Board games (the non-XBLA thread)
I just got some new games. I've yet to play them, but I just got a few new titles.
Dungeon Twister
Lost Cities
Tigris and Euphrates
Blue Moon City
and ordered for a friend:
Munchkin
Through the Desert
What are some other must-own games?
Obviously Carcassone, Catan, and Puerto Rico will get a mention but what else?
My to-by-soon list currently has:
Settlers of Catan
Battlelore (maybe)
Runebound (maybe)
War of the Ring (maybe)
Puerto Rico
More Carcassone
I also remember reading about a mid-weight wargame with a historical/fantasy mashup. For example your squad could have Buffalo Bill, Merlin, and Hercules. I can't remember the name or seem to find it. Anyone?
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
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Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
I love me some board games, but until I find folks to play with I won't buy any more. My plan is 2 full games of Settlers of Catan, then I'll look at picking up Carcassone.
My wife and I have had some success with Killer Bunnies. Makes for a pretty casual date night with friends. Not a super in depth game, but humorous.
This post sponsored by cheese.
I like all of these, for sure. Can't go wrong with Settlers and Carc. Check out the current top ten rated games at http://www.boardgamegeek.com, you might think about Caylus, Ra, Commands and Colors Ancients, Twilight Struggle, Ticket to Ride, to name a few.
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter
Password
Power Grid
Ra
Web of Power
Bohnanza
Princes of Florence
El Grande
Mystery Rummy 1
Ricochet Robots
Hoity Toity
Elfenland
Electronic Catch Phrase
Aladdin's Dragons
Smarty Party
Basari
XBox Live: Croutonic | Bungie.net: Croutonic
kaostheory wrote:
Not a board game, but our house has been getting a lot of mileage out of Bohnanza recently.
XBL: necrocinnabon
Tetnis wrote:
Duel of Ages
Some games I consider "must haves" include:
Ra
San Juan
Citadels
Alhambra
Category 5
Ticket to Ride
Other personal favorites are:
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Fairy Tale
The Downfall of Pompeii
Viktory II
Conquest of the Empire
Tsuro
Nexus Ops
BattleLore
You can also check out my collection if you want.
Beware the Gazebo
XBL: Dreaded Gazebo | PSN: DreadedGazebo | BGG: Deliverator
Veteran Gamers' Board: PretzNChz
Thank you! I can rest easy now. The sad part is while reading some BGG comments on I believe Battlelore I read someone comment that Duel of Ages was his favorite but I didn't make the connection or read up on DoA.
Lots of good suggestions here.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
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Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Fury of Dracula is fun if you have 4 to 5 players.
Bang! again fun with 4 to 6
Cyrana Mage 79 ~ Artesia Druid 70
Cyranna Shaman 62 ~ Acereri - DK 61 ~ Artasian - Priest 59 ~ Lenna - Rogue 60
I also like:
Lost Cities
El Grande
Acquire
Torres (apparently no longer made)
Uno Attack
funagain games is a good site for info and ordering.
Xbox Live: MC Milky Rich
Robo Rally is a must have I think. A Wizards of the Coast rep had it set up a few months ago at Jogo Canada. After one round I was hooked.
Sequence is an excellent low brow game to play with friends over a few beers or glasses of wine.
Bang! is quite fun too, IMO. My co-workers and I play it at lunch all the time.
Xbox Live: Trachalio
Pipe Threader Manual wrote:
I have played entirely too much Cranium. I just picked up Battle of the Sexes.
...What?
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com
Here's the list I'll bring to Gencon this year:
Bohnanza
Carc: The Discovery (best version)
Tal de Abenteurer
Ingenious
Settlers: Knights and Cities
Battlelore (I can't play DoA -- colors too hard on my colorblindness)
ICEHOUSE (20 games in one!)
2 sets of Memoir 44 (for overlord)
Puerto Rico
Ticket to Ride Marklin (VASTLY superior to the base game)
Lowenherz (Domaine)
San Juan
Fluxx
PowerGrid
Games I won't bring, but that get a lot of play:
War of the Ring
Game of Thrones
Acquire
Roborally
Risk 2210
In general though, if you have any appetite for abstract games, I cannot recommend dropping 40 bucks on icehouse pieces enough.
Also, I have a set of Duel of Ages boxes I'd sell very very reasonably. PM me.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
I played a couple of Icehouse games with a coworker and thought it was really interesting. Actually, I think he left the pieces in the break room when he left the company.
Fired off a PM to ya, rabbit.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
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Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
I like Marklin, but there's something about the simplicity of vanilla Ticket to Ride, it's quite elegant.
Rabbit, have you tried Carc the Castle?
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter
Get Through the Desert for yourself, and if you like it, you'll probably like Go.
XBox Live: Croutonic | Bungie.net: Croutonic
kaostheory wrote:
I most likely will. Probably Munchkin too. But since he's one-half of the couple we usually game with I'm good for now
I do like Go. Enough that I've almost bought a nice table a couple of times. I only wish I had someone to play against.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
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Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
My GF loves Through the Desert. Pastel Camels you know.
It is a fun game.
Some of my favorites:
Memoir 44 (and the expansions)
Battlelore
Commands & Colors: Ancients
Lord of the Rings (the Reiner Knizia game)
Marvel Heroes
Twilight Struggle
Arkham Horror
Khet
I am really looking forward to Tide of Iron
XBL: jakelegg | PSN: jakeleg-GWJ
Server info
Jakeleg, you're a Borg-o-phile. I share your likes, i'm looking forward to trying out Tide of Iron next month. I just picked up Lord of the Rings Battleground, another expansion for that one, looks promising.
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter
Richard Borg can, essentially, do no wrong. I believe he's the uncredited reason San Juan kicks ass as well.
As a side note, I'm innordinately excited about Stonehenge. Like Icehouse, its a system not a game, but its being released with games from Richard, Bruno Faidutti (Citadels, Mystery of the Abbey) and Richard Garfield (Magic, Roborally) and with a promissed expansion from Andy Looney himself. It's like a freaking homesexual boardgamegeek wet dream. Toss in Klaus Teuber, Reiner, and the boys from HAS/Avalon Hill and you could ruin a small civilization with the corruption of youth.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
Tom Lehmann had a bit to do with the goodness of San Juan, as well.
Borg does some variety, for sure, bless him. And i can't blame Borg for the mess that is the Gondor expansion for LotR Risk, I blame Hasbro.
Borg is the Garrison Keillor of board gaming.
Not to burst anyone's bubble, advance word on Stonehenge not so good.
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter
Really? Oh now I'm sad.
Yes, I gather SJ was a bit of a joint effort, kind of like one of those movies that comes out with 4 writers credited. Amazing it's so good actually. Agree on the title. He even looks like Keillor. Nicest damned guy in the world though.
I wasn't a bit LOTR Risk fan honestly. 2210 though. Genius.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
Agreed, San Juan is one of my wife's favorite 2 player games, it's a winner.
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter
Really? It's the only Risk variation I've played but it'll always have a place in my heart as the first (and only, but hopefully the gateway) wargame my wife likes to play, if only a borderline wargame.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
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Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
See, I like my LOTR more complex -- give me the War of the Ring anytime. I LOVE that game. Two of my gaming budies sat down to play it with the designers at Gencon two years ago at 10AM. at 3PM they stood up and declared it the best gaming session they'd ever had. I've played a dozen or so times since then, and it's still the best money I've ever spent on gaming I think. Perfect? No. But so so good.
Interestingly, the first Star Wars risk, (the evil baby anakin version) is, I think, the best 2 player risk variant out there -- really, really good. One of the same guys behind Heroscape and 2210.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
Oh I'm with ya. I'd love a more complex game. When I moved from San Antonio years ago I lost my gaming group though. And to play with my wife I have to make some accommodations. I'm hoping to turn her on to War of the Ring.
Live: LiquidmantisGWJ | PSN: LiquidmantisGWJ
Web: Mantis on the Mountain
--
Women can't be in the same room with me without abandoning men forever - rabbit
Filthy fanboy. I actually like most of his games. Wyatt Earp and Hera & Zeus are excellent, but they're not all gems (ahem and ahem).
Fixed.
He also sounds just like Goofy. He is a very nice guy. I always enjoy playing games with him.
XBox Live: Croutonic | Bungie.net: Croutonic
kaostheory wrote:
Crouton -- have you done any of his giant map games at Gencon? Those are a blast. And I actually won as commander this year.
Gamertag: GWJ Rabbit | Last.fm | Twitter
"In other news, Miyamoto pissed on my head, and gave me a forecast of rain." - *Le
I've never been to Gencon, but I have played a multi-board game of Memoir '44 with him and a few others. I like Memoir '44, but, like others in that series, it could have used more dual-purpose cards to reduce the frustratingly high frequency of "I have a handful of crap, you win".
One game that actually pulls off the mechanic beautifully is the Avalon Hill/Hasbro game Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit. Despite it being based on Episode 1, and taking forever to setup, the action card mechanic is flawlessly implemented. That came out at roughly the same time as Battle Cry, Borg's Civil War predecessor to Memoir '44. I remember there being rumors of Avalon Hill stealing his design for the game. I'll be seeing Richard in a few weeks, so I'll have to ask him about it.
XBox Live: Croutonic | Bungie.net: Croutonic
kaostheory wrote:
I played a huge map of Memoir 44 with him right before it came out, on his 3d terrain. That was awesome, despite Memoir being my least favorite of the series.
And remember, Crouton, you're insane. Queen's Gambit is 2.5 hours of masturbation followed by a coin flip to decide who wins. Your love of all things Star Wars has clouded your vision.
Disclaimer: doesn't mean i don't want it for the bits.
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter
If your masturbation:
A) lasts 2.5 hours
and/or
B) ends with a coin flip
you're doing it wrong.
On the contrary. It's re-sharpened by my disdain for Episode 1.
XBox Live: Croutonic | Bungie.net: Croutonic
kaostheory wrote:
Exactly my point. Should end with a parade.
"The real toy is imagination, it turn sticks into sword, chairs & blankets into forts and kids into heroes." - RedJen
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | twitter