I don't know much about board games, so I need a recommendation: what would be a good game to play with your parents (if we're all adults)?
I was thinking of Kill Doctor Lucky, but it doesn't seem to be popular around here. Clue maybe?
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Betrayal at House on the Hill (by Avalon Hill) is my favorite right now
That's an awesome game, but as I remember the errata for the scenarios was really big. Does anyone know if it's been re-printed with updated rules and scenario booklets?
To add to the thread: I also like:
- the Order of the Stick game (though I can't find anybody willing to play the weekend-killer)
- RoboRally
- the AtmosFear DVD game
- Kill Doctor Lucky
- Lord of the Rings Risk
( to name a few)
I got the D&D board game but only played it once, so it's hard to say yet where it falls in my pantheon of beloved games.
My game group and I meet every Saturday. We do a lot of board games. If you're looking for excellent games try a few of these...
Ra (tile pulling mechanic - no dice - lightly themed egyptian)
Traders of Genoa (trading and bribing make this game a favorite)
Pillars of the Earth (based on the book by Ken Follet)
Descent (dungeon based beatings anyone?)
Twilight Imperium (scifi romp that takes 6 hours to play)
Tigris & Euphrates (another tile puller. egyptian themed.)
The old Dune boardgame is incredibly entertaining. I feel it combines the best of military games like risk with that of Settlers of Catan.
And come on, who doesn't love the Dune universe?
My favourites...
For a one-on-one game: Scrabble
For a fun party game: Taboo
For an interesting strategy game: Junta
I don't do too much by way of board games, but my girlfriend's nephews always want her to get Dark Tower out of the closet when they come to visit. As for her, she's a Chinese Checkers fiend.
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Junta is probably my favorite. There's lots of strategy and it's very funny.
Close second is Dune, love how every faction has it's own abilities and plays very differently. Player interaction is excellent.
Also enjoyed Republic of Rome alot but was difficult to find people willing to play.
HeroQuest has a special place in my heart all to it's self.
Best party games IMHO are Zombies and scattergories, fast and easy to learn.
Most popular games in my group of friends are Diplomacy and Settlers.
I love strategy games. I love it when you have many different routes to victory.
I'll be getting A&A for my birthday from daughter and son-in-law and expect to become addicted. We play "Mystery at Hogwarts" - a Harry Potter version of Clue - Star Wars Monopoly, and SW Trivial Pursuit (which I am banned from playing, now). My son-in-law is looking at getting BattleLore, which I'm looking forward to, as it looks like a neat game.
I voted for Scrabble.
I am looking forward to the reincarnation of Talisman.
Star Wars Epic Duels. Came out after Episode 2.
You can play Yoda and 2 Clone Troopers, Obi-Wan Kenobi and 2 Clone Troopers, Mace Windu and 2 Clone Troopers, Luke Skywalker and Leia, Anakin Skywalker and Padme, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Darth Vader and 2 Storm Troopers, Darth Maul and 2 Battle Droids, Boba Fett and Greedo, Jango Fett and Zam Wesell, the Emperor and 2 Royal Guardsmen, Count Dooku and 2 Super Battle Droids. There are 2 dual sided cards that are the game boards (Geonosis, Cloud City, Kamino, and Emporer's throne room [if I remember correctly]).
Basically, you have the above characters and roll a die. This tells you how many spaces you can move (there's an ALL that lets you move everyone). You can then choose to play a card. You can forego the movement in place of playing another card. With a few exceptions, that's pretty much the rules.
Each of the characters follows the movies pretty well. While some can be considerably powerful (Mace, Han & Chewie, Maul), it's all pretty even because you are limited to the cards in your hand. There's a "healing" factor (sacrifice a non primary character to heal damage) so you can survive a little longer (I've rarely used it, because you're always being followed).
Be careful of Yoda and Palpatine. They're balanced, but really powerful. Given the right cards, Mace and Maul are a force to be reckoned.
The best part of the game is that you can choose to make alliances. Beat up on a buddy, play Dark versus Light.
Jango and Boba never seem to outlive their fates, though.
The boards could be a little larger. Maybe if they're combined with the SW Minis, a bigger board, and pulling another card...
We just finished play Puerto Rico .
On the last turn we each had a non-zero chance of winning the game -- so, it was a close, fun game !
I think it was Jason Bulmahn with the d4 in the Paizo office.
Puerto Rico was my favorite board game for a long time, although Caylus is making a strong run at knocking it off. Haven't played it enough to say for sure (and the fact that I've won far more games of Caylus than I've lost may be coloring my opinion some).
On some of the other games mentioned here:
Risk: I absolutely despise this game. Yay let's sit around and roll dice for 5 hours! The amount of random chance in this game far outweighs any meaningful strategy it might have had. And it takes waaaaaay to long to resolve anything. If I want to play a conquer the world type game, I'll play Axis and Allies or Twilight Imperium. Much more interesting, and better designed.
Chess: This is a classic, of course and it has it's place. I'm only a fair chess player though. Honestly, this game is just too much work for me to really enjoy. In order to get good, you have to see 3 and 4 moves ahead, and the lack of any significant random element means that it is often kinda dull. Still, I enjoy it once in awhile.
Monopoly: This is one of those games you just outgrow. I loved it when I was a kid, but I soon realized that if you've played 5 or 6 Monopoly games, you've played them all. So, not much replayablity=not much interest for me.
Settlers: Although I feel like it's been eclipsed by some of the more recent and innovative board games, Settlers will always have a special place in my heart. It's a great game, (mostly) well designed, and a lot of fun.
SSSScrable and Chesssssssss.
Ssssit down, let ussss play!
When my group has a "board game night", we usually play one of the following:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Board Game (crazy fun, easy-to-learn, relatively fast)
Iron Dragon: Fantasy rail-building, addictive as hell.
Pirates' Cove: Fun with pirates. 'nuff said.
Warcraft and World of Warcraft board games: Kinda fun, could be better.
Any of the old MB Gamemaster line: Conquest of the Empire, Shogun, Fortress America, Axis & Allies. (We never got Broadsides & Boarding Parties)
My friend has Ninja Burger, which I really need to play with him.
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When you're not playing D&D, which of these games do you like to play? (If you choose "Other," please make a post letting us know the details!)
Come on lets play monopoly....
cash bonds and ritzy properties...I'll watch my fortune grow...
passing go....
My grandparents got me a Monopoly board for my tenth birthday... nine years later I found myself in business school. I love that game!
Voted scrabble because my mom's a huge fan, so I play it alot. Runners up include Puerto Rico and Settlers of Catan
I don't do too much by way of board games, but my girlfriend's nephews always want her to get Dark Tower out of the closet when they come to visit. As for her, she's a Chinese Checkers fiend.
Duuude, you have a Dark Tower game? That was my ultimate favorite game, I've looked for it, but it's going for like over a hundred bucks on e-bay.
I like Scrabble, Cranium, and Trivial pursuit.
I voted for 'other', which would be RISK - more specifically the variants of RISK that I've got (the futuristic one with Nukes and the Lord of the Rings version). What I like - it's quick and simple, there's a random element (ie. a lucky strategy can sometimes overcome a good one)and you get to move little dudes around. I also like Axis and Allies but after you've played with people who are really into it (and I mean really - they have all the strategies already mapped out) its not very fun. Being Russia in that game is not very fun either (every round you just make a huge stack of infantry to get chewed on by German tanks - yay!).
I have to say (I know its blasphemy) but I really hate Settlers. I just find it so boring. Maybe I'm a warmonger when it comes to games, maybe D&D has taught me that make-believe violence is an answer to life's problems, but destroying my enemies by building roads just seems lame.
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Arkham Horror, including the Dunwich and Dark Pharaoh expansions. This game takes hours, is completely engaging, fun for Mythos freaks and casual fans alike, and is different every time you play...plus, you can play the complete game solo (for those weekends when everyone in the group is unavailable.).
I like a lot of different kinds of board games but which ones I play really comes down to who is around to play with.
I find myself most frequently playing party type games like Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly or Scattergories since non-gamers and gamers alike know how to play those and the simple rules and short play times appeal to those who aren't die hard gamers.
For party games two of my favorites are Cranium which is a lot of fun as it combines elements of other popular games (Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, etc.). Only problem is you need at least 4 people to play so you can have two teams of two.
I like Loaded Questions a lot too in the party category. That's the one where you have to guess how each other player would answer a certain question and depending on your number of right answers you move further around the board. It's a lot of fun but really works best when you have 5-7 people playing and you know at least half of the people fairly well. If everyone at the table is a total stranger you can't really enjoy this. Good game.
The old 80s board game Survive is a lot of fun. This is the one where each team has 10 people trapped on a sinking island and the goal is to get them to four outlying islands before the island pulls a Krakatoa. The different people have different point values which are hidden from your opponents. On your turn you try to get your people to safety while sinking a piece of the island and trying to turn the game's predators (sharks, whales and sea serpents) against your opponents people and boats.
I like your military strategy games like Axis & Allies and the like quite a bit but by far the ones I play most often are the Risk family. I particularly enjoy the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Godstorm variants as the mechanics are basically the same as the classic game but with different boards and special rules and options. Risk also has the advantage that I can pick up basically any of them and the people I am playing with pretty much know how to play. Play time is measured in hours instead of days which is nice too. You can play any of them in an evening.
I've played a number of the "German" games as well and enjoy most of them.
For me a board game is best when it combines the following:
- playable with 2-6 players
- fun theme or concept
- relatively short rules with consistent, simple mechanics, the kind you can pick up and read once and get and only need to reference once in a while - easy to learn, lifetime to master.
- fun board and pieces
- dice (lots of and/or multiple types)
L
1. age of renaseance
2. Titan
3. Axis and Allies
I've only played it once, but Arkham Horror is definitely up there. The only reason I've only played it once is because I've been too broke since I played it to buy it. It's nice to play a game where everyone's trying to help one another rather than kill one another.
Balderdash is hysterical, especially when you play by an alternate set of rules: make the most stupid and funny definition possible.
Cranium can be a whole bunch of fun, but sometimes it demands more players than you have.
Dungeon's a favorite. I have it on the shelf behind my monitor for easy access. It's great for playing D&D when no one wants to cook up a character.
Omega Virus is a fun old one, good concept and one of the first games that makes fun of you for doing bad.
I voted other. I love Risk. It's my game of choice aside from D&D if I've got a group of buddies around. I like the strategy, the joining forces (temporarily, at least) to gang up on the other guys, the use of the world map (you could say I learned a bit about world geography from playing Risk), and yes, the rolling of the dice competitively.
From the list, I would probably pick Scrabble over the others. It's a favorite for a guy like me who loves words.
For showing off, I like trivial pursuit, except the ridiculous sport category.
For playing with family, I would go with Scrabble, as we are all fiercely good at it.
My favourite game is an obscure one which none of you North Americans may know. It is called Colditz. It was designed by Major Pat Reid, one of the only people to escape from Colditz during WWII.
Go to A site with a review..
The board is a hex representation of the castle. It has tunnels, checkpoints, places where rope can be used, barbed wire fences and other details.
One side plays the Germans and other players play as one of the captive sides. The German must thwart escapes and the allies must do their best to escape. To do so, they must get their pieces to the necessary rooms to get the equipment they need to escape.
It was a game that mastered assymetrical strategy long before Star Craft. A very elegant and quirky game.
Go.
Like chess but the easter version. It's a game originally designed for warriors and generals to practice military strategy. More chaos then chess which fits my training.
Since I'm a Kung Fu teacher, its the one for me.
Also enjoy Risk, Star Wars Risk, Civilization, Trouble and Zombies.
And a great card/board game is Hong Kong style Kung Fu Fighting.
Chess is the boardgame.
Also Diplomacy and SPI's War of the Ring (long out of print).
When you're not playing D&D, which of these games do you like to play? (If you choose "Other," please make a post letting us know the details!)
My favorite board game is "Medici".
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I have to vote for Ticket to Ride in all its flavors, but primarily the USA version with the 1910 expansion. It is currently the game of choice for family game night in our household (me, the wife, and two girls ages 9 & 6). It is also spreading throughout the extended family. My parents, brother's family, and my brother-in-law's family have all purchased copies of the game after we introduced it to them. The simplicity of the game play (play trains, draw trains, or draw tickets) makes the game very accessible, and the strategy element can be as casual or as cut-throat as you like.
Any of the old MB Gamemaster line: Conquest of the Empire...
Conquest has a newer version with a game board half the size of a pool table. Extra rules, extra pieces... it's magnificent!
I'll always have a soft spot for the color and avarice of Monopoly but Scrabble is my favorite boardgame. It's easy to set-up and play, you and your opponents' skills decide everything... nothing left to chance save the first move, and I always win. :) Well, so far anyway.
I have a wide selection of boardgames, some current favourites in my play group are as follows…
For more players: Battlestar Galactica or Rails of Europe.
For fewer players: Dominion, Race for the Galaxy, Tigris & Euphrates or Cave Troll.
For two players: Dominion, Race for the Galaxy, Battlelore, Memoir ’44, or War of the Ring
Personally I love large multiplayer conflicts, but finding players that can handle those is difficult (Warrior Knights, Twilight Imperium, Conquest of the Empire, Age of Conan, Starcraft and even Risk 2210 and others are all languishing on the shelves for want of players).
P.S. While I find Risk 2210 (not to be confused with basic Risk) to be imminently playable, I regrettably have to advise that Risk: Godstorm should be avoided for its random chaos and boring, overcrowded Underworld elements.
I would vote 'Other'.
I absolute favorite is Twilight Emperium but I also own the current Conquest of the Empire (with the largest board map I have ever seen!), Acquire, Runebound, and Betrayal at House on the Hill. All of these are fun and I wish I got to play them more but convincing my D&D group that I DM to play boardgames instead of D&D is like trying to convince... nevermind, it is really hard.
but I also own the current Conquest of the Empire (with the largest board map I have ever seen!),
That's two comments about the enormity of that game board in three consecutive posts.
Last Night on Earth really rocks!
When you're not playing D&D, which of these games do you like to play? (If you choose "Other," please make a post letting us know the details!)
Of those games, Settlers of C. followed by Puerto Rico.
In service,
Rich
Go to The Original Dr. Games site!.
My favorite would be Citadels, except that there's no board. Still, it's a tabletop game that's fun to play with kids and doesn't take too long to play a single game. Another great tabletop game that lacks a board is the original King of the Tabletop from Dragon magazine. (I remember gluing the pieces to vinyl tile when I was a kid.) Even though I have Kings and Things, I think I still prefer the original King of the Tabletop.
If there really needs to be a board, I think I would pick chess, scrabble, and Settlers of Catan. I don't like Monopoly because there is too little strategy. I prefer Mystery of the Abbey over Clue, because the former is richer in possibilities, making the game more fun and replayable. I'd like to try Doctor Lucky, which sounds like an interesting twist on Clue. I don't know why I don't like train games. I tried Ticket to Ride and just thought it was passably fun. I never tried Axis and Allies, although I had a lot of fun playing another game from the Milton Bradley Gamemaster series called Samurai Swords. I also had a lot of fun with Heroscape.
I'm still searching for the perfect fantasy boardgame.
Wondering Why Twilight Imperium and Arkham Horror aren't on this list... and the Game of Thrones Board Game is also Awesome
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I own well over 200 boardgames and I have many favorites. I own all but one on the list. I will list the current ones that are pulled out to play the most recently, but are not necessarily my favorites. That is the way board games work. Some are just more appealing and playable by a wide variety of gamers.
Ticket to Ride - This one has been pulled out quite often lately after a lull in playing. It is easy to play, has a reasonable amount of strategy and does not take too long to finish.
Pandemic - This is one of the first cooperative board games that we have enjoyed. The strategy involved and a choices to be made are interesting.
Neuoshima Hex! - This is a fun strategy game. Very high in placement stragety, but your units and actions are pulled randomly. I think we are starting to get bored of this because that random draw can really screw you in the game. It may be that we are just not good enough to deal with a bad random draw yet.
Twilight Imperium - While this has not been brought out recently this is a fan favorite for the serious gamers. This game has depth, but not too hard to figure out which is a difficult thing to do in a board game. Everyone enjoys it when we bring it out and it is talked about when we don't. Its only downfall is the lenght of time it takes to set up and the long playing time. You have to commit some time to playing this game, which is not usually a problem except we want to play other games too.
Cutthroat Caverns - Just evil fun!
Battlore - Just a well done game. It does not get taken out often though because of the set up.
Tomb - The rules are a little confusing (AEG), but we have had fun playing this. It might get old though.
Twilight Struggle - 2 player, but a lot of fun.
Power Grid - Math heavy, but fun. The games are always really close and a dollar here or there decides the game.
Acquire - Everyone should own this.
For Sale - A cool bidding game. Easy and quick.
Wizard - A trump, trick taking game. Our family likes to play card games.
Games we do not like:
Puerto Rico - None of us liked this game.
A Game of Thrones - While I think this game is interesting no one else does so I never get to play it.
Runebound - This game just gets tedious and boring after awhile. We used to play it a lot. The only way to keep it fresh is to buy new supplements for it. Really not interested enough to keep spending money on it though.
Descent - I just dont like this game. I could go on a long rant about why I do not, but I do not want to waste anyones time. Most people I know dislike it as well, but not as much as me.
Talisman, Nuke War, and Illuminati.
