Messages

1

Happy Meeple community / Re: Bad news - Good news

« on: 23/11/24, 02:54pm »

It would be a real shame if criticism of site design - or any kind of criticism - has contributed to the decision to close the site. In a world of style over substance, Happy Meeple stands out as a solid, comfortable, colourful and friendly platform. That's a huge part of its appeal, not something detrimental.

Reading some comments, it seems I'm not the only one who found the site a safely haven (an oasis someone described it as, which is spot on). Life is hard sometimes, for a lot of us. Happy Meeple has offered an escape, a perfect sanctuary to decompress and enjoy familiar, gentle games in an environment that isn't hammered with ads or disruptors. I came here not only to play, but to also clear my head of all the detritus that builds up in the working day. The idea of simply shuffling across to Board Game Arena or anywhere else doesn't take into account the cosy family atmosphere that could be found here.

It didn't even cross my mind that the day would come when it wouldn't be here any more. It's like getting a letter through the door, out of the blue, from your landlord saying that they're suddenly selling up and you've got a few weeks to find a new place to live. I'm surprised how genuinely miserable this has made me, and how much I'd put down roots here.

Daft, really, to feel so attached to something so abstract. But it's a testament to what a damn good site this has been.

2

Happy Meeple community / Re: Bad news - Good news

« on: 21/11/24, 08:01pm »

Absolutely, utterly gutted to read this. Happy Meeple has helped keep me sane for a number of years. Thank you to all those involved who have kept the wonderful site going for so long. Incredibly sad.

3

Tips, polls, updates / Re: Most Wins

« on: 22/01/24, 07:12pm »

Yeah, but you should see the state of his kitchen sink.

4

Keltis the card game / Re: Strategy?

« on: 12/01/23, 09:30am »

I agree with Mike, Keltis Card is one of the most frustrating games in terms of strategy. The stone-pairing is so heavily weighted, and luck of the draw, especially in the first 5-10 pulls after the initial spread, is close to impossible to counter. Your goal, as others have stated, is to hit 4-5 stones and then a couple of runs of 7+ cards and no less than 4 on any run you start, but that's it really, and if the draw doesn't favour you, then you're done, often by mid-game. Keltis Or has the luck of dice rolls but there's more scope in the manipulation of those, and it's a game that's more about what you can steal from your opponent at the right time rather than building high runs.

Win percentage is the best indicator of how important strategy is. Hanamikoji is by far the most strategy dependent, it's almost chess-like in how you have to defend foremost and then have four or five potential winning moves in your head based on how the cards fall, there's very little luck involved if you play it logically. Everything else (not including Carto, which I don't really play and can't comment on) is about incremental gains. If you can hit 60%+ win percentage on a game then it usually means you're strategising extremely well. I'm at 78% for Hanamikoji but between 50%-60% for everything else, no matter how often I play those games. I'm actually higher in Keltis Card then Keltis Or, but in terms of the latter that's not the game, it's because I'm not very good at it, and that will hopefully improve the more I play; I doubt my win rate at the former will ever get much better than around 55% regardless. That's just how it is with some games.

5

Tutorial, training, online play / Re: I'm not understanding how you unlock new bots

« on: 25/12/21, 06:45pm »

Becki M, you may already know this, but just in case: As Sam describes above, there's a way to play full online matches against bots only, if you wanted to get more experienced at the games before taking on a real player.

From the main menu, click on the "Inn" icon instead of the green dice "Games" one. Click on the game you want to play. Click on "Access to the table is limited". If you aren't Friended to other real players, click on "Only Friends" then "Open Table"; if you ARE friended, but want to play a bot, click on "Access by link only", then "Open Table", then "OK" at bottom of pop-up window. Either of these options will open a table in the Inn that simply counts down a few seconds than allows you to "Play With A Bot".

It's an excellent way to get a number of games under your belt, learn the intricacies of the games, and gain confidence. Just note it doesn't work for Cartographers, where you can't play bots, and full games cost more food than training.

6

HexRoller / Re: Can't Complete Hexroller Challenge

« on: 29/08/21, 09:13pm »

If it's the one I'm thinking of (and it might not be, it's been a while), then it confused me too. It's just poorly worded. You have to use all the bonuses, but you can only use one per selection round, and it uses the "Place 2" bonus as an example; so, you need to use the Place 2 when it says, but also then use the other bonuses in subsequent rounds before the end of that tutorial game.

7

Lost Cities / Re: Is scoring of Lost Cities unfair/biased?

« on: 23/07/21, 07:38pm »

It's 20 points for the bonus, but it can be a killer, and why it forms the basis of a strong strategy. There's really not much you can do to mitigate it if your opponent gets 8 out of the 12 cards for any particular expedition, especially if they have a couple of $ cards in the run. It's a mix of luck and clever hand management in that respect.

The trouble with removing that 20 point bonus is that it then becomes a game purely of who gets the high cards, so is then far more luck based. Playing to achieve that 8 card run, and knowing it will ultimately trump simply having 8s, 9s or 10s in any colour, is what makes the game.

In answer to the original post... yeah, it's a question of adapting, and knowing that those 8-card runs will destroy you when they happen.

Lost Cities isn't my favourite, personally speaking, because the luck of the draw is still very swingy. Hanamikoji is far more tactical, but obviously very different. Keltis Or adds dice manipulation to the Lost Cities set up, but the games take twice as long if not more, and that drags from about two-thirds in if you know you're probably going to lose.