Board Games

[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by MrDNA

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

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

They have it for the 360 too!

[mrsimperless]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

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]

Originally Posted by mrsimperless

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]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

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]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

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]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by mrsimperless

Don't waste your points.

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

[mrsimperless]

Originally Posted by Mustang

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 )

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

(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]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

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)

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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

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

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]

Originally Posted by mrsimperless

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] -

[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]

Originally Posted by 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/

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. 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! 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.



Also hoping to play Bang! 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:



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

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by 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.

If anyone is looking for a game like Pandemic that might work a little better with kids I'd recommend Forbidden Island. 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.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Mustang

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

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]

Originally Posted by mckerney

If anyone is looking for a game like Pandemic that might work a little better with kids I'd recommend Forbidden Island. 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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 )

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]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I should be getting Survive: Escape from Atlantis! 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]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

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]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

That game looks badass!

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