Collectible Games - Taking stock of the money I have wasted.
Over the years, I have gotten hooked on more collectible games than I care to admit, though there is one I keep coming back to....just because it is the easiest one to find people to play with. That one, of course, is Magic the Gathering. I don't actually think it is the best of the bunch but a game like it is only as good as the opponents you can find. I have also gotten in to the following games listed below, with my thoughts attached:
Jyhad/Vampire: TES- One of the earliest attempts to cash in on the CCG craze, V:TES has withstood the test of time. The game is still being made and from what I hear has a small but active community. I only really played it when it first came out though, since I found it hard to get people I knew playing it. The problem was the game was a little too complex and (worst of all) could take hours to play. CCG games should be fast, I think.
Star Trek: TNG CCG- I bought a ton of packs of this when it first came out, then actually played the game and found it horrible. I hear the 2nd edition of the rules improved it, but never tried it again.
Illuminati: NWO- Basically a CCG version of the non-collectible Illuminati game, it took the proven gameplay of the original and streamlined it....and allowed you to build your own deck. Seemed like it could get pretty broken with the decks, but didn't get to play enough to find out. The cards were funny, but that is not surprising, if you ever played the original game.
Highlander CCG- Had nice mechanics to simulate a duel between two immortals. Short-lived, sadly.
Pokemon TCG- I consider it one of the best. It is simple enough for kids, but has enough depth to interest adults.
Doomtown- One of my all-time favorites. A little more complex than Magic, but still can be played in short amount of time (under an hour usually). The game has a neat function where players end up creating the town by playing locations and can move their old-west "dudes" around the town picking gun fights, robbing banks, etc.. The different factions had some neat flavor and unique strategies. The only reason I stopped playing this game was I moved away from Fort Wayne where I had a regular group that met to play.
Diskwars- This game was a short fad when I lived in Fort Wayne, but was a good amount of fun.
Heroclix- Loved the figs. Hated the game.
Harry Potter- Only bought a little and only played it once with the ex, but we enjoyed it.
Vs. System- Another one of my favorites. It has simple and fast mechanics but skill in the game is just as important as deck-building skills.
D&D Minis and Star Wars Minis- With slight variations, these are the same game. The game is a fun, simple and fast miniature game.
World of Warcraft- A blend of Vs. and Magic the Gathering. Like Vs., it fixes the problem of being "mana-screwed" and having a large portion of your deck taken up by extremely common and uninteresting cards like basic lands or energy cards by allowing you to play any card in your hand as a resource. I liked it a lot. Sadly, the group I played with lost interest.
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I titled this post money wasted, but some of these games I still play from time to time. D&D Minis I have found to be useful when running D&D, so this is nice. I got rid of all of Heroclix before moving to California and have regretted it since. Not because I want to play the game, but because I realized I could have re-based them and used them for superhero RPGs, which I do like to run.
Needing money, I am thinking of selling my World of Warcraft, Vs. System, Jyhad/Vampire, Diskwars, and some of my Magic on eBay.
Jyhad/Vampire: TES- One of the earliest attempts to cash in on the CCG craze, V:TES has withstood the test of time. The game is still being made and from what I hear has a small but active community. I only really played it when it first came out though, since I found it hard to get people I knew playing it. The problem was the game was a little too complex and (worst of all) could take hours to play. CCG games should be fast, I think.
Star Trek: TNG CCG- I bought a ton of packs of this when it first came out, then actually played the game and found it horrible. I hear the 2nd edition of the rules improved it, but never tried it again.
Illuminati: NWO- Basically a CCG version of the non-collectible Illuminati game, it took the proven gameplay of the original and streamlined it....and allowed you to build your own deck. Seemed like it could get pretty broken with the decks, but didn't get to play enough to find out. The cards were funny, but that is not surprising, if you ever played the original game.
Highlander CCG- Had nice mechanics to simulate a duel between two immortals. Short-lived, sadly.
Pokemon TCG- I consider it one of the best. It is simple enough for kids, but has enough depth to interest adults.
Doomtown- One of my all-time favorites. A little more complex than Magic, but still can be played in short amount of time (under an hour usually). The game has a neat function where players end up creating the town by playing locations and can move their old-west "dudes" around the town picking gun fights, robbing banks, etc.. The different factions had some neat flavor and unique strategies. The only reason I stopped playing this game was I moved away from Fort Wayne where I had a regular group that met to play.
Diskwars- This game was a short fad when I lived in Fort Wayne, but was a good amount of fun.
Heroclix- Loved the figs. Hated the game.
Harry Potter- Only bought a little and only played it once with the ex, but we enjoyed it.
Vs. System- Another one of my favorites. It has simple and fast mechanics but skill in the game is just as important as deck-building skills.
D&D Minis and Star Wars Minis- With slight variations, these are the same game. The game is a fun, simple and fast miniature game.
World of Warcraft- A blend of Vs. and Magic the Gathering. Like Vs., it fixes the problem of being "mana-screwed" and having a large portion of your deck taken up by extremely common and uninteresting cards like basic lands or energy cards by allowing you to play any card in your hand as a resource. I liked it a lot. Sadly, the group I played with lost interest.
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I titled this post money wasted, but some of these games I still play from time to time. D&D Minis I have found to be useful when running D&D, so this is nice. I got rid of all of Heroclix before moving to California and have regretted it since. Not because I want to play the game, but because I realized I could have re-based them and used them for superhero RPGs, which I do like to run.
Needing money, I am thinking of selling my World of Warcraft, Vs. System, Jyhad/Vampire, Diskwars, and some of my Magic on eBay.