Board Games!

[Altaria87]

My parents and I hosted the family Boxing Day celebrations this year and at one point I got out King of Tokyo to provide some entertainment, at which point one of my cousins explained the rules to everyone before even I could. This made me realise how, in what some people are calling the golden age of board gaming, 'real' board games and not just Monopoly and Scrabble are approachign closer to the mainstream.

Since there's no thread around here to discuss board games at the moment, and it's the holiday season where a few people may have received some new ones recently, I thought it would be a good diea to start one.

Personally, I've just got Lords of Waterdeep and I'm haivng quite a good time with it, though I feel it might become repetitive after a few plays and the theme is basically non-existent. I ahve heard the expansion does vary things up, though.

[Brother Oni]

I dug out my copy of Heroquest a few days ago and tried to teach my 10-year old daughter how to play.
She got the moving/attacking rules quite quickly, but hasn't figured out the whole exploration and the systematic trap/secret passages searching that's the bread and butter of dungeon crawling.

I also forget whether Heroquest is balanced for 4 heroes (not players) or whether the game is playable with just 1 hero, which may have contributed to her confusion.

That said, she's picking up the rules of chess and go quite quickly, although overall strategic thinking is a bit beyond her abilities.

[Balain]

Edit: Hmmm the links don't seem to actually work on my ipad I will try to check them in the morning on my computer

Here is a list of some of my favourites currently

Dominion, although it seems people either really love it or really hate it, no in between

Terra Mystica

Agricola

Takenoko

The Order Of The Stick Adventure Game...., Personally I prefer not using, The Shortnening, but in our group even setting up for a short game without it we still end up taking like 6 hours instead of 2

[Gandariel]

Big fan of Carcassonne, Sankt Petersburg and Neuroshima Hex! (also available on smartphones. In particular, *ahem* on Androids with a *ahem* reduced fee)

[Avaris]

I think Board Games are becoming much more mainstream, or at least viewed as acceptable gifts for people, which can only be a good thing! A lot of people seem to only think of Monopoly or Risk when they think of Board games, and as both of those are pretty terrible it is good to see others getting exposure.

I personally enjoy Dominion, and recently played Ticket to Ride for the first time. I also highly recommend Risk Legacy, as it is a fairly unique concept and overcomes a lot of the problems of normal Risk.

[Krug]

My older brother and I play Board Games occasionally. We've found Elder Sign and Risk: God Storm are really fun.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Only "real" board game I ever played is one two-player game of Settlers of Catan. Still great.

I dug out my copy of Heroquest a few days ago and tried to teach my 10-year old daughter how to play.
She got the moving/attacking rules quite quickly, but hasn't figured out the whole exploration and the systematic trap/secret passages searching that's the bread and butter of dungeon crawling.

There's a game on GOG that I love called King of Dragon Pass where you play as an Orlanthi tribe in the setting's past. It's not a board game, but people should play it!

[Logic]

Are we also including card games played like board games? Like Uno, Munchkin, and Ninja Burger?

However, The Settlers of Catan (along with the expansions Seafarers and Traders & Barbarians) are on my shortlist of greatest board games ever.

Of the classic board games, I personally like Risk, Monoply and Life, but the Risk variants (2210, Godstorm) are the real gems of that franchise.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Gave Tsuro and Wings of War: Watch Your Back! as Christmas gifts this year. Both were received immensely well.

[warty goblin]

I like boardgames, but mostly play them with/against myself. Though hopefully boardgame night gets going again this semester...

[Brother Oni]

There's a game on GOG that I love called King of Dragon Pass where you play as an Orlanthi tribe in the setting's past. It's not a board game, but people should play it!

Wrong Heroquest.
This one was made by MB and GW and is set in the Warhammer Fantasy world (although the trademark has since reverted back to your Hero Quest company).

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I like boardgames, but mostly play them with/against myself. Though hopefully boardgame night gets going again this semester...

Ah, that's rough.

Are you familiar with Friday? It's a solo deckbuilding game where you play the role of the poor islander whose home Robinson Crusoe washed up on. You spend the whole game helping Robbie to learn competence so that he can eventually beat the pirates at the end of the game and escape...leaving you and your island in peace.

[Beacon of Chaos]

I only have two friends I see on a regular basis that I play board games with. I just got King of Tokyo and Cards Against Humanity with my Christmas money. Haven't had a chance to play KoT with friends yet, but CaH was a laugh. I'm also waiting for the Back to the Future Card Game to be delivered.

We also like Carcasonne. I have the first two expansions. I also have Lords of Waterdeep, which I love, but it always seems to be ignored in favour of other games.

Of course, I'm the only one of our group who owns any games, with the exception of one guy, who has Monopoly.

At some point I'd like to pick up Charon Inc. and Belfort, both of which I played with another friend a while back and I really liked them.

I like boardgames, but mostly play them with/against myself. Though hopefully boardgame night gets going again this semester...

I occasionally play games against myself, when I'm bored. I find I can still get some entertainment out of it though. Plus there's no waiting for players who are distracted by their phones.

Been thinking of going to a games club to meet up with people though.

[warty goblin]

Ah, that's rough.

Are you familiar with Friday? It's a solo deckbuilding game where you play the role of the poor islander whose home Robinson Crusoe washed up on. You spend the whole game helping Robbie to learn competence so that he can eventually beat the pirates at the end of the game and escape...leaving you and your island in peace.

It's not so bad really. For one thing it means I get to play really long games that otherwise I'd never get to, because I can just leave 'em set up on my kitchen table for a week. I can't imagine finding the time for an entire game of Runewars in one sitting (let alone finding somebody else with the time at the same time), but playing a year a night works fabulously. It also means that when I do actually get to play with another person, I know the rules pretty well.

I don't as a rule really go for deckbuilding games. The last game I was playing with myself was Mice and Mystics (which works very well solo), though I'm debating getting an expansion for Battles of Westeros, or possibly Defenders of the Realm. I should really give MageKnight another shot as well.

I occasionally play games against myself, when I'm bored. I find I can still get some entertainment out of it though. Plus there's no waiting for players who are distracted by their phones.

Been thinking of going to a games club to meet up with people though.

During most of the semester we have a department boardgame night every couple of weeks, which I quite like. It usually lasts a couple of hours, but doesn't go stupid late, and is thankfully devoid of the extremely socially maladapted that I've encountered at other gaming groups.

[Cristo Meyers]

My cabinet (formerly the ottomon, formerly the space on the floor in front of the end table) of games just keeps growing.

Battlestar Galactica and all its expansions (and managed to somehow get them all in one box...)
Pandemic and its expansions
Quarto
Quorridor
Hex Hex
Wise and Otherwise
Curses
Killer Bunnies
British Rails
Eurorails
Empire Builder
and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

I've been wanting to get a game of Galactica in now that I have all the expansions, but time is a factor most nights. I love Quarto for a 1v1 puzzle game: it's really simple to pick up but really forces you to think out your next move.

I've played Lords of Waterdeep, but found it kind of unremarkable. It was interesting enough when we were playing it, but I honestly can't remember anything about it now.

...though I'm debating getting an expansion for Battles of Westeros...

How is that? I've been debating that one, but it's got a really steep price point for a two-player game that I can guarantee LadyMeyers won't have any interest in...

[CarpeGuitarrem]

I also highly recommend Risk Legacy, as it is a fairly unique concept and overcomes a lot of the problems of normal Risk.

I just noticed this.

I will second it again and again and again. Legacy is fantastic. Not only does it force you to make hard (and permanent) choices, but it also introduces new rules gradually into the game--causing it to develop as you play.

Play it through without spoilers, if you can. That makes for a lot of "oh, that's so cool!" moments as the rules grow. My only wish is that the rules evolution packets allowed for more decisions, like "pick which rule goes in the book"; the customization is largely limited to factions.

As for my gameshelf, lemme see if I can remember...

Shogun (interesting area control game with a quirky combat system)
Glenn Drover's Empires (one of my favorites; an amazing worker placement game...also hard to find for a reasonable price)
Space Hulk Death Angel (sometimes brutal card-based version of the classic boardgame, more streamlined, all about risk management and powers)
A Game of Thrones card game (core set) (nifty continuation of their aGoT CCG, in non-randomized format; very solid game)
Legendary (the Marvel deckbuilder) (cool comic-y deckbuilder; I love how cards "combo" into one another)
Citadels (interesting role-based game, not sure how well it holds up after extended play)
Boss Monster (currently MIA, I hope I find it soon!) (super-fun game doused in retro-gaming nostalgia where you build a dungeon for heroes to pass through)
Friday (like above; solo deckbuilding game where you have a limited ability to cull your deck and upgrade it--hard choices abound!)
Channel A (super-fun party game about making up crazy anime titles)
The Resistance (regular and Avalon versions) (a much better version of Mafia/Werewolf)
Coup (quick, speedy bluffing/special powers game--a surprising bit of depth)
Love Letter (Kanai Factory reprint) (super-speedy filler game with constant decision points)
All three Pocket Battles games (nice, fun, light, quick wargaming with "build your own army" combos)
Koi Pond (haven't played yet; a game about manipulating point cards between different areas)

I'm probably missing a few, too.

[warty goblin]

How is that? I've been debating that one, but it's got a really steep price point for a two-player game that I can guarantee LadyMeyers won't have any interest in...

It's a pretty decent and fairly light game about smashing units of dudes into each other. My only serious complaint is that the rules for moving and attacking are incredibly poorly written*. Once a person gets that figured (which I'm not sure I have yet), it's a cool little game. In a nice touch, it puts a lot of emphasis on commanders, since they're the only reliable way to activate units.

Really though, if you're looking for a fantasy strategy game, I think I prefer Runewars. The scale is strategic instead of tactical, but it manages the admirable feat of having a lot of things going on, and still making sense - which is to say it's got a readily intelligible overall structure, and a lot of things that interact with that structure in clear ways. And there are some rather hands-off tactics in the battles to worry about as well, mostly in the form of assigning damage and routes to your units.


*Thus completing the Fantasy Flight Holy Trinity: Tiny Cards, Billions of Cardboard Tokens, and at least one vital section in the rules that I cannot for the life of me figure out.

[Cristo Meyers]

Boss Monster (currently MIA, I hope I find it soon!)

That's one I've been dying to try out. I'm already a sucker for 8-bit nostalgia, throwing in creating a boss level to lure wary adventures to chunky deaths is just a bonus.

It's a pretty decent and fairly light game about smashing units of dudes into each other. My only serious complaint is that the rules for moving and attacking are incredibly poorly written*. Once a person gets that figured (which I'm not sure I have yet), it's a cool little game. In a nice touch, it puts a lot of emphasis on commanders, since they're the only reliable way to activate units.

Really though, if you're looking for a fantasy strategy game, I think I prefer Runewars. The scale is strategic instead of tactical, but it manages the admirable feat of having a lot of things going on, and still making sense - which is to say it's got a readily intelligible overall structure, and a lot of things that interact with that structure in clear ways. And there are some rather hands-off tactics in the battles to worry about as well, mostly in the form of assigning damage and routes to your units.

Hmm...sounds interesting. Maybe if I can find it somewhere that doesn't charge the standard Fantasy Flight "Oh dear god my wallet!" price...

*Thus completing the Fantasy Flight Holy Trinity: Tiny Cards, Billions of Cardboard Tokens, and at least one vital section in the rules that I cannot for the life of me figure out.

I've always considered punching out the cardboard tokens half the fun...but then again I was amused by the fact that I was drawing with crayons for the first time in over 20 years when we started playing Eurorails.

[Zorg]

(although the trademark has since reverted back to your Hero Quest company).

There's a bit of debate about that, but it has given us the 25th Anniversary HeroQuest game.

[TheEmerged]

First, I'm'a gonna just leave these here.

I got the Forbidden Island\Desert pair of games for Christmas and I enjoy both: I prefer the way Desert has an explorer emphasis, but I have to say Desert does a better job with making players feel the urgency. I've had three games of "Island" end now where the very next card was going to be Water's Rise and a very good chance of the game being over right there. I do prefer the way you have to hunt for the correct tiles in Island though.

I bought myself "Last Night On Earth: the Zombie Survival Game" as my December gaming budget. I greatly enjoy another game from that same company ("Conquest of Planet Earth") and the way it captures the feel of the 50's/60's alien invasion movie and LNOE had some good buzz around it. I'm not actually much of a fan of the zombie\horror genre but the game is still fun and the first expansion is probably going to be my Jan or Feb gaming budget I've been trying to figure out how to run a LNOE "Let's Play" on this board in such a way other people will participate (unlike the COPE one I tried to post).

I like Settler's but it's not well liked in my gaming group. I like Munchkin well enough (I have 3 variants) but it's a little too luck-based for me. I have and play three of the old Milton Bradley "big box" games (Axis & Allies, Fortress America, and Shogun) whenever I get the excuse. I'm also a fan of some older, obscurer games like Mystery Mansion and Scotland yard.

The granddaddy of my board game collection, which I've played so hard for so long I've had to replace the plastic sleeves I put the cards in, is Robo Rally.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

That's one I've been dying to try out. I'm already a sucker for 8-bit nostalgia, throwing in creating a boss level to lure wary adventures to chunky deaths is just a bonus.

The theme is a blast. Be warned that "hero logjams" can lead to sudden swings when one boss monster tips the scales. Still, the game plays fairly fast, and the interactions of different rooms are very fun.

And so many references!

[Hiro Protagonest]

Wrong Heroquest.
This one was made by MB and GW and is set in the Warhammer Fantasy world (although the trademark has since reverted back to your Hero Quest company).

Now that's not confusing at all.

[Cristo Meyers]

I bought myself "Last Night On Earth: the Zombie Survival Game" as my December gaming budget. I greatly enjoy another game from that same company ("Conquest of Planet Earth") and the way it captures the feel of the 50's/60's alien invasion movie and LNOE had some good buzz around it. I'm not actually much of a fan of the zombie\horror genre but the game is still fun and the first expansion is probably going to be my Jan or Feb gaming budget I've been trying to figure out how to run a LNOE "Let's Play" on this board in such a way other people will participate (unlike the COPE one I tried to post).

We had so much fun the last time we played Last Night on Earth. Zombies were killed, people eaten, and someone threatened to feed me to the recently zombified priest. Good times.

I'm also a fan of some older, obscurer games like Mystery Mansion and Scotland yard.

Mystery Mansion...that reminds me of one I did forget: Betrayal at House on the Hill. We've only played it once so far...and I ended up losing because I got locked into dancing uncontrollably for turn after turn while everyone else walked around with impunity to get the stuff they needed to beat me.

The theme is a blast. Be warned that "hero logjams" can lead to sudden swings when one boss monster tips the scales. Still, the game plays fairly fast, and the interactions of different rooms are very fun.

And so many references!

Sounds like just my kind of thing...might have to pick that up when we're at the store next.

[Brother Oni]

There's a bit of debate about that, but it has given us the 25th Anniversary HeroQuest game.

Oh it's back up now? It was up for a couple of days then got hit by a C&D by the current trademark owners.

Edit: This update suggests that it now appears to be a rather complicated trademark issue: link.

There's an interesting comment on that page that suggests GW may be doing a limited release of Advanced Heroquest (they own the IP for that outright) in the next couple of years, much like they did for Space Hulk.

From what I remember of that game, it's essentially Heroquest with more advanced mechanics and movable board sections (much like Space Hulk).

Now that's not confusing at all.

It's a bit of a sordid tale about naive little companies versus big multinational firms: link.

[TheEmerged]

RE: HeroQuest. I have to say I've heard Super Fantasy: Ugly Snouts Assault mentioned as a kind of spiritual successor to Hero Quest, and I'm looking forward to it.

[Joran]

The granddaddy of my board game collection, which I've played so hard for so long I've had to replace the plastic sleeves I put the cards in, is Robo Rally.

My favorite memory of Robo Rally was when my friend got confused, screwed up his operations order, and sent his robot off the board on turn 1.

My gaming group's first experience with Euro-style board games came with Settlers of Cataan. The really big kickstart was when my cousin gave me Ticket to Ride and I started buying a lot of board games; we'd game every Saturday at my friend's house. Now, we're old, so we don't meet as much, which is a pity.

What games I like

The games I like are what Soren Johnson terms "competitive solitaire".

The feeling of the game is of trying to [complete a personal objective], not of trying to screw over your opponent. The big advantage of competitive solitaire is that when a player loses, they tend to blame their own play instead of their opponents’ decisions, which usually encourages players to try again to “get it right” the next time.

As a group, we aren't highly competitive, so cutthroat games with a lot of heavy player interaction (like Risk or Diplomacy) aren't our cup of tea. So games like Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, Dominion, Race for the Galaxy, and Lords of Waterdeep are games we like.

We also like shorter games. We all live in separate houses now, and meet up for a session of maybe 5-6 hours, so a 4-5 hour Fantasy Flight game isn't going to work. We also have lower attention spans, so a game lasting up to 2 hours at the most, the shorter the better.

Board games enter the 21st century: tablets

The great things about board games is their simpler mechanics and basic layout is that it makes it very easy to port to tablets. I used to play a lot of Ticket to Ride on the iPad and now I'm playing Lords of Waterdeep. Instead of having to coordinate with my friends to have a gaming session, if I have a half an hour, I can get a quick game in.

Also, I think I enjoy playing board games better on the iPad. There's no clean up or preparation, score keeping is handled by the computer, and all the information is easy to see and access (card counts/train counts being an example in Ticket to Ride). I only need a good iPad version of Power Grid and Dominion and I'd be happy.

[Zorg]

Oh it's back up now? It was up for a couple of days then got hit by a C&D by the current trademark owners.

Edit: This update suggests that it now appears to be a rather complicated trademark issue: link.

The short version is that HeroQuest isn't trademarked in Spain, so Gamezone thought they'd be ok. Since Kickstarter is US/UK based the RPG company that had the rights claimed against it with a UK copyright so Kickstarter took it down. Hence it is now on a Spanish crowdfunding site since they are free to make and market a product called HeroQuest there.


Also recently got my Flashpoint Fire Rescue expansions. It's really fun and a good co-op game, pretty customisable difficulty for different ages and skill levels.

[MLai]

The one game I wish gets a remake is Dungeon Dice Monsters. Now, I don't care about the YuGiOh franchise one whit (beyond having watched the cartoons back when they were on TV), but I love the idea/mechanics of the game. Which really has absolutely nothing to do with the card game (and that's good thing).

Here's the rules:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nichola...Oh/d_rules.htm

Even without official props, you can make this game out of what you have in your toys/minis/game chest: dice, minis, homemade rules (you can copy official monsters stats if you want, from GameFAQs), and a gameboard either made out of cardboard or maybe an appropriate board from some other game. You can make any theme you want: Star Wars, zombies vs pirates, XCom, whatever.

[Vesth]

I have...umm...around 30 games on my shelf. And by shelf, I mean under my desk. I have three primary groups I normally play with. The first (my cousins) enjoy Betrayal At The House On The Hill (BATHOTH) the most. The second (my friends) love Shadow Hunters and Saboteur. The third...well, nevermind about them. They're better enthusiasts than me, and they're usually the ones bringing stuff. They tend to go for variety

I recently opened a second-hand version of Descent 2E, and we had a marathon with it during New Year's Eve. What fun!

I gave Escape: Curse of The Temple and Get Bit as presents, and it was VERY well received. Oh god, the laughing and screaming from Escape...

Anyway, does anyone watching Wil Wheaton's Tabletop series or Shut Up And Sit Down? They're both pretty fantastic. And may empty your wallet.

@Cristo Meyers: BATHOTH is really fun. Every scenario is different; hopefully you get something better the next time you're traitor! Once, I was this guy who couldn't move, but blew up people at the end of my turn. Or when they came near me. Heh heh heh....
For people who enjoy BATHOTH, maybe you might want to try Tales of The Arabian Nights or even Agents of SMERSH.

[Cristo Meyers]

@Cristo Meyers: BATHOTH is really fun. Every scenario is different; hopefully you get something better the next time you're traitor! Once, I was this guy who couldn't move, but blew up people at the end of my turn. Or when they came near me. Heh heh heh....
For people who enjoy BATHOTH, maybe you might want to try Tales of The Arabian Nights or even Agents of SMERSH.

Yeah, I've been meaning to drag that out to game night sometime, just never get around to it.

I can't really say I minded the loss too much (hell, I almost always lose), and the mental image of the big dumb jock and his pet poltergeist uncontrollably tap-dancing because of a cursed music box definitely blunted any sense of loss.