Since we're doing nice impressions, played a
ton of games this past week since we had a four-day weekend. Probably the most I've ever played in a week short of BGG.Con. I think I've determined that my two favorite gaming subgenres are classic gateways and kludgy Lovecraftian adventures.
Opposite ends of the spectrum but I'd be pretty good just playing games within one of those two categories for the most part.
Bang! The Dice Game: Have sung this game's praises before but it's really excellent. Fantastic work-lunch or 6-8p casual group game. It's the least "social deductiony/hidden role" of any game that could be called either one of those -- which to some may be a negative but to me is a big plus. Also very streamlined. There is player elimination but the games rarely go over 30m (and no one gets eliminated in the first 20m for the most part anyway, short of some crazy all-in on the sheriff in which case the game's over anyway). Consider trying this game even if you don't like Bang! or hidden-role games.
Eldritch Horror: Played a couple times -- 1 loss, 1 win. Really quite good difficulty balance on this one. It feels less claustrophobic and slightly less thematic than Arkham, but is also more of an adventure flair and a good deal less fiddly. Getting the expansions in which I'm really excited for since we can fill out our adventure decks. I've heard some people say if you don't like Arkham try this out, but I'm not so sure. They're different games but they really address a very similar niche (unlike Elder Sign aka Arkham Yahtzee).
Coconuts: Played this with friends, but speaking of great kids dexterity games! Fling "coconuts" (poop) at cups. Simple but excellent, like any good dexterity game (it's funny how slightly heavier dexterity games like Dungeon Fighter and Flick 'Em Up usually miss the mark for me). My daughter has definitely enjoyed this (and beaten me) in the past.
Can't Stop: Another good work-lunch game (though it only goes up to 4 iirc, so for a smaller group, especially if you can incorporate some type of betting to make the push-your-luck rolling even more exciting.
CV: Quite liked the goofy art and theme (building up your resume/living your life) on this one. I did find it just a touch fiddly though for what feels like a LW game to me in terms of keeping track of all your active effects.
Love Letter: It's Love Letter! I kind of forget sometimes how if you play by the English rules (first to four) the game kind of drags on because it's easy to gang up on the leader.
Roll through the Ages: One of the original Yahtzee-style eurogames. If you're looking for a "light civbuilder" I don't think you can do much better than this one, as long as the theme doesn't bore you too much.
Elder Sign: Back to Arkham we go! We play with Streets of Arkham mode now as we find the base game (even with Unseen Forces) generally too easy, and it's quite hard now. If you liked ES but gave up on it for being too easy, I'd highly recommend Gates of Arkham. Takes away the easy buys and now you in most cases have to commit to an adventure without knowing specifically what it is. Really good balance now.
Bling Bling Gemstone: Like Tok-Tok Woodman just a game where you tap a tree to knock off little parts but not big ones.
My four-year-old destroyed me at it.
Burgle Bros.: I really like the mechanics of this one, especially the random surprises despite the fact that at its core it's a very dry and fairly intense puzzler. We messed up though because the person teaching us thought you had only three times to get caught (instead of four) so both games felt almost Arkhamy hopeless by the end. Really want to do it again though with the right rules especially since 4p seems quite tough but doable which I love in a co-op.
Castle Knights: Good kids co-op dexterity game (4+ though because you do need some strength and coordination to use the tool to pick up the blocks). Played with the timer it's actually quite challenging and intense.
Dominion: Haven't played the tabletop in 3+ years but the app got me back into it and we really enjoyed our 3p go at it, especially since we were all pretty similar experience levels (i.e., know the rules and gameflow well, but not experts).
Carcassonne & Carcassonne Gold Rush: Like Ticket to Ride, but even a little better, Carcassonne just never gets old for me. We played a 4p with new players and Inns & Cathedrals, and later a 3p with the Gold Rush standalone. Both were good, but Gold Rush was surprisingly fun and definitely a meaningful twist on the Carcassonne mechanics. I've played South Seas and Winter (latter being more a reskin) and I think Gold Rush is by far my favorite even though I like South Seas too.
San Juan: Played a couple games of this. Again a game that ages really well, especially with a group playing at a similar experience level. Scratches that Race for the Galaxy/tableau-building itch without a big investment of rules-teaching or game time.
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Been playing the app (which is amazing) so dusted off the tabletop as well. It wasn't super great because I picked Baron Blade, the easiest villain, so it was a pretty vanilla experience, and this group is used to playing harder co-ops like Aliens Legendary, so that was my bad. I do want to give it another go though because the app has made me realize this is a really clever and thematic design.
Alhambra: I only play this game once a year or so but I'm never disappointed. BGG is right that it's absolutely one of the best 3p experiences out there. If you look at it it looks like a fairly boring euro, but it blends together so many different elements so well and in a way that's never been properly imitated. Tile placement, hand management, just a lot of really tough but simple and fun decisions.
