Looking for a complex board game

D

Daniel92

First Post

• Feb 20, 2017

• #1

Hello.

This time a have a request with regard to a friend of mine. Next month is his birthday. He really likes complex board games like these's http://www.used.forsale/boardgame So you get an impression, two of his all-time favourites are The Settlers of Catan including Cities & Knights and Caylus. Especially the latter one is, at least in my opinion, a very complex but enjoyable board game.

Because he likes this kind of stuff I was searching online and found an old, used game for sale called Twilight Struggle. The reviews on boardgamegeek are really good as well. The only downside is, it is only suitable for two players.

So firstly what do you think of this game. Is it really worth buying it? And secondly are there any more similar alternatives which are suitable for more then two players?

Any feedback is highly appreciated.


Daniel.

 

Last edited: Mar 30, 2017

log in or register to remove this ad

Hastati

Explorer

• Feb 20, 2017

• #2

Twilight Struggle is one of my favourite games. It is very much worth getting. Some good multi-player games include Fury of Dracula, Civilization, Conquest of Paradise, Talisman. These are what I would call accessible "Euro-style" games. I'm assuming that you are not looking for traditional wargames.

 

ccs

41st lv DM

• Feb 20, 2017

• #3

Well, since you listed Settlers, complex has a wide range. (Settlers may have a lot of stuff, but it's not really all that complex - wich is why it's so popular)

Race for the Galaxy - plus all expansions. Card based game.

Eclipse - a bit like Settlers. A tile based game of space exploration/conquest. Has tech/weapons upgrade chips, 3 track able resources (needed to build ships/tech). Multiple expansions.

Firefly (based on TV show) + expansions.
Fly back & forth across the map dropping off cargo/doing various jobs. Gain x $, win game.
About as complex as settlers. Warning: because of the board(s) + all the various decks of cards this game takes up alot of space.

 

C

chaochou

Hero

• Feb 20, 2017

• #4

I would recommend a lot more reading and browsing over at boardgamegeek.

There simply are too many really good boardgames to do justice in a quick post, and - to be blunt - highlighting Catan and Caylus doesn't really do that much to narrow down the options. They are so well known and so popular that lots of people like them.

I really like Mage Knight - which is a few steps up in complexity, but still awesome. On bgg you could check out Through the Ages, Terraforming Mars, Caverna, Agricola, Le Havre and keep browsing from there.

Eta
Yes, Twilight Struggle is very good. Quite easy to play, but playing well means knowing and understanding the cards. Balanced and tense. Yet for all its strengths, I don't find it creates great memories.
"Remember when you played NATO and I played the Olympics?"
"No."

 

Last edited: Feb 20, 2017

J

jmucchiello

Hero

• Feb 20, 2017

• #5

In my experience, the scale of no luck to lots of luck is as important as complexity in saying if some one likes a game. Settlers is a mid to high luck game. While Caylus is an extremely low luck game so I am surprised your friend likes both equally (although adding cities amd knights does mitigate some of the luck factor).

Also, both games are very interactive, other players' actions impact your actions. I would not recommend Agricola, as it can be somewhat group solitaire-ish. Puerto Rico has some decent interaction.

But chaochou is right. Boardgamegeek is the place for doing extensive research. You will not get the right game without spending some effort.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using EN World mobile app

 

D

Daniel92

First Post

• Feb 21, 2017

• #6

Alright. Thanks for the games you mentioned. It's a good starting point for me. I'll check them out on bgg.

 

RangerWickett

Legend

• Feb 21, 2017

• #7

I am just in love with Kingdom Builder. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/107529/kingdom-builder

It's got a cool combinatronic design, where you use the same gameplay mechanics, but there are random maps which each offer different 'bonus actions' you can earn which give you more options, and the scoring goals are randomized too. Sometimes you try to build settlements along mountains in clusters on all four quadrants. Sometimes you try to scatter your settlements are far apart as possible while attempting to get at least 7 settlements along the edge of one side of the board. Sometimes you can get the ability to build in rivers, or to have a caravan move a settlement two hexes over, or to build walls to block your opponents.

It's got a bit of a learning curve in the first game, but the complexity's grand.

 

I

isaquelazaro

First Post

• Feb 21, 2017

• #8

I can easily recommend Twilight Struggle, it's one of my favorites to play with my girlfriend.
I can also recommend Through the Ages. People also talk a lot about Terra Mystica and Twilight Imperium, but these are two I've never played, so I can't really talk about them.
A last game I want to recommend is Tao Long, which was recently funded. That is incredibly complex for such a small game. I playtested it a couple times, and am really looking forward to it!

 

C

chaochou

Hero

• Feb 21, 2017

• #9

I've played Twilight Imperium 3 a couple of times.

It's decent but a little too long for an evening's play - more like an all weekender kind of game and I don't think it offers enough for that amount of effort. Some people love it, mind, so ymmv and all that.

 

T

tomBitonti

Adventurer

• Feb 21, 2017

• #10

I'd be careful re: Twilight Struggle, as it is a very different sort of game than either Catan or Caylus. TS is a much more serious "war" game, for one. It's a great game -- just a different sort of game. Also, TS is a two player game, while Catan and Caylus are multi-player games. (I wouldn't play Catan with just one other person; on the other hand, Caylus is rather good with the right two people.)

There are a number of games that are more "Eurogame" style games, say, Puerto Rico, or Power Grid, or Race for the Galaxy. You might also consider Pandemic, Agricola, Terra Mystica, or the Castles of Burgundy.

I'd say, BoardGameGeek is a great resource to review potential games. You can find lists of top/favorite games, pictures of game contents, reviews, and general discussions for many games.

(A note about BoardGameGeek: "Hot" games are biased towards more recently released games. Games which are very fine drop on the popularity lists simply because they are older and less fresh than new games. That makes them less compelling to folks who have played a lot of games. But they are still great games, and better than their "hotness" rank indicates.)

Thx!
TomB