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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32410 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 23, 2023

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Betrayal at House on the Hill is the most ridiculously unbalanced game that I actually wholeheartedly recommend. IME the vast majority of monsters are ridiculously over or under powered, but IMO this actually kind of works for the game: either 4/5 players have fun taking down an axe murderer and some zombies (fun adventure!) or 4/5 players are running around desperately trying to survive one more turn against a vampire ("horror movie").

If you've not played the legacy variant yet I definitely recommend, and of course the balance isn't all that important. One of my favorite thing about asymmetric games that go a little theme heavy is that the balance isn't really all that important as long as it is not blatantly broken. A game with a terrible winrate for some role with a group that plays regularly just means the person who finally wins with it is a legend. Look at demons in Blood on the clocktower, they don't win all that often in games I've played but when they do or even just do really well they're praised for it.

Do you mean asymmetrical games?

Speaking of asymmetrical games and going on a slight tangent, it is funny how the Vagabond in Root is probably underestimated instinctively by new players (he's just one guy in a game where factions deploy dozens of units and buildings), yet is widely regarded as OP to the point of houserules for nerfing him, banning certain classes of Vagabond and/or having an agreement to take turns whacking him at all times.

Do you mean asymmetrical games?

Yes, edited

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