Board Games

[Galaxy]

Tarcone's board game thread got me thinking about who here plays board games, and what games you do play.

My favorite it Monopoly by far, but I haven't played it in nearly two years.

[revrew]

Tarcone's board game thread got me thinking about who here plays board games, and what games you do play.

My favorite it Monopoly by far, but I haven't played it in nearly two years.

Are board games different from box games? Such as Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Axis & Allies, and such? If so ... never mind.

[ColtCrazy]

If we are talking board games like in Tarcone's thread, then I assume war games count. My favorite to play with a group was the Xeno games version of Axis and Allies which starts in 1939. Very fun game, gives the Axis more of a chance and a lot of fun with 4-5 people.

For the past 3 years, I have played board games with my 5th graders. I start with Risk, and once they get some rudimentary strategy down I move on to Conquest of the Empire, an oldie but a very fun game that's fairly easy to learn. The kids love that one. Only once, when I had a particularly good group, did we move on from that to Samuari Swords.

[Galaxy]

If we are talking board games like in Tarcone's thread, then I assume war games count. My favorite to play with a group was the Xeno games version of Axis and Allies which starts in 1939. Very fun game, gives the Axis more of a chance and a lot of fun with 4-5 people.

For the past 3 years, I have played board games with my 5th graders. I start with Risk, and once they get some rudimentary strategy down I move on to Conquest of the Empire, an oldie but a very fun game that's fairly easy to learn. The kids love that one. Only once, when I had a particularly good group, did we move on from that to Samuari Swords.

I would include Risk. I guess I would include all manufactured games (could include games like Yahtzee).

[tarcone]

Thats great you teach higher level thinking by using strategy games. Well done.

Box games+board games.

My favorite is Statis Pro Baseball.

[ColtCrazy]

Thats great you teach higher level thinking by using strategy games. Well done.

Box games+board games.

My favorite is Statis Pro Baseball.


Thanks, that's why I started it. My first group (the group that made the most progress game wise) was one I felt could benefit from some strategy gaming...and many of those kids have come back and still rank that as their favorite experience in school. Problem solving and thinking of strategies is something a lot of schools don't teach well.

Back to the topic, if we are taking main stream gaming, then Risk is obviously up there. Monopoly has always been a favorite of mine, as well as the simple classic Checkers. My wife is hooked on something called SuperCheckers. It's pretty cool.

[Daimyo]

I've mostly been playing the Ticket to Ride variants lately since I've been playing mostly with family and other non-gamers.

My top 10 right now:
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</script>

[Mustang]

I have a rather large collection of games, everything from family type games (scene it, monopoly) to war games (advanced squad leader type). Many are just sitting there unpunched or still in the shrink or have only been used once or twice.

My favorites are the solitaire games like B-17, Ambush or Arkham Horror just because I don't have alot of time now and when I do, I usually can't synch up with anyone to play.

I am starting to gain a fondness for games that were made in the late 60s/early 70s and I've been starting to add those to my collection. Games such as Green Ghost, Voice of the Mummy, Seance and Ice Cube.

My all time favorite is Milton Bradley's Dark Tower though. I'm like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory with the Catcher in the Rye book with that game.. whenever I see a copy on the cheap, I pick it up. I probably have no less than 6 copies in my house...

The most expensive board game I know of (Post-War) is Ideals Haunted House. I've seen nice copies of that go for $1500+

[Edward64]

My favorite board games, just because I played them the most in college, are:

Avalon Hill's Squad Leader et al, Bull Run and Third Reich ... then computer games came.

BTW, D&D and Steve Jackson's The Fantasy Trip would be on the list if we consider it a board game with the minatures.

[Groundhog]

I probably play Risk the most - and that's probably only twice a year or so. I love Risk but man do the games drag on... I used to play it with my ex and her two brothers, and all three of them are ultra-competitive and the game ALWAYS got waaaaaay too serious by hour #5, once the alliances start to break down...

[Mustang]

by hour #5, once the alliances start to break down...

5 hours to play Risk? Jeebus... you using a life size map or something??? :D

[Groundhog]

5 hours to play Risk? Jeebus... you using a life size map or something??? :D

:D

Nah, it's just that it's always the same thing, over and over again: 1 player is almost wiped out, then one of the most powerful player helps them out by attacking the other most powerful player who is attacking the guy nearly wiped out, so then the guy almost wiped out recovers. Rinse and repeat.

[Fidatelo]

Does a game like Munchkins fit into this discussion? I guess it's a card game, but it comes in a box, so does it qualify as a box game? Cuz if so, it's getting my vote at the moment.

[Warhammer]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/Warhammer

Also, added to my top 10, but not included there are Race for the Galaxy and Agricola.

[Peregrine]

Hey Warhammer, do you ever attend any eastern TN game events? I mean like Tennessee Game Days? Also I know Ward Batty started up a yearly four-day event in Chattanooga this year - mostly Atlanta people, but I know a lot of Tennessee gamers as well. Maybe not as many Memphis folks though, but a lot of the Eastern TN people.

Anyway, I like a lot of classic Euro strategy games, like Ra, El Grande, Taj Mahal, Agricola, but also a lot of dungeon and theme-heavy games like Arkham Horror, Prophecy, and card games like Tichu, Race for the Galaxy, etc. Really too many to mention at this point.

[Oilers9911]

I still play Strat-o-Matic baseball with the dice and cards at times. All of my board gaming is sports related, except for Snakes and ladders which my almost 4 year old enjoys. :)

[Butter]

My all time favorite is Milton Bradley's Dark Tower though. I'm like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory with the Catcher in the Rye book with that game.. whenever I see a copy on the cheap, I pick it up. I probably have no less than 6 copies in my house...

I wish I could find a copy of this... :(

I remember also a game called Electronic Detective from my youth, and Scotland Yard that I enjoyed playing quite a bit, in addition to the typical games of Monopoly, Stratego, and even Life.

But Axis and Allies and Dark Tower were always my 2 favorites.

[Celeval]

Haven't had a chance to play in a long time due to the little one, but Carcassone (+ variants), Monopoly, and the two-player Settlers of Catan card game were always good ones.

[Thomkal]

For my fellow Dark Tower fans, there is a computer version of the game at underdogs.

hxxp://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=4040 (http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=4040)

[Alan T]

I was just talking about Dark Tower at dinner this weekend with my mother. I remember when I was younger my entire family used to play it. She had told me that she looked to try to find it for me a few years ago as a Christmas present but could not find it anywhere cheaper than $100 or so. No idea if that was true, but I loved this game when I was younger!

[Mustang]

I remember when I was younger my entire family used to play it. She had told me that she looked to try to find it for me a few years ago as a Christmas present but could not find it anywhere cheaper than $100 or so. No idea if that was true, but I loved this game when I was younger!

$100 for it complete and in working condition is a good buy. They probably average about $175. Max is around $275 with a really nice box and all the cardboard inserts and parts. Sealed probably tops out at $450-$500...

[Honolulu_Blue]

My group of friends have had a bit of a board game renaissance the last few years. It was really spurred on by Arkham Horror. The game is fantastic. There is incredible re-playability and it's cooperative. They have a number of expansions out. I wasn't thrilled with last big expansion, Kingsport, but the rest have added a lot to the game.

Other than Arkham, we play Race for The Galaxy, Puerto Rico, Last Night on Earth, and some others.

I played a TON of Strat-o-Matic hockey back in the day. A ton. I love that game.

[Apathetic Lurker]

War games played pretty much to exclusion of all else here.. With the odd exception of Strat-o-matic baseball and football and Statis Pro football.

[path12]

I have a rather large collection of games, everything from family type games (scene it, monopoly) to war games (advanced squad leader type). Many are just sitting there unpunched or still in the shrink or have only been used once or twice.

My favorites are the solitaire games like B-17, Ambush or Arkham Horror just because I don't have alot of time now and when I do, I usually can't synch up with anyone to play.

I've got a collection along those same lines, with some old collectors games thrown in (Parker Bros Politics game from the late 40's for example), probably around 120 in all. B17 is a great game, one that would be fun to do a FOFC interactive dynasty with I'd think. Of the solitaire ones I also really enjoyed Patton's Best and would recommend it if you can still find it anywhere.

[path12]

I remember also a game called Electronic Detective from my youth

That was a fun game. I've looked for it a couple times on Ebay to no avail.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Have both versions of Ticket to Ride. Minute to learn, lifetime to master. Lots of fun.

[Lathum]

Saldana and I used to love the WOTC baseball and basketball table top cardgames.

[DanGarion]

Well I love the card game Fluxx, it's absolutely fantastic. I also like Munchkins, but my wife thinks it's too confusing (especially when you mix the different versions together).

Then there is Heroscape, I have the main game and an expansion, and although I like it haven't had time to play it here at home (wife liked it too when we played it at a friends).

Sorry is fun, we play that every so often.

Lately it's been a lot of Mexican Train Dominoes.

[Warhammer]

Hey Warhammer, do you ever attend any eastern TN game events? I mean like Tennessee Game Days? Also I know Ward Batty started up a yearly four-day event in Chattanooga this year - mostly Atlanta people, but I know a lot of Tennessee gamers as well. Maybe not as many Memphis folks though, but a lot of the Eastern TN people.

Anyway, I like a lot of classic Euro strategy games, like Ra, El Grande, Taj Mahal, Agricola, but also a lot of dungeon and theme-heavy games like Arkham Horror, Prophecy, and card games like Tichu, Race for the Galaxy, etc. Really too many to mention at this point.




Not yet, but I hope to start attending more of them in the near future. However, I have helped out quite a bit at MidSouthCon the last 5 years. I also advise the Games Day Memphis crew as well as one of the original members of the MSBGC. Some of the guys have gone to TN Game Day, so if you have met an Alan or Chris from Memphis or N. Miss., they are part of my group.

[Fidatelo]

I also like Munchkins, but my wife thinks it's too confusing (especially when you mix the different versions together).


I'm not sure what the various versions do, as I only have the original and the Unnatural Axe expansion, but I find the flowchart really clears things up and makes it pretty easy to play with beginners. You can find the flowchart on this page: Steve Jackson Games Forums - Critical Links & Information -- READ ME FIRST!!! I mean it!!!!!! (http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=1044)

[gstelmack]

My 5-year-old is hitting prime game playing age, so we bought MouseTrap the other day. That was a ton of fun...

[Warhammer]

Best game for kids is Hey! That's My Fish!

[Galaxy]

Let me ask you this, how often do you play?

As I noted in a previous post, I love Monopoly, but I don't think I've played it a year and half.

[Warhammer]

4 to 10 times a month. Depends on how busy I am.

[Fidatelo]

I'd say I play a board game or Munchkins or whatnot about 8-10 times a year.

[johnnyshaka]

I remember also a game called Electronic Detective from my youth, and Scotland Yard that I enjoyed playing quite a bit, in addition to the typical games of Monopoly, Stratego, and even Life.

Don't know that Electronic Detective game but absolutely love the rest of your list...especially Stratego. Half the fun was to try and read your opponents' (usually my little brother) poker face to see when I would be nearing a bomb with my General...good times!!

Scotland Yard was good fun with a lot of people.

Can't wait for my kids to get old enough to play board games!!

[terpkristin]

I'd say I play a board game or Munchkins or whatnot about 8-10 times a year.

I wish I had dorkier friends. I have Munchkin and play maybe once a year. :( We do play stuff like Battle of the Sexes and CatchPhrase about once a month or so. But I like the dorky games...

/tk

[Daimyo]

Let me ask you this, how often do you play?

As I noted in a previous post, I love Monopoly, but I don't think I've played it a year and half.

When my mother in law was staying with us, my wife, she, and I played a game every night for about three months (mostly Ticket to Ride, Stone Age, Carcassonne, and Agricola). She doesn't speak English and that was the one thing we could all do together and have fun.

Now that she's gone back home, my wife and I probably play a game about once per week.

[Daimyo]

DOLA, for kids Gulo Gulo (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6351) is fantastic.

[weegeebored]

All I can say is thank God for computers. I loved board games, but now it's hard to find people to play with so it's been a long while since I've cracked these open.

Careers was always a family favorite. Empire Builder and Settlers of Catan are classics. I was also partial to a game called Dealer's Choice (selling used cars).

My two favorite racing games were LeMans from Avalon Hill and Speed Circuit.

And these card games are lots of fun -- Lunch Money and Guillotine.

I almost forgot -- History of the World. Love this game.

[kingnebwsu]

Good thread.

Masterpiece was definitely a favorite of my family's growing up. There were others we also played like Guess Who & Dealer's Choice.

Recently I've gotten into games on XBox Live like Catan, Ticket To Ride, and that one card game where there are 5 colors and you do stuff.

[path12]

Masterpiece was reissued a few years back, we play it a few times a year at game nights.

Dealer's Choice was a lot of fun. Another game from that same time period I loved was Landslide -- a Parker Bros election game.

[Galaxy]

All I can say is thank God for computers. I loved board games, but now it's hard to find people to play with so it's been a long while since I've cracked these open.



I know a lot companies are coming out with computer games, but I found the AI sucks or it has no or crappy online mode.

[Warhammer]

If you are interested in playing more board games, go to BoardgameGeek and search their forums for a board game group near you. Most are completely open and willing to bring along new players.

[Galaxy]

If you are interested in playing more board games, go to BoardgameGeek and search their forums for a board game group near you. Most are completely open and willing to bring along new players.

Thanks. Sounds like a cool site. I'll check it out.

[Lonnie]

I love boardgames. My only problem is finding someone to play with. My sons get bored quickly while I'm explaining rules to them and then they just can't see playing a game longer than 30 minutes or so. They don't mind an occasional Settlers or Carcasone, but if break out anything more complex or longer in duration and their eyes gloss over.

My recent additions are Game of Thrones, Race for the Galaxy, and Agricola. I'm hoping to get them to struggle through these enough to maybe enjoy them. Hoping to add a few more this Christmas.

Anyone played Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear - Russia 1941-42 (http://www.boardgamegeeks.com/boardgame/24800) ? That might be my next purchase.

[Glengoyne]

The wife and I play Lost Cities, but she isn't much interested in other games that require more of an investment.

The kids and I are playing DungeonQuest..blast from the past

I'd love to break out ticket to ride, but the family isn't quite ready.

I've got Gulo Gulo marked as next on my list for the kids.

[MIJB#19]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/Warhammer

Also, added to my top 10, but not included there are Race for the Galaxy and Agricola.You disappoint me, you haven't even rated the game you share names with! ;)

[Mustang]

You disappoint me, you haven't even rated the game you share names with! ;)


He rated Battletech. :)

[Mustang]

Picked up Tomb a few weeks ago and have played several games with it. Definitely a beer and pretzels dungeon crawl type game. If you liked the old TSR Dungeon game or Hero Quest, you will probably like this one. Needs some house rules though to increase the difficulty though.

[Warhammer]

A game that has recently been reprinted that is an absolute blast is Cosmic Encounter. Its a little different from most other board games, but it is a ton of fun.

[QuikSand]

I tried sharing this here once before, and it never caught fire... but I'll give another shot.

If you like Settler and Carcassonne, have a look at this website: http://games.asobrain.com/

Their renderings of both games are very good, the multiplayer play works well and there are plenty of opponents, and even the AI isn't horrid. I wouldn't suggest it's perfect, but it's free to register and play, and not a bad time-killer overall.

[Lonnie]

I greatly added to the old game closet this Christmas.

Dominion
El Grande
1960: The Making of the President
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-1942
Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #2
Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #3
Dungeon and Dragons Three-Dragon Ante (card game)

Now, if I can just get some time to sit down and play.

[moriarty]

Picked up Pandemic over the holidays. So far I really like it, short games (about an hour) and it's the first co-op game I've played (everyone is on the same side trying to "win').

Basically you're trying to stop the global spread of 4 major diseases before a big outbreak. Not sure on replay value, but so far so good (you can even play solo if you choose by playing multiple hands).

[MrDNA]

This thread may be kindling an interest in me that my meager free time supply may not be able to meet. Any games that would be recommended for a fellow and his friends who probably aren't willing to invest a lot of time in learning and just want some goofy fun?

[Mustang]

This thread may be kindling an interest in me that my meager free time supply may not be able to meet. Any games that would be recommended for a fellow and his friends who probably aren't willing to invest a lot of time in learning and just want some goofy fun?

Zombies!!!

Actually, any number of Zombies games could fit that bill as goofy fun.

[Mustang]

Got Silent War in the mail today also.

(DAMN YOU WSUCOUGAR!)

[Galaril]

I would highly recommend for sports board games Second Season and Replay Basketball as well as Inside Blitz for college gaming.

[Warhammer]

This thread may be kindling an interest in me that my meager free time supply may not be able to meet. Any games that would be recommended for a fellow and his friends who probably aren't willing to invest a lot of time in learning and just want some goofy fun?

Guillotine is a classic for this type of gaming. It's the French Revolution and each of the players is a separate executioner trying to gain the most points by taking the most prestigious heads. You play cards to manipulate the line and take the first person in line.

Munchkin is another game in this vein. It can drag for a while though. If your group of friends have ever played an RPG, this is a great game for goofy fun. Note: It does not hold up well over time and can drag a bit. However, I know some people that absolutely swear by this game.

Liar's Dice is another classic game and my favorite on this list. Each player gets five dice and a dice cup. You roll your dice and hide them. The starting player announces his bid, and the player to his left must either call or raise him. A raise is considered increasing the value of the die or increasing the number of the dice. For example, the starting player might bid 5 2s. The next player can raise to 5 3s/4s/5s/6s, or he can move to 6 2s. 1s are wilds. You can also bid a number of wilds, but they are scattered around the board, IIRC 1 wild is a bigger bid than 2 of another number, but less than 3 of a numner. If a player does not wish to increase the bid, he may call. If the total number of dice in play show at more than the bid, the person that calls, loses dice equal to the difference in the amount of the dice and the bid. So if 12 2s was bid, but there were actually 15 2s, the player that called loses 3 dice. If the bid is exact, all players except the one making the bid loses a die. If the bid is less than the number showing, than the bidder loses the difference. This is a great game for casual gamers and is a good drinking game as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Any games that would be recommended for a fellow and his friends who probably aren't willing to invest a lot of time in learning and just want some goofy fun?

Golf, with dice at GOLO (http://www.igolo.com/)

There is a quick single player online version but don't let that throw you it's really a physical game that you order and play on your tabletop. Think Yahtzee with golf scoring. Surprisingly fun IMO.

[judicial clerk]

If we are talking board games like in Tarcone's thread, then I assume war games count. My favorite to play with a group was the Xeno games version of Axis and Allies which starts in 1939. Very fun game, gives the Axis more of a chance and a lot of fun with 4-5 people.

Hell Yes!!!!! Played this many many times with a couple of other students and a couple of professors back in law school. We would leave it set up in the professors office. My class notes always had doodles listing what i would buy on my next turn

[Daimyo]

I greatly added to the old game closet this Christmas.

Dominion
El Grande
1960: The Making of the President
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-1942
Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #2
Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #3
Dungeon and Dragons Three-Dragon Ante (card game)

Now, if I can just get some time to sit down and play.

Dominion is really good for what it is... a card game that can be played in 15-30 minutes. I used to play Magic:TG 10 years back and Dominion pretty much scratches the same itch in a quicker, cheaper package. My wife and I have already played something like 15 games in the 2-3 weeks we've had it!

I went on a bit of a binge this holiday season and picked up:

Le Havre
Dominion
Pandemic
Galaxy Trucker
Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm expansion
Tigris & Euphrates Revised
Animal upon Animal
Sorry Sliders
Looping Louie

(the last three being part of my grand strategy to train my two year son to be a future gaming partner) :)

[mrsimperless]

My dad got Wits & Wagers for Christmas last year and it has quickly become a family game staple. My brother in law hates playing games and usually refuses, but I have never seen him turn down this game. It is very simple to learn and can be played very fast. It is possible to complete a game in under 30 minutes.

The game consists of questions where all of the answers are numbers. The questions are things that most people do not know and you have to do a bit of estimating to come up with a good answer. The closest answer without going over becomes the winning answer. (More on that in a second...) Here are some sample questions:

How long is the mississippi river in miles?
In what year was penicillin discovered?
What percent of the world's population resides in north america?

Once everyone has answered the question (The more people in this game the merrier, up to 7) the answers are arranged in order from smallest to largest on the board. Players then must select up to two answers to bet chips on for scoring prior to the answer being revealed. An additional element comes in to play here as some answers offer more value then others. If your answer is 20 and mine is 21 and the next highest is 50 then the answer of 21 gives you a greater chance of success. Also, the answers at the extreme high and low end of the groups answers provide a better payout on the bet.

A game consists of only 7 questions and goes quite quick especially with experienced players.

Go buy it.

[Flasch186]

http://www.gametableonline.com/


cool site to play some of these online for free (so far)

[DanGarion]

My dad got Wits & Wagers for Christmas last year and it has quickly become a family game staple. My brother in law hates playing games and usually refuses, but I have never seen him turn down this game. It is very simple to learn and can be played very fast. It is possible to complete a game in under 30 minutes.

The game consists of questions where all of the answers are numbers. The questions are things that most people do not know and you have to do a bit of estimating to come up with a good answer. The closest answer without going over becomes the winning answer. (More on that in a second...) Here are some sample questions:

How long is the mississippi river in miles?
In what year was penicillin discovered?
What percent of the world's population resides in north america?

Once everyone has answered the question (The more people in this game the merrier, up to 7) the answers are arranged in order from smallest to largest on the board. Players then must select up to two answers to bet chips on for scoring prior to the answer being revealed. An additional element comes in to play here as some answers offer more value then others. If your answer is 20 and mine is 21 and the next highest is 50 then the answer of 21 gives you a greater chance of success. Also, the answers at the extreme high and low end of the groups answers provide a better payout on the bet.

A game consists of only 7 questions and goes quite quick especially with experienced players.

Go buy it.
They have it for the 360 too!

[mrsimperless]

They have it for the 360 too!

Thank you for costing me 800 MS points.

[Mustang]

Wish I would have read this thread 30 minutes ago.. just spent my last 800 pts... time to get more to buy this. I like games like that.

[DanGarion]

Thank you for costing me 800 MS points.

Hah you are welcome, you'd be surprised how many other board games they have on the 360.

I have this and I also have the one where you build the train routes. That's pretty fun.

[MLA]

Blood Bowl's a decent concept - I run a 32 team league that I'm hoping will have a bunch of interest in FOF.

Quest for the Dragon was quite opinion forming for me.

[MIJB#19]

Liar's Dice is another classic game and my favorite on this list. Each player gets five dice and a dice cup. You roll your dice and hide them. The starting player announces his bid, and the player to his left must either call or raise him. A raise is considered increasing the value of the die or increasing the number of the dice. For example, the starting player might bid 5 2s. The next player can raise to 5 3s/4s/5s/6s, or he can move to 6 2s. 1s are wilds. You can also bid a number of wilds, but they are scattered around the board, IIRC 1 wild is a bigger bid than 2 of another number, but less than 3 of a numner. If a player does not wish to increase the bid, he may call. If the total number of dice in play show at more than the bid, the person that calls, loses dice equal to the difference in the amount of the dice and the bid. So if 12 2s was bid, but there were actually 15 2s, the player that called loses 3 dice. If the bid is exact, all players except the one making the bid loses a die. If the bid is less than the number showing, than the bidder loses the difference. This is a great game for casual gamers and is a good drinking game as well.Interesting. I'm used to playing a game (Perudo) that at BoardGameGeek is tagged as being the same game, however, the bolded part sounds different. The way I'm familiar with that game, is when the bid is exact, the calling person gets one lost die back, upto the max of 5. If the bid is less or more, the person being wrong loses just one die, not the difference. Also, 1s are including in the bid, but they get discarded when someone calls.

Not sure which is better (if either is better), but the way I'm used to playing it, I like it very much. One of those games I don't see myself turning down to play.

[moriarty]

I have this and I also have the one where you build the train routes. That's pretty fun.

Ticket to Ride. Fun board game - I didn't like the Xbox version simply because the color scheme they used was godawful. I think it was like orange and red routes that were really hard to tell the difference. You'd think that would be a simple update ...

Carcassone and Settlers are both also on the Xbox. Carcassone in particular is a nice quick time waster.

[Warhammer]

Interesting. I'm used to playing a game (Perudo) that at BoardGameGeek is tagged as being the same game, however, the bolded part sounds different. The way I'm familiar with that game, is when the bid is exact, the calling person gets one lost die back, upto the max of 5. If the bid is less or more, the person being wrong loses just one die, not the difference. Also, 1s are including in the bid, but they get discarded when someone calls.

Not sure which is better (if either is better), but the way I'm used to playing it, I like it very much. One of those games I don't see myself turning down to play.

There are tons of variants for the game, and the one you mention is one that is widely used.

The difference is two sides of the same coin, one everyone loses a die, the other the correct bidder gains a die.

Regardless of the way you play, the game is a ton of fun.

[mrsimperless]

Wish I would have read this thread 30 minutes ago.. just spent my last 800 pts... time to get more to buy this. I like games like that.

Don't waste your points. I should have just played with the trial first. There are a few annoying rule changes (no bet maximum on rounds 1-6 along with refilling of 5 points if you lose all your money which practically forces you to max out your bet every time until you hit one) and even worse I've yet to find someone else to play with on Live. there is an annoying 30 second timer when searching for players as well that starts the game automatically with AI if no one joins. It can be easily reset, but who wants to sit there refreshing every 30 seconds when you know no one is coming anyway?

[SFL Cat]

The old classics: Risk, Monopoly, Life, Password, Scrabble.

[Mustang]

Don't waste your points.

Blah.. that sucks. At least I didn't buy it yet so thanks for the heads up.

[mrsimperless]

Blah.. that sucks. At least I didn't buy it yet so thanks for the heads up.

You could always download the trial and check it out. I'm not sure what it limits as I unwisely bypassed that step. I could deal with the rule changes if there were people online to play it with, but if the only option I have is playing with people at my house then I'll just stick to the board game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks to this thread, I'm sitting here watching my son take an absolute ass whipping on XBox Live in Carcassone. Considering he'd never seen the game until we d'loaded the demo a few hours ago I think that's pretty much to be expected ... but he's still happy to be playing it. Bought Ticket To Ride too, which he already had for the tabletop but always suffered from a shortage of opponents.

Hell, I think he'd enjoy playing Tic-Tac-Toe if it had XB Live involved ;)

[Marc Vaughan]

I'll play pretty much any board game I can find opponents for - ranging from Chess, Risk, Backgammon to less traditional games like Blood Bowl, Space Crusade, Warhammer and suchlike.

(out of interest anyone got a 'favourite' board game which they haven't seem ported into a computer game - I ask mainly because a LOT of successful computer games started out as board games, heck the CM3 match engine was based upon a board game I created as a kid :D)

[JonInMiddleGA]

(out of interest anyone got a 'favourite' board game which they haven't seem ported into a computer game -

Although it's been ported to PC & console, I'll nominate Risk as the most glaring "why isn't this available for live online multi-player" that I noticed last night.

I mean, that just seemed like a no-brainer to me as it ought to hit a good portion of the user base ... or have 48 hour drunken Risk marathons gone out of style?

Sigh. Good times.

[MrDNA]

I've got my order of Fluxx and Guillotine on the way!! Thanks FOFC for finding new ways to make me spend money ;)

[Marc Vaughan]

Although it's been ported to PC & console, I'll nominate Risk as the most glaring "why isn't this available for live online multi-player" that I noticed last night.

I mean, that just seemed like a no-brainer to me as it ought to hit a good portion of the user base ... or have 48 hour drunken Risk marathons gone out of style?

Sigh. Good times.


Check out Grand Strategy - its a fantastic version of Risk with a lot of optional rules ..

Grand Strategy (Login) (http://www.denizengames.com/grandstrategy/login.faces)

Its done on a turn timelimit basis much like play-by-mail games and is very addictive, put it this way I've played well over 600 matches in the last 2 years or so (my user name is marcv2).

[Buccaneer]

Masterpiece was reissued a few years back, we play it a few times a year at game nights.

Dealer's Choice was a lot of fun. Another game from that same time period I loved was Landslide -- a Parker Bros election game.

All three were my favorite games around the early-mid 1970s. Thanks for mentioning those!

[kingnebwsu]

Masterpiece was probably the most-played game by me & my brothers when we were kids. And we grew up in the 90's. I think we had 3 different versions of the game at various location.

Dealer's Choice was fun too :)

[mrsimperless]

Masterpiece was probably the most-played game by me & my brothers when we were kids. And we grew up in the 90's. I think we had 3 different versions of the game at various location.

Dealer's Choice was fun too :)

I've always wanted to try out Modern Art (similar to Masterpiece I believe) but it is out of print and expensive. We had Masterpiece when I was a kid, although it was an antique even 20 years ago.I'm a fan of the bluffing / bidding games.

[Lonnie]

Since I got Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-1942 for Christmas, I was looking for an online version. The one for vassal is not finished yet, but they have a really cool one that works with this ZunTzu app. The app also has quite a few other boardgames.

ZunTzu - The Online Boardgaming Platform (www.zuntzu.com)

Look in the files section for all the current games supported. It doesn't have a built in lobby like vassal, but it does have built in voip. Check it out and if anyone wants to play CoH over it, let me know.

[Daimyo]

I've always wanted to try out Modern Art (similar to Masterpiece I believe) but it is out of print and expensive. We had Masterpiece when I was a kid, although it was an antique even 20 years ago.I'm a fan of the bluffing / bidding games.

Modern Art is readily available. Thoughthammer has it for $20 and I know I've seen it at local game stored recently.

Thought Hammer : Modern Art [MFG 4402] - (http://www.thoughthammer.com/modern-art-p-37.html)

[Flasch186]

dont know if its considered a boardgame but this killed a bunch of time when i was a kid:

http://www.filsingergames.com/cotg/

[twothree]

dont know if its considered a boardgame but this killed a bunch of time when i was a kid:

http://www.filsingergames.com/cotg/

Funny you should mention Champions of the Galaxy, that is what I have gotten back into playing over the last two months. In fact, I have been recording my results in a dynasty thread over on their message board.

It is a very simple game with almost no strategy involved, just rolling dice mostly. However, setting up the fight card and then playing it out makes for an entertaining few hours.

They also have a basic online version of the game now, but I prefer to roll the dice myself. So, I continue to buy the physical game products.

[moriarty]

I just picked up Fields of Fire (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22877). It's a Solitaire War Game, based on squad/platoon level combat.

The rule book is a bit of a mess - not complicated so much as it's laid out terribly, and after you read it the first time you still have no idea how to play (lots of 'gray' areas). Note: the developers are working on a rewrite of the rules and expanded examples.

But if you don't mind reading through the 35 page rule book, the online example of play, and several threads to answer questions then it appears to be a helluva good game.

There's 3 campaigns (WWII Normandy, Korea, and Vietnam) w/ tons of replayability. Mines, grenades, snipers, tanks, helicopters, etc. Your troops gain experience w/ each mission so they can increase (or decrease) experience levels (green, line, or veteran) which adds a bit of RPG to it.

I'd love to see it converted to the computer/XBL as it definitely has that one more turn feel (no Vassal module yet). It also seems perfect for dynasty type reports - if I get the time I'll attempt one here.

[mckerney]

I should be getting Survive: Escape from Atlantis! (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2653/survive) in the mail tomorrow, and just in time for a board game night a friend is hosting. It's a remake of a Parker Brothers game from 1982 and this video review makes it look like it could be a good game to play with people who aren't too into board games while still having some good strategic elements to it.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R31hK2IQZsk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Also hoping to play Bang! (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/30933/bang-the-bullet) tomorrow. Had a lot of fun playing it recently, and it can play 8 so it works well with larger groups.

[Autumn]

My 7 year old son has played a couple games of Pandemic (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic with us. I've been really happy about how quickly he understood the game and the strategy. Cooperative games like this are great with kids, or anyone new really, because you don't have to reduce the competitiveness of the game to include them, you can help them along.

[PilotMan]

I can't believe that I missed this thread the first time around.

I grew up owning and playing any Strat-O-Matic game made. I played hours of baseball, football, hockey, basketball and even College football. Ahhhh.

Baseball was my first, I bought it for my 10th birthday. A year later, I convinced my mom to let my buy Axis and Allies with my birthday money. It wasn't easy, as $45 bucks is a lot for an 11 year old.

Plus this game was seriously close to my all time fav:

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic45494_md.jpg

The Farming Game, and Masterpiece were also played for hours.

[mckerney]

My 7 year old son has played a couple games of Pandemic (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic with us. I've been really happy about how quickly he understood the game and the strategy. Cooperative games like this are great with kids, or anyone new really, because you don't have to reduce the competitiveness of the game to include them, you can help them along.

If anyone is looking for a game like Pandemic that might work a little better with kids I'd recommend Forbidden Island (http://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-317-Forbidden-Island/dp/B003D7F4YY). It's made by the same designer as Pandemic and meant to be a Pandemic-Lite. It uses a lot of the same game play mechanics and it's quite as complex but still a lot of fun. It's also at a great price, only $9.99 at Amazon right now. Co-op games like this are really great to play with, just as long as you're not playing with someone who needs to tell everyone what to do.

Also fun for expanding play on Forbidden Island, island variants (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__nUZVomM57c/TT2dhNVgNQI/AAAAAAAAAj4/2LNFbyTecJc/s1600/Forbidden+Island+Variants.jpg).

[Edward64]

Zombies!!!

Actually, any number of Zombies games could fit that bill as goofy fun.

For the zombie apocalypse fans.

Lock N Load Games: Home Page (http://www.locknloadgame.com/)
Wow," you say, "that's a lot of zombie games." Well, it is and it isn't. These three games have no more in common that three different World War II games with vastly different scales and systems. All Things Zombie is tactical, man-vs-zombie fun. It's like a war game, but the enemies are zombies (usually). Zombie War is strategic. Think something like Pandemic, but with combat. Simple combat, but combat. Run, Fight, or Die is a unique, dice-driven game that the entire family can learn in five minutes, and play in thirty more. We cannot stress enough the potential of RFOD. Mark has never taught the game to anyone (gamer or non-gamer) who hasn't loved it. If you are looking for a game to pull your family away from the Boob Tube, any of these three games will do the trick, but RFOD might do it the best.

[path12]

If anyone is looking for a game like Pandemic that might work a little better with kids I'd recommend Forbidden Island (http://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-317-Forbidden-Island/dp/B003D7F4YY). It's made by the same designer as Pandemic and meant to be a Pandemic-Lite. It uses a lot of the same game play mechanics and it's quite as complex but still a lot of fun. It's also at a great price, only $9.99 at Amazon right now. Co-op games like this are really great to play with, just as long as you're not playing with someone who needs to tell everyone what to do.

Also fun for expanding play on Forbidden Island, island variants (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__nUZVomM57c/TT2dhNVgNQI/AAAAAAAAAj4/2LNFbyTecJc/s1600/Forbidden+Island+Variants.jpg).


Agree. Picked up Forbidden Island over the holidays and really enjoyed it. Pandemic lite is a perfect description.

[Autumn]

I got Forbidden Island for my sister, I'm looking forward to trying it with her.

Too expensive for me, but also of interest, is a Pandemic-like game with a fantasy theme, Defenders of the Realm I think it's called. Looks to have essentially the exact same rules as Pandemic but fighting the forces of evil instead of diseases.

[Warhammer]

I'll play pretty much any board game I can find opponents for - ranging from Chess, Risk, Backgammon to less traditional games like Blood Bowl, Space Crusade, Warhammer and suchlike.

(out of interest anyone got a 'favourite' board game which they haven't seem ported into a computer game - I ask mainly because a LOT of successful computer games started out as board games, heck the CM3 match engine was based upon a board game I created as a kid :D)

Galaxy Trucker
Republic of Rome - Not sure how you'd turn this into a computer game
Junta - Not sure how you'd turn this into a computer game either, plus Tropico scratches the same itch.

Duel of Ages done right would be a hoot.

[DanGarion]

I should be getting Survive: Escape from Atlantis! (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2653/survive) in the mail tomorrow, and just in time for a board game night a friend is hosting. It's a remake of a Parker Brothers game from 1982 and this video review makes it look like it could be a good game to play with people who aren't too into board games while still having some good strategic elements to it.

That game looks badass!

[dolfin]

The Farming Game, and Masterpiece were also played for hours.

I loved The Farming Game growing up and still have the original at home. Have played a couple times with my daughter and it still holds up.

[Warhammer]

That game looks badass!

For newer gamers, you might want to also look at Lifeboats, same thematic genre.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Galaxy Trucker


I can't stand "Galaxy Trucker." I think it's a good game and see the appeal, but I'm just horrible at it. I am lucky if the ship I create is even functional, much less actually make it to the end. I've never been all that good at puzzles and this game plays on my weakness.

That said, I am pretty kick ass at any number of those European resource-based games like Agricola and the like.

I am also an excellent at "Dungeon Lords". Dungeon Lords is one of my newest favorite games. I love how the two different aspects of the game - dungeon building/resource management and dungeon defense - are so very different, but yet are so elegrantly integrated. Good stuff.

[Honolulu_Blue]

My 7 year old son has played a couple games of Pandemic (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic with us. I've been really happy about how quickly he understood the game and the strategy. Cooperative games like this are great with kids, or anyone new really, because you don't have to reduce the competitiveness of the game to include them, you can help them along.

Maybe I need your son to tutor me. I think I've played the game about 5 times and have never won.

[Warhammer]

Also, if you can squeeze 3 hours, look for Through the Ages, great Civ style game.

[Warhammer]

I can't stand "Galaxy Trucker." I think it's a good game and see the appeal, but I'm just horrible at it. I am lucky if the ship I create is even functional, much less actually make it to the end. I've never been all that good at puzzles and this game plays on my weakness.


The key to Galaxy Trucker is looking at the cards and seeing what is coming up. Sometimes you can get by with engines and cargo, other times you need lasers, other times you need a balanced ship.

What I love are the expansion goodies, that makes piloting your bucket of bolts exciting!

[Mustang]

Found a copy of Ambush! in my basement yesterday that was complete and I didn't know I had which was nice because I've been meaning to replace my original one which is pretty much destroyed.

[Autumn]

Maybe I need your son to tutor me. I think I've played the game about 5 times and have never won.

He and I won the first time, I put it at introductory level for him (only 4 epidemics). He played later with his mom and lost and doesn't seem to like it as much any more ;-)

[Autumn]

Do any of you guys play online? My friend and I play a lot of games, slowly, online. We've recently been playing Brass, Puerto Rico, we've tried Tikal and Tigris & Euphrates. It's a great way to try out games without spending.

[Thomkal]

Not sure if its mentioned in this thread or not, but there's a good German site for board games (or at least it was when I played regularly a couple years back) BrettSpielWelt. Had a good selection of games back then, just checked now, many still there. I would recommend Trans America, a railroad themed game.

Main Page * BrettspielWelt - Online Portal für Brettspiele (http://www.brettspielwelt.de/?nation=en)

[Abe Sargent]

I can't stand "Galaxy Trucker." I think it's a good game and see the appeal, but I'm just horrible at it. I am lucky if the ship I create is even functional, much less actually make it to the end. I've never been all that good at puzzles and this game plays on my weakness.

That said, I am pretty kick ass at any number of those European resource-based games like Agricola and the like.

I am also an excellent at "Dungeon Lords". Dungeon Lords is one of my newest favorite games. I love how the two different aspects of the game - dungeon building/resource management and dungeon defense - are so very different, but yet are so elegrantly integrated. Good stuff.



I own and enjoy Dlords too

[Warhammer]

If you are looking for a light wargame, playable in 30 mins., Manouvre is a great game.

[TRO]

Also, if you can squeeze 3 hours, look for Through the Ages, great Civ style game.

It is also available to play for free online at http://www.boardgaming-online.com/

I've recently started playing some games there, very addicting. With the added benefit of being able to carry out the game over the course of several days.

[moriarty]

Do any of you guys play online? My friend and I play a lot of games, slowly, online. We've recently been playing Brass, Puerto Rico, we've tried Tikal and Tigris & Euphrates. It's a great way to try out games without spending.

I've been dabbling around w/ Vassal lately. Haven't taken the plunge in playing a game against an opponent on it yet though.

[sachmo71]

Anyone tried any of these Victory Point games? Good reviews for [url=http://victorypointgames.com/details.php?prodId=132]We Must Tell the Emperor.[url]

[Glengoyne]

Anyone tried any of these Victory Point games? Good reviews for [url=http://victorypointgames.com/details.php?prodId=132]We Must Tell the Emperor.[url]

I'm looking to spend some of my Fantasy Football winnings on a Victory Point Game. I'm thinking Star Borders: Humanity, but may give one of their more Solitaire offerings a shot.

I've heard a lot of good things about VPG, but be aware these are relatively low production value games. That is more than sufficient for me, but some folks are finicky.

[moriarty]

Anyone tried any of these Victory Point games? Good reviews for [url=http://victorypointgames.com/details.php?prodId=132]We Must Tell the Emperor.[url]

I prefer the GMT Games myself. Zulu on the Ramparts though is a pretty decent solitaire game by VP (haven't heard about We Must Tell the Emperor).

[Mustang]

For those that like Blood Bowl, fantasy flight games is coming out with Blood Bowl Manager (non-collectible card game) in Q2.

[Passacaglia]

Sounds cool!

[OldGiants]

Anyone tried any of these Victory Point games? Good reviews for [url=http://victorypointgames.com/details.php?prodId=132]We Must Tell the Emperor.[url]

I've been playing Ancient Battles Deluxe for a few months lately. A bit disappointing, all told. the components are great, as good as any out there. However, the combat system is unusual and a bit fluky at times. By that I mean the method of computing the combat odds. Reading the on-line rules before buying did not alert me to the oddity of it all. That and you better have an overwhelming attack to stand any chance of winning. It also plays quickly and gives historic results, so good enough.

I do plan to pick up the State Of Siege games at some point. Likely I'll start with the Civil War game, since this is the 150th of that conflict.

[Warhammer]

Dominant Species an awesome game. It takes about 3 hours to play, but it is worth it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

The Blood Bowl card game looks interesting. I hope it's good. I have been playing a bit of Blood Bowl on-line with the PC game. I have been enjoying it.

I finally got around to playing "Mansions Of Madness" last weekend. The game looks to have a ton of potential. It has a lot of the flavor of "Arkham Horror", but different enough that it's a very different game.

It should have some good re-playability.

I really liked the mechanics they had for opening locks and solving puzzles. There are actual puzzle-type pieces in the game and you get to move/swap-out any number of pieces per turn depending on your character's intellect score. It makes having a balanced party - some fighers/some smart guys - very key.

We also played a game of BSG. The humans lost. Again.

[moriarty]

Dominant Species an awesome game. It takes about 3 hours to play, but it is worth it.

They just announced a card game version of Dominant Species that supposedly plays much faster. Not sure how much it differs from the regular game.

[mckerney]

For those that like Blood Bowl, fantasy flight games is coming out with Blood Bowl Manager (non-collectible card game) in Q2.

I'll probably have to try that one out at the Fantasy Flight Event Center after it comes out. Blood Bowl always looked interesting but a bit too much to get into.

We also played a game of BSG. The humans lost. Again.

I just got Battlestar Gallactica but haven't had a chance to play it yet. I may need to ease my group into hidden role games with The Resistance (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41114/the-resistance) and Shadow Hunters (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24068/shadow-hunters) first.

I'm also finally getting 7 Wonders and Cargo Noir tomorrow. Cargo Noir looks a bit like Ra, which should go over well with my friends.

[Danny]

Dominant species looks interesting, but I don't think I'd get a chance to play it if I owned it. Hopefully I play it with one of the groups I game with occasionally. My collection sits at 126 games now with 32 unplayed. I'm completely out of room now without selling or trading any. I'm hoping with the summer off I can get my unplayed list down to 0 and then I'll probably prune the collection a little bit getting rid of games I don't care to play again all that much. Unfortunately (and fortunately) I tend to research and enjoy all the games I buy, so not sure how many that would be.

[Danny]

mckerney, from what I have seen Cargo Noir seems a bit bleh on gameplay, so I wouldn't expect it to hold up to Ra which is an excellent game. 7 wonders is great fun though.

[mckerney]

mckerney, from what I have seen Cargo Noir seems a bit bleh on gameplay, so I wouldn't expect it to hold up to Ra which is an excellent game. 7 wonders is great fun though.

I'm not expecting something quite as good as Ra, but we often have a few players who are more casual at our board game nights so I'm hoping for something from Days of Wonder that still fun while not quite as complex. Unfortunately we have some nights where most of the group doesn't have the patience or desire to go through a game like Power Grid or Agricola.

I am really looking forward to 7 Wonders and excited that it's supposed to be a good game for new players to pick up.

[mckerney]

Dominant species looks interesting, but I don't think I'd get a chance to play it if I owned it. Hopefully I play it with one of the groups I game with occasionally. My collection sits at 126 games now with 32 unplayed. I'm completely out of room now without selling or trading any. I'm hoping with the summer off I can get my unplayed list down to 0 and then I'll probably prune the collection a little bit getting rid of games I don't care to play again all that much. Unfortunately (and fortunately) I tend to research and enjoy all the games I buy, so not sure how many that would be.

Dominant Species is a game that looked interesting, but decided not to get it (for now anyway) because I don't think I need another 3 hour plus game right now. The table next to me was playing it the last time I was at Fantasy Flight and it looked fun, but I don't think I'd get much play out of it any time soon.

[Danny]

I'm not expecting something quite as good as Ra, but we often have a few players who are more casual at our board game nights so I'm hoping for something from Days of Wonder that still fun while not quite as complex. Unfortunately we have some nights where most of the group doesn't have the patience or desire to go through a game like Power Grid or Agricola.

I am really looking forward to 7 Wonders and excited that it's supposed to be a good game for new players to pick up.

Ah, it should be a solid game for those needs then and from the videos / pics I saw, it's a very attractive game.

And ditto on Dominant Species, especially since 3 hours is the quick play time and I've seen reports of it often being a 5+ hour game depending on the group.

7 wonders is a little tougher than say ticket to ride to pick up, but after the first age or so, everyone should at least sort of get it.

[BYU 14]

Checked out the videos of the LOTR game on the FF site, looks intriguing, though a tad complex. I may end up giving it a shot.

[Fidatelo]

I picked up Fantasy Flight Games' "Warhammer: Invasion" core set recently, and have really enjoyed the half-dozen games I've played so far. I think the Blood Bowl Game could be really fun as well, I'll be keeping my eye on that.

There seem to be so many cool board/card games right now, it must be great to be 16 these days.

[Warhammer]

Dominant Species will only be 5+ hours on possibly the first play, (our first game at a Con was 5 or so hours, the next couple of games were 3 hours) but after that any player with AP should be dragged out and shot.

7 Wonders is a good game, but don't play it repeatedly. It will get old. It is an ideal filler game, there is no reason it should take longer than 30-45 minutes, if that.

Dominion is a good gateway game for new players as is Ticket to Ride (even though I dislike it) and Settlers.

Our game group has seen a surge in interest of some older games, Tigris & Euphrates, Formula De, Puerto Rico, etc. Now if only I could get El Grande to the table again...

[Danny]

I picked up Fantasy Flight Games' "Warhammer: Invasion" core set recently, and have really enjoyed the half-dozen games I've played so far. I think the Blood Bowl Game could be really fun as well, I'll be keeping my eye on that.

There seem to be so many cool board/card games right now, it must be great to be 16 these days.

Except all the 16 year olds are only playing video games

[mckerney]

Except all the 16 year olds are only playing video games

Well, at least there are some good Warhammer games out. Warhammer 40,000 anyway.

[Warhammer]

Except all the 16 year olds are only playing video games

I can honestly say that my kids (6 and 9 yrs old) look forward to every game convention that I go to, in the hopes that I bring them along. At the last con, my 9 yr old played 3 or 4 games of Cosmic Encounter (another great game) a couple games of Risk and another game which escapes my mind.

[Mustang]

I can honestly say that my kids (6 and 9 yrs old) look forward to every game convention that I go to, in the hopes that I bring them along. At the last con, my 9 yr old played 3 or 4 games of Cosmic Encounter (another great game) a couple games of Risk and another game which escapes my mind.

I have my work cut out for me. I need to mold my daughter into a board game player. If I can get her to even play Risk, I consider it a success and I'm only at Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry-O and Memory right now.

[Glengoyne]

The family and I are gearing up for Kubla Con in San Francisco. I've usually attended by myself, but this year I'm taking my son(7) and daughter(11) along with my nephews twelve and sixteen. Oh and my lovely wife as well.

I'm making a list of must plays while there. Twilight Imperium 3 and Battlestar Galactica (I just got the main game and first expansion yesterday) for starters.

For those looking at Pandemic...Forbidden Island plays well with younger kids, and is quite similar. I'm looking closely at seven wonders.

All in all I've got more games than we have time to play, but I'm trying to get the kids interested in Board games as opposed to just electronics.

[mckerney]

I got my copy of 7 Wonders today and was happy to see it doesn't seem to have the problem some copies in the second printing have had of some Age III cards having a different colored back.

For those looking at Pandemic...Forbidden Island plays well with younger kids, and is quite similar. I'm looking closely at seven wonders.

I was reading through the rules for 7 Wonders tonight and one thing that I think may help with kids is that everyone plays there turn at once so there's no time spend waiting for your turn to come up, it could be good for kids who might get bored waiting for something to do.

Also, I have he Manneken Pis wonder (http://store.boardgamegeek.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=254&category_id=3) which could expand the game to 8 players with a slight tweak to the rules, though it's not designed to be played that way. To play with 8 you can deal everyone 6 cards instead of 7 and skip the part of the round where you discard your last card. Another benefit of the Mannekin Pis is that if you use it and lose the winner is required to get you a beer. :)

[Warhammer]

I have my work cut out for me. I need to mold my daughter into a board game player. If I can get her to even play Risk, I consider it a success and I'm only at Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry-O and Memory right now.

I guess I shouldn't mention that Alex (my 6 yr old) played Dominant Species with me last weekend! He has been asking me since to play again. :devil:

[Mustang]

I guess I shouldn't mention that Alex (my 6 yr old) played Dominant Species with me last weekend! He has been asking me since to play again. :devil:

Hey, its a process. I have several years to go. :)

[PilotMan]

Alright, I just picked up Munchkin when I was at the game store my last time through Minneapolis. I played with my 2 oldest sons (16 and 9) and they both really liked it. We had a good time laughing, and the 9 year old was able to pick it up really quick. I think we played a little slow at first, but I am sure that will get better. I can see us playing this quite a bit, especially when the 7 year old gets a little older. So if anyone has any expansion's they would like to part with drop me a line. :)

[Honolulu_Blue]

My wife recently expressed an interest in board games. She hasn't played too many, so most of the ones I own, Arkham Horror, Dungeon Lord, Mansions of Madness, or either a bit too involved or geeky. She's super geek tolerant, but she has her limits.

I think we're looking for something beyond, say, Cranium or Apples to Apples types of games, but something still accessible. She really enjoyed "Ticket To Ride" when we played it at a friend's house.

Any recommendations?

[Autumn]

I'd recommend Puerto Rico, Pandemic, Brass, Tigris & Euphrates, Dominion, Agricola. My wife has enjoyed all of those, they have various, not so geeky themes. And Settlers of Catan would be a clear choice too.

[DanGarion]

My wife recently expressed an interest in board games. She hasn't played too many, so most of the ones I own, Arkham Horror, Dungeon Lord, Mansions of Madness, or either a bit too involved or geeky. She's super geek tolerant, but she has her limits.

I think we're looking for something beyond, say, Cranium or Apples to Apples types of games, but something still accessible. She really enjoyed "Ticket To Ride" when we played it at a friend's house.

Any recommendations?
Fluxx is always enjoyable, but stick to the original. My wife LOVES Ticket to Ride, I haven't found a single person that we have introduced it to that hasn't enjoyed it.

[Glengoyne]

My wife recently expressed an interest in board games. She hasn't played too many, so most of the ones I own, Arkham Horror, Dungeon Lord, Mansions of Madness, or either a bit too involved or geeky. She's super geek tolerant, but she has her limits.

I think we're looking for something beyond, say, Cranium or Apples to Apples types of games, but something still accessible. She really enjoyed "Ticket To Ride" when we played it at a friend's house.

Any recommendations?

This sounds similar to my wife's level of interest. She enjoys Dominion and Puerto Rico as well as Ticket to Ride.

I'll be picking out the games for the Kublacon trip tonight.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Cleaning out a closet a couple weekends ago, my wife found MindTrap, that we haven't played for I bet 8-10 years.

Maybe not quite technically a board game, but I always enjoyed that.

[path12]

My wife recently expressed an interest in board games. She hasn't played too many, so most of the ones I own, Arkham Horror, Dungeon Lord, Mansions of Madness, or either a bit too involved or geeky. She's super geek tolerant, but she has her limits.

I think we're looking for something beyond, say, Cranium or Apples to Apples types of games, but something still accessible. She really enjoyed "Ticket To Ride" when we played it at a friend's house.

Any recommendations?

My wife sounds very similar, though she loves the party games like Apples to Apples.

Games I've had great success with for her and her friends: Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Guillotine and Carcassone (though I don't like that one as much). And for a good gateway two player game she loves Lost Cities.

[mckerney]

My wife sounds very similar, though she loves the party games like Apples to Apples.

Games I've had great success with for her and her friends: Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Guillotine and Carcassone (though I don't like that one as much). And for a good gateway two player game she loves Lost Cities.

If you like Lost Cities I recommend checking out Battle Line, another 2 player card game by Riener Knizia. Another card game I like is Haggis, a trick taking card game for 2 or 3 players that is similar to Tichu.

[Grammaticus]

My wife recently expressed an interest in board games. She hasn't played too many, so most of the ones I own, Arkham Horror, Dungeon Lord, Mansions of Madness, or either a bit too involved or geeky. She's super geek tolerant, but she has her limits.

I think we're looking for something beyond, say, Cranium or Apples to Apples types of games, but something still accessible. She really enjoyed "Ticket To Ride" when we played it at a friend's house.

Any recommendations?

As others have said, Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico are good ones that females tend to like, based on my experiences.

[Vince, Pt. II]

A little thread necromancy here, as I've gotten way into board gaming lately with my roommate and her boyfriend. Our current rotation is Settlers of Catan, Carcassone and Dominion, but we're itching to branch out to more complex games. I think Arkham Horror is next on our list, but here's our wish list - anything missing, or any suggestions for games to get sooner rather than later?

Arkham Horror
Agricola
Ticket to Ride
Battlestar Galactica
1830: Railways and Robber Barons
Puerto Rico
Diplomacy
Pandemic
Dominion Expansions
Settlers Expansions

We tend to be up for anything (we're all big nerds, so even D&D type stuff isn't out of the realm), though I'd imagine they would be less likely to enjoy military strategy type games. I'm intrigued by Pandemic, because of the cooperative aspect; the three of us are intensely competitive, and the loser in a heated game of Settlers tends to be a pain to hang around for a few minutes after the game. :)

[Autumn]

You'll love Pandemic. It makes for a very fun night to be working together on something like that. I haven't tried Castle Ravenloft, but if you're D&D geeks and like cooperative play you might like that.

I would put Power Grid up there in that list as well. Brass is also a big favorite of mine.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Pandemic is great. I also enjoy "Defenders of The Realm", which is just like Pandemix, very similar rules and concept, but instead of researchers fighting diseases, you're heroes fighting orcs, demons, undead, etc. Both co-op games and good fun.

I am not sure how well BSG would play with just 3 people.

"Dungeon Lords" is an excellent game. Easily one of my favorites. While it's made for four players, it's totally fine with three.

[sachmo71]

Arkham Horror is lots of fun, but takes a while to set up and learn. It's worth it, but starts a little slow.

Diplomacy is easy to learn, and fun, but it's the human interaction that is the key here. I wouldn't want to play with 3, unless no one will get their feelings hurt when ganged-up on.

BSG would probably be my choice for the most fun, but this game is also mainly about the human interaction. The more players, the better, IMO.

Don't forget to check Board Game Geek for the latest in reviews and notes. Easily the best gaming resource on the web.

BTW...is anyone going to BGG Con here is Dallas?

[CrimsonFox]

Don't start Arkham Horror at Midnight or later :) Don't play with someone who won't explain the rules and likes to exploit that fact from people that don't know them.

When you play Diplomacy, start the game out by saying to everyone aloud, "We're friends, right? Okay once the game starts, we're not friends. Once the game is over, we're friends again."

[Autumn]

Forbidden Island is another one with the same ruleset as Pandemic, basically, with a different theme. Fun too.

[CrimsonFox]

Really like Beowolf and Shadows Over Camelot and Adel VerPflechtet

[Coffee Warlord]

When you play Diplomacy, start the game out by saying to everyone aloud, "We're friends, right? Okay once the game starts, we're not friends. Once the game is over, we're friends again."

My wife still gives me shit about my ruthless use and abuse of her poor Italian nation. :)

Anglo-Prussian Alliance For The Win!

edit: Quick note on Battlestar Galactica. The expansions fucking SUCK. The first expansion, as I recall, made it very nearly impossible for the Cylons to win, and the second expansion skewed the balance all the way over, making it almost impossible for the Humans to win.

And I'll throw out Betrayal at House on the Hill as another fun, fairly easy to play one.

[Warhammer]

A little thread necromancy here, as I've gotten way into board gaming lately with my roommate and her boyfriend. Our current rotation is Settlers of Catan, Carcassone and Dominion, but we're itching to branch out to more complex games. I think Arkham Horror is next on our list, but here's our wish list - anything missing, or any suggestions for games to get sooner rather than later?

Arkham Horror
Agricola
Ticket to Ride
Battlestar Galactica
1830: Railways and Robber Barons
Puerto Rico
Diplomacy
Pandemic
Dominion Expansions
Settlers Expansions

We tend to be up for anything (we're all big nerds, so even D&D type stuff isn't out of the realm), though I'd imagine they would be less likely to enjoy military strategy type games. I'm intrigued by Pandemic, because of the cooperative aspect; the three of us are intensely competitive, and the loser in a heated game of Settlers tends to be a pain to hang around for a few minutes after the game. :)

Diplomacy you really need to have 7 players. Anything else, and its really lacking. Great game though.

Puerto Rico is an incredible game. Make sure the players remain at roughly the same level. Differing skill levels really show here (a more skilled player will win roughly 85% of the time).

1830 has a lot of buzz right now, but that will probably be a bit too heavy for your group.

Agricola is a great game, but can be dry. The replayability of it is very high. Plus, for being such a gamer's game, I find it is easy for non-gamers to pick up since the theme makes sense.

[Glengoyne]

I've played everything on your list except for 1830 and the Settlers expansions.

Settlers just isn't my cup of tea, but it isn't the Patriarch of board games for no reason.

My wife and I love Dominion and have all of the expansions. My assessment is this Intrigue, Alchemy, and to a lesser extent Cornucopia all add to the complexity of the game and the individual turns themselves. Prosperity and Seaside feel "lighter" to me. If I want a straightforward fun game, we exclude the previous three sets from random selection. If we want something more complex, we bring those sets in as needed. A lot of deeper gamers find Intrigue an integral expansion due to all that it brings to the table.

Puerto Rico. Among my favorite games. I'll never refuse a play. The above note about playing with folks with a similar skill set is true. A counter point to that above about a skillful player, is that a dis-similarly unskilled opponent can unwittingly determine the winner at least that much of the time. This is what many call the "king maker" aspect of PR.

Agricola. Too me a lot more complex than Puerto Rico, but yes it is a great game that is difficult to excel at. My wife finds this game much more stressful than even Pandemic. This is "stress against the game". The game puts a lot of pressure on you by presenting many options all vying for your limited actions.

Pandemic: A great cooperative game. You have to be careful to not let a single person play everyone's hand. It can happen, and is about the only way a session can fall flat for some players. A lot of stress against the game, as it is really hard to win.

Diplomacy: Too long, and an extra helping of the competitive nature issues you touched on with Settlers.

Battlestar Galactica: The "traitor" mechanic is a lot of fun. It can go long, but as long as everyone is interested, it works. Early on, one side or the other will likely win multiple games in a row, but as your group's experience grows it will even out. The expansions ratchet up the complexity here as well as the game time, but this might just be my group, as we play this game somehow very slowly.

Ticket to Ride: I think a very fun game, and an excellent gateway game, if you are looking to suck someone new into your gaming circle.

[dzilla77]

I would also recommend San Juan - its a card game that's similar to Puerto Rico and plays very quickly.

Race for the Galaxy (and its expansions) are a step above San Juan in complexity but the game play is enhanced by the different strategic options. Skill level influence both games significantly.

[Solecismic]

For two players, my favorites lately are Battle Line and Balloon Cup. Gotten a lot of mileage out of Ticket to Ride (creating your own boards and card sets is a lot of fun and can significantly change the dynamic).

Our group has been playing Dominion constantly lately. Just the original set and Intrigue. It's amazing how much that game can differ, depending on whether good attack cards are on the table. I think Dominion works best with three players, though it's still quite viable with two.

I introduced Puerto Rico to the group, they didn't like it. They like Pandemic, I don't - seems too much like clock solitaire where everything's all about the initial shuffling of the bad cards.

We still play Settlers, though it has its limitations. One recent favorite is Thurn and Taxis.

[Dutch]

I love Puerto Rico. Maybe it isn't a great game for a bunch of guys hanging out though. As a family game, it's one of our favorites. Balanced yet simple gameplay. Quick gameplay. Relatively quick conclusion. All good stuff and a lot more realistic than busting out Axis and Allies. The drawback I suppose is with the bland storyline. So when you put it away, it's easy to forget you even own it. A great evening game around Christmas time with extended family hanging out.

[Warhammer]

Puerto Rico also has a great evolution of strategy, provided everyone stays spoiler free.

Thurn und Taxis I will also second. A very good game and very easy to pick up for new gamers, while still having enough meat for other gamers.

Battle Line is another great game.

Another I would suggest if you can find it is Tigris & Euphrates. This is an older game, but a goodie. It has a steep learning curve though.

[Mustang]

Most of those games aren't in my rotation of when I try to play other than Ticket to Ride and Arkham Horror. Arkham Horror is one of my favorite games and is coop (and solitaire). Sizable rulebook to learn, but given that it is solitaire too, easy enough to teach yourself and then pull others in.

Not sure ticket to ride really brings up the complexity of the games you are playing although, like it has been stated, it is a game to pull other people that aren't heavy board game people in.

[mckerney]

I just bought Fortune & Glory after reading a Rock, Paper, Shotgun Cardboard Children feature on it (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/08/cardboard-children-fortune-glory/). Nothing too hardcore and pretty expensive, but looks like a fun campy adventure game.

And for games to pick up I'd really recommend Survive! Escape from Atlantis which I mentioned earlier in the thread. Best if you can play it with 4 (or 5 or 6 with the mini expansion) so you are playing with a full island at the start, but it's become a favorite in our group.

[Danny]

All great suggestion, but another that plays great with 3-7 is 7 wonders. Really fun game that just about everyone seems to enjoy

[Danny]

I just bought Fortune & Glory after reading a Rock, Paper, Shotgun Cardboard Children feature on it (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/08/cardboard-children-fortune-glory/). Nothing too hardcore and pretty expensive, but looks like a fun campy adventure game.

And for games to pick up I'd really recommend Survive! Escape from Atlantis which I mentioned earlier in the thread. Best if you can play it with 4 (or 5 or 6 with the mini expansion) so you are playing with a full island at the start, but it's become a favorite in our group.

Yeah, survive is a fun game.

[Peregrine]

For those who like Arkham Horror, as I do, there is a new game from the same designer called Elder Sign. Basically it takes the gameplay and characters from AH and streamlines it into a game of 45 minutes or so. I love it, because the original game is great but can get really long when you play with a lot of people - been playing Elder Sign a lot in the last few months.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Thanks for the tips. We can pull in a fourth (and fifth and sixth) without too much trouble, so the bigger games will have a time and place as well.

Edit: also, the competitive streak ends quite quickly, so I'm not worried about lengthy fallouts between us - just noting that the co-op possibilities are probably a bit attractive to give us something to do without pissing each other off for a few minutes :)

[Vince, Pt. II]

For two players, my favorites lately are Battle Line and Balloon Cup. Gotten a lot of mileage out of Ticket to Ride (creating your own boards and card sets is a lot of fun and can significantly change the dynamic).

Our group has been playing Dominion constantly lately. Just the original set and Intrigue. It's amazing how much that game can differ, depending on whether good attack cards are on the table. I think Dominion works best with three players, though it's still quite viable with two.

I introduced Puerto Rico to the group, they didn't like it. They like Pandemic, I don't - seems too much like clock solitaire where everything's all about the initial shuffling of the bad cards.

We still play Settlers, though it has its limitations. One recent favorite is Thurn and Taxis.

I have to say that I have been utterly floored with how well designed Dominion is. Such a simple concept (money, action and victory cards, act, buy, discard phases) that has endless flexibility and customization. I have yet to try a 1-on-1 match, but our 3 player games are intense and a hell of a lot of fun. I can't wait to add Intrigue to our games. How do you all set up your card sets? We have been using a deck of one of each card and randomly dealing out 10 of them to create our set-up, but occasionally have games that are simply annoying (mainly when there's a witch without a moat, chapel or remodel in there to get rid of/prevent the curse cards).

I'll have to look into Battle Line and Baloon Cup - I haven't come across either of them yet browsing the boardgames reddit or board game geek.

[WSUCougar]

For those of you that like Pandemic, we've been giving a coop game called Defenders of the Realm a whirl. Good stuff so far (we've lost both a two- and three-player game).

[Honolulu_Blue]

For those of you that like Pandemic, we've been giving a coop game called Defenders of the Realm a whirl. Good stuff so far (we've lost both a two- and three-player game).

I have it. It's a fun game. We lost the first few times we played it, but really cleaned up the last time. Every time we lost it was because of the stupid orcs. They seem so harmless and easy to kill, but if you take your eye off the ball they populate like crazy.

[Danny]

Thanks for the tips. We can pull in a fourth (and fifth and sixth) without too much trouble, so the bigger games will have a time and place as well.

Edit: also, the competitive streak ends quite quickly, so I'm not worried about lengthy fallouts between us - just noting that the co-op possibilities are probably a bit attractive to give us something to do without pissing each other off for a few minutes :)

You should definitely have 7 wonders on your list then.

[WSUCougar]

Every time we lost it was because of the stupid orcs. They seem so harmless and easy to kill, but if you take your eye off the ball they populate like crazy.

Ditto that. Twice. :banghead:

[Vince, Pt. II]

So we gave Pandemic a whirl tonight...and holy crap did the game kick our asses. In three games, we ended up 1 for 3. We lost the first two (four players) and ended up getting a close victory in the final game (three players). Both times we lost were due to running out of player cards, and outside of one scary moment or two in the early parts of the first game, we were never even close to losing in any other way. The game feels easier with fewer people, if only because you have more time to get through the deck.

We definitely enjoyed the game, but our observations were as so:

-The Researcher, Operations Manager and Dispatcher seemed clearly to be the most powerful of the roles. Medics are good (especially for cleanup), but not necessary, and Scientists seem a little under-powered.
-The trading of player cards seems really clunky, especially if you end up in a game without the researcher. That being said, I don't know that I see an easy fix that doesn't miss wildly in the other direction.

Take these impressions with a grain of salt, as we've only played three games.

---

As a side note, went to a local brick-and-mortar game store, and was absolutely floored at their prices. Almost all of the games I was interested in were $70, when I can find most for $50 or less online. I was excited to support my local store, but at those prices I don't think I can bring myself to shop there regularly.

[Autumn]

What difficulty level did you play at Vince?

I totally disagree -- OPerations Manager is clearly the suckiest role in teh game. We all groan whenever that gets turned over. I'd take a medic any day. I think Researcher is by far the most powerful one. A game without a Researcher is twice as hard. It really is difficult passing cards without one.

You'll learn quickly to not use cards as much, to avoid that endgame scenario of running out. You have to hoard them to avoid that. It sounds like you should up the difficulty if you weren't in danger of losing by outbreaks.

[Autumn]

Also, I feel the same about the game stores. It's inconceivable that I could afford to buy anything from them.

[DanGarion]

Target is starting to stock some pretty good board games lately. Last time I was there I saw the base version of Settlers and Ticket to Ride. There might have been some others as well.

[Solecismic]

I have to say that I have been utterly floored with how well designed Dominion is. Such a simple concept (money, action and victory cards, act, buy, discard phases) that has endless flexibility and customization. I have yet to try a 1-on-1 match, but our 3 player games are intense and a hell of a lot of fun. I can't wait to add Intrigue to our games. How do you all set up your card sets? We have been using a deck of one of each card and randomly dealing out 10 of them to create our set-up, but occasionally have games that are simply annoying (mainly when there's a witch without a moat, chapel or remodel in there to get rid of/prevent the curse cards).

I'll have to look into Battle Line and Baloon Cup - I haven't come across either of them yet browsing the boardgames reddit or board game geek.

Balloon Cup is older, and out of print. It's worth it if you find it. I've heard Battle Line can be tough to find as well, but there might have been a large recent printing.

With Dominion, we felt the same way at first - that you need defense cards on the table with good attacks. We decided to stick with the random distribution. We've found that it forces more decisions on your part, though - do you try and build or do you rush to join the attack?

Every game is different with the random card deck. I think that's an important part of the game. Remember that every defense card you choose also clutters your deck.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Balloon Cup is older, and out of print. It's worth it if you find it. I've heard Battle Line can be tough to find as well, but there might have been a large recent printing.

With Dominion, we felt the same way at first - that you need defense cards on the table with good attacks. We decided to stick with the random distribution. We've found that it forces more decisions on your part, though - do you try and build or do you rush to join the attack?

Every game is different with the random card deck. I think that's an important part of the game. Remember that every defense card you choose also clutters your deck.

Yeah, it was definitely a turning point to me when I realized the value of cards like the remodel and moneylender to thin out my deck of weak cards. I'm still not sure how I feel about an attack-heavy deck without defense cards, but I do love the variety in each game.

Pandemic is a little easier now that we realize the Medic's auto-cure ability once a cure is found, and the Researcher's role is not limited to his turn only.

[Flasch186]

So we gave Pandemic a whirl tonight...and holy crap did the game kick our asses. In three games, we ended up 1 for 3. We lost the first two (four players) and ended up getting a close victory in the final game (three players). Both times we lost were due to running out of player cards, and outside of one scary moment or two in the early parts of the first game, we were never even close to losing in any other way. The game feels easier with fewer people, if only because you have more time to get through the deck.

We definitely enjoyed the game, but our observations were as so:

-The Researcher, Operations Manager and Dispatcher seemed clearly to be the most powerful of the roles. Medics are good (especially for cleanup), but not necessary, and Scientists seem a little under-powered.
-The trading of player cards seems really clunky, especially if you end up in a game without the researcher. That being said, I don't know that I see an easy fix that doesn't miss wildly in the other direction.

Take these impressions with a grain of salt, as we've only played three games.

---

As a side note, went to a local brick-and-mortar game store, and was absolutely floored at their prices. Almost all of the games I was interested in were $70, when I can find most for $50 or less online. I was excited to support my local store, but at those prices I don't think I can bring myself to shop there regularly.


Re-read the rules after playing a while and you'll likely find that your were unknowingly doing something wrong or unknowingly exploiting. Thats what happened to us... Love the game and its definitely easier with fewer serious players since its easier to plan. With a lot more players you have a hard time keeping all of the ducks in a row IMO.

[moriarty]

Target is starting to stock some pretty good board games lately. Last time I was there I saw the base version of Settlers and Ticket to Ride. There might have been some others as well.

Barnes and Nobles has a new game section (at least in my local store) as well. I was pleasantly surprised by their board game selection. Games like Betrayal at house on the hill, Arkham Horror, Gears of War (boardgame) and many more. Plus they run a lot of coupon specials ... there was a 50% off one last week.

[Autumn]

Epidemic is a little easier now that we realize the Medic's auto-cure ability once a cure is found, and the Researcher's role is not limited to his turn only.

I think the Researcher can only pass cards on his turn. Are you saying he can pass them anytime?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Barnes and Nobles has a new game section (at least in my local store) as well. I was pleasantly surprised by their board game selection. Games like Betrayal at house on the hill, Arkham Horror, Gears of War (boardgame) and many more. Plus they run a lot of coupon specials ... there was a 50% off one last week.

Yeah, you just have to wait them out. They have great deals if you're patient.

[bob]

I just bought Fortune & Glory after reading a Rock, Paper, Shotgun Cardboard Children feature on it (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/08/cardboard-children-fortune-glory/). Nothing too hardcore and pretty expensive, but looks like a fun campy adventure game.

I'd really love to hear your thoughts on Fortune and Glory after you've had a chance to play.

[DanGarion]

We got Pandemic today.... Man it can be frustrating.

We were about ready to shoot ourselves in the head in the third game (got our asses handed to us in the first two games) when we only had 1 player card remaining and hadn't eradicated all the infections. I decided to look at the rules for winning and realized we actually won because we had all four cures!

[Glengoyne]

All great suggestion, but another that plays great with 3-7 is 7 wonders. Really fun game that just about everyone seems to enjoy

Oh yeah. I should have mentioned this as well. This is a game right in line with the low complexity set of games you listed above. It plays in just about the same amount of time with 3 to 7 players, which is a neat trick. Some variety in play, very accessible, and it gets it all done in well under an hour.

[Glengoyne]

...

---

As a side note, went to a local brick-and-mortar game store, and was absolutely floored at their prices. Almost all of the games I was interested in were $70, when I can find most for $50 or less online. I was excited to support my local store, but at those prices I don't think I can bring myself to shop there regularly.

A lot of B&M game stores sell at MSRP. I too am excited to shop at a local store, but it is sometimes painful when you consider the savings. I do really appreciate the service I receive, as the staff are generally knowledgeable. They are generally avid gamers themselves, and will have opinions on lots of games. The best is that they also hear opinions on lots of games, and can often tell you whether a game fits well with types of gamers and play styles. I generally buy a game a month there at our local store, and not the high end $80+ games.

[Autumn]

We got Pandemic today.... Man it can be frustrating.

We were about ready to shoot ourselves in the head in the third game (got our asses handed to us in the first two games) when we only had 1 player card remaining and hadn't eradicated all the infections. I decided to look at the rules for winning and realized we actually won because we had all four cures!

Yes, my friends made that same mistake, thinking they had to eradicate everything. It was quite a relief to find out the truth!

I find it has great replay value because even as you get good at it A) you can up the difficult and B) sometimes things just go all wrong on you.

[CrimsonFox]

I found Pandemic okay but it's main problem is it sets up the "annoying knowitall" ruining the game.

The kind where one player knows every character and thus tells everyone what to do every move instead of like, letting people play the game themselves. Shadows over Camelot CAN get that way too with the wrong people.

[Autumn]

You need better friends.

[Warhammer]

Any coop game can succumb to the forementioned pratfall. That is why I generally avoid coop games because it is very difficult to do well.

[DanGarion]

The rules specifically say not to allow this. But I understand what you are saying.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I think the Researcher can only pass cards on his turn. Are you saying he can pass them anytime?

Yes. I was reading over a forum on strategy after we got our asses handed to us so bad on night one - we're all fairly smart people and quite intelligent gamers, so it seemed wrong that we were losing so bad on the "easy" setting (4 Epidemics). It turns out the Researcher is allowed to use his ability in any trade, even if it's not his turn. I believe he's limited to only GIVING any card, not RECEIVING, but I'll have to go back and look to make sure.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Dola

Brought out an old classic today in Risk - turns out neither my roommate nor her boyfriend had ever played it before. Had a blast teaching them, although the roommate needs a better grip on chokepoints and fortifying borders :)

Thought I'd ping the board though - what's your strategy when it comes to Risk? Where do you start, and what is your initial goal? I have found that mine changes greatly based upon what everyone else is doing, but I love North America. It's a little big and tough to get a hold of, but with only three entryways (Greenland, Central America and Alaska), it's really easy to hole up there once you do consolidate power.

As a kid I used to immediately try to grab Australia, but I'm now disinclined to do so because it's so hard to get the hell out of there once you build up some power. Africa is also nice, but with Europe/Middle East/Brazil as access points, it can be very difficult to hold on to once you get it.

Tonight I was able to grab all of Australia and a significant portion of South America and Africa while my roommate and her boyfriend postured for North America, Asia and Europe in the initial land grab. By about 5 or 6 turns in, I had all three continents and was amassing a nice little army. The boyfriend, however, was able to wrest control of both North America and Europe, and quickly made my dreams of a simple mop-up victory a thing of the past. I began building up Egypt and West Africa, thinking to punch through southern Europe to break up his continental control...but then he decided to try to put my roommate out of her misery, and pushed a bunch of troops out of Alaska and into Kamchatka. I seized the chance to rush him through Central America, swept all the way through to Iceland, and he conceded the game (it's late and we both work early). A lot of freaking fun though!

[Coffee Warlord]

Anyone have recommendations for stuff along the lines of Shadows Over Camelot & Battlestar Galactica? AKA - A mostly co-op game with one or more secret traitor type people trying to unleash their hijinks.

[Warhammer]

Dola

Brought out an old classic today in Risk - turns out neither my roommate nor her boyfriend had ever played it before. Had a blast teaching them, although the roommate needs a better grip on chokepoints and fortifying borders :)

Thought I'd ping the board though - what's your strategy when it comes to Risk? Where do you start, and what is your initial goal? I have found that mine changes greatly based upon what everyone else is doing, but I love North America. It's a little big and tough to get a hold of, but with only three entryways (Greenland, Central America and Alaska), it's really easy to hole up there once you do consolidate power.

As a kid I used to immediately try to grab Australia, but I'm now disinclined to do so because it's so hard to get the hell out of there once you build up some power. Africa is also nice, but with Europe/Middle East/Brazil as access points, it can be very difficult to hold on to once you get it.

Tonight I was able to grab all of Australia and a significant portion of South America and Africa while my roommate and her boyfriend postured for North America, Asia and Europe in the initial land grab. By about 5 or 6 turns in, I had all three continents and was amassing a nice little army. The boyfriend, however, was able to wrest control of both North America and Europe, and quickly made my dreams of a simple mop-up victory a thing of the past. I began building up Egypt and West Africa, thinking to punch through southern Europe to break up his continental control...but then he decided to try to put my roommate out of her misery, and pushed a bunch of troops out of Alaska and into Kamchatka. I seized the chance to rush him through Central America, swept all the way through to Iceland, and he conceded the game (it's late and we both work early). A lot of freaking fun though!

I still go for Australia. Failing that North America. The nice thing about NA, is you can also get SA and not change the number of entry points.

[Autumn]

I can't stand Risk. Now that I've played a lot of strategy games, I feel like there's just no rhyme or reason to Risk. Sure you can have some sort of strategy, but it's mostly dice rolls and just wild movements of armies all over.

CW, I just read about something with a traitor type mechanic on it, now I'll have to look back and see if I can remember what it was.

Not quite board game, but I just got the Game of Thrones Living Card Game for my birthday, I'm excited to try that.

[Autumn]

Oh and also a couple weeks ago I played Notre Dame for the first time. Anyone who likes Puerto Rico or those style games should give this a chance if they can. I thought it was a lot of fun.

[moriarty]

Anyone have recommendations for stuff along the lines of Shadows Over Camelot & Battlestar Galactica? AKA - A mostly co-op game with one or more secret traitor type people trying to unleash their hijinks.

There's a relatively new game called Panic Station. Haven't played it, but it's pretty cheap / plays quick. One person gets infected early on and tries to infect others before they can burn down the 'hive'.

Of course those that are infected remain secret, but can be deduced.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/69552/panic-station

edit: You might look at Betrayal at House on the Hill as well.

[Danny]

There's a relatively new game called Panic Station. Haven't played it, but it's pretty cheap / plays quick. One person gets infected early on and tries to infect others before they can burn down the 'hive'.

Of course those that are infected remain secret, but can be deduced.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/69552/panic-station

I bought it, but haven't played this one yet. May not get to play it until Thanksgiving, but I'll be bringing out with the family.

Also, The Resistance (more like werewolf than BSG or Shadows) is pure awesomeness.

[Autumn]

Anyone have recommendations for stuff along the lines of Shadows Over Camelot & Battlestar Galactica? AKA - A mostly co-op game with one or more secret traitor type people trying to unleash their hijinks.

This isn't really like that, but you made me think of Mr. Jack, which is a great two player game, if anyone hasn't tried it. There are a variety of characters looking for Jack the Ripper. The two players take turns moving them around the streets of London. Thing is one of the players knows which one is Jack the Ripper, and is trying to help him escape, while the other is trying to deduce Jack's identity before he escapes the board. Really fun.

[Coffee Warlord]

edit: You might look at Betrayal at House on the Hill as well.

Oh, we've played the hell out of Betrayal.

The running joke is always the guy who takes Flash over Ox.

[Julio Riddols]

Dola

Brought out an old classic today in Risk - turns out neither my roommate nor her boyfriend had ever played it before. Had a blast teaching them, although the roommate needs a better grip on chokepoints and fortifying borders :)

Thought I'd ping the board though - what's your strategy when it comes to Risk? Where do you start, and what is your initial goal? I have found that mine changes greatly based upon what everyone else is doing, but I love North America. It's a little big and tough to get a hold of, but with only three entryways (Greenland, Central America and Alaska), it's really easy to hole up there once you do consolidate power.

As a kid I used to immediately try to grab Australia, but I'm now disinclined to do so because it's so hard to get the hell out of there once you build up some power. Africa is also nice, but with Europe/Middle East/Brazil as access points, it can be very difficult to hold on to once you get it.

Tonight I was able to grab all of Australia and a significant portion of South America and Africa while my roommate and her boyfriend postured for North America, Asia and Europe in the initial land grab. By about 5 or 6 turns in, I had all three continents and was amassing a nice little army. The boyfriend, however, was able to wrest control of both North America and Europe, and quickly made my dreams of a simple mop-up victory a thing of the past. I began building up Egypt and West Africa, thinking to punch through southern Europe to break up his continental control...but then he decided to try to put my roommate out of her misery, and pushed a bunch of troops out of Alaska and into Kamchatka. I seized the chance to rush him through Central America, swept all the way through to Iceland, and he conceded the game (it's late and we both work early). A lot of freaking fun though!


I like Risk, but Risk 2210 is better, IMO. Way more strategic, also somewhat shorter on play time due to the 5 turn rule.

[moriarty]

Forbidden Island is another one with the same ruleset as Pandemic, basically, with a different theme. Fun too.

Forbidden Island is now available for the iPAD for those that are so inclined.

[Julio Riddols]

I had no idea there was a place to play a Java version of Puerto Rico online. Its amazing. You can also play solo against that A.I. for those of us who haven't played the game but find it interesting. Tropic Euro - online adaptation of the Puerto Rico board game (http://www.tropiceuro.com/)

[Autumn]

Oh yes, I play Puerto Rico online a lot with friends, though we typically play at I haven't tried Tropic Euro. We play some other games at http://www.boardgames.famdepaus.nl/PR/index.html but their version of Puerto Rico has problems.

[Julio Riddols]

As far as I can tell, Tropic Euro is really stable and works like its supposed to. The A.I. appears to be challenging as well, so solo play is pretty fun. The only difference is they have altered the names of some of the roles.

[Vince, Pt. II]

So I ended up picking up Arkham Horror, Battlestar Galactica and Agricola (had to get to $100 for free shipping, right?) from www.coolstuffinc.com last week. Shipping was slow, but it was free, and it got there in about a week in perfect condition. So far we've played a couple of games of Agricola and about 10 turns of BSG (just to get the feel for it). Our impressions so far...

I absolutely love Agricola. Very open game with many strategic options, and quite a bit more complex than the simple resource system of Settlers. Sadly, my roommates are not as intrigued by the game...hopefully a few more play-throughs will get them more comfortable with the large variety of options and the scoring system. Going to bring it around the family for Thanksgiving to see if I can hook any of them with it, hopefully I can get a few more games under my belt.

Battlestar Galactica seems like an awesome game, but I think we're going to have trouble with balancing a 3 player game. We only had time to get 3 or 4 turns (total, with everyone at the table taking a turn) in, but it gave us some time to get comfortable with the basic mechanics of the game. We ended up playing Adama, Roslin and Starbuck and none of us was a Cylon until we stopped playing - our last turn jumped us 4 and Roslin was activated as a sleeper. I love the skill check mechanic, and the hidden traitor aspect of the game will be very fun to explore. I think 3 will be a bit difficult, however - the limited number of available skill cards to be played makes it seem at first blush that a Cylon will very easily be able to tip the balance on skill checks.

Haven't yet gotten to Arkham Horror - we've all been a little busy. But I'm looking forward to giving each of these some more time!

[Autumn]

I love Agricola but every time I curse the game designers for not putting a few more rounds in there. How am I supposed to do all this in so short a time!

[Mustang]

Note sure if this was mentioned, for anyone that likes Memoir 44 or anyone that might want to try it, you can play it on steam.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Keeping this thread alive...

So my buddy picked up a pair of new games and we checked them out over the weekend - Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game and The Walking Dead.

Resident Evil is very similar to Dominion in style - start with ten cards, deal yourself five, play an action, buy something, discard all and then draw five new cards. The wrinkle in the game is that you have the option every turn of exploring the mansion.

In the beginning, each player chooses a character from the Resident Evil games to play as. Each character has a set number of health and two special abilities that become available as the game progresses. Your deck consists of your typical currency and action cards, but there are also item cards. Items are typically weapons, but there are some 'Green Herbs' and 'First Aid Sprays' to be had (healing items, for those unfamiliar with the Resident Evil franchise). Currency doubles as ammunition in this game, and weapons are only useful if you meet their ammunition requirement. For example, the base currency is +10 Ammo/Gold - it counts as both 10 ammo and 10 gold when played (the two upgrades are +20 and +30 of each). A pump-action shotgun (a pretty powerful weapon) costs 40 ammunition and does 25 damage. For it to be useful, you have to have at least 40 ammunition showing that turn. Before you explore, you play all your actions and your weapons (no limit to weapon usage, as long as you have the ammo for them), then you explore by flipping a card in a special separate mansion deck. The deck consists of enemy creatures and bonus items - there are 5 bonus items in the deck and about 30 or so creatures. Creatures have three values on them - health (how much damage you need to deal to kill them), damage (how much damage they do to you if you fail to kill them) and commendations (how much they're worth when you kill them). Typical creatures have 10-25 health, a select few have 40, one has 60 and the "boss" has 90.

The other change from Dominion is that from the get go there are 15 non-currency cards to purchase from, as opposed to Dominion's 13 - and none of them are "victory points" cards. In Resident Evil, the game ends when the boss monster from the Mansion Deck is defeated, rather than when the supply runs out. Also, the only value that matters is the worth of the total enemies you have killed throughout the course of the game (tougher enemies are worth more).

All in all, an interesting twist on the game style of Dominion. I prefer Dominion (a lot, to be honest), but the immersion factor of the style is nice, and strategy changes not only based upon what cards are in play, but also what character you're playing as.

---

The Walking Dead is a game from Z-Man, the same guys who did Agricola and Pandemic. The game is modeled after the AMC TV series of the same name. The game is a typical board game with pieces representing your characters that are moved around the board. Throughout the game, various dice roll checks to pass encounters make up the guts of the game. The object of the game is for each player to "investigate" three separate locations on the board (out of about 13 or so). When the game starts, there are three "active" locations that are free to be investigated by anyone, and each player has a private location that only they may investigate. Once a public location is investigated, it is removed from the board and a new one is added. The trick with the game is that every time you move, the hexagonal tile you leave is immediately occupied by a horde of zombies (of an undisclosed number). As the game goes on, the board is progressively filled with Zombies and it becomes much more difficult to move around. If you have the misfortune of wandering into a zombie occupied space, you flip over the token, find out how many Zombies there are, and then you fight them.

Players randomly select a character from the game as their main character and then draw one follower from a separate deck to begin the game. Each character has one or two special abilities (sometimes dependent upon having specific followers in your party) and a "dice pool" of three dice that they use for resolving encounters. Followers typically have one to two dice which they add to the player's dice pool, and occasionally have a special ability as well. Acquiring more followers happens randomly through encounters, and they are quite powerful - more dice equals more chances to succeed at encounters and get more resources. The game includes three resources - food, ammunition and gas - that each player keeps a running track of throughout the course of the game. Food is used to replenish party members who have been "fatigued" (wounded), ammunition is spent to help clear out zombies if you fail to do so during an encounter (but is dangerous because it may attract more zombies), and gas helps you speed by groups of zombies without encountering them, or allows you to move further on your turn. Scattered throughout the board are resource icons - when you move onto a space with resources, you draw an encounter card, resolve it, then collect the displayed resource (even if you failed the encounter - unless the failure condition says not to). What I found to be the most entertaining part of the game was the variety of the encounters in the game. Encounters vary widely - while some are as mundane as simply killing 2 zombies, or surviving an attack by 6 zombies, the most fun encounters are the ones that prompt interaction between the players.

For example, an encounter we played through last night had the drawing player choose two players playing. Each player selected has to secretly choose to Fight or Flee. The drawing player succeeds at the encounter if both players choose the same answer - in this case, the drawing player gains a resource. If both players choose to Fight, they each receive a resource of their choice. If both players choose to Flee, they each take a fatigue counter. However, if the two players choose differently, the drawing player fails the encounter and loses a resource. The player who chose to Fight takes 1 fatigue, and the player who chose to Flee gains one resource.

So basically, the players selected have to think about several things -
A) Do I care if the drawing player succeeds or not?
B) What can I get out of this?
C) What is the other person going to pick?
D) Can I afford to choose wrong?

Meanwhile, the drawing player has to pick two people that he thinks will choose the same answer - so he has to go over their motivations as well. There are more basic versions of this as well - "Choose one player. That player decides whether or not to lose two fuel. You succeed in this challenge if they decide NOT to lose the fuel, gain one resource. You fail if they decide to lose the fuel, lose one resource." So the player chosen can sacrifice some resources to make sure that the drawing player doesn't gain any themselves.

In any case, they make for very interesting mechanics and strategy decisions. I really enjoyed the game, and am looking forward to trying it again.

[Passacaglia]

I played a game called Blokus over Thanksgiving weekend, that was pretty fun.

[Glengoyne]

Blokus was one of the first games in my collection. The iPad version is a nice implementation if you're inti that.

My favorite new game is King of Tokyo. You play a monster attacking the city so do all of the other players. You roll dice to heal, earn victory points, damage your enemies, and build energy. the energy is used to buy upgrades for your monster. The upgrades are very thematic, fitting the sixties and seventies B monster move genre. You can become super stretchy, grow wings, burrow, fire breath. The powers are great, and the game is a ton of fun. Designed by Richard Garfield, who is famous for magic the gathering.

If anyone is in the market for a fun for all audiences game, King of Tokyo should be on your list.

[Warhammer]

A great gamers game that has recently been reprinted is 1830. Take Age of Steam, make it more geared towards stock and lining your pockets, make it a little more dirty and underhanded and that's the game. The rules are relatively easy, the ramifications of decisions are insanely deep.

[Glengoyne]

Anyone have recommendations for stuff along the lines of Shadows Over Camelot & Battlestar Galactica? AKA - A mostly co-op game with one or more secret traitor type people trying to unleash their hijinks.


A bit late to the table here with a response, but Panic Station is an interesting twist that plays quickly. It is akin to the movie The Thing thematically, at least that is how it was explained to me. It doesn't play that way specifically, but there is a hint of it. A bunch of you and your androids are stranded in a station somewhere. There is some sort of parasite infestation, and you need to search the station to find the "hive" and burn it to the ground. The traitor aspect is that one of you is infected, and seeking to kill the others.

Players have to search rooms to find items(cards). Player must also exchange cards in order to get a proper distribution of items e.g. I've got a gun, who has ammo? The catch is that the infiltrator can infect you during one of these exchanges. It is a pretty fun game, and can definitely scratch the itch for a traitor mechanic game. There are some logical inconsistencies such as passing a gasoline container to someone trying to infect you prevents the infection and exposes the would be infector for what they are.
What it has going for it that Battlestar Galactica doesn't, is that it plays quickly while BSG seems to often go on forever.

[Vince, Pt. II]

So for Christmas we as a group ended up getting Seafarers of Cataan, Dominion: Intrigue, Balloon Cup and both Resident Evil Deck Building Game expansions, Outbreak and Alliance.

So far we've tried Seafarers and Balloon Cup.

After only one game of Seafarers I'm mildly impressed and interested to play a few more games to see how it holds up with different scenarios. I like the flexibility of being able to build ships as well as roads, and the gold tiles/alternate victory points vary things a little as well. In our one (three player) game, I was really the only one who expanded via the ocean however (my entire strategy revolved around it, from the get go), and one of the other players was completely bottled up in relatively short order, rendering her experience to be rather frustrating. More playing time will be necessary, but I'm not sure that the game offers enough differences that we'll play it rather than just firing up the original version of Settlers.

Balloon Cup, picked up solely because of Jim's recommendation, is fantastic. It's only a two player game, but the concept is very simple and there is a LOT of strategy involved. The gist of the game is as such...

You have a hand of 8 cards, and there are 20 different places to play your cards, separated into 4 different locations. Each location has room for an increasing number of cards on each side - the first is one card on either side, the second two, the third three and the fourth four. Each location has two sides: one for you and one for your opponent. Each turn you play one (and only one) card, but you can play it on either side - and it is often a good strategy to play harmful cards into your opponent's area. When a location is completed, the value of the cards are totaled up, and the player with the most (or least, depending upon the location) value claims the cubes on the location. Cubes are separated into 5 different colors, and are used to purchase one of the 5 different trophies - the first player to pick up 3 trophies wins the game. Once a location is claimed, it is flipped over and given new cubes. Play continues until someone has three of the trophies.

I've only played a few games, but I'm really excited to get back into it and develop a good strategy.

[QuikSand]

Balloon Cup, picked up solely because of Jim's recommendation, is fantastic. It's only a two player game, but the concept is very simple and there is a LOT of strategy involved. The gist of the game is as such...

You have a hand of 8 cards, and there are 20 different places to play your cards, separated into 4 different locations. Each location has room for an increasing number of cards on each side - the first is one card on either side, the second two, the third three and the fourth four. Each location has two sides: one for you and one for your opponent. Each turn you play one (and only one) card, but you can play it on either side - and it is often a good strategy to play harmful cards into your opponent's area.

I've only played a few games, but I'm really excited to get back into it and develop a good strategy.

I'm a big fan too. Have played maybe 10 games, so not sure how deep the strategy goes, but I love the setup.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Yeah, I'm hoping it holds up to multiple plays. I don't see why it wouldn't. I'm also intrigued to get into a game where order of operations matters when it comes to purchasing the trophies. Unspent cubes becoming currency when their trophy is off the board makes for some interesting end-game decisions.

Do you read the rules the same way I do? They specifically say that you do not HAVE to turn in the dead cubes if you don't want to, but don't mention anything like that for live cubes. The wording almost seems as though once you have the cubes to purchase a live trophy, you have to do it. Playing my dad earlier today, he ended up picking up the red trophy, but it allowed me to end the game by spending my red cubes to pick up two other trophies. If you don't have to, you could essentially hold those cubes hostage (number of cubes in the game < double the purchase price, so once someone has enough the other person absolutely can not get enough)...but at the same time being forced to take the trophy could lose you the game.

I think we'll probably play as if you do not have to purchase the trophy, if only to leave more strategic options.

[Solecismic]

You do not have to claim the trophy cards.

Cards may only be claimed when a tile has been won. At that point, the player who won the tile may claim as many trophy cards as he can (this can include using 3-for-1 trades). Afterward, the player who lost the tile may claim as many trophy cards as he can (again, using 3-for-1 trades if available).

The danger in not making a claim is mostly in not knowing when you'll have another opportunity to make a claim. If you know your opponent can't make a claim right away, you might delay gratification if you know you will win the next tile and can string a couple of trophy cards together at that point.

By the way, there is an error in the game - a defensive player can lock the game board up if there are enough active cubes of a color. Some people play that you can't have more than 2 gray cubes active on the board (or 3 blue, 4 green, 5 yellow and 6 red) at one time. If a cube is selected that exceeds the limit, it's put back in the bag.

I still enjoy the game, and it's become an instant favorite with at least half of the people I've introduced it to.

[gi]

Had a lot of fun playing Conquest of Nerath

Axis and Allies meets fantasy and Risk. Playing it again this New Years Day.

hxxp://wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/338060000

Battlestar Galactica is on the on deck circle...

[corbes]

My favorite new game is King of Tokyo. You play a monster attacking the city so do all of the other players. You roll dice to heal, earn victory points, damage your enemies, and build energy. the energy is used to buy upgrades for your monster. The upgrades are very thematic, fitting the sixties and seventies B monster move genre. You can become super stretchy, grow wings, burrow, fire breath. The powers are great, and the game is a ton of fun. Designed by Richard Garfield, who is famous for magic the gathering.

If anyone is in the market for a fun for all audiences game, King of Tokyo should be on your list.

+1. Deep enough and fast-paced enough that you've got to be flexible with strategy as the game progresses. Also relatively easy to teach to non-gamers. We've enjoyed this one.

[Dreghorn2]

Man i used to love board games.

Anyone have some suggestions for some deep, and maybe not so deep, 2 player board games that my wife and i could play against one another?

Would really appreciate some suggestions, i haven't played board games in a long long time.

[Danny]

What kind of games do you enjoy?

Abstract type games with simple rules but strategic and or tactical depth (like Chess, Go, etc...)?

Theme heavy games that may be a lot of fun, but also somewhat fiddly as well?

Streamlined euro style games with some strategic depth?

Really deep euro style games that may be a bit of a brain burner?

Cooperative games?

Confrontational games?

Card games?

War games?

Miniature games?

What kind of play time would you want for your games?

If interested in games with theme, what are some of your favorite type of themes?

[mckerney]

Battle Line (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/760/battle-line)
Cold War: CIA vs. KGB (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24742/cold-war-cia-vs-kgb)
Lost Cities (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50/lost-cities)
Dragonheart (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/66171/dragonheart)

And if you want something deeper
1960: The Making of the President (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27708/1960-the-making-of-the-president)

[CrimsonFox]

Here are some answers in bold.


What kind of games do you enjoy?
Games with a theme, games with auctions and bidding as a mechanic. Games with different choices and types of play but each choice is a win

Abstract type games with simple rules but strategic and or tactical depth (like Chess, Go, etc...)?

Theme heavy games that may be a lot of fun, but also somewhat fiddly as well?
Beowulf, Shadows Over Camelot

Streamlined euro style games with some strategic depth? Beowulf, Adel Verflechtet, Stone Age

Really deep euro style games that may be a bit of a brain burner?
I don't really know what you mean between this question and the last one.

Cooperative games? Shadows Over Camelot (and it's hard enough to win without a traitor playing so it's kinda more fun with no traitor), Fortress America

Confrontational games?
Diplomacy of course! :) Cosmic Encounter :)

Card games?
Apples to Apples

War games?

Miniature games?
Space Hulk

What kind of play time would you want for your games?
1-2 hours. Occasionally a 3-4 hr game is fun but I'd better like the people I play with. 1/2 hour games are fun too.

If interested in games with theme, what are some of your favorite type of themes?
Fantasy, Horror, having a country or era as a theme

New categories:
Storytelling/RPG type game: Tales of the Arabian Nights

Abstract/Art: Dixit

[Danny]

Really deep euro style games that may be a bit of a brain burner?
I don't really know what you mean between this question and the last one.


Games like Brass, Through the Ages, Antiquity, 18xx, etc... I really like games from the first group, but I don't like games that are too brain burney myself.

[CrimsonFox]

Games like Brass, Through the Ages, Antiquity, 18xx, etc... I really like games from the first group, but I don't like games that are too brain burney myself.


so you're saying you don't like games that are poorly designed. Fair enough. :)

[DanGarion]

My brother in law got us the add on expansion for Pandemic, can't wait to check that out!

[DanGarion]

Man i used to love board games.

Anyone have some suggestions for some deep, and maybe not so deep, 2 player board games that my wife and i could play against one another?

Would really appreciate some suggestions, i haven't played board games in a long long time.

Ticket to Ride!

[mckerney]

Ticket to Ride!

If you're buying Ticket to Ride mostly to play with your wife go with the Nordic Countries version that is for 2-3 players.

[mckerney]

Forbidden Island is a good cheap co-op game for 2-4 players.

[DanGarion]

If you're buying Ticket to Ride mostly to play with your wife go with the Nordic Countries version that is for 2-3 players.

My wife and I have enjoyed many a game of the USA version as two player.

[corbes]

Man i used to love board games.

Anyone have some suggestions for some deep, and maybe not so deep, 2 player board games that my wife and i could play against one another?

Would really appreciate some suggestions, i haven't played board games in a long long time.

My wife and I really like Lost Cities (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50/lost-cities). It is designed for 2 players only so no adaptations required, and I think it fits your "deep but not too complicated" concept.

[RomaGoth]

Man i used to love board games.

Anyone have some suggestions for some deep, and maybe not so deep, 2 player board games that my wife and i could play against one another?

Would really appreciate some suggestions, i haven't played board games in a long long time.

We enjoy Blockus (http://blokus.com/en/blokus.html). My wife hates that she can never beat me at it though. So I guess what I really mean is that I enjoy Blockus. :D

[Dreghorn2]

Damn, thanks guys for the replies.

Essentially i don't know what we would like to play because i am so far removed as to what is available.

Personally i like deep strategic games (from back in the day) but i have to be realistic about what my wife might be into.

I'd be willing to bet that board games have reached a level where i would be genuinely surprised by the amount of options available in the adult gaming market.

I need to do some research and i'll start by checking a lot of the suggestions mentioned here.

When i was a kid, there was nothing, and i mean nothing, that made me happier than getting a new board game (well maybe hockey equipment, but that was it).

I'll monitor this thread going forward.

This is such a cool forum.

[Danny]

I'd be willing to bet that board games have reached a level where i would be genuinely surprised by the amount of options available in the adult gaming market.


You have no idea lol. First, I will second the suggestions of Battle Line and Lost Cities, both fantastic 2 player card games. But I'd recommend getting a couple pure board games instead of all card games if you're like me and like cool boards and pieces.

Here are a few suggestions based on my preference of games and my wife who plays with me as well. This is assuming you plan to play strictly two player for now as playing with more opens up thousands of more options.

Dominion (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion): A game in which you buy cards that go into your deck (now the hottest current mechanic in board gaming called deckbuilding). Very easy game to learn, that pretty much everyone likes or loves. I personally prefer thunderstone, but Dominion is better for wives and to start out with. I would definitely recommend this game, though again, it is a pure card game.

Summoner Wars (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/93260/summoner-wars-master-set)- One of my favorite games. It is a tactical battle of fantasy armies that uses cards. It has simple rules and fairly deep play. Some randomness, but the better player will win almost all the time. It is highly confrontational and has the fantasy theme, so if that scares your wife off, look elsewhere. If you do like the way it sounds, I recommend getting the master set which comes with a deluxe board and nice box. I personally have all 14 armies, but that is certainly not needed to start with.

Agricola (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260/agricola): This is a euro style game. It is decently complex, but not too bad and it flows well. Works great with two players. Additionally, the family/farming theme does typically appeal to wives. Not too confrontational other than taking your opponents desired spots.

Claustrophobia (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36932/claustrophobia)- A two player dungeon crawl style game, but with streamlined rules and really awesome miniatures and pieces. It comes with a dozen or so scenarios, but many more can be found online, both official and unofficial. Again, though, this game is highly confrontational and has a fantasy theme.

Stone Age (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34635/stone-age)- This uses the mechanic called worker placement (agricola does also) in which players take turns placing their meeples (guys) on different spots on the board. Then they take turns executing the actions of their meeples. This one is a great introductory worker placement and one of my wife's favorite games. works well with two, though I prefer it with more.

Pandemic, Forbidden Island, Defenders of the Realm: All three games use the same base mechanic and are fully cooperative. I own Pandemic and Defenders of the realm and would rank them Defenders, Pandemic and Forbidden, but Pandemic is the best combination of simple rules, depth and wife friendliness.

Samurai (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3/samurai)- A fun area control / tile placement style game. Works great for two.

[Danny]

If I were picking five for you, I would suggest:

Battle Line (i think it has more depth and is better than lost cities)
Dominion
Summoner Wars or Claustrophobia (both confrontational fantasy style games with streamlined rules and good tactical depth. Whichever sounds better to you and your wife)
Agricola or Stone Age(stone age is a better intro, but agricola has more depth and works better with 2p imo)
Pandemic

I think from there you would get a really good idea of the type of games you and your wife enjoy and can go from there.

One encouraging thing as well, board games hold their value very well. Games from the list I gave and most good games in general can easily be traded for other games in the case you do not like them. They can usually be sold for 60-70% of what you paid for them (assuming you buy them online and get free shipping) and sometimes more if you have it for a while and sell it between print runs or when it is out of print.

[CrimsonFox]

I do like a good co-op game BUT they are awfully dangerous. It all depends on who you play it with. Just one loud-mouth knowitall will spoil the whole game.
aka the kind of person that tells everyone else how to play their turn. Just kills the whole game.

[Danny]

Yeah, like how I play werewolf ;)

[Danny]

But it would be good for them to know if coops are a good match for them. They could always trade it or sell it away if it isn't and then steer clear of them in the future. But there are a lot of really great ones out now, so if it is something they would enjoy, would be a shame to miss out on them

[Vince, Pt. II]

You do not have to claim the trophy cards.

Cards may only be claimed when a tile has been won. At that point, the player who won the tile may claim as many trophy cards as he can (this can include using 3-for-1 trades). Afterward, the player who lost the tile may claim as many trophy cards as he can (again, using 3-for-1 trades if available).

The danger in not making a claim is mostly in not knowing when you'll have another opportunity to make a claim. If you know your opponent can't make a claim right away, you might delay gratification if you know you will win the next tile and can string a couple of trophy cards together at that point.

By the way, there is an error in the game - a defensive player can lock the game board up if there are enough active cubes of a color. Some people play that you can't have more than 2 gray cubes active on the board (or 3 blue, 4 green, 5 yellow and 6 red) at one time. If a cube is selected that exceeds the limit, it's put back in the bag.

I still enjoy the game, and it's become an instant favorite with at least half of the people I've introduced it to.

Ironically, we (unintentionally) locked up the board the very first night - we ende up with all 5 gray cubes out at once and didn't yet realize how limited the gray cards are.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Have a few games of Dominion: Intrigue under our belts now and I absolutely love the set. Flexibility is the name of the game, and some of the card combinations are awesome (Bridge in particular has a very nice synergy with a ton of different cards). Looking forward to exploring the set more.

Have tried one game each of the Resident Evil expansions, and they are complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Outbreak is extremely difficult to be successful at, while Alliance is almost laughably easy. In the game, you are trying to out score your opponents by going into the mansion and fighting infected creatures. In the vanilla game, you have the option of whether or not to explore, so you can spend several early turns building your deck up before you venture in. Outbreak adds in a penalty for not exploring, represented by an increasing infection level on your character. With very little time to build up your deck, you are constantly risking death when you explore early. Alliance, on the other hand, lets you play with two characters, and very quickly makes exploring the mansion a very easy thing to do.

In both cases every player playing has to deal with the handicaps and bonuses, so there is only a change in play style. I really enjoyed Outbreak, but Alliance was a little too easy for my tastes.

[Dreghorn2]

This thread has been bookmarked and you people are officially awesome.

I'm really looking forward to my wife and i trying some of these out (I'm kind of feeling like a kid again -- LOL).

[cschex]

This thread is awesome. I've been wanting to find a good game my wife and I can play and after reading this I think we're going to try out Dominion (found a used copy on Craigslist). I want to get Pandemic too but I wonder if it feels limited with only 2 players?

[Danny]

I want to get Pandemic too but I wonder if it feels limited with only 2 players?

Not at all, it works perfect with two. In fact it introduces a side game of seeing if I can subtly tell my wife what to do with her turn without her realizing.

In all seriousness, my wife and I play it with two almost exclusively. It obviously doesn't have as much of a teamwork factor as when you play with four, but I think all of the fun is there.

[Autumn]

Pandemic is a great pick up because you can very easily introduce others when you have friends/family over. I've seen a lot of people who never touch board games, or never touch these kinds of strategy games, get right into it. It seems to have a broad appeal, the games are fast, yet addictive, and the fact that you can help each other makes it non-threatening.

[Glengoyne]

Man i used to love board games.

Anyone have some suggestions for some deep, and maybe not so deep, 2 player board games that my wife and i could play against one another?

Would really appreciate some suggestions, i haven't played board games in a long long time.



i'll second Pandemic and dominion plus expansions as boardgames for two. I'll add Puerto Rico to the list. There is an official two player variant that makes the game great for a couple. PR was the top ranked boardgame for a VERY long time. It is very accessible, and is about as deep in strategy as you can imagine. The only CON I have with PR is in playing with widely diverging skill sets. A weak player won't win, but will likely be the king maker setting up the win for someone else. If both players are new to Boardgames in general, then this won't be an issue.

It was mentioned above that Defenders of the Realm and Forbidden Island also scratch the cooperative itch along with Pandemic, but have very different themes. So don't just stick with Pandemic, just because of the popularity.

Also, don't just bookmark this thread. Go to boardgamegeek.com. That is the promised land.

[dzilla77]

If you like PR, San Juan is also good as a two player game.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Also, don't just bookmark this thread. Go to boardgamegeek.com. That is the promised land.

I'll second this recommendation, Board Game Geek is a pretty awesome site.

Also, I've found Forbidden Island to be sort of a "Pandemic Light". I didn't really enjoy it all that much, but we've only played it a couple of times. I'll give it a couple more playthroughs before I really get down on it.

[Danny]

Also, don't just bookmark this thread. Go to boardgamegeek.com. That is the promised land.

Only use this site if you are alright with having close to 200 games in less than 3 years time.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Only use this site if you are alright with having close to 200 games in less than 3 years time.

Yeah, we're up to about 30 or so in just the last several months.