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[Tombolo]

So I'm on a big Dominion binge, but I don't often see my friend who plays, and allegedly isotropic is going down in the near future.  I fully intend to check out the FunSocket game, but I'm in a pretty tight financial spot, so if it's expensive or subscription-based or sucky I might not get it immediately, and thus would need something to fill the Dominion-shaped hole in my heart. 

Any other free online games that are like Isotropic where I can just log on whenever I feel like it and play a quick game or two to kill a few minutes?  IDEALLY I'd like another deckbuilder, but I hear that there aren't really many other good ones compared to Dominion.  I've dabbled in Puzzle Strike and might go back to it.  I'd also be up for other board games, card games, eurogames, CCG's, or what have you, especially if they're kinda quick to play and anywhere near as good.  I don't even really know what's available, so I'd appreciate any ideas.

[jsh357]

I have been enjoying playing various games on BoardGameArena with my friends.  You might want to check those out and see if any appeal.

[rrenaud]

Race for the Galaxy is also a wonderful board game.  Grab the great AI program before it also disappears.  http://keldon.net/rftg/

[Morgrim7]

A few ideas:
-Get a friend, teach him Dominion, introduce him to the forum, teach him strategy, and play IRL.That is incredibly fun. (Have it someone close to your house that has a lot of spare time so you can play on a moments notice. Or you can schedule it and play it daily at lunch or whatever.)
-Settlers of Catan isn't bad as bad as everyone says. (Not as good as Dominion )
-Chess. Just search it in Google and a million sites will come up. Anyone else like chess here? (I am sure a lot do).
Non-Board game
-Coupon. If you are serious about it, you will save a pretty penny.
-Read classics.
-Contemplate the meaning of life. 

[Ozle]

Whenever Isotropic is down iamuse myself with a hoop and a stick

[Tombolo]

Thanks!  I didn't know about boardgamearena or that RttG program, so I'll definitely avail myself of those.

[Ozle]

Is Isotropic going down?!



(hohohoho)

[jonts26]

Whenever Isotropic is down iamuse myself with a hoop and a stick

[pingpongsam]

[Schlippy]

Backgammon on FIBS. Has pretty much everything you want except for the fact that it is not a deck builder game. It is less luck dependent than Dominion if you play matches rather then single games though.

[Kirian]

Backgammon... is less luck dependent than Dominion if you play matches...

[metzgerism]

1) Get a part time job.
2) Pay for FunSockets.
3) ??
4) Profit!

[theory]

Backgammon on FIBS. Has pretty much everything you want except for the fact that it is not a deck builder game. It is less luck dependent than Dominion if you play matches rather then single games though.

To explain, I think this is because of the doubling cube and the metagame around backgammon.  You could do the same for Dominion, but no one has.

[Young Nick]

Oh Sweet Baby Jesus, I thought Dominion was just about perfect until I saw theory's response. Now I am not satisfied, and never will be. Not until there is a doubling cube. Me. Want.

[WanderingWinder]

How many games are there that DON'T get better via doubling cube inclusion?

Actually, 1st turn might make dominion really one of them... that plus a little shuffle luck.... nah, doubling cubes are awesome!

[WanderingWinder]

Oh, BTW, @ the OP: meet a girl.
Since you are in a financial tight spot, find one who is nice and understanding.


(Too bad I don't take my own advice... I'll leave you to ponder which part of the above I'm violating.)

[Kirian]

How many games are there that DON'T get better via doubling cube inclusion?

Chess and Zendo come immediately to mind.

Also, doesn't the doubling cube only matter if you're playing for money?  (Or presumably points in a tournament.  But wouldn't that seriously screw up the ranking?)

[WanderingWinder]

How many games are there that DON'T get better via doubling cube inclusion?

Chess and Zendo come immediately to mind.

Also, doesn't the doubling cube only matter if you're playing for money?  (Or presumably points in a tournament.  But wouldn't that seriously screw up the ranking?)

You play matches.
I've never heard of zendo before. Don't see why the cube makes chess worse.

[arcee]

If you were playing dominion with the cube, when would the "cube phase" be?  start of turn, or perhaps cleanup before you see your new hand?

I've also wondered that for Monopoly - not sure if it should be before you roll, so you don't know if you're paying rent, or the end of your turn, so you don't know if you're getting rent.  Or perhaps it doesn't matter and any time is ok.

Chess with the cube doesn't really get worse, but it doesn't really get better either - better player offers the cube, weaker accepts, if weaker gets ahead he can send it back.  Weaker player is less likely to get ahead in chess than backgammon though, so stronger player is just getting extra free points.  The cube is best in games with moderate luck.

[Kirian]

I've never heard of zendo before. Don't see why the cube makes chess worse.

Zendo is a game of inductive reasoning using icehouse pieces (Looney Labs).  No luck and moderate strategy.

http://www.koryheath.com/games/zendo/

[kilgoretrout103]

Wait a minute--how certain are we that Isotropic is going down? Can anyone official comment on this?

On the other hand, after three months and 1250 games, having Isotropic shut down would be like waking up after a long coma and getting back to living my actual life.

[ftl]

rrenaud's law strikes again!

Isotropic will come down once the official FunSockets Online Dominion is released, sometime in the indeterminate future. It's been announced as coming "this summer", but they've missed a bunch of vaguely indicated release dates already, so "this summer" is not guaranteed.

[Tombolo]

...Ah, I had gathered FunSocket was much more imminent than that.  That's reassuring!

....Backgammon?  I didn't like it the last time I played it, but I was also like eight so my tastes have probably changed since then.  I shall have to investigate.

Do actually have a job and a fairly awesome girl, but the job's barely paying the bills as-is and the girl is busy most of the time :\

[greatexpectations]

Wait a minute--how certain are we that Isotropic is going down? Can anyone official comment on this?

On the other hand, after three months and 1250 games, having Isotropic shut down would be like waking up after a long coma and getting back to living my actual life.

answers with sources in the FAQ.

[Nakamura]

Play Carcassonne or other games on www.brettspielwelt.de

[Schlippy]

Backgammon... is less luck dependent than Dominion if you play matches...

[img]http://oneclimbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Screen-shot-2012-01-23-at-10.10.36-AM.png[ /img]

Have you played Backgammon for more than a few games?
I have lose quite a few Dominion games because of bad luck, but I have never in my entire life lost a Backgammon match were I (after analysing the logs) could honestly say I have lost due to bad luck. In most games where someone claims he is losing because of bad luck he is actually losing because the other player effectively minimizes their number of possibly good rolls and duplicates their other very good rolls.
Backgammon has so little luck in it that in the last ~10 years even top-tier Backgammon players couldn't win 7-point matches against proper backgammon bots, simply because they (the bots) play far better than any human could ever dream of.
Sure, you can lose a singe game (or worse, a single doubled game) due to bad luck, but that does not really matter all that much in the "long" term of a match most of the time.

How many games are there that DON'T get better via doubling cube inclusion?

Actually, 1st turn might make dominion really one of them... that plus a little shuffle luck.... nah, doubling cubes are awesome!

Many card games and most (physical) sports. There are exceptions though. :>

Also, doesn't the doubling cube only matter if you're playing for money?  (Or presumably points in a tournament.  But wouldn't that seriously screw up the ranking?)

Why would it screw the ranking? You win or you lose a match, there is nothing inbetween in backgammon. It doesn't matter if you won a game without any doubles and lead 7:5 in the match or you won a gammon that was redoubled several times to a worth of 256 and lead 263:0 in the match, in both cases you have simply won the match.

[Ozle]

Can Someone explain the doubling cube thing for me?

[theory]

Essentially, before your turn, you may challenge your opponent to double the stakes of the game.  He must either accept or resign the game immediately.  If he accepts, he is now in possession of the cube, so only he can offer a subsequent double (and if he does, and you accept, the cube comes back to you).  The doubling cube starts in the middle and either player may offer the first double.

[bedlam]

If you don't mind turn based game, yucata.de has a great selection of implemented board games. But you can usually find a live game too if you want one.

[verikt]

I have lose quite a few Dominion games because of bad luck, but I have never in my entire life lost a Backgammon match were I (after analysing the logs) could honestly say I have lost due to bad luck.

Can't you? Ever blocked 5 out of six in the home row (with his piece out), then watched someone get double 5's or 6's, knocking out 3 pieces on his way home?
Whenever it starts costing money I'm out. I really liked this game, but I can barely keep myself in alcohol and tobacco as it is.
If chess and backgammon don't do it for you, read through all the books here http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com once or twice.

[noon]

To explain, I think this is because of the doubling cube and the metagame around backgammon.  You could do the same for Dominion, but no one has.

I have! It's fun. We played you can double at the very start of your turn. Definitely speeds up face to face games.

[Morgrim7]

I have limited myself to 1 hr. of Iso/Forum/Goko time so I can find another awesome hobby.

[Thisisnotasmile]

I have limited myself to 1 hr. of Iso/Forum/Goko time so I can find another awesome hobby.

1 hour per... what?

Per hour is my guess.

[popsofctown]

Cool, this thread!  Had to be somewhere. 

Puzzle strike is an option, but there are a couple things I don't like about it.  League of Legends is good and free if you want to play a non-turn-based game.

A reeeally cool CCG I discovered is called "Carte", no one seems to have heard of it because most of its playerbase is non-english speaking, but it's a really good online ccg with sexy art.  You can build a really strong deck with just the "base" cards that are virtually free, and play games to pretty easily get new cards, and pay with real money to get cards if/when you feel ready.  PM me if you get into it, I need English-speaking buddies.  It plays a lot like MTG, but there's no mana screw because any card can be played as a land (albeit one that is a bit weaker than an actual land card, called a "shard" card)

[kilgoretrout103]

Isotropic will go down the day after I leave for my first year of law school, which is good, because otherwise I would fail out of law school. I'm imagining myself like Morgan Freeman at the end of The Dark Knight, where he intentionally shuts down the sonar machine because it's too much power for one man to have.

[Archetype]

I'm imagining myself like Morgan Freeman at the end of The Dark Knight, where he intentionally shuts down the sonar machine because it's too much power for one man to have.

Spoiler Alert! 

[jonts26]

I'm imagining myself like Morgan Freeman at the end of The Dark Knight, where he intentionally shuts down the sonar machine because it's too much power for one man to have.

Spoiler Alert! 

Pretty sure the statute of limitations for movie spoilers is less than 4 years.

[eHalcyon]

Isotropic will go down the day after I leave for my first year of law school, which is good, because otherwise I would fail out of law school. I'm imagining myself like Morgan Freeman at the end of The Dark Knight, where he intentionally shuts down the sonar machine because it's too much power for one man to have.

I thought this said Morgrim Freeman.

[Eevee]

Isotropic will go down the day after I leave for my first year of law school, which is good, because otherwise I would fail out of law school. I'm imagining myself like Morgan Freeman at the end of The Dark Knight, where he intentionally shuts down the sonar machine because it's too much power for one man to have.

I thought this said Morgrim Freeman.

Me too.

[Kirian]

Cool, this thread!  Had to be somewhere. 

Puzzle strike is an option, but there are a couple things I don't like about it.  League of Legends is good and free if you want to play a non-turn-based game.

A reeeally cool CCG I discovered is called "Carte", no one seems to have heard of it because most of its playerbase is non-english speaking, but it's a really good online ccg with sexy art.  You can build a really strong deck with just the "base" cards that are virtually free, and play games to pretty easily get new cards, and pay with real money to get cards if/when you feel ready.  PM me if you get into it, I need English-speaking buddies.  It plays a lot like MTG, but there's no mana screw because any card can be played as a land (albeit one that is a bit weaker than an actual land card, called a "shard" card)

Tried it for a half hour or so... more complex and the animations are even more annoying than those on Goko...

[popsofctown]

Carte, or Puzzle Strike?

[Kirian]

Carte, or Puzzle Strike?

Carte.  Didn't realize Puzzle Strike was online.

There are a bunch of card games much like Carte available at Kongregate.  Many of which, though not all, are Zynga-style pay to win, but have reasonable if not brutal AIs.

[popsofctown]

Some of the animations in Carte can be disabled.

I don't mind Carte's pay to win, if you have an MMORPG attitude towards it, it's alright.

I like mmorpg's too though, if you don't, it's not going to work

I did compare the game to MtG, which is also pay-to-win so, I hope I'm not getting accused of deception here.

[Kirian]

Oh, I'm not complaining about pay-to-win, it still creates some reasonable games.  Just sayin' I got tired of Carte after about 30 minutes... the language barriers (I guess the original is Korean?) didn't help the tutorials and such.

[popsofctown]

Oh, I'm not complaining about pay-to-win, it still creates some reasonable games.  Just sayin' I got tired of Carte after about 30 minutes... the language barriers (I guess the original is Korean?) didn't help the tutorials and such.

I thought the tutorial cartoon was cute, if they still are using that after beta.  But the tutorial is poorly translated and admittedly that is a barrier to entry.

[Schlippy]

I have lose quite a few Dominion games because of bad luck, but I have never in my entire life lost a Backgammon match were I (after analysing the logs) could honestly say I have lost due to bad luck.

Can't you? Ever blocked 5 out of six in the home row (with his piece out), then watched someone get double 5's or 6's, knocking out 3 pieces on his way home?

I was talking about a complete match, not a single game. Even games where something like that happens are rare, because unless you do not double because you desperately need to win a gammon or backgammon to stay in the match with realistic chances, your enemy usually resigns to the doubling cube before that situation arises.
And even then, a piece of good old backgammon software will gladly show you that your chances of winning such a game would have been 9.8% higher if you had played differently in turn 13. (or something)

(besides that, if you block 5 points in your home board and the other players slips through with double 5s, you deserve to lose, as you played very poorly in that case. the 5 point is by far the most important point in the game.
also, if he hits 3 blobs on the way you also played poorly, as playing a duplication tactic in such a situation is quite harmful :> (it is also next to impossible that such a situation is forced upon you by unlucky throws))


I am not saying there is no luck in Backgammon. Of course there is, you throw dice. But it is far less than people who do not play it competitively believe. Luck or bad luck does not make you lose your matches, playing your rolls poorly makes you lose your matches. (And giving your opponent more good rolls makes you lose matches, but that is in fact the major part of playing your rolls poorly.)

[Tombolo]

I just got a chance to try Ascension, and it's freakin' awesome!

...I don't have an ipad :\

[aaron0013]

Look up World of Tanks.  It is relatively new and takes a while to download, but it's free and is really quite fun after you get past the dumb first tanks.  Includes a good number of huge maps as well as as series of light, medium, and heavy tanks, tank destroyers, and self-propelled guns.  All the tanks are from WWI and WWII and have upgrades like new guns and suspension.  It gets even more fun if you pay for a premium account, but I haven't spent a dime and am still having fun!

[Morgrim7]

I have limited myself to 1 hr. of Iso/Forum/Goko time so I can find another awesome hobby.

Actually, no. One hour per day.

[cactus]

Desperate times, desperate measures - I just borrowed Moby Dick from the library.

[Ozle]

Desperate times, desperate measures - I just borrowed Moby Dick from the library.

Good analogy, essentially we are all Ahab and Goko Dominion is the great white whale we are all chasing after?