AShottInTheDark

@mystyr_e: Can't speak to AC3 as I never played it, but very much enjoyed my time with the rest (RE5, RF: Guerilla, and Blur). Really wish we saw a branch of multiplayer shooters embrace the destruction element of Red Faction as it provided a very different element to strategy where no place was truly fully defensible and counters could be played with the manipulation of the environment rather than just changing load outs.

I've only had the game a few days and I'm going along with how the game unlocks elements of the editor so my levels to focus on some element of the editor that was unlocked that day. I try to make them feel like they could be in an actual Mario game but since I'm new to this I know there will be places in which the "flow" of the level won't be on par with the experts. If you try them out please feel free to give feedback because the levels work for the way I play the game, but its hard to make a good stage with only one playtester who is also the creator :P

Frisky Fields: 9ADA-0000-0045-DF66

This is my first level and it focuses on pipes mostly and how can I utilize them as methods to spawn enemies without the level becoming overwhelming.

The Cavern of Bounce: 9923-0000-0045-DF66

This is an underground stage with a focus on what can be done with trampolines. Expect lots of bouncing enemies, but like the first level, I'm trying to restrain myself to make the level challenging but not cheap. There are plenty of safe spots to catch your breath as well.

I agree with most of what has been said on here already, but have a couple additional thoughts.

-Have safe zones

-Don't spam enemies

-Be aware of screen space and where the player can move. (Hitting your head on ceiling while jumping gaps can be annoying for example)

-Nothing is sacred. Don't be afraid to to delete entire parts of a level that don't work or people are having fun with.

-Try to focus on one, maybe two concepts and see how far you can stretch them. I know people are frustrated by the fact the game releases only a few items at a time, but I took this upon myself to force myself to work with less and it forced me to think more about how I would make each element fun and interesting. So even if you have unlocked everything, maybe try this approach and pick something in the editor you like and try to fully explore it.

I agree with the general consensus of Dominion being a good game to get as it's the one that got me into the hobby about 5 years ago and to this day remains the "purest" and one of the leanest of the deck-builder genre that it started. The reason it remains one of those games I still go back to is due to its short setup time (~5 min), short play time (~10 min per player), and the fact that you can play with a different combination of cards every time makes it so every game forces the players to "figure out" the best strategy. Now this doesn't mean it's the end all be all of the genre, there are definitely flaws. The theme is thin, but that's something fairly common across the genre, and a lot of the time you can feel like you're just playing against yourself trying to come up with be most efficient deck and you don't really interact with the other players. Some of the cards with cause more interaction and conflict, but it's never the focus.

If you end up liking Dominion or the mostly solitary experience doesn't sound appealing there are other games in the genre that I've played that have taken the original concept and evolved it interesting ways without bogging the game down with too many mechanics. Trains (review) very much plays like Dominion but adds a board where people are trying to decide if they need to focus more on building wealth or focus on expansion. Most of the points people score come from connecting your train network to cities and building stations in those cities, but doing this clutters your deck with trash that will need to be disposed of and you can bankrupt your deck. So you need to make sure you keep an efficient deck, but at the same time out maneuver your opponents and beat them to those valuable cities.

If Trains doesn't sound like it has enough conflict then I would recommend also checking out Puzzle Strike (review), but only if you plan on playing with 2 players (it works with 3-4 players, but it's best with 2). The game is like Puzzle Fighter (the video game) mixed with Dominion. Rather than trying to score points, you're trying to overwhelm your opponent's board with garbage while managing your own. Also, the game is a bit more expensive because it uses cardboard chips rather than cards, but this is a nice touch to make the game feel different and reduces playtime because you aren't reshuffling a deck every couple minutes. Instead you collect your chips into a bag, shake it around if you want, and pull out your next hand.

Finally a couple of games I've regretted buying are Ascension and Thunderstone. Ascension has less theme than Dominion in my opinion and I'm not a fan of the art. All I feel like doing is managing numbers and collecting "things" that can combo on each other that make different numbers go up. I know this basically sums up Dominion as well, but the strategy of the game never clicked with me and I didn't like how the piles of cards you buy from are randomized. If you are curious about the game I recommend trying the phone version first just in case. Thunderstone on the other hand I quite like and it has the most theme of any deck-builder I've played but the setup time (~20 min) and game time (~45 min) always feels like it takes too long and drags. I understand this won't matter to most, but its enough for me to pick other games that are similar over it when it comes time to sit down and play something.

@captain_insano: Shut Up and Sit Down is my favorite website for board game reviews and news for many of the same reasons Giant Bomb is my favorite site for video games. The hosts of the site have entertaining personalities where their passion for board games come through in almost everything they do and the communities there are friendly and just enjoy sharing why they like the hobby. Their video reviews are the best part because they do a good job of keeping things on point of who the game is for, what works and doesn't work, and inject it with British wit. Don't expect the reviews to teach you to play the game to the point you'll know how to fully play after watching, but they let know enough to understand why you will either like or dislike the game as well as make comparisons to similar games to see how it stacks up in comparison when appropriate. If you want a good example I'd recommend watching their review for the XCOM board game here.