The Big Bang Theory - Three Person Chess

Lord of the Rings

This strategy game is based on the books, and not the movies.  It is a fairly complex cooperative game, in which up to 5 players can participate.  Players take on the roles of Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fatty (a minor character from the book) and each have a special power, which they must use to work together to destroy the ring.  They have to get through 4 different boards in order to do so (Moria, Helm’s Deep, Shelob’s Lair, and Mordor).  Players begin a turn by drawing a random tile, which will usually either move them up through the board they are on or make a negative event occur.  They then can play up to 2 cards to progress further through the tracks on the board, choosing strategically which tracks to move up and which cards to hold on to, taking into account the events that could occur later on.  In the meantime the players characters are on a separate track which has Sauron at the end of it.  Various events and die rolls can cause either the players to move closer to Sauron or Sauron to move closer to the players.  Meet Sauron and you’re dead – and if the ring bearer meets Sauron the game is lost.  Victory is achieved if the ring bearer reaches the end of Mordor and is able to successfully destroy the ring without dying.

2-5 players.  Multiple expansions available (Friends and Foes, Sauron, Battlefields, The Black Gate).  Approximately 60-90 minutes.  Medium learning curve.

Becky says:  

This game has definitely grown on me when we played it more.  To begin with, it’s really hard to beat.  We’ve probably played 4 or 5 times now and won twice – but we’re still playing on “introductory” mode, which gives us a bit of a handicap.  I honestly thought this game screwed you over more than Shadows over Camelot ever could and it would be impossible to win.  The really cool thing was continuing to try it and discovering all of these strategies that occasionally work that I never would have thought of.  For instance, there have been times where we’ve just decided to take all of the negative events to get through a board as quickly as possible just to end it and hold on to our cards for future rounds.  In 5 player games we’ve also taken to making Fatty the “mule,” whose job it is to stock up on cards and give them up when necessary, usually spending his turn just drawing more cards.  I love that the strategy isn’t always obvious, and it definitely changes depending on how many people are playing.

It’s a game where working well together is really important, but everyone really has to be involved (unlike what happens sometimes with Pandemic).  Somehow, though, Lord of the Rings lacks just a little bit of the suspense and excitement that we get with Shadows over Camelot.    I’m not sure why that is (maybe the lack of a traitor?), but I haven’t quite found myself literally jumping out of my chair or pacing the room like I have with Shadows.  Lord of the Rings might be somewhat more enjoyable if you won more often, but that’s all part of the challenge.  I do like the fact that you get a score even if you lose, so you can still keep track and try to beat your previous scores. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the artwork on this game is really gorgeous.  Being geeks, we love the theme and the fact that it’s book based instead of movie based.  And we always enjoy a good cooperative game.  8.5 out of 10.

Jason says:

 I read somewhere that when The Lord of the Rings came out in 2000, it was a unique game because it didn’t pit the players against each other, it made them cooperate to beat the game itself.  It’s now 2012, so I guess I’m a bit late to the party, but that’s okay, because it’s still a really good game.  I’ve seen several cooperative games I think I like better, but variety is the spice of life, so this game has a place in my collection.  Also I am a fan of Tolkien’s books.

This game is extremely difficult, so it is rewarding when you can actually win.  Teamwork and discussion is mandatory, and sometimes even the best strategy is simply destined to fail.  Players have to seize every opportunity they can in order to have a chance at winning.  Everything is pretty straightforward and very linear, so it isn’t hard to learn, as long as you are willing to play through the first time knowing that one personwill have their nose buried in the rules figuring things out.  You could also play with someone who already knows the game.

I don’t have much to say about this game, besides that you should play it for yourself; that is a positive endorsement by the way.  Remember that I do endorse this game, because there are a few issues that I do have to point out.  The first is that this game is pretty static, and once you’ve beaten it, that’s it.  There are multiple difficulty levels, but like I said before, it’s extremely linear, so it is pretty much the same game every time.   The second issue is that there are a bunch of little nuances in the rules, and they’re important.  The worst part is that they are scattered all throughout the giant tome they give as the rules.  The rules aren’t very orderly and I’m still not sure I know every little detail there is to know; for example, we didn't know that the ring-bearer draws two cards at the end of every conflict (remember that, that’s important for winning, and lots of people miss that).  My third problem is the same participation problem that plagues Pandemic; it’s easy for a quiet person to sit back and think that everyone else is handling the game.  But then again, maybe communication is one of the skills you can attribute to “being good” at this game.

It doesn’t seem like I said many good things about this game.  But don’t be fooled, I really like this game and I think it’s worthy of anyone’s collection, especially those Tolkien fans (the game is based on the events in the books, not the movies).  As far as I know, it is the father of contemporary cooperative board games.  Also it was designed by Reiner Knizia, who is one of the most well-known and reputable game designers out there.  I give this game a 9.23/13, or a 7.1/10, and that means that I like this game just a smidge more than Pandemic.  So if you’re a savvy board gamer, try this, then try Pandemic.

Bang!

In Bang!, you get to take the role of a character in the wild west.  In fact, you get both a “role” and a “character.”  The roles include sheriff, deputy, outlaw, and renegade, while the wide variety of characters include fun names like Willy the Kid, Calamity Janet, and Jesse Jones, each with a unique character ability.  Your goal in the game varies depending on what your role is – the outlaws want to kill the sheriff, the deputies protect the sheriff and kill everyone else, and the renegade wants to eliminate all opponents except the sheriff, and then defeat the sheriff in a one-on-one showdown.  All roles are hidden except for the sheriff, so an element of the game is trying to figure out who is who based on their actions.  You get a handful of cards that can be used as either attack or protection.

4-7 players.  Multiple expansions available (High Noon, Dodge City, A Fistful of Cards, Wild West Show, and Gold Rush).  Approximately 30-90 minutes.  Medium-Hard learning curve.

Becky says:

I’ve found that almost everyone who has played Bang! has really enjoyed it.  You get to experience the game differently each time, depending on what your role is.  I also like the theme of the game and the puns on the character names.  And the title of the game can lead to plenty of inappropriate word play in and of itself.  Silliness aside, you do have to develop a good strategy for this game, which will differ depending on your role, character, and the people you are playing with.  It’s all about getting the right cards, using them well, and revealing yourself at exactly the right moment.  Interestingly, who you sit next to actually matters in this game, so choose your seat wisely!  The suspense is often quite high.  Some people feel that the game comes down to a lot of luck, and while that is sometimes true I think it is more about how you use the cards you draw.  And if you’ve revealed yourself in the first round and don’t have any missed cards, don’t be surprised when you’re dead in the next turn or two.

I shot the sheriff... many times. 

The biggest drawback of this game is that when you are killed, you are eliminated from play immediately.  If you have the bad fortune to get eliminated early on, you’re stuck watching everyone else play for the next hour.  The other big thing is that you need to stay focused.  Yes, you go around in a circle so you aren’t constantly playing.  But someone could shoot you, or play an emporio, or anything that might affect you.  I’ve noticed some people have a tendency to text, or get up and leave when their turn is done, and this significantly slows down the game time because then you have to wait for them to come back when the Indians attack.  In addition, if you’re paying close attention you’ll have a better idea of who’s who and who has what cards.

Overall this is one of my favorite games that we play because it’s exciting, my strategy changes slightly every time, and I love the theming of it.  9 out of 10.

Jason says:

Bang! starts from the very beginning as an unconventional game right at the theme, as a spaghetti western.  For anyone who can appreciate Sergio Leone’s movie trilogy culminating in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, this game will please your inner geek with endless quirky little jabs at the genre.  While said movie is not a prerequisite to enjoying this game, it goes a long way in helping you understand why this game is as witty as it is.  Also, it’s one of the greatest movies of all time; go see it.

Alas, theme doesn’t make the game, gameplay does, and Bang! has no shortage of exciting gaminess.  Bang! breaks the “point-scoring” mold; the objective is to stay alive long enough to make sure your enemies are underground and your friends are actually your friends.  As well, no one knows exactly who everyone else is, and that adds an exciting dimension of discovery to the game where your actions speak who you are, so you are never certain who’s a deputy and who’s that renegade.

The core gameplay is much like a game of Magic: The Gathering or YuGiOh! except that Bang! isn’t a collectible card game and everyone pulls from the same central deck of cards.  It’s a fix for a guy that doesn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars building a deck that will never be as good as the one the preppy rich kid down the street can afford.  The way the game works, you are faced with endless decisions, and any decision might be a good one.  When you win, you feel you’ve earned it because it took something like strategy to get there.  When you lose, you often know you tried your best and there was nothing you could do.  An average of good feelings all around.

Okay, so this game is not without a flaw or two, and in this case, it’s a tough one to overlook.  In Bang!, when you’re dead, you’re dead.  This is a truly unfortunate circumstance for the first player eliminated in a seven-player game who got blown away because everyone wanted to collect a bounty on what might have been an outlaw.  This first player can’t participate anymore and he can’t play another game because all the other players are still playing a game of Bang! that might go for a long time.  In larger groups, there is often one person who has to eat it simply because that’s the way the cards were dealt.  You hope this is your mild-mannered uncle who won’t mind being eliminated.

If you play this game for the first time, I have one of two recommendations: first, if you can, find someone who already knows the game well and have them teach it to you.  The game is simple but there are lots of tiny nuances that are important (like how “draw!” is different from “draw”).  Second, if you don’t have an experienced someone, you should play your first game in a group of four, not seven (or eight or nine) and use the first game to explore what the rules are talking about.  Once you’ve ironed out the details, then you can present the game to your friends and be the someone who already knows the game well enough.

Becky and I tossed around the idea of posting a video series for explaining the rules of games, so you can watch a video, get the basics, and get playing fast.  This would be the first game to get that treatment.

Ultimately, I give this game a 15.64/17, which comes to a 9.2/10.  There are several expansions to the game, and if the expansions are included, the score would go up.  Stay tuned for our reviews on them.

New Bang! Expansion

Our review on the base game Bang! will be coming soon, but in the meantime we wanted to let you know about a new expansion for this game.  It's called Gold Rush, and it adds two new major elements.  The first is a series of gold nuggets, which you can collect throughout the game in various ways.  These can be used to buy equipment, which are powerful cards that have different actions.

The other major change is the idea of the shadow gunslinger.  What this does is attempts to rectify the issue of people being eliminated from the game and no longer able to play.  Even when eliminated players will still get a turn, so they'll never really be out of the game completely.  Also included with this expansion is 8 new character cards.

It sounds like this expansion will change the game a lot.  We've already acquired our copy but have yet to try it out, so we'll see how it goes!

Board Games in Pop Culture - Big Bang Theory

Playing the Settlers of Catan will never be the same again...

Pandemic

Pandemic is a cooperative board game in which you are trying to rid the world of several killer viruses.  Your goal is to cure each virus by collecting 5 cards of the same color.  Each turn players will get the chance to move around and fight the disease, cure it, or trade cards.  However, they must also infect several more countries at the end of each turn.  Players much strategize together in order to be victorious.  They are also each assigned a character with a special ability to aid them in their goal.

2-4 players.  Expansion Available (On the Brink).  Approximately 60 minutes.  Easy-Medium learning curve.

Becky says:
I really enjoy cooperative games, so Pandemic gets points for that.  However, it’s definitely not my favorite out of all of the cooperative games we’ve played for a few reasons.  The first is that the game kind of lends itself to one person “taking over” and directing everyone else, rather than allowing individual players to make their own decisions.  This may also be a result of the type of people we sometimes play with, and if new people are slowing the game down.  The other thing I don’t really care for is the fact that the game can end really quickly if you draw the wrong combination of cards. 

But on to the positives!  I really like the fact that there are three different ways to lose the game – if you run out of cubes of one color, if 8 outbreaks occur, or if you run out of resource cards.  Of course I don’t like losing, but I feel like that really keeps you on your toes and makes you strategize in more ways than one.  I enjoy the different roles that you can be – the medic is definitely my favorite.  And when you really get into the game, it often comes down to just a few moves that are the difference between winning and losing.  That’s really exciting and full of suspense, a feeling I love when playing games.  Another really nice thing about Pandemic is that it is relatively easy to learn, so it’s a good “gateway game” if you want to introduce people to this sort of strategy game.  7.5 out of 10.

Jason says:

I think cooperative games are my favorite kind, so I was already partial to Pandemic going in.  That said, the game still stands on its own merit, being a fiercely difficult but satisfying experience.  The gameplay is logical and the “right” move can often be reasoned out, though “right” is hardly ever obvious.  There is a small but influential bit of chance, which I think is a good proportion (too often, games either have too much chance and you have no control, or too little chance and the game is nothing more than a process).  Pandemic is logic with enough uncertainty that it feels like the meeting of a board or an action committee where they lay out their options, discuss the ramifications, and agree to meet again next turn.  Almost a simulation, but the difference between Pandemic and a meeting is that Pandemic is fun, and action committees, not so much.

My biggest gripe with the game is the participation problem.  It’s easy for first-time players or introverted people to be lost in the waves of discussion.  They might think that other people are getting it, so they don’t need to contribute.  But contributing to the discussions is the bulk of the game, so that person ends up feeling like a placeholder, a potted plant with cards.  Then again, the game suggests two ways of play: you can show your cards to everybody, or you can’t but you’re allowed to say what you have.  At first we thought that not showing cards was silly, but since we’ve played more, I think that hiding your cards encourages you to speak more, thus encouraging you to contribute.

Ultimately, I think I’ll give it a 9.1/13, or for the less mathematically inclined, 7/10.  It encourages highly logical thinking and can get pretty intense, but the participation issue does turn some people off to the game.  There is an expansion, which I think improves the game.  Eventually we may do a review of the expansion, which I have no doubt will have a higher score from me.

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!  This blog was created by Jason and me (Becky) to share our love of board games.  We are a husband and wife that have been playing games together since we met – Jason introduced me to a whole new world of board games beyond the typical classics.  We play a lot, as do our family and friends.  We thought this would be a fun way to share our thoughts on games.  We’re thinking that we’ll do reviews, share any news that we discover, and write any other interesting articles on board games that we can come up with.  We’re thinking about a feature that covers controversial or unknown rules in popular games.

What would you like to see?  Any certain types of posts you’d love?  Board games you want us to review?  Please share in the comments!