#johndclair

Space Base is one of my favourite tableau-building games. Designed by #JohnDClair and published by #AlderacEntertainmentGroup. #BoardGames #cards #TabletopGame #gaming #games #ScienceFictionGames #Gaming #ScienceFiction #AEG #SpaceBase https://www.instagram.com/p/CUqs7UyIr1o/?utm_medium=tumblr

Ecos. Trying out the full drafting option for your initial set of cards. This was pretty cool actually. My first exposure to drafting in this sort of game was Agricola, where it took a long time and didn’t add a lot imo. But this worked pretty well I thought. The game doesn’t have so many subsystems that looking for synergies is all that complicated, and it went reasonably quickly. Fun to play this again after getting sidelined a bit by the big late-year releases. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #alderacentertainmentgroup #johndclair #ecosboardgame https://www.instagram.com/p/B9bN0yPhj0e/?igshid=nqzha8hetbbf

6p Downfall, from Tasty Minstrel and John D Clair. This got a bit of play when it was new mid-last-year; I liked it for the punishing survival-horror setting and the novel feel of the play, something John D Clair always delivers. But it didn’t have a ton of legs; it rewards some study in ways which aren’t obvious, and some players find the punishing world of radiation and starvation a bit off-putting. Playing it again after a long break, I think it probably doesn’t quite get over the hump. It’s got a bit of fiddly complexity, the pacing is a touch slow, and it’s sometimes hard to get things done in a way that isn’t necessarily engaging, and the TMG production is just sloppy and a bit of a mess from a physical design and aesthetic sense. It didn’t bother me that much when it was getting a bit more play, but as a one-off the various usability problems are more severe. Anyway, as with all John D Clair games, it’s got a interesting and novel systems design elements, and if a 4x game in a really punishing post-apocalyptic setting sounds appealing it’s worth a try. But even though it definitely appeals to me, I think the combination of a few of the issues and the lack of an obvious constituency in my gaming groups means it’ll probably become trade bait. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #tastyminstrelgames #johndclair #boardgamenight https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Du6XQhB0z/?igshid=7fz4zgjasxs

Custom Heroes. Surprised this hasn’t gotten more love, it’s generally been thoroughly enjoyed by everyone I’ve played it with. It’s crazy, but it’s also fun and exciting and not very long and you have lots of interesting choices. I like a lot of John D Clair’s games, but I think this is probably his best. Plus it plays quite well at 5 or 6 players. #bgg #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgames #tabletopgames #johndclair https://www.instagram.com/p/B7K5bmbBvI-/?igshid=1ugf1jgxpd10t

Ecos, teaching it to some more new players. I’m at play #6, and I actually enjoyed this as much as any game of it I’ve played, so that seems promising that it will have at least decent continued replayability. We played with 3 and it moved at a good clip, which I’m sure helped. I’m thinking pretty soon I’ll have to play one of the drafting options. In the past I’ve generally been skeptical of drafting just because it’s not *that* much fun for the amount of time it consumes, but drafting actually really was a big deal for improving Terraforming Mars with very little actual cost in terms of play time, so I’m actually looking forward to trying it least once for Ecos. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #johndclair #ecosthefirstcontinent #alderacentertainmentgroup https://www.instagram.com/p/B6cbga-h8EJ/?igshid=ngngc889ovvn

Trying out #spacebase by #johndclair #aeg ~ ~ #pacificnorthwest #boardgames #pdx #gaming #space #resource #dice #starship (at Dice Age Games) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3xuqiapthr/?igshid=1p4wb9v7dghqm

This week is MeepleFest, so I was able to get in a round of Edge of Darkness in a pretty timely manner. I really enjoyed it, but it was designed to appeal to my gaming biases - mechanically unique and hard to classify, a colorfully drawn setting, a large gamespace to explore, and a moderately deep game but not one that’s prone to over-analysis. The gamespace here is actually *so* large that it’s really hard to get too detailed a read on it after just one outing, so we’ll have to see. But pretty promising I think. To me it’s got a bit of a Lords of Waterdeep vibe, although with a quite different set of game mechanics and a lot more range. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and look forward to exploring it. We’ll see how it holds up, mainly whether the downtime remains manageable (and the engagement levels good) once the novelty wears off. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #alderacentertainmentgroup #johndclair #edgeofdarkenessgame (at The Plaza Suites Silicon Valley) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0XnzhnBziZ/?igshid=mvzvucnt7w5a

Downfall, from John D. Clair and Tasty Minstrel Games. I had been waffling a bit on this; I’ve really enjoyed all of Clair’s games that I’ve played (Mystic Vale, Custom Heroes, Space Base), but the 4X genre isn’t always my thing and the games are so often just cookie-cutter bad designs, plus my experience with TNG has been what I’ll generously call mixed. But from what I had read it sounded interesting (lots of simultaneous play, the post-apocalyptic struggle is real) so I took a gamble. We played with 3, and I quite enjoyed it! The game system is pretty clean, it moves at a good clip, it’s not over-long, the struggle against radiation hazards and starvation is as significant as significant as the fight against the other players, but the game play is pretty open and there is space for maneuver. The techs seem to give you a few different ways to play. Anyway, I was pleased. I don’t need very many games like this in my collection, but I like having a couple - currently this, Conquest of Paradise, and Asgard’s Chosen after Eclipse got played out and Star Trek Ascendancy didn’t really replace it. Caveat: I’d keep the player count down (3 or 4 probably) your first time out. The radiation and lack of food really is a major challenge to deal with, so I think a smaller game will make getting into it easier. Looking forward now to Edge of Darkness, his next game, coming along pretty soon from AEG! #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #tastyminstrelgames #johndclair https://www.instagram.com/p/BxT99nxDJqa/?igshid=1ma6wfl8rk3uz