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31 Posts

I see the world through the window of a city bus. I make music using sticks and mallets. I exercise my mind by moving pieces around cardboard worlds.

Current hotness: Azul, Castles of Burgundy, 18xx

Webhttps://funkatize.me
IRCirc://irc.freenode.net/boardgames
Show threadmeebaNov 24, 2019
@Yoric 1849 is one of the 18xx stock-holding train games. Set in Sicily, it is a game that is notorious for punishing players for even playing it. The terrain is difficult and expensive, the trains never run as far as you'd like, and you can definitely count on someone having a bad day when certain trains rust. With any luck, you can shed liabilities and make it someone else's problem, but the timing is a a real beast!
meebaNov 24, 2019
Holy cow, 1849 is one weird dang game. Of all the 18xx games, this is likely the one that is most perplexing to me. Not because the rules are complicated... they aren't. At all. But the _implications_ of the rules are so hard to get a grasp on.
Show threadmeebaSep 4, 2019

@Gorgmorg FATE Accelerated actually seems like something that would be quite fun and useful for goofy little one-off games.

I've been pondering using it to do a tabletop version of Takeshi's Castle.

Show threadmeebaSep 3, 2019

Anyways, I don't mean to harsh on what anyone else likes. There's plenty of people who like Pathfinder... far more so than people who like 18xx. Likewise, plenty of people are into lore-rich novels in a way I'm not.

I just wish there was a somewhat more utilitarian way to get into storytelling games. Fiasco is good... I hope there are others that are as easy to pick up and run with no pre-game studying.

That's my rambling for the evening... I swear, I'm done now!

Show threadmeebaSep 3, 2019

I think there's also a significant factor in all of this that boils down to "I really just don't care about the lore all that much."

Give me Mark Twain or George Saunders, not Neil Stephenson. My brain just doesn't work on the right level for all the prose.

Show threadmeebaSep 3, 2019

I get that an RPG is not the same thing as most economic games, where there are rigid rules for how things work. I guess that's really what I need in this... rules that are clear and easy to understand.

This might actually go some distance to explaining why Fiasco is quite enjoyable to me, but Pathfinder really isn't.

Show threadmeebaSep 3, 2019

It kind of gets me to thinking I must be broken or flawed for just not getting it.

The ruleset is horrifyingly complex and I don't see a particular reason why this needs to be so.

For what it's worth, I don't find 18xx games, on the whole, to be complex. They're long, there are many levers to pull in regards to timing and turn order, but the rules are, on the whole, simple.

Pathfinder seems to require an absurd amount of arcane knowledge to even get started.

meebaSep 3, 2019

Finally gotten around to being part of some Pathfinder action and... I think all I've learned is that I loathe output randomness.

It is, in fact, ruining the experience for me.

meebaJul 28, 2019
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is pretty darn awesome.
meebaApr 28, 2019

Haven't tooted in a while... definitely having trouble keeping up with stuff!

Been designing an 18xx game the past few weeks. It's based on the growth of streetcars in Denver. Hoping I haven't quite made this as complex as 1841, but I suppose playtesting will tell.

What could possibly go wrong when companies are allowed to own shares of other companies, right?