12-08-2005 01:03									#1
	Coffee break games Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

I barely play games anymore. I don't have the time, nor the inclination. But once in a while I'm in the mood for a coffee break game. Here are some games that I enjoy playing.

There's Hoplites, a nice little card game based on the board game SPQR. But I'm not good at it I guess I'll get the hang of it eventually... And there are Samurai and Conan extensions. Its free and you can download it here:

http://digilander.libero.it/zak965/hoplites.htm



Btw, it looks even better with the enhanced cards.

Another game I discovered recently is the computer adaptation of Reiner Knizia's Samurai. Reiner Knizia, of course, is a well-known board game designer. He also designed the board game Tigris and Euphrates. I played Samurai once or twice and its a very elegant game. Games are short and fun! Exactly what I need!

http://www.klear.com/samurai/index.php



The computer adaptation of Magic: the gathering also looks fun, but I haven't tried it yet. Anybody tried it?

Any other suggestions?

	12-08-2005 01:12									#2
	Suffering from ads?

Whee thanks for letting us know about this. I will take a look soon if I can get away from GW

	12-08-2005 01:20									#3
	Re: Coffee break games Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

GTA

	12-08-2005 07:13									#4
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quote: Originally posted by Barinthus Whee thanks for letting us know about this. I will take a look soon if I can get away from GW

This thread is about games that don't take over your life. A friend of mine wasted a ridiculous amount of his precious time playing World of Warcraft, time he'll never get back...

	12-08-2005 07:15									#5
	Re: Re: Coffee break games Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker GTA

I bought the GTA double pack for the Xbox. I finished GTA 3, but haven't started Vice City yet. And, no, GTA doesn't count as a coffee break either.

	12-08-2005 07:42									#6
	Re: Coffee break games Increase Your PM Length

quote: Originally posted by nostromo The computer adaptation of Magic: the gathering also looks fun, but I haven't tried it yet. Anybody tried it?

The one I have seen is published by MicroProse. Which means it's ages old. The game is okay, not impressive. The good thing is you get to use all those nasty out-of-print restricted cards (Black Lotus, Moxes, etc.).

Are there newer versions out? All I have seen are assistants, not real games.

quote: Originally posted by nostromo Any other suggestions?

Risk?

	12-08-2005 07:53									#7
	Re: Re: Coffee break games Tired of ads?

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger The one I have seen is published by MicroProse. Which means it's ages old. The game is okay, not impressive. The good thing is you get to use all those nasty out-of-print restricted cards (Black Lotus, Moxes, etc.). Are there newer versions out? All I have seen are assistants, not real games.

The MicroProse one was decent, sort of fun anyway.

Now there's the real thing online - published by WOTC, online mostly, and very $$$ heavy. You actually buy packs online (for a similar price)... but a decent game all told.

	12-08-2005 07:54									#8
	Re: Re: Coffee break games Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger Are there newer versions out? All I have seen are assistants, not real games.

Yep, this one:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/magiconline

quote: Risk?

Never played that one. And I believe the games can be quite long, so thanks but no thanks... If I'm in the mood for that sort of game, I'll play my good ol' EU 2

	12-08-2005 07:58									#9
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quote: Now there's the real thing online - published by WOTC, online mostly, and very $$$ heavy. You actually buy packs online (for a similar price)... but a decent game all told.

I never played the card game, but it looks really innovative. Its that expensive, eh? The basic game isn't that expensive, irc. But do you really need to buy all those extra cards?

	12-08-2005 08:19									#10
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It's as expensive as the basic game. Not expensive or expensive is a judgement call. You have to spend a few hundred dollars to have a decent deck at all, and several hundred to play regularly, plus keeping up with new cards.

	12-08-2005 09:25									#11
	Re: Re: Re: Coffee break games Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by nostromo Never played that one. And I believe the games can be quite long, so thanks but no thanks... If I'm in the mood for that sort of game, I'll play my good ol' EU 2

I guess it depends on how long your coffee breaks are

You can always try gomoku which are usually quite short.

The Hoplite game seems to be too complicated to be a coffee break game anyway - unless your breaks are long

	12-08-2005 09:27									#12
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quote: Originally posted by nostromo I never played the card game, but it looks really innovative. Its that expensive, eh? The basic game isn't that expensive, irc. But do you really need to buy all those extra cards?

It depends. If all you play are seal deck tournaments, your expenses will be low. However if you try to keep up with all the versions and expansions and such, the game is a blackhole of $$$.

It was innovative once, but the game is now just silly, being a money mill for WotC.

	12-08-2005 09:39									#13
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quote: The Hoplite game seems to be too complicated to be a coffee break game anyway - unless your breaks are long

At least, the games are short, on average less than 5 minutes.

	12-08-2005 12:32									#14
	Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by nostromo I bought the GTA double pack for the Xbox. I finished GTA 3, but haven't started Vice City yet. And, no, GTA doesn't count as a coffee break either.

Did you miss all the news about the coffee mod?

	12-08-2005 19:47									#15
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quote: Originally posted by Adagio Did you miss all the news about the coffee mod?

I heard about the hot coffee mod, and I knew sex was involved, but I didn't knew why they called it "hot coffee", so I didn't get Kuci's joke. I just googled it, and now I know.

	13-08-2005 15:06									#16
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quote: Originally posted by nostromo This thread is about games that don't take over your life. A friend of mine wasted a ridiculous amount of his precious time playing World of Warcraft, time he'll never get back...

That's not a waste.

	13-08-2005 16:06									#17
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quote: Originally posted by nostromo At least, the games are short, on average less than 5 minutes.

The game's got 34 page of rules. I don't think you are playing it properly if they last less than 5 minutes

	13-08-2005 19:53									#18
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger The game's got 34 page of rules. I don't think you are playing it properly if they last less than 5 minutes

I win a game once in a while, I must be playing it properly

	13-08-2005 22:56									#19
	Remove this text

Anybody remember the various tetris-like game crazes that went around offices a few years ago?

Totally reduced productivity by having a small-download game that is horribly addictive and quick to play (thus you can think it's okay as it's not that long... but you play too many games)

	14-08-2005 06:08									#21
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Jawbreaker on my Ipaq is still fun in a Tetris kind of way.

On the PC, Risk by Deep red games is fun - it can't really be played in a coffee break but it is easy to pick up from where you left off.

	14-08-2005 15:56									#22
	Put an end to popups!

Risk II by Microprose (I think?) is possible to play in a (long ) coffee break... Either missions or 60% world domination with the minimum amount of players...

Some of those games are over in 10-15 minutes...

Carolus

	14-08-2005 20:21									#23
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Chess. Blitz chess

	15-08-2005 08:00									#24
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quote: Originally posted by nostromo I win a game once in a while, I must be playing it properly

Well, I won my real game (that's the third game I played, the first two games were for getting familar with the game, because I got tired RTFM) over the weekend, but it definitely took more than 5 minutes. In fact a whole lot more.

I don't see how you can finish the game in 5 minutes unless your army is much bigger than his. Or maybe I was playing it wrong? How do you do it so fast? OTOH, the computer player couldn't knock me off in 5 minutes, either

	15-08-2005 20:44									#25
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The Magic the Gathering game by microprose is great fun, you can play it in short bursts, but you risk the chance of getting sucked into the campaign and then your weekend has gone! its definately worth tracking down if your a fan of the card games(or even if your not - its up there with the xcoms of this world as a classic masterpiece).

evil clue:
last i knew the dogs had it to chew
under ground maybe?
but maybe the home of such
is the place to find it.

the new one is rubbish.

	15-08-2005 23:12									#26
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Whatever can he mean?

	16-08-2005 06:09									#27
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger How do you do it so fast?

Mad skillz. (To be frank, I'm not very good at it.) Well, it seems like 5 minutes on average. It could be more, but I doubt it would be more than 10 minutes on average.

	16-08-2005 06:17									#28
	Got spare money?

Thanks, Child of Thor, for the... illuminating poetry! I'll check it out.

quote: the new one is rubbish.

Which one? Magic: the gathering online? AFAIK, its exactly like the card game. Or are you talking about Magic: the gathering battlegrounds?

	16-08-2005 22:08									#29
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

yeah magic the gathering battlegrounds by atari(i think). Just doesn't compare to the old microprose version.
The nice thing about the place i mentioned is that they have the 'extra' expansion disks too, as the game is virtualy impossible to find these days - so thumbs up from me

Its games like these that should get a budget re-release imho, still as they are often not XP compatible i guess the budget game folks have to be carefull?

And thanks for the 'Samuri' link - i've been meaning to track this game down for a while now.

Hoplites is interesting, just wish i was better at it, still i've had it for a year and only gotten around to playing it on the odd occasion(usualy when showing it to a friend who might like it). I must try harder

	18-08-2005 07:35									#30
	Remove this text

I played Hoplite a few times more. Now the games last about 20 minutes or so, but the game is awfully luck dependent. A bad break in the cards such as getting a bunch of special cards when you need more units will get you mauled faster than anything else. The flanking attacks are very strong so not getting your own cavalry or elephant units early on also be very bad.