> and I have only played it once, but there really is a lack of
> interesting strategy.
Hmmm, I'm not sure that once is enough to understand which strategies are available.
One thing about Settlers is that its a diplomatic game in some sense; you make deals with the other players in order to obtain resources that you need. I've seen several different playgroups; each with their own playstyle. The worst group refused to trade unless they could gain a distinct advantage like 2-1 or 3-1 in each trade. So they rolled the dice, collected their stuff, asked if anyone would trade with them and found the answer to be mostly "no".
This strategy is seriously suboptimal, and a good player knows how to take advantage of it - step in, be the good guy, offer to trade for 1-1 just to get the ball rolling. Trading is the lifeblood of the game, and if you are the only center of trading you are doing very well indeed.
<edit>
Your experience sounds kinda like my one game with the people who refused to trade. Its not any fun to play a trading game with people who refuse to make deals; but that doesnt make the game bad. (If not trading was a good strategy, then it would be a problem with the game. But since its a horrible strategy, all but the most stubborn players will quickly abandon it. ;-)
> Munchkin
Our group played this a couple times, but didnt really get into it. Its funny to have just because of the D&D references, but there seemed to be game balance issues. We found it much easier to hurt other players than to help them, so our games would wander around with us all between 2nd-4th level, never able to advance. Maybe our playgroup is just too mean for this game. ;-) I thought it might go better if there were some surprise cards that rewarded a player for helping; something like being an Elf, but that could be played at any time. Something like "If you help someone win a combat this turn you get the first 3 treasures" or "If you help someone you get a level."
Can the people who recommended Munchkin flesh out their experiences with this game? I really wanted to like it, but ultimately got frustrated with it.
> interesting strategy.
Hmmm, I'm not sure that once is enough to understand which strategies are available.
One thing about Settlers is that its a diplomatic game in some sense; you make deals with the other players in order to obtain resources that you need. I've seen several different playgroups; each with their own playstyle. The worst group refused to trade unless they could gain a distinct advantage like 2-1 or 3-1 in each trade. So they rolled the dice, collected their stuff, asked if anyone would trade with them and found the answer to be mostly "no".
This strategy is seriously suboptimal, and a good player knows how to take advantage of it - step in, be the good guy, offer to trade for 1-1 just to get the ball rolling. Trading is the lifeblood of the game, and if you are the only center of trading you are doing very well indeed.
<edit>
Your experience sounds kinda like my one game with the people who refused to trade. Its not any fun to play a trading game with people who refuse to make deals; but that doesnt make the game bad. (If not trading was a good strategy, then it would be a problem with the game. But since its a horrible strategy, all but the most stubborn players will quickly abandon it. ;-)
> Munchkin
Our group played this a couple times, but didnt really get into it. Its funny to have just because of the D&D references, but there seemed to be game balance issues. We found it much easier to hurt other players than to help them, so our games would wander around with us all between 2nd-4th level, never able to advance. Maybe our playgroup is just too mean for this game. ;-) I thought it might go better if there were some surprise cards that rewarded a player for helping; something like being an Elf, but that could be played at any time. Something like "If you help someone win a combat this turn you get the first 3 treasures" or "If you help someone you get a level."
Can the people who recommended Munchkin flesh out their experiences with this game? I really wanted to like it, but ultimately got frustrated with it.
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) the rules are pretty simple too; i can teach a newbie in less than 5 minutes all the rules they need to know to start the game. in some ways, it's like chess, though -- just because you know how to move the pieces, doesn't mean you know how to play the game...
There a a couple of games we play when we're missing players, or just taking a break...
