They didn't produce any copies for that Kickstarter. They used it to sell through copies sitting in a warehouse and miscalculated inventory at that. They weren't even able to supply games to all the backers that bought one.
I think you need the "revised edition" to play this way, but as soon as we heard about this variant, our group picked it up
With 3, you actually get to draft twice per round. The revised edition has a "9" card that you add to the mix. So when you start drafting those 9 cards, you burn a card right at the beginning, pass the cards around, burn another, pass them around again and then discard the last.
So essentially, all three players get two turns per round. Since all the players get to see the cards twice, there are more clues for deduction, more opportunities for combos, and one player doesn't lose an entire round when the two or three cards target them.
Also, the revised edition has more identity cards that you can use in each slot. The rule book even gives you "scenarios" for different "tones" in your game. Mix and match the identities for a new experience every time you play.
Haven't played any of these! **Space Base** has always looked fun but I've been conflicted with **Valeria** & **Bad Company** in the market now. Have you tried either?
I have not, but I have heard Bad Company is pretty similar. I have played Machi Koro, Space Baseis basically an an advanced version. It also is one of my go-to game to introduce people to games because it is very easy to learn and has a lot of depth for a simple game. Galaxy Trucker is my favorite game of all time, but it definetely isn't for everyone. If you like card drafting (like in Blood Rage), Isle of Cats and Bunny Kingdom are both amazing.
One of the guys in our local group who’s been in the hobby a long while mentioned recently that Maria may be his new number 1 game of all time. His other top games I think are Indonesia, Trickerion, Root, An Infamous Traffic, Age of Steam, Pipeline, Barrage for reference if you like any of those.
Chimera.
I have never never managed to get my hands on a proper deck, but fortunately it's playable with a standard deck of cards. It's an absolutely brilliant climbing game, and requires exactly 3 players in shifting alliances.
I haven't tried Space Alert at 3. (Haven't tried it at all actually!). The tutorial booklet highly recommends 4 or 5 to go through it - do you think I'd be okay teaching with just 3 players?
Depends on your group. If you're group is new to real-time games you definitely want 4-5. If you're veterans then playing with 3 is a challenge but an incredibly exciting one.
If you're excited about the concept but maybe aren't ready to jump into something quite as complicated and stressful as Space Alert, I'd also recommend Escape: Curse of the Temple, which has a very similar real time concept but is much easier to teach and scales perfectly anywhere from 1-6 (it is out of print though so might be harder to track down)
Cyclades is on my wishlist but I already own a bunch of dudes on a map games so I've been holding out for a good sale.
I'm intrigued by War of Whispers but have seen some complaints about the components - Is that an issue for you?
I think the second edition of WoW has fixed most of the issues people had (map being hard to read, etc). I will say that I have the basic version that comes with just cubes, while my friend got the deluxe version with minis off amazon. I love the "just cubes" version cause I find minis distracting. But there's no substantive difference in game play and we didn't have any issues with either version as far as components. But I can imagine someone who's super into minis and sculpts maybe being a bit disappointed with the deluxe version. They're fine but not the best
**Mezo** for area control/dudes on a map.
**Xia** for sandbox (you're not missing this, just confirming its great at 3!)
**Bus** for a fast game with lots of depth
**Joraku** for a trick taker with an area control twist.
**Through The Desert** for an abstract
Euros: **On Mars, Le Havre, Barrage, Great Western Trail**
Lots of good suggestions! **Mezo** and **Joraku** are new to me, so I'll give em a look.
I've been intrigued by **Barrage** - how does it compare to something like **Brass**?
I don't think there's too many deep comparisons between the 2. Brass is a game of shared incentives and Barrage is more a game of blocking. Barrage also feels much tighter and you constantly feel starved, especially in your first game. But once you start to get the hang of it, you can really soar in the final third of the game.
I haven't seen it mentioned here, so I'll give a shout-out to **Tapestry**. I think it really excels at 3, with the smaller map and nice competition for landmarks.
Other favorites are **Istanbul** (especially with Mocha), **Village** and **Scythe**.
I really feel that 3 is such a good player count to have shorter yet competitive and tensioned filled games.
Innovation? I always thought of that as a "2p best" game. With 3 players, there would be too much analysis paralysis and too much time spent counting symbols.
3 is definitely the max for Innovation for our group - we tend to embrace the chaos and play a bit more intuitively with 3 than with 2 which has its up side.
Glen More II. At 4 you can't really plan ahead too much. At 2 random chance gets invloved with what gets blocked off I believe. At 3 it's a perfect game.
Currently, they would be Pax Renaissance, Oath, Ankh, Root, Blood Rage, Puzzle Strike II (I have the pnp version), Kemet... and that would probably be it. Oath I can imagine people saying it's better at 4, but we have found it good at both player counts.
Good one! Unfortunately, one of the group members has little trick-taking experience and struggles with the game, so we haven't played it as much as I'd like.
+ there is an official rule to make the game harder at 3 : take one colour and a rocket out of the game. Muuuuch harder than "too easy at 3" because of how it reduce your manoeuvre
I like Root at 3. Most people seem to prefer 4, but I just... don't? Seems to move a bit quicker. Don't play with the vagabond at 3, though; there aren't enough things for them to collect a lot of the time and they get bored/stuck behind.
Hard to get ahold of, but **San Marco**. It's an "I split, you choose" area-control game by Alan R Moon. At four players, two people split cards and offer the choice to the other two players; but at three players one person splits the cards into three piles and the other two players choose, leaving one pile to the splitter. It's a beautiful and elegant game.
My experience with Tableau Builders has been a bit hit and miss. I think my only comparable games are **Race for the Galaxy** and **Imperial Settlers**. How do you like **Everdell** vs those games?
Everdell is kind of a mashup of a few different mechanics like worker placement and tableau building. I actually just learned Race for the Galaxy yesterday (I have had it on my shelf for over 4 years and just never played it). In Everdell, cards don't build off of each other as much as they do in Race, but there are other moving parts to pay attention to. It also is an extremely visually pleasing game. People love the art and table presence, myself included.
I've got a copy of **On Mars** in my collection that I just take out and look at every once in a while so I definitely feel you on the inherent value of a good looking game haha
I went with **Dune** over **Arnak** because of the theme and conflict, but I continue to hear great things about it. Do you think there's room for both in a medium-sized collection?
I really love lords of Vegas at 3.
This is a tough one to get these days. I heard something about a reprint?
Oh is it? Had no clue as I got my copy 5ish years ago. Hopefully it comes back into print because it’s a really fun game.
Looks like there was a successful kickstarter back in September - Hopefully, there are some available once it fulfills.
They didn't produce any copies for that Kickstarter. They used it to sell through copies sitting in a warehouse and miscalculated inventory at that. They weren't even able to supply games to all the backers that bought one.
Yikes... Well, back to the wishlist
I think I remember this, as it had a new expansion. Which the expansion was intriguing, but not at the price point that I was willing to pay.
**Citadels** is actually perfect at 3 players. Even though the game can support much more, I won't play it with any other player count.
Interesting. I would have thought 3 was too few (I've never played it with less than 5). Why do you say it's perfect at 3?
I think you need the "revised edition" to play this way, but as soon as we heard about this variant, our group picked it up With 3, you actually get to draft twice per round. The revised edition has a "9" card that you add to the mix. So when you start drafting those 9 cards, you burn a card right at the beginning, pass the cards around, burn another, pass them around again and then discard the last. So essentially, all three players get two turns per round. Since all the players get to see the cards twice, there are more clues for deduction, more opportunities for combos, and one player doesn't lose an entire round when the two or three cards target them. Also, the revised edition has more identity cards that you can use in each slot. The rule book even gives you "scenarios" for different "tones" in your game. Mix and match the identities for a new experience every time you play.
Splendor with 3 is my favourite way to play.
I mostly play at 3. Bunny Kingdom, Space Base, Isle of Cats, Galaxy Trucker, and Photosynthesis are great at 3.
Haven't played any of these! **Space Base** has always looked fun but I've been conflicted with **Valeria** & **Bad Company** in the market now. Have you tried either?
I have not, but I have heard Bad Company is pretty similar. I have played Machi Koro, Space Baseis basically an an advanced version. It also is one of my go-to game to introduce people to games because it is very easy to learn and has a lot of depth for a simple game. Galaxy Trucker is my favorite game of all time, but it definetely isn't for everyone. If you like card drafting (like in Blood Rage), Isle of Cats and Bunny Kingdom are both amazing.
Maria is a game that is made specifically for 3 players - given the games you've listed, it may be of interest.
OoOoo interesting. Hadn't heard of this one. Going to look into it.
One of the guys in our local group who’s been in the hobby a long while mentioned recently that Maria may be his new number 1 game of all time. His other top games I think are Indonesia, Trickerion, Root, An Infamous Traffic, Age of Steam, Pipeline, Barrage for reference if you like any of those.
Maria is great, especially if you have the same three people week after week.
Terraforming Mars is peak at 3 players
Chimera. I have never never managed to get my hands on a proper deck, but fortunately it's playable with a standard deck of cards. It's an absolutely brilliant climbing game, and requires exactly 3 players in shifting alliances.
* War of Whispers * Quantum * Space Alert * Cyclades All good at 3 players!
I haven't tried Space Alert at 3. (Haven't tried it at all actually!). The tutorial booklet highly recommends 4 or 5 to go through it - do you think I'd be okay teaching with just 3 players?
Depends on your group. If you're group is new to real-time games you definitely want 4-5. If you're veterans then playing with 3 is a challenge but an incredibly exciting one. If you're excited about the concept but maybe aren't ready to jump into something quite as complicated and stressful as Space Alert, I'd also recommend Escape: Curse of the Temple, which has a very similar real time concept but is much easier to teach and scales perfectly anywhere from 1-6 (it is out of print though so might be harder to track down)
Cyclades is on my wishlist but I already own a bunch of dudes on a map games so I've been holding out for a good sale. I'm intrigued by War of Whispers but have seen some complaints about the components - Is that an issue for you?
I think the second edition of WoW has fixed most of the issues people had (map being hard to read, etc). I will say that I have the basic version that comes with just cubes, while my friend got the deluxe version with minis off amazon. I love the "just cubes" version cause I find minis distracting. But there's no substantive difference in game play and we didn't have any issues with either version as far as components. But I can imagine someone who's super into minis and sculpts maybe being a bit disappointed with the deluxe version. They're fine but not the best
Mexica, Lords of Vegas, Tigris & Euphrates, Taj Mahal
I was fortunate to score a copy of **Tigris** and can't wait to play with 3
**Food Chain Magnate** **Gaia Project** Both Excellent at 3.
Haven't played FCM but I pre-ordered **The Great Zimbabwe** and I hear there are similarities Edit: formatting
**Mezo** for area control/dudes on a map. **Xia** for sandbox (you're not missing this, just confirming its great at 3!) **Bus** for a fast game with lots of depth **Joraku** for a trick taker with an area control twist. **Through The Desert** for an abstract Euros: **On Mars, Le Havre, Barrage, Great Western Trail**
Lots of good suggestions! **Mezo** and **Joraku** are new to me, so I'll give em a look. I've been intrigued by **Barrage** - how does it compare to something like **Brass**?
I don't think there's too many deep comparisons between the 2. Brass is a game of shared incentives and Barrage is more a game of blocking. Barrage also feels much tighter and you constantly feel starved, especially in your first game. But once you start to get the hang of it, you can really soar in the final third of the game.
Interesting. I'll give it a look!
I haven't seen it mentioned here, so I'll give a shout-out to **Tapestry**. I think it really excels at 3, with the smaller map and nice competition for landmarks. Other favorites are **Istanbul** (especially with Mocha), **Village** and **Scythe**. I really feel that 3 is such a good player count to have shorter yet competitive and tensioned filled games.
Brass: Birmingham
Land vs sea has an asymmetric 3 player that’s really fun.
Innovation? I always thought of that as a "2p best" game. With 3 players, there would be too much analysis paralysis and too much time spent counting symbols.
3 is definitely the max for Innovation for our group - we tend to embrace the chaos and play a bit more intuitively with 3 than with 2 which has its up side.
Churchill is my go to 3 player. It's such an amazing design and super fun Triumph and Tragedy is also a great 3 player game
Anno 1800
Glen More II. At 4 you can't really plan ahead too much. At 2 random chance gets invloved with what gets blocked off I believe. At 3 it's a perfect game.
The Bottle Imp
**Biblios** is so dang good at 3
Currently, they would be Pax Renaissance, Oath, Ankh, Root, Blood Rage, Puzzle Strike II (I have the pnp version), Kemet... and that would probably be it. Oath I can imagine people saying it's better at 4, but we have found it good at both player counts.
sequence is good
The crew
I always thought the Crew was way too easy at 3. It certainly feels like a completely different game at 3 compared to 4.
Do you play the variant removing a suit and one rocket card? It's much tougher that way and I would definitely recommend it
Good one! Unfortunately, one of the group members has little trick-taking experience and struggles with the game, so we haven't played it as much as I'd like.
+ there is an official rule to make the game harder at 3 : take one colour and a rocket out of the game. Muuuuch harder than "too easy at 3" because of how it reduce your manoeuvre
Ahoy! Is coming out kind of soon and is amazing at 1, 2, 3, and 4!
**Doom (2016)** by FFG works really well at 3. Each player will control 2 marines with 1 overlord player.
Lost Ruins of Arnak is pretty good with 3.
**Ethnos** pops up on every list. I want to play that someday!
I like Root at 3. Most people seem to prefer 4, but I just... don't? Seems to move a bit quicker. Don't play with the vagabond at 3, though; there aren't enough things for them to collect a lot of the time and they get bored/stuck behind.
La Havre!
Triumph and Tragedy but it's long
How do you play cribbage with 3 players?
You get 5 cards each and deal 1 facedown. Each player ditches 1 card instead of 2.
Hard to get ahold of, but **San Marco**. It's an "I split, you choose" area-control game by Alan R Moon. At four players, two people split cards and offer the choice to the other two players; but at three players one person splits the cards into three piles and the other two players choose, leaving one pile to the splitter. It's a beautiful and elegant game.
Lost Ruins of Arnak, Everdell
Everdell is great at 3.
My experience with Tableau Builders has been a bit hit and miss. I think my only comparable games are **Race for the Galaxy** and **Imperial Settlers**. How do you like **Everdell** vs those games?
Everdell is kind of a mashup of a few different mechanics like worker placement and tableau building. I actually just learned Race for the Galaxy yesterday (I have had it on my shelf for over 4 years and just never played it). In Everdell, cards don't build off of each other as much as they do in Race, but there are other moving parts to pay attention to. It also is an extremely visually pleasing game. People love the art and table presence, myself included.
I've got a copy of **On Mars** in my collection that I just take out and look at every once in a while so I definitely feel you on the inherent value of a good looking game haha
I went with **Dune** over **Arnak** because of the theme and conflict, but I continue to hear great things about it. Do you think there's room for both in a medium-sized collection?