RPG board games

[MellowHoly]

Guys, I was googling for an RPG board game thread and found this one https://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?34648-Best-board-game-with-RPG-elements/page5 but it's 2016' old. Do you play any new board games or do you know any party board games?

[HappyDaze]

I recently tried Gloomhaven. I didn't like it.

[Doom]

Yeah, Gloomhaven is too frickin' complicated.

Descent is more manageable, and Runebound works if you're looking for lighter fare.

[insubordinate polyhedral]

I've played Thornwatch a couple of times. It's decent, but I kind of end up wondering why I'm not just playing D&D.

Probably better with a party that's more on the fence about RPGs.

[Spinachcat]

Gloomhaven is a bad D&D session, so it should appeal to 5e fans!

All of the "D&D in a box" games I've seen in the past decade have been disappointing versions of HeroQuest and Warhammer Quest with more rules, somehow thinking that more fiddly bits = more fun. 90% of the time I've played Descent or Gloomhaven or Massive Darkness or a dozen of these games would have been better spent just playing some damn D&D.

We have been playing NEMESIS which is Alien the Boardgame. I'm mixed on it so far, but its flavorful and scratches a bit of that space horror RPG itch.

[MellowHoly]

Gloomhaven is a bad D&D session, so it should appeal to 5e fans!

All of the "D&D in a box" games I've seen in the past decade have been disappointing versions of HeroQuest and Warhammer Quest with more rules, somehow thinking that more fiddly bits = more fun. 90% of the time I've played Descent or Gloomhaven or Massive Darkness or a dozen of these games would have been better spent just playing some damn D&D.

We have been playing NEMESIS which is Alien the Boardgame. I'm mixed on it so far, but its flavorful and scratches a bit of that space horror RPG itch.

Well, Nemesis is 8.5/10 on boardgamegeek. Will try it. Thanks for help!

[Spinachcat]

BGG isn't reliable. They chase the new hotness like crackheads and wank over fads and celeb designers like sycophants. AKA, RPG.net for board games. Unfortunately, BGG isn't the site it used to be. Fortunately there are plenty of YouTube reviews of boardgames so you can quickly see if any new game might be fun for you.

We played Nemesis last night. 5 hours with 5 players, 1 player played it 3 times before, 2 players had read the rules cover to cover, all 5 are veteran gamers. My take? Imagine a RPG in slow motion where you have to check the rulebook every round.

It's not a bad game, but it was so devil damned slow to get to the exciting parts! By the time the game got cranking I just wanted it to end because we had grinded for hours. The minis are beautiful, all the components are pretty, and it looks like there's good replay value. The endgame was interesting and victories will be few and hardwon. It's definitely a game on hard mode and doesn't pull punches. You can (and will) die easily and the ship is really fragile. That did appeal to me.

Did I feel like I was playing a RPG? Yeah, with a crappy GM who has really pretty minis, but can't pace for shit and thinks "building tension" means dragging out everything. As your objective must be keep secret, you're never really playing out your character's persona because everything you say and do has to be cloaked.  Also, since your character's actions depend on what "action card" is in your hand at the moment (like Gloomhaven), you can't make the best choice based on your character's talents, just trying to work out with what's in your hand.

Would I play it again? Probably...but I'm an Aliens junkie the flavor is crack for me. But I'd WAAAAAY rather just run Traveller or try out the new Mothership RPG instead. I recently got Zombicide:Invader which promises to be the same thing, but allegedly faster. We will see. I will post about that once I get a session or two in.

[MellowHoly]

BGG isn't reliable. They chase the new hotness like crackheads and wank over fads and celeb designers like sycophants. AKA, RPG.net for board games. Unfortunately, BGG isn't the site it used to be. Fortunately there are plenty of YouTube reviews of boardgames so you can quickly see if any new game might be fun for you.

We played Nemesis last night. 5 hours with 5 players, 1 player played it 3 times before, 2 players had read the rules cover to cover, all 5 are veteran gamers. My take? Imagine a RPG in slow motion where you have to check the rulebook every round.

It's not a bad game, but it was so devil damned slow to get to the exciting parts! By the time the game got cranking I just wanted it to end because we had grinded for hours. The minis are beautiful, all the components are pretty, and it looks like there's good replay value. The endgame was interesting and victories will be few and hardwon. It's definitely a game on hard mode and doesn't pull punches. You can (and will) die easily and the ship is really fragile. That did appeal to me.

Did I feel like I was playing a RPG? Yeah, with a crappy GM who has really pretty minis, but can't pace for shit and thinks "building tension" means dragging out everything. As your objective must be keep secret, you're never really playing out your character's persona because everything you say and do has to be cloaked.  Also, since your character's actions depend on what "action card" is in your hand at the moment (like Gloomhaven), you can't make the best choice based on your character's talents, just trying to work out with what's in your hand.

Would I play it again? Probably...but I'm an Aliens junkie the flavor is crack for me. But I'd WAAAAAY rather just run Traveller or try out the new Mothership RPG instead. I recently got Zombicide:Invader which promises to be the same thing, but allegedly faster. We will see. I will post about that once I get a session or two in.

Yeah, but still they made it look nice, at least, description and community. I was looking for different board games on different resources, bought one from here https://recroompick.com/best-party-board-games/, but had NO IDEA, what's that about, and there are some guys in comment section, who will share their opinion, at least.
I guess that's for the first time, after several times it's much easier. If you don't like the way the game is going you always can play Munchkin, right? I was looking for something more difficult

[damiendada]

Munchkin is a very nice game, easy to understand and ideal for a good evening with friends.

VPN Sai Mannat AnyDesk

[Omega]

Thought there was a newer thread for board games with RPG elements?

Some suggestions.

Mice & Mystics and its expansions: This one is OOP but still on shelves here and there. This one is very much that you are playing out a story as you advance through the tale. Great minis and gameplay reminiscent of HeroQuest. The story is basically a sorceress takes over a kingdom and to escape imprisonment and impending death a group of people use a one way transformation to turn into mice. From there they have to adapt to and negotiate a world of talking animals while trying to find a way to cure the king and stop the sorceress. The followups delve more into the animal kingdom and the various wars going on. Culminating in Tail Feathers. A wargame of mice riding birds in airborn battle. Theres also some PDF side stories.

Plaid Hat also has a few others like Dead of Winter, about the survivors of a zombie-like outbreak. Except not everyone may be working to survive. Fun game with alot of negotiation and interaction.

Theres a few others like that.

Betrayal at House on the Hill and its adaption as Betrayal at Baldurs Gate.
Mansions of Madness
Arkham Horror in its various iterations now.

[Omega]

Speaking of Board Games with RPG elements. The ongoing disaster epic of HeroQuest 25th Anniversary edition has now begun proceeds to ender into Spanish court in Madrid where the company trying to make this is based.

The game funded for around 250k in 2013 and since then its been a circus of accusations, stalling, and a designer who just can not stop tinkering with the rules to actually get the game finished.

Workers have gone unpaid. And in Madrid you have to keep working for the company. But if they fail to pay after X time. Expect trouble. Which Gamezone is now getting in double. On top of this the backers are taking GZ to court and the crowdfunding platform GZ used has been trying to spindoctor themselves as the victem when through this they did very little to help backers. Till now when its heading to court. And Spanish court is a bit different from that in the US or UK for example. But the judge has ruled that due to the amount of money and the number of people involved that it falls under the scam label.

Where this ends up is anyones guess. But most likely GZ will be looking at jail time and/or a fine applied to income.

[Itachi]

I've played and recommend Mansions of Madness 2e and Arkham Horror 3e. The first is more immersive and atmospheric while the second is more strategic. Both have strong lovecraftian themes and flavor.

Also, don't know if it can be considered a Rpg boardgame, but the Dune boardgame is really evocative of the source material, with each player controlling the head of a house (Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, etc) vying for control of the planet. It has some small problems like potential death spirals (the game was re-released in 2019 but it's a design from the 70s), but overall looks very interesting.

[Omega]

I've played and recommend Mansions of Madness 2e and Arkham Horror 3e. The first is more immersive and atmospheric while the second is more strategic. Both have strong lovecraftian themes and flavor.

Also, don't know if it can be considered a Rpg boardgame, but the Dune boardgame is really evocative

I wanted to get Mansions of Madness 2. But it requires a damn App to play it. No app. No game.

No. Dune is not an RPG board game. AH isnt either really. But storygamers love to tout it as a "RPG". Which version of the Dune board game did you get though? Theres the original from Avalon Hill I believe. Then the MB board game based on the movie. Then a reprint of the AH one by FFG that they retooled to their Twilight Imperium setting as Rex. Thers also a PNP Dune game which is pretty good.

[Itachi]

This one, released in 2019 from Gale Force Nine, Omega.

[video=youtube_share;Js_WINTqtjo]https://youtu.be/Js_WINTqtjo[/youtube]

I can see how calling Dune an rpg-boardgame could be problematic since its so zoomed-out as to be more of a strategy game. But I don't know why Arkham Horror shouldn't be called as such, since you assume the role of a character with stats, skills, gear, background, etc. and stroll around town visiting bars, talking to people, fighting enemies, etc. I find it more of a rpg than Gloomhaven, for e.g., which is almost exclusively a combat game.

About Mansions, I found the app makes things super smooth. My group had a blast with it.

[Omega]

Ah. Something new.