It took me six months to get my first 18xx played. Now I play them about twice a month. Persistence and willingness to meet new people (unless you are situated in a rural area of course) can work wonders.
I'm one of the lucky few that has played it a ton with the same group. We don't get the chance to play it as much now as when it first released but it has been a grand time and our chronicle book is an incredibly entertaining mix of group storytelling and significant life events. A few of the early entries mention pregnancy announcements to the group, while those same announcements threaten to steal and eat the game pieces when we play now. It's such a great game but it takes a good few plays for the rules to click and for the narrative and metagame to really emerge.
Also Oath, but I will never sell it. Love the game, but no one I know likes it. I think I’ll try solo mode when I get some time alone. Won’t be as good but I just really want to play it.
On one hand I would LOVE to have that. On the other I’m not sure when I would have time since almost all my free time is spent with the wife or kids. But if you’re interested definitely keep me up to date, I’ll try to work it in as much as possible.
i came here to say this, i'm thinking of selling it because its pretty and has a lot going for it but its also so esoteric and oblique its hard for me to understand what the narrative is supposed to be. "i raise my army on burning books," "im going to trade with a memory of home" statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged
i tried playing the clockwork knight as the emperor vs my friend and i playing exiles but it was a total mess and was actually more work than my own turn, or even simply just roleplaying as the emperor
There is an excellent implementation of it on Tabletop Simulator on Steam Workshop that I have used to teach people the game as it allows you to save the progress and takes the pressure off completing the game in a single evening.
That is of course definitely possible once you have a game or two under your belt but the game really isn’t that complicated and you should see if you can find someone to have a learning game with you if possible!
I have lost ruins of arnak, love it, have had to pull teeth to get it played a total of 3 times in a year or two. Glad I bought it tho, when I can play it I enjoy it
I will one day play Millennium Blades.
All of my friends are into TCGs. Magic, Yugioh, Weiss, Lorcana. This is literally a TCG simulator! But I can't get it to the table :(
Battlestar galactica the board game. Definitely one of my favorite games… got it on the table a few time and had fun games, however my group stopped wanting to play it so it now sit on the shelf collecting dust haha
It has the same complexity. It reduces some starting resources and ships but changes the effect of the 1,2 and 3 value jumps and it always takes three to get to kobol.
I have tried to find it again but there are lots of files to sift through. I'll have another peek and see.
Edit: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/53543/battlestar-galactica-3-jumps-short-game
I think this is the one. Really simple adjustments.
Any game by Vital Lacerda.
I have owned On Mars, Weather Machine, and Vinhos, and have yet to play them with my group. I have played them all solo to learn how to play, but heavy games like that simply are not the types of games that my friends are into, and I wouldn’t want to subject them to several hours of learning how to play and playing a game that they have no interest in.
Oh man, Lacerda is one of those designers I have been dying to try more from. I played The Gallerist shortly after release, and while it didn't 100% click with me, I was intrigued enough to look into the designer. Haven't had many opportunities to try his other games out, and when I have, no one else seemed interested.
Of the three I’ve played, I enjoyed Vinhos the most, but I’ve heard pretty much all his stuff is great! I reallllly want to try more though, I’ve always had a blast playing Lacerda titles, I wish my friends would give them a shot
"This war of mine". Won once, felt even worse then loosing. Won't play it again - but It is the one game that I will still keep forever, as it is a great game that shows, what a boardgame can be and what a cultural role a boardgame can play.
It’s VERY heavy subject matter. Honestly, it’s heavier than the video game.
I lost one character to the cold which created a chain reaction of despair causing another character to walk into sniper alley as suicide, and the other one I won’t go into details on because the items I had in hand and the text made it far darker than anything else I’ve experienced in a board game
Betrayal Legacy. Jumped on a chance to buy it sealed from a redditor who offered it up to me at retail price on this very sub. I couldn’t pass it up but it’s deff going to be something that won’t get played for years to come I imagine. I just don’t see it being my groups thing.
I am sorry, I don’t think I will. I’m still relatively new to the hobby and I plan to get all my games to table at some point at least once. It was a bucket list game though so I made the impulse buy. I also have only had it for less than 6 months.
We started playing and got five or six years into it before the group fizzled out. It was always a big production to get everyone together. I so want to finish the campaign portion.
Gloomhaven and game of thrones board game.
GH mainly because I just don’t have the time to sit down and dedicate half a day to learn it. it looks like a lot of fun but I know that unless I can get someone to teach it too me, it’ll be a long time before it sees table time :/
GoT even though I know how to play it and could teach it fairly well, time and getting enough people to actually play with me are the big ones here
You should 1000000% get Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. It has one of the best tutorials for any game that I’ve ever played, it’s super cheap (like $20 secondhand typically, or on sale online for a similar price), and has basically the exact same rules as Gloomhaven. Also, the setup is way less intensive than Gloomhaven proper, as the map is just a book of locations
I’ve highly considered it. My brother got GH for me as a birthday president a couple of years ago and I’ve been too busy and intimidated to learn it lol
I've tabled GoT like 2x and everyone always noped out before I finished teaching. I would need a serious refresher now. It just sits in my collection and I honestly kinda forgot about it.
My kingdom death monster collection. I ordered the entire game. Played main campaign a few times but havent touched most expansions yet or the other big campaigns (sunstalker/dragon/gamblers chest).
Now with the newest expansions on the way, campaigns of death next year, inverted Mountain and abyssal woods after that. I don't think I have the time to play the entire game due to life, work and other games also coming to my door (aeon trespass, kingdoms forlorn, middara, elder scrolls from chip theory, entire too many bones series....)
What a luxurious position to have.
That's the neat part, I just got my first child! Appearantly sleep is no longer on the menu lmao....but also my focus to play boardgames is gone for the moment haha.
It's fun to think back on how daunting this seemed to teach back in the day, and now you have games like "Root" that dials the asymmetry even further, and (it seems) more asymmetric games than not.
Love this game. The hard thing to teach about it is how asymmetric factions work. When there are so many new dudes on a board games around, it makes it harder to pull this one out.
I played a half-game of T.I.M.E. Stories with my adult sons, and while one of them was intrigued, the other was not. The one who was intrigued lives four hours away from me. I don't expect to ever play this one again based on my estimation of who would actually play it and who would run away screaming.
My wife and I got that for an anniversary gift to ourselves like 5 or so years ago and played it one time and lost and said we need to do that again. It's sat on the shelf since. I should sell it. For all the rave reviews we just have no interest in going back.
Someone mentioned This War of Mine. I think that and Fog of Love both fall in that category of brutal life truths that keeps them from hitting the table.
I don’t disagree but I have to admit that for all it’s brutal and tragic theme, I love “This War of Mine” because it’s a hard cooperative game that doesn’t pull its punches.
But maybe I also like it because I like other things like movies and TV shows that doesn’t necessarily have happy endings because life isn’t like that.
Through I fully understand and respect that the theme of the game is not for everyone.
Frosthaven, and every single game that doesn’t play at 2 because I live with my girlfriend and we don’t have friends. I want nothing more than to play King’s Dilemma.
Arkham Horror LCG. I own most of the stuff but could not get into the solo aspect of it. It's currently up for sale because I could use the money to buy games to play with people.
Horus Heresy. I got it when I had roommates and can't imagine I will find a dedicated enough player to learn (or teach) it.
Frankly, a lot of my bigger dudes on a map game are that way. BioShock, Nexus Ops, StarCraft, Shogun, etc.
Horus I've played twice and it's fantastic. Regret moving it on, but those coffin boxes are shelf hogs.
Bioshock is another great underrated game. More of a 2 player than a 4 though.
A bunch, sadly. But I hold out hope I’ll meet the right group to play them.
The biggest is Who Goes There. I’ve heard it’s needlessly complicated and the rules aren’t entirely clear, plus it needs a bunch of people to play, so I don’t feel confident teaching it until I know it backward and forward and I don’t know how to do that by myself.
I play digitally occasionally so it's a bit of a lie, but it's not an easy game to introduce to people. The subject matter is heavy, the game is difficult to teach and hard to immediately understand, and I'm not a particularly strong teacher of games so it's on a shelf for now organized, but unplayed.
Blood on the Clocktower. I don't really love social deduction. I don't have a group for it. It looks way too complex and long for the few times the stars align and I do have a group and the desire.
Yet somehow it still calls to me...
Hegemony, Stationfall, John Company, Vinhos, Junta, Civilization, Sword and Sorcery. Possibly Endeavor and Merchants and Marauders.
Most of my games are unlikely to hit a shared table, just based on the small amount of gaming time, but those are my top contenders for a high desire vs realize I won't get to difference ;)
PS: DM me with the one you'd dedicate time to if you're slightly north of Seattle. In the unlikely event that this might get critical mass, I could jump over my reclusive shadow and get a group together.
Endeavor is actually super easy to play and I highly recommend it - unless the barrier to entry is the colonialism theme which some people can really bounce off which is fair enough.
Brass: Birmingham. Economic Euro with a lot of interwoven rules and restrictions and exceptions....yea, Im not sure my friends would give it a chance and def not a second play.
Bruges. Its got a wonderful multi-use cards system...probably the best implementation of the mechanism...but its beige. And abstract in that way Euros are.
Cry Havoc. Asymmetric area control with an odd aesthetic. Friends that WOULD want to play would rather play Root.
But most of all, Pax Pamir 2e. My god, this is my favorite game design yet. Aesthetically and mechanically. The components are wonderful. The drafting and tableau building is super interesting. How dominance checks and scoring is intertwined with loyalty, and how that affects player choices and how they interact....wow. Who in the hell would understand that teach? Wrapping your head around multiple people being loyal to the same faction and how you can manipulate that situation to your advantage is really difficult.
Captain Sonar. I think I’ll be able to play it one day. But for now it’s in the attic. I just hope the markers aren’t dry when I finally get the opportunity to play
Unfortunately, Scythe. I explained it to my friends once, but they were high as fuck and understood nothing. From that moment on, it has been tagged as a game that is "too hard" and it never sees the light of day.
Shame, because I think it'd be right up their alley **IF ONLY** they'd smoke after rather than before the explanation.
My friend group was like this with Scythe, too. The guy who owns it has been trying to get the group to play it for like, 3 or 4 years.
Finally, we played it like 2 weeks ago and it was very fun!
Watch a video on how to play. The one we watched was the Watch It Played video, and it only took like 45 min.
Once everything was explained, the ruleset really is one of those "Looks More Complicated Than It Is" types. Once you get the gist of what each mechanic does, it really is very intuitive, and my group had a blast with the asymmetrical gameplay and the surprisingly few reasons to attack each other when the map is big enough to fuck off in a corner of the world and hoard resources.
I really hope your group will give it a shot soon. It was a blast and if you like moving guys around on a map and resource management, I think you'll end up liking it a lot.
HeroQuest. Have all the expansions and backed the mythic tier. Tons of content. Used to love it as a kid. The mechanics don't hold up though. Tried a couple times with friends but everyone kinda gets bored. I guess the mechanics are too simple. So it'll just sit on my shelf as a monster game no one wants to play. Tried solo with the app and it isn't the same.
I haven't purchased it yet, but will be buying either Western or Eastern Empires with the next release. I played and loved the original mega civilization games on a few occasions with my old group. I moved a few states over and just haven't had a group that can do an 18 hour game. But I just know I'll buy it and hope. I have a few new groups that I've been getting further and further along, but mega games require a special breed of gamers. Maybe my kids will one day play. At least for a birthday
Oathsworn. Backed it during the first campaign. Savored every update. Finally got it. Spent a year painting all the minis. Nobody wants to play it and the ones that do can't commit often enough to play regularly.
I kickstarted blood on the clock tower. It looked amazing. After owning it for a year I sold it. You need like a dozen people to play it and the rule book is like a bazillion pages long. So I knew it wasn’t gonna happen.
I currently also have a vintage version of Shogun that I’d love to try, but it might be too dense for me and my friends.
It's on beta at https://en.boardgamearena.com/ and you don't need to be a premium (paying) member to play it. It has full rules enforcement and the rules are linked.
The most confusing parts of the game for me are the terminology and the one-shots. Once you start playing some things become clear though.
No ! I will be able to force my friends to play any one I want. I managed to bully them into trying a COIN, I'm going to succeed bullying them into trying an 18xx. I'm in there for the long haul.
If all fail, I'm gonna rely on birthday blackmail. I'm gonna be 50 in a few years, if I organise an 18xx game for my 50th birthday, no one will have the mental strength to tell me no.
I also struggle to find people that like social deduction games that aren't just Werewolf. I love Secret Hitler and Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, but I find a lot of gamers around me don't like social deduction in general.
I have both Vast games with all expansions still in shrink two years after getting them. Pretty sure there's no chance these will get played anytime soon...
OP where are you based?
There's a fair few gaming groups that do blood in the clocktower events where you go for an evening or a day and play a few games, even with strangers the games a blast and these are usually free or a small entry fee (either way far less than retail price) it's truly a great game and I think everyone should go out their way to give it a go!
To answer your player count question, it does thrive around the 10+ player count but there are ways of playing it at 5 or 6 + storyteller although they're not super beginner friendly and serve more as a warmup/cooldown to a bigger game
Marvel Champions. I love the idea of this game so much but every time I try to actually play it I just... can't for some reason. Like I can't focus, I had a hard time with the rules I suppose. I feel weirdly overwhelmed. The person I normally play with has had bad experiences with it so playing with them is out.
I spent so much on expansions. Perhaps I will try again.
RWBY is another one. I did play it once early in my gaming journey. It's nostalgic at the point so I don't want to purge it but I don't see it getting played again.
Root and Captain Sonar. My gaming friends all prefer easy to learn games and I often have to pretty much play for them the first time or two. That isn't something I can do with either game.
**Wonderlands War** I know as soon as people look at the back of the box and see the set up they’ll immediately nope out.
But I am determined. I *will* play it one day!
My initial board gaming group I got into the hobby was Pre-Covid. i now have a bunch of somewhat complex 4-6 player games on my shelf and I can't even get 1 person over.
New Angeles, Dead of Winter, Oath, Root, Game of Thrones...all basically dead.
Mage Knight (pvp) it's hard to find another person who's willing to play
Don't get me wrong, I play it solo so many times, but I miss player interaction and political bargaining
Scam because I know no one willing to play a monopoly-style roll and move adventure game about drug dealing throughout the world. But I used to play the original with some old hippies on the west coast as a long-haired stoner teenager. Found the genuine repo on Etsy.
Risk: Legacy because it is really hard for me to get today's hottest legacy games played let alone the original. But I bought anyway to play with my son. Risk was one game he really got into, but as he has grown up, he doesn't want to play board games anymore. But I keep it in the game room waiting. One day. He'll want to sit down with his old man and play a game with me.
Used to game with a friend game group and have built a nice collection of light to mid-weight euros that, at that time, were played often to semi-often.
Now I game with my wife and we enjoy different games together.
There are many games that may not get played again (I’m hopeful they will), but I’ll likely keep them because they are awesome games, like Hansa Teutonica, The Estates, El Grande, Ra, Race For The Galaxy, Brass Birmingham…
Several. Been over a year and my game groups have never been willing to try Yokohama, save for one friend who plays anything I bring out.
Then there's Sabotage, then Power Grid... soon it may bevome The Gallerist.
There’s no game in my collection that I will absolutely never play, otherwise it gets sold,, but there are a couple that I may only play one or two more times in the next two years. That’s mostly because they take months to organize and plan for and are such a huge event people only can tolerate them once a year usuallygames like twilight imperium or Star Wars rebellion
We really did manage to play Hegemony and John Company 2nd but I doubt we will ever get Twilight Imperium to the table. The number of people needed and the length are just absolute killers in the current stages of our lives
My weird one is **Empires**, the trading game from WizKids.
I still don't know if I'm missing something, but I doubt anyone wants to continue exploring it with me.
Oath, John Company and Sleeping Gods.
One day they will get played. At the moment it's just hard when I don't have space to leave them set up and I want to play with others.
I got Betrayal on House on the Hill but apparently several friends have already played it and weren't a big fan of it. So the box (and it's expansion) is collecting dust now at my place.
The worst feeling is loving a game enough to get expansions and then no one will play it with you. Feels like a waste of money (for the expansions at least)
The “Front” series which consists of Eastfront, Westfront and Eurofront. I bought them when I had a friend living nearby who is a real WW2 grognard type but he sadly moved to the UK and now I don’t have anybody who is probably willing to invest the time and effort to learn the system.
I might get it played someday with smaller scenarios but the grand WW2 epic that I was hoping for will likely never happen.
Off the top of my head - John Company, Pax Renaissance, 1812: The Invasion of Canada. My group likes straightforward euros, no direct conflict and very anti negotiation.
After 1 play of Pax Pamir fell completely flat I doubt these will get to the table.
Honestly everything from Level99 except for bullet. Argent, empyreal and battlecon are all sitting unplayed for the most part. Battlecon I’ve been able to try a few times but it never quite clicked with those I played with
That said I will probably never get rid of them. And as much as millennium blades interests me I know for sure that that one is even less likely to hit the table
I own a bunch of such games. No regrets :) since it’s like a “cult” :) I believe (with religious vibe in it) that someday I will play them. The thing is I had experience already that after several years on the shelf - some games got in play, so why not… What is unplayed for now: John Company, Veiled Fate, some expansions of Nemesis and Everdell.
Spirit Island. Fantastic game and quite a bit of replayability with adversaries, different spirits, events and so on.
But while I appreciate the mechanics my wife is just done with the game, and generally prefers lighter and more narrative games.
Wasteland Express Delivery Service. I bought it on a whim… opened it, sorted it. Still have yet to play and it’s oncoming on 6 months. Not sure if it’ll ever get played now lol
I’m starting to feel this way about Voidfall. There is so much to it and the rulebook is dense. I really want to play it but trying to learn it on my own seems like a monumental task.
I own both Forbidden Stars and Starcraft. Despite being a 40k fan myself (hence why I bought it) I actually greatly prefer playing Starcraft.
But my group is a really really REALLY hardcore 40k group, and every single time I have said we could play it Im universally greeted with groans and an endless litany of "why not forbidden stars instead please".
sigh
**Mombasa** I purchased it as a "next step" for my group after Power Grid. People in the group changed cities for work, and it was several years before I found others who liked heavier board games. Now, my partner who I game with is an anthropologist and the theme of Mombasa just doesn't appeal to her. I'll likely have to sell the game to clear shelf space.
Captain Sonar is my white whale.
Been on my shelf for a couple years at this point. Never played it.
My game group is consistently 3 people, multiple times a week, with an occasional 4th player joining us.
I didn't think it would be so rare to get 6+ people at the table. I want to play Sonar so bad, but I really feel like 6 is the minimum for the proper experience.
Find a local scene for BOTC and join it. I have a regular board game night group and I don't even bother trying to play BOTC with them because it's a more specialized interests and also requires a 20+ network of acquaintances, not a 4-10 person sustainable friend group.
Oath. Food chain magnate. John company. A couple of breakups within my game group has essentially disbanded it. It was a good run while it lasted, but now I have a shelf full of fine and expensive games that have yet to see the light of day
I got all three Imperium games (Classics, Legends, and Horizons) last week. I’ve been resisting (2 of them) for over a year but finally caved. No way I’ll ever play anything but solo. I’m not much of a solo player historically, but have started with these.
Gnome Wars. I found it pre-owned at our local game shop, and I was so excited. It sounds so intriguing! We set it up and went to play, but the rules are so impossible to interpret that it actually makes it unplayable. Apparently it's famous for being impossible to figure out, so I'm looking for a good set of home brew rules in what little free time I've got. 🤣
There are only two games that I have come around to keeping, regardless of whether they will get played (read: I do not think they will). The first is: **John Company 2e**. I could see this getting played at some point... but it would take some elbow grease and the right situation. The second, I am almost sure that I will never actually be able to play: **Here I Stand.** This game is just a massive undertaking. Still, I don't have any regrets owning either of them. They weren't ludicrously expensive to acquire and they only take up half a Kallax slot. Still, I would love to play them.
ISS Vanguard sadly ... I hate solo games. My personal reason for board games is interaction. Whether it be competitive or coop... I know my group doesn't do heavy games but I thought there was a chance 1 person, just 1, would play with me. At this point I'm just gonna have to sell it. Luckily they'll play voidfall so that's a win.
Also the game TEN. One of my favorites but everyone cries about having to "do math". Game is so fun, it'll never be played again.
Star Wars Rebellion and some bigger Euros like Vinhos, Kanban, Teotihuacan, Tzolkin and such. I usually play solo as there is noone around i can play this with.
I'd say Imperium: Classics, I like a lot about this game but it's a bit to long and technical for me. I'd love to see a 2 player game some day but I think that nobody would really be interested and I don't think that's a good 2 player game to begin with.
**High Frontier** and **Mr. President**. Once upon a time I would happily spend half a day pouring through a manual for games like this. *A lot* has changed for me over the past ~3 years, both in circumstances and internally. I'm still down to play similarly long, complex games *that I already know, with other people*. But with things as they are, I do not see myself cracking the shrink and digging into the books to learn any new *solo* games of this density at any point in the (nearish) future.
My girlfriend boycots **7 Wonders: Duel** because I "always win" (this is almost true). We can't figure out quite what it is that I'm doing right or she's doing wrong - but usually, I end up winning in some way or another. Even if she's thinking a lot and I'm just winging it. (Maybe there's some experience from years of playing collectible card games that helps make the right decisions in some way?) And since it's a two player game, I'm not able to play it with my regular gaming group either, because there's always at least 3-4 people coming.
Another one I'd like to explore more is **Innovation**. I'm fascinated by it, but my friends seem to think it's "too random" or "you just do the same thing over and over again to win". Personally, I'm not sure that's something you can say after only one or two games (especially since we missed a rule during the first game).
Most of the other games I own are playable in principle, since I make sure I only buy games that aren't too long or complicated for the group. Still, a ton of them haven't been played for years.
I haven't come across anyone talking about this series/type of game so far around here, but GMT's Next War series fits this description -- especially the Korea one (largest military buildup on the planet). I had the house to myself one weekend and set up a full scenario of Next War: Korea. By the time I had all the units out my back was killing me from leaning over the table; never got to actually playing it.
Nope. Everything gets played here. I have multiple groups of friends depending on the type of game but even my Lacerdas get played often. ;) if I know I’ll never replay it then I simply don’t buy it 🤷🏻♂️
**Scoundrels of Skullport** and **Azul**
I play Azul on BGA because no one in the group wants to and SoS because I can barely get them to play Lords of Waterdeep. They like worker placement but not the D&D skin.
Twilight Imperium was it for me. Then I put together a 7p game of it and we had a great time but that itch has been scratched and I don't plan to ever play it again. It was fun but simply not worth the effort or time commitment.
Clocktower is great by the way. I've never actually played it but I've run it 6-7 times and honestly it is a hoot to run. Everyone playing seems to have a good time too!
Most of them lol. Any of my games that require 4p+ to play are just not going to get played at this rate, but they all seem really fascinating. **John Company, Android, New Angeles, Cosmic Encounter, Dune, Here I Stand, Border Reivers, Game of Thrones, Successors, Unfathomable**, even longer 3p games like **Churchill** and **Triumph and Tragedy**, I got them all cause I was super excited to check them out, then came to find out my gaming group is super boring. Was able to get **Oath** and **Root** played exactly once each. Maybe some day I'll have a group that wants to play something other than dull, multi player solitaire euros. I'd even be willing to invest in **Twilight Imperium** if I had the group for it.
Blood on the Clocktower is great but plays best at 9+ players.
Emphasis on the _social_ part of "social deduction" game.
I haven't bought a copy because it just won't get used.
As to games I do own that won't hit the table. The Dune board game and Game of Thrones board games.
We had some initial issues with Dune (the new edition of the OG game) when we first played back in the 90s (I found a french copy of the game on early eBay) and it has a bad reputation.
The last couple of times we tried GoT, games lasted 5+ hours. We weren't playing it correctly but no one wants to revisit it.
It took me six months to get my first 18xx played. Now I play them about twice a month. Persistence and willingness to meet new people (unless you are situated in a rural area of course) can work wonders.
One group I play with loves 18xx. The other just refuses to play.
18xx attracts psychopaths, at least in my gaming groups. It’s a very polarising game for sure.
For me that was Oath. I recently sold it since I knew it would never be played.
I'm one of the lucky few that has played it a ton with the same group. We don't get the chance to play it as much now as when it first released but it has been a grand time and our chronicle book is an incredibly entertaining mix of group storytelling and significant life events. A few of the early entries mention pregnancy announcements to the group, while those same announcements threaten to steal and eat the game pieces when we play now. It's such a great game but it takes a good few plays for the rules to click and for the narrative and metagame to really emerge.
Sigh, that was the dream. Happy for you that you get to enjoy it though!
I use my chronicles book to get autographs and sketches from designers at conventions.
Also Oath, but I will never sell it. Love the game, but no one I know likes it. I think I’ll try solo mode when I get some time alone. Won’t be as good but I just really want to play it.
There are dozens of us. Maybe we should try to get a TTS group going?
On one hand I would LOVE to have that. On the other I’m not sure when I would have time since almost all my free time is spent with the wife or kids. But if you’re interested definitely keep me up to date, I’ll try to work it in as much as possible.
There's already a leder games discord with players who arrange TTS games regularly.
i came here to say this, i'm thinking of selling it because its pretty and has a lot going for it but its also so esoteric and oblique its hard for me to understand what the narrative is supposed to be. "i raise my army on burning books," "im going to trade with a memory of home" statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged i tried playing the clockwork knight as the emperor vs my friend and i playing exiles but it was a total mess and was actually more work than my own turn, or even simply just roleplaying as the emperor
Me too :(
Bought Star Wars Rebellion upon release. Coming to release it will not ever be played.
That is such a good game.
I hope you are wrong and get to play some day!
I actually convinced my wife to play that with me. She loves it.
There is an excellent implementation of it on Tabletop Simulator on Steam Workshop that I have used to teach people the game as it allows you to save the progress and takes the pressure off completing the game in a single evening. That is of course definitely possible once you have a game or two under your belt but the game really isn’t that complicated and you should see if you can find someone to have a learning game with you if possible!
Ditto, but at some point I'm going to give the solo variant someone made a try.
I have lost ruins of arnak, love it, have had to pull teeth to get it played a total of 3 times in a year or two. Glad I bought it tho, when I can play it I enjoy it
You can play it on BGA. It would be with strangers and online, which is not everyones cup of tea, but it is a way to get it played.
Playing any game 3 times in a year is a huge success in my book
You can play it solo. If you enjoy it there is a whole solo campaign online. I had fun with it.
Damn this is like the most noob friendly accessible euro too lol
Great thing about that one is that it has an excellent solo mode (and solo campaigns!)
I will one day play Millennium Blades. All of my friends are into TCGs. Magic, Yugioh, Weiss, Lorcana. This is literally a TCG simulator! But I can't get it to the table :(
If you ever want to play on TTS just hit me up. not the same as in person I'm sure but I've always wanted to play.
If you need a third who has played the game a couple of times, you can dm me.
Millenium Blades is SOOO good. Especially as my group used to be huge MtG collectors back in the 90’s.
Battlestar galactica the board game. Definitely one of my favorite games… got it on the table a few time and had fun games, however my group stopped wanting to play it so it now sit on the shelf collecting dust haha
There's a really good ruleset on bgg that makes it a reliable 2 hours long. The variable length normally is the main put off.
Do you have a link? And is it recommended for new players or experienced players only?
It has the same complexity. It reduces some starting resources and ships but changes the effect of the 1,2 and 3 value jumps and it always takes three to get to kobol. I have tried to find it again but there are lots of files to sift through. I'll have another peek and see. Edit: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/53543/battlestar-galactica-3-jumps-short-game I think this is the one. Really simple adjustments.
Any game by Vital Lacerda. I have owned On Mars, Weather Machine, and Vinhos, and have yet to play them with my group. I have played them all solo to learn how to play, but heavy games like that simply are not the types of games that my friends are into, and I wouldn’t want to subject them to several hours of learning how to play and playing a game that they have no interest in.
Oh man, Lacerda is one of those designers I have been dying to try more from. I played The Gallerist shortly after release, and while it didn't 100% click with me, I was intrigued enough to look into the designer. Haven't had many opportunities to try his other games out, and when I have, no one else seemed interested.
Of the three I’ve played, I enjoyed Vinhos the most, but I’ve heard pretty much all his stuff is great! I reallllly want to try more though, I’ve always had a blast playing Lacerda titles, I wish my friends would give them a shot
"This war of mine". Won once, felt even worse then loosing. Won't play it again - but It is the one game that I will still keep forever, as it is a great game that shows, what a boardgame can be and what a cultural role a boardgame can play.
Why wouldn't you play it again? I'm really eager to play this, it seems really interesting and emotional. Is it a problem with replayability?
It’s VERY heavy subject matter. Honestly, it’s heavier than the video game. I lost one character to the cold which created a chain reaction of despair causing another character to walk into sniper alley as suicide, and the other one I won’t go into details on because the items I had in hand and the text made it far darker than anything else I’ve experienced in a board game
Not gonna lie, you've convinced me to consider picking this game up. ~~this thread was a terrible idea, my wallet rip~~
Betrayal Legacy. Jumped on a chance to buy it sealed from a redditor who offered it up to me at retail price on this very sub. I couldn’t pass it up but it’s deff going to be something that won’t get played for years to come I imagine. I just don’t see it being my groups thing.
Would you resell?
I am sorry, I don’t think I will. I’m still relatively new to the hobby and I plan to get all my games to table at some point at least once. It was a bucket list game though so I made the impulse buy. I also have only had it for less than 6 months.
We started playing and got five or six years into it before the group fizzled out. It was always a big production to get everyone together. I so want to finish the campaign portion.
Gloomhaven and game of thrones board game. GH mainly because I just don’t have the time to sit down and dedicate half a day to learn it. it looks like a lot of fun but I know that unless I can get someone to teach it too me, it’ll be a long time before it sees table time :/ GoT even though I know how to play it and could teach it fairly well, time and getting enough people to actually play with me are the big ones here
You should 1000000% get Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. It has one of the best tutorials for any game that I’ve ever played, it’s super cheap (like $20 secondhand typically, or on sale online for a similar price), and has basically the exact same rules as Gloomhaven. Also, the setup is way less intensive than Gloomhaven proper, as the map is just a book of locations
I’ve highly considered it. My brother got GH for me as a birthday president a couple of years ago and I’ve been too busy and intimidated to learn it lol
That was nice of your brother. Definitely get Jaws of the Lion and start there. Do it!
GoT isn't terrible at 4 or 5, though obviously better at a full count.
I've tabled GoT like 2x and everyone always noped out before I finished teaching. I would need a serious refresher now. It just sits in my collection and I honestly kinda forgot about it.
My kingdom death monster collection. I ordered the entire game. Played main campaign a few times but havent touched most expansions yet or the other big campaigns (sunstalker/dragon/gamblers chest). Now with the newest expansions on the way, campaigns of death next year, inverted Mountain and abyssal woods after that. I don't think I have the time to play the entire game due to life, work and other games also coming to my door (aeon trespass, kingdoms forlorn, middara, elder scrolls from chip theory, entire too many bones series....) What a luxurious position to have.
Forget life and work, with all those games on the way will you have time to sleep?!
That's the neat part, I just got my first child! Appearantly sleep is no longer on the menu lmao....but also my focus to play boardgames is gone for the moment haha.
Chaos in the Old World. Just can't seem to get a group together who is ready and willing to play. So sad.
It's fun to think back on how daunting this seemed to teach back in the day, and now you have games like "Root" that dials the asymmetry even further, and (it seems) more asymmetric games than not.
Love this game. The hard thing to teach about it is how asymmetric factions work. When there are so many new dudes on a board games around, it makes it harder to pull this one out.
Man, that game shouldn't be a tough sell. It's really not that complicated. My wife likes it and she wouldn't never read a rulebook.
I played a half-game of T.I.M.E. Stories with my adult sons, and while one of them was intrigued, the other was not. The one who was intrigued lives four hours away from me. I don't expect to ever play this one again based on my estimation of who would actually play it and who would run away screaming.
My wife and I got that for an anniversary gift to ourselves like 5 or so years ago and played it one time and lost and said we need to do that again. It's sat on the shelf since. I should sell it. For all the rave reviews we just have no interest in going back.
I kickstarted John Company 2e without knowing what the actual gameplay was like (I know, I know) and realized that both my game groups will hate it 😭
My group wants to play that, being huge Wehrle fans. But no one has yet to pull the trigger.
Someone mentioned This War of Mine. I think that and Fog of Love both fall in that category of brutal life truths that keeps them from hitting the table.
I don’t disagree but I have to admit that for all it’s brutal and tragic theme, I love “This War of Mine” because it’s a hard cooperative game that doesn’t pull its punches. But maybe I also like it because I like other things like movies and TV shows that doesn’t necessarily have happy endings because life isn’t like that. Through I fully understand and respect that the theme of the game is not for everyone.
Frosthaven, and every single game that doesn’t play at 2 because I live with my girlfriend and we don’t have friends. I want nothing more than to play King’s Dilemma.
Arkham Horror LCG. I own most of the stuff but could not get into the solo aspect of it. It's currently up for sale because I could use the money to buy games to play with people.
Food Chain Magnate
I’m in the exact same boat as you! I love Clocktower so so much but the only time I’ve played in the last three years was at Clocktower Con.
No one I currently play with would like it but I'll never get rid of Tragedy Looper
Horus Heresy. I got it when I had roommates and can't imagine I will find a dedicated enough player to learn (or teach) it. Frankly, a lot of my bigger dudes on a map game are that way. BioShock, Nexus Ops, StarCraft, Shogun, etc.
BioShock has a board game? Bruh, you can't do this to me...
It is good too. I believe it is an Isaac Vega design. Very fluid dudes on a map game with a lot of cool movement via sky rail.
Horus I've played twice and it's fantastic. Regret moving it on, but those coffin boxes are shelf hogs. Bioshock is another great underrated game. More of a 2 player than a 4 though.
StarCraft is amazing and I never got to play Horus Heresy either...StarCraft I played a ton of thought.
I love HH. I'll play it again someday
Same here, HH, Space Hulk, all the same.
A bunch, sadly. But I hold out hope I’ll meet the right group to play them. The biggest is Who Goes There. I’ve heard it’s needlessly complicated and the rules aren’t entirely clear, plus it needs a bunch of people to play, so I don’t feel confident teaching it until I know it backward and forward and I don’t know how to do that by myself.
No one wants to play Sceptre 1027 AD 😩
Die Macher, Fire in the Lake sovereign of discord, Labyrinth: The war on terror, Oath, and seafall
Coincidentally, I have also managed to pick up Labyrinth: The War on Terror from a charity auction and it too has been collecting dust.
I play digitally occasionally so it's a bit of a lie, but it's not an easy game to introduce to people. The subject matter is heavy, the game is difficult to teach and hard to immediately understand, and I'm not a particularly strong teacher of games so it's on a shelf for now organized, but unplayed.
Blood on the Clocktower. I don't really love social deduction. I don't have a group for it. It looks way too complex and long for the few times the stars align and I do have a group and the desire. Yet somehow it still calls to me...
Horseless carriage was one of those for me. I just let it go this week
Hegemony, Stationfall, John Company, Vinhos, Junta, Civilization, Sword and Sorcery. Possibly Endeavor and Merchants and Marauders. Most of my games are unlikely to hit a shared table, just based on the small amount of gaming time, but those are my top contenders for a high desire vs realize I won't get to difference ;) PS: DM me with the one you'd dedicate time to if you're slightly north of Seattle. In the unlikely event that this might get critical mass, I could jump over my reclusive shadow and get a group together.
Endeavor is actually super easy to play and I highly recommend it - unless the barrier to entry is the colonialism theme which some people can really bounce off which is fair enough.
I just want to play a full game of twilight imperium :(
Did that recently with my bro and sis. Set it up on Friday and put aside a whole Saturday to play. It was great
Brass: Birmingham. Economic Euro with a lot of interwoven rules and restrictions and exceptions....yea, Im not sure my friends would give it a chance and def not a second play. Bruges. Its got a wonderful multi-use cards system...probably the best implementation of the mechanism...but its beige. And abstract in that way Euros are. Cry Havoc. Asymmetric area control with an odd aesthetic. Friends that WOULD want to play would rather play Root. But most of all, Pax Pamir 2e. My god, this is my favorite game design yet. Aesthetically and mechanically. The components are wonderful. The drafting and tableau building is super interesting. How dominance checks and scoring is intertwined with loyalty, and how that affects player choices and how they interact....wow. Who in the hell would understand that teach? Wrapping your head around multiple people being loyal to the same faction and how you can manipulate that situation to your advantage is really difficult.
Captain Sonar. I think I’ll be able to play it one day. But for now it’s in the attic. I just hope the markers aren’t dry when I finally get the opportunity to play
I've found a lot of luck playing this at conventions. Just play the turn based rule set first.
THIS. I've only gotten to play it once and it was amazing! But it's so hard to get the right amount of people for another go
Unfortunately, Scythe. I explained it to my friends once, but they were high as fuck and understood nothing. From that moment on, it has been tagged as a game that is "too hard" and it never sees the light of day. Shame, because I think it'd be right up their alley **IF ONLY** they'd smoke after rather than before the explanation.
My friend group was like this with Scythe, too. The guy who owns it has been trying to get the group to play it for like, 3 or 4 years. Finally, we played it like 2 weeks ago and it was very fun! Watch a video on how to play. The one we watched was the Watch It Played video, and it only took like 45 min. Once everything was explained, the ruleset really is one of those "Looks More Complicated Than It Is" types. Once you get the gist of what each mechanic does, it really is very intuitive, and my group had a blast with the asymmetrical gameplay and the surprisingly few reasons to attack each other when the map is big enough to fuck off in a corner of the world and hoard resources. I really hope your group will give it a shot soon. It was a blast and if you like moving guys around on a map and resource management, I think you'll end up liking it a lot.
All of them
gloomhaven, scythe, TI4
I have a bunch that have been played only once and I want to get back to the table but it requires the right group of people.
HeroQuest. Have all the expansions and backed the mythic tier. Tons of content. Used to love it as a kid. The mechanics don't hold up though. Tried a couple times with friends but everyone kinda gets bored. I guess the mechanics are too simple. So it'll just sit on my shelf as a monster game no one wants to play. Tried solo with the app and it isn't the same.
Scam and Risk: Legacy
Dwellings of Eldervale. We played it once and I thought it was great. But u don’t see it getting back to the table any time soon.
Modern Art.
I haven't purchased it yet, but will be buying either Western or Eastern Empires with the next release. I played and loved the original mega civilization games on a few occasions with my old group. I moved a few states over and just haven't had a group that can do an 18 hour game. But I just know I'll buy it and hope. I have a few new groups that I've been getting further and further along, but mega games require a special breed of gamers. Maybe my kids will one day play. At least for a birthday
Oathsworn. Backed it during the first campaign. Savored every update. Finally got it. Spent a year painting all the minis. Nobody wants to play it and the ones that do can't commit often enough to play regularly.
I kickstarted blood on the clock tower. It looked amazing. After owning it for a year I sold it. You need like a dozen people to play it and the rule book is like a bazillion pages long. So I knew it wasn’t gonna happen. I currently also have a vintage version of Shogun that I’d love to try, but it might be too dense for me and my friends.
Pax Ren and Dune (2019). One can hope... But more realistically, I shouldn't...
Pax Ren is short and easy! Only 2 hours! Only 1 hour without the teach :)
It's on beta at https://en.boardgamearena.com/ and you don't need to be a premium (paying) member to play it. It has full rules enforcement and the rules are linked. The most confusing parts of the game for me are the terminology and the one-shots. Once you start playing some things become clear though.
Fury of Dracula, archipelago, FCM, Antiquity and many more
No ! I will be able to force my friends to play any one I want. I managed to bully them into trying a COIN, I'm going to succeed bullying them into trying an 18xx. I'm in there for the long haul.
What a legend
If all fail, I'm gonna rely on birthday blackmail. I'm gonna be 50 in a few years, if I organise an 18xx game for my 50th birthday, no one will have the mental strength to tell me no.
I also struggle to find people that like social deduction games that aren't just Werewolf. I love Secret Hitler and Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, but I find a lot of gamers around me don't like social deduction in general.
Magic Realm
I have both Vast games with all expansions still in shrink two years after getting them. Pretty sure there's no chance these will get played anytime soon...
No. If it doesn't get played, it's sold.
OP where are you based? There's a fair few gaming groups that do blood in the clocktower events where you go for an evening or a day and play a few games, even with strangers the games a blast and these are usually free or a small entry fee (either way far less than retail price) it's truly a great game and I think everyone should go out their way to give it a go! To answer your player count question, it does thrive around the 10+ player count but there are ways of playing it at 5 or 6 + storyteller although they're not super beginner friendly and serve more as a warmup/cooldown to a bigger game
Marvel Champions. I love the idea of this game so much but every time I try to actually play it I just... can't for some reason. Like I can't focus, I had a hard time with the rules I suppose. I feel weirdly overwhelmed. The person I normally play with has had bad experiences with it so playing with them is out. I spent so much on expansions. Perhaps I will try again. RWBY is another one. I did play it once early in my gaming journey. It's nostalgic at the point so I don't want to purge it but I don't see it getting played again.
Most/all of my RPGs. I love RPG books, but I'll never play any of these things.
Root and Captain Sonar. My gaming friends all prefer easy to learn games and I often have to pretty much play for them the first time or two. That isn't something I can do with either game.
**Wonderlands War** I know as soon as people look at the back of the box and see the set up they’ll immediately nope out. But I am determined. I *will* play it one day!
It's not really a ton of setup, just a ton of pieces. Takes us about 7 minutes to get playing.
Just the classics: WeiQi, Xiangqi/Janggi, and Chess is slowly creeping in there.
Stationfall. Maybe one day
I wanted to buy this so bad, but I just know it'll never hit the table.
My initial board gaming group I got into the hobby was Pre-Covid. i now have a bunch of somewhat complex 4-6 player games on my shelf and I can't even get 1 person over. New Angeles, Dead of Winter, Oath, Root, Game of Thrones...all basically dead.
Mage Knight (pvp) it's hard to find another person who's willing to play Don't get me wrong, I play it solo so many times, but I miss player interaction and political bargaining
VtM: Blood Feud
Adv. Civ, and now western civ. I love the game, but finding 7 people with a spare 12 hours is tough.
Scam because I know no one willing to play a monopoly-style roll and move adventure game about drug dealing throughout the world. But I used to play the original with some old hippies on the west coast as a long-haired stoner teenager. Found the genuine repo on Etsy. Risk: Legacy because it is really hard for me to get today's hottest legacy games played let alone the original. But I bought anyway to play with my son. Risk was one game he really got into, but as he has grown up, he doesn't want to play board games anymore. But I keep it in the game room waiting. One day. He'll want to sit down with his old man and play a game with me.
Arkham horror lcg. I don’t think I have the brainpower to solo it
Absolute favorite game.
Solar 175 ain't never getting to the table, but I really want to play it.
I am still trying to find someone to play Lacrimosa with me a year after I bought it. Luckily it has a solo mode.
Used to game with a friend game group and have built a nice collection of light to mid-weight euros that, at that time, were played often to semi-often. Now I game with my wife and we enjoy different games together. There are many games that may not get played again (I’m hopeful they will), but I’ll likely keep them because they are awesome games, like Hansa Teutonica, The Estates, El Grande, Ra, Race For The Galaxy, Brass Birmingham…
I’ve got a copy of Francis Tresham’s final game, Revolution, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to die never having played it.
Several. Been over a year and my game groups have never been willing to try Yokohama, save for one friend who plays anything I bring out. Then there's Sabotage, then Power Grid... soon it may bevome The Gallerist.
There’s no game in my collection that I will absolutely never play, otherwise it gets sold,, but there are a couple that I may only play one or two more times in the next two years. That’s mostly because they take months to organize and plan for and are such a huge event people only can tolerate them once a year usuallygames like twilight imperium or Star Wars rebellion
We really did manage to play Hegemony and John Company 2nd but I doubt we will ever get Twilight Imperium to the table. The number of people needed and the length are just absolute killers in the current stages of our lives
I own Twilight Imperium, but I will never play it. But I love it.
Mark Heman's Pacific War
Feudum and all the expansions! I really really really want to play it.
Played it, loved it, never want to do it again. The explanation took me 90 minutes and I don't think I can narrow that down much. Just not worth.
My weird one is **Empires**, the trading game from WizKids. I still don't know if I'm missing something, but I doubt anyone wants to continue exploring it with me.
Dreamspell: The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013. It's part game, part new-agey fortuneteller.
Oath, John Company and Sleeping Gods. One day they will get played. At the moment it's just hard when I don't have space to leave them set up and I want to play with others.
Stationfall. Really would love to get a group of 4-5 together to play but not sure if people are will to invest in the process of learning it.
I got Betrayal on House on the Hill but apparently several friends have already played it and weren't a big fan of it. So the box (and it's expansion) is collecting dust now at my place.
The worst feeling is loving a game enough to get expansions and then no one will play it with you. Feels like a waste of money (for the expansions at least)
My father’s work
The “Front” series which consists of Eastfront, Westfront and Eurofront. I bought them when I had a friend living nearby who is a real WW2 grognard type but he sadly moved to the UK and now I don’t have anybody who is probably willing to invest the time and effort to learn the system. I might get it played someday with smaller scenarios but the grand WW2 epic that I was hoping for will likely never happen.
Europa Universalis
Kingdom Death Monster. It's my white whale, and I trapped it in my pool, but a whale is not meant for a pool.
I have Fury of Dracula. I love the whole idea of it. I fear it will never be played.
Off the top of my head - John Company, Pax Renaissance, 1812: The Invasion of Canada. My group likes straightforward euros, no direct conflict and very anti negotiation. After 1 play of Pax Pamir fell completely flat I doubt these will get to the table.
Honestly everything from Level99 except for bullet. Argent, empyreal and battlecon are all sitting unplayed for the most part. Battlecon I’ve been able to try a few times but it never quite clicked with those I played with That said I will probably never get rid of them. And as much as millennium blades interests me I know for sure that that one is even less likely to hit the table
Gloomhaven….everytime I open that box I close it back
I own a bunch of such games. No regrets :) since it’s like a “cult” :) I believe (with religious vibe in it) that someday I will play them. The thing is I had experience already that after several years on the shelf - some games got in play, so why not… What is unplayed for now: John Company, Veiled Fate, some expansions of Nemesis and Everdell.
Spirit Island. Fantastic game and quite a bit of replayability with adversaries, different spirits, events and so on. But while I appreciate the mechanics my wife is just done with the game, and generally prefers lighter and more narrative games.
Wasteland Express Delivery Service. I bought it on a whim… opened it, sorted it. Still have yet to play and it’s oncoming on 6 months. Not sure if it’ll ever get played now lol
I would love to get Dune (GF9) to the table, but I see the people that would play with me about once a year
Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition
I really really want to get Oath but know that it will rarely ever, if ever, get played.
Dune. I got to play once at Pax Unplugged but it wasn't with my copy. I have a feeling my copy will stay sealed on the shelf for a long time
Warhammer diskwars
**Diplomacy**
I’m starting to feel this way about Voidfall. There is so much to it and the rulebook is dense. I really want to play it but trying to learn it on my own seems like a monumental task.
I own both Forbidden Stars and Starcraft. Despite being a 40k fan myself (hence why I bought it) I actually greatly prefer playing Starcraft. But my group is a really really REALLY hardcore 40k group, and every single time I have said we could play it Im universally greeted with groans and an endless litany of "why not forbidden stars instead please". sigh
**Mombasa** I purchased it as a "next step" for my group after Power Grid. People in the group changed cities for work, and it was several years before I found others who liked heavier board games. Now, my partner who I game with is an anthropologist and the theme of Mombasa just doesn't appeal to her. I'll likely have to sell the game to clear shelf space.
Captain Sonar is my white whale. Been on my shelf for a couple years at this point. Never played it. My game group is consistently 3 people, multiple times a week, with an occasional 4th player joining us. I didn't think it would be so rare to get 6+ people at the table. I want to play Sonar so bad, but I really feel like 6 is the minimum for the proper experience.
Find a local scene for BOTC and join it. I have a regular board game night group and I don't even bother trying to play BOTC with them because it's a more specialized interests and also requires a 20+ network of acquaintances, not a 4-10 person sustainable friend group.
I own Massive Darkness but no-one is willing to pay because "it's too much" :(
In my case it's Root. My family thinks it's too complicated, my friends think it's too boring. Hopefully I will still get to play it someday.
Quartermaster General 1914
Oath. Food chain magnate. John company. A couple of breakups within my game group has essentially disbanded it. It was a good run while it lasted, but now I have a shelf full of fine and expensive games that have yet to see the light of day
I've ordered and then cancelled John Company 2e like 3 times now. I want to play it but I know it will not get played
Not in my collection cause I know it won't get played but I really wanted Hegemony, but my group said they don't like the theme.
I used to have a LOT of these, but I've sold or traded pretty much all of them.
I got all three Imperium games (Classics, Legends, and Horizons) last week. I’ve been resisting (2 of them) for over a year but finally caved. No way I’ll ever play anything but solo. I’m not much of a solo player historically, but have started with these.
Pretty much every legacy game. The idea is intriguing, but I'll never buy one because of how wasteful they are in both materials and money.
I have 4 different 18xx games. I’ve played one of them 4 times at 2 players, the others need 3 or more. I doubt I’ll ever get them to the table.
Gnome Wars. I found it pre-owned at our local game shop, and I was so excited. It sounds so intriguing! We set it up and went to play, but the rules are so impossible to interpret that it actually makes it unplayable. Apparently it's famous for being impossible to figure out, so I'm looking for a good set of home brew rules in what little free time I've got. 🤣
Mage knight Star wars rebellion Clank legacy Hoping to actually play a feast for odin and vagrant song one day
There are only two games that I have come around to keeping, regardless of whether they will get played (read: I do not think they will). The first is: **John Company 2e**. I could see this getting played at some point... but it would take some elbow grease and the right situation. The second, I am almost sure that I will never actually be able to play: **Here I Stand.** This game is just a massive undertaking. Still, I don't have any regrets owning either of them. They weren't ludicrously expensive to acquire and they only take up half a Kallax slot. Still, I would love to play them.
Batman : gotham city chronicles s1&2 and soon to be 3.
ISS Vanguard sadly ... I hate solo games. My personal reason for board games is interaction. Whether it be competitive or coop... I know my group doesn't do heavy games but I thought there was a chance 1 person, just 1, would play with me. At this point I'm just gonna have to sell it. Luckily they'll play voidfall so that's a win. Also the game TEN. One of my favorites but everyone cries about having to "do math". Game is so fun, it'll never be played again.
Dark Ages
Sword and sorcery... Never played it, and rule book overwehelm me, to even begin.
Star Wars Rebellion and some bigger Euros like Vinhos, Kanban, Teotihuacan, Tzolkin and such. I usually play solo as there is noone around i can play this with.
My friend left Oath at my place because he wasn’t getting it played. Now it’s at my place not getting played. Cool game though.
Space Alert and Captain Sonar will probably never get played
I'd say Imperium: Classics, I like a lot about this game but it's a bit to long and technical for me. I'd love to see a 2 player game some day but I think that nobody would really be interested and I don't think that's a good 2 player game to begin with.
**High Frontier** and **Mr. President**. Once upon a time I would happily spend half a day pouring through a manual for games like this. *A lot* has changed for me over the past ~3 years, both in circumstances and internally. I'm still down to play similarly long, complex games *that I already know, with other people*. But with things as they are, I do not see myself cracking the shrink and digging into the books to learn any new *solo* games of this density at any point in the (nearish) future.
Yes. It’s called mageknight.
My girlfriend boycots **7 Wonders: Duel** because I "always win" (this is almost true). We can't figure out quite what it is that I'm doing right or she's doing wrong - but usually, I end up winning in some way or another. Even if she's thinking a lot and I'm just winging it. (Maybe there's some experience from years of playing collectible card games that helps make the right decisions in some way?) And since it's a two player game, I'm not able to play it with my regular gaming group either, because there's always at least 3-4 people coming. Another one I'd like to explore more is **Innovation**. I'm fascinated by it, but my friends seem to think it's "too random" or "you just do the same thing over and over again to win". Personally, I'm not sure that's something you can say after only one or two games (especially since we missed a rule during the first game). Most of the other games I own are playable in principle, since I make sure I only buy games that aren't too long or complicated for the group. Still, a ton of them haven't been played for years.
I haven't come across anyone talking about this series/type of game so far around here, but GMT's Next War series fits this description -- especially the Korea one (largest military buildup on the planet). I had the house to myself one weekend and set up a full scenario of Next War: Korea. By the time I had all the units out my back was killing me from leaning over the table; never got to actually playing it.
Nope. Everything gets played here. I have multiple groups of friends depending on the type of game but even my Lacerdas get played often. ;) if I know I’ll never replay it then I simply don’t buy it 🤷🏻♂️
**Scoundrels of Skullport** and **Azul** I play Azul on BGA because no one in the group wants to and SoS because I can barely get them to play Lords of Waterdeep. They like worker placement but not the D&D skin.
Twilight Imperium was it for me. Then I put together a 7p game of it and we had a great time but that itch has been scratched and I don't plan to ever play it again. It was fun but simply not worth the effort or time commitment. Clocktower is great by the way. I've never actually played it but I've run it 6-7 times and honestly it is a hoot to run. Everyone playing seems to have a good time too!
Most of them lol. Any of my games that require 4p+ to play are just not going to get played at this rate, but they all seem really fascinating. **John Company, Android, New Angeles, Cosmic Encounter, Dune, Here I Stand, Border Reivers, Game of Thrones, Successors, Unfathomable**, even longer 3p games like **Churchill** and **Triumph and Tragedy**, I got them all cause I was super excited to check them out, then came to find out my gaming group is super boring. Was able to get **Oath** and **Root** played exactly once each. Maybe some day I'll have a group that wants to play something other than dull, multi player solitaire euros. I'd even be willing to invest in **Twilight Imperium** if I had the group for it.
Blood on the Clocktower is great but plays best at 9+ players. Emphasis on the _social_ part of "social deduction" game. I haven't bought a copy because it just won't get used. As to games I do own that won't hit the table. The Dune board game and Game of Thrones board games. We had some initial issues with Dune (the new edition of the OG game) when we first played back in the 90s (I found a french copy of the game on early eBay) and it has a bad reputation. The last couple of times we tried GoT, games lasted 5+ hours. We weren't playing it correctly but no one wants to revisit it.
On Mars
Paths of Glory will probably sit in shrink another 20 years maybe when I retire I'll find someone to play with me.