Which game is it and what did you not like about it?
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Not sure I can say “utterly disappointed”, but Tainted Grail had so much promise: great art, concept, unique take on Arthurian legend, seemingly interesting mechanics, but the game kind of flubbed after it actually hit the table. Just grindy, with bits seemingly added in to just artificially increase the length of the game. The grindy mechanics got in the way of appreciating the story, since you frequently have to choose between investigating story elements or feeding the giant statues. The miniatures are beautiful, but are almost unused throughout the game, conflict (combat/diplomacy) is interesting at first, but gets pretty repetitive the more you do it and doesn’t really improve much throughout the campaign. A lot of aspects of the game sort of overstayed it’s welcome for me due to its length being artificially increased, to where I rushed through at the end, skipping over exploring more because I just wanted it to be over.
The discovery texts in the book just broke up the pace so much. Spliting the party made the down time insufferable and the “combat/diplomacy” mechanic was horrible.
We’re a group of 5 so someone would had to sit out every time and after one play I told everyone I would be happy to be that person…
Probably Everdell. Just seemed to be very much style over substance. If you were lucky you could get some synergies going but luck is the key word there. The huge deck means there’s no guarantee what you need is going to come up in the game at all.
Kind of feels like if you want a nature themed tableau thing Wingspan does it better.
I was kind of mystified by its appeal too, all that tiny text, the pointless tree…
The few times I’ve played it (with my admittedly competitive group), we’ve always gone through the entire deck. If a group of 4 isn’t getting through the deck, it means people aren’t calling card draw/card selection enough, and may be plopping down suboptimal cards just to use what they have.
I would also recommend Wingspan, but it’s not the same style of game. Everdell felt a lot like Agricola, but less punishing and more fair about card availability and variance.
Interesting - I only played it irl a few times with someone else’s copy but I do have the digital version and we were having similar issues (including with quite experienced players of other games) - not to doubt your experience in any way. I might try playing on advanced AI if I have time and see if that makes a difference.
Because we do have one of our online group who is a massive fan but unfortunately it doesn’t really gel with any of the rest of us do it would be cool if we could find ‘a way in’
I really like Everdell, but that tree is the definition of style over substance. It actually hinders gameplay.
Being a fan of engine/tableau builder, Wingspan really disappointed me. It’s not a bad game. It a very nice game, but the flow is average, at most.
Depicts some interesting ideas that push me to buy it with it’s first expansion (goal board, mix of engine and tableau building) it’s hugely luck based and the fact this game is rated 8+ on BGG, that tends to rate games mostly on advanced mechanisms and long run, is still a mystery to me.
I give it 5 plays with different peoples. Yet, I had no fun at all (I mean, zero… Watching flies around was the funniest part of my last game, sadly)… Then I played 51st State, which is a very good (yet not awesome) engine builder and have instant fun from start to end. The feeling of controlling things.
There are some highly rated games on BGG, and while I like some better than others, the ratings never seems off to me. Like “mmh, OK, I see why peoples like it”. But this offset has never been so huge with Wingspan.
So yes, I have it on my shelf, I watch its wonderful box like a disturbing mirror of my gaming tastes, knowing it’s praised by many, but I could almost try to find another table just when someone come up with the idea, while I usually really force myself to play games with different peoples because I know you will make peoples happy.
First time in my 20y of gaming, and it makes me feel so weird.
Thanks for reading me.
Getting into tableau/engine builders games. Any recommendations?
Wingspan is still worth checking out especially since it’s so easy to try on BGA. There is a reason it’s so popular, it works well for many people. Everdell is another very popular one with great production. Kinda falls into the same camp in that it often shows up on these “popular games that didn’t work for me” lists but it’s quite good for what it is.
On the smaller side Wild Space can be a good entry point. Small box, inexpensive, very easy to play, fun combos.
Or if you want to jump straight into the deep water and go for the best that’s Lorenzo Il Magnifico for me. Deus is another one I like a lot but that has a map component too.
The only saving grace for Wingspan fore are the achievements in the digital version. I enjoyed having some bizarre setups needed to unlock the chievos and as a result I got better at the game I feel and was able to sort of get around the luck of the draw style.
What sent Wingspan into the stratosphere of popularity was more tapping into the non gamer middle age market with articles like the NYTimes.com at the time spreading the word.
Had it not pulled a Wii (a term I use when a company attracts a new demographic) I imagine Wingspan would have hovered around or above Viticulture popularity.
as a result I got better at the game
Reminds me Pokemon Stadium and Star Realms. The fast pace of digital versions improve your skills very quickly and gives new perspectives to the games. Maybe Wingspan is simply to slow paced for me.
One Deck Dungeon is another one where I had this experience. The ability to easily experiment with undo and retry has helped me get better at the game on the table too. And I am not sure that I’d have tried two-handed solo otherwise which is a fun way to play the game.
Had it not pulled a Wii
A good expression for the situation. Wingspan’s success is definitly to a large part because of it’s accessibility. Every problem you have (no cards, food, eggs) has an immediate, guaranteed and obvious solution. Everything you CAN do improves your position. And if you play on the blue side there is barely any direct competition in the game. There’s no way to shoot yourself in the foot. There is no requirement to plan ahead.
But it does have some potential to plan ahead, optimize and compete for those who want to.
It also doesn’t fall into any of the typical setting tropes like fantasy or sci-fi that might put some people off. It’s production values are pretty enough to catch some eyes.
I wanted to like Wingspan but, like you say, it’s maybe something with the flow that just turns me off. Same for Parks. Maybe I’ll make do with just ogling the cards (because the art/graphics are gorgeous in both) vice playing with them haha
Rising Sun is without a doubt my greatest disappointment in boardgaming. Everything went utterly wrong.
I love Blood Rage and love the japanese setting themes. When I learned a Blood Rage successor with a japanese setting was coming out, I was mega hyped. I read the rulebook, talked with my group, it seemed like a very nice fit. I ended up paying more than 200 euros for my Kickstarter pledge.
We played the game and we absolutely hated it. No one even wanted to give it another shot. I don’t remember exactly what went wrong, but the teaming up + betrayal actions were a big turnoff for us. We played as 5 which meant someone was always left without a partner.
No big deal, the game was hot and it wasn’t hard to find a buyer on BGG market. I shipped the game in the original packaging to the new owner but DHL sliced the package in half. The game ended up really badly damaged and I had to give a partial refund to the buyer.
Lesson learned, I never gambled on a big Kickstarter project again.
On the plus side Blood Rage is a dead seller at our store compared to Rising Sun which still sells out at wholesale for months on end
“New Phone Who Dis?” From the WhatDoYouMeme people. I imagine it sells regularly, but going in with low expectations for a judge-picks-card game this one somehow makes it really hard to think up of humor.
The sentences are longer and specific you can’t let your imagination run wild.
Obviously a cash in but felt like such a beyond low effort
The whole genre is overplayed. Apples to apples was great for kids, cards sold well because of the adult themes but even now it’s a pretty cringe game. Everything else is riding the same wave with no originality added to the concept.
I feel there is still life in it, like with Superfight. It encourages debating to the judge and pairs cards directly with each other granting more interaction.
And if you count Dixit/Mysterium/Obscurio as a judge/committee pick game I would love to see more people take a stab at judge pick games
But it is a shame Superfight seems to be dwarfed by other mass market games.
Super fight is a fun spin on the genre, as it Dixit. Keep in mind they mix things up though, rather than rebrand apple to apples.
Superfight doesn’t have a prompt to answer. It is pairing cards and having groups dictate.
Dixit is actually something I’ve noticed people with autism enjoy. My cousin is autistic and we played a demo at a LGS and she loved it because she could pick the hint freely. She could tell a poem, or pick one word, or even a song. She loved mixing it up. So we got her a. Copy for Christmas with a couple expansion packs.
She went to a group home with other autistic children a couple times a week to help with socialization. She took her game once and it was a very popular game. The workers there said everyone loved it.
Both of those games introduce a twist to the genre. The change the rules. That’s what makes them fun. Whereas Mysterium and Obscurio I would say don’t fall into the genre because it’s not a judge of what card fits better. It’s a series of hints to an answer. Those games have a correct answer where others do not.
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I don’t know why people are downvoting you (if that’s what it’s called here). I LOVE Hollow Knight, probably one of my favourite games, but I can understand it’s not for everyone. I had a similar reaction to you with Hades, which made me realise I don’t enjoy Roguelikes and Roguelites, no matter how popular and beautiful they are.
Edit: Ah I just realised it’s because we’re in an instance for board games. My bad!
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This is a board game community;)
Oh God I’m so sorry!!
Monopoly. It’s only fun if you are winning and you don’t like your opponents.
That’s exactly the point of Monopoly: Showing that capitalism leads to monopoly and misery, to those who have and those who have to pay for it.
Indeed, it’s amazing how prevalent the game is.
Was never even meant to be fun. I think it’s interesting that people take so long to recognize that it isn’t fun, simply because it is presented in the form of a board game. You need to understand games pretty deeply before you can evaluate them, and by that time, modern commercial games have used psychological tricks to addict you rather than actually appealing to your intellectual or emotional interests.
Monopoly is a really bad 1-2 hours game but the absolute worst part is that everyone plays with dumb house-rules to make it last an entire afternoon. Really grinds my gears.
I never refuse to play Monopoly, I’ll just say I’ll gladly play if we play by the rules. The end result is the same, we never play it. I have never met anyone who wanted to play by the rules. Hell, I never found anyone who knew Monopoly had auctions or mortgage.
The game it was ripped off from The Landlord’s Game. It was created to show how landlords and rents were screwing the public and enriching the man at the top.
Never fails to get family members crying.
Didn’t know that some of these were turned into board games.
Stone Age. Worker placement and set collection point salad and not much else.
Yeah. It got recommended to me as an easier Tzolkin. Well, it IS easier but not anywhere near as interesting and every game feels sooo samey.
Yeah. I like worker placement games, but Stone Age seems to think “oh player X goes before you this turn and gets dibs on spot Y so revise your plans” is the most interesting part of worker-placement. Which, no, it isn’t. It’s an important mechanic, but it feels like that and collect-em-up is basically the whole game in Stone Age.
Axis and Allies. I dunno, maybe I’ve just lost patience as I get older, but the 2 times I tried playing it with my group we spent so much time going over the rules and setting up the board that we really didn’t get it enjoy it much.
Its just a really time consuming game. I’ve spent 9 hours playing a game we made it 4 rounds in (in fairness with a few new players). I personally like it, but you really do need to have the patience of knowing you are likely spending the day and probably not finishing regardless. A bit like Talisman.
Probably quite lukewarm at this point, but Gloomhaven. Too much effort to set up and manage, losing often is annoying, losing often with no consequences for losing is even more annoying. It always felt like it would be better as a video game, and guess what? There is one now. It’s probably good.
@dpunked Ooof, most disappointed I’ve been with a game has to be Cosmic Encounter; it’s primarily rooted in two things.
- I had a terrible first play. I won (no ties even), but it felt vapid and arbitrary.
- The inability to select a target (and thus negotiate accordingly) sort of removed where I was hoping the game would be. Instead it was “oh, I’m targeting Jerry cause the game told me to”
Someone else in the group brought it, so it’s not like I was out any skin. The game I did purchase, played a lot of to confirm some suspicions, and then traded away was Terra Mystica:
- It has a declining critical nature of decisions as the game progresses (the three most important decisions you’ll make in the game are during setup).
- I found the faction dictated my strategy at an almost claustrophobic level (in particular, digging costs). This came across as a game about “here is what you need to do, can you do it better.” Ora & Labora gives you a ton of options each turn and some of those are legitimate but it depends on your goal. TM says “here is your goal and strategy, can you actually do it” which I was less interested in.
I played maybe 7 or 8 games in person and double digits online but haven’t played in years…
Börenpark, was just boring.
No real competition for tiles, no real race to the finish.
I can’t say I was disappointed, because I liked it at first, but Gloomhaven really became a drag after a year or so of playing. I feel like you really need to be invested in the lore and story to get anything out of it after a while, otherwise it’s basically glorified, over-complicated chess. It doesn’t help that 90% of scenarios have the same winning condition: “kill all monsters”. I feel like there could have been a lot more depth to the actual gameplay, and not just the fluff in-between. What’s more, each scenario takes 2-3 hours at best, and to make any real progress you need to set aside at least 6 hours per session, which is crazy. It’s basically a job at that point.
Also, in the later stages, when you have a level 3-4 party with unlocked classes, encounters become exhausting, because you need to keep track of a million modifiers and buffs/debuffs, sometimes cancelling out eachother twice. And it’s not a Gloomhaven session if you don’t keep going back to the BGG forums for rule clarifications. It’s a mess of a game, really.
After seeing what the scenarios with different win conditions looked like I am GLAD most were just “kill all monsters”.
As for session length we always played just a single scenario (unless we lost the first super quick). It took us a good year maybe one and a half to play through the campaign. IMO the problem is less the session length and just how much of a time hog this game is in general. We’re talking 150+ hours dedicated to a single game.
Yeah, I see your point. My group could only meet up once every so often due to differing work schedules and adulthood responsibilities, which I guess contributed heavily to the slow progress and the fact that we wanted to cram as much progress as possible into a single session. We were going on 2 years when I dropped out, and had made it halfway or two thirds into the campaign. The sad thing is that we could’ve exhausted several other games by that time instead of barely finishing the one.
Despite my rant, I’m not trying to put people off Gloomhaven entirely. It might be the best thing ever for some people. Just know what to expect when getting into it.
I can’t blame you. It literally took us pretty much weekly sessions for over a year to reach the final scenario. That’s a daunting comittment. I actually low key burned out on the game a few times during that period. But it always pulled me back in again.
