Board Games

[Guest COMR4DE]

Sorry if there is an old buried thread about this, I was lazy on my searching, but here go's!

 

Anyone have a favorite board/card game? I'm a big fan of board games, I love sitting around a table and having physical and social interaction with friends, plus it's more inviting than video games (for example I can play board games with my dad and mom but they dare not touch a controller).

 

Just to list a few I have and play regularly.

- Settlers of Catan (I have all expansions, except for the more players expansions for each set, my fav of them all)

- Ticket to Ride America (Lately this has been the one I play the most so I may invest in another TTR)

- Betrayal on the House on the Hill (Love the replay ability of this, but the complexity scares others)

- Pandemic (Coop greatness!)

- Munchkins (I own a few expansions, love the simplicity and role-play of it)

- Life (WHO DOESN'T LIKE PLAYING LIFE)

- Magic the gathering (of course...)

 

There's a couple extras I have that I can't think right now but I don’t really play anymore. I know there’s more great games out there I don’t own or have played yet, so let me know if you guys have suggestions!

 

I really like player choice and high replay ability and differing strategies (Settlers of Catan is my fav)

I don’t like depending on RNG, I understand that like 90% of games use at least 1 or 2 die, but I think that is the most I can tolerate. RNG really annoys me when it's more directly effecting someone like if you have to roll a die to determine how much damage you deal to someone, rather than everyone rolls a die at the beginning of their turn to determine what happens during that turn more or less (since it effects everyone). Because I feel if the die rolls effect everyone, then everyone is on a more level playing field and strategy and planning come more in play than just "Let me roll this die and get a 6 and steam roll your face because of my 'Luck' har har" if you know what I mean.

 

However don’t let the above persuade you not to recommend a game, please recommend anything! Even if it is Chess or checkers ;)

 

If you have cool games for cards that would be awesome, more than just the standard poker, bridge, spades, etc...

 

Hope to find a new fav game from this thread!

[Guest RET.LT.Padarom=US=]

I also love board games Sgt :)

Sadly I'm not too often around with enough ppl to play a lot of them.

 

My favorites are as follows:

- Carcassonne

- Settlers of Catan

- Traditional Bavarian Schafkopf (Rather difficult to get into, but a lot of fun)

 

Even managed to get started playing Pathfinder with a couple of friends (Basically Dungeons & Dragons). Pen and Paper RPG's are really great fun!

[Guest RET.SFC.MissM4yhem=US=]

I'm also not a huge fan of any games where luck will make or break you. I do understand that it's unavoidable, but the more skill required, typically the more I like a game. That said, there are a few exceptions to my general rule.... Munchkin is great, if only because I have a hard time taking the game seriously. And any of the variations of Fluxx are also awesome fun.

 

My favorite board game is Robo Rally. It was originally released back in '94 (the first version I played and loved), but WotC did a re-release a few years back. You take the role of a bored factory equipment programmer on a dull evening and program your robot in a death race across the factory floor. You do this by playing movement and turn cards to tell your bot where to go. You also have to work with/around lasers, conveyor belts, pits, oil slicks, crushers, flamethrowers, etc. It definitely takes some thinking, but it's never the same game twice, and always tons of fun! While cards do play a huge role in this one, you can still set yourself up well if you think through your turn. As long as you keep in mind that the next hand could be utter crap and pay attention to what the other players are doing, you can usually do okay.

[Guest COMR4DE]

Ahh yes Fluxx is another one I have SFC, always fun to have mass chaos in that game :) I'll have to look at that Robo Rally it does sound fun!

 

Thanks for the suggestions CPO, I have played Carcassonne on IPad before, but only one game and I don;t think my friend explained the rules right because it didn't seem to get any points lol. But that is one that I meant to revisit I just needed you to jog my memory ;)

[Guest RET.Maj.Buckshot=US=]

Back in middle school, my friends and I played a version of Clue we liked to call 'Kill each other Clue'. We essentially placed all the weapons in each of the rooms and all the colored 'characters' in the center and rolled a six-sided die to determine how many spaces you could move each turn. If you picked up a weapon, you could use it on anyone else. If you already had one you had to drop the weapon you had to pick up another. Most of the weapons were melee only but the revolver had a range of 2 spaces but you had to roll a 4-6 to actually hit. Most engagements were decided by dice rolls, but you were instakilled if you didn't have a weapon yourself. The game was over when there was only 1 player left. It was quite fun when you're 12 years old. My friends have had a long history of creating our own games, including a version of handball that was mixed with tennis and included a wall and a fence behind it that made your return shot a bit more difficult (if the ball hit the fence without bouncing you got a point, 3 points your out). Your racket hits tended to be a bit like ping pong paddle swings to keep the ball low while getting some velocity behind it.

[Guest MAJ.Kaossilator=US=]

My wife and I have managed to get both of our parents into 7 Wonders. That is an amazingly designed game and is fairly simple to learn if you have a head for games anyway.

 

Merchants and Marauders is another really excellent game. My wife and I are working on a mod for it that involves a kracken as well as other minor adjustments to balance out the game somewhat. It is balanced but tends toward favoring merchants unless you really are aggressive as a pirate.

 

Pandemic is fantastic, but the problem is you have to have at least one person in the group who understands how to control the outbreaks and can basically tell everyone else what they're doing. If you either have more than one person like that, or you don't have anyone who understands it can be really easy to either get overwhelmed or just feel like you're being told what to do all the time.

 

You want a simple but fun game? Takenoko. It's so uncomplicated and yet is surprisingly enjoyable :)

 

I used to play Axis & Allies before I got tired of all the die rolling (BTW I agree 100% about crappy die rolling games.. I'm done with dice), but the really old Avalon Hill games can be a bit daunting when you're not wanting to sit for hours planning the perfect logistical decisions. I would still highly recommend Afrika Korps if you want a highly tactical, logistical board game that is on the entry level side of the hardcore battle game genre. From there it only gets bigger and more complex: Panzer Blitz and Luftwaffe are the two that come to mind after Afrika Korps.

 

Love the older Avalon Hill games, but you really need to be sure that A) You can find a copy somewhere (they are OLD), B) You are ready for a really intense logistics style game, and C) You have hours to devote.

 

Robo Rally is an AWESOME GAME, SFC!! I really wish I had a copy of it, but it's so bloody expensive to buy new. Also it's really best between 4-6 players. 8 is pure crazy balls, and 2 is way too few to have fun with it, and it would just be my wife and myself playing most of the time.

 

My brother in law always wants to play Settler of Catan. Honestly... I understand there's a craze about the game in the gaming community but I get a bit tired of it. What I think would mix it up a bit is if there were a really huge board so it's more about building up your trade and not about how to push someone away from a resource.

 

I grew up on both Sheepshead (Shafkopf) and Cribbage. Still play quite a bit of cribbage with the wife.

 

I will say... if you're in a big group and you're trying to think of what to play with several people: Cards Against Humanity. It is flawless. It's Apples to Apples but so completely wrong.

 

I have it in my head to design a board game that is loosely based on Civ Beyond Earth. I have a bunch of notes down for it, but it's all conceptual at this point and I haven't made much forward progress in the last couple weeks. It'll be tricky to balance out the in depth tech/culture aspect so it's manageable on a table top without compromising how interesting all the facets are.

[Guest RET.Maj.ShadowOp=US=]

I have the applese to apples big box BG, and I mix in the cards against humanity cards in with it. It makes for some very interesting combos.

 

Also I enjoy any game where I get to lie to people or trick people. By the end of a game I like people going "Oh he is lying, or, does he want me to think that, or is it a double whammy and he wants me to think that I think that he is in fact telling the truth".

 

As of late my favorite games are:

Marvel Dice masters

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148575/marvel-dice-masters-avengers-vs-x-men

&

Sentinels of the multiverse

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/102652/sentinels-multiverse (coop game, a lot of fun)

[Guest RET.Maj.ShadowOp=US=]

Also for people interested in board games:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/

 

It will likely go on larger sale before the end of the winter sale, but its a great way to play tabletop games with your friends online.

[Guest Bluezoid]

Brigadier General - I started out wargaming with SPI games, very much like the Avalon Hill games. SPI put out a magazine called Strategy & Tactics that had small games in each issue. A couple of years ago I picked up their Desert Fox game which is a (relatively) simple simulation of Rommel's North African campaigns. Ther ewas also a small Waterloo game that could be played in an evening. Fun stuff.