Get rewards and complete quests as you explore select favorite games of other BoardGaming.com members!
Learn how to Explore a game on BoardGaming.com! >
Learn more about Explorable Favorites >
This Week’s Explorable Games
This round of Explorable Favorites is from BoardGaming.com member Jay Atkinson. The games selected from his Favorites shelf were:
- Core Worlds
Stronghold Games | Published: 2011 - Catan: Seafarers
Mayfair Games | Published: 1997
These games will be explorable until next Monday, May 26th.
After you’ve explored these games, let us know what you think about them in the comments below!
@Account Deletion – you may not be missing anything:) Everyone’s different. You may ask yourself what is it you really like about Settlers, and what does Seafarers mess that up. You mentioned the pirate problem, and I can understand that. I haven’t seen that be an big issue with my games. Don’t feel left out just, because you don’t like it:)
On a side note: I hear the latest expansion, Explorers & Pirates, replaces Seafarers some people. However, I haven’t played it yet, so I can’t personally comment on it.
Noted – thanks Jay!
I am starting to question myself a little (if it’s universally loved, what am I missing?), and will probably add Seafarers in the next time we play Settlers to give it another shot.
@Account Deletion, if you think Seafarers over complicates Settlers, I don’t think you’ll want Cities & Knights. It completely changes the game and adds extra layers of complication on top of Settlers.
I’m clearly in the minority here, but I didn’t care for Seafarers. I love Settlers of Catan – there’s still not a month that goes by without playing it. I bought Seafarers and played through all of the scenarios, even using it in a handful of games after I’d played the scenarios. But I pretty quickly felt it was just needlessly complicating a perfect game. I agree that it improves the value of sheep, but I’ve found it also increases the importance of rolling a 7. If you can’t get the pirate away from you once an opponent uses it to halt your oceanic route, you’re in pretty big trouble.
With just the base game, the last-placed player always has 6+ points. I’ve had 2 games with Seafarers where the loser ends with 3 points as their original settlements were chosen with “seafaring” in mind, but the pirate was thrown at them and didn’t move for 5 or 6 turns. They were left with no choice but to “king-make”, which is no fun for anybody.
I probably won’t purchase another expansion for Settlers of Catan – I just don’t think it needs it. Maybe I should have bought Cities & Knights first.
@Jay Atkinson, I can definitely see the benefit to picking up the Seafarers expansion. However, I think I’d prefer the same expansion formatted for Star Trek Catan. I find that base game runs a bit faster than the traditional Settlers game does, but without sacrificing any core mechanics. It includes limited-time use character powers that can change hands between turns, effectively balancing that new component while adding an extra layer of strategy. I see Seafarers as a much-needed change to the base game that I’ll have to pick up sooner than later.
Core Worlds – A different and interesting game to play, good acquisition for any player.
Catan: Seafarers – If you are a fanatic of Catan buy it, if not, choose another board game.
Woot! I check my notifications today and saw a whopping 62 likes on reviews. Suprised to see it was my favorites in the list.
@Hai – thanks. Agreed, Galactic Orders really extends the game with more options. Event cards are swingy and start to put the hurt on everyone by end game.
@inmarg – I’d recommend 3 players for Core worlds. I can’t imagine playing 5 especially with Galactic Orders thrown into the mix.
@Sir Gamesalot – What I like about Seafarers is that it makes sheep more useful, and some scenarios adds exploration to the game which I like. It builds on the base rule set without over-complicating the game.
@JAY Congrats on being BGdot Shelf of the Week! *hug* *hug* LOL It was funny to actually ‘know’ somebody! 🙂 (I usually rate the Gamer of the Week’s review/tip collection but consider that done months ago and well maintained :))
As a DeckHead Coreworlds does a nice job of bringing the S.S. Deckbuilder TO SPACE! I enjoyed the turn tiered card supply, option to slightly draft an asymmetrical starting deck, and the DominionStone ‘Village’ card pool meets Ascension Conveyor refresh mechanics. Highly recommend Galactic Orders expansion for adding layers around The Core
It’s wonderful to see two more games that I don’t already own on here. These both look pretty good and will be added to my wishlist for sure. I’m burnt out on Settlers, but Seafarers might add just the right element to bring Settlers back to the table soon. Of course, I will also have to pony up for the separately sold 5-6 player expansion. Well played, Mayfair Games, well played. Core Worlds looks right up my alley as a space-themed DBG.
Core Worlds is for me the prime example of knowing when not to play a game. I’ve played it once, with 5 players starting at 11 at night..
It has taken me over a year to consider trying it again and now I’m finally willing to try it again.
Seafarers is a good classic! Have Core Worlds, but haven’t played.
Being the proverbial fifth dentist on Catan, I will investigate Seafarers, though not without reservations.
Nice. Actually, it has been a while since I have played Seafarers. Time to bring it out again.