Planet Unknown

The Issue

So I got no major issues with this game, but I did highlight what I think will be coming down the line. Planet Unknown is a polyomino game where you are pulling your shapes from depots, very clearly built areas of the game. So it’s hard, but not impossible to add some pieces. You have corporations which have a set number of tracks, so it’s hard, but not impossible to add in an additional track.

But what I think I might want more of is corporations and planets. I highlight at the beginning that there are 36 different combinations, not counting the standard side. So that is a limited number of different permutations. I need to play more of them, but I think that’s where we’ll see the need for more game play.

The Expansion

More Planets and Corporations

The easiest thing and I think the thing that most people would want in the game is more planets and corporations. It’s a good expansion for a few different reasons. Add in another four of each planets and corporations you have 100 different combinations. That makes the game more diverse in the main options for the game.

Special Tiles

But that isn’t really enough for an expansion to just add in more of those. Most expansions are going to try and add in more. But it’s hard to add in more. Anything else you add seems to adjust the main components of the game. And doing so is more work. I think there is another that you can build on though.

And that would be to introduce special tiles. Right now all of the polyomino tiles have two different resources on them. Well, create a once a game, per player, tile that has 3 different resources on them. And make it so that they aren’t as easy to rotate. You flip the current tiles you get the same setup with a different orientation. Well, with special tiles, you flip them and you get something different and now it’s a more interesting choice.

Another Type of Events

And finally, I think it’s another way that’s easy to expand the game. But I think it’s less important to add this in for variety. You already are limited in how many you use and the combination of events you use, or even if you want to use them. But add in more events of various types, good or bad, or really bad, it makes the game more variable. And I think very bad would be interesting to balance.

Does It Fulfill The Desire with Planet Unknown?

Honestly, I think just more planets and corporations would do so. Planet Unknown is very good because of the simple design space. It is left intentionally small with only those two areas that make you really unique. My concern with adding to much of that is that it’d make it too big a game in terms of complexity.

Games sometimes need to try and stay in that sweet spot. Tom Vasel calls it quick snappy turns. I don’t know that Planet Unknown has the most quick and snappy turns. But it has that same idea, that one decision that matters a lot each turn. So I don’t want to see too much bloat added to a game like this. I want the game to still be easy enough to teach and get to the table.

Do you like this expansion idea? What would you want to add to the game?

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Paper Dungeons

The Issue

My “issue” with this game is that it talks about the campaign of the game. It says that it’s a campaign with the story that you play, but it doesn’t really feel like that. There is story on cards, but it doesn’t matter. You play whatever setup you want and go with it.

But the bigger element that doesn’t make it feel like a campaign is that you don’t get better. In a legacy game you’d mark stuff down that you have at the start of the game. You don’t get that. There is no level up element to Paper Dungeons. Besides that little bit of campaign story, nothing feels like a campaign.

The Expansion

So how do you “fix” that, the easiest way is just reprint the game and remove the campaign pretense from the box. But that isn’t fun, nor is it part of this exercise. So how do you create an expansion that gives you a campaign and leveling for a roll and write game?

The Monsters

Firstly, I think that you redo the monsters and how they are used in solo. And then provide an additional sheet. So the story doesn’t need to change much. The big thing is that extra sheet. What is that going to provide, that is going to provide a few things for you.

To redo the monsters you would be looking at adding in additional monsters. But rebalancing the other monsters, making some of them easier. The whole idea is around that you can level up your heroes. And to do that, you might need to level down some monsters specifically for the campaign. But give rewards to players who can defeat them, or you might just chase them away. So it isn’t like a monster is always easy to beat.

Extra Sheet

Then it would allow you to fill in some spots ahead of time. It wouldn’t be much, but it would let you feel like you got better. Your wizard doesn’t go back down to level 1 each time. You get to pick what you want to spend it on in hopes of being better. It might even be limited to where you can spend it. Partially craft an item or get more potions to start the game.

It also might be a situation where it replaces part of the sheet or adds in more. The levelling track, while still giving your bonuses is longer, or there is a new spot where you need to use dice to level up characters in a longer format making it harder to get there, and not harder to defeat the monsters, they were redone to better work in a campaign.

Rewards

I think that one time rewards is also a thing to consider. You defeat a monster and you get a potion of strength. You pick what scenario you want to use that on. There might even be dungeon bosses that you want to save it for to see if you can beat it. But it’d be another way to create that progression without changing the game as much.

And it is a way that you can randomize the game. So when I play there are a number of things that make me unique for that specific time. In fact, this might be the better solution than giving your permanent upgrades you start with. Or that you can make them go slowly. You get one time use rewards or you craft a sword, it’s harder now, but you get to keep it unless something happens to it.

Does it Fulfill My Desire for Paper Dungeons?

I think that it does. Paper Dungeons is a wonderful gaming experience. And like I said, you could just remove the campaign element from it. I would just want more an expansion then. But because it does same campaign, please give me a campaign. Give me character leveling, getting new things, whatever it might be.

Instead, right now, we get a little loose story and then the same gaming experience over and over again. What I don’t think needs to change is the map. They do a good job of reusing that. Sure, it is something to change, but it isn’t going to be what makes the game feel more like a campaign. If they wanted to, create different maps in different shapes and let’s go from there. But I’d prefer to level up.

I don’t expect that is what I’m going to get. I expect it will be more monsters and more of the same. Maybe a side board to add in more that you can do. And that will make me happy. It is just an opportunity for the new expansion to make that campaign claim true.

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This begs to ask, do all board games need expansions? And what makes a good expansion? Or even, what is an expansion? So let’s start there and work our way back.

What Is A Board Game Expansion?

An expansion basically a way to get additional content into a board game without printing a new game. There are second editions or ultimate editions of games that come out. These might have the expansion content in them. But normally publishers just put out expansions so that they can add in more content to their games.

What Makes A Good Board Game Expansion?

This question is harder to answer. Expansions can do a lot of different things. Expansions can just add more stuff into a game. I’ll try and give examples of all of them. There are ones that add new game play and ones that add more players as well.

More Players

The ones that are more players are simple. Lords of Hellas has a 5th Player expansion. Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea adds in a lot of players, three total in the two expansions. So you can play with a way higher player count than the base game. These are pretty straight forward in what they do. Catan was actually one of the first games to do that. They got a 5th and 6th player for basically every version of the game.

More Stuff

The next easiest one is the expansion that just adds in more stuff. This is something that doesn’t add any new rules or game play, it just gives you more of what you’ve already had. Dominion is the prime example of this. While the rules might change slightly, a lot of the times the cards can just be shuffled in with no problem. You don’t need to teach anything new, it’s just more variety in the content. Silver Amulet, Coin, Bullet, and Dagger add in new cards that behave differently, but you can learn them by looking at the card.

More Rules

The final one is the one that adds in more content. This basically always adds in rule changes as well. Lords of Hellas has this as well with the different player counts. It adds in a different statue with how things connect. But also games like Claim with the reinforcements and different suits and how they play. This is almost just the more stuff with Claim, but since the cards don’t teach it, I need to. Ascension and Dominion both do this as well. They will give you more stuff for the game but also some of that requires teaching new rules.

All of those can be good, but some of them aren’t always great. adding in a player can make the game go much longer. Or it can increase downtime in turns. Adding in more stuff for an engine building game can mean the engines can’t be built. Adding in more rules increases the complexity of the game and makes it harder to get to the table. So it depends on the expansion and the game if it works or not.

Do All Board Games Need Expansions?

You can probably guess my answer to this, but it is no. All board games do not need expansions. In fact, not all expansions improve the board game you are playing. I tossed out a few negatives that can occur. And they can take a good game to a poor game depending on what they do. Now, on the flip side, they can also improve games. They can add in needed content.

An example of improving would be Horizon Zero Dawn. Now I am just doing this one off of what I’ve heard. The base game box is fine, however, the amount of game play in that box is very limited. You need the Kickstarter expansions to get enough game play into it to make it a really big and more enjoyable experience.

Or Marvel United, it adds in more content and easy to get characters to the table. I can grab any character and play. I can grab any villain and play. Having the massive variety of characters means that the game has something for everyone. Marvel United X-Men even adds in more that you can do. Being able to play as a villain because of Marvel United X-Men takes it from being a cooperative game even.

So yes, they can be good. And I really do recommend expansions for games that you love. However, look into them, there are expansions that won’t help the game. And while I’d love to see a ton of expansions or have a ton in my collection, I can only really add them for the games that I really love.

What is your favorite board game expansion?

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So, what did I get?

Terraforming Mars & Prelude Expansion

Terraforming Mars is the #4 right now on the Board Game Geek games list. That is super high, and the concept of Terraforming Mars has always interested me. So why for such a popular game am I getting to it now? Well, it looks bad. There’s no other way to put it, the tiles look pretty boring, there are a lot of cubes, nothing, when I look at the game says play me. It says, I am a dry and boring game. Now, from the game play, I think it’ll be a very interesting engine building game.

And it is an engine building game. I tend to like engine building games. The reason that I did get an expansion, Prelude, for it, though is that the engine building is apparently a little slow in Terraforming Mars. Prelude creates a variant way to play that jump starts that. Now there are a whole lot more expansions that I might get after I’ve played, but only that one for right now. And there is an amazing tile set that was Kickstartered a while ago that I can track down, maybe, later to make the game look better.

Res Arcana: Lux Et Tenebrae

So this is an expansion for Res Arcana. I needed a small thing to get me to the free shipping. And this actually seems like a really good expansion. It adds in a few things, allows you to play with five players, and helps with scaling of the game. Not sure that scaling is much of an issue, but it’s nice to have that option to play with more. Mainly this seems to add in more of what was already there for Res Arcana. Another engine building game and one that I really need to play because it seems unique.

The Bloody Inn

This game is one I’ve wanted to play for a long time. With how Zee Garcia from The Dice Tower and the Brothers Murph, from the Brothers Murph, describe it sounds like a lot of fun. You all run your own Bloody Inn where you know it is easier to just kill the people and steal their money than make an honest living. In the game you hide bodies and bribe police to look the other way. It sounds morbid but also kind of silly.

The theme will help sell The Bloody Inn to some people, and I know it did to me. I don’t mind dark humor, especially since this is such an absurd concept. I could be running an inn and just making money like normal, but no, it is easier to kill the people, steal their money, and hide them away in your in. That makes no sense, but sounds like a lot of fun.

Which Sounds Most Interesting?

While I think that The Bloody Inn might be the one that gets played the most for me. I really want to try and play Terraforming Mars. I know it is a bigger game, but the concept of competing to terraform Mars seems really cool. It is also a game that must be solidly put together, so I want to dig into the mechanics. Sure, it might not be for me with all it’s cubes and drab looks in the end, but I really do want to give it a try and see how it is.

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Pros

• Established company
• Engine Building
• Expansion and base game
• Good price
• Quality components

Cons

• No base game only level

The Page

I like the page, you can tell that they are an established company and they know what they are doing. Because it is a previous game as well, they can really highlight the game with images of something that’s not a prototype and have quotes from reviews without it feeling like it’s a preview instead of a review.

Now, when looking at the pledge levels, so me there is one glaring missing level. That’s one just for the base game. Clearly they don’t need it to make this game happen as they are fully funded, but for myself who would want to budget more in terms of games that I get, I don’t know I need the expansion as the base game seems interesting enough to me.

The Game

This game seems really interesting, I like how it feels almost like a cross between Splendor and Century. It is that small little engine building game that generally works really well with my group.

I think the game play is very simple, but clever in how you can work on building up an engine. The start of the game goes “slow” but as you get further and further in the more you can do and the faster you can complete the cards, which is what you want in a good engine building game.

Back or Brick

Now, generally what I’ve said has been glowing about this game, and if I weren’t on a bit of a board game budget right now, I’d probably lean towards this being a back, but for me, this is a brick, because I really want there to be a base game only level pledge. It really feels like they are probably missing out on a solid chunk of change because of it. And the base game with expansion is $60, the expansion by itself is $18, so that puts the base game at $40-45 range, which when you get under $50, it makes it more tempting as well. So this is a brick for me, though, I know I’m probably in the minority on that. If/when this comes to retail, and right now places like CoolStuffInc and Miniature Market are sold out, I’ll likely just pick up the base game.

How about for you, is this a back or a brick?

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Silver Coin

Now, this is one that I’ve already talked about because I have it pre-ordered through CoolStuffInc. So I talked about it on a Point of Order. What interests me in this is that it’s a fun little game expansion but a standalone expansion for a game that I already like. It’s going to take Silver Amulet and combed with Silver Bullet give me a ton of replay value for the game. And unlike a lot of expansions that make the game more complex, this might make it slightly more complex, but the rules and details you need to know are basically just written on the cards. Super fun light game.

Marvel Love Letter

Now, we’ve had a lot of versions of love letter come out over the years, and nothing seems more loving than a team of avengers fighting against Thanos. Not really that loving, but it looks like a fun variation on it. There was a playthrough as part of the Dice Tower Summer Spectacular and it seemed to keep some of the core mechanics while adding to the game. Definitely a cheap little one I’m keeping my eye.

Sagrada: The Great Facades – Life

Now, I’m a big Sagrada fan, and I have the first of the Facades expansions that adds in some new scoring and new cards and clear dice. Now, I don’t really know that all the expansions are needed for this game, but I’ve started going down that path, and as a small expansion, I like that it gives you some small tweaks but mainly just more of what you already have. I’m curious to see what this one will add and to add it to my collection.

Hard City

Now, compared to the others which I had heard about other ways, Hard City is one that just sounded pretty fun to me. You are part of a team taking down an evil villain who has unleashed evil mutants upon the world. Variable player powers, action selection, these are all things that I dig. And while the game has some minis, they look small and it looks like the focus isn’t on the minis but on the game play itself, which is great. I also like that it does something that Tiny Epic Tactics does, which uses some of the box to make raised areas, but it looks nicer than that.

Fruit Picking

This is just a silly looking little game, I like fruit or food as a theme in games. And this is a set collection game, which I enjoy as well. But what really made me curious about this, and it’d be one that if they were at GenCon I’d be checking out to see how it works, because it has a mancala mechanism. This is something in the game Mancala but also something like Five Tribes where you are picking up a group from a location, then putting them down one by one in other baskets of things and with the last one you put down, you get all of that color. I like it as a set collection idea and this game seems like it has some fun stuff going on with it.

Black Rose War

Now, this is a game that originally caught my attention on Kickstarter and then was played through by the Dice Tower crew. I think that it looks fun as you duke it out for control of the “lodge” by casting spells and deck building. I’m a sucker for deck building games that have a good theme or that do a little more (though I do like Ascension a lot), and this one seems to meet that criteria. Price is a little bit high for a deck building game, but it does appear to have nice components and definitely more than just deck building.

Sonora

Another type of game that I like is roll and write games (or flip and write games). Sonora is a ??? and write game and the ??? are flick and write, which seems really fun to me. In this game, you are flicking around 5 disks in a number of rounds, I believe six, that then, depending on where they are sitting at the end of a round will allow you to fill in things on your board. This one I’ve known about for a while, but after watching the Dice Tower playthrough of this, it seems like my type of game. The flicking is fun and not that strategic, but the filling in, the scoring looks fun and it looks like you can create a lot of combos, so more depth than you’d think for a game that part of it if flicking.

Detective Signature: Dig Deeper

So many reasons that I’m interested in this game. The first being that I love deduction style games, and this is built upon a system that I’ve really enjoyed, Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. Add in that this is from a designer that I really like. Normally designers aren’t extremely important to me, but this small box version of Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game and the story in it were done by Rob Daviou who has worked on things like Pandemic a game that I really love, so I’m curious to see what he can do in this system and what story he can tell.

Succulent

This one is on the list because it just looks pretty. I knew that this was coming out around GenCon because it was going to be at some of the GenCon popup events or maybe it was at an event that replaced International Table Top Day, I forget which. It’s already out, but in it you are collecting tiles that are succulent cuttings and putting them in such a way that you get points and other benefits. Overall, seems like a fairly abstract game, but I think it could be a lot of fun, and I really like the way that it looks.

Ascension: Curse of the Gold Isles

Really fast on this one, I like deck building, and I like Ascension, and I like what Ascension does for being a fast game but also adding in a bunch of fun things that you can do and building upon itself with it’s expansions. Do I need more Ascension, probably not, will I end up getting more than the base game and two expansions I already have, probably sometime.

Deranged

Still waiting on this one to come out, but I’m extremely excited for this game. I love the feeling of the game, I love the horror element, but also a bit of a goofy element to the game. It does a good job of giving you some tension throughout the game, and while you can kind of work together, it is every man for themselves. Got to demo this at last GenCon and I am still really really excited for this game.

So that’s 11 game that I probably would have been checking out again or for the first time at GenCon. Theya re definitely still on my list to try and demo and I hope that I’ll get a chance to play some of them, and that some of them, such as Deranged and Silver Coin come in soon. Looking at the list, are there any that look interesting to you and that you’d like to try?

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