Co-op game recommendations

[Merlin the Tuna]

Hi gang!

I just threw Arkham Horror at my gaming group for the first time, and while almost everyone loved it, the fact that it takes for-freaking-ever is a bit of an issue. It's also the only co-op game in our repertoire at the moment, so I'm looking to expand on that with something that moves a little bit more quickly, as well as something that will less frequently put the players in the situation of "Well, there aren't any clue tokens on the board, so I guess I'll go to... umm... wherever."

Pandemic, Battlestar Galactica, and Shadows Over Camelot seem to be the forerunners as far as I can tell -- does that sound about right, or is there anything else I should know about? Pandemic sounds like it might be right our alley, but the 4-player limit may be a problem since we're usually hovering at 5-7 players. I've read some great reports of BSG, but we don't have a single person in the group that follows the show, which I expect will be a bit of a hitch. And SOC I don't have much to go on aside from general favorable reviews and the Wikipedia article.

Any recommendations from the peanut gallery?

 

[Asmor]

BSG is the only coop game I've found which I like. Not a fan of coops in general. You don't need to follow the show to play the game, either (I don't, for example).

All you need to know is the premise that there is an enemy called the Cylons, which have artificial-human agents hidden in the crew. The hidden agents are impossible to detect as different from a real human. In fact, there are some cylon sleeper agents who don't even know that they're cylons and will only get activated halfway through the game.

There, you know enough to play the game now.

You might consider Space Alert if time is a constraint. It's a very strange simultaneous-action selection game. Basically, you put on a CD that has scenarios in it and "program" your turns by playing face down cards. Every once in a while the CD will tell you that an enemy is approaching, there's a communications blackout, etc. Then in the end you resolve the cards everyone's laid down and see what actually happened in all the chaos.

Pandemic plays fairly quickly and is very popular. Personally I recommend the expansion just for the bioterrorist role.

 

[arscott]

I wouldn't really call BSG a cooperative game--It's really a hidden teams game, like werewolves/mafia. That said, I enjoyed playing it, and my never having watched the show was no impediment (my never having played the game before, though, was--Playing a Cyclon, I managed to paint myself into a corner by lying about the cards in my hand. I recommend familiarizing yourself with the various decks of cards if you're playing with experienced players.) It's also a long game--If the length of Arkham turns you off, you might want to look elsewhere.

Pandemic is fun, and the rules are exceedingly simple to learn. It plays quickly and manages to keep the tension up--there's not much of that "we're obviously going to win... eventually" feeling you sometimes get with Arkham Horror. The games only downside is that there's a huge tendency towards group decision making, and you'll get situations where the most strategic or experienced player is just telling everyone else what to do. It's also a short game--short enough that we usually play two or three games before moving on to something else.

Shadows is fun (and it's the only one of the three I own), and it supports up to 7 players (or 8, with expansion). There's a traitor element, but it doesn't dominate the game like it does in BSG. Even without the traitor, the secrecy rules prevent "someone else plays your character for you" situations. And it plays in about 2 hours.

 

[John Crichton]

I just threw Arkham Horror at my gaming group for the first time, and while almost everyone loved it, the fact that it takes for-freaking-ever is a bit of an issue.

How many players? Also, how many times have you played? It can go REALLY slow the first half-dozen or so playthroughs which can only get worse if there isn't someone at the table really comfortable with the rules.

It's also the only co-op game in our repertoire at the moment, so I'm looking to expand on that with something that moves a little bit more quickly, as well as something that will less frequently put the players in the situation of "Well, there aren't any clue tokens on the board, so I guess I'll go to... umm... wherever."

Have you looked at any of the AH expansions? They can add quite a bit to the game.

I wouldn't really call BSG a cooperative game--It's really a hidden teams game, like werewolves/mafia. That said, I enjoyed playing it, and my never having watched the show was no impediment (my never having played the game before, though, was--Playing a Cyclon, I managed to paint myself into a corner by lying about the cards in my hand. I recommend familiarizing yourself with the various decks of cards if you're playing with experienced players.) It's also a long game--If the length of Arkham turns you off, you might want to look elsewhere.

I agree with everything here, well said.

Pandemic is fun, and the rules are exceedingly simple to learn. It plays quickly and manages to keep the tension up--there's not much of that "we're obviously going to win... eventually" feeling you sometimes get with Arkham Horror. The games only downside is that there's a huge tendency towards group decision making, and you'll get situations where the most strategic or experienced player is just telling everyone else what to do. It's also a short game--short enough that we usually play two or three games before moving on to something else.

Yup, we've had the same experiences and it can certainly be hard to avoid the "one person giving orders" thing. Still, very fun game!

 

[Woas]

There is a sort of Coop game based on King Arthur and associated myth. I've never played it, just know of it off hand but figured if someone else knew the name for sure, it'd be one more to the list.

 

[Victim]

That's Shadows over Camelot - it also has the possibility of a hidden traitor, but I've heard that it's not as well done as BSG.

Space Alert seems fun so far. The intense real time nature of the game makes one guy micromanaging everyone else rather difficult. You'll only have like 10 minutes to plot out all your moves and there can be a lot of stuff going on, so rapid communication is key.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Lord of the Rings is one of my all time favourite co-op games. Lots of replay value and it is actually a hard game to master (although pretty easy to learn). most games I've played are finished in 90 minutes the longest lasted 2.5 hours.

You will learn to hate the little 'eye of Mordor' playing piece they use!

 

[arscott]

That's Shadows over Camelot - it also has the possibility of a hidden traitor, but I've heard that it's not as well done as BSG.

How so?

 

[Victim]

How so?

I've never played it, but I've heard that the traitor has little non-obvious ability to hurt the group. You could probably get information on BGG.

 

[arscott]

I've never played it, but I've heard that the traitor has little non-obvious ability to hurt the group. You could probably get information on BGG.

That's a pretty reasonable criticism--the traitor certainly has to work harder to find opportunities for sabotage in Shadows. I wouldn't say the game is necessarily worse for it, though.

(Then again, I've only played BSG once. I made a pretty ineffective cylon, mostly because I played too cautiously.)