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board game suggestions / scrabble thread
- Thread starter Joe
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Cerebral Palsy
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Carcassonne. It's tile based, and fucking rad.
p.s. the River, Traders & Builders, and Inns & Cathedral expansions are a must.
p.s. the River, Traders & Builders, and Inns & Cathedral expansions are a must.
Edited for more details, but be sure to visit Boardgamegeek for far more comprehensive info:
Apples to Apples - 1999 Mensa GOTY, fun party game as long as you're not playing entirely with vulcans and are good and playing the players. You're dealt a hand of words and a player is the judge, he displays his word and you have to quickly play a word that you feel you can justify as being the best match (slowest player doesn't get to play a card). The words are turned over and an open discussion takes place over which word best matches. That's it? Yep. Deceptively simple though, once you've tried it you'll understand. The Apple Crate (base game and expansions) can be had quite cheaply.
Speed Scrabble - Toss out the board and play on the floor (mix in two or more scrabble tile bags if you want). Most fun in teams. Tiles are facedown in a pool in the center, each team is dealt a hand of 7 tiles. As soon as you use all your tiles to make words that link in crossword/scrabble fashion (or just one 7-letter word), you call out "Tile!" and all teams draw a tile. If no team can use all their tiles, they agree and just draw another tile. You can break down and rearrange your puzzle anyway you want, just keep using up each new tile you get. The game ends when a team calls "Tile!" first and there are no tiles left.
Squint - Another game by Out Of The Box (Apples to Apples creators). You get a word then must use cards with various designs on them to get the others to guess the word. Easier and quicker than Apples to Apples.
Go - Very interesting game, a little over my head, but enjoyable if you try to win but don't take winning too seriously.
Chess - Well you know...
Citadels - Nice card game heavy on theme with variable player powers and bluffing. Can drag on with a too many players, but because of the theme, gets players into German games pretty easily. You try to built a citadel, each turn manipulating a different power player (Assassin, Priest, Warlord, Thief, Merchant, etc.) while trying to stop and guess what your opponents are using.
Bang! - Another theme-thick game. Scales well from 2 to 7 players. Variable player powers and bluffing and hand management. Takes place in the wild west. You get a public character with various powers and a secret role (Sherrif, Deputy, Outlaw, or Renegade) then, basically, try to kill the right people. Inexpensive and travels in the pocket. If your circle of friends even marginally likes westerns they should have fun.
Set - Just try it online www.setgame.com
Carcassone is a hit or miss despite being quite inexpensive and heavily hyped. Game Keeper had clearances where they were getting rid of a boxed set that included the base game and most of the expansions for less than $20. Still, after a few playings, it got a little stale since it came down to luck, tile memorization, and slightly annoying farm scoring. I know plenty of people love this one, but I think this is a "try before your buy" game. Try the demo version first.
If you have fun with these lighter German-styled games, you might want to try your hand at the more complex and expensive games like Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Ticket To Ride, etc.
Apples to Apples - 1999 Mensa GOTY, fun party game as long as you're not playing entirely with vulcans and are good and playing the players. You're dealt a hand of words and a player is the judge, he displays his word and you have to quickly play a word that you feel you can justify as being the best match (slowest player doesn't get to play a card). The words are turned over and an open discussion takes place over which word best matches. That's it? Yep. Deceptively simple though, once you've tried it you'll understand. The Apple Crate (base game and expansions) can be had quite cheaply.
Speed Scrabble - Toss out the board and play on the floor (mix in two or more scrabble tile bags if you want). Most fun in teams. Tiles are facedown in a pool in the center, each team is dealt a hand of 7 tiles. As soon as you use all your tiles to make words that link in crossword/scrabble fashion (or just one 7-letter word), you call out "Tile!" and all teams draw a tile. If no team can use all their tiles, they agree and just draw another tile. You can break down and rearrange your puzzle anyway you want, just keep using up each new tile you get. The game ends when a team calls "Tile!" first and there are no tiles left.
Squint - Another game by Out Of The Box (Apples to Apples creators). You get a word then must use cards with various designs on them to get the others to guess the word. Easier and quicker than Apples to Apples.
Go - Very interesting game, a little over my head, but enjoyable if you try to win but don't take winning too seriously.
Chess - Well you know...
Citadels - Nice card game heavy on theme with variable player powers and bluffing. Can drag on with a too many players, but because of the theme, gets players into German games pretty easily. You try to built a citadel, each turn manipulating a different power player (Assassin, Priest, Warlord, Thief, Merchant, etc.) while trying to stop and guess what your opponents are using.
Bang! - Another theme-thick game. Scales well from 2 to 7 players. Variable player powers and bluffing and hand management. Takes place in the wild west. You get a public character with various powers and a secret role (Sherrif, Deputy, Outlaw, or Renegade) then, basically, try to kill the right people. Inexpensive and travels in the pocket. If your circle of friends even marginally likes westerns they should have fun.
Set - Just try it online www.setgame.com
Carcassone is a hit or miss despite being quite inexpensive and heavily hyped. Game Keeper had clearances where they were getting rid of a boxed set that included the base game and most of the expansions for less than $20. Still, after a few playings, it got a little stale since it came down to luck, tile memorization, and slightly annoying farm scoring. I know plenty of people love this one, but I think this is a "try before your buy" game. Try the demo version first.
If you have fun with these lighter German-styled games, you might want to try your hand at the more complex and expensive games like Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Ticket To Ride, etc.
This thread has already gone too long without a mention of Puerto Rico. Pueblo is also a good game--quick, and deep if you use the advanced ruleset. Also, Samurai (if you can find it), Mammoth Hunters, and Princes of Florence.
(By the way, it's worth mentioning that the games that people mention on this board probably won't be games you'll find at Toys 'R' Us. You might try going to boardgamegeek.com to look around--they have a lot of import/indie stuff.)
(By the way, it's worth mentioning that the games that people mention on this board probably won't be games you'll find at Toys 'R' Us. You might try going to boardgamegeek.com to look around--they have a lot of import/indie stuff.)
Baron Aloha
A Shining Example
Monopoly, of course. And Scategories.
JasoNsider
Member
At this point, the only board games I'll give any time to are Go and Settlers of Catan. Settlers in particular is a great game in that it promotes "competing" and "cooperating" at the same time much in the vein of Four Swords Adventure. You want to become the biggest settlement on an island, but to do so, that also means making trades with the other people you're playing with. The game is actually very simple, even though it sounded complex when being described in the manual. Though that seems to be the case with lots of games. The board is tile based as well which means the game changes a little bit every time you play.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Damn, I love scrabble. I keep telling people I'm gonna have a scrabble party and everyone has to come dressed as their favourite letter, but no one believes me.
SteveMeister
Hang out with Steve.
In a two-player game, I've reached well into the 400's on occasion. Usually it's in the high 200's-low 300's range. But I haven't played in quite a while.
Puerto Rico is the best damn game to come out in years, but it's a touch heavier on the strategy side than your family may care for. Read up on the comments at boardgamegeek.com and see what you think. I can assure you that it's one helluva game, but not everyone goes for it.
Meanwhile, you should absolutely pick up a copy of Settlers of Catan:
The setup is that you're all settlers (big suprise, eh?) of an island, vying for resources and land to create the best settlement. This involves a lot of time spent trading commodities back and forth, racing to get to choice portions of the playing field, and more than a bit of luck. The end result is terrific fun - unless you absolutely hate dice luck, at which point it's still pretty good. This plays best with four players, but works fine with three and, with an expansion, can accomodate up to six. And, if you enjoy this and get tired of it, there are several rather good expansion sets that add a lot to the game. It retails for $40, but is well worth it; and, if you can't find it off-hand in your area, Funagain Games has it for $30.
I also enthusiastically second the recommendation for Apples to Apples:
This is a wild (yet structured...well, somewhat) card game built around comparisons and more than a touch of non-sequiter humor. One player draws an adjective card and places it on the table, at which point all the other players play a noun card from their hand face down. Then the first player picks up all the nouns, goes through them one by one, and finally reveals the one he thinks is best suited for the adjective. i.e. "Okay, so I played 'Ugly'. Let's see what we've got. No, 'Paris' is the City of Light, not the City of Ugly. I don't really think of 'My Past' as being ugly. Tragic, perhaps, but not ugly. Okay, granted 'Mel Brooks' is pretty ugly, but it's not nearly as ugly as the winner...a 'High School Bathroom'. Woof." Apples to Apples is, in short, a hoot and a half, and works great as a party game. And it's relatively cheap at twenty bucks. Check it out!
Let us know how these go over. Later, the hardcore here can rhaposidze about the joys of Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, and perhaps Illuminati...
FnordChan
Meanwhile, you should absolutely pick up a copy of Settlers of Catan:
The setup is that you're all settlers (big suprise, eh?) of an island, vying for resources and land to create the best settlement. This involves a lot of time spent trading commodities back and forth, racing to get to choice portions of the playing field, and more than a bit of luck. The end result is terrific fun - unless you absolutely hate dice luck, at which point it's still pretty good. This plays best with four players, but works fine with three and, with an expansion, can accomodate up to six. And, if you enjoy this and get tired of it, there are several rather good expansion sets that add a lot to the game. It retails for $40, but is well worth it; and, if you can't find it off-hand in your area, Funagain Games has it for $30.
I also enthusiastically second the recommendation for Apples to Apples:
This is a wild (yet structured...well, somewhat) card game built around comparisons and more than a touch of non-sequiter humor. One player draws an adjective card and places it on the table, at which point all the other players play a noun card from their hand face down. Then the first player picks up all the nouns, goes through them one by one, and finally reveals the one he thinks is best suited for the adjective. i.e. "Okay, so I played 'Ugly'. Let's see what we've got. No, 'Paris' is the City of Light, not the City of Ugly. I don't really think of 'My Past' as being ugly. Tragic, perhaps, but not ugly. Okay, granted 'Mel Brooks' is pretty ugly, but it's not nearly as ugly as the winner...a 'High School Bathroom'. Woof." Apples to Apples is, in short, a hoot and a half, and works great as a party game. And it's relatively cheap at twenty bucks. Check it out!
Let us know how these go over. Later, the hardcore here can rhaposidze about the joys of Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, and perhaps Illuminati...
FnordChan
ConfusingJazz
Member
hiryu said:
Ya damn straight.
Also, if you don't mind playing for 4 hours and don't mind hating your family for taking holland when they promised they would go after northern France, you can always check out Diplomacy, the only game that I know of that has no luck and all strategy.
ConfusingJazz said:
Diplomacy is awesome. However, three quick comments:
1) 4 hours? What are you, some kind of speed Diplomacy king? My games have usually hit the 6 hour mark.
2) Talking six other players into a game of Dip can be tricky.
3) If you want all strategy, you need to play Puerto Rico. There is only one rather minor element of luck in the entire game, otherwise it's completely strategic and completely awesome.
FnordChan
ConfusingJazz
Member
FnordChan said:
1. Yeah, we usually quit though, somebody is bound to get pissed and half of the player's power moves fuck them over in the end. We have had to seperate people before, its vicious.
2. Yeah, in a game like that, DON'T BE AUSTRIA! You will get pwned by everybody.
3. Forgot about that, your right, Puerto Rico is a good one. You should get that and Settlers if you really want some awesome games.
Anybody else feel like Settlers is a new standard in gaming?
ConfusingJazz said:
Settlers was the new standard of gaming. Puerto Rico is the new standard in gaming.
And, yeah, be sure you play Dip with very good friends who don't take things seriously, 'cause you're going to spend the entire game stabbing everyone in the back.
FnordChan
ConfusingJazz
Member
Risk = old and busted.
Hey, I forgot about modern art. Its a bidding game based on supply and demand. Its a pretty cool game as well.
Hey, I forgot about modern art. Its a bidding game based on supply and demand. Its a pretty cool game as well.
Play Settlers for free on your PC or online first (you'll find that most classic boardgames have free software versions) to see if its your taste:
http://www.s3dconnector.net/download.php
Actually, I think gameplay is improved using a computer in this case, because all the resource tracking, rolls, etc. is flawlessly kept by the computer, you can play various boards which set up instantly, it's free, and you can save your progress (and victories). Settlers is a good gateway game, quick to learn, interesting depth for its simplicity, and can have a lot of player interaction. Though in my experience, the game depends heavily on who you play with. Whiners can suck the joy out of the game quick... and considering the amount of luck and player interaction involved, it gives them opportunity to whine quite a bit.
I think the game MUST be played with the Seafarers expansion to be "balanced" and provide more paths to victory. Again, it depends heavily on who you play with. Some people are so predictable it gets a little too easy against them. Others never trade and stay in their own world. Anyways, try before you buy....
http://www.s3dconnector.net/download.php
Actually, I think gameplay is improved using a computer in this case, because all the resource tracking, rolls, etc. is flawlessly kept by the computer, you can play various boards which set up instantly, it's free, and you can save your progress (and victories). Settlers is a good gateway game, quick to learn, interesting depth for its simplicity, and can have a lot of player interaction. Though in my experience, the game depends heavily on who you play with. Whiners can suck the joy out of the game quick... and considering the amount of luck and player interaction involved, it gives them opportunity to whine quite a bit.
I think the game MUST be played with the Seafarers expansion to be "balanced" and provide more paths to victory. Again, it depends heavily on who you play with. Some people are so predictable it gets a little too easy against them. Others never trade and stay in their own world. Anyways, try before you buy....
ConfusingJazz
Member
The best people to play settlers with are nonwhiners, and those that know what they are doing right after their move. I really hate it when someone takes 5 minutes to place a damn road or try to make a trade that no one is ever going to take.
ConfusingJazz
Member
Society said:So many Catan fans. Yet noone plays the Java version online.
I would go, hey wanna play if i weren't at work.
btw, when I say "try before you buy" I'm not saying the games are bad. But if you get into boardgames you'll find they're a big word-of-mouth industry... a lot of things get hyped then fall out of favor. Other things are recommended by everyone but just don't click with you. So it's important to know your own tastes.
DaveH said:
On the flip side, as cool as playing games on the computer are, they're not exactly the real thing. For example, Apples to Apples is wonderful...but just ain't happening online. Settlers works better, but it's still not quite the same experience. So, the computer versions aren't a bad way to try out a game, but not exactly definitive.
Ideally, everyone will have a good local games store where they can drop by and see the games in person, but I realize that's incredibly optamistic.
FnordChan
Damn straight, especially if you're coming off a Scrabble binge. However, you do NOT want to play me at Boggle. I haven't lost since I was six years old. I'm waiting for the game show version to get produced so I can retire early.Bregor said:
Also, I will add to the mountain of votes for Settlers of Catan. TERRIFIC game.
Finally, I really enjoy Balderdash and Pit, but they are more social games than ultra-competitive or strategic games. Balderdash, when coupled with drinking and some dirty-minded folks, can be absolutely hysterical.
FnordChan said:
Well for trickier games, computer versions usually force you to obey the rules or does the scoring for you... this helps a lot for new players trying to pick up a game in a vacuum (like I said, most boardgaming is spread word-of-mouth, so you've got someone to teach you, but in a case like this- an online forum- the software will make sure they play right).
Put another way, which is better?
- Buying a game you know little about, then trying to play it and quite possibly playing it wrong... then basing our judgment of the game on that experiece.
- Trying the game out so you know 90% of what it's about and can decide whether you'd like to buy it or not.
For Settlers, I don't think playing the board version presents any tangible gameplay advantages. Apples to Apples, of course you need to be there to plead, bluff, and parlay... but at least you'd get the basic game mechanics. Anyways, I agree, ideally you'd never have to find out about games online and instead get to see, play, learn about them in person.
Edit: Of course, I'm not saying you shouldn't support the game makers once you decide you like a game. But when people buy a game purely on word-of-mouth sometimes they'll unfairly rip on the game when its not their taste. Alternatively they'll hype it to justify their purchase misleading others. But for me, the real issue is that there is nothing more sad than a closet full of games the family doesn't want to play.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Scrabble online is shit, you just know some people are sitting their with anagram solvers open.
DaveH said:
True, but...hrm. Let me put it another way: if you aren't really getting into a board game online, it may be that playing with your friends and adding the social element will help making it click for you. Alternately, the online versions are a great substitute for the board games, but they're still substitutes. Better than going in blind? Absolutely, but not quite the same experience and cursing your friends for refusing to trade sheep with you, which may be worth keeping in mind before plunking down $40 on Settlers or whatnot.
Of course, the alternative is to just go out and buy Cheapass Games, where you can afford to make blind purchases. Hey, they're bringing The Big Idea back into print! Fantastic!
FnordChan: It's a paranoid abstract concept...that's also cute in a Japanese sort of way
dead to me.ConfusingJazz said:
also vanilla settlers is a pretty boring game. most of the time when i'm playing with friends i want to hurt them in some way, diplomacy is boring. my friend has all the settlers expansions though - he says cities and knights is a lot faster paced.
also note that the variant i mentioned fixes a lot of the problems with vanilla risk (games running too long, lopsidedness, etc.). there are some homebrew risk variants we tried years ago that also worked on risk's inherent problems.
Axis & Allies is pretty cool. Like Risk on steroids. Too bad you can pretty much calculate all your moves, the Allies can't lose unless they have no idea what they're doing. But it's still kewl.
Like said before, Carcaconne is pretty cool.
I played La Cita once, that was a pretty neat game too.
Oh, and almost forgot, Munchkin is great fun
I hate Settlers of Catan.
Like said before, Carcaconne is pretty cool.
I played La Cita once, that was a pretty neat game too.
Oh, and almost forgot, Munchkin is great fun
I hate Settlers of Catan.
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