Which super popular game were you utterly disappointed by?

The only saving grace for Wingspan fore are the achievements in the digital version. I enjoyed having some bizarre setups needed to unlock the chievos and as a result I got better at the game I feel and was able to sort of get around the luck of the draw style.

What sent Wingspan into the stratosphere of popularity was more tapping into the non gamer middle age market with articles like the NYTimes.com at the time spreading the word.

Had it not pulled a Wii (a term I use when a company attracts a new demographic) I imagine Wingspan would have hovered around or above Viticulture popularity.

I wanted to like Wingspan but, like you say, it's maybe something with the flow that just turns me off. Same for Parks. Maybe I'll make do with just ogling the cards (because the art/graphics are gorgeous in both) vice playing with them haha

Getting into tableau/engine builders games. Any recommendations?

I also do not like Catan. Tired of getting pigeon holed in resources and then having to convince another player to trade when I have no real bargaining power.

Catan just feels weird. The thing is - and I kinda validated that recently by watching highlevel competetive play of the catan base game, but: You only have like 2-4 meaningful decisions in a game. The rest is just follow through and dice.

And these things aren't that hard to see at a decent level. And when you make these decent decisions, you mostly just win. Even with the robber, there's limited counterplay to these good initial choices. This makes it hard to play casually as well once you know the good things.

Fuck that robber

Same with me and Catan. I generally do not like resource-hoarding "competitive" games anyway, and Catan did not help that.

I had great hopes for King of Tokyo but realize it's one of those rated because of the production + reach the masses.

You should not expect more from KoT than a funny and visually appealing confrontation game. The more players you have the funnier it is.

You're right, Catan sucks. Tokyo is much more interesting with powered up

Munchkin is a great game, but it's one you can't play with board game or TTRPG people. You need either alcohol or people who aren't used to/don't worship strict board game rules and who aren't afraid to muck about with stupid shit or pile on other players. The sort of person who's favourite game is CAH or "uh....I dunno chess maybe?', not "here's my six hour dissertation on why Jamestown: now with Wheat is the best"

Munchkin was my first modern card game (lets call it like that) and for this particular reason, I loved it. As a young adult (had the version without colors, just draws), I was such impressed, at that time, by how intense feels and interactions you could get by just playing a game. It truly creates a story around.

But depicts all the love I had for it, I realize the biggest selling point for me (active cooperation-but-go-in-hell!) was what tired gamers the most. Some wants to play game, and not discussing/fighting for everything happening on the table.

Now I'm definitely an adult and having play to many games, the intensity of a Munchkin game is just too much for me. Would love to play with young adult/teenagers because I know how fun they can get from it, but it's definitely not a game for… (let's say) Gamers.

Played so many 3 hour games where everyone just held their stoppers for when someone was going to hit level 10. By the end you're just silently pleading that someone dings so it can be over.

When I first learned about ttrpgs I asked a friend if he knew anything about it. He invited me to play munchkin with him and some other friends, saying "It's like ttrpg but only the fun parts". I no longer have contact with that person

There are better sober games and there are better drunk activities than Munchkin.

If you're at a point where you're having fun with Munchkin you'd be having fun without it as well...

I agree entirely, hate Munchkin with a passion

Munchkin soured me on Take That style games for years. My friends loved it, but I did not.

This is the same for me. Feel like a collection of half-baked attempts at mechanics from too many other games. The five turn limit is to short to do anything interesting with them, and makes it so the winner of the game is basically decided after turn 1. I like the theme and there are lots of games that are technically worse, but it just feels kinda mediocre and dull.

That's exactly the point of Monopoly: Showing that capitalism leads to monopoly and misery, to those who have and those who have to pay for it.

Monopoly is a really bad 1-2 hours game but the absolute worst part is that everyone plays with dumb house-rules to make it last an entire afternoon. Really grinds my gears.

I never refuse to play Monopoly, I'll just say I'll gladly play if we play by the rules. The end result is the same, we never play it. I have never met anyone who wanted to play by the rules. Hell, I never found anyone who knew Monopoly had auctions or mortgage.

Never fails to get family members crying.

Was never even meant to be fun. I think it's interesting that people take so long to recognize that it isn't fun, simply because it is presented in the form of a board game. You need to understand games pretty deeply before you can evaluate them, and by that time, modern commercial games have used psychological tricks to addict you rather than actually appealing to your intellectual or emotional interests.

I feel like Ares Expedition is a really nice compromise. I love placing tiles on Terraforming Mars, tho. Really miss that.

I am the same. I prefer Ares. It is so much better in my opinion.

Hoping to borrow Ares Expedition from a friend soon. Played it once in Essen and wasn't wowed. Gonna be tough beating TFM after that...

Mage Knight was without a doubt the worst boardgaming experience I have ever had.

The blame is totally on the game owner who thought the "Full conquest" mode was appropriate for 4 players who had never tried the game. It was a miserable experience, lasted more than 8 hours long with up to 30 minutes between my turns.

@TipRing @dpunked 100% this. I kick-started it and had very high expectations due to the designer, but it really fell flat after a couple plays. I particularly disliked how your faction and board combo really dictated your viable strategy and how some resources just stopped being useful or valuable at all later in the game.

The whole genre is overplayed. Apples to apples was great for kids, cards sold well because of the adult themes but even now it’s a pretty cringe game. Everything else is riding the same wave with no originality added to the concept.

On the plus side Blood Rage is a dead seller at our store compared to Rising Sun which still sells out at wholesale for months on end

I like Ticket to Ride, but more to play with people that are not into games. Something easy, just a fun session in the evening with parents or other relatives.

Yeah. It got recommended to me as an easier Tzolkin. Well, it IS easier but not anywhere near as interesting and every game feels sooo samey.

The few times I've played it (with my admittedly competitive group), we've always gone through the entire deck. If a group of 4 isn't getting through the deck, it means people aren't calling card draw/card selection enough, and may be plopping down suboptimal cards just to use what they have.

I would also recommend Wingspan, but it's not the same style of game. Everdell felt a lot like Agricola, but less punishing and more fair about card availability and variance.

I really like Everdell, but that tree is the definition of style over substance. It actually hinders gameplay.

Its just a really time consuming game. I've spent 9 hours playing a game we made it 4 rounds in (in fairness with a few new players). I personally like it, but you really do need to have the patience of knowing you are likely spending the day and probably not finishing regardless. A bit like Talisman.

The discovery texts in the book just broke up the pace so much. Spliting the party made the down time insufferable and the "combat/diplomacy" mechanic was horrible.

We're a group of 5 so someone would had to sit out every time and after one play I told everyone I would be happy to be that person...

you wont die alone on it. I am with you. So far, whichever game is on display together with Monopoly, Risk and Cluedo Harry Potter is doomed from the start

Here's hoping 7th Citadel works through most problems people had with the continent. Was getting ready to buy Continent right when I discovered the Kickstarter for Citadel. Been eagerly waiting ever since.

Its a pity, its my favorite game this year. If you would ask my girlfriend, she would agree with you. So far, while I had kinda meh starting hands I managed to have a tight game. I think that its essentially a 2 player game and more players can really hinder the game flow. As a 2player it is probably one of the deeper ones out there. Rarely is a game best played at 2, unless its a duel game

It's a shame that risk Europe is so good and so connected to the name risk.