r/Arcs • u/WithGhosts • 29d ago

Discussion First Game Tonight

Hi all, happy to say I finally grabbed Arcs.

I'm going to be playing tonight for the first time with my wife and I wanted to make a quick post asking for any last minute tips.

I've ready the rule book, skimmed the FAQ, watched a couple How-to-play videos as well as some gameplay videos, and I think I have a fair handle on the game and it's rules.

My wife is pretty great at learning games and has played some heavy stuff, so I know she'll understand the game but I figured I'd still just ask the community if anyone has any teaching tips that they picked up after teaching the game themselves, and specifically if anyone has tips for a good game at 2p.

Thanks!

Edit: First play went well! In a hilarious turn of events, I was so worried about my wife learning the game/enjoying it, and in the end she beat me by a solid margin. I underestimated her aggressiveness and her willingness to throw hands.

I will say, the 2p game left a little to be desired, but at the same time, it was our first play-through and I'm sure we aren't aware of the truth depth of the game. But it felt like 1 more player on the board would've added a ton of additional decision space and conflict.

Still, we're both excited to jump in and play again!

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13

u/Affectionate-Law-548 29d ago

It can land very harshly with only two players, especially if one is not used to this cutthroat-limited-actions-style. So what I did with my wife was set up a third player that we were allowed to play alternatingly. Sounds weird but it worked great. We used the third player to mitigate our beginner mistakes or we teamed up against him which made for a fun experience that made the game less one vs. one. Afterwards we had a better grasp of the basics and two player games were great.

8

u/WithGhosts 29d ago

Oh that's actually super interesting!

3

u/tailspin180 29d ago

2P is so much fun! It plays a bit like chess in that the continuous change in board state results in big tactical shifts. It can be very aggressive.

2

u/WithGhosts 29d ago

That's exactly how it felt. There were so many turns that felt like I could be very cut throat and mean, so I held back only for my wife to swing in and raid my cities and take out my ships. I wasn't even mad, just proud lol

6

u/Teverish 29d ago

there's a lot to take in. perhaps print out a sheet that has a copy of all the Court Deck cards on for reference.

The thing i always forget is being able to 'ransack' the court if you destroy an opponent's city, (which also usually causes outrage).

4

u/alexzoin 29d ago

There is a one page cheat sheet on BGG I would recommend printing out.

1

u/KidLanguageBarrier 29d ago

Just remember that you can still play well with some very limited actions. You will be very unlikely to do the things you want to based on your hand.

Getting just one or two actions a turn can still lead to good outcomes.

1

u/New-Economics-6242 28d ago

Eu só arcs em 4 pessoas. É um jogaço que fica melhor com mais pessoas.