Harry Bosch
Contributor
What is your favorite Board Game? Mine is Dominion. It's such a great game. Great to play with kids. It's an easy game to learn but tons of different strategies.
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Wiploc
Veteran Member
Dominion: Played it once. I don't own it myself. It seemed good.
Splendor: I play it a lot. Fun. Against some competition, it is a mindless bubblegum game. Against other competition, it is a highly competitive, strategic, plan-ahead and stab-your-opponent type game.
Azul: Like splendor, it's fun to play over and over, is easy to learn, and it plays differently against different opponents.
Race for the Galaxy: I'd play this forever. It's probably less social than the others, what Board Game Barrage calls a "heads down" game. My wife asks, "Why don't you ever talk?" when she sees people playing this game. Admittedly, there's no reason it couldn't be played heads up, studying your opponent's tableau, and reacting to her plays; that just doesn't happen to be the way we do it. I bought a couple of expansions to make the deck bigger. We mostly ignore the expansion rules; I just wanted more cards for the original game.
Carcassonne: A great game. After years of play, it doesn't hold my attention the way it used to, but it's a great introductory game. It draws observers in airports and hospital waiting rooms. You invite them to join, and they start having fun right away. It doesn't matter that they joined in late and didn't know how to play a moment ago.
Decrypto: Not a board game, so arguably doesn't belong on this list. But it's great fun, and it plays over the phone, even over an old landline dumb phone. It needs four or more people (I can play with three).
Notes on playing Decrypto over the phone: People who don't own the game can generate the necessary random numbers at Random.org. (I don't know what all Random.org can do, but clicking that link will take you right to the specific random numbers you need for this game.) Everybody on a given team needs to know that team's four keywords, so those can be texted, or emailed, shown to the camera while the other team looks away, or I suppose, whispered over the phone while the other team is out of the room.
The Unfortunately Named Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: I wonder if this isn't a perfect game, a work of genius. But I can't get anybody to play me. Stratego meets Cosmic Encounter, with the problems of both games fixed. For instance, victory in Stratego tends to go to the most patient player, the one who just moves back and forth until the other player attacks. In The Unfortunately Named Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, there's none of that because you have to move forward every turn. Each character has its own special powers. For instance, Shelob returns to her cave after she wins a fight, which can be one of the rare instances of moving backward.
Unbelievably, the board is just four spaces by four spaces. It doesn't seem small or constrained. It's played from corner to corner rather than side-to-side like chess or checkers. The shire is in one corner, and Mt. Doom in the other.
The combat mechanics are fascinating.
Splendor: I play it a lot. Fun. Against some competition, it is a mindless bubblegum game. Against other competition, it is a highly competitive, strategic, plan-ahead and stab-your-opponent type game.
Azul: Like splendor, it's fun to play over and over, is easy to learn, and it plays differently against different opponents.
Race for the Galaxy: I'd play this forever. It's probably less social than the others, what Board Game Barrage calls a "heads down" game. My wife asks, "Why don't you ever talk?" when she sees people playing this game. Admittedly, there's no reason it couldn't be played heads up, studying your opponent's tableau, and reacting to her plays; that just doesn't happen to be the way we do it. I bought a couple of expansions to make the deck bigger. We mostly ignore the expansion rules; I just wanted more cards for the original game.
Carcassonne: A great game. After years of play, it doesn't hold my attention the way it used to, but it's a great introductory game. It draws observers in airports and hospital waiting rooms. You invite them to join, and they start having fun right away. It doesn't matter that they joined in late and didn't know how to play a moment ago.
Decrypto: Not a board game, so arguably doesn't belong on this list. But it's great fun, and it plays over the phone, even over an old landline dumb phone. It needs four or more people (I can play with three).
Notes on playing Decrypto over the phone: People who don't own the game can generate the necessary random numbers at Random.org. (I don't know what all Random.org can do, but clicking that link will take you right to the specific random numbers you need for this game.) Everybody on a given team needs to know that team's four keywords, so those can be texted, or emailed, shown to the camera while the other team looks away, or I suppose, whispered over the phone while the other team is out of the room.
The Unfortunately Named Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation: I wonder if this isn't a perfect game, a work of genius. But I can't get anybody to play me. Stratego meets Cosmic Encounter, with the problems of both games fixed. For instance, victory in Stratego tends to go to the most patient player, the one who just moves back and forth until the other player attacks. In The Unfortunately Named Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, there's none of that because you have to move forward every turn. Each character has its own special powers. For instance, Shelob returns to her cave after she wins a fight, which can be one of the rare instances of moving backward.
Unbelievably, the board is just four spaces by four spaces. It doesn't seem small or constrained. It's played from corner to corner rather than side-to-side like chess or checkers. The shire is in one corner, and Mt. Doom in the other.
The combat mechanics are fascinating.
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CJW
Member
Just one? haa! games in current rotation at our house:
Tapestry
Maracaibo
Twilight Struggle
Watergate
Near and Far
Also played on line:
Kingdomino
Carcassonne
Stone Age
Too many to pick just one!
Tapestry
Maracaibo
Twilight Struggle
Watergate
Near and Far
Also played on line:
Kingdomino
Carcassonne
Stone Age
Too many to pick just one!
Tharmas
Veteran Member
I don’t really play board games, but I used to as a kid. There was one that I loved, called “Cabby! The game with the rules made to be broken”. It was made in the Thirties and Forties, and discontinued in the early Fifties, so when I got it was already a relic.
The board was a stylized map of a city, with streets, some one-way, some bi-directional, intersections with stop signs, etc. Each player had a cab and a police car. With your cab you tried to pick up fares and get them to the Depot (in one corner of the board). Fares had different values, and each cab could carry up to four at a time. Moves were based on dice rolls…but you could ignore that and “speed” up to twice the roll. You could also go the wrong way on one way streets, make illegal U-turns, etc. Meanwhile your opponents’ police cars were trying to catch you in the act and send you back to the cab starting place without your fares.
I loved this game as a kid. Recently my wife found one on eBay and we played a round with my son. It was still fun.
The board was a stylized map of a city, with streets, some one-way, some bi-directional, intersections with stop signs, etc. Each player had a cab and a police car. With your cab you tried to pick up fares and get them to the Depot (in one corner of the board). Fares had different values, and each cab could carry up to four at a time. Moves were based on dice rolls…but you could ignore that and “speed” up to twice the roll. You could also go the wrong way on one way streets, make illegal U-turns, etc. Meanwhile your opponents’ police cars were trying to catch you in the act and send you back to the cab starting place without your fares.
I loved this game as a kid. Recently my wife found one on eBay and we played a round with my son. It was still fun.
Politesse
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Not much of a board game guy, I'm afraid. My partner and I enjoy a round of Castles of Mad King Ludwig every now and then, which is a competitive architectural game where you bid on materials to slowly construct a somewhat nonsensical castle while maximizing points scored. Definitely the favorite, we do that one at least once a month or so. Even more rarely, we drag out Ex Libris, which is a similar game mechanic but centers on the creation of a fictional library through the acquisition of rare books with humorous pun-filled names, or Helios, a kingdom-building game in which the sun God must be appeased by an appropriate configuration of religious and economic achievements on a sun-baked fictional world. He really loves that one, but it annoys the hell out of me as I tend to forget the many, many rules in between games.
My mother and I have a longstanding Scrabble-related dispute, which meets a new iteration whenever I'm over for long enough. She usually wins, but not always.
When my godson is over (he's eight) we play a Star Wars themed Monopoly, no explanation needed, or Wildcraft, which is a cooperative Chutes & Ladders type game that teaches ethnobotany along the way. It's all European herbs in the original version, but I made a bunch of cards of my own, so we can pick up North American and Pacific remedies too.
My mother and I have a longstanding Scrabble-related dispute, which meets a new iteration whenever I'm over for long enough. She usually wins, but not always.
When my godson is over (he's eight) we play a Star Wars themed Monopoly, no explanation needed, or Wildcraft, which is a cooperative Chutes & Ladders type game that teaches ethnobotany along the way. It's all European herbs in the original version, but I made a bunch of cards of my own, so we can pick up North American and Pacific remedies too.
Also not a big board game person. Thinking through small logic-puzzles is what I do for 40 hours a week at work, so in my free-time I prefer my mind to be freed from that kind of thing. Books, sports, casual conversation, cooking, fitness, writing.
But if I have to play something Crokinole is a pretty good option - more of a physically-based strategy game, than cognitive. You can play it and just hang out over a coffee or beer without a lot of mental effort.
But if I have to play something Crokinole is a pretty good option - more of a physically-based strategy game, than cognitive. You can play it and just hang out over a coffee or beer without a lot of mental effort.
Wiploc
Veteran Member
I never thought of getting a nice high-quality board. Not sure how much ours cost as it was a Christmas present, but the one used in this video looks a little nicer. Ours doubles as a checkers and backgammon board (I believe with inserts), but we haven't used it that way yet.
Some of the games mentioned so far sound very interesting. Chess is my favourite board game, but that's almost by default.
I used to play a lot of Risk with the family, but my partner and my brother's partner hated it. Of course, they didn't ban us from playing it, they just formed a permanent non-aggression pact with each other, and basically made it impossible for anyone else to win. I was a little bit pissed off about it at the time, but you have to admire the genius of their meta-game.
I used to play a lot of Risk with the family, but my partner and my brother's partner hated it. Of course, they didn't ban us from playing it, they just formed a permanent non-aggression pact with each other, and basically made it impossible for anyone else to win. I was a little bit pissed off about it at the time, but you have to admire the genius of their meta-game.
Harry Bosch
Contributor
Cool. I will check out Castles of Mad King. Thanks. Actually, Dominion is a strategic card building game rather than a board game. Again, I just find that it's a great way to spend time with kids on a rainy lazy day.
Old Woman in Purple
Mad Quilter
They're not particularly cerebral, but I always enjoyed the Empire Builder ("Crayon Rails") games by Mayfair.
Hawkingfan
New member
I agree Dominion is an awesome game, one of my favorites. I also like Las Vegas, Dice Town, Machi Koro, Azul, Kingdom Builder, Ticket to Ride, Alhambra, and Star Realms.
Harry Bosch
Contributor
What is your favorite expansion? I like Seaside and Adventure. The great thing about Dominion is that it's easy to learn (easy to teach new people) and yet their are many strategies to play and win. It's our favorite game. Ticket to Ride is fun also.
Hawkingfan
New member
My favorite is Prosperity. Yes, Seaside is great too. I also like Intrigue because it is cutthroat and has a lot of "take that". I like Hinterlands too. Star Realms is another great deck-builder you might want to try if you like Dominion. I collect a lot of high quality, designer board games. I probably have close to 200 games. I like heavy euros too, my favorite being Le Havre.
KeepTalking
Code Monkey
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I am an avid gamer, and normally meet up weekly with a group of friends to play boardgames, for some reason we haven't been getting together in recent months...
Anyway. Dominion and Splendor are usually our go to "warm up" games while we are waiting for everyone to show up. They are quick card games that nevertheless offer some strategic depth. A couple of games that we have been playing for years, and are still in frequent rotation are Carcassonne, and Lords of Waterdeep. Although Lords of Waterdeep is a Dungeons & Dragons tie in, it plays much more like a euro game.
Some of our more recent favorites are Terraforming Mars, Azul, and Paladins of the West Kingdom. Azul is the easiest to learn of those three, and the quickest playing as well. Terraforming Mars and Paladins are both engine builders, with Terraforming Mars offering more randomization, and Paladins offering more strategic depth.
I am a big fan of train games, as is my wife, and a couple of our other gaming friends. We tend to play Ticket to Ride quite a bit more often, but I absolutely love the crayon rails games. My two favorite variants are Iron Dragon, a fantasy variant which is currently out of print, and Martian Rails. Brass is another good train game that offers a bit more strategy than Ticket or Empire Builder.
Anyway. Dominion and Splendor are usually our go to "warm up" games while we are waiting for everyone to show up. They are quick card games that nevertheless offer some strategic depth. A couple of games that we have been playing for years, and are still in frequent rotation are Carcassonne, and Lords of Waterdeep. Although Lords of Waterdeep is a Dungeons & Dragons tie in, it plays much more like a euro game.
Some of our more recent favorites are Terraforming Mars, Azul, and Paladins of the West Kingdom. Azul is the easiest to learn of those three, and the quickest playing as well. Terraforming Mars and Paladins are both engine builders, with Terraforming Mars offering more randomization, and Paladins offering more strategic depth.
I am a big fan of train games, as is my wife, and a couple of our other gaming friends. We tend to play Ticket to Ride quite a bit more often, but I absolutely love the crayon rails games. My two favorite variants are Iron Dragon, a fantasy variant which is currently out of print, and Martian Rails. Brass is another good train game that offers a bit more strategy than Ticket or Empire Builder.
marc
Veteran Member
At family gatherings we enjoy Betrayal at the House on the Hill. You are playing characters exploring an old mansion, which will turn into a horror movie at some point, but which one depends on what triggers it, which also decides which player is the 'betrayer'. My niece has Betrayal Legacy, which is a version which takes place in the same house, but different point of time from the 1700's to present day, each game having an effect on the setup of the next game.
They also tried Risk Legacy, same idea with each game affecting future games.
They also tried Risk Legacy, same idea with each game affecting future games.
KeepTalking
Code Monkey
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I enjoy the Betrayal games (though I prefer Betrayal at Baldur's Gate), but a few in my group absolutely will not play Betrayal, so I seldom get a game in. As far as legacy games go, we have played Pandemic Legacy (both seasons), and Gloomhaven. I preferred the Pandemic Legacy games, but that may have more to do with having played every session in both seasons, so I was more invested. With Gloomhaven I missed a good number of games, and dropped out altogether eventually. I'm not even sure if the rest of the group ever finished it.
Tars Tarkus
Veteran Member
Duel of Ages is my favorite of all time. I got the sequel, but because I lack time it has only made it to the unboxing stage. Briefly, its a combat game where you pick iconic characters from the past, present, and future and have them fight to achieve goals (and even fight to the death) on a board made up of varying tiles.
Harry Bosch
Contributor
I'm getting prosperity tomorrow for Father's Day. I'll check out Star Realms.