Calling all gamers - nominate your favorite game *by category*

[hybrid]

A simple format here.  Nominate your favorite game within a category of your own choosing and briefly explain why it stands out.  The purpose of this thread is to introduce other gamers to some of the best games available, as there are literally hundreds to choose from.

For example:

Best Worker Placement Game: Lords of Waterdeep

There are lots of worker placement games out there that I enjoy, like Agricola, Stone Age, Spyrium, etc. but Lords of Waterdeep is my current favorite for a few reasons

• The game plays quickly and fluidly
• Even though the D&D theme is totally painted on, it's a fun theme all the same
• Like every great worker placement game, you have to make the best decision from several good (and tempting) decisions
• The shuffling of available quests, buildings, and intrigue cards creates great replay value
• The recent expansions made the game even better while adding almost zero complexity
• Easy to teach

[hybrid]

Best Family Gathering Game:  Apples to Apples

This game has been pulled out at many family gatherings and been enjoyed thoroughly by gamers and non-gamers alike.  What it has going for it are the following:

• You can teach this game in just two minutes, and non-gamers won't be burdened by a bunch of annoying rules
• The game itself is laugh-out-loud funny
• You can play this game with anywhere from 5 to <insert number> players
• The more, the merrier
• One caveat, we throw out the rule about last to play doesn't get their card into play, as we feel a speed element adds nothing to the game while being off-putting to some

[Elaine]

Best Family Gathering Game:  Trivial Pursuit
Best Large Group Friend Party Game: Balderdash
Best Small Group Game: Settlers of Catan
Best Scary Game: Arkham Horror
Best Drunk/High Game: Fluxx

[GuitarStv]

Best Way to Avoid Teen Pregnancy: AD&D

[matchewed]

Best Way to Avoid Teen Pregnancy: AD&D

I don't know about AD&D but D&D 3.5 didn't work for us....

Shouldn't have played as Chaotic Neutral then...

[Mori]

Totally clicked on this and then realized it wasn't a video game thread. :D

Best game to play with friends (4 people or more): Apples to Apples !

Absolutely fabulous! It helps when you have various people of multiple humors that toss out things. Our games tend to descend into things that don't match the card winning. The sour Apples version doesn't really add anything if you are playing with the right group. And the rounds are quick, too, so you can do a lot in a small period of time.

We've played 3-handed Apples to Apples, but it's not as fun. 4 people really make it easier to not figure out who put what down (more neutral).

Best geeky game: Munchkin! :D I love it. 'nuf said.

[swick]

Best Expansion: Underworld and Skullport for Lords of Waterdeep. Totally Biased because I love Waterdeep, we leave it set up on our rec room table.

Best Cooperative: Castle Panic or Pandemic (with expansions) works well for groups or two player cooperative

Free game worth buying Kill Dr. Lucky. Great casual group board game, you can print it off for free but you can buy it and the board, pieces and cards are all high quality and the art is great - it adds a lot to the game.

Best non board game for writers actors and creative types: Fiasco - plays differently every time and is entirely dependent on your own imagination and creativity, if you have a highly creative group it is great.

[hybrid]

Best Eurogame for 6 or 7 players:  7 Wonders

There are very few Eurogames that play well with six or seven players.  7 Wonders is just about the perfect game when you have more than five players and do not want to split into two groups.  One of the best features is that the game takes less than an hour to play no matter how many people are at the table, and all players play simultaneously so there is zero downtime while you wait for your turn, because it is always your turn.  While it has a few downsides (you have almost no control over what cards you have to choose from) when played with six or seven vs. a four or five player game, it is just plain fun.  And better now with the Leaders expansion. 

[hybrid]

Best Two Player Lunch Game: Carcassonne The Castle

When I first purchased and played Carcassonne the Castle several years ago I thought it was a fun variant of Carcassonne.  But there are lots of fun variants of Carcassonne, who needs another to gather dust on the game shelf?  That’s where CTC shines – don’t keep it on your shelf, keep it at work.  The game plays in just about 45 minutes, and you can enjoy your meal while your opponent takes their turn.  The game is meaty enough to be a good Eurogame while not running over an allotted lunch hour.  I have played this game a minimum of 200 times at lunch – the formula simply works because the replay value is tremendous.  This is also a nice filler game for two people on any game night.

[hybrid]

Best Deck Building Game: Dominion

Dominion has a huge following because the basic concept is so much fun.  Take a random grouping of ten sets of cards and see who can score the most victory points from the inexhaustible set of available combinations.  Dominion spawned a whole series of sequels and copycat deck building games, and it still stands head and shoulders above the crowd.  I enjoy most of the sequels as well.  The important thing is that it is the deck building game most likely to get played, therefore it is the one that should be on your shelf.  Or at least on your buddies shelf.

[twbird18]

BEST 2 - player DECK BUILDING GAME
Ascension - Ascension only has 3 rules printed directly onto the original board. The game can be played with 2-6 players (actually has a 1 person variant), but I find it to be the most fun with 2 players. The game is full of strategy in deck building, but has a lot of variance with the center deck being shuffled rather than piles to purchase like some other DBGs.

BEST DECK BUILDING GAME
Dominion - The first DBG is probably the best most strategic of them all, with enough expansions to keep you entertained for the rest of your life.

BEST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT GAME
Settlers of Catan - Manage your resources & win some die rolls for certain victory.

BEST LATE NIGHT PARTY GAME
Cards Against Humanity - This is a fun, relatively fast paced game that you may or may not want to play with your parents.

BEST OLD GAME
Acquire - A Better version of Monopoly IMO. My parents got this as a wedding present. It's one of the first real games I ever played & still my favorite.

BEST TRADING CARD GAME
Magic: the Gathering - I would consider this to be the best card game ever with its only real downfall being the variance due to shuffling the deck meaning that the best player doesn't always win the game.

BEST COOPERATIVE BOARD GAME
Forbidden Island - just a fun time trying to beat the island & since its cooperative a great game to play with children who need a little help without feeling like you are trying to win for them

BEST TRAIN GAME
Ticket to Ride - who doesn't like trains

BEST LIVING CARD GAME
Android: Netrunner

BEST WORD GAME
Scrabble

BEST COMIC BOOK CHARACTER GAME
Legendary

BEST TACTICAL (I think this is what they called this style) BOARD GAME
Mage wars - a combination miniature/board/card game. I love this game & wish more people played locally so I would have more opportunities to play. I think it combines all the best parts of those types of games. A card to represent your miniature, measured spaces on the board so you don't have to measure movement, lots of dice rolling, a spell book full of cards so you get to pick which ones to use every turn instead of relying on the top of your deck to provide the correct things.

[ketchup]

BEST TRADING CARD GAME
Magic: the Gathering - I would consider this to be the best card game ever with its only real downfall being the variance due to shuffling the deck meaning that the best player doesn't always win the game.

Really? That's the only downfall? Not the cost? Combined with the fact that new cards come out 3 or 4 times a year that you just have to buy? :)

*Note: I'm still bitter about how much money DH wasted on "cardboard crack"

Oh, man.  Magic: the Gathering is totally cardboard crack.  I'd still be playing it if it wasn't so damn expensive (quit playing it in high school, ~2005).  It's pretty awesome, but the only way to be anywhere close to reasonable about it is to just play with your friends, and not care about current cards or any official tournament play.  The absolute cheapest one could probably do Standard competitive tournament play is probably in the vicinity of $500/year if you're really careful about it.

[aglassman]

MOST FUN STRATEGY GAME: Cyclades
BEST RISK VERSION: Risk 2210 A.D., there's a moon!  Although LOTR Risk is pretty amazing.
BEST VP GAME:  Eclipse
BEST THEME GAME: Betrayal at House on the Hill
BEST RANDOM AS HELL, IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN GAME: DungeonQuest

[Mlkmn]

Best Game with 5-7 Players: Cosmic Encounter. There is a reason this game has been reprinted by like 5-6 different companies. This is my favorite game.

Best Hidden Role game: Avalon: the Resistance. Merlin makes it very fun. This is my second favorite game. I love bluffing/negotiation games.

Best Massive Group Game: Ultimate Werewolf. Werewolf parties are fun.

Best cooperative: Flashpoint: Fire Rescue. This game is really fun and doesn't suffer from the Alpha Dog problem as much as pandemic does.

Best Filler Game that I use to introduce people to board gaming: Hanabi. Such a great little card game. Also, Love Letter.

Best Deckbuilder: Trains. It is dominion with a board. Dominion gets old and the theme is terrible. Trains theme actually comes out. I have tried Ascension but the game feels like a random crapshoot.

Best Gateway Game Survive: Escape from Atlantis. Incredibly simple. Very fun. Easy to teach and learn. SHARK! SHARK! SHARK!

Best Worker Placement:T'zolkin: The Mayan Calendar. I like how it isn't a race to get the most workers. This may change once I get a chance to play Caverna.

Best two player game: Battle Line, Twilight Struggle, Netrunner, or Command & Colors: Ancients? My wife and I usually just play Hanabi.

Best game my wife wishes we played more often!? Arkham Horror. Love the game. That setup time though. So daunting.

Best games I own but have not gotten a chance to play :( Nothing Personal and Descent 2.0

[grantmeaname]

Dominion spawned a whole series of sequels and copycat deck building games, and it still stands head and shoulders above the crowd.

I played Thunderstone for the first time this weekend, which predates Dominion, and liked it even better. Plus, older=cheaper.

[aglassman]

Best game my wife wishes we played more often!? Arkham Horror

Never thought I'd read that sentence in my life.

[the fixer]

Best Drunk/High Game: Fluxx

I'll just add that I don't think you need to be drunk or high to enjoy this game. At least I don't have to be :) This is a good casual game with some strategy and seems best to play with people who take games and winning/losing way too seriously.

[hybrid]

Dominion spawned a whole series of sequels and copycat deck building games, and it still stands head and shoulders above the crowd.

I played Thunderstone for the first time this weekend, which predates Dominion, and liked it even better. Plus, older=cheaper.

If you like it Grant you can play it here all day.  www.yucata.de   I've played Thunderstone 52 times at this site (they keep stats on your games) and also like the game.  There are definitely good arguments for both.  Which is kinda the point of this thread, so thanks for pointing that one out!

 

[hybrid]

Best Eurocard Game: Race For The Galaxy

San Juan and Race For The Galaxy are card game variants developed from the Puerto Rico game engine.  San Juan was the first to be published, and Race For The Galaxy came out a few years after that.  Race is a fast, engaging game with lots of different card combinations that make it a joy to play, and quick players will finish in less than 45 minutes.  I think the game plays best with the first two expansions (which introduce extra victory point goals), but ditch the optional military component that gets introduced in the 2nd expansion, it simply clutters up a clean, fun game. 

[hybrid]

Best Direct Competition Eurogame:  El Grande

El Grande is a game that doesn’t get enough play face-to-face in my opinion, although I still manage at least a few games a year.  I have been fortunate enough to play dozens of games on line at www.yucata.de however.  El Grande is a superb game for those who like numbers games and competing directly with their opponents.  Many Eurogames avoid direct competition (AKA screw your buddy) between players, whereas El Grande is based on it.  As players compete directly to have the biggest presence in the most lucrative territories (with limited resources), the game is a treasure trove for those who like resource management games.  The game plays well with 3-5 players, I feel five is the optimum number.

[hybrid]

Best Bidding Game: Ra

Every Eurogamer needs a fun bidding game.  Ra has the edge in my book because there is more interaction among players (folks can't resist debating the value of an auction), it is both simple and subtly complex, and plays differently based on the number of players.  Ra was out of print in 2005 but is now available again and is even more popular at conventions.  What I love about bidding games like Ra is that the best players at the table are the ones who can identify the true value of an auction.  As a Mustachian one of the skills you need to navigate the world is the ability to readily identify relative value and make decisions based on that.  How much is X really worth?  Ra will help train your mind to critically weigh the various components that make up a potential purchase and help identify what something is really worth.  The Egyptian theme is fun, it's easy to teach and learn, and has unlimited replay value.  If I could only own a few Eurogames, Ra would make that cut.

[hybrid]

BEST TRADING CARD GAME
Magic: the Gathering - I would consider this to be the best card game ever with its only real downfall being the variance due to shuffling the deck meaning that the best player doesn't always win the game.

Really? That's the only downfall? Not the cost? Combined with the fact that new cards come out 3 or 4 times a year that you just have to buy? :)

*Note: I'm still bitter about how much money DH wasted on "cardboard crack"

Oh, man.  Magic: the Gathering is totally cardboard crack.  I'd still be playing it if it wasn't so damn expensive (quit playing it in high school, ~2005).  It's pretty awesome, but the only way to be anywhere close to reasonable about it is to just play with your friends, and not care about current cards or any official tournament play.  The absolute cheapest one could probably do Standard competitive tournament play is probably in the vicinity of $500/year if you're really careful about it.

Years ago I helped a buddy sell his Magic collection on eBay.  He had lots of the earliest cards including a full Power 9.  We grossed over $5200 in sales once all was said and done, the Power 9 went for $2800 to a dealer in the Northeast.  For a card game.  Insane.  Indeed, Magic is a lot like crack to a certain subset of gamers.  I played it a lot in the early 90s and am amazed at how popular the game remains today, I finally tired on it almost two decades ago.

[Osprey]

BEST TRADING CARD GAME
Magic: the Gathering - I would consider this to be the best card game ever with its only real downfall being the variance due to shuffling the deck meaning that the best player doesn't always win the game.

Really? That's the only downfall? Not the cost? Combined with the fact that new cards come out 3 or 4 times a year that you just have to buy? :)

*Note: I'm still bitter about how much money DH wasted on "cardboard crack"

Oh, man.  Magic: the Gathering is totally cardboard crack.  I'd still be playing it if it wasn't so damn expensive (quit playing it in high school, ~2005).  It's pretty awesome, but the only way to be anywhere close to reasonable about it is to just play with your friends, and not care about current cards or any official tournament play.  The absolute cheapest one could probably do Standard competitive tournament play is probably in the vicinity of $500/year if you're really careful about it.

BEST GAME, BITZES!: Magic: the Gathering

But yeah, cardboard crack is right, there's even a website by that name dedicated to Magic! There's a guy who tried to "go infinite" - that is, start off with zero money and continue to play using only the revenue from his winnings. He managed to do quite well.
I play casually because it is madness to try keep up with competitive Standard. My partner plays Legacy because he has many of the expensive core cards, and it's a slow format so once you've got the basics there's not much that you "need" to buy. Also, we're both judges and I do some blogging around the game. Wow, this is making me sound just a leetle bit obsessed...

ETA: A certain rare card sold for USD 27,302 very recently.

[aglassman]

I sold a Jace about 2 years back for 85 bucks.  I think I'm net positive as far as MTG goes, and I plan to keep it that way.  I just print proxies, except for when I do a booster draft, which is very rare.

[twbird18]

BEST TRADING CARD GAME
Magic: the Gathering - I would consider this to be the best card game ever with its only real downfall being the variance due to shuffling the deck meaning that the best player doesn't always win the game.

Really? That's the only downfall? Not the cost? Combined with the fact that new cards come out 3 or 4 times a year that you just have to buy? :)

*Note: I'm still bitter about how much money DH wasted on "cardboard crack"

No one forces you to buy things. For years I traded for the decks I played & I play Friday Night Magic most weeks with my store credit from winnings. It is a hobby like everything else you spend as much as you want to spend on it. If you play in a very competitive standard environment you will feel pressure to buy and make the "best" deck, but if you play at a good casual store or with friends you don't feel that at all. In fact innovated ideas are encouraged in some places and playing the deck you build yourself is often cheap/free depending on how good you are at trading (or buy& selling). Also as some others mentioned there are opportunities to make money from Magic & other formats besides standard that allow you to make 1 deck and only purchase 1-2 cards per year in order to stay up to date.

In fact I know a rather larger group of people locally who mainly play EDH and mainly have proxied decks which they spend a lot of time on designing proxies that they like.

If your DH wasted money on the game then he wasn't doing it right.

Note: My side hustle is an online TCG store that specializes in MTG cards so I know all the ways to make money vice lose money with this game - but also believe that casual players who spend insignificantly on the game have much more fun that theh people who think they are competitive.

[lithy]

I want to add a few games that haven't come up yet.

Morels-Lazy 2-player competitive game

A simple little game design of set collecting that happens to be from a designer here in Pittsburgh.   Good game for a late Sunday afternoon with just the wife and I. 

We have also taken to playing Ticket to Ride as a two player game and it actually works surprisingly well, the strategy is totally different from 4-5 players, but it works. 

If we aren't playing either of these, we play Pandemic.  I tend to enjoy cooperative games for two players since playing the game kind of 'fakes' a 3rd player.

Power Grid-best competitive small group (5) game for more casual gamers

I got this one as a gift from my brother a few years back.  It is excellent.  Multi-faceted strategy, tension over space, sometimes epic miscalculations (I once could have won if I had only built my 17th city only able to power 14, but figured someone else would have had me beat, whoops).

Imperial 2030-best competitive small group (5) game for more serious gamers

A game that you never are actually 'out' of is always nice.  While there are certainly times when you know you won't win, there are other times when you surprise even yourself with how well you did even after losing a controlling stake in a country.  Something like Catan often suffers when one player has 7 VPs and another still only has 2 or 3 and it can turn into a game of sabotage which I think negatively impacts the balance of the game.

Diplomacy-best game for total nerds

Yeah, this game is awesome, and yeah it will take forever to play even a few turns, but the combination of role-playing elements and high stakes war games really works, and 6 hours in you will still feel like you want to keep playing.

That's all I've really got.  I've played a lot of games, some just once or twice and have not been able to form much of an opinion on them, but an honorable mention for Shadows Over Camelot and Puerto Rico both of which I've played twice, but seem like good fun.  Dominion, Carcassonne, Catan, Munchkin, Lords of Waterdeep have all been mentioned so I won't go into those other than to say I enjoy them also.

The one I own that I think I may sell is Agricola.  I don't know if it is the general play mechanics or the theme, but I just can't get into it.  It feels as if it ends too soon, before you really get your farmstead rolling and then you just count points, it isn't satisfying to win.

[lithy]

Forgot about my contender for best silly party game/late night drunk/low thinking fun

We Didn't Playtest This At All

Games range from 5 seconds to 5 minutes.  Maximum silliness.  Loose rules.

[aglassman]

Best Game To Kill an Entire Day and Make Your Friends Hate You Twilight Imperium