Regardless of which style the game takes, I feel that they all have a similar feel in the play experience. Some people win, some people lose, but someone is going to win. I enjoy team games because it gives me a chance to work together with people while maintaining the competitive spirit.
But enough of my ramblings, let's talk games.
Battlestar Galactica
I did a full review of BSG very early on, so my thoughts on the game are best represented there. To summarize, BSG is a game of paranoia and deception. In a 5 player game, 2 players are cylons, and 3 are humans. Players get loyalty cards at two points during the game, the start and the middle. This means a loyal human could become a sleeper agent and switch sides mid game. The game does take awhile to play, around 3 hours, but it's a very immersive theme.
Shadows Over Camelot
I'm planning on getting a full review of this out later this week, so I'll keep my remarks short. Each player takes the role of a knight of the round table. At the start, each player is given a loyalty card. There is 1 traitor card, the rest are loyal, so it is possible to play a game with no traitor, though unlikely in a large group. Shadows offers players a bevy of quests to attempt, but there are too many for the knights to triumph in all endeavors. Ergo, something must be sacrificed while focus is placed on key quests. It takes a good balance, and a lot of trust to pull off victory. A traitor must bide their time and act at a crucial moment.
Last Night on Earth
I've only played this once, but I had fun with it. Players take on the role of either a hero or zombies. The heroes have an objective, survive n turns, reach point x, etc. The zombies are trying to kill the heroes or prevent them from achieving their objective. There are a lot of cool items and ways to do different things in the game. It's one I'd like to explore more if/when I get the chance.
Catacombs
I just reviewed this, so please read the review for more info. Catacombs is a 1 v rest game where the 1 is trying to stop the rest before the end of the game. The heroes are trying to make it to the final room and kill the boss. It's a dungeon-crawl game, but the game is all about flicking disks, and that makes for a lot of laughs.
Scotland Yard
This is one of the oldest 1 v rest games. One player takes on the role of Mr. X trying to escape detection from the other players. He has to leave clues along the way, but how useful they are depends on the skills of the investigators. Scotland Yard hasn't aged brilliantly, but it is still a solid game and worth looking at, especially if you can find it at a yard sale.
The Resistnace
A streamlined version of BSG. Players each have a secret role, and it's up to them act in their best interest. There are several rounds of players going on missions and trying not to get caught. Double agents will try to mess things up. It plays in around 30-45 minutes, so worth a look.
Price Wars
The bang for your buck choice is The Resistance, no question about that. Not having played it, it's hard for me to recommend. Personally, I'd take BSG, but that's because I have the right people to play it with. Shadows is the easiest game to get people to play, due to the theme. Arthurian Legend is familiar to most people in some form. It may be the most expensive game, but there's also a lot of game for your money in the box.
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