Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics

[Agamon]

I'm strangely excited for this one. A bunch of games I've never had a chance to play, mixed with a bunch of games I haven't played since I was a kid.

 

Looks like it's reviewing pretty well, too. Can't wait!

[digdugnate]

Mrs. Digdug is pretty excited, too.   Not really my cup of tea, but she totally digs stuff like that.

[Steven Pendleton]

I'm interested to see how good the shogi AI is. I don't expect this thing to have world-class level AI and there are a few dedicated shogi-only games on the system for about the same price as this collection, but I'm still interested in considering this as an option since it comes with a lot of other games, as well. If anyone here knows how to play shogi and is going to get this, I'm very interested in learning how good it is here.

[Agamon]

Never played Shogi, so I would likely be a lesser opponent than the AI.  Looking forward to learning the Asian games, Hanafuda, Riichi, Takoyaki.  I know Go, but both that and Hearts are not included, which is a bit confusing.  Instead, we get the worst board game ever created, Ludo (aka Sorry/Trouble). Monopoly is chess compared to that game....

[Tanooki]

I'm slightly interested, but only because of a lot of the overlap with the decade plus old DS original and its games.  Most of this is a re-release with more added to it and it's fantastic what is for offer.  My concern isn't the price, and even despite the lower starting value Walmart still in store is taking another $10 off so it's handheld traditional cheap too.  I just am uncertain I'd pull out my switch to bother which I guess is sad.  The non-card stuff on that row with the bowling and stuff, those games are DS carry overs mostly and amazingly well done and robust for the little selection there.

[digdugnate]

as an aside, we've been trying to buy it for two days now but cannot since the E-Shop isn't accepting credit card payments.  ?

 

we get a generic maintenance error message.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 minute ago, digdugnate said:

as an aside, we've been trying to buy it for two days now but cannot since the E-Shop isn't accepting credit card payments.  ?

 

we get a generic maintenance error message.

Get a prepaid eshop card from Amazon and try that, maybe.

[Steven Pendleton]

So there is a demo for this and I tried it. It lets you play 4 games and I already forgot what 2 of them are, but 2 of them are slot cars and dominoes. I only played slot cars, though. The demo does contain the tutorials for all 51 games and piano, though, so you can go watch them if you want.

[masschamber]

On 6/2/2020 at 10:06 AM, Agamon said:

Never played Shogi, so I would likely be a lesser opponent than the AI.  Looking forward to learning the Asian games, Hanafuda, Riichi, Takoyaki.  I know Go, but both that and Hearts are not included, which is a bit confusing.  Instead, we get the worst board game ever created, Ludo (aka Sorry/Trouble). Monopoly is chess compared to that game....

shogi is really easy to understand once you try it, it has some neat things like dropping captured pieces back on the cart, everything except the king and gold generals have promotions

[Agamon]

I went to perorder it last night and it was already released, so I play a quick game of backgammon. Beat the normal AI, but it made some smart moves.

[Agamon]

1 hour ago, masschamber said:

shogi is really easy to understand once you try it, it has some neat things like dropping captured pieces back on the cart, everything except the king and gold generals have promotions

Hopefully. Riichi sure doesn't look simlple...

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Agamon

[digdugnate]

Mrs. Digdug played the game for about an hour before she went back to bed this morning.  She was really happy with the package and presentation.

 

She did note that there were several games she had never heard of, lol, so those will be tackled at another time.  She spent an hour between the games but was predominantly playing Solitaire Mahjong.

[Steven Pendleton]

Anyway, yeah, shogi is easy. If you can play chess, you can play shogi. After learning how to play shogi, you'll probably never want to play chess again, anyway.

[Hwlngmad]

Definitely this is the type of collection that I could really sink my teeth into nowadays given my time constraints.  It looks like a great games package and should sell really well and help to further boast the Switch's status with all types of gamers.

[masschamber]

4 hours ago, Agamon said:

Hopefully. Riichi sure doesn't look simlple...

 

Hanafuda is squirrelly too, 

Shogi is no more complicated than chess

3 options each turn

1. Move

2. Drop a captured piece

3. Promote a piece in your opponents territory  (3 rows on the far side of the board) if you didn't when they arrived thier

I forget if winning is capturing the king or checkmate, bit that's not a huge difference is it?

Then just learn how the pieces and  their promotion's (all promotions are the same but 2) move,  no special cases for capturing or special moves 

[Asaki]

I might have to pick this up whenever I get a Switch...we used to have a lot of fun with the original, though that may have been more because of the beefed up Pictochat that was included

Edited June 5, 2020 by Asaki

[Steven Pendleton]

5 hours ago, masschamber said:

I forget if winning is capturing the king or checkmate, bit that's not a huge difference is it?

Traditionally, and technically, shogi has no check or checkmate, and the way to win is to actually kill him. That said, players do recognize the conditions that would result in check and checkmate in chess, and rather than play to the end, the loser will typically resign either upon reaching what would be checkmate in chess or upon recognizing a situation that will inevitably lead to such a position and can't be avoided.

[masschamber]

54 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Traditionally, and technically, shogi has no check or checkmate, and the way to win is to actually kill him. That said, players do recognize the conditions that would result in check and checkmate in chess, and rather than play to the end, the loser will typically resign either upon reaching what would be checkmate in chess or upon recognizing a situation that will inevitably lead to such a position and can't be avoided.

Probably explains why I didn't remember because I remember reading about how players will surrender 

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, masschamber said:

Probably explains why I didn't remember because I remember reading about how players will surrender 

Yeah, and most shogi video games that I have played actually (and, technically, incorrectly) have check and checkmate mechanics. Yes, this is basically how shogi is played now, but it's technically incorrect, as you are supposed to actually take the piece to win, and you can't actually do that with check and checkmate mechanics in place. Still, it doesn't matter much since most players will resign at that point anyway.

 

A note to beginning shogi players: not promoting a few types of pieces can be beneficial, like the silver generals. Most of the time, but not always, they are better as silver generals than as their promoted form, which is identical to the gold general. There are exceptions, of course, like if you want sideways movement upon reaching the promotion zone to attack an important adjacent piece, but for the most part, I leave my silver generals as silver generals since they are better at retreating, making them better for offense than the gold general, which is basically the silver general's promoted form.

[digdugnate]

i downloaded the demo, though I think it's kind of strange it calls it the 'Guest Pass', lol.  The demo lets you play Dominoes, Connect Four, Slot Car Racing, and Presidents- it also lets you play any of the 51 games via Local Play with someone that owns the game (in my case Mrs. Digdug).

 

The demo is pretty neat.    I do find the sounds of the dominoes and checkers pretty satisfying.

[roots.genoa]

31 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

I think it's kind of strange it calls it the 'Guest Pass', lol.

Because its main purpose is to make it easy to play with several systems (required for card games where each player needs their own screen), without having to buy multiple games, like the "share play" feature of the DS. The 4 games included as a demo is a bonus.

[Tupin]

I really enjoy this one. Way easier than setting up a board game.

[roots.genoa]

I'm disappointed by the lack of Battleship, which was included in the DS game. Options were not great though, but they had the opportunity to make it better.

 

I guess it was a license problem, since it's a more specific game concept that must belong to Hasbro. While Uno, for instance, has always been a dedicated card set to play Crazy Eights.

[digdugnate]

3 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I'm disappointed by the lack of Battleship, which was included in the DS game. Options were not great though, but they had the opportunity to make it better.

 

I guess it was a license problem, since it's a more specific game concept that must belong to Hasbro. While Uno, for instance, has always been a dedicated card set to play Crazy Eights.

I'm wondering on the specifics, though. essentially you are looking for coordinates on your opponent's playing field- i would think you could adapt the gameplay to about anything.

[roots.genoa]

20 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

I'm wondering on the specifics, though. essentially you are looking for coordinates on your opponent's playing field- i would think you could adapt the gameplay to about anything.

I guess Hasbro precisely patented the "coordinates" part ("a game in which each player tries to guess the coordinates of their opponent's pieces by calling them in alternate turns" for instance) rather than the "lore" of the game...