AFallingAnvil

Fun fact, you can't actually get any other green visor right now

I just discovered Beast and City of the Great Machine thanks to Shut Up And Sit Down and I'm pretty jazzed to try out Beast this weekend with some friends via Tabletop Simulator. I've never actually gotten to play a hidden movement game before, so this should inform my tastes quite nicely. I'll be sure to update with some impressions/stories when that's done.

If you haven't seen it yet, Beast is a all-vs-one hidden movement game that's conceptually very similar to the defunct video game Evolve. Players take on the role of hunters trying to track, trap and kill a monster played by another player before it can grow too powerful. With various monsters that all play differently I can anticipate a good deal of replayability, and with video games suddenly deciding 90$ is the new average price, Beast can be found for 65$. As a nice plus, it's got an expansion coming to crowdfunding soon so if I like it I can deep dive even harder!

That said, I'm curious what others in this hidden movement niche I might be missing that people enjoy. If you've got a notable example let me know!

Lets kick this community off with some of the good stuff. I'll go first:

1. Stars without Number - The first of many Kevin Crawford games I love, it's got excellent mechanics that can be easily extracted from the lore for homebrew purposes, but the lore is still pretty cool too.
2. Godbound - Probably the most absurd-in-scope RPG i've ever run. Turns out that when your players are heroes of steel in a world of glass you can teach them valuable lessons about the unintended consequences of taking the easy way out.
3. Star Wars FFG - Hard to run at first, it still has a certain appeal to me for the way it handles success and failure.
4. Lancer: Crunchy mechs and a strategy layer that's quite fun to play. The non-combat stuff is relatively freeform too which encourages RP.
5. Mutants and Masterminds - Last but not least, M&M comes with some caveats: Superheros are so much fun to make. Sure it takes a couple hours, but conceptualizing and building these characters mechanically is actually a ton of fun (protip: use herolab classic to build, its muuuuuuuch easier) The GM guide has some really solid advice on running hero stories of gold, silver, iron, and four color genres. What's more, the mechanics encourage acting like a comic book hero, so players /want/ to save the civilians even if the bad guy escapes because the game rewards them for it!

I could talk a lot more about these games, but this post is already looking pretty long. Tell me about some of your experiences and favorites!

I’m just curious what games keep you coming back, but I’ll go first (in no particular order)

Twilight Imperium - excellent for when you want to give your brain a real workout and enjoy some cutthroat strategy.
Munchkin - It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but it’s a blast with friends
Red Dragon Inn - Not dissimilar to Munchkin for the high quality evening with friends potential. Expansions are endless, but almost always worth the change of pace. Does suffer from a little power creep between the OG box and the stuff released after it.
Xia Legends of a drift system - Best played on Tabletop Sim, but this sci-fi game about being a starship captain creates some great stories with friends.
Space Base - You might be seeing a bit of a theme here, but really they’re just really good games. Space Base is a pretty refined worker placement game, and it doesn’t take 9 hours like some of the games on this list.
Sheriff of Nottingham - Social deduction, pettiness, and silly voices, what’s not to love?
The King’s Dilemma - Okay this one is a bit of a cheaty one, it’s a legacy game but with the right crew who like to get in character it’s a fantastic experience.

Alright, your turn!