(no subject)
Been indulging an interest in board games lately. I was really looking for games that are either science-based or non-competitive. Non-competitive these days is synonymous with European, and specifically German games. I've played Settlers of Catan and didn't quite enjoy it. The idea was interesting in a sort of simplified Civilization sort of way. But I was playing with someone who seemed to have throughly studied Settlers strategy, so he usually won very quickly. I'm not really big on games were luck plays a major factor, or where the strategies are heavily math-based.
There don't seem to be very many games out there that are ecology-based, which is ideally what I was looking to find. I did find a print-and-play game called Hidden Empires. The basic idea is that you are controlling an ant colony. It requires a fair amount of time and materials to make your own set, so that one's on the back burner for me.
There are some interesting card games out there, including one called Leviathan, which is described as Go Fish meets Magic the Gathering. It's also on my list to try out when I can find some nicer cardstock. I really like the concept of Dvorak which involves many player made decks, such as "Monkey Tennis", "Magic Girl Battle Tournament", "When Kittens Attack", and, of course, "All Your Base" which includes the original video-game graphics.
From there, you can find some rather...unusual concepts like 1000 Blank White Cards. As the name suggests, this is a game where you *make up the cards as you play*. You do start with some pre-made cards, but most of the fun seems to be in coming up with bizarre in-joke type cards. Obviously, you'd have to play with some fairly creative people, and I could see a game more along the lines of Dvorak evolving out of this very brainstormy game.
The one print-and-play game I have tried out so far is not really a whole new game as much as an extension. It's called "One World Dominion Risk". Basically, a deck of 44 cards adds an extra layer to Risk with such events as "Human Cloning" (double the bonus armies you get), and "Mad Cow Disease" (all armies in territory you select involuntarily attack adjacent area). It made for an interesting game, although some of the wording on the cards led to a bit of...er...debate about how they could be used.
There don't seem to be very many games out there that are ecology-based, which is ideally what I was looking to find. I did find a print-and-play game called Hidden Empires. The basic idea is that you are controlling an ant colony. It requires a fair amount of time and materials to make your own set, so that one's on the back burner for me.
There are some interesting card games out there, including one called Leviathan, which is described as Go Fish meets Magic the Gathering. It's also on my list to try out when I can find some nicer cardstock. I really like the concept of Dvorak which involves many player made decks, such as "Monkey Tennis", "Magic Girl Battle Tournament", "When Kittens Attack", and, of course, "All Your Base" which includes the original video-game graphics.
From there, you can find some rather...unusual concepts like 1000 Blank White Cards. As the name suggests, this is a game where you *make up the cards as you play*. You do start with some pre-made cards, but most of the fun seems to be in coming up with bizarre in-joke type cards. Obviously, you'd have to play with some fairly creative people, and I could see a game more along the lines of Dvorak evolving out of this very brainstormy game.
The one print-and-play game I have tried out so far is not really a whole new game as much as an extension. It's called "One World Dominion Risk". Basically, a deck of 44 cards adds an extra layer to Risk with such events as "Human Cloning" (double the bonus armies you get), and "Mad Cow Disease" (all armies in territory you select involuntarily attack adjacent area). It made for an interesting game, although some of the wording on the cards led to a bit of...er...debate about how they could be used.