Great game. Nice for introducing players to board games
927505
Great game. Nice for introducing players to board games. Awesome art, adorable panda, angry farmer - what else do you need in life really?
3884357
Great game . Good components . It's strategic and not to long.
1745823
Amazing short / easy game. Good game for about 10 years old to any adult that enjoys board games. Would not say its my favorite but overall the game gets played a lot because it does not require language skills (Fiancee's family does not speak very much English) and its easy to teach anyone.
3780638
Awesome game. game parts are cheaply made game board is a sheet of vinyl if upgraded to a actual board I would buy again.
385530
Probably the best Star Wars board game out there. Best played with 2 players, but it can be played with 4 though. In a 4-player game, the players are in 2 teams and split responsibilities.

Includes tons of miniatures. I recommend getting a storage case for all of them. I bought the "Plano 1354 4-By Rack System 3500 Size Tackle Box" for $16 on Amazon. It fits all of the miniatures, cards, dice, and pieces pretty well. The only things that wouldn't fit in it were the game board and rule books.

The first few games will take a really long time to play while players get used to the rules, which seem complicated at first, but weren't really that bad once we go them down. Our first game took 5 hours. Once learning the rules by heart, I can see this game getting down to maybe 2 hours.

Pros:
- A lot of fun, especially for players of the original PC game of the same name or just Star Wars fans in general.
- Tons of plastic miniatures with decent weight to them for being plastic.
- Easy introductory game rules with guided setup to ease new players into the game.
- Advanced rules for people who are familiar with the basic rules and want more options.
- The board is huge! 44" x 22" once laid out, then you need space around it for parts not put on the board.

Cons:
- Some of the miniatures (a few out of over 100) were slightly misshapen.
- Some of the various decks are on mini cards. I'd prefer them on regular sized cards like the others.
- Takes at least two hours to play once you know the rules well.
- Setting up a game can take up to 10-15 minutes.
4479478
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With 2 players this is great. There's some competition for cards and you can easily remember or see the other persons tomb to snatch cards from them, but collecting sets is still very easy and the game flows nicely. Only minus I guess is that there's too much cards for both, so the competition is not that fierce, although I suspect with more players people would specialize even more, since it's more important to get to a high number of the same set than to block someone a bit. In 2 players blocking someone of a card is more beneficial since he/she is your only opponent. All in all, I haven't played 3 or 4, but I would love to try them. I suspect 4 could be pushing it in terms of competition, but maybe 3 would be 'best' here?

Final Thoughts

Ok, I really like deck building in general, but there are so many deck builders out at the moment and not all of them are good. I've also gotten kind of bored to Dominion. My favourites are Legendary Alien, Xenoshyft and Star Realms at the moment, but I have to say Valley of the Kings could really be up there. I love the theme and it will be easier to teach to many people because of the theme, it feels different with the entombing and it's an attractive small package you can play anywhere and easily take with you. One of my favourite things in a deck builder is the ability to thin your deck and here it's built into the rules!(just like Xenoshyft in which I LOVE the ability to turn in Xenosathem and troops for discounts/better cards)The game is also cheap compared to the amount of game in it, so I can't really say anything bad about this so far. Thanks to Tom Cleaver for a unique and very interesting deck builder!
2884360
Definitely a long game.  As a new boardgamer, I really enjoyed playing it.  So I bought it, and introduced a couple friends to it.  A warning to new players:  This game takes a long time to learn, but once you do, it's a lot of fun.  If you're new to the game, play with someone who has a lot of experience with it.  The directions are not all encompassing and don't explain some aspects of the game in the best way.  If you're all new, watch a youtube video on gameplay (there's lots).  Especially if you're drinking while playing (lol).
***
Strengths: Gameplay, complexity, board size, included reference card
***
Weaknesses: Complexity for first playthrough, directions, ship pieces difficult to tell apart
***
Recommendations: Line up your ships in alphabetical order (like in the directions) and leave at least one of each kind in that order in front of you.  Or all of you do that, so you can all easily reference it.  We ended up printing out a reference card for them and laminating it with purchase costs for all units and some rules on the back.
2816797
Some folks say here that this is a game for really young children. We got it for a 7 and 9 yr old, and they've had a good time with it with their friends, for the 2 weeks we've had it so far. What we like most about this game is that it's not only a board game where you role the dice and move your player, with the outcome determined mostly by chance.

This game is interactive. That is, it is a game of pushing monsters, and each player gets to push their (wooden) monster onto the board, with a special "pusher." This does require skill (where to enter the game?) plus strategy (if another monster falls off, how to best prepare to make sure it's not a really big one?). It does take thought, and hand-eye coordination.

Does the game appeal to kids? And does it entertain them for a period of time? Do they want to play again? So far, the answer to these 3 important questions is, yes.

The game itself is nicely made, which you need to count on for something that costs about $33.

We won't tell you all the rules here, but to summarize: you start with 7 monsters on the game board (the arena). Players then roll the monster die, with pictures of monsters on it. Whatever monster comes up is the one they pick from the supply, and must push onto the arena. They have to be careful, because if any monster falls off as a result, all the other players get a monster token. At the end of the game, the player with the most tokens, wins.

There is some assembly required. The wooden pieces need to have their appropriate sticker applied, as does each face on the die. This can be as much fun as the game, in our experience.

Overall, this is a fun, well thought out game, nicely made.

Recommended.
4216956
Great game. Easy to get and challenging at the same time.
Perfectly balanced. There  is no single way of winning the game and is also manages to have great gameplay for any number of players from 2 to 4.
I explained rules to my friends in 10 minutes and we had hours of fun, so it won't be a problem for beginners to play alongside experienced boardgamers.
4070114
I bought this game after reading some reviews of the best games to introduce to and play with non-gamers. I love games, but I'm not always with a gaming group. When I get desperate and want to coax people into doing something other than sitting around and watching TV I reach for a simple game. I'm glad I added this one to my collection.

The rules for No Thanks are simple and there is no geeky space or fantasy theme to make non-gamers shy away. There is no text to read on the cards, and the game is numbers based so it's easy to explain to people regardless of their native language. There's just enough strategy to make it very competitive if you like, and after a few games people will be coming up with their own strategies to win. It's pretty funny when someone gets stuck without any chips and has to pick up a high numbered card. Games also do not take very long so players who are losing won't need be frustrated for too long. I have also never introduced this to a new group of people that only wanted to play it once --- inevitably someone asked to play another round, and that's the sign of a good game!

The components are fine. Just cards and chips. The cards are good quality and I can't imagine feeling a need to sleeve them.

The box is simple and small enough to throw in a bag to use on a trip. It's just cards and chips so I could see people storing this in something other than the original packaging.

Boardgame Geek says that this game is best with 4-5 players, and I would agree. I normally play this game with groups of four (usually two couples)  and it works well!

I would recommend this to any gamer who would like to have something around to introduce to non-gamers looking for a casual good time. No Thanks is far more interesting than UNO, and is less complicated than the excellent (and not even that complicated) Sushi Go!

Check it out.
139418
we've been playing more board games, and wanted to try something not so traditional.  Time goes by so quickly playing this game- as it is most enjoyable to play.  Have only played with two people, but have been testing out different expansions to get familiar with the game.  The whole big box with a bunch of expansions, maybe it is a bit much , but the savings on expansions is probably worth it.
1216537
I'm not much of a boardgame guy, but after playing the demo for TICKET TO RIDE on Xbox Live, I decided to pick up a copy of the actual board game.  I'm glad I did.

So far, I've introduced this to two totally different groups of people (my family and colleagues at work) and both of them enjoyed themselves immensely. It's very easy to grasp the rules, and while there is some competition between players, it's definitely not a cut-throat experience.

Much, much more entertaining than traditional American games like Monopoly (at least for me).
2056957
Great game for two. Despite the small box, this isn't necessarily ideal for a travel game, as the layout of the bits does require some table space. The description on Amazon says it's for 8 and up, but the manufacturer's recommendation (printed on the box) is actually 13+. The reason for this is that there actually is a fair amount of strategy (and probability) going on here don't let the bright cartoony theme fool you. Certainly younger kids can understand the mechanics and play the game, but the strategic aspects of the game make it more appropriate for older kids and adults. One minor point - two of the colors of the wooden cubes (pink and red) are a bit hard to tell apart except in bright light. Might've been better for the designers to go with green instead.
534124
I have now played Terra Mystica a few times as a two player game, and in larger group settings.  It is easily one of my favorite board games, leaving lots of room for strategy and replayability.

While the initial setup can seem intimidating (I have never seen a game with more pieces), the game is actually easy to pick up, and easy to teach to new players.  However, there is definitely layers of strategy to be learned from experience.

If you like Catan and Puerto Rico, then this is the game you should check out next.
4659588
Great game for two adult players. Rules can be ambiguous and frustrating at first.
4357229
This is a great game for $13. Easy to set up, easy to understand once you get into it. The different board configurations help to change up the game so that it's different every time. Definitely recommend.
4386494
Great game for groups. I recommend a group size of about 7-10 to thoroughly enjoy it. A lot of board games require you to know your teammate, but this game is such a great one for all. It comes with an app to facilitate the game, so everyone can play; use the music though because if it's too quiet you'll start to hear other people's movements!