I played 3rd. When I was board gaming the most was like 2010ish when I was living with a gen x hippie with a house and open door for pals to come by. It was the board gaming place after the nerd shops shut down. He had a shitload of em and there was always at least one gsme happening. I liked 3 with the expansions he had, they just added areas on to the board and a few other win conditions, I think, neber played without em, I think it was the dungeon and highland expansions. Pvp mostly became a factor toward the end. I remember it being super fun as a 2 player game cause it went back and forth super fast and you both got to sorta level up for a final battle with each other, cause we decided regardless of what win condition we got, we had to beat the other player as well. It was also fun as hell with a big group but in a different way, good party vibes.

My favorite of all time is cosmic encounter. Is there a good online version yet? During the birth of hexbear an online diplomacy game was attempted but half the players ghosted. Id love to get some Hexbear diplomacy going. It works better online where you can DM or make public posts, you dont totally know each other and therefore cant do the personal level of manipulation that can make in person diplomacy with friends potentially rough, I have totally used real life stuff when playing to set people against each other, a roommate alliance must always be nipped in the bud and bringing up the dishes always gets the job done. Can't do that online so it's easier to stay friendly and it changes the dynamic. Plus a week between turns or so and playing over the course of most of a year just fits the game well. It feels like you're representing a nation with other diplomats you dont really know personally. I know there's online talisman but it sucks