Thieve's Guild(New Board Game)

[Nenjin]

Just bought this, and had a funeral to attend, so I couldn't play. It is in the same vein as talisman, except you play two opposing forces, guards and thieves, and winning involves tangling with players to steal their stuff, robbing shops, or putting the thieves in jail.
It's an exceedingly simple game, with lots and lots of options for what you can do with your turn, from hiring assasins to kill other players, to selling your booty on the black market.

Anyways, haven't played it yet, but it looks like a scream, especially with 6+ players(each of the 3 thieves guilds gets 4 characters to run simultaenously, and the "guards" get 6 characters). Just wondering if anyone had picked this up, and knew how any ways to exploit the game, as I play with a group of people who make it their goal to manipulate new game systems.

[EZ_Lady Kaylan]

Who makes it? It sounds interesting and I'd like to order some for my stores, but so far I have found zero info on it ...

[Nenjin]

www.ironsun.com/home.asp

[EZ_Lady Kaylan]

Looks and sounds cool. Let me know how it goes once you play. I'll base how many I order off you opinion, lol

[Nenjin]

Cursed finals week has put a crimp in my play time, HOWEVER, I'm going to try to get 4 friends together to give it a whirl here tonight. The more I read the booklet, the more I begin to think that this is the kind of game that you lose friends over And it may be one of the first games I've run into that increases exponentially in fun with the more players you have (you can fit up to 18 people!!!), and gets lamer with the smaller amount of players you have. The game is really fast paced, and I think could easily be over in less than 4 turns if someone gets lucky. Anyways, I'll let you know.

edit If you have a game shop with people just sittin around looking for something to do, this could be a win! It's the kind of thing you bust out and get everyone involved, sort of like Settlers. It's like every chatroom cliche crawled into Safehouse to die. -Caowyth
"I feel like I'm talking to a fortune cookie."-Glip the Gnome
I feel the dream in me expire, and theres no one left to blame it onEdited by: Nenjin Darkeyes at: 4/28/03 9:15:06 am

[Nenjin]

Well, played a 2 player trial of it last night. As a 2 player game, it's pretty superficial. The Bounty Hunters, despite their better stats and constant money supply, are at a disadvantage. The other player finished the game by sending all his thieves at me, and about 5 turns ensued of nothing but combat at which point I gave up, because he'd killed 2 out of my 3 hunters, and I'd only killed 1 out of his 4 thieves.

This isn't to say it's not fun, it is. But in a 2 player game, it becomes a head on confrontation. Either you as the thieves kill the bounty hunters ASAP, or you lose, pretty much. As the bounty hunters, you have to stick as close together as possible, or you will be mauled by the thieves.

In a larger game however, I'm sure this game gets exponentially more entertaining, as each player with thier own character has their own agenda, and there are more people to pay attention to than just the guy across from you. Were the thieves to band together, they could eliminate the bounty hunters...but then they would have to fight amongst themselves to determine the victor.....

As far as mechanics go, I think the game is really well balanced. Despite how many lives you have, how good your combat score is, or what kind magic item you are carrying, the dice is the great equalizer. The game is balanced so no one ever gets an overiding advantage, there is no sure win. Tactics actually make a difference.

On a scale of 1 to 10, without having played with more than 1 other person, I give Thieve's Guild 6.


But it sure ain't no Talisman.