Board Games

Zeon

Just thought I'd start a board gaming topic.

I'm a pretty big board gamer myself, here's a list of some of my favourites.

pandemic, race for the galaxy, chaos in the old world, diplomacy, dominant species

Sarapis

Dominion!

Zeon

Dominion is great. I'd say it's my favourite game to play with 2 people.

Sarapis

I don't love it with two people actually. I find that the attack cards are less fun when there's no choice on whom to attack. I love Dominion with 4 people the most I think.

The other big one I've been playing a lot lately is Ticket to Ride.

Zeon

I feel the reason I don't like Dominion with 4 players as much is that turns take too long. Usually when I play with attack cards they don't get bought because everyone knows that once one is taken they will all go and a war of attacks will begin. (that or one person buys them and starts the war).

I think the reason I like it so much with 2 people is just how quick it goes by. I can easily play 3 or 4 games in an hour and just sit and talk to the person I'm playing with. I can see how attack cards would be more interesting with more people though.

Hanley

I hate to say this... but I've never heard of Dominion.. care to explain it to me the best you can?

Katzchen

Only got my first real board game (other than monopoly which is technically my 6 year old's anyway) recently, so much fun. It's called Elder Sign, and I hope to be buying more soon. I have my eye on Mansions of Madness, Small World, and Settlers of Catan, while my partner wants something D&D.

Dominion looks nice, might have to add that to the wish list.

Anaidiana

@hanley - Dominion is sort of like Magic, but you build your deck each turn, and there are different 'expansions' (oh the tradition of expansion packs) you can get to add some variety to the gameplay. Anyone for Carcassone?

Vayne

Settlers of Catan, hands down.

Hanley

@Anaidiana Thanks!

Anaidiana

Hanley said:

@Anaidiana Thanks!

no problem! I love Dominion! 

Hanley

Heh, sounds fun... I wish I could find people around me that play to learn the rules so I can play!

Zeon

Yeah in Dominion the players select which cards will be available that game, so the more expansions you have the bigger selection/variety you'll have. It's a good game though all those expansions do start to add up. Mansions and Smallworld are both a lot of fun. Catan is alright, but after playing lots of non-monopoly style board games, it gets dwarfed rather quickly.

I do highly recommend Chaos in the Old World. The lore is based off the Warhammer universe, though gameplay is completely unique. Four Chaos Gods competing for domain in a fantasy universe. Each God has completely different units/powerups/abilities, yet it's incredibly well balanced. The game serves as a really good model for how a game can be fun yet complex at the same time. Most fun with four players. (and an expansion that makes it 5).

Nellaundra

No mention of Warhammer40k?  HERESY!
*BLAM*

Zeon

I've never played, though I'd consider that more of a tabletop miniature game >>

Just like I'd consider D&D a tabletop rpg (which is by far the best game I've ever played, 3.5 of course)

have yet to play Pathfinder, hear it's really good though

Xer

I play Dominion every Games Night (Tuesday night) and the last Saturday of the month (24 hours Games Night), and 4 people Dominion is definitely the most fun there. Everyone's played the game enough so that they decide on a strategy and execute it quickly, and modify it quickly enough halfway through if necessary so it's pretty fun. It's also fun to see it spiral out of control for totally random reasons lol

Peak

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game is pretty fun. As is Scotland Yard.

Peak

Apples to Apples isn't really a "board" game, but still fun.

Nadiel

Katzchen said:

Only got my first real board game (other than monopoly which is technically my 6 year old's anyway) recently, so much fun. It's called Elder Sign, and I hope to be buying more soon. I have my eye on Mansions of Madness, Small World, and Settlers of Catan, while my partner wants something D&D.

Dominion looks nice, might have to add that to the wish list.

If you're enjoying Elder Sign, be sure to read up on Arkham Horror, another amazing Fantasy Flight game.

Kaden

Carcassone...though that's more tile laying. Kill Dr. Lucky is also fun and sometimes when my friends and I want to wind up hating each other, we play the Game of Thrones board game. I also play tabletop games like 40k and D&D, Deathwatch, Dark Heresy, etc. Yes, I'm a big fan of the 40k universe. >.>

Erasariel

Always was a fan of old school. Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk.

Boosteya

...This thread has this many comments, yet none say 'chess?'

I'm disappointed in you. Yes, I mean YOU.

Kaden

I prefer Go personally.

Anaidiana

@boosteya: Yes. I like chess. My hub kicks my butt every time though  :-S

As for more classic, there's always Rummikub and Trivial Pursuit. Cardwise, I love Uno and Fluxx as well. 

Dethea

Some board games that I've played somewhat regularly over the past few years:

Smallworld - expansions not worth it

Arkham Horror - do not try playing with children, do not play if you do not want to spend about one hour setting up the first time, and about 20 minutes after that if you're familiar with the game

Ticket to Ride - good if you're playing with children

Settlers of Catan -if you're playing with the huge Seafaring expansion, expect long set-up times

Scrabble - always a classic

Carcassonne - although this one gets boring rather fast

Last Night on Earth - really cool the first time, a little more boring each successive time

Apples to Apples - like mentioned before, not really a board game, but hilarious at parties, do not play with children

Munchkin -  a card game, absolutely hilarious, also OK with children (I'd say 10+ in age)

Risk - I've played the original, but I own the Lord of the Rings version, which I feel is awesome

I hate Monopoly. What a futile exercise!

There was this new game that looked pretty cool. It involved drawing made-up words. I can't remember the name, but has anyone played this? I was always a fan of Pictionary, but nobody else ever wants to play it.

Katzchen

Hmm, adding ticket to ride, and catan junior to the shopping list... so so sick of being nagged to play monopoly every day. I just have to keep telling myself that it's continuing to make him great at math for a just turned 6 year old... the only thing he can't do with adults version of monopoly is make sensible trades for property :P which makes it pretty much a complete game of luck when you remove trading, or only trade when you know it's completely fair for both sides, and I lose often which would not be so bad if he wasn't a sore winner and loser. Sigh.

Achilles

Strip poker

Katzchen

Kind of glad I haven't played strip anything since I was 15. Not really a family friendly game . Bad enough that they see us watching videos like this

Also, woot. Monthly payday tomorrow, and the online shop I want to buy some games from has restocked a bunch of neat stuff, so no waiting.

Oceana

I always play Barricade or Upwords with my nephews ( 8 and 10 years old).

Oh, and shovel board.

Paine

Just played my new copy of Flash Point: Fire Rescue. It's a cooperative game like Pandemic, but it accommodates up to 6 people, and the object is to rescue victims from a burning building before it collapses (or you kill too many victims). We didn't win, but it was still a blast.

Another recently acquired game is The Resistance, which is an interesting take on Mafia/Werewolf games since there is no player elimination. You can also play with as few as 5 or 6 people, instead of a minimum of 8. Get ready to lie your ass off if you're the spy. Or confuse the hell out of your teammates who can't follow your logic.

Dominion is a good game but too mechanical and dry for my taste, and I get bored if people want to play it over and over and over and over again. At least it has a little bit of direct conflict, instead of only "parasitic conflict" like so many other games, in the form of curses and hand destruction.

Has anyone played the new Netrunner??? It's the exact same game mechanics (supposedly) except it's set in a new universe/world called Android. Not sure if it's the same cards as the original base game. It's appropriately titled Android: Netrunner. 

Katzchen

Bought Dominion and Mansions of Madness, love Dominion, so simple to learn, but great for 2 players. Mansions is okay, but long set up, the rules were a bit to get your head around at first, but pretty easy after that, I think it would play much better with 4-5 people. And if I didn't accidentally walk all of my minions into the wrong room when I played the keeper, storage closet instead of the stairs. Heh. Though it was worth it for the mental image of a bunch of cultists filing into the closet, chatting away for a couple of turns, then going... wait, what?

The resistance sounds fun, but 5 players minimum, I'd probably never get that together.