Great Board Games - Recommendations and Discussion

Nicholasp27 · 10-07-2009, 07:56 PM

We all grew up on Monopoly (purple baltic avenue and all) and Risk and Battleship and other Hasbro games which are fun and social games we have nostalgia for.

However, this is the 21st century and we now have a TON of GREAT games at our disposal. Games like Are You A Werewolf? that we play constantly on this board. In this thread, we recommend games we've played, discuss said games, ask about games we are interested in trying out, etc.

Some helpful items:
It would be ideal if you link the game you are mentioning to the game's page on www.boardgamegeek.com so people can get a quick overview of the game.

Good Resources:
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/ - Play many of the great games that will be discussed here online against bots and/or humans.
http://games.asobrain.com/ - Play Settlers, Carcassonne and Set here.

housenuts · 10-07-2009, 08:02 PM

The only two somewhat recent games I have are Settlers with the Cities and Knights expansion (this is pretty much required) and Carcassonne with a couple expansions that are decent but not great.

The other game I broke out this summer to play with my brother is this game called Terrace which is some Star Trek based strategy game. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2872

It's alright but I wouldn't recommend purchasing it.

Stratego is also good.

pwnsall · 10-07-2009, 08:05 PM

I have played Princes of Florence and Empire Builder both of which I enjoyed.

didn't see this

Nicholasp27 · 10-07-2009, 08:10 PM

My Current Favorite 5 games (constantly changing):

Dominion - Maybe the perfect game. You use your resources to build the best deck possible to grab the victory points before your opponents. Any given game you use only 10 of the 25 action cards, making every game different. Strategy changes based on which exact set of 10 action cards the game has in play. Can play 2 player, which is a plus over games like Settlers. I play this on brettspielwelt. BGG Rating: 8.06

Settlers of Catan - Superior to Risk in every possible way. Build your settlements on strategic resource locations. As you gain or trade resources, use them to build roads and build more settlements, which mean more resources. Build largest army or longest road for 2 more victory points. Play to 10, 13 or 15 victory points. Awesome game for 3-4 players. Great with 5-6 as well, but must buy the expansion to do so. I play this on games.asobrain.com. BGG Rating: 7.64

New World: Carcassonne - I've only played this version, not the original, which has better rating. It's a tile-building game where you build the game board together as you go and you try to deploy your resources and arrange the tiles to maximize your chances of winning. Plus for being able to be played by 2 players. BGG Rating: 6.58

Set - Every card has 4 attributes: Color, Shape, Number, Shading. Each attribute has one of 3 states. The community game board is just 12 cards placed on a table. First one to find a set calls SET and then picks it up if right. Deal 3 more cards. To make a set, all 4 attributes on the 3 cards have to either match or be unique. So all 3 cards can be red, diamond, filled in with one card having 1 diamond, one having 2 and one having 3. Here is a place to do a daily Set puzzle. Go there to better understand the game in just one minute. BGG Rating: 6.49

Zombie Fluxx - Just a fun game. More tactical than strategic. Only 2 rules: draw a card, play a card. But new rules get added and the goal to win constantly changes. Drawback - due to the nature of the game, you never know if it will take 5 minutes or 45 to finish. BGG Rating: 6.39

i'll add other favorites as the thread goes on

gusmahler · 10-07-2009, 08:14 PM

Dominion is theoretically ages 8 and up. The rules look like they'd be complicated for an 8 year old, though. Do you think it's appropriate for a child?

(Like others, my limitation on board games is due to lack of playing partners. My wife hates board games and most of my friends aren't interested. So my 8-year old is the only one I can play against.)

Daer · 10-07-2009, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gusmahler

(Like others, my limitation on board games is due to lack of playing partners. My wife hates board games and most of my friends aren't interested. So my 8-year old is the only one I can play against.)

I'm in a similair situation. Basically limited to anything that can be played online.

+1 to Carcassonne. A fun, simple (to learn) game.

Fleebrog · 10-07-2009, 08:21 PM

Axis and Allies rules, I have the computer game from 1998, if someone wants to play I would definitely consider buying whatever the latest and greatest version is.

Nicholasp27 · 10-07-2009, 08:22 PM

It only looks complicated

easy to learn

def get it

gusmahler · 10-07-2009, 08:24 PM

As for Carcassone, I've played the original, the original with the Rivers expansion (both on Xbox) and Hunters and Gatherers. Highly recommended. Great game for a kid, too. Probably my favorite board game series.

There's hardly any difference between H&G and the original except for the prehistoric theme vs the Middle ages theme. But I'd recommend the original because none of the expansions work with H&G, only with the original. H&G may be easier for a kid to understand (it's easier to understand the concepts of hunting and fishing than cathedrals and farming).

What I like about the game is that it does allow for some variety because the board is different every time.

I recently picked up Ticket to Ride. My wife even liked it, which is strange. My daughter liked it a lot, too. The goal of the game is to build train routes between cities by collecting cards of the correct color. So there's a rummy like aspect of paying attention to what your opponents are collecting and trying to stop them from doing that. But there's also another aspect of building routes between cities farther apart. So you have to be on the lookout for that and try to prevent your opponents from building a long series of routes. Fun game. It took longer than the box says, but that may have been because it was our first time playing it. I'll have a more thought out opinion after seeing how the game is with respect to repeated playing, but it was really fun playing for the first time.

housenuts · 10-07-2009, 08:24 PM

set is annoying. took me 11 minutes to do the daily puzzle.

alice16 · 10-07-2009, 08:24 PM

Apples to Apples.

Zurvan · 10-07-2009, 08:25 PM

Carcassone is good. Fairy Tale is a fun little card game that plays quick, and has some decent strategy if you get the full 4, but it can still be fun for 2.

Ticket to Ride (any map) is also a fun game, and good for kids, if they're patient.

EDIT: I gotta add Diplomacy, greatest board game of all time, and Memoir 44/Battlelore, which are simple war games that are a ton of fun and a good intro to the genre

housenuts · 10-07-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicholasp27

Can play 2 player, which is a plus over games like Settlers.

i play settlers 2 player all the time. it's perfectly fine. are you saying you can't?

Siegmund · 10-07-2009, 08:31 PM

Seconding previous suggestions: Siedler von Catan in the dice-based department, Stratego in the pure-skill department. (I also rather liked Cathedral, for pure skill...)

My all-time favorite has not been mentioned so far, not surprisingly: Rail Baron, one of the few non-war Avalon Hill products. Out of print, but with an authorized electronic version "RBPlayer".

Among the old classics we grew up with - mustn't forget Clue!

DWetzel · 10-07-2009, 08:32 PM

Fluxx is awesome. There's a Monty Python edition as well.

Friends and I enjoy Scotland Yard quite a bit.

If you're ever locked in a snowdrift for a week with friends who like wargames, or have a place where you can set up a large game board undisturbed, Empires in Arms is the game for you! Boardgamegeek has the playing time at 6000 minutes, which seems about right. However, it's awesomely indepth and fun.