Board Games
 

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.

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).

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.

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:

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+

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.

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...

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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

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!

$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...

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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!!!!!!

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

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

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.

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

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

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!!

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

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.

DOLA, for kids Gulo Gulo is fantastic.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ? That might be my next purchase.

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.

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

He rated Battletech. :)

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.