Great Board Games - Recommendations and Discussion
12-08-2013
, 03:52 PM
Quote:
bump
256 games is insane. I'd be willing to hear your take on your favourites and why you like them. A lot of games (say by Rio Grande) like Le Havre, Puerto Rico, Tigris & Euphrates, Agricola, Goa, etc. are very similar in appearance and can be just derivatives of one another. Not that its a bad thing because they're all good and popular for the same reason, but it's nice to have diversity in the collection and to be able to pull out the right game for the right group of people, which is what it is all about. A game can be great with the right group and terrible with the wrong one.
I'd consider myself an avid boardgamer although not to the levels of a lot of bgg readers. Most of my experience is playing the most popular titles but growing up with a specific group of friends, we fancied ourselves pretty good gamers and were all quick learners.
Fast forward to now, after moving I've been trying to build my own collection and introduce games to my new group of friends who certainly aren't as apt or dedicated to learning games like my other friends are, so I've had to try to ease them in with some of the easier games (unfortunately, a lot of them are easily overwhelmed by a more complex game such as Puerto Rico at this point [I want to try Agricola on them at some point, but I think they would give up easily on it]). I figured I'd list them below, give my personal experience with them and pros/cons and see if anyone has any other games or input to suggest.
Citadels: up to 7 (I think) players. Good little role selection and simple property building game, was a good one to introduce to newbies. Plays fairly quickly, however some people need to continuously read the character cards and it can take time to learn them all. Can involve some fairly basic strategy but it certainly isn't the deepest of games. I like it because it's easy to teach and doesn't require a lot of understanding as to what gets you to the endgame and to a victory, and it can play a larger amount of players.
7 Wonders: also can play up to 7. I'd call this a deeper game than Citadels and has been recently the main game I use to induct people into board game nights. A big pro is that the game is essentially the same procedure, repeated 3 times, then it's over -- each time the cards just get bigger and better. Virtually everyone I have introduced this game to has required a playthrough to figure it out, because you don't really know what to do because you don't know what is coming up the next go round. However after the first playthrough people are clamouring to play again. Like Citadels its good for larger groups, and plays fairly quickly (half hour-ish) once everyone is up to speed. The biggest part of strategy I always emphasize is that the game really is about what your opponents (and specifically your neighbours) are up to, as at first glance it may not be evident how your choices can affect yours and their success. I would recommend this game without question if you're looking for a good all around game for a larger group, but I would warn against playing it too often as the base set can wane a bit in terms of diversity.
Carcassone: up to 5 players. This was the first game I bought for my collection, mainly because one night we were heading to someone's house and I figured might as well get a board game, so I stopped at Chapters and this was all they really had that I felt was worth buying (and I hadn't played ever at the time). Pretty basic tile placing game, where everyone contributes to a global playing area and you generate points by playing your followers onto tiles in different ways. I'm not sure if the spirit the game is really to be a cooperative effort but I find our group usually goes that way, and people are constantly trying to barter deals and rubbing each others backs (I prefer to be much more cutthroat but to each his own). Game is not deep at all, as there's a sizable element of luck involved because the tiles are chosen randomly. It's okay, but old and there are many superior games imo.
Puerto Rico: probably what I would call the gem of my collection thus far. 3-5 players although apparently there is a 2 player variant that is good on bgg. Deeper game than the above three, certainly. You are explorers and get to colonize and cultivate the area of Puerto Rico. Every player gets their own game board much like Agricola (you can certainly see where Agricola drew from Puerto Rico in its design) and there is a fair amount of things to do. Like Citadels it combines a role selection element on each round so you get to experience different actions and benefits when you want to. This is also the most daunting game in my collection to teach as there's a lot to take in on first glance; all the roles and their implications have a decent amount of breadth. Like Settlers this is one of the more classic gateway games and I haven't played it too much because of the group I'm with, but it's very good and I would also highly recommend it.
Killer Bunnies: tried to play this and like it, but couldn't. Is kind of free form in the sense that things can be done out of turn, and it's a lot of do-what-the-card-says, some of which have very lengthy and difficult to understand implementations. Reminds me of Munchkin although I have limited experience with that as well. I'd say the cards were not designed the best, and there's a lot of useless pieces involved in the game. Was not a fan, and has been pulled out of circulation for our game nights.
I'd be happy to answer any more questions about the above games. I'm also definitely looking for more games to introduce to my rotation too. 3-7 is a good number of players for me. I'm pretty certain at SOME point I will add Agricola. The last 100 posts include some mention to Small World which I haven't played but looks pretty good actually. Also I'm curious about Kings of Tokyo. Old friend had got every Dominion set and we played the hell out of it, so it's not something I'd buy and introduce to my new group plus someone already has the base for it. Also someone already has Settlers.
256 games is insane. I'd be willing to hear your take on your favourites and why you like them. A lot of games (say by Rio Grande) like Le Havre, Puerto Rico, Tigris & Euphrates, Agricola, Goa, etc. are very similar in appearance and can be just derivatives of one another. Not that its a bad thing because they're all good and popular for the same reason, but it's nice to have diversity in the collection and to be able to pull out the right game for the right group of people, which is what it is all about. A game can be great with the right group and terrible with the wrong one.
I'd consider myself an avid boardgamer although not to the levels of a lot of bgg readers. Most of my experience is playing the most popular titles but growing up with a specific group of friends, we fancied ourselves pretty good gamers and were all quick learners.
Fast forward to now, after moving I've been trying to build my own collection and introduce games to my new group of friends who certainly aren't as apt or dedicated to learning games like my other friends are, so I've had to try to ease them in with some of the easier games (unfortunately, a lot of them are easily overwhelmed by a more complex game such as Puerto Rico at this point [I want to try Agricola on them at some point, but I think they would give up easily on it]). I figured I'd list them below, give my personal experience with them and pros/cons and see if anyone has any other games or input to suggest.
Citadels: up to 7 (I think) players. Good little role selection and simple property building game, was a good one to introduce to newbies. Plays fairly quickly, however some people need to continuously read the character cards and it can take time to learn them all. Can involve some fairly basic strategy but it certainly isn't the deepest of games. I like it because it's easy to teach and doesn't require a lot of understanding as to what gets you to the endgame and to a victory, and it can play a larger amount of players.
7 Wonders: also can play up to 7. I'd call this a deeper game than Citadels and has been recently the main game I use to induct people into board game nights. A big pro is that the game is essentially the same procedure, repeated 3 times, then it's over -- each time the cards just get bigger and better. Virtually everyone I have introduced this game to has required a playthrough to figure it out, because you don't really know what to do because you don't know what is coming up the next go round. However after the first playthrough people are clamouring to play again. Like Citadels its good for larger groups, and plays fairly quickly (half hour-ish) once everyone is up to speed. The biggest part of strategy I always emphasize is that the game really is about what your opponents (and specifically your neighbours) are up to, as at first glance it may not be evident how your choices can affect yours and their success. I would recommend this game without question if you're looking for a good all around game for a larger group, but I would warn against playing it too often as the base set can wane a bit in terms of diversity.
Carcassone: up to 5 players. This was the first game I bought for my collection, mainly because one night we were heading to someone's house and I figured might as well get a board game, so I stopped at Chapters and this was all they really had that I felt was worth buying (and I hadn't played ever at the time). Pretty basic tile placing game, where everyone contributes to a global playing area and you generate points by playing your followers onto tiles in different ways. I'm not sure if the spirit the game is really to be a cooperative effort but I find our group usually goes that way, and people are constantly trying to barter deals and rubbing each others backs (I prefer to be much more cutthroat but to each his own). Game is not deep at all, as there's a sizable element of luck involved because the tiles are chosen randomly. It's okay, but old and there are many superior games imo.
Puerto Rico: probably what I would call the gem of my collection thus far. 3-5 players although apparently there is a 2 player variant that is good on bgg. Deeper game than the above three, certainly. You are explorers and get to colonize and cultivate the area of Puerto Rico. Every player gets their own game board much like Agricola (you can certainly see where Agricola drew from Puerto Rico in its design) and there is a fair amount of things to do. Like Citadels it combines a role selection element on each round so you get to experience different actions and benefits when you want to. This is also the most daunting game in my collection to teach as there's a lot to take in on first glance; all the roles and their implications have a decent amount of breadth. Like Settlers this is one of the more classic gateway games and I haven't played it too much because of the group I'm with, but it's very good and I would also highly recommend it.
Killer Bunnies: tried to play this and like it, but couldn't. Is kind of free form in the sense that things can be done out of turn, and it's a lot of do-what-the-card-says, some of which have very lengthy and difficult to understand implementations. Reminds me of Munchkin although I have limited experience with that as well. I'd say the cards were not designed the best, and there's a lot of useless pieces involved in the game. Was not a fan, and has been pulled out of circulation for our game nights.
I'd be happy to answer any more questions about the above games. I'm also definitely looking for more games to introduce to my rotation too. 3-7 is a good number of players for me. I'm pretty certain at SOME point I will add Agricola. The last 100 posts include some mention to Small World which I haven't played but looks pretty good actually. Also I'm curious about Kings of Tokyo. Old friend had got every Dominion set and we played the hell out of it, so it's not something I'd buy and introduce to my new group plus someone already has the base for it. Also someone already has Settlers.
from the above list, I sold Killer Bunnies pretty quickly. couldn't stand the randomness (and not in a dice rolling sense) of it and nobody I played with really enjoyed it either. on the subject of selling games, I am kind of trying to amass an "ideal" collection for the wide variety of people I play with, so there's always something for everyone to enjoy and play, but KB was not it. also sold Carcassone for reasons mentioned in earlier posts. The rest (7W, PR, Citadels) all live happily on in my collection. new additions since the previous post:
Quarriors: this is essentially Dominion but with dice. Bought it based on the recommendation of Shut Up and Sit Down and I do enjoy the game. Essentially every player (2-4) starts with the same set of currency dice, and you roll and buy creatures, and you keep rolling your dice in a Dominion like fashion each "hand" and score points until a few conditions are met to end the game. The dice recycle in your "deck" and so on and so forth. Overall I think once you learn it it's a pretty fun game, and most enjoyable with 4 players. With 2 players there's really less to worry about strategy wise, you can just buy whatever creatures and spells you can afford and it doesn't have too large of an impact on how well your deck works, whereas Dominion you need a lot more synergy to achieve a great deck. Quarriors is not my best or favourite game by any stretch of the imagination, but it does truly look fantastic; the 100+ custom dice are very beautiful. Good recommendation for those who enjoy dice games.
Smallworld: a Risk-like world conquest game. Plays 2-5. Not too complex, each turn you select an available race/special ability combo, and then enter the map and conquer territories to get points -- you then hope to hold these territories to keep acquiring points while others try to take them over, while you eventually select the next race/ability you want to be. Not an overly long or tedious game but in the same vein of Risk. I have never liked Risk (perhaps because I've always had the experience of playing with people who want to turtle and amass huge armies in one country and then boil the game down to endgame dice rolling for the lulz). I am not the biggest fan of Smallworld either. The variety comes from the random race/ability combos which always give you some sort of unique twist on a game. Ultimately every play of Smallworld I've finished feeling like the time spent playing would have been much better spent on a more enjoyable game. I'm actually going to sell this one because my group agrees it's not deep enough. Would only recommend to wargame aficionados, who want a simple/fantasy twist.
Stone Age: Stone Age is a 2-4 player worker placement game. I would call SA a gateway game to Agricola. It has similar elements of a growing a family, collecting resources, and the occupation/improvement system that Agricola has, but in a simpler and more digestible format. It does have a nice balance of complexity in terms of dividing ones attention to several things, and does involve a bit of dice rolling whereas Agricola does not. The dice rolling isn't too crippling in my opinion if you were to roll poorly (unlike say Catan if the distribution doesn't break your way) but it does have some effect and you have to balance that. In the game you'll gather resources, grow your family, plow fields for food, spend resources on cards, etc. If you are looking for a game to ultimately bridge to more difficult worker placement games like Agricola, Le Havre, and so on, Stone Age would be a great start. Recommend buy.
I've also grabbed some simple party card games for when we're drinking and a board game is too heavy: games like Wizard, Five Crowns, Monopoly Deal, etc. Nice to have for those who don't like the heaviness of a 90 minute game of Stone Age.
I have my eyes on a few games this holiday season to grow the library:
Dominant Species: I have not played this, but all reviews I've seen illustrate it as a complex and rewarding game, and quite strategic (I am partial to these). Expensive but apparently lots of nice tokens and pieces that you get, so worth the buy apparently. Will heavily consider buying this as a complimentary upper tier strategy option.
The Resistance (or Avalon): I will buy this, although I have not played it. It's werewolf but in person, with a few cards to walk noobs through it. Plus it plays up to 10 which is great for a party. Avalon is the exact same game, but with a fantasy mythos -- most of my crowd is not as geeky as me so The Resistance is probably the better version.
Hanabi: also another party game, in which you (cooperatively?) try to rearrange tiles to solve a fireworks display. Have not played it, but have heard it's good and another nice game to play casually, and simple to teach.
Other than that, I'm always open to new suggestions. Given I will get rid of Smallworld, I'd like to replace it with something. I do like something with lots of layers of strategy but can also be picked up without too much trouble; Stone Age is a good example. I'd also like to find it in something that isn't such a feudal-farming type setting like SA or Agricola -- I've wanted to get an industrial/sci-fi/horror type game in this vein but it's harder to find. Just a different genre is maybe what I'm after. Would also be happy to replace Smallworld with another 3-6 player wargame that is more complex.
Suggestions welcome! happy gaming.
12-08-2013
, 06:32 PM
12-17-2013
, 09:12 PM
I totally forgot about this thread since my last post, whoops.
517 in the collection and I'll update things
Wife's Top 3 (although it's really tough to only list 3 for either of us):
- Castles of Burgundy (still)
- Le Havre
- Shipyard
My Top played games (not in any order):
- Dominant Species
- 18XX family of games (impossible to choose just one)
- COIN Series
- Container
- Die Aufsteiger
- Pax Porfiriana
- Ground Floor
- Hab & Gut
- Le Havre
- Ora et Labora
- Keyflower
- Roads & Boats
- Russian Railroads
- Through the Ages
- Terra Mystica
- Trajan
- T'zolkin: The Mayan Calendar
- Suburbia
- Unhappy King Charles
There are a ton more that I'm really anxious/excited to play, but being a working man, there is only so many hours in a day
If anyone has questions, I'll check this once a day through Christmas.
517 in the collection and I'll update things
Wife's Top 3 (although it's really tough to only list 3 for either of us):
- Castles of Burgundy (still)
- Le Havre
- Shipyard
My Top played games (not in any order):
- Dominant Species
- 18XX family of games (impossible to choose just one)
- COIN Series
- Container
- Die Aufsteiger
- Pax Porfiriana
- Ground Floor
- Hab & Gut
- Le Havre
- Ora et Labora
- Keyflower
- Roads & Boats
- Russian Railroads
- Through the Ages
- Terra Mystica
- Trajan
- T'zolkin: The Mayan Calendar
- Suburbia
- Unhappy King Charles
There are a ton more that I'm really anxious/excited to play, but being a working man, there is only so many hours in a day
If anyone has questions, I'll check this once a day through Christmas.
12-17-2013
, 11:27 PM
Quote:
The Resistance (or Avalon): I will buy this, although I have not played it. It's werewolf but in person, with a few cards to walk noobs through it. Plus it plays up to 10 which is great for a party. Avalon is the exact same game, but with a fantasy mythos -- most of my crowd is not as geeky as me so The Resistance is probably the better version.
Hanabi: also another party game, in which you (cooperatively?) try to rearrange tiles to solve a fireworks display. Have not played it, but have heard it's good and another nice game to play casually, and simple to teach.
Other than that, I'm always open to new suggestions. Given I will get rid of Smallworld, I'd like to replace it with something. I do like something with lots of layers of strategy but can also be picked up without too much trouble; Stone Age is a good example. I'd also like to find it in something that isn't such a feudal-farming type setting like SA or Agricola -- I've wanted to get an industrial/sci-fi/horror type game in this vein but it's harder to find. Just a different genre is maybe what I'm after. Would also be happy to replace Smallworld with another 3-6 player wargame that is more complex.
Suggestions welcome! happy gaming.
Hanabi: also another party game, in which you (cooperatively?) try to rearrange tiles to solve a fireworks display. Have not played it, but have heard it's good and another nice game to play casually, and simple to teach.
Other than that, I'm always open to new suggestions. Given I will get rid of Smallworld, I'd like to replace it with something. I do like something with lots of layers of strategy but can also be picked up without too much trouble; Stone Age is a good example. I'd also like to find it in something that isn't such a feudal-farming type setting like SA or Agricola -- I've wanted to get an industrial/sci-fi/horror type game in this vein but it's harder to find. Just a different genre is maybe what I'm after. Would also be happy to replace Smallworld with another 3-6 player wargame that is more complex.
Suggestions welcome! happy gaming.
Hanabi is great. It is very simple to learn with only a ternary choice each turn, but that belies a game that can be quite difficult to play well. When my friends and I play, we all use a paper and pen to take notes on our hands because there is a lot of subtlety to clue giving that 100% gets lost if you are trying to make it a memory game and not a logic game
As far as replacing small world...i really like tammany hall, el grande and hansa teutonica (coincidentally ranked by order of compellingness of themes) as a step up on area control games. This is mostly just terminology, but I think of war games as being a very specific type of heavier game. I don't think of any of these or small world as war games.
Quote:
I totally forgot about this thread since my last post, whoops.
517 in the collection and I'll update things
Wife's Top 3 (although it's really tough to only list 3 for either of us):
- Castles of Burgundy (still)
- Le Havre
- Shipyard
My Top played games (not in any order):
- Dominant Species
- 18XX family of games (impossible to choose just one)
- COIN Series
- Container
- Die Aufsteiger
- Pax Porfiriana
- Ground Floor
- Hab & Gut
- Le Havre
- Ora et Labora
- Keyflower
- Roads & Boats
- Russian Railroads
- Through the Ages
- Terra Mystica
- Trajan
- T'zolkin: The Mayan Calendar
- Suburbia
- Unhappy King Charles
There are a ton more that I'm really anxious/excited to play, but being a working man, there is only so many hours in a day
If anyone has questions, I'll check this once a day through Christmas.
517 in the collection and I'll update things
Wife's Top 3 (although it's really tough to only list 3 for either of us):
- Castles of Burgundy (still)
- Le Havre
- Shipyard
My Top played games (not in any order):
- Dominant Species
- 18XX family of games (impossible to choose just one)
- COIN Series
- Container
- Die Aufsteiger
- Pax Porfiriana
- Ground Floor
- Hab & Gut
- Le Havre
- Ora et Labora
- Keyflower
- Roads & Boats
- Russian Railroads
- Through the Ages
- Terra Mystica
- Trajan
- T'zolkin: The Mayan Calendar
- Suburbia
- Unhappy King Charles
There are a ton more that I'm really anxious/excited to play, but being a working man, there is only so many hours in a day
If anyone has questions, I'll check this once a day through Christmas.
12-18-2013
, 04:18 AM
g-bebe: Hanabi is a snapbuy imo. It's only 5 Euros over here dunno about the US price. I also own the Deluxe edition which is pretty cool (replaces cards with majong-like tiles).
Hanabi and Love Letter (small box version) are pretty much the perfect stocking stuffers
Also: If you like Citadels you should take a look at Libertalia. It's essentially Citadels in better (imo) + it has pirates...arrrrrrr. Don't own it but have played it a couple of times.
My plays are not up to date at all but here's my BGG owned collection, can answer questions about most games on the list (some are still shrink wrapped lol):
http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/...boardgame&ff=1
Hanabi and Love Letter (small box version) are pretty much the perfect stocking stuffers
Also: If you like Citadels you should take a look at Libertalia. It's essentially Citadels in better (imo) + it has pirates...arrrrrrr. Don't own it but have played it a couple of times.
My plays are not up to date at all but here's my BGG owned collection, can answer questions about most games on the list (some are still shrink wrapped lol):
http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/...boardgame&ff=1
12-18-2013
, 11:17 AM
Quote:
Resistance/Avalon are great. You can't really go wrong with either. Beyond theme, there are a few differences. Avalon has a lot of role specific powers (merlin knows who is evil; the assassin gets a 1 time shot at merlin if good wins on missions and if they hit, they win; percival knows who merlin is; morgana appears to percival as merlin; etc) while the resistance has a deck of plot cards that are periodically drawn and the person who drew them has to distribute them to other players. They involve things like looking at a neighbor's role card or showing yours to a person of your choice or being able to nullify a vote and claim leadership. I'm pretty agnostic on the issue of role based powers versus the plot cards, but I also have the merlin/assassin promo cards for the resistance so I can combine both.
Hanabi is great. It is very simple to learn with only a ternary choice each turn, but that belies a game that can be quite difficult to play well. When my friends and I play, we all use a paper and pen to take notes on our hands because there is a lot of subtlety to clue giving that 100% gets lost if you are trying to make it a memory game and not a logic game
As far as replacing small world...i really like tammany hall, el grande and hansa teutonica (coincidentally ranked by order of compellingness of themes) as a step up on area control games. This is mostly just terminology, but I think of war games as being a very specific type of heavier game. I don't think of any of these or small world as war games.
holy hell this list has a bunch of my favorite games (Le Havre, Pax Porfiriana, Trajan, 18xx) and quite a few more that are on my to-try list (roads and boats, COIN [specifically andean abyss], terra mystica).
Hanabi is great. It is very simple to learn with only a ternary choice each turn, but that belies a game that can be quite difficult to play well. When my friends and I play, we all use a paper and pen to take notes on our hands because there is a lot of subtlety to clue giving that 100% gets lost if you are trying to make it a memory game and not a logic game
As far as replacing small world...i really like tammany hall, el grande and hansa teutonica (coincidentally ranked by order of compellingness of themes) as a step up on area control games. This is mostly just terminology, but I think of war games as being a very specific type of heavier game. I don't think of any of these or small world as war games.
holy hell this list has a bunch of my favorite games (Le Havre, Pax Porfiriana, Trajan, 18xx) and quite a few more that are on my to-try list (roads and boats, COIN [specifically andean abyss], terra mystica).
And Andean Abyss is fantastic. IMO, Cuba Libre is the best "starter" game of the series due to the size of the map (smallest) with A Distant Plain being the most difficult, simply due to the size of the map and vastness of the options.
12-18-2013
, 11:17 AM
Quote:
g-bebe: Hanabi is a snapbuy imo. It's only 5 Euros over here dunno about the US price. I also own the Deluxe edition which is pretty cool (replaces cards with majong-like tiles).
Hanabi and Love Letter (small box version) are pretty much the perfect stocking stuffers
Also: If you like Citadels you should take a look at Libertalia. It's essentially Citadels in better (imo) + it has pirates...arrrrrrr. Don't own it but have played it a couple of times.
My plays are not up to date at all but here's my BGG owned collection, can answer questions about most games on the list (some are still shrink wrapped lol):
http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/...boardgame&ff=1
Hanabi and Love Letter (small box version) are pretty much the perfect stocking stuffers
Also: If you like Citadels you should take a look at Libertalia. It's essentially Citadels in better (imo) + it has pirates...arrrrrrr. Don't own it but have played it a couple of times.
My plays are not up to date at all but here's my BGG owned collection, can answer questions about most games on the list (some are still shrink wrapped lol):
http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/...boardgame&ff=1
12-19-2013
, 10:57 AM
12-19-2013
, 12:52 PM
12-19-2013
, 05:57 PM
12-19-2013
, 08:45 PM
12-20-2013
, 11:51 AM
12-20-2013
, 11:52 AM
12-21-2013
, 04:39 AM
Ticket to Ride as the ultimate gateway game being the obvious example. I'd recommend 7 Wonders...a little harder to teach but play superfast due to simultaneous actions.
Re: alpha gamer...yeah we mostly play Ghost Stories as a huge team these days so noone even cotrols their own dude but rather everyone just tosses their thoughts out for every move. Space Alert does indeed solve it nicely but I'm (for the most part) a programmer by trade so I try to avoid playing games like Space Alert (or Robo Ralley for that matter) these days.
Last edited by clowntable; 12-21-2013 at 04:49 AM.
12-21-2013
, 07:59 AM
12-26-2013
, 08:02 AM