u/howay_archie

I've been thinking about what makes negotiation mechanics work well in board games. I've played Cosmic Encounter quite a bit and really enjoy it, but I often find the negotiation isn't as central as I'd like. Deals can sometimes feel optional rather than essential.

For those who've played a range of negotiation-heavy games, what do you think makes a negotiation game truly great? Which games do you think have the most interesting diplomacy, alliances, and deal-making, and what mechanics make those interactions feel meaningful?

Very torn here between these two games, definitely want to get one of them but no idea which to drop my hard earned cash on.

There's a few things I’d like to get some opinions on if that's OK?

Are both games still fun to play once you've completed the scenarios?

I've heard Massive Darkness 2 has some fiddly mechanics and is to easy, how true is this?

Does one game promote table talk better than the other?

Cthulu: FTU looks like it has fewer mechanics but is it still fun and possible to come up with interesting strategies?

And which one will have the players thinking more? I like games when they aren't mindless and require a bit more co-operation and careful thinking on how to overcome the scenarios.

And ultimately which is the most fun to play?

Thanks for your help guys. These two games do seem very similar and my local cafe sadly doesn’t have either. Any other thoughts and opinions on both these games or even superior alternatives is much appreciated.

Hey, my group of 6 really enjoys the games we play that have a lot of table talk. All of these games, however, are some form of social deduction or traitor mechanic.

Not against having a new game like this that changes up the formula, and was wondering if there were any other games out there that promote table talk that aren't traitor based, which people could recommend? Providing these games are still easy to get a hold of and still in print and can accommodate 6 people.

The social deduction games we have are:

Resistance

Coup

Avalon

Feed the Kraken

Burn the Witch

One night Werewolf