This is the same for me. Feel like a collection of half-baked attempts at mechanics from too many other games. The five turn limit is to short to do anything interesting with them, and makes it so the winner of the game is basically decided after turn 1. I like the theme and there are lots of games that are technically worse, but it just feels kinda mediocre and dull.

I read the manual and then I search the internet for any rule unclarity to se if there is an answer (errata, FAQ, community consensus). Almost never watch videos, don’t learn from them as well as I do from reading. Usually read the rules if I’m going to introduce someone new to the game even if someone previously explained it live. Have had to many cases of someone teaching the rules wrong, to blindly trust someone (except like one other person I know who is usually correct about everything)

Basically you just use the cardbacks to make them indistinguishable from a normal card then put a note in if using sleeves (that way they are reusable as other cards) or write on them if not (but then they are obviously not reusable as other cards). You can find descriptions for all the cards released on arkhamdb.com and you can set the language to German. I have done so myself to be able to include a few cards from circle undone which came at a time when I did not have time to play the game and I have been waiting for the re-release of.

Obviously not as nice as having the real cards and unless you are using sleeves you can’t do it for every card, but a cheap way to use that one card you really want to have in your deck without buying a whole expansion for it.

The new campaign/investigator sets would be the cheapest. Some scenarios are really hard to find even in English. On a budget i would recommend the investigator set for dunwich as it really fleshes out a lot of the classes. Together with the card from the old carcosa deluxe it should allow for some decent deckbuilding. I would also suggest using the playercards from the Dunwich deluxe box as proxies for cards you really want to use in your deck from later sets. That way you have playercards for a long time while you get the new complete campaign in release order.

If you want some more playercards after that the starting investigators are quite good value.

I like painting almost as much as playing the games 😅.

Don’t be scared to try it out, just watch some video to learn the basics and then try it out yourself. It’s surprisingly easy if you know some of the basic techniques. Prime your minis, use thin layers of paint, look up how to dry brush, and get a wash for shadows. Then you can start adding other techniques as you get better.

Or if you want you could follow along a recipe from a video for your first mini, that way you know how it will look and can learn the colours and techniques yet be sure that the colour palette works.

Worst come worst it is possible to strip the paint, but I doubt it will come to that.

I find Azul really fun at 4 players, but only at 4 players, so I pretty much consider it a 4 player only game. It just doesn’t feel strategic enough at 3 and 2 players, too few tiles each round. So it is a game I often bring to boardgame meetups and pretty much never play on any other occasion.

I mostly buy games that can also be played two players (even if they are not the best at two players) because I know they will get a lot of play. Games that need more people to play I mostly play at board game night meetups, which i go to regularly. If it’s a good game with minis or is fun to make other custom stuff for I will most likely buy it too as I love crafting, painting and such.

Thanks for the recommendation! Was already contemplating anti-glare sleeves for shuffle-feel after some of my Youtube research. Was looking at the Arcane Tinmen matte sleeves but didn’t find anything about Gamegenic ones, they seem like a great choice!

Vanilla WoW, Celeste, and Mirrors Edge all makes me feel like when I played the games for the first time as soon as I hear them. Fantastic evocative soundtrack.

Two-handed Spirit Island by far. It’s one of my favourite co-op game too, although it’s a toss-up with ArkhamLCG in true co-op.

But I feel Beast and Claw or Jagged Earth is essential for the extra tokens and events, feels too static otherwise after a couple of plays.

Hive is the perfect outside game. My number one game to play on the beach or directly on the grass in a park as the whole game is made out of heavy plastic.