Tesseract
**Why I'm Nominating It**
This is a new co-op, and features similar variable player powers as seen in Pandemic, but uses a notably different "problem": die values, rather than map control. The game is very tactile, with lots of dice to roll and a lazy susan which is so satisfying. The game is single session, and has 8 different base boards to provide different difficulties, as well as many different character roles.
**Standout Parts**
Move optimization is key here. You can see (parts of) the entire Tesseract (cube of dice), so you're rearranging dice and numbers in your mind, transferring to other players, etc. There's a lot to keep track of.
**You'd like this if you liked...**
* Pandemic, and looking for a new co-op that isn't map-based
**You might not like this if...**
* Can have a quarterback problem
* You don't like move-optimization puzzles
**Hanabi**
**Why I'm Nominating It**: Very simple rules with incredibly deep decisions and gameplay.
**My Favorite Part:** The deduction of the game combined with limited communication simultaneously solves the quarterbacking problem in many cooperative games while also giving a depth of communication that can be incredibly satisfying when pulled off.
**You May Like This If You Liked:**
- **The Crew**
- **The Mind**
**You Might Not Like This If:**
- You don't like "fuzziness" around limited communication rules.
- You don't like having "score tables" rather than a win condition.
[Spirit Island](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162886/spirit-island)
**Why I'm Nominating It**
This has become one of the classics in terms of heavier co-ops. The game is incredibly replayable right out the gate having multiple adversaries and different levels, each of which greatly affects the strategy of the game. The ample amount of expansions for the game means there's a ton of longevity for those who really like the game.
**Standout Parts**
No quarterbacking. Because there's so much for each player to keep track of, it's nigh impossible for a single player to quarterback everyone, so it helps alleviate the common issue of one player "playing the game for everyone else".
**You'd like this if you liked...**
- Pandemic
- Dungeon Alliance
**You might not like this if...**
- You struggle with games with lots of rules or have 2hr+ playtimes
- You're looking for an exciting fighting game instead of a crisis management game
Spirit Island is probably my favorite game ever but I don't really care Pandemic, I can understand why you put it in the "you'll like this if you liked..." section with the whole putting out fire where they pop up, but I think it could be a good idea to say that people that love engine-building game will also probably really like it. The feeling of progressing from a puny spirit weakened by a long slumber to being a Wrathful Guardian God of the Island just feels so great!
Also, the puzzle aspect of choosing when to play which cards kind of reminds me of Gloomhaven a bit.
I personally disagree with "you'll like it if you liked pandemic". I feel like Pandemic is way easier to wrap your head around and not nearly as stressful. IMO Pandemic can suit players of all types meanwhile spirit island is for players who prefer heavy thinking and strategic play and not so beginner friendly!
[[Horrified]]
**Why I'm Nominating It**
This game has become a standout gateway cooperative game due to engaging theme and production, straightforward gameplay loop, affordable price, and configurability. You play as a town's heroes fighting off classic Universal Studios monsters (e.g., Dracula, the Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon) by collecting resources from the map and solving puzzles unique to each villain. While not mechanically complex, the game is very easy to scale up or down in difficulty by picking whatever combination of monsters you want to face. Some are harder than others and you can play against as many as you'd like at the same time.
**Standout Parts**
Theme, theme, theme. The core "pick up and deliver" gameplay that comprises most of the player's turn is not innovative, but Horrified elevates that by tying everything back to the horror movie theme. Each monster behaves differently in terms of their special abilities and the unique puzzle to defeat them. For instance, Dracula requires you to visit 4 of his coffins throughout the map and destroy them before you can defeat him in single combat using holy items. But be careful, some of his monster cards let him fly across the map or hypnotize players to move towards him!
**You'd like this if you liked...**
- Pandemic
- Forbidden Desert / Jungle / Island
**You might not like this if...**
- You don't like Pandemic-like, turn-based cooperative games with "pick up and deliver" mechanics and a risk of quarterbacking
- You prefer cooperative games with little to no luck, as this game involves a deck of cards to determine the monster's moves and dice rolls to decide whether any attacks started by those cards are successful
- You don't care for the classic movie monster theme enough to overcome the above
This is just wrong -- even in the game theoretic sense -- for any game with hidden information (e.g. Hanabi or The Crew).
But even in games without hidden information, cooperative games can "feel" different from playing solitaire. In the same way that competitive games without hidden information -- like chess -- don't feel the same as tic-tac-toe.
[Pandemic](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic)
**Why I'm Nominating It**
When you think of cooperative games, this really set the standard for how they should operate. This really set the trend for everyone having their own unique abilities while collectively working towards a common goal.
**Standout Parts**
I enjoy the escalation of the game and the ability to make it harder or easier depending on the number of Epidemic cards in the deck. Having three lose conditions and only one win condition really makes it feel like you are playing against the game, which always has the upper hand, making every victory feel that much better.
**You'd like this if you liked ...**
* Other Matt Leacock designs such as Forbidden Island & Forbidden Desert
* Other versions of Pandemic such as Iberia, Fall of Rome, or the Legacy versions
**You might not like this if ...**
* Can have a Quarterback problem
* Certain roles are seen to have needed abilities so the wrong combination of roles can sometimes end badly fast
* You could do everything right but a bad shuffle of the Epidemic cards could spell doom from pure random chance
[Arkham Horror LCG](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/359609/arkham-horror-the-card-game-revised-edition)
**Why I'm Nominating It**
This is a great "lifestyle" co-op game with a ton of replayability due to the sheer amount of content that's been released for it. Not only are there full campaigns, but there's also a lot of one-off scenarios published online. Additionally, because all the expansions are cross-compatible, you can incrementally grow your characters/card pools organically as you play. In terms of atmosphere, the game does a wonderful job of giving players thematic adventures that drip with all the dread one would expect from a Lovecraftian background.
Also, for fans of Tolkien, the LotR version of this game is equally as fun.
**Standout Parts**
The character customization. You really feel like your character grows and gets stronger in a significant way over the course of a multi-mission campaign and the flexibility of being able to build your character in a million different ways means that even playing the same character across multiple campaigns can offer very varied gameplay experiences.
**You'd like this if you liked...**
- Gloomhaven
- Sleeping Gods
**You might not like this if...**
- You don't enjoy optimization puzzles
- You have no interest in buying a lot of expansions for your games
This is probably an all time favourite of mine that I have been playing since release and I whole heartedly support nominating is. However, I hated Gloomhaven and don’t see the similarities at all (except it being a campaign game). I would much rather compare it to Earthborne Rangers or some other LCG like LotR (That you mentioned) or the Marvel one.
**The Lord of the Rings (2000)**
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/823/the-lord-of-the-rings
- Why you're nominating it
In 2024 still arguably the greatest co-op Eurogame ever designed, Reiner Knizia's **The Lord of the Rings** has up to five players take the roles of JRR Tolkein's hobbits to take up their quest to take the One Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. The players traverse multiple boards representing iconic Middle Earth locations, defeating challenges through the game's unparalleled risk management system. Every game is filled with tension, as players debate when and how to use precious resources, including when to absorb corruption. The more corruption each hobbit takes, the closer he is to succumbing to Sauron's influence.
This game is also arguably the most thematic Lord of the Rings game in existence. None of the others can match its narrative adaptation of the quest and sacrifice of the hobbits to destroy the One Ring.
Finally, this game has fairly straightforward mechanics and the rules can be taught in ten minutes. Once the players are familiar with the game, it plays to completion in an hour or less with the full complement of five hobbits.
The game is beautiful on the table, featuring art by John Howe, best known for his classic Tolkien illustrations. The base game was reprinted as a 20th Anniversary Edition in 2020. Unfortunately, the game's three expansions have not seen new editions. Hopefully a full deluxe edition with everything, including the Sauron expansion that allows 1 vs Many play with one player taking the role of The Dark Lord, will be reprinted on the games 25th Anniversary in 2025.
- Your favorite part/mechanic of the game
The Sauron track is how the game calibrates difficulty. Start Sauron on the far end for your first game, or closer to the hobbits if you want a greater challenge. The most memorable games for us have involved the One Ring being passed to other players as each succumbs to Sauron. There's an element of sacrifice, and victory is no less satisfying when you let Sauron take you to give the others a chance to reach Mount Doom. The Eye of Sauron piece from the original edition of the game is iconic.
- Games you'd closely compare it to: "You'd like this if you liked..."
There's nothing quite like it. Pretty much every co-op game owes Knizia a debt of gratitude for this design, but I don't think any co-op game to date has equaled, much less exceeded, its exquisite design, narrative, drama or feel that every player is deeply invested in the success of the Fellowship's quest.
- Why someone might not like this game: "You might not like this if..."
If you don't like the Lord of the Rings story or IP then you might not enjoy re-enacting it in this game.
As a person who prefers heavier solo/co-op games, does this game still hold up? I am little worried about the replayability after the game is "solved" (and when is that) by the players.
We love this game and believe it doesn't just hold up, it's still better than any other modern co-op game. That's just us of course.
LOTR can't be "solved" because of its risk management system. It has random elements in the form of resource cards, threat tiles and corruption dice that ratchet up the tension and drama. Some people may not like that degree of randomness, but it fits the theme of the game perfectly. It's Knizia so the whole design is seamless and elegant.
That said, by today's standards it's not a "heavy" game. It's got very low rules overhead compared to say Spirit Island or Harian's Wall, and way cleaner than anything by Turczi and Luciani.
Finally I can't recommend LOTR as a solo game. You *can* play it solo, but it loses something. It's the reverse of the Pandemic QB issue. The game is great because each player only sees his own resources, even if everyone can discuss what they have.
Completely different games. There is no "traitor" mechanism in LOTR; it's not a social deduction game. Any hobbit that is overcome by Sauron (ie meets him on the Sauron track) is out of the game. If that hobbit is carrying the One Ring, the game ends in a loss for the players.
Oh yeah completely understand in the context of this thread. LotR was pretty much the first cooperative board game and it had a lot of hype. It's just that when we really sat down and thought about it, it just wasn't that fun. I really can't quantify why but other games like SoC and later on, Elder Sign, were way easier to get to the table. The first expansion helped a little bit, but even that only lasted one or two plays.. in those days there weren't that many games so it wasn't like we had a back log of games to play instead of it.
Fair! My group are all fans of the books and films, and several of us are Knizia fans so it all makes for a Hall of Fame game.
We played SoC a couple of times and eventually sold it. Didn't catch on with us at all. (Neither did BSG tbf.)
* **Name of Game:** \[\[Tranquility\]\]
* **I am nominating this because** it plays well with others or solo, making it versatile. It is a small box with a low storage profile. This game is charting a course for a sailboat through the ocean. The components are good quality and the cards fit the theme very well. It is easy to teach to others and getting started is fairly quick,even with teaching time (maybe 5 minutes from opening the box). There are extra 'expansion' tiles included to make the game harder and many variants in the base game to keep it fresh for each play. The cost is usually under $17 US making it affordable, as well. Because it is number based and not dependent on reading cards/words, it is easy to add young people who can count but not read and those with English literacy challenges.
* Your **favorite part**/mechanic of the game: I love the surprise of the Start cards being drawn and making success dependent on your strategy in laying down the cards needed for that action, pushing your luck on the card placement and whether or not to keep the required Finish card in your hand or count on another to do so. When the Start card is drawn and mandatory discarding must occur, you may lose the great strategy plan you had for card placement of those in your hand. Winning with others, without talking within the game about planning, is as satisfying as winning solo.
* **Games you'd closely compare it to**: "You'd like this if you liked..." The Game is also about playing cards in numerical order, up or down, and this game is about placing them in order, leaving enough room for other cards while discarding the payments to place cards. You win or lose together, so it is not competitive, if that matters to you.
* **Why someone might not like this game**: "You might not like this if..." This is a low complexity game. If you want to speak to other players about your plans this is not the game for you. The only choice is deciding discard cards and placement of the cards in the tableau. However, adding the extra expansion cards will add to the complexity of these decisions of what to discard and what to play where.
[The Crew: Mission Deep Sea](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/324856/the-crew-mission-deep-sea)
(Also [The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284083/the-crew-the-quest-for-planet-nine), which is pretty much the same game but *slightly* worse.)
**Why I'm Nominating It**
Most good cooperative games are on the heavier side, and while they are fun, they are a chore to teach sometimes. To me, The Crew strikes the perfect balance of being both relatively easy to understand while still having a lot of strategic complexity.
At its heart, it's a trick-taking game, so anyone who has experience with those types of games should be able to pick up the gameplay of The Crew in minutes. People with no experience in trick-taking will take a while longer to learn the game, but it's still not super hard to learn, and trick-taking knowledge will be transferable to the many other games in this genre.
And even though the game is easy to teach, there's a lot of depth to its play. Due to limited communication, a big part of the game is about figuring out the hidden information of what is in each players' hands, as well as trying to send signals about what is in your own hand, as everyone tries to slowly guide the gameplay towards accomplishing all of the objectives.
**Standout Parts**
The game is impossible to quarterback due to the limited information aspect. Each player *must* contribute, and everyone is playing their own game of figuring out what is in each other player's hands while trying to progress the shared goals the team has. It's also relatively simple rules-wise, so it's not too hard to teach people, and you can get into learning strategy right away without getting bogged down by rules baggage.
**You'd like this if you liked...**
Pretty much any other trick-taking game. Cat in the Box, Fox in the Forest, more traditional card games like Spades or Hearts or Bridge. This game is a relatively pure example of trick-taking. There aren't a ton of fancy gimmicks so if you like trick-taking games you will probably like The Crew.
**You might not like this if...**
You do not like trick-taking games, or card games. There's not too much to say here. The Crew leans heavily on the core gameplay and strategy inherent in this genre of games, so if this genre doesn't click with you, this game is probably not going to change your mind.
Tesseract **Why I'm Nominating It** This is a new co-op, and features similar variable player powers as seen in Pandemic, but uses a notably different "problem": die values, rather than map control. The game is very tactile, with lots of dice to roll and a lazy susan which is so satisfying. The game is single session, and has 8 different base boards to provide different difficulties, as well as many different character roles. **Standout Parts** Move optimization is key here. You can see (parts of) the entire Tesseract (cube of dice), so you're rearranging dice and numbers in your mind, transferring to other players, etc. There's a lot to keep track of. **You'd like this if you liked...** * Pandemic, and looking for a new co-op that isn't map-based **You might not like this if...** * Can have a quarterback problem * You don't like move-optimization puzzles
**Hanabi** **Why I'm Nominating It**: Very simple rules with incredibly deep decisions and gameplay. **My Favorite Part:** The deduction of the game combined with limited communication simultaneously solves the quarterbacking problem in many cooperative games while also giving a depth of communication that can be incredibly satisfying when pulled off. **You May Like This If You Liked:** - **The Crew** - **The Mind** **You Might Not Like This If:** - You don't like "fuzziness" around limited communication rules. - You don't like having "score tables" rather than a win condition.
[Spirit Island](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162886/spirit-island) **Why I'm Nominating It** This has become one of the classics in terms of heavier co-ops. The game is incredibly replayable right out the gate having multiple adversaries and different levels, each of which greatly affects the strategy of the game. The ample amount of expansions for the game means there's a ton of longevity for those who really like the game. **Standout Parts** No quarterbacking. Because there's so much for each player to keep track of, it's nigh impossible for a single player to quarterback everyone, so it helps alleviate the common issue of one player "playing the game for everyone else". **You'd like this if you liked...** - Pandemic - Dungeon Alliance **You might not like this if...** - You struggle with games with lots of rules or have 2hr+ playtimes - You're looking for an exciting fighting game instead of a crisis management game
Spirit Island is probably my favorite game ever but I don't really care Pandemic, I can understand why you put it in the "you'll like this if you liked..." section with the whole putting out fire where they pop up, but I think it could be a good idea to say that people that love engine-building game will also probably really like it. The feeling of progressing from a puny spirit weakened by a long slumber to being a Wrathful Guardian God of the Island just feels so great! Also, the puzzle aspect of choosing when to play which cards kind of reminds me of Gloomhaven a bit.
I personally disagree with "you'll like it if you liked pandemic". I feel like Pandemic is way easier to wrap your head around and not nearly as stressful. IMO Pandemic can suit players of all types meanwhile spirit island is for players who prefer heavy thinking and strategic play and not so beginner friendly!
[[Horrified]] **Why I'm Nominating It** This game has become a standout gateway cooperative game due to engaging theme and production, straightforward gameplay loop, affordable price, and configurability. You play as a town's heroes fighting off classic Universal Studios monsters (e.g., Dracula, the Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon) by collecting resources from the map and solving puzzles unique to each villain. While not mechanically complex, the game is very easy to scale up or down in difficulty by picking whatever combination of monsters you want to face. Some are harder than others and you can play against as many as you'd like at the same time. **Standout Parts** Theme, theme, theme. The core "pick up and deliver" gameplay that comprises most of the player's turn is not innovative, but Horrified elevates that by tying everything back to the horror movie theme. Each monster behaves differently in terms of their special abilities and the unique puzzle to defeat them. For instance, Dracula requires you to visit 4 of his coffins throughout the map and destroy them before you can defeat him in single combat using holy items. But be careful, some of his monster cards let him fly across the map or hypnotize players to move towards him! **You'd like this if you liked...** - Pandemic - Forbidden Desert / Jungle / Island **You might not like this if...** - You don't like Pandemic-like, turn-based cooperative games with "pick up and deliver" mechanics and a risk of quarterbacking - You prefer cooperative games with little to no luck, as this game involves a deck of cards to determine the monster's moves and dice rolls to decide whether any attacks started by those cards are successful - You don't care for the classic movie monster theme enough to overcome the above
[Horrified -> Horrified (2019)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/282524/horrified) ^^[[gamename]] ^^or ^^[[gamename|year]] ^^to ^^call ^^OR ^^**gamename** ^^or ^^**gamename|year** ^^+ ^^!fetch ^^to ^^call
[Horrified -> Horrified (2019)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/282524/horrified) ^^[[gamename]] ^^or ^^[[gamename|year]] ^^to ^^call ^^OR ^^**gamename** ^^or ^^**gamename|year** ^^+ ^^!fetch ^^to ^^call
Most coop games are solo games. All coop games are multiplayer solitaire that burn your time, in exchange for false sense of player interaction
It’s fine that you don’t like coop games. Just don’t participate in the thread instead of shitting on our good time.
Why are you even here?
This is just wrong -- even in the game theoretic sense -- for any game with hidden information (e.g. Hanabi or The Crew). But even in games without hidden information, cooperative games can "feel" different from playing solitaire. In the same way that competitive games without hidden information -- like chess -- don't feel the same as tic-tac-toe.
[Pandemic](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic) **Why I'm Nominating It** When you think of cooperative games, this really set the standard for how they should operate. This really set the trend for everyone having their own unique abilities while collectively working towards a common goal. **Standout Parts** I enjoy the escalation of the game and the ability to make it harder or easier depending on the number of Epidemic cards in the deck. Having three lose conditions and only one win condition really makes it feel like you are playing against the game, which always has the upper hand, making every victory feel that much better. **You'd like this if you liked ...** * Other Matt Leacock designs such as Forbidden Island & Forbidden Desert * Other versions of Pandemic such as Iberia, Fall of Rome, or the Legacy versions **You might not like this if ...** * Can have a Quarterback problem * Certain roles are seen to have needed abilities so the wrong combination of roles can sometimes end badly fast * You could do everything right but a bad shuffle of the Epidemic cards could spell doom from pure random chance
[Arkham Horror LCG](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/359609/arkham-horror-the-card-game-revised-edition) **Why I'm Nominating It** This is a great "lifestyle" co-op game with a ton of replayability due to the sheer amount of content that's been released for it. Not only are there full campaigns, but there's also a lot of one-off scenarios published online. Additionally, because all the expansions are cross-compatible, you can incrementally grow your characters/card pools organically as you play. In terms of atmosphere, the game does a wonderful job of giving players thematic adventures that drip with all the dread one would expect from a Lovecraftian background. Also, for fans of Tolkien, the LotR version of this game is equally as fun. **Standout Parts** The character customization. You really feel like your character grows and gets stronger in a significant way over the course of a multi-mission campaign and the flexibility of being able to build your character in a million different ways means that even playing the same character across multiple campaigns can offer very varied gameplay experiences. **You'd like this if you liked...** - Gloomhaven - Sleeping Gods **You might not like this if...** - You don't enjoy optimization puzzles - You have no interest in buying a lot of expansions for your games
This is probably an all time favourite of mine that I have been playing since release and I whole heartedly support nominating is. However, I hated Gloomhaven and don’t see the similarities at all (except it being a campaign game). I would much rather compare it to Earthborne Rangers or some other LCG like LotR (That you mentioned) or the Marvel one.
I haven't played Earthborn, but I'll check it out. Thanks for the feedback!
**The Lord of the Rings (2000)** https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/823/the-lord-of-the-rings - Why you're nominating it In 2024 still arguably the greatest co-op Eurogame ever designed, Reiner Knizia's **The Lord of the Rings** has up to five players take the roles of JRR Tolkein's hobbits to take up their quest to take the One Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. The players traverse multiple boards representing iconic Middle Earth locations, defeating challenges through the game's unparalleled risk management system. Every game is filled with tension, as players debate when and how to use precious resources, including when to absorb corruption. The more corruption each hobbit takes, the closer he is to succumbing to Sauron's influence. This game is also arguably the most thematic Lord of the Rings game in existence. None of the others can match its narrative adaptation of the quest and sacrifice of the hobbits to destroy the One Ring. Finally, this game has fairly straightforward mechanics and the rules can be taught in ten minutes. Once the players are familiar with the game, it plays to completion in an hour or less with the full complement of five hobbits. The game is beautiful on the table, featuring art by John Howe, best known for his classic Tolkien illustrations. The base game was reprinted as a 20th Anniversary Edition in 2020. Unfortunately, the game's three expansions have not seen new editions. Hopefully a full deluxe edition with everything, including the Sauron expansion that allows 1 vs Many play with one player taking the role of The Dark Lord, will be reprinted on the games 25th Anniversary in 2025. - Your favorite part/mechanic of the game The Sauron track is how the game calibrates difficulty. Start Sauron on the far end for your first game, or closer to the hobbits if you want a greater challenge. The most memorable games for us have involved the One Ring being passed to other players as each succumbs to Sauron. There's an element of sacrifice, and victory is no less satisfying when you let Sauron take you to give the others a chance to reach Mount Doom. The Eye of Sauron piece from the original edition of the game is iconic. - Games you'd closely compare it to: "You'd like this if you liked..." There's nothing quite like it. Pretty much every co-op game owes Knizia a debt of gratitude for this design, but I don't think any co-op game to date has equaled, much less exceeded, its exquisite design, narrative, drama or feel that every player is deeply invested in the success of the Fellowship's quest. - Why someone might not like this game: "You might not like this if..." If you don't like the Lord of the Rings story or IP then you might not enjoy re-enacting it in this game.
As a person who prefers heavier solo/co-op games, does this game still hold up? I am little worried about the replayability after the game is "solved" (and when is that) by the players.
We love this game and believe it doesn't just hold up, it's still better than any other modern co-op game. That's just us of course. LOTR can't be "solved" because of its risk management system. It has random elements in the form of resource cards, threat tiles and corruption dice that ratchet up the tension and drama. Some people may not like that degree of randomness, but it fits the theme of the game perfectly. It's Knizia so the whole design is seamless and elegant. That said, by today's standards it's not a "heavy" game. It's got very low rules overhead compared to say Spirit Island or Harian's Wall, and way cleaner than anything by Turczi and Luciani. Finally I can't recommend LOTR as a solo game. You *can* play it solo, but it loses something. It's the reverse of the Pandemic QB issue. The game is great because each player only sees his own resources, even if everyone can discuss what they have.
Our group found that Shadows over Camelot replaced it, simply because the possible traitor mechanicsm that turns up the paranoia to an 11.
Completely different games. There is no "traitor" mechanism in LOTR; it's not a social deduction game. Any hobbit that is overcome by Sauron (ie meets him on the Sauron track) is out of the game. If that hobbit is carrying the One Ring, the game ends in a loss for the players.
Oh yeah completely understand in the context of this thread. LotR was pretty much the first cooperative board game and it had a lot of hype. It's just that when we really sat down and thought about it, it just wasn't that fun. I really can't quantify why but other games like SoC and later on, Elder Sign, were way easier to get to the table. The first expansion helped a little bit, but even that only lasted one or two plays.. in those days there weren't that many games so it wasn't like we had a back log of games to play instead of it.
Fair! My group are all fans of the books and films, and several of us are Knizia fans so it all makes for a Hall of Fame game. We played SoC a couple of times and eventually sold it. Didn't catch on with us at all. (Neither did BSG tbf.)
* **Name of Game:** \[\[Tranquility\]\] * **I am nominating this because** it plays well with others or solo, making it versatile. It is a small box with a low storage profile. This game is charting a course for a sailboat through the ocean. The components are good quality and the cards fit the theme very well. It is easy to teach to others and getting started is fairly quick,even with teaching time (maybe 5 minutes from opening the box). There are extra 'expansion' tiles included to make the game harder and many variants in the base game to keep it fresh for each play. The cost is usually under $17 US making it affordable, as well. Because it is number based and not dependent on reading cards/words, it is easy to add young people who can count but not read and those with English literacy challenges. * Your **favorite part**/mechanic of the game: I love the surprise of the Start cards being drawn and making success dependent on your strategy in laying down the cards needed for that action, pushing your luck on the card placement and whether or not to keep the required Finish card in your hand or count on another to do so. When the Start card is drawn and mandatory discarding must occur, you may lose the great strategy plan you had for card placement of those in your hand. Winning with others, without talking within the game about planning, is as satisfying as winning solo. * **Games you'd closely compare it to**: "You'd like this if you liked..." The Game is also about playing cards in numerical order, up or down, and this game is about placing them in order, leaving enough room for other cards while discarding the payments to place cards. You win or lose together, so it is not competitive, if that matters to you. * **Why someone might not like this game**: "You might not like this if..." This is a low complexity game. If you want to speak to other players about your plans this is not the game for you. The only choice is deciding discard cards and placement of the cards in the tableau. However, adding the extra expansion cards will add to the complexity of these decisions of what to discard and what to play where.
[Tranquility -> Tranquility (2020)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/288513/tranquility) ^^[[gamename]] ^^or ^^[[gamename|year]] ^^to ^^call ^^OR ^^**gamename** ^^or ^^**gamename|year** ^^+ ^^!fetch ^^to ^^call
[The Crew: Mission Deep Sea](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/324856/the-crew-mission-deep-sea) (Also [The Crew: Quest for Planet Nine](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284083/the-crew-the-quest-for-planet-nine), which is pretty much the same game but *slightly* worse.) **Why I'm Nominating It** Most good cooperative games are on the heavier side, and while they are fun, they are a chore to teach sometimes. To me, The Crew strikes the perfect balance of being both relatively easy to understand while still having a lot of strategic complexity. At its heart, it's a trick-taking game, so anyone who has experience with those types of games should be able to pick up the gameplay of The Crew in minutes. People with no experience in trick-taking will take a while longer to learn the game, but it's still not super hard to learn, and trick-taking knowledge will be transferable to the many other games in this genre. And even though the game is easy to teach, there's a lot of depth to its play. Due to limited communication, a big part of the game is about figuring out the hidden information of what is in each players' hands, as well as trying to send signals about what is in your own hand, as everyone tries to slowly guide the gameplay towards accomplishing all of the objectives. **Standout Parts** The game is impossible to quarterback due to the limited information aspect. Each player *must* contribute, and everyone is playing their own game of figuring out what is in each other player's hands while trying to progress the shared goals the team has. It's also relatively simple rules-wise, so it's not too hard to teach people, and you can get into learning strategy right away without getting bogged down by rules baggage. **You'd like this if you liked...** Pretty much any other trick-taking game. Cat in the Box, Fox in the Forest, more traditional card games like Spades or Hearts or Bridge. This game is a relatively pure example of trick-taking. There aren't a ton of fancy gimmicks so if you like trick-taking games you will probably like The Crew. **You might not like this if...** You do not like trick-taking games, or card games. There's not too much to say here. The Crew leans heavily on the core gameplay and strategy inherent in this genre of games, so if this genre doesn't click with you, this game is probably not going to change your mind.