I've got the feeling that alot of the regular cubers in here, also play alot of other games. I'm myself a major gamegeek, and play all games that can be played including boardgames, computergames and console.
So this thread is dedicated to all the non-magic gamegeek talk, if anyone might be interested in that.
I will start by recommending the boardgame Dominion. It's a great game, that have a little magic feeling over it. It's a really good way to introduce your non-magic friends to cardgames, that are a little more advanced than Poker. This is my favorite non-magic boardgame atm.
My other roommates and many of my friends are into boardgames and/or Dungeons and Dragons. Everything they've ever tried to get me to enjoy such as Settlers and D&D has failed to impress me with the exception of Dominion. As mentioned by bondafong, that game is pretty awesome although I'm still pretty terrible at it.
Dominion is a great game and feels like the closest thing to Magic some of my friends will ever play. I keep holding out hope that I'll get some converts for cube drafting.
Stratego, Carcassonne , SWCCG, and Smash Bros. are all the games I play. My family looooves games so I usually get wrangled into a few rounds of apples to apples, bananagrams, or game of things after dinner.
I have never tried Dominion ... will need to check it out.
CCGs I've played (and still own cards for) are: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Star Trek.
Board Games I play frequently are: Axis & Allies (every version), Settlers of Catan, and Diplomacy.
Role-Playing isn't really my thing, but I have dabbled in D&D, Star Wars, MERP, and Warhammer Role-Play.
But, my other big gaming passion besides M:TG is w/o question Warhammer!
I have nearly every Fantasy army (large selection, not just 2,250 pts), and have recently started playing/collecting 40k too ... so I have spent about as much time and money on it as I have Magic.
EDIT: X-Box as well ... of course! Large (12-16 players) Halo Link-Up nights is the only thing we do I might enjoy more than Cubing?
I have to confess that I am a gamer through and through... and it all start in 1995 with a 4th edition starter of Magic!
CCGs I own and consider good: Magic (Duh!), VS System (I am not much of a comic fan, but this game is not bad.), Warhammer Invasion (Not really a CCG. It is supplied in a huge starter box and every month a small expansion of presorted cards is released. It still plays like a CCG.), Hecatomb (From Wizards. Absolute shame that they canceled it after three sets. I have to add that this was due to the dark themes and bad marketing and not due to the actual game play, which is great.)
Boardgames I own and frequently play: Dominion (Including the first two expansions.), Monsterpocalypse (Well, it is a collectible miniature game, but it plays like a board game. Definitely one of the best games I have ever played. The collectible aspect is quite annoying, though.)
Tabletop games I own: Warhammer 40k (Eldar and Chaos Space Marines), Epic Armageddon (Great game - probably the best rules GW ever made! I have Eldar and Space Marines as miniatures and Imperial Guard and Necrons as paper proxies. If only GW would care for it. :suckup:)
Beyond Magic I used to be a huge computer game enthusiast focusing on RTS, FPS, and MMO's. My wrists have since failed me and I've been relegated to Xbox. Currently I'm playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Supreme Commander 2. If anyone is playing these on Xbox live my liveID is muffintopx5 look me up I do play hardcore on BFBC2 though, so hopefully you do as well!
You owe it to yourself to try Dominion if you're a fan of limited Magic. It's a very strong game with nearly unlimited replayability. You can try out an online version of the game at brettspielwelt.com. They have the entire base game and a few cards out of each expansion.
Other tabletop games I have been playing recently and enjoy quite a bit include:
Ra
Race for the Galaxy
Agricola
Power Grid
Battlestar Galactica
Rune Wars (this one is new)
You owe it to yourself to try Dominion if you're a fan of limited Magic. It's a very strong game with nearly unlimited replayability. You can try out an online version of the game at brettspielwelt.com. They have the entire base game and a few cards out of each expansion.
Your speaking the truth here.
Here's some more fast reviews:
Race for the Galaxy is also a really good game, that's very well designed. The best thing about this game is that everyone plays simoustaniously. That mean that there's almost no time where you wait.
Puerto Rico is also a game I can return to again and again. It's also number one on Boardgamegeek.com for a reason.
War of the Ring is a game for the more experienced boardgamer. But it's really fun, although a bit long gametime with about 4 hours of play.
El Grande is probably one of my most favorite games of all time.
Dominion is excellent.
Puerto Rico, Agricola, Arkham Horror, A Game of Thrones, D&D and D&D miniatures....I dig lots of stuff...I'll pretty much play anything, it's the company that's most important to me.
Epic Armageddon (Great game - probably the best rules GW ever made! I have Eldar and Space Marines as miniatures and Imperial Guard and Necrons as paper proxies. If only GW would care for it. :suckup:)
This. Epic is my all time favorite. I have fairly substantial Space Marine and Ork armies. I wish GW still gave Specialist Games the time of day.
Wow. I figured everyone in here was a hardcore Magic player and that I was the only one with outside gaming interests Ah, how naive I was.
I'm bennyd on BoardGameGeek if anyone else is on there. That site is THE site to go to if you are interested in non-M:TG board and card games.
Other than M:TG (my number one game of all-time), here are the only three others that rate as a 10/10 for me (wonderful descriptions provided by one of my geekbuddies - houjix:
Caylus - Resource management is the iconic Eurogame genre but it's hard to explain what sets Caylus apart from similar titles. Here's my best attempt. Every good resource management game has two things going for it. First, the relative values of the resources you're managing are spot on. Second, there are enough moving pieces to make managing your resources interesting. The problem is, if you swing to far toward one of these you lose the other. Either the valuations become stagnant or the maneuverings do. Caylus somehow manages to hit the exact right sweet spot. Nothing (well, almost nothing) feels over or underpowered, a pretty big achievement for a resource management game. The exceptions are of course the incredibly situational gate and the thoroughly awful cube favor track. The worker placement action drafting system is no frills attached yet engaging and filled with real decisions. There’s a surprising amount of interaction in the game, and I like a little bit of nastiness if I can plan for it. Caylus just feels right; all of the gears are turning in sync. That's a completely vaporous description, I know, but really I think the fact that the system feels so well oiled is the reason that the game is so good. Compare it with Age of Empires III, a rather blatant knockoff, where everything about the game feels slightly off instead. Night and day really. I do think Puerto Rico is fundamentally the more original and elegant game compared to a somewhat mechanical Caylus, but Caylus appears to ultimately have greater depth. Agricola has depth to beat them both but side-by-side Caylus exposes just how cobbled together Agricola really is. Three to four players is the sweet spot, though some argue more or less work as well.
El Grande - Area majority has clearly been one of the major genres of the Euro generation, and it's been done to death. The remarkable thing is that the granddaddy of the genre still remains the top dog. Somehow El Grande feels like a better version of almost any area majority game around. See, the key to an area majority game is to make sure there's enough shake up factor. Otherwise it's just throwing cubes in a region. Just take a look at 1960 to see how static and one for one that can get. El Grande, on the other hand, seems to have the perfect balance of chaos versus strategy. Cubes are constantly in motion but you never feel like the game has swung out of control. It's the king mechanic versus the action cards really. To be fair there's not much by way of long term planning, but it's engaging nonetheless (and I do tend to prefer more tactical games anyway). It's another one of those games that you can't explain exactly why it works, it just does. The way the actions play out, the way the king moves ... everything adds up to a rich experience. I don't know what to say beyond that. El Grande is fantastic, a true Eurogame classic.
Ra - Ra's discrete value bidding system is a mechanical masterpiece. It avoids so many logisitical problems associated with auctions. Compare it to going back and forth one dollar at a time (potentially into the hundreds) in Power Grid or Scepter of Zavandor. Not to mention the learning curve of trying to evaluate worth on such a nitpicky scale. Ra's gameplay is of course sold on positional manuevering, making decisions based on how others are going to act given their current situation. It's here that gameplay really shines, though like all such games (Santiago and Puerto Rico being other examples) a certain amount of reliability of how others will react is required. I'm finding that as I mature as a gamer I become less tolerant of unskilled play in games such as these. I don't claim to be great at Ra, but dumb moves really kill positional games. It's perhaps the reason Ra has lost some of its luster for me. Or perhaps its that there is ultimately a not so insignificant luck factor. Still, you can't beat a game of Ra with experienced players. It's clearly a classic. Ra plays 3 to 5 all acceptably well.
BennyDJazz's Note: These do not necessarily reflect my feelings on the game, but they do give an accurate description of the pros and cons of the game
We've recently gotten into Settlers. I always like Warhammer and Blood Bowl (oh, Blood Bowl).
I need to decide what game to get into next, if any. Settlers is perfect for my group because we have some casual-ers and some hardcore-ers. Any other board games you would recommend that are easy to pick up?
We've recently gotten into Settlers. I always like Warhammer and Blood Bowl (oh, Blood Bowl).
I need to decide what game to get into next, if any. Settlers is perfect for my group because we have some casual-ers and some hardcore-ers. Any other board games you would recommend that are easy to pick up?
Depends on what type of game you're interested in, but Ra is one of my personal favorites to introduce to casual gamers because it's fairly easy to pick up on but it has a lot of strategic depth to it. And it plays in 30-45 minutes, depending upon how well everyone knows the game.
Anyone here ever play Dragon Strike? The pic below is the game, although not in English. It's very much like D&D, but with a board and prewritten campaigns.
So this thread is dedicated to all the non-magic gamegeek talk, if anyone might be interested in that.
I will start by recommending the boardgame Dominion. It's a great game, that have a little magic feeling over it. It's a really good way to introduce your non-magic friends to cardgames, that are a little more advanced than Poker. This is my favorite non-magic boardgame atm.
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
(list not current)
My Cube Google Docs Spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AibgWfz0ukmOdDNhOHlucjcxUi1wVy00NDhLbDUtUlE&hl=en_US#gid=8
(list is always current)
It's easy and play a lot like magic and has a twinge of luck based on your deck~
I recommend Ticket to Ride Europe and Ticket to Ride Marklin (Germany). I also like Power Grid. But it takes about 2+ hours to play sometimes
All great games
Opm's Cube on MTGS
Wife's Etsy Store (Hair Accessories for Girls)
I do play Star Wars (the original Decipher one) and I played Lord of the Rings when the game was active.
Magic is still the best game because it has the strongest playerbase, but I personally feel that the SWCCG has the best game mechanics, hands-down.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
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Draft my cube!
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CCGs I've played (and still own cards for) are: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Star Trek.
Board Games I play frequently are: Axis & Allies (every version), Settlers of Catan, and Diplomacy.
Role-Playing isn't really my thing, but I have dabbled in D&D, Star Wars, MERP, and Warhammer Role-Play.
But, my other big gaming passion besides M:TG is w/o question Warhammer!
I have nearly every Fantasy army (large selection, not just 2,250 pts), and have recently started playing/collecting 40k too ... so I have spent about as much time and money on it as I have Magic.
EDIT: X-Box as well ... of course! Large (12-16 players) Halo Link-Up nights is the only thing we do I might enjoy more than Cubing?
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=385729
CCGs I own and consider good:
Magic (Duh!), VS System (I am not much of a comic fan, but this game is not bad.), Warhammer Invasion (Not really a CCG. It is supplied in a huge starter box and every month a small expansion of presorted cards is released. It still plays like a CCG.), Hecatomb (From Wizards. Absolute shame that they canceled it after three sets. I have to add that this was due to the dark themes and bad marketing and not due to the actual game play, which is great.)
Boardgames I own and frequently play:
Dominion (Including the first two expansions.), Monsterpocalypse (Well, it is a collectible miniature game, but it plays like a board game. Definitely one of the best games I have ever played. The collectible aspect is quite annoying, though.)
Tabletop games I own:
Warhammer 40k (Eldar and Chaos Space Marines), Epic Armageddon (Great game - probably the best rules GW ever made! I have Eldar and Space Marines as miniatures and Imperial Guard and Necrons as paper proxies. If only GW would care for it. :suckup:)
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Other tabletop games I have been playing recently and enjoy quite a bit include:
Ra
Race for the Galaxy
Agricola
Power Grid
Battlestar Galactica
Rune Wars (this one is new)
Your speaking the truth here.
Here's some more fast reviews:
Race for the Galaxy is also a really good game, that's very well designed. The best thing about this game is that everyone plays simoustaniously. That mean that there's almost no time where you wait.
Puerto Rico is also a game I can return to again and again. It's also number one on Boardgamegeek.com for a reason.
War of the Ring is a game for the more experienced boardgamer. But it's really fun, although a bit long gametime with about 4 hours of play.
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
Dominion is excellent.
Puerto Rico, Agricola, Arkham Horror, A Game of Thrones, D&D and D&D miniatures....I dig lots of stuff...I'll pretty much play anything, it's the company that's most important to me.
Well said...
...and Winning though.
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
Fun > Winning
Draft my cube!
Watch me stream!
Give me victory or give me a re-match!!
This. Epic is my all time favorite. I have fairly substantial Space Marine and Ork armies. I wish GW still gave Specialist Games the time of day.
I'm bennyd on BoardGameGeek if anyone else is on there. That site is THE site to go to if you are interested in non-M:TG board and card games.
Other than M:TG (my number one game of all-time), here are the only three others that rate as a 10/10 for me (wonderful descriptions provided by one of my geekbuddies - houjix:
BennyDJazz's Note: These do not necessarily reflect my feelings on the game, but they do give an accurate description of the pros and cons of the game
Did you sleeve your munchkin cards?
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I need to decide what game to get into next, if any. Settlers is perfect for my group because we have some casual-ers and some hardcore-ers. Any other board games you would recommend that are easy to pick up?
Yes I did, they were a bit expensive too. Fantasy Flight Supply: Standard American Board Game Sleeves Pack if you're interested.
Depends on what type of game you're interested in, but Ra is one of my personal favorites to introduce to casual gamers because it's fairly easy to pick up on but it has a lot of strategic depth to it. And it plays in 30-45 minutes, depending upon how well everyone knows the game.
Ha. Lunch Money is a messed up game, lol.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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