Is it just me, or are board games getting absurdly cumbersome?

[BottledViolence]

If you play ASL i don't think you have a maximum complexity threshold .

I thought that too until I tried the Fighting Wings games! But I am looking for a copy of The Campaign in North Africa... along with 9 gamer friends.

Patchwork and Carcassonne are games that i regularly play with people who don't care for a lot of rules in their games.

Century: Golem Edition is another game that is in the ticket to ride range that works well with 2-4.

The Castles of Burgundy is a game i adore and have had luck teaching it to my lighter gamer crowd. No single rule is complicated, it just has a lot of little ones. Once you get someone through a game of it though they got it.

It also has a decent amount of set up so maybe just ignore that one.

I'll have to check those out.

[Ikoma]

That's totally true. As evidenced by the entire secondary market for 'game organizers' to help you easily store/prepare a game for play.

[BottledViolence]

That's totally true. As evidenced by the entire secondary market for 'game organizers' to help you easily store/prepare a game for play.

I didn't mind when it was chit trays for bed and counter games, you could buy them in bulk and they were universal. Even the tackle boxes for games like Tide of Iron we're OK. Now it seems like you need a 3D printer, a line of credit at the sporting goods store, and three extra boxes.

I will say, Gloomhaven JOTL has a decent in box organizer and a much better table presence that regular Gloomhaven. A few games in and I can't help but think this is a much better game and should be the one most people buy.

[tombombodil]

Well, I decided to give Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion a try. It seems to fix many of the problems I have with the original. I may also be able to set it up in my tool box at work and play when things are slow then just slide the drawer shut when I get a call.

The app for tracking monster decks and health/conditions, and the spiral notebook for the maps streamline the game by like 60%. It's actually nuts how much better it is with those additions.

Yeah, as soon as I saw it I was like "Why the hell did I waste my time on the original?"

I came from hex and counter wargaming, so I was used to well organized counter trays and quick reference sheets. Even Axis and Allies or Shogun had trays for each army divided up for each unit. Castle Ravenloft sat on my shelf after the first playthrough or two for years. Once I 3d printed organizers for it I played the hell out of it.

I really wish designers payed more attention to streamlining their games and having well organized packaging that sped up play.

The new Eclipse does an amazing job with this as well. All player components are stored in multi-compartment snap-cases that also function as your player board. You can set up the entire game in like 2 minutes. And it's a BIG game.