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Lol that's pretty cool!

Sooooon.... very sooon (hopefully) I will write about the first game I had
I will try and give it some priority.

S.

Cool.

Yeah, I need to find some more shots of the pink Necron menace; he's added some more and nicer-painted models to it.

Here's a brief summary of the gameplay:

Each player has a hand of seven cards. On each player's turn, the player draws a card from either the face-down ("school") or face-up ("field") piles, plays any "captures" and/or event/character cards, then discards one card to the field pile. A capture contains one of each of a location card, capture card, and girl card. When the suites match, it's a "noble capture." When they don't, it's a "sloppy capture." The difference is that you can include up to two more girl cards in a noble capture. And when any player makes a noble capture, "mayhem" results -- turn order reverses, the capturing player can steal a card from another player's hand, etc. Players must play event cards immediately upon drawing them, creating more wacky results (switching hands, for example). The game ends when four event cards have been played. The players determine their victory points based on how many girl cards are in their captures against the girl cards still in their hand. Regular girl cards are worth 1 point and "all-star" girl cards are worth 5.

And my impressions:

The pastel presentation, light innuendo, and pretty manga girls belie a game that actually requires clever tactics and attention to detail. At the beginning of your turn, for example, you can draw any card (not just the top card) from the field pile but (1) you have to take all the cards on top of it and (2) you must immediately use that card to play a noble capture. So players should be watching the field deck pretty closely, especially when they have played enough captures to have few or no cards left in their hand. The character cards, which create effects relative to players and/or their captures (like forcing a player to make only make noble captures), can also make for some pretty interesting combinations. The rules seem to have been thoughtfully considered and to allow for wacky but still tactical play -- that's where this game earns it's 4.5/5 stars from me.

So where's the missing half-star? The game is a bit lacking on production quality and design. Although the cards themselves aren't nearly as flimsy as I had feared, Soda Pop could stand to learn from FFG -- thicker cards with textured coating (no idea what the technical terms are) are more suitable to a game where the same cards will be used again and again. In that same vein, the oversized box is pretty but also pretty non-functional and cheap. The art on the cards meets but does not exceed my expectations (although I am no connoisseur of manga or anime art) and yet it is heavily repetitious: some girl cards in a given suite have different names/flavor text but the same image. Finally, the overall card design seems amateurish instead of stylish. On the other hand, all the information you need to understand the card is present.

All in all, I am VERY glad to have invested in/pre-ordered this game. It was good fun and I'll definitely play it again. That said, the theme and style of the game are slightly distracting to me. That's not because Tentacle Bento is a manifestation of rape culture -- which is arguable in the same way that any political issue is arguable -- but because it's a bit shallow compared to the depth of play. I'm not saying Tentacle Bento is a tense, serious game. I was surprised, however, that it's far, far less feeble than Cthulhu Dice or Uno. YMMV, probably depending on how much you like manga/anime. To me, these rules would be absolutely perfect for the Great Game theme with Khornate, Slaaneshi, Nurglish, and Tzeentchian suites. To be honest, I don't know if I have the willpower to resist attempting a port ...

I feel the Warp overtaking me ...

Awesome to see you tackling the haters sharazad!
I'll be watching this thread, the game itself looks quite intriguing but I don't think I'll ever pick it up, I like my girlfriend where she is she would be 'fond' shall we say

Nice review Manchu, gives an insight to the game that could be useful should some of my friends who love manga might be interested I'll point them this way, exalted!

Thanks Scotti -- just to clarify, I think most gamers will like this for its rules. Whether the theme attracts or repels is a separate issue, IMO.

Regarding the theme on this, and generally what's already been said, I would give it a pretty big pass.

yeah,
Great write up manchu.
I played the game against Sharazad a week or so ago, and we took some photos of the game in action. (her write up should happen soon!)

 Manchu wrote:
...So players should be watching the field deck pretty closely, especially when they have played enough captures to have few or no cards left in their hand...

This.
I under estimated the field and regarded it as a discard pile. This ment that I was burning through my cards quite quickly. and soon ended up with no cards in hand and was at the mercy of the field and draw pile... which wasn't so much fun. But once you know how to use the field it can be a great resource.

I need more practice and will like to play again... I rate the game Four Tentacles out of Five .. 4/5
It loses my fifth love tentacle because I thought there should be a better way out of the no card rut I found my self in twice, the option to skip a turn to draw three cards or something like that.

Panic...

 Sharazad wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
Thanks for posting these pics' Sharazad. I am anxiously awaiting a copy from Soda Pop -- but still haven't received any shipping notification. How is the card quality? IIRC, Soda Pop's Super Dungeon Explore had some pretty flimsy ones.

I am pleased with the quality. The Shiny cards are a bit dark maybe, but that's just trying to complain I guess. There where no chips, they're quite big and quality print.
Only thing that slightly annoys me is that, as soon as you take the wrapping of the box and the cards, you'll find the cards being slightly to much for the box when you try and
put them back. So now I need to find a new box to put them in, but had to do that anyway as my shiny cards came separately. Nothing wrong with making a customized box I suppose.

With Super Dungeon Explorer it was a bit frustrating that most of them don't quite fit. I can't be bothered with green stuffing all the gaps, it will have to do with what it is.

 Ahtman wrote:
I don't remember anyone saying the cards would make people commit rape, just some people felt that it makes light of being raped. It is certainly easier to argue against the former than the latter so I could understand why people would choose to pretend that was the issue.

There where some journalists who blew the story even more than others. I guess they wanted their story to be read.
But as they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. I did google a lot of what people where saying about it, don't even know
why.
I guess I did agree most with some people who said it was unfortunate that, that was the game being kicked off kickstarter as there where a lot of
other games with far more sexual content. The people who wanted it off really did their best giving it as much 'mud' as they could (sorry couldn't think of a better word than mud hahaha)

 gregor_xenos wrote:
Looks like fun. Off to order.

Yay



S.

This isn't meant to sound aggressive but can you actually back up the statement in bold with actual exampls? Because I find it hard to believe.

 Shlazaor wrote:
This isn't meant to sound aggressive but can you actually back up the statement in bold with actual exampls? Because I find it hard to believe.

I got my copy of TB last week, and I'm still trying to find the sexual content. There is a lot of cheesecake and anime girls in short skirts with the same underwear, but I'm finding a hard time looking for implicit sexual content.

 Alfndrate wrote:

 Shlazaor wrote:
This isn't meant to sound aggressive but can you actually back up the statement in bold with actual exampls? Because I find it hard to believe.

I got my copy of TB last week, and I'm still trying to find the sexual content. There is a lot of cheesecake and anime girls in short skirts with the same underwear, but I'm finding a hard time looking for implicit sexual content.

Right but it's still a game about kidnapping attractive anime chicks. I am unaware of any games that would be considered "more sexual" than that on Kickstarter.

How about Bombshell Babes? Defining "sexual" content is tricky -- and more importantly, off-topic. Any way, the (supposed) point wasn't that Tentacle Bento had sexual content but rather that it trivialized rape. As I already mentioned, we will not be retreading that argument ITT. This thread is about the game, not the politics. If you have any more specific comments along the political lines, feel free to PM but remember that you still have to follow the site rules in PMs.

I'm trying to find people to play the game with me

Most of my friends only enjoy Magic as their card game of choice, and the only other person I know that has this game I haven't seen in weeks... :(

Sorry about going off topic Manchu.

So yeah, I brought my sheets of the first game on my holiday to write a review so that will be done one of these days (gosh I'm lazy sorry for that)
And I brought the game with me! So I can bother my friends in the local game store to play a game with me and hopefully update some more

That is all

xxx

 Alfndrate wrote:
only enjoy Magic

I would not let them get away with that argument. Tentacle Bento isn't in the same category as Magic. Turning down a game of TB because Magic is your favorite card game is like turning down a game of Axis & Allies because Monopoly is your favorite board game. TB takes about a minute to learn and about twenty to play. Despite being more complex, it's like UNO in terms of ease of set-up and lack of investment.

 Manchu wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
only enjoy Magic

I would not let them get away with that argument. Tentacle Bento isn't in the same category as Magic. Turning down a game of TB because Magic is your favorite card game is like turning down a game of Axis & Allies because Monopoly is your favorite board game. TB takes about a minute to learn and about twenty to play. Despite being more complex, it's like UNO in terms of ease of set-up and lack of investment.

I'm trying lol

Eventually I'll tempt them... I just need to get my japanese-obsessed friend in the room at the same time.

Blargh just waiting for this to go retail, any news or thoughts what sort of price tag will be on this?

Took Tentacle Bento to my university with me this past weekend (while visiting some friends). The box was covered in the anime/manga style art, and several of my friends immediately started fawning over it. We played three games, and this girl ended up winning all three times. They enjoyed it, and were loving the art, flavor text, and just the crazy combinations, like capturing Kimiko in the Trophy Hall while Crossing Swords. It almost became kind of a story about how we were creating captures.

A very fun game, they also loved the warning label on the back that says not for children lol

Damn i want this to hit retail already T_T

Has anyone noticed quality of the cards seeming to be lacking? One of my Sporty Locations has a corner splitting on the card already...

 Alfndrate wrote:
Has anyone noticed quality of the cards seeming to be lacking?

Yep, see my review above. I was happy that they were not worse (as reported with Super Dungeon Explore).

 Manchu wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Has anyone noticed quality of the cards seeming to be lacking?

Yep, see my review above. I was happy that they were not worse (as reported with Super Dungeon Explore).

>_< Dur I read that too lol

I know that when I got a demo of this game at Origins, Soda Pop had these awesome pink sleeves with the Tentacle Bento logo on it... They haven't released them, because apparently they're not cost effective (I mean you still can't even buy TB in their store).

Perhaps these could be a good substitute: http://www.amazon.com/MOE-Kanokon-Japanese-Trading-Sleeve/dp/B001NMTY0G/ref=pd_sxp_redirect

 Alfndrate wrote:

 Manchu wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Has anyone noticed quality of the cards seeming to be lacking?

Yep, see my review above. I was happy that they were not worse (as reported with Super Dungeon Explore).

>_< Dur I read that too lol

I know that when I got a demo of this game at Origins, Soda Pop had these awesome pink sleeves with the Tentacle Bento logo on it... They haven't released them, because apparently they're not cost effective (I mean you still can't even buy TB in their store).

Perhaps these could be a good substitute: http://www.amazon.com/MOE-Kanokon-Japanese-Trading-Sleeve/dp/B001NMTY0G/ref=pd_sxp_redirect

Tanto Caru, or however you spell it, has a line of sleeves that would probably work well. It would have been nice to have coated linen cards but thats more wishlisting then a deal breaker.

My experiance with the game is that, it's fun with the right group. I find its more fun because of the humor generated by the game then by actual gameplay. For me atleast the gameplay was lacking with a few holes, the game can drag on and if you ever happen to play out your hand your pretty much stuck until you get ahold of someone elses.

Yeah, I don't think you should have to discard your final card if it's the last thing in your hand. I might house rule that, because there was a few turns where I was on a tear, getting 2 and 3 girl noble captures (the girls were being placed in the field pile, and I happened to have locations and captures for a few of them) and suddenly I'm out, and the girl that won, got several all-stars while I was cardless.

House Rule:
Should a player ever begin a turn with no cards in their hand, they may take their turn as normal, but they do not have to discard it at the end of their turn.

That house rule would actually solve alot of things in the game. Tonight is one of my board game nights, and this happens to be one of the games I brought. I think I'm actually going to try out this rule as well as play stopping at a predetermined number of points.

 Catyrpelius wrote:
That house rule would actually solve alot of things in the game. Tonight is one of my board game nights, and this happens to be one of the games I brought. I think I'm actually going to try out this rule as well as play stopping at a predetermined number of points.

Question: I haven't looked through it, but are you playing with the holo promo cards? There are 1 or 2 holo event cards that makes sure you're getting through the game at a decent pace. We almost always drew 1 of them, and we never got close. Though there is a good chance the game ends when the Final Exams event is pulled simply because you're haveing 14 to 42 cards get drawn at a single time, someone is bound to get an event card.

Let me know how that House Rule works, if you try it

yeah,

 Catyrpelius wrote:
the game can drag on and if you ever happen to play out your hand your pretty much stuck until you get ahold of someone elses.

This was the problem that I had in my first two games.

Every turn you must draw 1 card and at the end of the turn discard 1 card. net gain zero cards.

The major problem is that captures requires at least one card from your hand, if your not gaining cards from the field, you will run out of cards.
The only way to not lose cards is when capturing is to pass your turns and hold your cards until the field grows and enables you to make a capture that also nets field card(s) to hand...

Once you have a empty hand you are at the mercy/luck of the draw pile and the field.
Draw - Does my new card let me make a capture?
Yes = Capture and possibly net some cards Yay!
No = Discard new card onto field end of turn- back to no cards Boo! Doing this 5-10 turns in a row is boring!

But there are several other things that can happen via characters and Events. but waiting for these or a capture can be a disheartening and boring.
Waiting on pure chance for a card to come up in a tactical game is weak sauce!
Every card draw should have a chance of helping... even if the card just sits in your hand making it stronger (mtg land cards can be held or played providing power via mana or discard)

I also see the problem with the compulsory discard. I can see It's a necessary mechanic to grow the field.
I can think of lots of fixes/ house rules so that it doesn't deplete a players hand..
1) Everyone always draws 2 at the start and discards 1 at the end of turn - if you dont do anything at least you have gained a single card? Hands get bigger & the field grows.
2) A player with no cards in hand draws 2 cards instead of 1 - Things would move a little faster for that player... and thus be a little less boring.
3) At the start of a turn the field draws until it has at least 7 cards - replenishes a previously used field... giving the 1 card drawn a chance of being useful?

But these are things I'd prefer were actual rules play tested by soda pop...
House Rules should be for creating fun twists to a game like 'fines go into free parking'
House Rules shouldn't be needed to fix a game!

Panic...

I also ran into this "problem" but I don't think it's a problem. The issue is that you need to watch the field carefully. Remember, you are not compelled to play captures. There are risks inherent to doing so and not doing so.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Panic wrote:
Waiting on pure chance for a card to come up in a tactical game is weak sauce!

What do you mean by "tactical game"?

 Manchu wrote:
I also ran into this "problem" but I don't think it's a problem. The issue is that you need to watch the field carefully. Remember, you are not compelled to play captures. There are risks inherent to doing so and not doing so.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Panic wrote:
Waiting on pure chance for a card to come up in a tactical game is weak sauce!

What do you mean by "tactical game"?

I agree in principle, I think hand management was ment to be a pretty important part of the game. The problem is, is that players hands change in this game from time to time. It's fairly easy to play in such a way that during your turn you play your entire hand and then purposly pass off an empty hand. Getting stuck with an empty hand in this game makes it drag.

Alf, I haven't play with the holo foil cards. I have a hard time reading them for whatever reason and for simplicity sake usually just leave them out. I might have to add them in though.

They are a pain in the arse to read, it made them impossible to read across the table, I'm debating about removing all buy the event cards, because some of the characters like Sgt. Dick Wulf makes for a pain (lost an all-star because of him), and some of the sexy all-stars can do crazy things (like stealing other girls from your opponent's capture and adding it to hers).

I think the only characters that should be in the game atm are Candy and Cola (though there is a foil Universal All-star Candy and Cola that removes the character Candy and Cola from the game when you capture her), tako-tako the squid that only lets you play noble captures, and the janitor that only lets you play sloppy captures. And maybe heather (I can't remember if she's foil or not)

I'm not that familiar with the Holofoil cards, I looked at them once, saw that they were pretty but hard to read then put them back in the box. I might have to give them another glance if there are extra events.