Super Awesome Board and Card Game Thread(tm)
- Thread starter samuelk
- Start date
I've played (and own) quite a few.
Arkham Horror is a solid coop game. I've heard the expansions make it even better. Can be a time sink, and once you figure out the basic strategy, it does get easier, but still fun.
Talisman is good with 4+ players. Love the fantasy vibe, but also love that the point is to fuck the other players.
Settlers of Catan is really awesome. I have the Star Trek version, which adds some wonky rules, but it's still a great time.
Ticket to Ride is as great as others have said. Nice and accessible, but still strategic.
Ascension is a fun deck building game. Cool art style, elegant rules, and quick play. I actually like it more than Dominion.
Speaking of Dominion, it's tons of fun with an appropriately sized group. I've only got one expansion, but I know the others add some cool new features to the game.
The Pathfinder Card Game really surprised me. It's fast, accessible, and a lot of fun, if you like fantasy stuff. It's basically Diablo, the card game. Get together with friends, kill monsters, find loot. You can build your own "adventures," as well, which is cool.
Mansions of Madness was 'meh' for my group. It suffered from a very typical Fantasy Flight problem: overly complicated rules.
So did the GoT board game, for that matter. It has the foundations of a great game, but everything was just far more complicated than it needed to be. The GoT card game is INFINITELY worse in this regard, though.
Arkham Horror is a solid coop game. I've heard the expansions make it even better. Can be a time sink, and once you figure out the basic strategy, it does get easier, but still fun.
Talisman is good with 4+ players. Love the fantasy vibe, but also love that the point is to fuck the other players.
Settlers of Catan is really awesome. I have the Star Trek version, which adds some wonky rules, but it's still a great time.
Ticket to Ride is as great as others have said. Nice and accessible, but still strategic.
Ascension is a fun deck building game. Cool art style, elegant rules, and quick play. I actually like it more than Dominion.
Speaking of Dominion, it's tons of fun with an appropriately sized group. I've only got one expansion, but I know the others add some cool new features to the game.
The Pathfinder Card Game really surprised me. It's fast, accessible, and a lot of fun, if you like fantasy stuff. It's basically Diablo, the card game. Get together with friends, kill monsters, find loot. You can build your own "adventures," as well, which is cool.
Mansions of Madness was 'meh' for my group. It suffered from a very typical Fantasy Flight problem: overly complicated rules.
So did the GoT board game, for that matter. It has the foundations of a great game, but everything was just far more complicated than it needed to be. The GoT card game is INFINITELY worse in this regard, though.
im actually a big sucker for this game
Incan Gold
works with more than 3 players, basically a big game of chicken, each round takes a few minutes, a game 20 minutes or less
Incan Gold
works with more than 3 players, basically a big game of chicken, each round takes a few minutes, a game 20 minutes or less
pZ II Birdy
Veteran XX
Kemet - Crazy egyptian PvP game that very cleverly uses 3-sided dice as Pyramids that you can level up to acquire powers.
Those look like 4-sided dice...
We tend to play Apples2Apples and Cranium... but they've sort of gotten old.
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I have too many boards games to list but I have a closet full of nerd games.
and a HeroScape map always ready to go..
and a HeroScape map always ready to go..
I've been hosting a board game night once a week at my place for a little over a year now I guess, I have around 40 board games at the moment, and probably add another 6-12 new ones per year, depending on the quality of releases and the interests of my group as we gain and lose members.
Some weeks I have a small group of 3 or 4 of us, and other weeks I've had upwards of 10 people show up for the fun.
Some of the favorites amongst my core group of players would probably include:
Bohnanza (The Bean Game): This is probably #1 for me and my group. It's a super simple card game that can be played with 2 - 7 people. You play the role of a Bean Farmer, and the goal of the game is to farm and harvest beans in order to earn a profit off of them. The player who earns the most money from their farm wins the game, but you have limited room as to how many different varieties of beans you can plant, and must trade and barter with the other players at the table to get the proper variety of beans that you're looking for. (There are several expansions for this game, but I have yet to find one that I enjoy adding into the base game, I think it's simplicity mixed with my core groups very vocal and entertaining antics while bartering is what makes this game a hit week after week).
Guillotine: Another very simple card game, can be taught to new players in minutes and the whole game itself generally only lasts 15 minutes or so, so nice quick game to break up the bigger and more time consuming sessions that some other games offer. Each player takes on the role of a King (or Queen) who is killing off different citizens of the populace, the citizens to be killed are lined up at the beginning of each day (3 days in a full game), and are to be killed in the order of the line.. but you have a hand full of cards which you can use to alter the line up in a way that suits your needs, as each different citizen is worth X number of points if you are the King or Queen who receives their head from the Guillotine.
7 Wonders: It's been mentioned already in this thread. I can't recommend this game enough, relatively easy to learn, great replayability, great player interaction, always a popular choice with my groups. Also I have 2 or 3 expansions for it all of which integrate quite flawlessly, only adding more depth to the game without a myriad of new rules or confusion.
Agricola: Not a game for everyone, I have a hard time selling this one with quite a few people, but I also find the people who do like it, love it. I'm a big fan of the game, but it can be quite frustrating, I also find that it ends too quickly personally, but that's part of the challenge.
Dominion (and all 7 or so of it's expansions): Great series of games, all the expansions are interchangeable with the each other. Mix and matching sets of cards between the probably near 200 amongst all the expansions into different sets of 10 to create a different game each time. Definitely one of the best Deck building games out there. Easy to teach and pick up for new players as well.
King of Tokyo: Great casual game, very easy to learn, great player interaction, great art style, great theme, nothing but praise for this game!
Last Will: A fairly new game as far as board games go, one of my most recent purchases. This game has a great theme, well balanced, great art style, and more great player interaction. If you haven't heard of it or tried it, you owe it to yourself to do a little research and check out some reviews or game play videos on it, definitely worth your time.
Pandemic: One of the few Co-op games out there where the players work together as a team in order to defeat the game. This game is amazingly well balanced, has a great difficulty level (with expansions and playing their 'hard mode' this game is nearly impossible to beat!), great theme, and tons of awesome player interaction. Can be frustrating to get beat down by a board game as a group of avid boardgamers, but its that difficulty that keeps you coming back for more!
Flash Point: Fire Rescue: This is another Co-op game like Pandemic (I think these may be the only 2 co-op games in my collection). This game oozes theme, and provides a great player interaction in order to go in and save all of the victims trapped within a burning building. Another game that I can't recommend enough, nothing bad to be said.
PowerGrid: This game is usually hit or miss with people. There is definitely an element of luck to winning this game, which can throw off some people, but it's easily taught, fairly well balanced, and really a great time with the right group of people. It's based on an auction system, if you haven't tried an auction style game, give this one a go.
Quarriors (and its expansions): This game is just great fun! It's very light, and easy to learn, quick to play as well. This game has amazing player interaction, and gives you the opportunity to really partake in some serious dice rolling action, definitely a must have for any casual game night.
Race for the Galaxy: For those who like the Sci-Fi/Space theme, this is a great game. It takes a bit more time to learn and teach, but in my opinion is worth the time to learn, great stategy involved in the game. Perfect for people who love to plan out their strats and turn the tables on their opponents.
Small World: Light fun strategy game, lots of big swings of power throughout the game, one of the games where you can come from behind by making some good choices in mid game on your race/ability combos.
Ticket to Ride: A very accessible game for new comers to board games. Simple concept, some strategy, easy to learn and fun to play, definitely a strong gateway game to get players into some more involved/serious board games.
Citadels: Another fairly quick game, very strategic, great player interaction, well themed. Something we use to relax between the heavier games.
Telestrations: Great family game with the right people, basically the Telephone game re-imagined into an almost pictionary esque game. Lots of fun with a larger group of people.
Bang!: Offers a ton of player interaction, great theme, easy to pick up and lots of replay value, generally fairly quick games, and great with larger groups as well.
There's a ton more out there that are worth your time as well, unfortunately I'm not at home to go through my collection, so that's what I came up with off the top of my head.
Some weeks I have a small group of 3 or 4 of us, and other weeks I've had upwards of 10 people show up for the fun.
Some of the favorites amongst my core group of players would probably include:
Bohnanza (The Bean Game): This is probably #1 for me and my group. It's a super simple card game that can be played with 2 - 7 people. You play the role of a Bean Farmer, and the goal of the game is to farm and harvest beans in order to earn a profit off of them. The player who earns the most money from their farm wins the game, but you have limited room as to how many different varieties of beans you can plant, and must trade and barter with the other players at the table to get the proper variety of beans that you're looking for. (There are several expansions for this game, but I have yet to find one that I enjoy adding into the base game, I think it's simplicity mixed with my core groups very vocal and entertaining antics while bartering is what makes this game a hit week after week).
Guillotine: Another very simple card game, can be taught to new players in minutes and the whole game itself generally only lasts 15 minutes or so, so nice quick game to break up the bigger and more time consuming sessions that some other games offer. Each player takes on the role of a King (or Queen) who is killing off different citizens of the populace, the citizens to be killed are lined up at the beginning of each day (3 days in a full game), and are to be killed in the order of the line.. but you have a hand full of cards which you can use to alter the line up in a way that suits your needs, as each different citizen is worth X number of points if you are the King or Queen who receives their head from the Guillotine.
7 Wonders: It's been mentioned already in this thread. I can't recommend this game enough, relatively easy to learn, great replayability, great player interaction, always a popular choice with my groups. Also I have 2 or 3 expansions for it all of which integrate quite flawlessly, only adding more depth to the game without a myriad of new rules or confusion.
Agricola: Not a game for everyone, I have a hard time selling this one with quite a few people, but I also find the people who do like it, love it. I'm a big fan of the game, but it can be quite frustrating, I also find that it ends too quickly personally, but that's part of the challenge.
Dominion (and all 7 or so of it's expansions): Great series of games, all the expansions are interchangeable with the each other. Mix and matching sets of cards between the probably near 200 amongst all the expansions into different sets of 10 to create a different game each time. Definitely one of the best Deck building games out there. Easy to teach and pick up for new players as well.
King of Tokyo: Great casual game, very easy to learn, great player interaction, great art style, great theme, nothing but praise for this game!
Last Will: A fairly new game as far as board games go, one of my most recent purchases. This game has a great theme, well balanced, great art style, and more great player interaction. If you haven't heard of it or tried it, you owe it to yourself to do a little research and check out some reviews or game play videos on it, definitely worth your time.
Pandemic: One of the few Co-op games out there where the players work together as a team in order to defeat the game. This game is amazingly well balanced, has a great difficulty level (with expansions and playing their 'hard mode' this game is nearly impossible to beat!), great theme, and tons of awesome player interaction. Can be frustrating to get beat down by a board game as a group of avid boardgamers, but its that difficulty that keeps you coming back for more!
Flash Point: Fire Rescue: This is another Co-op game like Pandemic (I think these may be the only 2 co-op games in my collection). This game oozes theme, and provides a great player interaction in order to go in and save all of the victims trapped within a burning building. Another game that I can't recommend enough, nothing bad to be said.
PowerGrid: This game is usually hit or miss with people. There is definitely an element of luck to winning this game, which can throw off some people, but it's easily taught, fairly well balanced, and really a great time with the right group of people. It's based on an auction system, if you haven't tried an auction style game, give this one a go.
Quarriors (and its expansions): This game is just great fun! It's very light, and easy to learn, quick to play as well. This game has amazing player interaction, and gives you the opportunity to really partake in some serious dice rolling action, definitely a must have for any casual game night.
Race for the Galaxy: For those who like the Sci-Fi/Space theme, this is a great game. It takes a bit more time to learn and teach, but in my opinion is worth the time to learn, great stategy involved in the game. Perfect for people who love to plan out their strats and turn the tables on their opponents.
Small World: Light fun strategy game, lots of big swings of power throughout the game, one of the games where you can come from behind by making some good choices in mid game on your race/ability combos.
Ticket to Ride: A very accessible game for new comers to board games. Simple concept, some strategy, easy to learn and fun to play, definitely a strong gateway game to get players into some more involved/serious board games.
Citadels: Another fairly quick game, very strategic, great player interaction, well themed. Something we use to relax between the heavier games.
Telestrations: Great family game with the right people, basically the Telephone game re-imagined into an almost pictionary esque game. Lots of fun with a larger group of people.
Bang!: Offers a ton of player interaction, great theme, easy to pick up and lots of replay value, generally fairly quick games, and great with larger groups as well.
There's a ton more out there that are worth your time as well, unfortunately I'm not at home to go through my collection, so that's what I came up with off the top of my head.
Tike[JAMZ]
Veteran XX
Ticket to ride is a good entry board game to introduce to people that are somewhat new to the more serious board games. I prefer the Europe version, even if you play 1910 or big cities which do a much better job of ticket combinations and balancing, the USA map is largely broken if you play with good players. Europe is by far the most balanced and i can win just about everytime no matter what starting tickets I get and my turn order. Great game.
I do enjoy Game of Thrones, but its only a good game when you play it 6 player. 5 or less and 1 person that starts off without anyone really next to them has a distinct advantage. Also, ironically, if you are the Lannisters, good luck on trying to win, you are dead central in the middle of everything, and have a giant target on your back, Greyjoy can take out the house Lannister in turn 2 actually, but house rule changes make that impossible, but nonetheless a good greyjoy player will dominate the lannister player no matter what. The game needs some more balancing, but the game mechanics and a no dice game makes this fun. You definitely have to backstab and have alliances.
Lords of Waterdeep is probably one of my top 3 games. The expansion they just added last month adds a new mechanic called corruption and some more quests and board spots. This game is an excellent, it's well balanced and can play well with different amounts of players. It plays just as well with 3 players or 5\6, just requires slightly different strategies.
Air baron is fun.
Smash up with the expansion is a good filler game, but some deck combinations are clearly unbalanced. Needs some tweaking but the concept is great, its a definitely a different type of deck game.
Netrunner is becoming hugely popular. I have several friends getting into this big time. I'm not overly enthralled with this game, it reminds me of my magic days a long time ago and i'd like to close that chapter lol. Overall though, i have to admit its a good deck building game with some interesting concepts.
If you like ticket to ride, and wish to play a much more complex and difficult game based on similar concepts, Empire builder is a great game. Empire Express is the much dumbed down version of Empire builder but it's probably a good starting point for new board gamers.
I prefer Cities and Knights much more than base settlers of Catan. Maybe i'm just bored with Catan, but C&K is more challenging, and has more strats and you can overcome a lot of disadvantages and unluckiness as a great player unlike in base Catan, turn order, luck of the dice make the game a good deal about luck if you are playing with 4 good or great players.
I saw a bunch of you talking about Firefly. I loved the show and i like these types of games. Firefly has so much potential, but it has a few issues as well. I don't feel like going into it, but i've played it several times, playing with some excellent boardgamers. Anyone that decides to buy this game, its probably going to be worth a good bit if you wish to sell it because its a limited run by the manufacturer.
I suggest you guys play Merchant of Venus, especially if you like Firefly. Its about the same length of game, very similar mechanics, but Merchant is a classic and Firefly tries to emulate a lot of Merchant but doesn't do it nearly as well. Merchant is a bit more complicated and requires more strategy, but a lot of people don't enjoy it bc its a 3+ hour game and its fairly complex. I like this game a lot.
Chinatown is an excellent easy game to teach and 45 mins long.
Tammany Hall is a really fun game.
If you are good at CS and programming, Robo Rally is an excellent game. Lots of replay-ability and problem solving.
Powergrid is an excellent game. Bidding, area control, strategic thinking, it has a lot of good elements and mechanics.
St. Petersburg is a great game as well, i enjoy that one as well.
Chicken Caesar is pretty fun if you play with good players.
Cinque Terre is another good game, ticket to ridish. Same concepts, mechanics.
Gangsters and Bootleggers are a lot of fun as well.
I do enjoy Game of Thrones, but its only a good game when you play it 6 player. 5 or less and 1 person that starts off without anyone really next to them has a distinct advantage. Also, ironically, if you are the Lannisters, good luck on trying to win, you are dead central in the middle of everything, and have a giant target on your back, Greyjoy can take out the house Lannister in turn 2 actually, but house rule changes make that impossible, but nonetheless a good greyjoy player will dominate the lannister player no matter what. The game needs some more balancing, but the game mechanics and a no dice game makes this fun. You definitely have to backstab and have alliances.
Lords of Waterdeep is probably one of my top 3 games. The expansion they just added last month adds a new mechanic called corruption and some more quests and board spots. This game is an excellent, it's well balanced and can play well with different amounts of players. It plays just as well with 3 players or 5\6, just requires slightly different strategies.
Air baron is fun.
Smash up with the expansion is a good filler game, but some deck combinations are clearly unbalanced. Needs some tweaking but the concept is great, its a definitely a different type of deck game.
Netrunner is becoming hugely popular. I have several friends getting into this big time. I'm not overly enthralled with this game, it reminds me of my magic days a long time ago and i'd like to close that chapter lol. Overall though, i have to admit its a good deck building game with some interesting concepts.
If you like ticket to ride, and wish to play a much more complex and difficult game based on similar concepts, Empire builder is a great game. Empire Express is the much dumbed down version of Empire builder but it's probably a good starting point for new board gamers.
I prefer Cities and Knights much more than base settlers of Catan. Maybe i'm just bored with Catan, but C&K is more challenging, and has more strats and you can overcome a lot of disadvantages and unluckiness as a great player unlike in base Catan, turn order, luck of the dice make the game a good deal about luck if you are playing with 4 good or great players.
I saw a bunch of you talking about Firefly. I loved the show and i like these types of games. Firefly has so much potential, but it has a few issues as well. I don't feel like going into it, but i've played it several times, playing with some excellent boardgamers. Anyone that decides to buy this game, its probably going to be worth a good bit if you wish to sell it because its a limited run by the manufacturer.
I suggest you guys play Merchant of Venus, especially if you like Firefly. Its about the same length of game, very similar mechanics, but Merchant is a classic and Firefly tries to emulate a lot of Merchant but doesn't do it nearly as well. Merchant is a bit more complicated and requires more strategy, but a lot of people don't enjoy it bc its a 3+ hour game and its fairly complex. I like this game a lot.
Chinatown is an excellent easy game to teach and 45 mins long.
Tammany Hall is a really fun game.
If you are good at CS and programming, Robo Rally is an excellent game. Lots of replay-ability and problem solving.
Powergrid is an excellent game. Bidding, area control, strategic thinking, it has a lot of good elements and mechanics.
St. Petersburg is a great game as well, i enjoy that one as well.
Chicken Caesar is pretty fun if you play with good players.
Cinque Terre is another good game, ticket to ridish. Same concepts, mechanics.
Gangsters and Bootleggers are a lot of fun as well.
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Tike[JAMZ]
Veteran XX
Hey Ravyn, i just saw your post,
I have played most of the games on your list. I enjoy Pandemic i almost mentioned it.
Quarriors is a fun filler game, the dice is a new twist, but its essentially a deck building game with dice instead.
7 Wonders is ok, a lot of people enjoy this game, i don't dislike it, but it's whatever to me, but i understand people like this game. I made it to the final 5 at the world board gaming championships out of 800 people and i still don't really like it. I entered that tourny because i had free time in between the other games\days heh.
Citadels, good call, love that game, its great because you can play with a lot of people, and its not overly complex. It is however a fairly long game for a simple card game.
A lot of people like the coop type superhero deck building games, the star trek deck games and coop games in the Arkham series. A lot of my buddies love Arkham Horror, but i'm not a coop game kinda guy. The game is solid though. Mansions of madness is also in this genre and i do enjoy that game as far as coops go. I like being the keeper.
Agricola, Le Havre, Carcasonne, Ra, stone age, are all popular but are whatever to me as well.
I have played most of the games on your list. I enjoy Pandemic i almost mentioned it.
Quarriors is a fun filler game, the dice is a new twist, but its essentially a deck building game with dice instead.
7 Wonders is ok, a lot of people enjoy this game, i don't dislike it, but it's whatever to me, but i understand people like this game. I made it to the final 5 at the world board gaming championships out of 800 people and i still don't really like it. I entered that tourny because i had free time in between the other games\days heh.
Citadels, good call, love that game, its great because you can play with a lot of people, and its not overly complex. It is however a fairly long game for a simple card game.
A lot of people like the coop type superhero deck building games, the star trek deck games and coop games in the Arkham series. A lot of my buddies love Arkham Horror, but i'm not a coop game kinda guy. The game is solid though. Mansions of madness is also in this genre and i do enjoy that game as far as coops go. I like being the keeper.
Agricola, Le Havre, Carcasonne, Ra, stone age, are all popular but are whatever to me as well.
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My collection:
Last night on Earth + expansions
Descent
Pandemic
Mage Wars
Twilight Imperium
Munchkin
Conquest + Apocalypse expansion
A touch of evil
Mansions of Madness
Sentinels of the Multiverse
I have a mix of quick to pick up and play to hardcore, 3+ hour marathon game type of games. +1 on the tabletop youtube channel. I've used it as a vetting tool as to whether a game seems worthy of buying. Fun stuff.
Last night on Earth + expansions
Descent
Pandemic
Mage Wars
Twilight Imperium
Munchkin
Conquest + Apocalypse expansion
A touch of evil
Mansions of Madness
Sentinels of the Multiverse
I have a mix of quick to pick up and play to hardcore, 3+ hour marathon game type of games. +1 on the tabletop youtube channel. I've used it as a vetting tool as to whether a game seems worthy of buying. Fun stuff.
ArakAtak
Veteran XX
Oh we have a geometry professor here right enough.
The game is actually played in 2D so the side you cant see doesn't really exist ....
I have Ticket to ride and Kill Dr Lucky which are both a lot of fun and very easy for casual people to pick up and play.
I would love to play more but I will have to wait until I have older kids I think - and then torture them with board games while on holiday.
I've been playing a lot of Android: Netrunner. http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/124742/android-netrunner
Pretty sweet asymmetric cyberpunk card battler. You can also play for free online which is a nice bonus.
Pretty sweet asymmetric cyberpunk card battler. You can also play for free online which is a nice bonus.
