Incline Twilight Stuggle, cold war card driven game, now on Steam!

[Hitoshura]

I'm surprised this one wasn't mentioned yet:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/406290/

It's one of the best board game ever produced, period:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12333/twilight-struggle

I didn't play the Steam version yet but played a few times my dead tree copy and it's really outstanding. Here's why:

• A theme which is not often used in games, yet, is very well integrated with the game play. You really feel being part of that era, taking part of the weird dance that's going on between the USA and USSR.
  
• Innovative, yet very well done, mechanics. If you don't know what a "card driven wargame (CDW)" is, prepare to experience something completely new! It's the game that did popularize the CDW genre outside of the niche wargaming groups.
  
• A very solid mix of tight strategy, opportunistic luck on die rolls and bluffing. The game is well balanced and while it can be quite random at times, it's not a luck fest.

That's really incline material here. It shows that there's a lot of unexplored ground when it comes to modeling conflicts other than moving your tiny men around while snowballing economically.

 

[KoolNoodles]

Wonderful board game, maybe one of the best ever made. Just really amazing design, theme, production values(board and everything is very wall made), etc.

There's a free version you can play online, but it's a little clunky I suppose compared to a real release. If I didn't have the board game already I'd get the Steam version, looks sharp. Maybe I will down the road for ease of play.

There's something to be said though for sitting down with a good friend, one with vodka, one with whiskey, duking it out cold war style. Almost ruined a friendship on this game, can get very intense. :D

 

[Leechmonger]

I own the boardgame and have played it a few times, but never found it much fun. You get locked out of most of the map very quickly (if the Soviets are playing smart by lowering defcon) so most of your actions can only really be used on third world countries. Realistic, of course, but meh. Then there's the deck of cards which you have to memorize if you don't want to place a bunch of your influence on a country where it will get removed for free anyway (for example). And finally for such an involved and lengthy game there's still a good bit of luck involved (mostly from the space race, though players can get fucked by the -AP cards as well). I am of the belief that the longer a game takes to play, the less luck should play a role in deciding the victor. They should have at the very least used two dice for a better probability distribution in the abovementioned critical rolls.

In short: it's a long, highly thematic game with a significant learning curve and prominent luck factor. I was going to give the Steam app a shot when it came out but the UI was supposedly shit so I'll wait until it gets fixed.

EDIT: I'm gonna take this opportunity to recommend two of my favorite boardgames:

1. Race for the Galaxy. A Euro game through and through. The game is played with cards representing worlds and technological developments. Each card has a cost which is paid for by discarding other cards from hand. Additionally, each round of the game has five phases. At the beginning of a round each player secretly chooses a phase, then all choices are revealed. Only the phases that were chosen by at least one player take place, and the player/s who chose them get a bonus in it.

2. Glory to Rome: Another card game, probably the most confusing/esoteric to the uninitiated. Similar to Race for the Galaxy but more complex and with the ability to create ridiculous game-ending combos. Each card can be played as a building (grants an effect when completed), as one of 6 materials like wood or marble (used to construct buildings) or as as one of 6 roles (the action you can take on a turn). The effects granted by buildings are what make this game so good. Everything from increasing your hand size limit to new ways to attack your opponents to a one-time draw of potentially dozens of cards.

 

[Ulminati]

Sounds like you would like eminent domain. It's a mix of race for the galaxy and glory to Rome with a dash of dominion on top

 

[Burning Bridges]

I noticed this one too on The Flare Path and wargamer. Have to see if computer boardgames are for me, human player is not but they apparently have an AI.

 

[KoolNoodles]

I noticed this one too on The Flare Path and wargamer. Have to see if computer boardgames are for me, human player is not but they apparently have an AI.

I'd be highly skeptical of an AI playing this game well, but that's just my opinion. Too many variables, and there's a lot of "long game" thinking that the player needs to be aware of. Like: "Do I play this card now for immediate advantage or wait until later in the game when it could be more useful?"

Or, how some cards have detrimental effects, but if played by your opponent the penalty is even worse, so sometimes a player will have to make the call of hurting their chances a little right now, to lessen the damage later.

Or: "Do I play a scoring card now for easy points, or risk have to play it later for more...or possibly none? Or conversely, do I play a scoring card now before my opponent can get leverage in a region? (Because Early/Mid/Late favors the East and West in different ways so it might be preferable to get a scoring card out of the way)"

Or: Being aware of some cards with massive swings in influence. Generally, the US player will almost never put influence in Cuba because of the card "Fidel" lurking in the deck(it removes all US influence and Russia gains control). Can the AI account for that? Can it account for the many many cards that have similar considerations?

How does the AI calculate what cards to "send" to the Space Race? A good way to diffuse "problem" cards....

Well, I'd be interested to see if they made the AI competent, but human opponents just seems like a must for this type of game.

 

[DakaSha II]

1. Race for the Galaxy. A Euro game through and through. The game is played with cards representing worlds and technological developments. Each card has a cost which is paid for by discarding other cards from hand. Additionally, each round of the game has five phases. At the beginning of a round each player secretly chooses a phase, then all choices are revealed. Only the phases that were chosen by at least one player take place, and the player/s who chose them get a bonus in it.

This is where i mention this again: http://www.keldon.net/rftg/

Not only can you play the game for free but he ai is balls to the wall amazing. (at least if you arent a pro player.. though i think it puts up a fight even then)

 

[Leechmonger]

This is where i mention this again: http://www.keldon.net/rftg/

Not only can you play the game for free but he ai is balls to the wall amazing. (at least if you arent a pro player.. though i think it puts up a fight even then)

Absolutely, Keldon AI is awesome. Took me a long time before I could beat it consistently, and when that happened I would just add a new expansion. I must have played hundreds of matches against it.

That said, learning a new boardgame through a non-professional app can be off-putting. Thankfully in this case it's basically just cards, but good luck getting into Terra Mystica through this app.

 

[Hitoshura]

Race for the Galaxy is a great game (I played that one maybe 200+ times?) but is not in he same category as Twilight Struggle. The former is a meaty "filler" game that is done in 20 minutes while the later is a more elaborate strategy game. Sure, they share the same idea as Magic where every card has different rules associated to them and can be used in various ways but that's about it. If you wish, Twilight Struggle brings the diversity of Magic, up to a certain point, to a map driven war game.

I've played a couple time Glory to Rome and while this is a good game, it never fully satisfied me for a reason I can't identify. However, I absolutely love Innovation by the same designer.

 

[Galdred]

1. Race for the Galaxy. A Euro game through and through. The game is played with cards representing worlds and technological developments. Each card has a cost which is paid for by discarding other cards from hand. Additionally, each round of the game has five phases. At the beginning of a round each player secretly chooses a phase, then all choices are revealed. Only the phases that were chosen by at least one player take place, and the player/s who chose them get a bonus in it.

This is where i mention this again: http://www.keldon.net/rftg/

Not only can you play the game for free but he ai is balls to the wall amazing. (at least if you arent a pro player.. though i think it puts up a fight even then)

Indeed, the AI is really tough. There would be nothing preventing it to win consistently against pro either, as it seems very good at optimizing.
However, Twilight Struggle has some hidden information, which makes the AI much harder to code.
That and playdek's AI for Summoner Wars was atrocious, so I would not keep my hopes too high for TS.

EDIT: I'm gonna take this opportunity to recommend two of my favorite boardgames:

1. Race for the Galaxy. A Euro game through and through. The game is played with cards representing worlds and technological developments. Each card has a cost which is paid for by discarding other cards from hand. Additionally, each round of the game has five phases. At the beginning of a round each player secretly chooses a phase, then all choices are revealed. Only the phases that were chosen by at least one player take place, and the player/s who chose them get a bonus in it.

2. Glory to Rome: Another card game, probably the most confusing/esoteric to the uninitiated. Similar to Race for the Galaxy but more complex and with the ability to create ridiculous game-ending combos. Each card can be played as a building (grants an effect when completed), as one of 6 materials like wood or marble (used to construct buildings) or as as one of 6 roles (the action you can take on a turn). The effects granted by buildings are what make this game so good. Everything from increasing your hand size limit to new ways to attack your opponents to a one-time draw of potentially dozens of cards.

RftG and G2R are both eurogames, designed around optimizations (and combos for G2R), with a very thin thematic layer.
Twilight Struggle is a hybrid between high variance highly thematic of Ameritrash games, and abstract mechanics of Eurogames, so they are very different.
I personnaly cannot stand Eurogames much, so I will definitely get it if the AI and UI end up being good.

 

[Sranchammer]

Meh

 

[Comte]

Anybody know how the multiplayer in this works? Is it PBEM? Or do you have to use a server?

 

[Blaine]

I own the deluxe edition of the Twilight Struggle board game. It's an all-around fantastic game, and is widely considered to be one of the best, if not THE best board or card game ever made (barring ancient classics like chess and go), as indicated by its BGG rank. For several years, it held the number one slot.

What's really special about Twilight Struggle in my view it is that it's for two players only. In most cases, modern board games aren't nearly as much fun when playing with only two people (and some only support 3+ players), so exceptions to that rule are always welcome.

 

[Mustawd]

I own the deluxe edition of the Twilight Struggle board game. It's an all-around fantastic game, and is widely considered to be one of the best, if not THE best board or card game ever made (barring ancient classics like chess and go), as indicated by its BGG rank. For several years, it held the number one slot.

What's really special about Twilight Struggle in my view it is that it's for two players only. In most cases, modern board games aren't nearly as much fun when playing with only two people (and some only support 3+ players), so exceptions to that rule are always welcome.

Interesting. Will look into it. Been looking for a good or great card game I can play on my PC.

 

[Blaine]

My current board game stash (Chaos in the Old World and Eclipse still unopened, kek):

 

[Galdred]

My current board game stash (Chaos in the Old World and Eclipse still unopened, kek):

You definitely need to give a try to Chaos in the Old World. It is one of the games that handles kingmaking the best IMO. Eclipse without the xpack degenerates into a race to get plasma missiles. I prefer playing it with fixed teams, but I find little reason to play it over Nexus Ops or Starcraft/Forbidden Stars.
Why is there no dungeon crawler?

 

[Blaine]

You definitely need to give a try to Chaos in the Old World. It is one of the games that handles kingmaking the best IMO. Eclipse without the xpack degenerates into a race to get plasma missiles. I prefer playing it with fixed teams, but I find little reason to play it over Nexus Ops or Starcraft/Forbidden Stars.

I'm part of a board game group in my city, and everyone (particularly the original founders/organizers) has his or her own collection of games. Oftentimes, several people will own copies of the same game.

I've never opened my copy of Chaos in the Old World because there are at least two other copies floating around, and also because it's rarely played. I've never opened Eclipse because it's hideously complicated and long, and I haven't wheedled anyone into playing it yet (not that I've been trying very hard). The ebb and tide of who wants to play what at a planned major meet is free-for-all and hard to describe; some games, like Eclipse, will pretty much require an "informal" meet at someone's house, with players dedicated in advance to seeing the game through to the end.

Interestingly, no one had ever played Galaxy Trucker before I moved to Roanoke and joined the group. It was a smash hit, and two people immediately ran out and bought their own copies of the game.

Why is there no dungeon crawler?

Mansions of Madness fills that niche for me. The first "dungeon crawler" I played was Hero's Quest as a kid back in the early 1990s. Mansions of Madness is very much like it, with modular board setups, various different types of heroes, various weapons, items, and treasures to find, different monsters popping up to fight, with a bit of Clue and some puzzles thrown in.

Actually, in terms of pure fun, Mansions of Madness is my absolute favorite board game. It's definitely Ameritrash, though... sophisticated Ameritrash, but still Ameritrash.

 

[Mustawd]

I'm part of a board game group in my city

Any particular way to find a group in my own area? I'm not a big fan of PnP because I feel silly as shit RP'ing, but board games sound fun as hell.

 

[Blaine]

Any particular way to find a group in my own area? I'm not a big fan of PnP because I feel silly as shit RP'ing, but board games sound fun as hell.

I just Googled my city name with a "board games" argument, and found the group immediately on a site called meetup.com.

The board game group is far from the dweebiest. Check this out:

http://www.meetup.com/roalug/

 

[Mustawd]

Cool, I'm familiar with meetup. Just didn't know if there was a specific forum or website for board gaming. Might give it a whirl. Thanks.

 

[Blaine]

Cool, I'm familiar with meetup. Just didn't know if there was a specific forum or website for board gaming. Might give it a whirl. Thanks.

Well, there's BoardGameGeek.

If an organized group exists in your city, though, the proper search arguments in Google will probably uncover it.