I dropped out of regular play about 6 years or so ago. I played off and on after that, but haven't played in over 2, so I'm not sure what the meta is like.

I play a lot of board games now and have every released item for Star Wars Imperial Assault. Not much of a money saver for me, but I've always liked Star Wars more than superheroes and I have more fun playing IA. There is definetly a power creep in IA, though...

Is it muddled because of the rules themselves, or just because they're different?

A couple groups in my area got absolutely killed by power gamers running Gauntlets and the like. The player base died big time. I had stopped a couple years prior due to cost and time commitment but they're just now starting to rebuild the player base at a local store after the chief power gamer moved away.

I play a sealed here and there where there are no power game elements and also to get new pieces for my son.

Hehe, I know I've saved money by going the board game route, but it's not much. So many fun board games to buy. Even though I've got a good regular group and don't need to buy a lot of games, I always do. It's been offset a little lately since the store owner is trying to get rid of his loose clix. He's having me sell them and giving me a good chunk of the proceeds in store credit. Hopefully I have enough in a couple weeks to pick up Terraforming Mars. Hopefully he gets the stock replenishment by then.

Terraforming Mars looks pretty awesome. There is also a game called Scythe (I think?) that my store advertises that looks interesting as well.

I've been dying to play Arkham Horror, but I've always heard that it is miserable to play if you aren't playing with somebody who's played before. Might just have to give it a go with my game group.

Yes, Scythe is excellent too. It's into my group's regular rotation. I really like it and the guy who owns it just got the expansion pack.

Arkham, yeah. Tried it once. I don't care to try it again but I can see how some folks would like it.

Arkham Horror is okay but you do need everyone to remain attentive if you want to finish it in under 3 hours. I've always had problems with players who don't want to pay attention or walk off to go smoke or get a snack or something, and it's a game that requires your constant input, and the conditions change quite a bit. The gate you thought you were going to go through 2 minutes ago might not be there anymore, or there might be a better one, or there might be an event that's a better idea.

This mostly stems from the game being split up into phases, and there are individual player turns in those phases, rather than being split up into player turns with different phases. So, for example, players take turns moving. Then players take turns doing things. Then some players take turns doing other things. Then bad stuff. Rinse, repeat. There's really not a good opportunity throughout the game for someone to "check out" and in my experience most gaming groups have 1 or 2 players who would prefer to do so now and then (which I understand, it's just probably not their game, then).

I really like Scythe (playing again tomorrow, in fact). Just be aware that despite all the mechs on the cover it's much more eurogame than a fighting game, especially at lower player count. It does have a very solid solo mode too though.

Which expansion? Now that I'm actually playing it, I want to get the new factions. No real desire to get the airships though (don't know if that one is even out yet).

And yeah, I have no desire to try the board game, since I don't think I'd care for it. I do enjoy the LCG though (only played once, sadly).

He got the factions. I'm also unsure if the Airships are out and he's unsure if he wants them. He had the expansion last week but we ended up playing Mistborn instead. And then I missed a session last night since I was playing golf.

EDIT: Knowing my luck, they played it with the expansions last night.

Gonna get to play Sythe or Dead of Winter on Monday.

Really want to sit down and play Twilight Struggle front to back but it is not the wife's cup of tea.

Yeah, I hear you. I'd love to play Twilight Struggle all in one go, or get a chance to try Rebellion. But 2p games are hard to get to the table - especially longish ones.

Received a Kickstarter game I backed and then promptly forgot about: Campy Creatures

So far I've only played with two players but it's a lot of fun. Simple enough to learn (and teach non-hardcore gamers) but a deep enough strategy where it's fun for all experience levels. The art is also really cool/well done and it's overall a very nice little package.

Sorry for the x2 post. The Realms have been unstable for me recently...

Oh, man. I love Dead of Winter. I will admit, it gets a little repetitive after awhile, but it's the game that got my group of friends back into board games. It's a lot of fun and offers quite a bit of variation each time you play. It can be difficult to win, but we always have a blast playing. Lots of set up/clean up, though.

Yeah, pretty much with my quitting judging for the local game store... it has turned into All Competitive All The Time, and a LOT of casual players just stopped playing.

It's almost like people don't understand how to develop scenarios to cater to the casual players as well as the competitive folks. But hey, don't insult your judge if you want him to stay, venue owners.

Dead of Winter is a game I have, but I haven't really had a chance to break it out and play. I really WANT to play it though. Also, I want a Felicia Day figure. Never got that promo.

Come on mal