Board Games

[tarcone]

I was done buying games. Then this comes across my computer:

THUNDER ALLEY by GMT Games — Kickstarter

I am sure to be backing this game. Looks like a great game. And I love a good racing game.

[Matthean]

It sort of stalled in the P500 system. IIRC, the same designers are the ones behind Title Chase Basketball which might hit KS as well.

[Alan T]

I need a couple of suggestions for board games for the family and figured maybe some people here can help me out.

Basically the family plays board games from 1-4 times a week. The games either are:

2 player (me and my wife)
3 player (me, my wife, and oldest daughter 12 years old)
3 player (me, my wife and youngest daughter 5 years old)
5 players (me, my wife, and three daughters 12, 8, 5)

We currently have a bunch of various hasbro/parker brothers type games (sorry, aggravation, life, monopoly, risk, etc), but home favorites lately have been either ticket to ride or small world, which they really like playing 5 players.
We also own Carassonne and Catan Jr. board games, as well as the Game of Thrones Card Game (kind of like Magic I guess) but those don't get played or picked as often.

On the ipads we have trivial pursuit, risk, monopoly, carcassonne, Dominant species, scotland yard, small world, lehavre, catan, puerto Rico, TTR, TTR Europe, Tigris and Euphrates, Forbidden Isle, NS Hex, Alien Frontiers and Caylus.

I guess I am looking for perhaps 2 or 3 different suggestions for board games to get for Christmas:

1) Something that my wife and I would enjoy playing together as a 2 person game.
2) An Older Kid level game (age 12-13-14ish) that is a good 3 player game
3) A good 5 player game that is family friendly. Doesn't have to be down to 5 years old, as my 5 year old picked up Small World and Ticket to Ride ok, but probably ideally 8 years old or less.

Any suggestions?

[Danny]

Current shopping cart at miniature market for black friday.

Remove item Suburbia (Preorder)
Suburbia (Preorder)
$38.99 $38.99
Remove item Love Letter (Preorder)
Love Letter (Preorder)
$6.49 $6.49
Remove item Ginkgopolis (Preorder)
Ginkgopolis (Preorder)
$29.24 $29.24
Remove item Flash Point: Fire Rescue - Urban Structures Expansion Pack (Preorder)
Flash Point: Fire Rescue - Urban Structures Expansion Pack (Preorder)
$9.74 $9.74
Remove item Flash Point: Fire Rescue - 2nd Story Expansion Pack (Preorder)
Flash Point: Fire Rescue - 2nd Story Expansion Pack (Preorder)
$9.74 $9.74
Remove item Legendary: Marvel Deck Building Game (NewArrival)
Legendary: Marvel Deck Building Game (NewArrival)
$41.97 $41.97
Remove item Star Wars: X-Wing - X-Wing Expansion Pack
Star Wars: X-Wing - X-Wing Expansion Pack
$9.72 $9.72
Remove item Star Wars: X-Wing - TIE Advanced Expansion Pack
Star Wars: X-Wing - TIE Advanced Expansion Pack
$9.72 $9.72
Remove item Star Wars: X-Wing - TIE Fighter Expansion Pack
Star Wars: X-Wing - TIE Fighter Expansion Pack
$9.72 $9.72
Remove item Star Wars: X-Wing - Y-Wing Expansion Pack
Star Wars: X-Wing - Y-Wing Expansion Pack
$9.72 $9.72
Remove item Jungle Speed - Rabbids (Clearance)
Jungle Speed - Rabbids (Clearance)
$12.50 $12.50
Remove item Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Sting of Lolth (Clearance)
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Sting of Lolth (Clearance)
$22.00 $22.00
Remove item Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Heart of Cormyr (Clearance)
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Heart of Cormyr (Clearance)
$22.00 $22.00
Remove item Catacombs: Horde of Vermin Expansion (Clearance)
Catacombs: Horde of Vermin Expansion (Clearance)
$13.00 $13.00
Remove item Carcassonne The City 2 (Clearance)
Carcassonne The City 2 (Clearance)
$18.00 $18.00
Remove item 1989: Dawn of Freedom (Clearance)
1989: Dawn of Freedom (Clearance)
$32.50 $32.50
Remove item Quarriors! Quest of the Qladiator Expansion (NewArrival)
Quarriors! Quest of the Qladiator Expansion (NewArrival)
$29.99 $29.99
Remove item Perfecto Brush Set (Clearance)
Perfecto Brush Set (Clearance)
$4.00 $4.00
Remove item Descent 2nd Edition - Lair of the Wyrm Expansion (Preorder)
Descent 2nd Edition - Lair of the Wyrm Expansion (Preorder)
$22.72 $22.72
Remove item Archipelago (NewArrival)
Archipelago (NewArrival)
$51.99 $51.99
Remove item Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Tyranny of Goblins
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Tyranny of Goblins
$25.99 $25.99
Remove item Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Curse of Undeath (NewArrival)
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Command - Curse of Undeath (NewArrival)
$25.99 $25.99
Remove item 7 Wonders - Cities Expansion
7 Wonders - Cities Expansion
$19.49 $19.49
Remove item CO2 (Preorder)
CO2 (Preorder)
$38.97 $38.97
Remove item Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (Preorder)
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (Preorder)
$26.00 $26.00
Remove item St. Petersburg (Clearance)
St. Petersburg (Clearance)
$17.48 $17.48
Remove item Set -The Game (Clearance)
Set -The Game (Clearance)
$6.50 $6.50
Remove item Reverse Charades (Clearance)
Reverse Charades (Clearance)
$10.00 $10.00
Remove item Gonzaga (Clearance)
Gonzaga (Clearance)
$24.95 $24.95
Remove item Edo (Clearance)
Edo (Clearance)
$29.98 $29.98
Remove item Elfenland (Clearance)
Elfenland (Clearance)
$22.48 $22.48
Remove item Conflict of Heroes: The Marsh Expansion Pack (Clearance)
Conflict of Heroes: The Marsh Expansion Pack (Clearance)
$5.00 $5.00
Remove item Maori (Clearance)
Maori (Clearance)
$17.48 $17.48
Remove item 1955 - The War of Espionage (Clearance)
1955 - The War of Espionage (Clearance)
$12.50 $12.50
Remove item Alea Iacta Est (Clearance)
Alea Iacta Est (Clearance)
$17.48 $17.48
Remove item London (Clearance)
London (Clearance)
$27.50 $27.50
Remove item Pergamon (Clearance)
Pergamon (Clearance)
$20.00 $20.00
Remove item Trollhalla (Clearance)
Trollhalla (Clearance)
$25.00 $25.00
Remove item Mousquetaires du Roy (Clearance)
Mousquetaires du Roy (Clearance)
$29.98 $29.98
Remove item Hansa (Clearance)
Hansa (Clearance)
$15.00 $15.00
Remove item Alhambra Big Box
Alhambra Big Box
$51.97 $51.97

[Danny]

Going to have to edit it down a bit lol. I did sell some games to clear up about $400 of spending cash though. Also for those not aware, the sale is 8% of site wide and 4% rewards, so really like 12% off. I also have 7% from my discover so I will be getting about 20% off this Friday

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I need a couple of suggestions for board games for the family and figured maybe some people here can help me out.

Basically the family plays board games from 1-4 times a week. The games either are:

2 player (me and my wife)
3 player (me, my wife, and oldest daughter 12 years old)
3 player (me, my wife and youngest daughter 5 years old)
5 players (me, my wife, and three daughters 12, 8, 5)

We currently have a bunch of various hasbro/parker brothers type games (sorry, aggravation, life, monopoly, risk, etc), but home favorites lately have been either ticket to ride or small world, which they really like playing 5 players.
We also own Carassonne and Catan Jr. board games, as well as the Game of Thrones Card Game (kind of like Magic I guess) but those don't get played or picked as often.

On the ipads we have trivial pursuit, risk, monopoly, carcassonne, Dominant species, scotland yard, small world, lehavre, catan, puerto Rico, TTR, TTR Europe, Tigris and Euphrates, Forbidden Isle, NS Hex, Alien Frontiers and Caylus.

I guess I am looking for perhaps 2 or 3 different suggestions for board games to get for Christmas:

1) Something that my wife and I would enjoy playing together as a 2 person game.
2) An Older Kid level game (age 12-13-14ish) that is a good 3 player game
3) A good 5 player game that is family friendly. Doesn't have to be down to 5 years old, as my 5 year old picked up Small World and Ticket to Ride ok, but probably ideally 8 years old or less.

Any suggestions?

Survive: Escape from Atlantis. 4 player base game, but there's a mini expansion that lets you play with up to 6.
Pit if you don't mind a lot of yelling.
Saboteur 2
Battle Line and Cold War: CIA vs KGB are my favorite 2 player games.

[Danny]

For survive, this is a mean game, so only get if your family is not easily upset. Otherwise a great suggestion.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Alan T

1) Something that my wife and I would enjoy playing together as a 2 person game.

Balloon Cup is fantastic, though hard to find.

Originally Posted by Alan T

2) An Older Kid level game (age 12-13-14ish) that is a good 3 player game

It's not strictly an "older kid level" game, but Dominion is great three player. Alhambra gets a lot of pub as a good three player game, and Carcassone is pretty much at the sweet spot with three people.

Originally Posted by Alan T

3) A good 5 player game that is family friendly. Doesn't have to be down to 5 years old, as my 5 year old picked up Small World and Ticket to Ride ok, but probably ideally 8 years old or less.

That's a tough call to keep it accessible. Most of the games we play with five people (Eclipse, Arkham Horror off the top of my head) aren't so kid friendly. The one someone mentioned here earlier, Sewer Pirats! may be worth looking into.

[Alan T]

thanks for some of the suggestions. For the 5 player game, in some cases we go 4-player and let the youngest team up with someone. So if there is a kid-friendly 4-player game that is great, that also might fit the bill.

I'll take a look at the ones you all listed.

[Danny]

could go with the new release Mice Mystics as it could fill all three of your criteria and has strong appeal with kids. Can play 1-4 people, fully co op, great theme.

[Danny]

Oh, also King of Tokyo is a great 3-5 player family game.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Danny

Oh, also King of Tokyo is a great 3-5 player family game.

King of Tokyo | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

2-6 player. Plays better with more people. Two player isn't bad, but if you are only playing two player, there are better options out there.

[Danny]

I left off 2 cause its not good and left off 6 cause Alan wanted up to 5

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I was done buying games. Then this comes across my computer:

THUNDER ALLEY by GMT Games — Kickstarter

I am sure to be backing this game. Looks like a great game. And I love a good racing game.

[CrimsonFox]

Smashup is pretty cool even though it has a lousy name,

You choose between zombies, leprauchauns, wizards, pirates, aliens, ninjas and dinosaurs and try to get the most points by destroying buildings and stuff.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/122522/smash-up

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Alan T

thanks for some of the suggestions. For the 5 player game, in some cases we go 4-player and let the youngest team up with someone. So if there is a kid-friendly 4-player game that is great, that also might fit the bill.

I'll take a look at the ones you all listed.

I'll second saboteur one and two. Also King of Tokyo.

[Matthean]

CSI has a 10% off everything sale through Monday. Code is BF2012.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Matthean

CSI has a 10% off everything sale through Monday. Code is BF2012.

Since I have an order on hold since July, I went and calculated getting my order adjusted with Black Friday pricing. I could then add the expansion to King of Tokyo for a net difference of around $3.

[DanGarion]

Freshly local game store had 20% off, picked up Zombie Munchkin and Target had Dixit for $18.

[Matthean]

CSI is doing daily deals. Today is the new Netrunner for $20.99. DVG is doing their end of year sale with BOGO.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Picked up Puerto Rico, Lords of Waterdeep and Legendary the other day. Haven't gotten into Puerto Rico yet, but my roommate and I played a couple 2-player games of the other two.

Lords of Waterdeep is a worker placement game like Agricola with a Dungeons & Dragons theme and several twists. Basically you have 4 workers and players take turns placing one on specific board locations to acquire resources. Once a space on the board is taken, no one else can play it that round. The twist is that unlike Agricola, which adds more action locations turn by turn at (semi) random, the players are in charge of adding new locations to the board via the building location. You pick a location from three available to place on the board, and it becomes a valid placement for anyone else. The cool twist is that whoever built the building gets a benefit if any other player uses it. Also, unlike Agricola where you simply collect things to score points, you use your gathered resources to complete quests throughout the game. I found that most people I introduced Agricola to were put off a little by the scoring system because there is so much to keep track of, the questing system here is much more straightforward. Two players is not ideal for this game, but we still had a good time. What really struck me about it was the production value. All the pieces and cards are of very high quality, and the detail is fantastic. The cardboard cutout currency in the game even have a heads and tails to them. The box is probably the most well designed box I've ever seen. The insert not only has a space for putting everything in, the slots are designed so that it's easy to get everything OUT while setting up. Can't wait to play the game with a few more people to get a better idea of how it runs.

Marvel: Legendary is a deck building game with, you guessed it, a superhero theme. The cards are of decent quality, but playing it after playing Waterdeep it was easy to be disappointed that the cards weren't of higher quality. This is a competitive/cooperative game: everyone is playing against the Mastermind chosen at the beginning of the game, but by the end of the game one player will end up with more victory points than the rest. The cards are designed well, with strong synergy between the heroes you build your deck with. Playing hero cards from the same "team" (X-Men, the Avengers, etc) or of the same type (telekinetic, strength, gadget) will typically allow you to get more out of each card you play. Unfortunately, unlike other deck building games like Dominion, not every card is available to everyone at all times. There are only 5 cards (chosen at random from the hero deck) available at any one time. As soon as one is purchased, it is replaced immediately with a new card from the deck. As such, there is definitely an element of randomness to putting your deck together. If you get unlucky and don't have much spending power on the turn that The Hulk's big card shows up, you're probably not going to get him on your team. What IS nice about the game is that there are a ton of different combinations you can use. At the beginning of the game, you pick a Mastermind. Each has different abilities and strength, so the games will be different depending upon who you're fighting. But the real brilliant move is that there is a separate deck of schemes, and you pick one of those per game as well. These dictate victory and loss conditions, so each game is bound to be different. I've read ad lines like that before and have been disappointed often, but having played two games last night, I can attest that each had a very different feel to it. There are something like 37 different combinations of Mastermind and Scheme in the base set, so you have a ton of variation in game style. I'm definitely going to need more time with the game before I draw any conclusions, but a great theme with good (original) artwork on the cards and a fantastic mechanic for adding variability to replays should be more than enough to overcome my loathing of the randomness feature that is the hero deck.

[DanGarion]

We had the biggest game night of the year on Saturday. 10 total people, it may have been the lure of a Thanksgiving dinner that brought some of them there. I even had a door prize for the first person to arrive (Zombie Dice).

We played Zombie Dice a couple times first, which is a nice light dice game that everyone liked, it's a good ice breaker to get people into the gaming mood, for $13 bucks it's worth it.

Then we moved on to playing The Resistance. If you are familiar with the game Werewolf that people play here (also known as Mafia) or if you have ever played the game Bang!, this is pretty much the same type of concept. Everyone caught on pretty quick and we must have played around 7 or 8 games. We played the base set the first two times with the Spies winning both times, and then we moved onto adding the expansion cards which give people special abilities when they are picked for missions. Everyone had a lot of fun and it's a cool game that isn't took complex once you get everyone to understand the basic concepts of the teams.

[Matthean]

Watch It Played just did a play through of Legendary. I think I'm past the whole deck building thing. If I had to pick, I would get Sentinels of the Multiverse instead since each player gets to play a character versus Legendary's more mash up style of superhero playing. They already announced the first expansion for it. They are doing big expansions and smaller ones. The next one is a big one containing 350 cards. I'm not saying it is a bad game because it is not. I'm just getting past the whole "Here's a new card game that we are going to spam the hell out of with expansions."

Here's the play list for people wanting to check it out.

Legendary - YouTube

FYI, the game is simply named Legendary. People have pointed that out saying it leaves the door open for more than just Marvel being part of the system.

[Fidatelo]

I'm really interested in Legendary because it is very solo-friendly. I really hope I get it for Christmas.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Matthean

FYI, the game is simply named Legendary. People have pointed that out saying it leaves the door open for more than just Marvel being part of the system.

Ah, didn't even realize that. The Marvel logo is all over the place, but I'd assume that's because of the content.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Ah, didn't even realize that. The Marvel logo is all over the place, but I'd assume that's because of the content.

It's probably similar to how VS was handled (started as Marvel and went to DC if I remember right).

[tarcone]

No reviews on Dreadball yet? I see it is available at my fave OLGS. Wondering if anyone here has been playing it yet.

[Matthean]

I think it is just coming out so not many have it yet.

[tarcone]

I saw it was available at an OLGS. I figured the KS guys would have gotten their copies.

[Matthean]

Depends how they do the shipping. Unless it was part of the KS project, there's nothing really preventing from shipping it to everybody at once. I know some KS projects have options for retailers as well.

[tyketime]

I did a search and see it was mentioned once in the Magic the Gathering thread, but I just came across OCTGN myself night. There are a number of card-based games that this software supports for online play. I have the Core Set for Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game. OCTGN is an easy way to play without all of the setup. And it looks like you can try out some of the newer modules/expansions to see which one you like to actually buy. Some of the "how to play" videos about this game are created using the OCTGN software. Just thought I would remind everyone of this option.

[Fidatelo]

I read about a 50 Shades of Grey party board game being released the other day, and I thought it sounded like something my wife might find fun on 'girls nights' or weekends with her friends. So yesterday I went to my FLGS and looked for it, but of course they had none in stock. So I went to the counter and asked the owner if she had any way of ordering one in. Let's just say this was a mistake. The conversation started with her not knowing about the game at all, led to Google searching with lots of game results like "Sexxxation", and finally ended after she had called her 'good friend' that owns a local "Love Nest" store to see if they were carrying it. It was... awkward.

[Autumn]

Board games just got sexy ...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I read about a 50 Shades of Grey party board game being released the other day, and I thought it sounded like something my wife might find fun on 'girls nights' or weekends with her friends. So yesterday I went to my FLGS and looked for it, but of course they had none in stock. So I went to the counter and asked the owner if she had any way of ordering one in. Let's just say this was a mistake. The conversation started with her not knowing about the game at all, led to Google searching with lots of game results like "Sexxxation", and finally ended after she had called her 'good friend' that owns a local "Love Nest" store to see if they were carrying it. It was... awkward.

Heh!

Yes, that is something I'd only ever order on-line.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Heh!

Yes, that is something I'd only ever order on-line.

I guess I've heard the book referenced as "Mom porn" but given how mainstream it seems to be I didn't really think it qualified as 'sex shop' material. Especially because the description of the game is basically that a scenario is presented and then you secretly right down which other player you think matches that scenario. Kind of mildly dirty but it's not like some sort of spin-the-dildo game or something.

But apparently I was wrong. By the end of my time at the game store I was half-expecting the woman behind the counter to open up some door to her sex dungeon downstairs.

[Matthean]

http://www.spacehulk-game.com/

Space Hulk to go digital.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

...but it's not like some sort of spin-the-dildo game or something.

Where is quote of the moment when you need it?

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Space Hulk

Space Hulk to go digital.

That was one of the most useless trailers for a game I've seen

[tarcone]

I thought it was awesome. I got the tense feeling I get when I play Death Angel.

Tammany Hall shipped today. See if I get my copy. I bought on Geekbay. Guy changed the address. But no confirmation.

Crossing my fingers.

[Matthean]

I got a couple more plays in of San Juan. First game was to teach it. I won easily. The second game was a battle of one person playing a number of buildings and the other playing fewer buildings but with more VP involved per each. I was the one with fewer buildings. I counted out the number of buildings and tried to squeeze the last buildings I could get in for high points. I figured if I got the one that gave 1 VP for each violet card I would be in the running. The other player only had one building to go but filled it with a 5 VP card. I lost by one.

I finally got to play Lords of Waterdeep as it has been the game for whatever reason I never see get played even at Cons despite its popularity. I liked it enough to where I might bump its rating compared to what I thought it was going to be after getting it to a teachable level. Now I just need to play a game with more players to give it a little more bite.

After game night I went and got some stuff from 7-11 and talked to the guy there. His wife is a huge gamer so we were talking about games. He asked what my favorite multiplayer game was. I couldn't think of anything offhand a number of games qualify as really good. I told him the best game I have played this year that I don't have is Cosmic Encounter. After telling him about the game, he was like, "Dude that sounds awesome" and I reply, "Yeah it kind of is." Point is, I had nothing on my wishlist for Christmas so I was basically asking for money, but my Mom wants me to have something "exciting" to open on Christmas so I think I'm going to go with Cosmic Encounter.

If Band of Brothers doesn't show up today at CSI it means Worthington Games sent it out over three weeks ago, it still isn't there, and thus I'm e-mailing WG. People on BGG have mentioned it being elsewhere much earlier and even including Canada. There's no reason why a delivery from an American publisher can't get it to an American store in over three weeks. At this point I'm just hoping an order I put in during July actually gets to me in the same year.

[Matthean]

Amazon.com: Descent: Journeys in The Dark Second Edition Board Game: Toys & Games

Descent for $35.54(56% off) and free shipping.

[Autumn]

I've heard the second edition isn't as good. Anyone played it?

[Matthean]

I haven't played either, but I don't see how the first edition is better unless you are hell bent on the epic 6 hour adventure in all its FFGs fiddliness. The campaign that was added in the Road to Legend expansion for the first edition is part of the base game for the 2nd edition as well. I think any cons is so outweighed by the pros people are preferring the newest edition. The Dice Tower review was virtually giddy about the game.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Having played several more games of Legendary, I'm still enjoying it. The game gets significantly more difficult with more players, as more villains come into play while the players' decks are still weak and underdeveloped.

That being said, the quality of the cards is simply atrocious. After fewer than ten play throughs, the cards are sticking to each other badly, wearing at the corners and are generally a pain in the ass. If you're goin to get the game I highly recommend sleeving the cards.

[tarcone]

I am getting Escape! The Curse of the Temple for Christmas.
I showed one of my daughters and my wife the play through video from BGG. They both said they would like the game.
I cant wait to open it on Christmas. We have no plans that day. I am going to try and get a bunch of plays of this in.

[Groundhog]

My DreadBall and acrylic pitch arrived yesterday. I didn't get a chance to play, but the models are true 28mm (ie. small for those used to GW), have a fair amount of flash, and some require a significant amount of assembly. Look great though, the forge fathers in particular. The acrylic pitch is very nice.

[Matthean]

Eclipse expansion pack should be out. CSI doesn't have it listed but they are sending out e-mails to people who ordered saying their order is ready to ship. Mine of course is still waiting on Band of Brothers, and after numerous e-mails I found out the distributor responsible for sending out CSI's preorder forgot to sent it. So now I have to wait for them to send it and then CSI can finally ship my order. It will be a long time before I preorder again.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

D&D game that can be played solitaire for sale right now.....

Amazon.com: Dungeons and Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game: Toys & Games

[tarcone]

The next KS game Im backing is Tomorrow. It is a semi coop/competitive game where you try and eliminat some population of the world to save humanity.
You are also trying to collect VPs to be the leader of the world.
There are nukes and bioweapons, as well as other options.
It looks like a fantastic game.
The game is described as an apocalyptic nightmare.

Tomorrow: an apocalyptic nightmare by Conquistador Games — Kickstarter

[Matthean]

I remember seeing images of it and going, "It's Pandemic 2.0." I know it isn't, but it will be interesting to see how well it plays.