Narann
It doesn’t work all the time. Troy dices is a wonderful game, yet I have watch many reviews and had to read the rules many times before understanding what the game was expecting from me. And it’s only at the end of the game that things clack and I instantly wanted to play another round.
I and a friend are on the same boat. I think if you really can’t try the game you have to be open and consider a time to ‘catch’ it yourself. We buy and and play games that looks good. Most of them are. Few aren’t, but you have to be prepared that a given mechanic didnt catch with you, even games considered awesome.
Being a fan of engine/tableau builder, Wingspan really disappointed me. It’s not a bad game. It a very nice game, but the flow is average, at most.
Depicts some interesting ideas that push me to buy it with it’s first expansion (goal board, mix of engine and tableau building) it’s hugely luck based and the fact this game is rated 8+ on BGG, that tends to rate games mostly on advanced mechanisms and long run, is still a mystery to me.
I give it 5 plays with different peoples. Yet, I had no fun at all (I mean, zero… Watching flies around was the funniest part of my last game, sadly)… Then I played 51st State, which is a very good (yet not awesome) engine builder and have instant fun from start to end. The feeling of controlling things.
There are some highly rated games on BGG, and while I like some better than others, the ratings never seems off to me. Like “mmh, OK, I see why peoples like it”. But this offset has never been so huge with Wingspan.
So yes, I have it on my shelf, I watch its wonderful box like a disturbing mirror of my gaming tastes, knowing it’s praised by many, but I could almost try to find another table just when someone come up with the idea, while I usually really force myself to play games with different peoples because I know you will make peoples happy.
First time in my 20y of gaming, and it makes me feel so weird.
Thanks for reading me.
I just buy Sea Salt & Paper. My 9yo girl win the first (2 players) game and love it.
It’s surprisingly addictive.
I don’t play that much this WE. I paint trolls from War of the Ring.
Root is complex, so you need to have someone to really know the rules. But as soon everyone understand what its faction is supposed to do to win, it’s pure pleasure!
I buy Terraforming Mars (never tried yet) and CloudAge on sale to give it a luck (the universe look cool).
I tested CloudAge in solo, just to get the flow. Took me 1h to finish the first scenario. Not all mechanisms are given on first scenario which (of course) feels kinda flat, but it’s perfect to learn rules slowly. The game is cool, but what seems even better is the tiny campaign that slowly adds mechanisms and card in a story driven way. The campaign is supposed to take 7 plays and I will definitely do it.
Friendly reminder that FZ is a very technical game where skills can go higher than most battle royal games where luck have a lot of impact. I also suspect Nintendo didn’t add tier system to dispatch players based on their level.
I can’t recommend enough to write your own rule summary. Write it once, and reorganize it as much as you can with the goal to teach it in a fluent way. Teaching also means giving few components to players when you explain them, simulate actions physically (When you say I draw a card, you draw a card, When you say I push ressource A token here, you push the token, etc.).
With heavy games, players expect the owner to be a teacher. Not everyone is good at this. The owner role is to ensure peoples don’t spend a bad time with the game. Teaching the rules in a engaging way is part of owner responsibility.
This is how I take it. I have few heavy game but I try to learn rules and learn to teach rules as much as I can so players feel confident after first turn.
