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[platypotamus]

Now I'm intrigued. What games would you recommend?

Weeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllll...

There's a lot of stuff I could recommend, but I'm not sure which I would recommend for your particular group.

Haven't played Castle Ravenloft yet, but the others you've got listed are all light-ish games. So based purely on that, if they've been successful with your group, you probably wouldn't be going wrong with Stone Age, any of the various Ticket to Rides, or maybe a coop game like Pandemic.

If you guys were down for a longer more complex game, I'm pretty contractually obligated to recommend Through The Ages to everyone who ever enters this thread...

 

[StoOgE]

Masons is on yucata too, in case you want to try that one.

I really miss agricolaonline :/ I've only been able to play the game IRL twice while on AO I played it a lot (and still lost most of the time :lol )

Yeah, I've played Masons before. It's a fun game. It isn't an *amazing* game or anything, but it's fun. It's also really short so it is more likely to make it to the table than Terra Prime. If a game takes 2+ hours to play I better find the game just amazing. Otherwise, I would rather play one of the 2+ hour games that I do find amazing.

 

[Doublethink]

Weeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllll...

There's a lot of stuff I could recommend, but I'm not sure which I would recommend for your particular group.

Haven't played Castle Ravenloft yet, but the others you've got listed are all light-ish games. So based purely on that, if they've been successful with your group, you probably wouldn't be going wrong with Stone Age, any of the various Ticket to Rides, or maybe a coop game like Pandemic.

If you guys were down for a longer more complex game, I'm pretty contractually obligated to recommend Through The Ages to everyone who ever enters this thread...

Yeah I'm also thinking of getting Ticket to Ride. As for my group, Carcassonne didn't go over as well as I thought it would. I think it's because it was everyone else's first time playing so they didn't really have a full grasp of what they were doing. I think we'll give it another shot and see if the second time goes better. They absolutely loved Catan, however. How does Stone Age compare to Carcassonne and Catan in terms of immediate playability?

 

[Mashing]

I really like Dungeon Lords. It's a pretty heavy strategy game, sort of a board game version of the old PC Dungeon Keeper. That is: Each player is building a dungeon and filling it with monsters, and then heroes show up to wreck your shit and pillage and stuff. You want to be the least pillaged.

It is optimal for four, and a lot of people hate it two-three player, though I think it still works.

Dungeon Lords is awesome, I'll second that recommendation. We played it with four and it was fantastic. A little bit of luck, but it is mostly strategy.

 

[Mashing]

I wish I had never seen this thread. Within the past few days I've bought Carcassone, Catan, and Castle Ravenloft and now I'm thinking of getting Dominion. I have no self control :lol

I've spent over $300 on board games this month. Welcome to the party!

 

[Artadius]

Picked up Ticket to Ride for Santa to wife today at Barnes and Noble (procrastinated and didn't order online in time damnit). Wow they have a pretty excellent selection now and their prices aren't HORRIBLE (though still nothing compared to CSI obviously).

 

[StoOgE]

Picked up Ticket to Ride for Santa to wife today at Barnes and Noble (procrastinated and didn't order online in time damnit). Wow they have a pretty excellent selection now and their prices aren't HORRIBLE (though still nothing compared to CSI obviously).

yeah, I agree.

I think all the BGG guys are waiting on B&N to fail and put their games on sale. I hope they stick around because it would be great for the hobby to have a major national chain carry good games. Even if they are way too expensive.

 

[Mashing]

I assume you mean brick and mortar stores because Amazon has a good selection, but of course they are online only. I'm not sure how I'd feel about a B&N carrying these types of games. It would be great for availability but it would put a pinch on mom and pop comic book/gamestores. Or it could drive their prices down. I'd buy local, but it's so much cheaper online. Waiting for games to arrive sucks ass though.

Right now I'm waiting on:

Castle Ravenloft
Pandemic
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Power Grid
Defenders of the Realm
DungeonQuest

 

[XiaNaphryz]

yeah, I agree.

I think all the BGG guys are waiting on B&N to fail and put their games on sale. I hope they stick around because it would be great for the hobby to have a major national chain carry good games. Even if they are way too expensive.

Unfortunately boardgames at most B&M stores are going to sell for a lot closer to MSRP than the online shops, whether it's a national chain or a local independent shop dedicated to the hobby.

 

[platypotamus]

Yeah I'm also thinking of getting Ticket to Ride. As for my group, Carcassonne didn't go over as well as I thought it would. I think it's because it was everyone else's first time playing so they didn't really have a full grasp of what they were doing. I think we'll give it another shot and see if the second time goes better. They absolutely loved Catan, however. How does Stone Age compare to Carcassonne and Catan in terms of immediate playability?

I think Stone Age is very equivalent to Catan as far as accessibility goes. Also, it's among the prettiest board games ever, which really helps.

yeah, I agree.

I think all the BGG guys are waiting on B&N to fail and put their games on sale. I hope they stick around because it would be great for the hobby to have a major national chain carry good games. Even if they are way too expensive.

And they aren't actually too expensive if you're a member of their club. Instant 10% off, plus with the various emailed coupons, you can make that 25% pretty easily I think.

 

[MichaelBD]

Chaos in the Old World, Drakon, and Descent are some of my favorite fantasy-themed games.

Chaos in the Old World is awesome, but you really need to play it with 4 players and you need at least 3.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Chaos in the Old World is awesome, but you really need to play it with 4 players and you need at least 3.

You also need to have some familiarity with the Warhammer universe I think to fully enjoy it.

 

[MichaelBD]

Not sure if this was mentioned before, but Days of Wonder has an open beta for their new online Memoir 44 offering.

Good news is, I just played a game and it has the "feel" right. Bad news is they are using a pay-to-play model where you have to pay to buy gold "ingots" which you spend to play games against either other humans or the AI. And for some reason it actually costs more to play against the computer, which seems silly.

 

[MichaelBD]

You also need to have some familiarity with the Warhammer universe I think to fully enjoy it.

I don't think so.

I have super-limited experience with 40k (I only really know about it because I have Space Hulk) and the people I've taught have had no exposure to 40k and everyone has loved it so far.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I don't think so.

I have super-limited experience with 40k (I only really know about it because I have Space Hulk) and the people I've taught have had no exposure to 40k and everyone has loved it so far.

Well of course, because 'Chaos in the old World' has nothing to do with 40k

It's Warhammer Fantasy

 

[AstroLad]

Not sure if this was mentioned before, but Days of Wonder has an open beta for their new online Memoir 44 offering.

Good news is, I just played a game and it has the "feel" right. Bad news is they are using a pay-to-play model where you have to pay to buy gold "ingots" which you spend to play games against either other humans or the AI. And for some reason it actually costs more to play against the computer, which seems silly.

Hey just got into that myself! We should play some time. Implementation is pretty nice; guess we'll have to see how the pricing works out but thankfully you get like ~30 free games to start.

 

[Chorazin]

You also need to have some familiarity with the Warhammer universe I think to fully enjoy it.

Never played or read anything Warhammer and it's one of my top 5 games.

 

[SapientWolf]

I like building things, crushing the weak and being evil. Is there a family game that combines all three?

 

[BattleMonkey]

I like building things, crushing the weak and being evil. Is there a family game that combines all three?

Mouse Trap

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I like building things, crushing the weak and being evil. Is there a family game that combines all three?

Downfall of Pompeii?

You build up the population of the town, sacrifice people to the volcano, then try to evacuate as many of your people as possible during the eruption while at the same time trying to adjust the lava's path to kill/block off the other players.

Easy to learn, fast to play!

 

[platypotamus]

Mouse Trap

I laughed pretty hard at this!

@Sapient:

If by "being evil" you mean generally screwing over the other player, Caylus involves competing for glory while building a castle, and can be pretty cutthroat.

If by "building things", you mean "a civilization that can last millennia", you may enjoy Through the Ages, which is like Civilization in board game form (there's also a new Civ game, but I haven't palyed).

Citadels is incredibly cutthroat, but not very buildy.

EDIT: Also that pompeii game looks fun.

 

[MichaelBD]

I like building things, crushing the weak and being evil. Is there a family game that combines all three?

There is Twilight Imperium 3 (assuming you have 10 hours to spare) and the new Civilization game (you only need about 4 hours for that). In both games you amass resources, build stuff (space fleets, docks, troops for TI and buildings, armies, and scouts for Civ), and have as much player interaction as your little heart desires.

 

[MichaelBD]

Hey just got into that myself! We should play some time. Implementation is pretty nice; guess we'll have to see how the pricing works out but thankfully you get like ~30 free games to start.

Definitely!

My user name is, no surprise, MichaelBD. I just played against the AI and lost. It was close though as we were both one VP away from victory. I would have had it my next turn if the dice weren't in the AI's favor.

 

[AstroLad]

Survive! and Citadels are both games light enough to be played with most families that have screwage and a decent amount of strategic depth. No building in Survive! but the screwage is awesome (sending sharks out to eat others' people). Citadels does have building in terms of paying for and laying down cards in front of you, but the focus is very much on role selection and guessing what roles others will pick so that you can kill/steal from them.

 

[WanderingWind]

Checking at some of the suggestions, I've noticed some board games that would lead to divorce, should I play them with my wife. There is a heavy focus of screwing your opponent as hard as possible in some of these games. :lol

 

[SapientWolf]

Downfall of Pompeii?

You build up the population of the town, sacrifice people to the volcano, then try to evacuate as many of your people as possible during the eruption while at the same time trying to adjust the lava's path to kill/block off the other players.

That sounds delightful.

Thanks for the recs. I'll check out Survive! and Citadels. I also have my eye on Manhattan, Torres, and The Climbers, if anyone has any experience with those.

 

[platypotamus]

Checking at some of the suggestions, I've noticed some board games that would lead to divorce, should I play them with my wife. There is a heavy focus of screwing your opponent as hard as possible in some of these games. :lol

I think you just gained a lot of insight into my marriage.

 

[WanderingWind]

I think you just gained a lot of insight into my marriage.

...was it the screwing hard and fast part?

 

[BomberMouse]

Definitely!

My user name is, no surprise, MichaelBD. I just played against the AI and lost. It was close though as we were both one VP away from victory. I would have had it my next turn if the dice weren't in the AI's favor.

I've played a few times too, I even bought the game physical game after a few rounds. The implementation is good, but as you said, pay to play is stupid, at least it's better now, you had to pay extra for special units and even more if you wanted to play solo.

 

[Merino]

Ok so I really need all of your help for a rather complicated boardgame recommodation for Christmas. I've tried to find relevant information on BGG but I find that site a bit hard to navigate sometimes.

I introduced Ticket To Ride to my parents a few weeks ago and that went over pretty well. So well that yesterday I got a call from my mom asking me to bring the 'train-game' with me to Christmas family dinner this friday. Unfortunately there's going to be 8 people present at xmas dinner and so my mom suggested playing it in teams.

Now I've been thinking about playing TtR in teams and I just don't really see it working. With the secret mission cards, the choices over which colour traincards and the locations on the board (which for non-usa residents is sometimes a bit of a search) I just feel that this would involve to much discussion between the partners in the teams (8 players become 4 teams of 2) and this might signal their plans to the other teams in the game.

So I've been going through my collection trying to figure out which game, if any, could work well enough in team-based play. I've spend alot of cash on games this month already so I would prefer to use a game already in my collection. Besides the only games that I could think of buying would be Robo Rally, Inca Gold/Diamant or Saboteur but those are all quite a bit different from the standard boardgame experience of Catan and TtR which my parents are looking for.

I will also take 7 Wonders with me in the hope that one participant won't mind sitting a game out.

Anyway here's my collection list for those who can give me some advice on team-based boardgaming:
http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Merino?own=1&subtype=boardgame&ff=1

 

[StoOgE]

That is tough as most games are designed around people making long term strategies and others not knowing what they are.

Catan works with teams fairly well since there is very little that needs to be kept secret.

Puerto Rico may work, but others knowing your plans will influence their role selection.

I think Small World would largely work with teams.

Looks like you have several TTR games.. maybe just bring several and get a couple games going at once.

 

[AstroLad]

Yeah I was gonna say Small World myself. Outside of that I really don't see much in your collection that would work there. If you do get RoboRally that would be by far the best over those though.

 

[AstroLad]

I played Labyrinth last night. We sat down for about two hours just going through the rules meticulously. Then played a couple turns. It's definitely not a game that's quite as easy to just dive right into like TS because there's so much to keep tabs on and there are so many more viable options each turn, but I'm really enjoying it so far and I particularly like how different it is from TS.

 

[platypotamus]

Just take two of your different Ticket To Rides (preferably ones with identical rules, if those exist), and play 2 games simultaneously. If you're playing multiple games, top 2 scores from each game play in the next round, and bottom 2 scores match up as well.

Also, 8 is pretty good for Werewolf, and you can easily play it with just post it notes or something if you don't want to buy anything else... (that might be it at the very bottom of your list in Dutch though)

 

[Neverfade]

Played half of a game of Merchants & Marauders last night. Holy shit this is a complex game. It's been a while since I've had so many questions about a game during initial play. That being said it is very piratey and without a doubt the best pirate board game on the market.

 

[StoOgE]

lso, 8 is pretty good for Werewolf, and you can easily play it with just post it notes or something if you don't want to buy anything else... (that might be it at the very bottom of your list in Dutch though)

Good eye, that is Werewolves of Miller's Hollow.

 

[Merino]

Tnx for all of the tips, I kinda figured it was going to be a tough one.

Tbh I don't really think bringing two TtR and playing two seperate games is going to work. I could also pick up Dominion: Intrique and fire off two different dominion games but honoustly I don't think that would work in our family dynamic. I think my parents mostly just want to play a game with everyone together.

Wherewolves was also on my mind but you need at least 8 participants AND a moderator to play it. I've looked on the Geek and didn't see alot of positive comments about any 8 player variant.

I myself was thinking maybe Power Grid because everything is out in the open on that one too but since I've never played that game it's hard to judge if it would work in teams.

Prolly going to end up pushing 7 Wonders and cycling out one player every game-round.

 

[scottnak]

Pandemic is waaaay easier to learn. And a pretty fun light co-op (it's grown on me recently). Betrayal is a tougher nut to crack but it does have a cool traitor mechanic. Sort of a higher-highs-lower-lows situation since it seems that you can either get a really cool haunt or a really lame one. Really depends on the experience level of your group and what theme they might dig because the two games are incredibly different.

Welp, we went with Pandemic. Was pretty fun. Decided to go with the 'introductory rules' and with 4 players. It went pretty well. Unfortunately we lost because we ran out of cards to draw... and we would've cured the last disease the next turn! Bah.

But the 2nd game we won after surviving the 4 epidemics...

Pretty fun!

Gotta see how Betrayal ends up though... dun dun...

 

[dogbert]

Squeezed in a couple of new games this week now that my parents are back home in Scotland & life is back to normal routine.

First up was 7 Wonders. Everyone knows it by now but wow! Random, chaotic, but short & fun. I really enjoyed the chaos of it - we played 4 games (two with 6, two with 5) & they were all different, with different strategies winning. My high score was 72, highest of the night.

The other new game was Iliad, a card game I picked up in a trade at BGG.Con. Players are battling out at Troy to win Helen - play cards to build your attack strength, play cards to attack another player removing one of their cards (and the card you attacked with). Lots of cards to block attacks, multiply scores etc. Card artwork is fantastic, very 300 themed, and the game itself is vicious & brutal. We played it 2 player, which isn't its strong point, and it scales up to 6 in a team game. We had a lot of fun with it & my mate already demanded I bring it to his next game day in a couple of weeks.

Squeezed in a quick game of Dragon Parade after that with my mate & my wife. Still the best $5 I spent at BGG.Con - a massive hit with my wife & my family when they were in town. Simple to learn, quick to play & just enough managed randomness with a pasted on theme. Typical Knizia.

Got a couple of games of Twilight Struggle arranged for next week with a good mate - that'll be the only gaming for me in the next week I suspect.

 

[MichaelBD]

Played Civ again last night. It's gaining momentum with the group of guys I play with. Of the four of us, 3 were new to the game so the rules explanation/set up took a good 45 minutes of the 4-and-a-half hours we played. I now firmly believe that with a group of guys who know how to play (and are not prone to AP), games can easily be played in under 4 hours.

It was a tech victory for the Russians. Playing as the Chinese, I was giving a half-ass attempt at a culture victory. I really wasn't playing that well though everyone assumed I was the leader because I was a couple of spaces ahead of the next player on the culture track. But by game's end I had just broken into the 3rd tier of the track and it gets pretty damn expensive once you are up there and my "best" culture city was only generating 6 culture per turn. So I actually considered myself one of the weaker players, though I was generating a shit-ton of trade per turn (thanks to a nice location on a peninsula and some well-placed great people).

Having a love for Twilight Imperium, and being lucky to have 3 other guys who will set aside a whole day to play once every few months, Civ is a nice in-between itch-scratcher for an epic style production/building crawl. One of the guys who played last night was a buddy who kept telling me how much he enjoyed the game...a pleasant surprise as he sometimes shies away from stuff that appears complicated.

 

[Chorazin]

Just got Dominion, Dust Tactics, another Heroscape D&D set, and two Heroscape wave 1 squad packs from my mom for Christmas (amongst other non-boardgame items). Woohoo!

PretTy sure my GF got me some boardgames too, but I won't get those until tomorrow. Excited!

 

[StoOgE]

Just a short update, as I'm at the rents still and computer access is minimal.

Played a game of Twilight Struggle.. LOVED IT. Much better than 1960 which I already really liked. A lot to keep up with. I lost to my dad in Round 6 (I was the US). Need to play it again, surprisingly not a super difficult game, but it's easy to let your opponent start to take a huge advantage in certain areas because you lose focus on it. Africa + Middle Easy control by the USSR was my undoing.

Played a *ton* of Power Grid this weekend. A couple of new maps (Korea and Spain + Portugal).

Spain + Portugal is interesting because it forces a nuclear power vs wind power battle with players not able to buy nuclear power plants if they are only located in portugal. Interesting mechanic for sure. I guess thematically you can't build nuclear power plants in portugal, but you can send nuclear power into portugal from spain.

Korea was really wacky. There are two resource markets.. one in North Korea and once in South. North Korea has a very limited supply of resources (and no nukes :lol) but everything is cheaper.. South Korea is more limited than normal but nothing compared to North Korea. North Korea has a lot fewer cities and more expensive connections, while South Korea is filled with cities and cheap connections. Massive difference from the base game.

Played that one with the new power card deck. Not a major overhaul of the game, but the deck seems better balanced with less in the way of super powerfull cards being available to one player only.

I have to encourage any fans of Power Grid to try out the expansion maps and new power card decks.

Also, I got Le Havre meeples.. and it came with sleeves, so I have sleeved Le Havre I feel dirty.

 

[platypotamus]

I also played Twilight Struggle, taking my wife out in round 4, playing as USSR for the first time. I got lucky with some scoring cards at the perfect time, and ended up winning because she forgot to get enough military ops at the end of the turn. I probably would have sealed it up the next round, as I dominated everywhere except South America (no one was there yet) and Asia (tied).

 

[StoOgE]

yeah, from what I've read the USSR has the better card draws early in the game. Seems I was playing the US wrong by trying to go on the offensive early.

 

[MichaelBD]

yeah, from what I've read the USSR has the better card draws early in the game. Seems I was playing the US wrong by trying to go on the offensive early.

A lot of it depends on what you draw for hands but generally speaking the US is just trying to survive to the Mid-War, when events start to turn in their favor.

 

[dogbert]

A lot of it depends on what you draw for hands but generally speaking the US is just trying to survive to the Mid-War, when events start to turn in their favor.

Exactly.

Love this game - I bought the original edition when it was first released & I'm glad to see it get so popular with the recent 'deluxe' reprint. Scheduled to play two games of it this week

 

[BattleMonkey]

Star Trek Expeditions board game is up for preorder on Miniaturemarket, but still they have put out no real good media on the game. I'm hoping it looks better than it did at Gencon, where it used a folding paper game board and such.

Looking forward more to the space combat game though.

 

[platypotamus]

My strategy, for both sides, is generally never to use my own (remove from game style) events. I'll just take the ops, and leave them in the discard pile so that my wife gets stuck with them later. Of course, if the event would be particularly devastatingly useful at the moment, I'll make an exception.

 

[AstroLad]

I've posted 5 games of TS in the past three days, and one game of Labyrinth.

 

[StoOgE]

My strategy, for both sides, is generally never to use my own (remove from game style) events. I'll just take the ops, and leave them in the discard pile so that my wife gets stuck with them later. Of course, if the event would be particularly devastatingly useful at the moment, I'll make an exception.

oh, that's sneaky.

I was going for a victory in Europe early game. I got down to just needing control of East Germany. I had him down to 1 influence while I had two. Then the stupid De Gaulle card came up and I lost France and then it was all downhill from there.