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    Cards-in-a-box games

    Looking for an elegant way of describing games like these:

    Jaipur:


    Lost Cities:


    Maponimoes:


    which are card games but not a deck of 52 hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades (though we should discuss those someday too).

    #2
    I'll kick off with these three above, then.

    We've had several Maponimoes versions for a long time, and it's a good game though we've not played it in a while. This is one which probably works better with more than two players.

    The other two are games for couples. We got Jaipur in Xmas '16 and it's a cracker - kept away from the children. A really nicely balanced game, and two of the three rounds we played over New Year a few evenings ago were decided by the camel bonus.

    Lost Cities came this Xmas and it hasn't gripped either of us. And I think I know why. With both of the above, the context works. In Maponimoes you are effectively laying out a travel map. In Jaipur you are trading commodities in markets of decreasing prices before they are flooded.

    In Lost Cities you are supposed to be leading an expedition into up to five different environments. Except you aren't. You're just building chains of ascending numbers in suits. If you took a standard 52 deck and said that JKQA are the multipliers, you could play 'Lost Cities' (albeit with four rather than five environments).

    Context matters in these games, otherwise you can just reach for your Waddingtons Number 1s. (NTTAWWT.)

    And on that note, has anyone played Sushi Go?
    Last edited by Kevin S; 03-01-2018, 16:28.

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      #3
      Love Letter. Only 16 cards in the set, but our favourite game this Christmas.

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        #4
        Does Modern Art qualify in this category?

        I have Genji, which is a very simple matchmaking game where you "compose" poetry to impress princesses.

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          #5
          Originally posted by Levin View Post
          Does Modern Art qualify in this category?
          I'm going with 'yes'. I was thinking of games where the gameplay largely involves cards being collected, played, drawn, discarded, traded, placed etc rather than it being about the location of things on a board. From Donkey to Android: Netrunner, if you like...

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            #6
            Fluxx. (I started a thread about it)

            Sleeping Queens is all kinds of ace. We've added sound effects.

            Zeus on the Loose is a great game with quite quick rounds. Good for 3-4 players.

            Rat a Tat Cat has a different set up to most cards in a box games and has a very clever mechanism involving taking risks by calling the game to a close early.

            Dobble is a much harder version of Snap and there are different versions. The Disney themed ones are good with kids.

            I've not played Sushi Go. I tried Loot but didn't get on with it.

            I've got the deluxe Munchkin that comes with a sort of board. I think it would still count in this thread though.

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              #7
              Sushi Go is pretty good, especially as a quick and uncomplicated introduction to card-drafting mechanics. Try this out in your group if you're not sure whether to shell out on 7 Wonders.

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                #8
                There are quite a few sub-genres of these (I'd argue genres, but there you go). CCGs and other deck builders being the most concrete one - eg Magic, Dominion, Ascension, Net Runner. Just picked up Clank! which is sort of a deck builder, but it has a board too.

                Then there are games which play quite like deck builders, but for reasons I'm not entirely sure of, don't get considered as such - eg Race For The Galaxy.

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                  #9
                  My girls all love Sleeping Queens, Dobble and Sushi Go.

                  Two of the three likes Mapominoes. My wife prefers Europe, but I prefer Africa and Asia, with USA also being good. The Americas is fun with all the islands in the Caribbean. We've only played UK once - too big.

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                    #10
                    Yeah, the counties one doesn't work for us either. The artwork is disappointing too; the cards should have the county flags/crests on them.

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                      #11
                      We have Dobble (which everyone likes) and Exploding Kittens (which the kids like but I'm less convinced by)

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                        #12
                        We've played Exploding Kittens on S4C

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                          Just picked up Clank! which is sort of a deck builder, but it has a board too.
                          Played a solo game of this the other day, to try it out. Seems like it would be a great gateway game, a la Ticket to Ride/Catan. Very simple and fast playing once you know what you're doing, and it has some pretty cool risk/reward mechanics. Not sure about longevity though.

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