XCOM: The Board Game

I just got this game over this past weekend. I sat down and gave it a run through by myself. It's a cooperative board game for 1-4 people, trying to protect Earth from invasion by aliens. It has a companion app that runs you through timed turns and plays really cool mood music while the game is going on. I was hesitant about the app, but since I love the XCOM franchise, I figured I'd give the game a shot. I think the app is really cool. The game, the one time I played it, was pretty awesome, too.

Its a game I really wanna play, but unfortunately haven't gotten to. That and Specter Ops.

I haven't heard of that one. Just checked it out on BGG and it looks pretty fun.

X-COM is even more fun with more people. I think it is the first co-op in a long time to at least give Space Alert (my favourite coop) a run for its money. I think space alert still wins out as better overall, but X-COM is damned fun and deserves a spot on my shelf (and I think it does the theme and anxiety of world-defense really nicely-- the asymmetry of roles gives a lot for replaying it too trying out different stations).

Yeah. The different invasion plans are really cool and watching the UFOs build up on countries is pretty terrible/awesome.

More people equals more panic/tension and 'Gah moments'.

Agreed Remnant. I think the game is at it's absolute best with one person per role (it is one thing I wished board games would report on their side -- "Plays 2-5; Designed for 5" so that I knew what niche in my collection it fits into).

On sidenote Candi it's better than playing Dread... Unless you're amazing at Jeng- I mean removing wooden blocks and putting them on top of a stack of wooden blocks set up to fall if not properly balanced.

>_>

I dunno, I *really* like Dread. I'm running a Dread game on Monday actually! I'd say they are very different games.

I do admit, Dread requires a certain finesse to run well (and much of that finesse comes from running it poorly and reflecting on why it went so badly :P). I don't have to prep to play XCOM, but XCOM also isn't a horror game... I do have to prep for Dread, but Dread does a much better job of individual characters and telling a story... I'd say XCOM and Dread are simply different games, with different purposes.

I agree that they're really different games especially in theme but you rarely have people covering their face with their hands in boardgames and peaking through their fingers when things go bad like a timer running down and who also roleplays needing a Rolaid for ulcers when playing a boardgame (they might have actually needed one themselves from the stress)?

Also it's fun to see animated talkers have to sit still and everyone whispering as not to upset the tower. No doing anything at the table for dread seems to be a thing. Not even sitting, plus looking at the tower from the ground makes it look more daunting when it falls.

My last game of Dread was at Gen Con last year from midnight to 4am in the dark with flashlights.

But back on topic Shark_Bone I'd try it again with more people.

To avoid further derailing the thread, I created a space for Dread discussion:

http://gamersplane.com/forums/thread/746/?p=14210#p14210

Dread is great.

And, there was a certain amount of horror in XCOM. When I realized that the UFOs were going to sit there, screwing me until I lost, that was pretty horrific. XD

It's like in XCom: Terror From the Deep when you think you have the alien right where you want them and on their turn one of your guys shoots several of his teammates and suicides with a grenade and you have no idea where the enemy who did it was...

Aliens always get to cheat I think. T_T

Lol. Yep. That's why I learned how to edit the data files.