There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Cooperative gameplay, head to head, free4all, take your pick. Fantasy, sci-fi, movie/book-based. When you know what want, just start looking. If you buy a game and it wasnt what you imagined, there's alot of forums for trading/buy/sell.
Most of the games i bought, that got 10/10 in reviews, wasnt at all what i wanted. 'Nations' is a good example. It's very complex and the developers really put their heart and soul into making that game. The learning curve is insane. When you get into it, its a really good game, but it was lacking the cooperative gameplay experience i was looking for. Its more head to head, first guy the finish line, monopoly kind of gameplay (even though it looks like Civilization at first glance). Dont get fooled by the fancy covers and descriptions.
Of course, board games and roleplaying games like D&D is what you make it. If you have a bad dungeon master in D&D, your experience will most likely be very bad.
'Betrayal at House on The Hill' is exactly my kind of game. Cooperative gameplay halfway through, other half will be survivors against one player who serves as the bad guy. Endless replayability, almost. A book with scenarios to go by, and just like any other roleplaying game, pressing skip on the intro/story-scenes will result in a bad experience. Again, it depends on what you're looking for.
Lastly, this is my list of favorites.
1. Forbidden Island - Very easy, anyone can get it up n runnin under 5 minutes. Cooperative gameplay with a flare of mystic. Lots of replayability and expansions.
2. Betrayal at The House on The Hill - For more serious gaming, larger learning curve than #1, but lots of fun.
3. Stockholm Maffia - Swedish board game, not sure if there's a english substitute. Recruit gang-members, do heists (think Payday), when the stop card emerge's, the gang leader with the most money wins. Very easy & lots of funs. My fiancée's favourite and the first game she bought.
4. Settlers of Catan - Should be in every gamers shelf.
5. Pandemic - I read a book once, 'Hot Zone' written by Richard Preston. It's a true story written in a story telling kind of way about the Ebola-virus. My favourite book of all time. The gameplay and general feeling of Pandemic is very close to that book and i just love it. Easy to get into and lots of replayability with the expansion's.
Hope this helps and sorry for the grammar in advance, english is not my native language :)
/P