#WhatDidYouPlayMondays John Company

@boardgames @geekygoodies
All other semi-cooperative #boardgames I know focus on a clearcut distinction between (semi-)good players and traitors, given by secret personal role/objective card(s). This game is innovative in that *everybody* is driven by personal gain, and the only reason players don’t screw each other over all the time is that people still need the company to stay afloat.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/332686/john-company-second-edition
Photo by @bladerunner007 on BGG.

  • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    14 days ago

    Radlands with Cult of Chrome expansion - Spectacular mad max theme 1v1 card dueler. Every game of this always feels fresh owing to the three different starting camps you draft at the start of the game that give you unique abilities. The cult of chrome expansion adds a lot of new camps that explore different gameplay styles that really keep the game feeling fresh!

    Vale of Eternity w/expansion - Really fun drafting engine builder. There’s a lot of different viable ways to build so you’re always looking for unexpected synergies with each card. The expansion adds more cards and a set of artifacts that people draft at the start of each round giving the game another strategic layer. The game ramps up very quickly and can be over before you know it!

      • Timo@mstdn.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        13 days ago

        @mysticpickle But they are still quite well balanced, so even though when you can choose the numbers of you dice every time, it’s not too powerful.

        A bit similar thing than card powers in Innovation. There are some really strong ones, but when there are several of those, it makes them even and just fun.

        • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          13 days ago

          Oh yeah generally they’re all pretty good in their own right. I meant to say they’re so different and give you such a massive advantage in their field that they feel like they’re broken. Except the one where you start in Beijing at the start. That one always felt a bit weak compared to the others.

          • Timo@mstdn.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            13 days ago

            @mysticpickle Actually I used that in our latest game and I won 82-43. 😎 But that was more due to my luck in filling the orders, not much in moving in the map.

  • RamenDame@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    13 days ago

    Currently we run an Arcs Campaign. 2/3 games. Initially I thought I just have to concentrate on a C fate, because the first game I made barely any points. But game 2 I won. But I can’t count and therefore I will play a C fate after all.

    We are in game 10/13 of Charterstone. It is a very lightweight legacy worker placement and okish.

    My partner bought Deep regrets after having it played once and loved it. It is nice. Need to play it with higher player count.

  • ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    14 days ago

    Kraftwagen, car-themed with a great rondel action mechanic

    The Magnificent, circus-themed dice drafting

    Century: A New World, cube trading like the original but now somewhat heavier and with more strategic depth

    Terra Mystica: Age of Innovation, still the same core game, now with technologies and more ways to score points

  • ryedaft@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    14 days ago

    Is a traitor mechanic semi-coop? I thought that was just unknown teams. I thought semi-coop where games like Republic of Rome where the game makes everyone lose but if you actually win then there’s a first winner. Or Fog of Love where both players, one player, or no players might win.

    Anyway, I played Istanbul which is a classic for a reason.

    Silver Eye was also excellent and a very worthy addition to the series.

    • Stefano "Foxy🦊" Volpe@social.edu.nlOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      14 days ago

      @boardgames @ryedaft BGG’s top games in the “Semi-coops” and “Traitor”
      categories do have some titles in common (from the Nemesis and Battlestar
      Galactica series) whose only mechanic that could possibly be seen as
      semi-cooperation is indeed (a certain version) of the traitor mechanic.

      The page on semi-coops indeed claims that there are several ways to implement
      them, and that the Grand Winner format (e.g., Republic of Rome, John Company) is
      but one of them. (1/2)

      • Stefano "Foxy🦊" Volpe@social.edu.nlOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        14 days ago

        @ryedaft @boardgames BGG classifies Battlestar Galactica as semi-coop. Maybe they see switching invisible teams only later in the game as a sufficient condition. This is indeed enough to have the same player cooperate at times (and not just to disguise their true intentions) and compete at others. Although I am not sure this matches their own definition:
        “[…] cooperating and competing with each other throughout the game, while
        trying to complete a common objective.”