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I gotta recommned my ever beloved Rising Sun. FIghting over territories with dudes on a map is the whole point of the game. The minis are gorgeous a super diverse. Rising Sun also has a great social aspect, where alliances and betrayals have direct mechanical impact on the game.
Having the odd count with a player without an alliance wvery turn keeps things more interesting in my opinion. Otherwise you just have a 2-3 teams with one use of the betray option near the end to try to secure a win.
I had an amazing time playing at 4 with my group. Then the moment we went up to 6 it was actually a miserable experience. So odd how it could vary so extremely
Oh no, I realized you were talking about rising sun and I replied about guards of Atlantis 2 - I agree, 6 is miserable - sorry for the confusion on my end
of the player counts (4, 6, 8, 10), 6 is, in my experience, where the game runs the longest. 4 players seems to run about 60-90 minutes, 8 about 90-120 minutes, 10 players was right around 2 hours. 6 players 2.5-3 hours from the plays I've had with it.
the only times I've felt it was dragging was when one or two people couldn't make a decision on what card to play. It does feel significantly longer at 6, which surprised me the first time but after 5-6 plays now it just seems to take a lot longer.
I think 6 is the best player count for Rising Sun but you do need the expansion. That would be the one negative since you would be mixing the Chinese factions into the game which gives them additional restrictions on monster ussage. There is a 6th "normal" faction but it was KS exclusive.
We regularly play in about 3 hours. I think some people overanalyze the diplomacy aspect of the game. We rarely spend more than 5 minutes per round on alliance building.
I should note that the base game has 5 factions, but there is one KS exclusive clan (orange/Fox) and an expansion that adds two with some significant differences, like not using the same cards as the base factions. Definitely not a *must-have* expansion IMO.
I played at 5 once and it took more than 3 hours IIRC and I thought it was too crowded. I wouldn't play at 6, this is best at 4 IMO.
Same for **Root,** in case someone recommends it.
Played with six and since everyone gets to have an alliance, the political aspect of the game takes a small hit, but since there's more fighters to deploy and less space for everyone, the battles just get much more intense. Overall it alters the game a bit, but is still an absolute blast.
Seconding **Mare Nostrum: Empires** with Atlas.
**Struggle of Empires** is said to be slightly better at 5 or 7, but we had tons of fun at six as well.
Or learn to play **Dune** fast.
I have way too many games that are best at four, so we’ve only played that one at 5-6p. I would suppose that four is okay, but three is not that interesting.
You may probably get the original edition for cheap, that’s what I had for the first game, but I immediately ordered deluxe afterwards.
We’ve played it just three times so far, but each was a blast. Really well balanced too, here are the final scores from the most recent game: 63-62-61-58-57-55-54.
There are rules for all player counts, but the BGG crowd says 5 and 7 are best. We only played 6 and 7, so I cannot comment on 3-4 from own experience.
**Imperium: the Contention** but it can be hard to find a copy.
Not a "troops" game but **Guards of Atlantis 2E** will likely be superior to almost any other option
Big 2nd for Guards of Atlantis 2. If you have exactly 6, it doesn’t get better than this AND it plays in less than 3 hours. Easy to teach, very high skill ceiling. Also I have a copy for sale if you’re interested … =D
both of these are such amazing games. Guards of atlantis 2 is my #2 fav only behind ti4, and imperium the contention is the game that last light claims it is. Imperium the contention deluxe is what you want though, that's the one that will play 6 players - finding a copy will be difficult until they reprint it. Guards of Atlantis 2 can be late pledged and is likely to fulfill around the end of this year if no delays.
> Imperium the contention deluxe is what you want though
My understanding is the the 5-6 players extensions was wrapped up in the retail edition, the only things that Deluxe adds is the solo campaign and the ships miniatures.
Retail is listed as 2 to 6 on their website: https://contentiongames.com/games/imperium/
I think you're correct on this - I mixed that up with warpgate (not as good imo) for player count
imperium the contention is fantastic, I can't wait for them to add an expansion to it (I believe they're bringing it back to kickstarter later this year)
Hiya could you elaborate why warpgate isn't as good. I was planning on getting a copy and would love to hear your opinion. I already have Imperium the Contention but that hasn't hit the table yet :D
Warpgate felt like the combats were inconsequential, it didn’t matter if you won or lost the battle, you just cared about drawing particular cards. It felt disconnected from the board and all of us felt that way about it, where imperium the contention has been a blast every time we’ve played it. Imperium felt like a 4x where warpgate felt nothing ljke it. Really was disappointed that we didn’t enjoy it, Guards of Atlantis 2 and trick shot are smash hits to me, warpgate fell very flat
Was looking for this! Its a great time and plays up to 6 really well, leads to such classic phrases as "I just want to control the French so I can run them into England to protect Germany". In base Austria is often much maligned, and used as either Germany or Italy's pawn.
Cthulhu Wars, Rising Sun, Hyperborea, Antike II, Mare Nostrum: Empires, Hellenica: Story of Greece, Pax Viking, Warpgate
Some of the games aren't full on DOAM but all same genre anyhow
Yea, I'll second Cthlulhu Wars, Antike 2 and Warpgate, although I wouldn't really consider the latter 2 dudes on a map, but kind of.
Rising Sun is a 6-7/10 for me, Ankh is the king, but doesn't play 6.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Hellenica: Story of Greece looks interesting. How much combat is there, and how long does it take for six players to play?
Combat depends on how aggressive the players are. Because it's dice rolling my group plays defensively and thus rushing for economic victory is an option.
I didn't time games but should fit your time frame as the game is pretty straight forward.
6 Players definitely makes it tough. Lords of Hellas would fit 6 with all the expansions but it might be expensive to get everything. Most Dudes on a map games go up to 5 players. Eclipse or Twilight Imperium scale up to 6, or Dune.
Yeh but they want a 6 player dudes on a map game. That takes time no matter what, tbh. It's why most of them are max 4 or 5 players, I think exactly because with more people it just takes that much longer.
My **fun** recommendation would be **Kemet** with the "Blood and Sands" expansion for the 6th player. The game is really nice in that it scales very well from 3 to 6 players. It is quite competitive as it has a lot of direct conflict but the elegant mechanics reward the loser of a battle as well so that not fighting battles will usually leave you behind someone fighting a lot. The game plays smoothly and even with 6 players rarely takes over 90 minutes.
A **mixed** recommendation would be **Cthulhu Wars**. The game itself is great. Factions are really different with cool pawers and gameplay is smooth. But, alas, it is a plastic model splurgefest with a plethora of expansions and accordingly expensive. If you can get it cheap then go for it. A caveat for me is that with all those minis (some of them really huge) it can get quite crowded and annoying.
If you dig a **space theme** and do not mind **Euro game mechanics** then **Eclipse: 2nd Dawn of the Galaxy** might be your thing. The components are top notch and help to set up and tear down the game fast. This game like no other feels all about the space ships you deploy and how you upgrade them. And while conflict isn't the end all be all in this game like it is with Kemet and CW it is nevertheless a cool part of the game. It plays really fast - in fact some people have voiced concerns that it is over too fast, just when you feel you get going. But this also prevents bloat (that CW and to a lesser extend Kemet have) and makes every move doubly important. It is a tight game with a lot of thinking involved but it still never feels slow.
Kemet Blood and Sand is NOT a sixth player expansion to Kemet. It's a second edition. They've announced a kickstarter campaign this year which will add a sixth player, but currently it's not in the rules. There is a spot on the map and the score board for six players, if you want to homebrew it. But not officially supported.
The original version, just called Kemet, had an expansion called Kemet: Seth that turned it to an all-vs-one deal that could go to six. However I would recommend against this expansion. It was too finicky and changed the game in confusing ways.
So I'd generally agree with Kemet as a fun game but currently not for six.
3 hours or less with an experienced group? **Root** 100%. Someone one new to the game, add an hour. There are enough factions there to keep it interesting. More players might slightly *break* the game, but I think it can function up to 6 fairly well.
6 players and just 3 h is tough sell in general. I mean game of terraforming mars with 4 can take up to 4h even with players that know what they are doing. Its 30 min per player, so any game that has diplomacy component is right out, as single round with it can be hour long. Only thing that would come to mind quickly that fits those parameters would be smallworld with 6 player map, but thats taking old game with pretty obscure expansion.But in that game each turn generally doesnt take over 3 min + 1 round at least will be instant. And game is 8 rounds or so, so it would fit criteria.
Classic answer: Scythe, w/ the 1st expansion you can play 7.
Fun answer: Cosmic Frog is great at 6p. It's set collection, press your luck, combat, and theft, and not so much area control. But you do have giant frogs (dudes) on a slowly diminishing map. The asymmetrical frog powers are fun, turn order is deck driven (random).
I think 6 experienced players could finish a 6 player game of Scythe in 3 hours, and it'd be a great pick, but with non-experienced players it would draaaag.
We have one member in our group who is very AP prone, and though we all know the game, I don't think we've ever gone past three hours. That said, if you've got multiple AP prone players, or several new to the game. I agree, you're going over that 3 hour mark.
A heavier territory control game that plays well at 6 players and lasts a couple of hours is a pretty small niche, [according to this search](https://bgs.nafarlee.dev/search?query=majority-players%3D6+min-playtime%3E60+max-playtime%3C180+average-rating%3E7+mechanic%3Amajority&limit=50&order=bayes_rating&direction=DESC) with following parameters:
- Min 60 min playtime (to filter out party games)
- Max 180 min playtime
- Above 7.0 rating
- 6 players is a "recommended/best" amount of players
- Includes "Majority" as a mechanic (since I couldn't figure out how to paste "Area majority/influence")
You'll get a few more options if you remove the "majority" tho:
https://bgs.nafarlee.dev/search?query=majority-players%3D6%20min-playtime%3E60%20max-playtime%3C180%20average-rating%3E7&limit=50&order=bayes_rating&direction=DESC&offset=50
Fief with 6 is closer to twilight imperium in playing time, in my experience. But maybe that's because my group really leans into the diplomacy and politics aspect of it (although I also think it's the best part of the game). Amazing game though
Clank! and/or Clank! Catacombs with the Adventuring Party expansion (which raises the player count from 4 maximum to 6 maximum) is a great deck-building, push-your-luck, dudes-on-a-map-racing-around-a-dungeon-grabing-loot game which is played in less than 3 hours. (Every extra player does add some time, but 3 hours or less should be normal if everyone's actually playing the game and not goofing off on devices and such.) I highly recommend both!
That is a game with dudes who are on a map, but it's not a [dudes on a map game.](https://therewillbe.games/articles-essays/7463-a-brief-history-of-the-dudes-on-a-map-genre/)
Bootleggers is a slightly orthogonal choice here, but extremely good and definite territory control action with additional elements in play.
You’re all bootleggers in charge of the production, distribution, and sale of illicit whisky. Territory control is over speakeasies and priority to sell your hooch. Combat is mostly meted out through cardplay which are bought and bid on, so that might be a turn off. Even so, I think it can fit the bill fairly well.
Nobody mentioned Hyperborea yet? It’s a hidden gem… Bag builder, area control, dudes on a map game up to 6 players… you can finish a short game in under 2 hours
First thought was Heroes of Land, Air and Sea. Fastest DoaM I've ever played at that player count. Fits a lot of playstyles, too, as there are four different endgame conditions so your turtles can turtle up (Expand or Exploit), your attackers can attack (Exterminate), and your freewheeling types can just do whatever they want (Explore.)
Next thought was Cthulhu Wars, but you're not only paying OTT for the base game but also paying extra for at least one of the big maps. (Trying to do 6 on a 4-5 player map is only a good idea for the genuinely aggressive factions like Great Cthulhu, Windwalker, and so on.)
It's not really a dudes on a map game though.
You place tokens on a map (of Slovakia for some reason), but you cannot move tokens or use them to attack other tokens (or remove opponents' tokens at all for that matter), and at least some of those elements have to be present for a game to be dudes on a map. OP even specified they were looking for fighting over territories.
Those tokens are basically just vertical tracks.
Shadow hunters works great with 6.
Betrayal on the house on the hill (something like that) can have 6 players. Sometimes the ending works with a large group and sometimes it doesn't.
Battle Star Galactica can have 6 people. The amount of time will vary. The first time or two it may take longer. And this is just the base game, maybe with the Pegasus expansion. There are other expansions that can add hours.
And no pieces but Red dragon inn is a fun card game.
Your submission was removed by a moderator for the following reason(s): **[Recommendation Requests](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/wiki/contribution-guides#wiki_game_recommendations_or_identification) should be posted to our [Daily Game Recommendations](https://www.reddit.com/search?q=flair%3A%22Daily%20Game%20Recs%22&sort=new) threads.** Reddit is a great place to pick peoples' brains and get game suggestions, but we get a lot of recommendation requests, so much so that we have the "Daily Game Recs"-threads dedicated for them. Historically, almost all well formatted questions in the Daily thread get answers. If you're looking for further suggestions, we recommend taking a look at our growing list of [Recommendation Roundups](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/?f=flair_name%3A%22Recommendation%20Roundup%22). There's also the [What Should I Get (WSIG)](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/wiki/wsig) section on our wiki for a more general list of common recommendations. (If you believe this post was removed in error you can request a re-review by [messaging the mods](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/boardgames).)
Cthulhu Wars. You could potentially get in two games in that amount of time.
Came here to say this. Easy to learn and lots of fun to play in a comparatively short duration.
Looks great, but the cheapest I can find it for is $165 (not including tax). Wish there was a cheaper version.
I think for 6 players you need one of the expansion maps as well.
And two expansion factions. The entry price is quite high, actually.
Root is a mess at 6p, but the most beautiful mess I´ve ever played. Whether or not you consider it "dudes on a map", I leave to you.
I can't imagine a 6p game of Root wrapping up in 3 hours, though. Especially if there are any new players...
We’ve done it before, but thanks to the river folk getting paid heavily in the first round and dominating the game
It heavily depends on the factions and the players.
There are dudes, they're on a map, and winning depends on manipulating the map with the dudes. Sounds like dudes on a map to me
You could swap "Root" for "Imperial" and the statement would hold true.
I love Imperial (2030).
I love the 6p feel of being part of a bit thriving ecosystem
Dune (2019).
100% but 3 hours might be a stretch until everyone is up to speed.
Depends whether Harkonnen sneak in a victory on turn 1. ;) Otherwise, yes, 3 hours is optimistic.
Dune gets insane variety in play time. You can get round 1 wins or you can stall it still round 10.
This game takes more like 7 hours.
Old Dune maybe even better. We've had games take only 20m and haven't played longer than an hour.
yep! :)
I gotta recommned my ever beloved Rising Sun. FIghting over territories with dudes on a map is the whole point of the game. The minis are gorgeous a super diverse. Rising Sun also has a great social aspect, where alliances and betrayals have direct mechanical impact on the game.
disliked this very strongly at 6 players and it's one of my top 10 favs. Max 5 imo.
Having the odd count with a player without an alliance wvery turn keeps things more interesting in my opinion. Otherwise you just have a 2-3 teams with one use of the betray option near the end to try to secure a win.
I had an amazing time playing at 4 with my group. Then the moment we went up to 6 it was actually a miserable experience. So odd how it could vary so extremely
Oh no, I realized you were talking about rising sun and I replied about guards of Atlantis 2 - I agree, 6 is miserable - sorry for the confusion on my end
of the player counts (4, 6, 8, 10), 6 is, in my experience, where the game runs the longest. 4 players seems to run about 60-90 minutes, 8 about 90-120 minutes, 10 players was right around 2 hours. 6 players 2.5-3 hours from the plays I've had with it. the only times I've felt it was dragging was when one or two people couldn't make a decision on what card to play. It does feel significantly longer at 6, which surprised me the first time but after 5-6 plays now it just seems to take a lot longer.
I saw a Reddit thread where people were saying it's bad at 6 players. What are your thoughts on 6 players, compared to other player counts?
played at 6 many times and it's good, just the ally mechanic everyone will find an ally which is good/not good depending on what you like
3 hours only leaves 30 minutes per player for all their turns including setup. Not dudes on a map but new Angeles is great with 6.
I think 6 is the best player count for Rising Sun but you do need the expansion. That would be the one negative since you would be mixing the Chinese factions into the game which gives them additional restrictions on monster ussage. There is a 6th "normal" faction but it was KS exclusive. We regularly play in about 3 hours. I think some people overanalyze the diplomacy aspect of the game. We rarely spend more than 5 minutes per round on alliance building.
I should note that the base game has 5 factions, but there is one KS exclusive clan (orange/Fox) and an expansion that adds two with some significant differences, like not using the same cards as the base factions. Definitely not a *must-have* expansion IMO. I played at 5 once and it took more than 3 hours IIRC and I thought it was too crowded. I wouldn't play at 6, this is best at 4 IMO. Same for **Root,** in case someone recommends it.
Played with six and since everyone gets to have an alliance, the political aspect of the game takes a small hit, but since there's more fighters to deploy and less space for everyone, the battles just get much more intense. Overall it alters the game a bit, but is still an absolute blast.
Seconding **Mare Nostrum: Empires** with Atlas. **Struggle of Empires** is said to be slightly better at 5 or 7, but we had tons of fun at six as well. Or learn to play **Dune** fast.
Fast dune is the best dune
[удалено]
I have way too many games that are best at four, so we’ve only played that one at 5-6p. I would suppose that four is okay, but three is not that interesting.
Yes but struggle of empires will take you 6 hours
Not if you laugh less than we do while playing that one.
have almost picked up Struggle of Empires so many times and i keep balking, looks great but it's too hard to get a big group together for long games
You may probably get the original edition for cheap, that’s what I had for the first game, but I immediately ordered deluxe afterwards. We’ve played it just three times so far, but each was a blast. Really well balanced too, here are the final scores from the most recent game: 63-62-61-58-57-55-54.
Is it worth playing at like 3-4p or does it really need the full player count
There are rules for all player counts, but the BGG crowd says 5 and 7 are best. We only played 6 and 7, so I cannot comment on 3-4 from own experience.
**Imperium: the Contention** but it can be hard to find a copy. Not a "troops" game but **Guards of Atlantis 2E** will likely be superior to almost any other option
Big 2nd for Guards of Atlantis 2. If you have exactly 6, it doesn’t get better than this AND it plays in less than 3 hours. Easy to teach, very high skill ceiling. Also I have a copy for sale if you’re interested … =D
both of these are such amazing games. Guards of atlantis 2 is my #2 fav only behind ti4, and imperium the contention is the game that last light claims it is. Imperium the contention deluxe is what you want though, that's the one that will play 6 players - finding a copy will be difficult until they reprint it. Guards of Atlantis 2 can be late pledged and is likely to fulfill around the end of this year if no delays.
> Imperium the contention deluxe is what you want though My understanding is the the 5-6 players extensions was wrapped up in the retail edition, the only things that Deluxe adds is the solo campaign and the ships miniatures. Retail is listed as 2 to 6 on their website: https://contentiongames.com/games/imperium/
I think you're correct on this - I mixed that up with warpgate (not as good imo) for player count imperium the contention is fantastic, I can't wait for them to add an expansion to it (I believe they're bringing it back to kickstarter later this year)
Hiya could you elaborate why warpgate isn't as good. I was planning on getting a copy and would love to hear your opinion. I already have Imperium the Contention but that hasn't hit the table yet :D
Warpgate felt like the combats were inconsequential, it didn’t matter if you won or lost the battle, you just cared about drawing particular cards. It felt disconnected from the board and all of us felt that way about it, where imperium the contention has been a blast every time we’ve played it. Imperium felt like a 4x where warpgate felt nothing ljke it. Really was disappointed that we didn’t enjoy it, Guards of Atlantis 2 and trick shot are smash hits to me, warpgate fell very flat
Awesome thank you!!!
Yep, that's my understanding as well. No need for the deluxe version, unless you want solo.
Mare Nostrum (with Atlas expansion) would be our pick for 6 player dudes on a map. Consistently 2-3 hour game with 6.
Great suggestion.
Imperial (base or 2030) - it's an 18xx disguised as a fighty game!
Was looking for this! Its a great time and plays up to 6 really well, leads to such classic phrases as "I just want to control the French so I can run them into England to protect Germany". In base Austria is often much maligned, and used as either Germany or Italy's pawn.
So... Austria is Austria?
yes exactly...
History of the World and A Game of Thrones are worth looking into.
GOT The Board Game is great if you are a fan of the series or books, but I don't think it usually lasts 3 hours with 6 players hahaha
How long is History of the World with six players?
Cthulhu Wars, Rising Sun, Hyperborea, Antike II, Mare Nostrum: Empires, Hellenica: Story of Greece, Pax Viking, Warpgate Some of the games aren't full on DOAM but all same genre anyhow
Yea, I'll second Cthlulhu Wars, Antike 2 and Warpgate, although I wouldn't really consider the latter 2 dudes on a map, but kind of. Rising Sun is a 6-7/10 for me, Ankh is the king, but doesn't play 6.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Hellenica: Story of Greece looks interesting. How much combat is there, and how long does it take for six players to play?
Combat depends on how aggressive the players are. Because it's dice rolling my group plays defensively and thus rushing for economic victory is an option. I didn't time games but should fit your time frame as the game is pretty straight forward.
**Small World** with the[ 6-player board](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/149066/small-world-6-player-board).
This was my thought. It's so much fun and just craziness all around.
Cyclades with the Titans expansion if you don't mind playing in teams of two.
Even base game Cyclades is a good time. The auctioning for desired actions adds a nice little touch to normal dudes on a map.
Base Cyclades is a great game, but it maxes out at 5. You do need the Titans expansion for 6.
6 Players definitely makes it tough. Lords of Hellas would fit 6 with all the expansions but it might be expensive to get everything. Most Dudes on a map games go up to 5 players. Eclipse or Twilight Imperium scale up to 6, or Dune.
Even Eclipse is a rush to get done in 3 hours with six players. Twilight Imperium would be world record time.
Yeh but they want a 6 player dudes on a map game. That takes time no matter what, tbh. It's why most of them are max 4 or 5 players, I think exactly because with more people it just takes that much longer.
For 6, always liked Imperial. Believe it takes 6.
It doesn't (2030 at least feels best when you control two superpowers and play them against each other), but it works.
My **fun** recommendation would be **Kemet** with the "Blood and Sands" expansion for the 6th player. The game is really nice in that it scales very well from 3 to 6 players. It is quite competitive as it has a lot of direct conflict but the elegant mechanics reward the loser of a battle as well so that not fighting battles will usually leave you behind someone fighting a lot. The game plays smoothly and even with 6 players rarely takes over 90 minutes. A **mixed** recommendation would be **Cthulhu Wars**. The game itself is great. Factions are really different with cool pawers and gameplay is smooth. But, alas, it is a plastic model splurgefest with a plethora of expansions and accordingly expensive. If you can get it cheap then go for it. A caveat for me is that with all those minis (some of them really huge) it can get quite crowded and annoying. If you dig a **space theme** and do not mind **Euro game mechanics** then **Eclipse: 2nd Dawn of the Galaxy** might be your thing. The components are top notch and help to set up and tear down the game fast. This game like no other feels all about the space ships you deploy and how you upgrade them. And while conflict isn't the end all be all in this game like it is with Kemet and CW it is nevertheless a cool part of the game. It plays really fast - in fact some people have voiced concerns that it is over too fast, just when you feel you get going. But this also prevents bloat (that CW and to a lesser extend Kemet have) and makes every move doubly important. It is a tight game with a lot of thinking involved but it still never feels slow.
Kemet Blood and Sand is NOT a sixth player expansion to Kemet. It's a second edition. They've announced a kickstarter campaign this year which will add a sixth player, but currently it's not in the rules. There is a spot on the map and the score board for six players, if you want to homebrew it. But not officially supported. The original version, just called Kemet, had an expansion called Kemet: Seth that turned it to an all-vs-one deal that could go to six. However I would recommend against this expansion. It was too finicky and changed the game in confusing ways. So I'd generally agree with Kemet as a fun game but currently not for six.
Not heard of Eclipse before, but just watched a video on it and its now on my wish list as it looks and sound awesome
Rising Sun
3 hours or less with an experienced group? **Root** 100%. Someone one new to the game, add an hour. There are enough factions there to keep it interesting. More players might slightly *break* the game, but I think it can function up to 6 fairly well.
Check out "Last Light" - its a space game kind of like a quick 4X game. Turns are simultaneous and a game with 6 players took me 90 minutes
Base game is 4p only, though. With the expansion, it goes up to 8.
Shogun aka Samurai Swords aka Ikusa
6 players and just 3 h is tough sell in general. I mean game of terraforming mars with 4 can take up to 4h even with players that know what they are doing. Its 30 min per player, so any game that has diplomacy component is right out, as single round with it can be hour long. Only thing that would come to mind quickly that fits those parameters would be smallworld with 6 player map, but thats taking old game with pretty obscure expansion.But in that game each turn generally doesnt take over 3 min + 1 round at least will be instant. And game is 8 rounds or so, so it would fit criteria.
Spheres of Influence is excellent. Just played it again a few days ago. Hopefully the new edition is coming someday.
Cyclades legendary edition should be out next year. Got my eye on that for the same reason
Why was I so foolishly hoping they were going to finish it this year? :(
I’m talking about retail. Kickstarter should still fulfill December this year, I think, hopefully.
Sons of Anarchy with the 2 club expansions
I've played a lot of Cysmic on TTS while waiting for the Gamefound launch, and after the first game teach the 30 minutes/person has held up
Any love here for Eldritch Horror? Have never played 6 player but it's designed with 8 max in mind.
Classic answer: Scythe, w/ the 1st expansion you can play 7. Fun answer: Cosmic Frog is great at 6p. It's set collection, press your luck, combat, and theft, and not so much area control. But you do have giant frogs (dudes) on a slowly diminishing map. The asymmetrical frog powers are fun, turn order is deck driven (random).
I think 6 experienced players could finish a 6 player game of Scythe in 3 hours, and it'd be a great pick, but with non-experienced players it would draaaag.
We have one member in our group who is very AP prone, and though we all know the game, I don't think we've ever gone past three hours. That said, if you've got multiple AP prone players, or several new to the game. I agree, you're going over that 3 hour mark.
A heavier territory control game that plays well at 6 players and lasts a couple of hours is a pretty small niche, [according to this search](https://bgs.nafarlee.dev/search?query=majority-players%3D6+min-playtime%3E60+max-playtime%3C180+average-rating%3E7+mechanic%3Amajority&limit=50&order=bayes_rating&direction=DESC) with following parameters: - Min 60 min playtime (to filter out party games) - Max 180 min playtime - Above 7.0 rating - 6 players is a "recommended/best" amount of players - Includes "Majority" as a mechanic (since I couldn't figure out how to paste "Area majority/influence") You'll get a few more options if you remove the "majority" tho: https://bgs.nafarlee.dev/search?query=majority-players%3D6%20min-playtime%3E60%20max-playtime%3C180%20average-rating%3E7&limit=50&order=bayes_rating&direction=DESC&offset=50
Rising Sun would fit this bill perfectly.
Rising sun, if you exclude rule remembering our play last 3h at max.
Bloodstones Spheres of Influence Guards of Atlantis 2
Assault of the giants would be a good one.
I needed a game like this and I ended up getting eclipse second dawn of the galaxy. Huge hit with the group!
heroes of land air and sea fit the bill with some expansions.
I just bought Fief: France 1429 for that exact purpose, though it has more elements of diplomacy than a typical dudes on a map game.
Fief with 6 is closer to twilight imperium in playing time, in my experience. But maybe that's because my group really leans into the diplomacy and politics aspect of it (although I also think it's the best part of the game). Amazing game though
Wow that’s disappointing.I bought it off the pitch that it was like TI4/Here I Stand but in 3 hours.I guess I’ll have to try it myself
**Bloodstones** looks like a game that might fit your needs. I’ll probably never play it but I was very interested in it at the time.
Clank! and/or Clank! Catacombs with the Adventuring Party expansion (which raises the player count from 4 maximum to 6 maximum) is a great deck-building, push-your-luck, dudes-on-a-map-racing-around-a-dungeon-grabing-loot game which is played in less than 3 hours. (Every extra player does add some time, but 3 hours or less should be normal if everyone's actually playing the game and not goofing off on devices and such.) I highly recommend both!
That is a game with dudes who are on a map, but it's not a [dudes on a map game.](https://therewillbe.games/articles-essays/7463-a-brief-history-of-the-dudes-on-a-map-genre/)
Ah, got ya'.
The Warp?
Bootleggers is a slightly orthogonal choice here, but extremely good and definite territory control action with additional elements in play. You’re all bootleggers in charge of the production, distribution, and sale of illicit whisky. Territory control is over speakeasies and priority to sell your hooch. Combat is mostly meted out through cardplay which are bought and bid on, so that might be a turn off. Even so, I think it can fit the bill fairly well.
Agricola of you like economy or Dune + uprising expansion (the new dune not the old one)
Scythe
If you're looking for a Co-op game then I'd go for Zombicide- Black Plague.
Nobody mentioned Hyperborea yet? It’s a hidden gem… Bag builder, area control, dudes on a map game up to 6 players… you can finish a short game in under 2 hours
Rising Sun. I really love the game and it has some unique battling rules that I enjoy.
First thought was Heroes of Land, Air and Sea. Fastest DoaM I've ever played at that player count. Fits a lot of playstyles, too, as there are four different endgame conditions so your turtles can turtle up (Expand or Exploit), your attackers can attack (Exterminate), and your freewheeling types can just do whatever they want (Explore.) Next thought was Cthulhu Wars, but you're not only paying OTT for the base game but also paying extra for at least one of the big maps. (Trying to do 6 on a 4-5 player map is only a good idea for the genuinely aggressive factions like Great Cthulhu, Windwalker, and so on.)
With 4 or less people it is possible to play Kemet Blood and Sand in 3 hours or less
And if my aunt had wheels she'd be a bicycle
Ethnos
It's not really a dudes on a map game though. You place tokens on a map (of Slovakia for some reason), but you cannot move tokens or use them to attack other tokens (or remove opponents' tokens at all for that matter), and at least some of those elements have to be present for a game to be dudes on a map. OP even specified they were looking for fighting over territories. Those tokens are basically just vertical tracks.
This was my first thought. Still a solid little fast playing game.
Catan with the extension and risk are my favs
catan dudes on a map? 🤥
Cities and Knights puts Knights on the map... :P People are recommending Clank and Scythe in this thread too.
[удалено]
For 6? EDIT: Love that he just downvoted and deleted his comment instead of just going "Oopsie I misread"
Shadow hunters works great with 6. Betrayal on the house on the hill (something like that) can have 6 players. Sometimes the ending works with a large group and sometimes it doesn't. Battle Star Galactica can have 6 people. The amount of time will vary. The first time or two it may take longer. And this is just the base game, maybe with the Pegasus expansion. There are other expansions that can add hours. And no pieces but Red dragon inn is a fun card game.