or more is not a good option for me right now.

[jameson (ST)]

I can't speak for Ascension, but Dominion does play well with 2, though it plays best IMO with 4 (and 5+ is actually too many).

Never heard of Castle Panic.

[Matt]

In Castle Panic you have a castle at the center of the board and monsters charge from the edges. You have to try and kill all the monsters before they destroy your castle. It is a mostly cooperative game, even through there is a single winner.

Here is the game page: http://www.firesidegames.com/castlepanic.html

[jameson (ST)]

Video review for Castle Panic.

I've watched a bunch of this guy's reviews and he's usually pretty solid on picking up the strengths, weaknesses, and target audience for games.

[Matt]

I watched his review prior to purchasing it. I think the game has an easy to understand visual aspect to it. The strategy may change as the game goes along and different types of monsters appear on the board, but you never lose the simple keep them as far away as possible approach.

Since I'm not trying to game with other gamers, but find anyone to play something that will help me get my gaming fix I am hoping that I can find the right game.

[jameson (ST)]

They guys I do board games with aren't RPG gamers. They do have wargames cred. but before me most of them hadn't played anything that wasn't by the brothers Parker, or Mr. Bradley, if you catch my meaning.

Since then I have introduced them to:

Carcassonne - a personal favorite of mine, its super simple mechanics really belay a deep strategic resource allotment system

Settlers of Catan - which they actually seem to like more than I do, but then I suck at Catan ...

Pandemic! - which I frikkin ADORE! My first co-op play game (I need to seek out some others after seeing how much more awesome a game night can be without being cutthroat) this game has deep strategic elements, resource management, time management, and a brutally efficient system for modeling disease that continues to confound me. Highly recommended.

Puerto Rico - This one takes a little effort to teach but it can be taught during play and is usually quickly picked up. There is a great deal of strategy and many many many ways to play for the victory, most of which may win you one game only to lose it the next. This also happens to be current #2 highest rated game on BoardGameGeek.com (formerly #1).

Alhambra - A tile laying game with a neat theme and a quasi auction system. I've played maybe a dozen games total, not my favor the bunch but still a good game.

There's also light play games like Zombie Dice, Pass the Pigs, Give Me The Brain, and various games based on a standard deck of cards that we use to open and close the evening based on quick play and a general funness factor.

[Matt]

Thanks for the write ups.

I thought that Pandemic sounded like fun, but one of the reviews I read said that the only strategy you'll ever want to use is to cure the disease. No matter what else is happening to always focus on that. I may have bought it instead of the other.s

[jameson (ST)]

Tell you what, I'll try and write up a review of pandemic in the next few days and I'll go into detail on game play. To say that the only strategy is to "cure disease" isn't terribly helpful IMO since treating and curing disease is how you win the game. That would be like saying the only strategy for Monopoly is to get as much money and property as you can.

[Matt]

I assumed that there were options of defend your borders so that the disease doesn't get in, find a cure, kill people that have the cure, etc. The one review basically said to forgo all other strategies.

Thanks for writing up a review.

[jameson (ST)]

Nope, those options don't exist. I'll detail things fully in my review. Suffice to say for now that the game is brutally efficient at doing what it does and forces the players to run about the world beat down flare-up epidemics before they outbreak into local regions and spread beyond the ability to control.