For me, Terraforming Mars. I love the theme. The complexity is just the right amount without being overwhelming. And engine building is fun. There are also tons of different paths to take.

  • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    The only real negative points that Spirit Island gets from me is that it can be a bit anticlimactic

    I’ve heard this before, but it’s never happened for me above the base difficult for a couple reasons.

    First, as you say there’s usually more events than you can prepare for, and having them cascade a few turns in a row can help the invaders catch up. Further, at your own highest difficulties you often do not know you’re going to win more than 1 turn in advance. Very often there’s “I got this unless Wetlands comes up, then I just might be screwed”. Yes, the flip-side of “I win unless ____ comes up. If that happens, I immediately lose”, but I don’t think there’s a way to reconcile perfect predictability with unpredictability without some negatives showing up.

    That, and nothing is quite so badass as being able to drop a surprise major and expedite that “easy win” by a turn or two. I love when I get just that right major and clear a dozen invaders at once. Like I had this recent solo ocean game where as I was falling behind I managed to drop Draw Towards a Consuming Void and double-playing it let me drown 8 invaders (and kill others) to full-clear the board and land myself a dozen (useless) energy as well as finishing the fear deck at the same time as the board. That was glorious!

    I mean, I get that some games at low difficulties with minors-only spirits can turn into a dull steamroll, but I just don’t feel that like others do.

    … however, all your complaints are not present in Kingdom Death: Monster :)

    • TheSambassador@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      That’s totally fair. I’ve only really played up to about level 4 or 5 of some adversaries. The “we’re gonna win for sure in a few turns” happens less on higher difficulty, but it did still happen. The events deck helps by being another unpredictable element that can hurt your plans.

      • abraxas@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        For sure. Though I’ll be honest, I actually prefer lower difficulty games because I like a casual stomp :) I’ve only beaten one level 6 adversary, but half the reason is that I prefer level 3 or less adversaries even when I play the spirit I’ve beaten level 6 adversaries with. Hell, I’ll even play base difficulty a lot when I just want to knock around with other spirits.

        Half of the “perfection” for me is that Spirit Island gives you the game you want to play when you want to play it, as long as it’s a cooperative game with spirits murdering civilized invaders :).