I need recommendations for board games

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jennypenny
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Post by jennypenny »

We ended up getting Agricola, Settlers, Puerto Rico, Pandemic, and Carcassonne. We also got Risk 2210 (we like the rules in this one especially only 5 turns each). We actually rearranged our living room yesterday to put a better table in for gaming. Thanks to everyone for the recommendations.


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jennypenny
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by jennypenny »

We've been trying out new games since it's been a few years. Luckily, our library loans out board games so it's easy to test drive them. One that we like that I didn't see mentioned is Revolution. Simple, but fun with four people and doesn't take too long.

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GandK
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by GandK »

Missed this thread the first time around. Our family's favorite board game is Forbidden Island. If you've never tried it, it's worth a look. We like it because you're all on the same team, and you're playing against the game itself.

FBeyer
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by FBeyer »

That genre is known as a co-op board game, and Pandemic might be one of the first (if not most popular) implementations of that genre.

My personal favorite when it comes to economic games is American Rails:
The rules take 20 minutes to explain, the game takes about 1.5 hours with 4 people, you will not believe the anguish of some of the choices you have to make, and the unforeseen consequences of early actions. I've played it more than 20 times, and I'm still learning a ton of things about the game.
Given the low rules complexity, I don't think you'll ever get as much economic game, for so few rules as you do with American Rails.

Other similar recommendations are: Chicago Express.

If you are in ANY way interested in economic board games, let me know!
The most basic list of recommendations (ie things to read about on boardgamegeek.com) are:
American Rails
Imperial
Brass
Age of Industry
Power Grid
Steam
Age of Steam
Chicago Express
1830
1889
Poseidon
Panic on Wall Street (an actual good party/economic game)
Kansas Pacific
German Railways
Keyflower (it doesn't look like an economic game, but it is, and it's amazing!).
Acquire

7Wannabe5
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

My extended family is huge on both board games and parlor games. One of our favorites is Celebritieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_%28game%29 because it's very fun with a mixed group of total nerds and more artsy types. We play the Variant version with an added 4th round where you are only allowed to use one sound that is not a word. For instance,single low deep chord for Johnny Cash or sound of retching for Donald Trump.

An old-fashioned parlor game that is fun with a large group of both adults and very young children is Good Animal. You can use cards with pictures of animals on them for play with pre-readers. You arrange yourselves in a large circle and the first person draws an animal from the hat and then while behaving like that animal he approaches somebody else in the circle and begs for attention. Then that person has to say "Good (animal name)" and give pat on the head without laughing. If you laugh you are out. Adults who have had an eggnog or two are often worse at this game than an intelligent competitive 3 year old.

tommytebco
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by tommytebco »

Not a board game, but a riot and a table top game. Jenga, a wood block stacking game. It's a lot of fun.
http://www.jenga.com/

jacob
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by jacob »

Dunno if WH40K counts as a board game, but it's fun and a great way to spend a lot of money on little diecast figurines---maybe it's better classified as a bona fide hobby. You can spend a ton of time on this what with all the painting and modding. However, it is possible to drive around in home made cardboard boxes in lieu of spending $30 to buy a tank.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n1V8nw7WHA (ff to 30 mins or so to see how it goes).

Each vehicle, hero, squad costs a certain amount of points so when they say it's a 2000 point game, it refers to the size of the army. You decide how to build your army. Much like starcraft, there are different "species" or factions, so you can pick your favourite. Back in the days, I played Chaos Space Marine. Go figure! :-P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dfvfV7XN0

In general, you get a random mission that has to be accomplished within 3-5 turns, e.g. kill the enemy leader or get a squad into enemy home territory.

The rules are relatively simple and involves rolling a lot of dice adding armor and weapons modifiers---these guys seem to have the numbers memorized. Kinda like playing D&D. Different weapons have different ranges and generally if a enemy figure is in range and your figure can see it, you can shoot at it. The templates you see lying around the table are for things like flame throwers and artillery.

The main issue is to find another player to commit to their own army. However, if you have a nearby store that focuses on boardgames and associated nerdery, it's likely they have a setup for this.

Back in the days, the starter kit included two armies (Orcs and Space Marines), IIRC they were 500 points each and mostly consisted of infantry.

FBeyer
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by FBeyer »

I never thought the founder of ERE would recommend the most expensive board game I've ever come across. Is it still April first?

jacob
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by jacob »

@FBeyer - No, I played it in my spendy late teens/early twenties. All things considered, it doesn't seem to be that spendy compared to so many other hobbies, e.g. sports, computer gaming, travel, ... of course, it's not comparable to chess or a copy of Risk.

Take your time painting the whole army and don't focus on building new armies or weird armies over playing with what you have. Also don't play Orcs---lots more figures per point cost. You can play with old figures just fine as long as they are somewhat equally dimensioned. It's not like trading card games where your "equipment" gets obsolete if you don't buy new expansions. One could build slowly, spending $30/month on figures and taking the time to paint them. A complete 2000 pts (which is big) army costs somewhere around $1000 (quick google) to build and once you have it, it will last a long time.

Edit: In general I'm not overly concerned about big one-time expenses (as long as they don't occur frequently) as I am about recurring costs due to the 400x rule.

JL13
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by JL13 »

+1 on akratics list

Sabateur is also fun and easy to pick up.

dalralmi
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by dalralmi »

Saw the mention of revolution and had to respond to this. My husband and I love evolution and most Steve Jackson games. Since it has obviously been a few years and I'm sure your younger ones have aged into more complicated things I'd recommend some other things like Munchkin (same maker as revolution).

My husband and my go to favorites at this point are betrayal at house on the haunted hill, dead of winter, and caylus.

Dead of winter and betrayal are both cooperative games until they aren't. caylus is a worker placement that we get endless fun out of. I agree with all the old games posted around here, but for constant replay values those are the ones I've never tied of... Also if you ever did get into pandemic the legacy version is an absolute MUST PLAY.

I kind of lurk these forums but when it comes to board games is basically my biggest ERE hobby.

FBeyer
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by FBeyer »

dalralmi wrote:... and caylus....
How do you deal with AP in a two player game? My GF refuses to play this with me any more because I take forever to take my turns.

FBeyer
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by FBeyer »

jacob wrote:...It's not like trading card games where your "equipment" gets obsolete if you don't buy new expansions...
I played WHFB, 40K, Necromunda and Warmachine/Hordes from 1994 to 2010.
Models do not go obsolote per se, but they do become utter crap rules wise with new army books/codices. If you happen to play with people who accept proxies, then you're fine, but if you want to compete in tournaments, then a lot of TOs won't accept proxies.
WYSIWYG was the bane of my existence. Luckily the Danish WHFB TOs weren't so strict, so my primary involvement in miniature gaming was within that community.

Board games are just so inexpensive in comparison, they involve more than two active players, don't take up preparation time and take up much less space when not in use. There is no comparison for me any more. If I play miniature games, I'll borrow dolls from my buddies.
I still keep my Veermyn/Forge Father teams for Dreadball, but that's it.

Anyone who wants a completely free, heavy economic game should take a look at 1830 or 1889 and the Rails module from sourceforge.net.
You can find the rules for free online and you can play the game face-to-face or play-by-email/play-by-dropbox via Rails if you are so inclined. Some people have reported playing more than 1000 games of 18xx and still haven't found the optimum way to win.

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jennypenny
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by jennypenny »

Thanks, dalralmi. I'll look for Munchkin.

Right now, our favorite games are Power Grid, Pandemic, and Revolution. We also like quickies like yahtzee and uno because I can carry them in my bag and whip them out anywhere. We also like Michigan Rummy when the gang's all here.

slsdly
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by slsdly »

Some that haven't been mentioned that I enjoy: Smallworld, Survive, Kingsburg, Galaxy Trucker.

dalralmi
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by dalralmi »

FBeyer wrote:
dalralmi wrote:... and caylus....
How do you deal with AP in a two player game? My GF refuses to play this with me any more because I take forever to take my turns.
I'm assuming from my googling you mean analysis paralysis. Surprisingly with my husband we don't have a lot of problems with this in caylus. I tend to pick a strategy to start with and stick to it whole heartedly until they start blocking it. I also spend the majority of their turn planning and analysing my moves. Most of my AP comes in the last few turns.

Our problems in AP arrive in games like KINGS CRIBBAGE or Quirkle where my husband spends an eternity calculating what points he could be getting. cpuld just be our brains think through strategy fairly quickly from other childhood gaming like DnD and poker we just don't over analysis caylus. Might I recommend at your next gaming session to try the all money strategy... I've won many a games by taking the three and passing immediately over and over again.


@JennyPenny if you like quick travel games I'd recommend farkle over Yahtzee if you look for different things. I also keep quiddler or fluxx in my purse for quick gaming.

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jennypenny
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by jennypenny »

We were with a large group on Christmas and really enjoyed playing jackbox games. Everyone loved Fibbage and Quiplash. We also liked Drawful and whatever the new one is where you kill everyone. I know it's not technically a board game, but it was fun and easy with a big group of people.

The only problem was that not everyone brought their phone charger, so we had to pass around phones at one point. Not a big deal.

saving-10-years
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by saving-10-years »

In case you are collecting further options we like the Killer Bunnies (yellow + blue pack). Funny and quite a small deck to carry when traveling.

If you want a challenging game which is played using tech then Keep talking and Nobody explodes http://www.keeptalkinggame.com/ is good as you split into two teams and argue endlessly. One person needs to be online (describing the bomb) and while the other team can be online to see the manual they can also have this printed out and distribute the tasks. Not conventionally a board game but all the (good) argument potential and drama of one.

Riggerjack
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by Riggerjack »

I must just be old, as I always thought the natural extension of Risk, was Axis and Allies, yet, no mention of it. If you are getting into weekend binges of Risk, Axis and Allies seems like a good fit for tweens and above.

I wish I had known about the 40k interest here. I just did a tenant turnover where I threw out boxes of fiber optic connection bits and pieces. Things that I looked at and thought "those old 40k guys would love these." Sorry, all gone now.

For the grown ups, I recommend Cards against Humanity and Exploding Kittens.

And a quick shout out for "cheap ass games", cheap, portable, quick. Usually pretty quick to pick up and good for a few games before someone figures out a way to throw the game balance off. Good for something to do when with nongamers, as they pick up the simple games easily, and they have fun storylines.

Scott 2
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Re: I need recommendations for board games

Post by Scott 2 »

I played exploding kittens for the first time on Christmas, it's good. Easy to learn, supports a little teaming up.

We also played beasts of balance, which is a fun update to Jenga. A little pricey though:

http://beastsofbalance.com/

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