Author Topic: What are your favorite board games? (Read 75296 times)

e34bb098 · « **Reply #250 on:** August 13, 2018, 12:38:05 PM »

My favorites at the moment:

1. Terraforming Mars. Medium-weight Euro with a ton of replayability. Plays fast with multiple paths to victory.

2. Street Masters. The board game version of Double Dragon, Final Fight, and every other 80s-video game beat-em-up. Delightfully corny.

3. Seal Team Flix. A tactical dexterity game of special ops forces breaking down doors and shooting bad guys with little disks that you have to flick across the table to hit targets.

4. Cosmic Encounter. The venerable classic of wheeling and dealing.

5. Deep Sea Adventure. A little push-your-luck game of diving for treasure with limited air. Simple with lovely opportunities to screw your opponents.

6. Twilight Struggle. A tense and gripping game about the Cold War.

7. Puerto Rico. After all these years, still not tired of it. A modern classic.

8. Railways of the World. Ticket to Ride is too lightweight for my tastes; the 18XX games are too heavy. ROTW is the Goldilocks of rail games and looks great.

nkt0 · « **Reply #251 on:** August 13, 2018, 12:57:26 PM »

Quote from: e34bb098 on August 13, 2018, 12:38:05 PM

1. Terraforming Mars. Medium-weight Euro with a ton of replayability. Plays fast with multiple paths to victory.

I've played this one a few times, but i don't like how the corporations telegraph your in-game goals. I prefer it without the corporation cards.

Quote from: e34bb098 on August 13, 2018, 12:38:05 PM

6. Twilight Struggle. A tense and gripping game about the Cold War.

Great game. Pretty hardcore and long, but totally worth it if you're a cold war nerd.

Quote from: e34bb098 on August 13, 2018, 12:38:05 PM

7. Puerto Rico. After all these years, still not tired of it. A modern classic.

Agreed.

e34bb098 · « **Reply #252 on:** August 13, 2018, 02:04:35 PM »

Quote from: nkt0 on August 13, 2018, 12:57:26 PM

Quote from: e34bb098 on August 13, 2018, 12:38:05 PM
1. Terraforming Mars. Medium-weight Euro with a ton of replayability. Plays fast with multiple paths to victory.

I've played this one a few times, but i don't like how the corporations telegraph your in-game goals. I prefer it without the corporation cards.

Yeah, I think that's valid, but I share the common opinion that the corporate era is easier for beginners, since without them the options can be overwhelming. With experienced players I like the base game -- it's a lot shorter, as a bonus.

Playing with Fire UK · « **Reply #253 on:** November 11, 2018, 01:55:14 AM »

Following my Pandemic Legacy confession / facepunch; I am now loving Gloomhaven. It's pricey (around £100 or $140, but got it with a discount code), but HUGE. Over 100 levels, some can be replayed, each takes around an hour. Co-op (with individual secret goals), D&D style, doesn't require a DM or significant setup - uses cards to simplify and fast-track major/minor actions. Everything you need is in the box - no need to buy additional figures or expansions. It has nice mechanisms to allow players/characters to drop in and out of the campaign.

Season 3 of Pandemic Legacy has been announced, but no release date yet.

nkt0 · « **Reply #254 on:** November 13, 2018, 05:58:52 AM »

Played a new one (to me) over the weekend: Everdell. It's a Lords-of-Waterdeep-/Agricola-like worker-placement game with a very cute and fun theme—forest creatures. But it's also a serious game. Very enjoyable in that genre.

flan · « **Reply #255 on:** November 29, 2018, 08:36:01 PM »

I just discovered a really intuitive 2-player deckbuilding game: Star Realms. It scratches that Dominion/Ascension itches with just 2 players and 15-20 minutes.

Best part: I grabbed a used copy (the game isn't big) for just $5!

soccerluvof4 · « **Reply #256 on:** November 30, 2018, 11:22:11 AM »

Still like the oldies,
Monopoly
Clue
Trivia Pursuit
Battle Ship

DeskJockey2028 · « **Reply #257 on:** December 02, 2018, 05:25:39 PM »

Run, do not walk, away from the Star Realms App. It's fantastic. Your phone will swallow you whole though.

Quote from: flan on November 29, 2018, 08:36:01 PM

I just discovered a really intuitive 2-player deckbuilding game: Star Realms. It scratches that Dominion/Ascension itches with just 2 players and 15-20 minutes.

Best part: I grabbed a used copy (the game isn't big) for just $5!

Penn42 · « **Reply #258 on:** December 02, 2018, 08:58:12 PM »

Quote from: flan on November 29, 2018, 08:36:01 PM

I just discovered a really intuitive 2-player deckbuilding game: Star Realms. It scratches that Dominion/Ascension itches with just 2 players and 15-20 minutes.

Best part: I grabbed a used copy (the game isn't big) for just $5!

I consider myself a competitive board gamer in that I like optimizing strategies and winning. I win Dominion about half the time in our regular having group and Terra Mystical probably 75% (those are my two best games so I'll use them to humble brag about). However, I have never once won Star Realms. I've played it well over 50 times now with a variety of people and not once. It's become a running joke.

flan · « **Reply #259 on:** December 05, 2018, 09:25:11 AM »

Quote from: Penn42 on December 02, 2018, 08:58:12 PM

Quote from: flan on November 29, 2018, 08:36:01 PM
I just discovered a really intuitive 2-player deckbuilding game: Star Realms. It scratches that Dominion/Ascension itches with just 2 players and 15-20 minutes.

Best part: I grabbed a used copy (the game isn't big) for just $5!

I consider myself a competitive board gamer in that I like optimizing strategies and winning. I win Dominion about half the time in our regular having group and Terra Mystical probably 75% (those are my two best games so I'll use them to humble brag about). However, I have never once won Star Realms. I've played it well over 50 times now with a variety of people and not once. It's become a running joke.

Interesting! My spouse and I have a fair split of wins for Star Realms. When we play Dominion, it depends on the card set that's out.

smileyface · « **Reply #260 on:** December 30, 2018, 09:30:07 AM »

I rarely post on the MMM Forum, but I stumbled upon this thread (and another one about board games) earlier in December when we were looking for a game to buy the kids as a joint Christmas gift. We already have a decent collection of games and play as a family quite a bit. Anyway, based on stuff I read on these threads, I settled on Pandemic because I wanted to add a co-op game to our collection. WHAT A GREAT PURCHASE! We played our first game last night. The kids-- age 9 and 12-- caught on immediately and absolutely loved it. They can't wait to play again, and the 12-year-old wants to have a few of his friends over to play it. The thread also gave me lots of other game ideas I made notes on for future purchases.

Coincidentally, we had friends over for a game night on Friday, and they brought over Ticket to Ride: Europe. We own the American version and love it, so it was fun to learn this variation. Still not sure how I feel about train stations, though.........

grantmeaname · « **Reply #261 on:** February 24, 2019, 06:50:26 AM »

I am visiting some friends for the weekend and we spent all of yesterday playing Tales of the Arabian Nights. The mechanics are unique but the really stand-out aspect of the game is the theme and writing. Each turn your character has an encounter - from a Roc or a lovesick thief to an efreet or the City of Brass. I'd highly recommend it if the theme sounds interesting to you.

Will · « **Reply #262 on:** February 25, 2019, 12:15:32 AM »

Quote from: grantmeaname on February 24, 2019, 06:50:26 AM

I am visiting some friends for the weekend and we spent all of yesterday playing Tales of the Arabian Nights. The mechanics are unique but the really stand-out aspect of the game is the theme and writing. Each turn your character has an encounter - from a Roc or a lovesick thief to an efreet or the City of Brass. I'd highly recommend it if the theme sounds interesting to you.

If you want to hear a good story, pick out a classic novel and have someone read it to you. Or read it out loud yourself. Maybe try reading "One Thousand and One Nights" or something. My biggest issue with ToAN is that what you choose for your character has some random result. You think "Hey, if I do A, then B or C might happen." But instead, some completely unrelated thing happens. The one time I played this, a buddy of mine decided to have his character help an elderly woman he meets on the city streets. The result: he falls to his death! Really?

There are so many great games out there. ToAN is NOT one of them. It is awesome that you enjoyed it, Grant, but it is far too random for me.

grantmeaname · « **Reply #263 on:** February 25, 2019, 05:52:17 AM »

Yep, I read books. Thanks for the great advice!

The game isn't an RPG, where you always succeed if you have the relevant skills and often succeed even if you don't. It's a collaborative, sometimes random story where you can accidentally get sex-changed by enchanted water, getting married to the wrong person makes you too grief-stricken to be sneaky or beguiling, and sometimes when you rob a sick beggar he ends up being the sultan's son. The goal isn't to win quickly by taking a bunch of 'correct' actions - it's to disappear into another world for an hour or two.

neo von retorch · « **Reply #264 on:** February 25, 2019, 07:43:50 AM »

Yup, I'm with @Will on this one. It's not a competitive, deterministic game. It's a hoot! It's an adventure where you don't know the right answer, and you're going to make good and bad choices, and things are going to happen to you just as much as you do things. I've played this game many times and have had a ton of fun every time. If there's a downside, eventually you do start to see some of the same "stories" but even then it takes some time to burn through the "results" of each mini-story. Do not buy this for the mechanics and competing. Buy it for the fun!

ETA: So we house-ruled that every round (each player goes once) we rotate between morning, noon and night. Because previously we have never made it past morning, even once. (It's a big deck of cards you have to get through in the official rules.) This is a nice plus and resolves the above issue of always seeing the same stories on repeat.

StockBeard · « **Reply #265 on:** March 04, 2019, 12:37:49 AM »

Pandemic Legacy has been a "guilty pleasure" purchase for Christmas, we've been loving it and will most likely play our last game this weekend. My son loves it so much he asks me to wake him up in the middle of the night to play with us (we can't play "seriously" while his younger sisters are awake).

I've also developed an addiction to Gloomhaven. I've sunk about 150 hours in that game so far with friends.

Dr Kidstache · « **Reply #266 on:** March 04, 2019, 01:24:46 PM »

I've just rediscovered my love of board games. I mostly solo play and am playing a lot of Terraforming Mars, Friday, and Hostage Negotiator currently.

Nick_Miller · « **Reply #267 on:** May 31, 2019, 10:32:41 AM »

So happy I found this thread!

My family loves board games/card games, and really even if you buy them new, I think they're pretty Mustachian, as a good board game can keep you from many nights of going out and spending more money elsewhere on dinners, movies, mini-golf, etc. (we do those things too, but I'm very mindful of how we $ money on nights we stay in).

The two newest games we've discovered are Blokus (which was like $11 on Amazon I think), and MegaLand, which was $16 (on sale) at Target. I recommend both!

Blokus: This one is 100% strategy, although obviously if your opponents team up on you, you're pretty screwed. Each player has a set number of pieces, and each player starts in a corner of the board. The goal is to place a piece each turn, always connecting the new piece to one of the corners of an existing piece. It is VERY easy to pick up and very fun! We've played twice so far, and my oldest DD has won both. She is a visual learner for sure. Game just takes about 15-20 minutes even with 4 players (which is recommended).

MegaLand: Oh my goodness, this one is so fun! We've played three times in the week or so we've owned it. From 2-5 players. A fantasy card game that's a mix of "adventure/press your luck/play the odds" and city building to earn coins. We've already gotten our money's worth from it! It's a lot to take in at the beginning, but after a few rounds, you'll get the hang of it. I love that it encourages players to pursue different strategies in earning coins. There are dozens of way to play. And I've won 2/3 times so yay me. Game has taken us about 45 minutes to play with 4 players.

spoonman · « **Reply #268 on:** June 04, 2019, 03:24:44 PM »

Secret Hitler and One Night Ultimate Werewolf are among my favorite games.

I also love losing at Settlers of Catan =P

vern · « **Reply #269 on:** June 07, 2019, 05:55:05 PM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxbMzZ5a2Zg

spoonman · « **Reply #270 on:** June 07, 2019, 07:08:28 PM »

LOL! That looks likes it's Gasparov, he cracks me up.

arebelspy · « **Reply #271 on:** June 08, 2019, 11:35:39 AM »

Quote from: vern on June 07, 2019, 05:55:05 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxbMzZ5a2Zg

That was fun to watch!

Will · « **Reply #272 on:** October 06, 2019, 09:17:30 PM »

I haven't posted in a while and I have a new Top 10, so here it is:

#1:    Istanbul Still my favorite. Modular board layout provides nice variability from one game to the next. Pick up and deliver. Best with the Mocha & Baksheesh expansion.
#2:    Caylus A classic for a reason. Worker placement for the win!
#3:    The Voyages of Marco Polo Dice as workers, and always ends before people are ready for it to.
#4:    Lorenzo il Magnifico Everybody uses the same roll of the dice to place family members to get cards or favors, ultimately scoring points.
#5:    Tichu Ladder climbing, card shedding, partnership card game of awesomeness!
#6:    Crokinole The only dexterity game I really like, and I like it a lot! Flick your discs, sink it in the center for points, or knock your oppenents off. So good!
#7:    Village Family members you work to death! But that can be good, if you are scoring points for their dying.
#8:    Rajas of the Ganges Fame? Fortune? Both? They need to cross at some point or you won't win.
#9:    Bootleggers Make some whisky, deliver whisky, mess with the other bootleggers before they mess with you. One of the few games with confrontation I enjoy.
#10:    Power Grid An economic game; build cities and power them. Power more than others at the game end and you win.

LaineyAZ · « **Reply #273 on:** October 07, 2019, 07:18:18 AM »

A small group of us played Atria StoryWise: Common Ground Edition. It's basically a set of cards that are conversation starters/discussion topics. Sub-title is, 144 thoughtful ways to bond with a fellow human.
Some examples: "Something you know today that you wish you could tell your past self."
Or, "A Gift You'd give to everyone if money was no object." Or, "Whether you believe in karma."

Everyone enjoyed that it was an easy way to find out more about people who are even long-time friends or family members, without any awkward or embarrassing stuff. No time constraints either because you can do as many or as few cards as you'd like.

neo von retorch · « **Reply #274 on:** October 07, 2019, 08:41:45 AM »

Wow @Will - ten games and I've only played #10 Power Grid, and unfortunately my spouse is not into the "math-y" aspects of the game so it never hits the table. Will have to see if I can add any of these to my excessive collection 😉

DadJokes · « **Reply #275 on:** October 07, 2019, 09:37:45 AM »

I can't rank them, since my mood dictates what I want to play, but here are my current favorites:

Everdell - worker placement, building a village through the seasons in a forest with cute critters
Champions of Midgard - worker placement, battling monsters to win the favor of a Viking village
Clank - deck builder, go into a dungeon and get stuff before the dragon wakes up and kills you
Ticket to Ride - all-time classic, lots of variations, and great family game
Istanbul - Will has a good description
Root - compete to be the new ruler of the forest, different factions that all have different rules, so there is a lot of variety
Scythe - build mechs and battle to control the map
Dead of Winter - cooperative, work together to fight off zombies before being overtaken, potential for a traitor
Betrayal at House on the Hill - cooperative, explore a haunted mansion until the betrayal event is triggered, turning one of the players into a monster

I struggled to come up with a 10th that I really love right now, so I'll just leave it at 9.

spoonman · « **Reply #276 on:** October 07, 2019, 10:42:26 AM »

Quote from: Will on October 06, 2019, 09:17:30 PM

I haven't posted in a while and I have a new Top 10, so here it is:

#1:    Istanbul Still my favorite. Modular board layout provides nice variability from one game to the next. Pick up and deliver. Best with the Mocha & Baksheesh expansion.
#2:    Caylus A classic for a reason. Worker placement for the win!
#3:    The Voyages of Marco Polo Dice as workers, and always ends before people are ready for it to.
#4:    Lorenzo il Magnifico Everybody uses the same roll of the dice to place family members to get cards or favors, ultimately scoring points.
#5:    Tichu Ladder climbing, card shedding, partnership card game of awesomeness!
#6:    Crokinole The only dexterity game I really like, and I like it a lot! Flick your discs, sink it in the center for points, or knock your oppenents off. So good!
#7:    Village Family members you work to death! But that can be good, if you are scoring points for their dying.
#8:    Rajas of the Ganges Fame? Fortune? Both? They need to cross at some point or you won't win.
#9:    Bootleggers Make some whisky, deliver whisky, mess with the other bootleggers before they mess with you. One of the few games with confrontation I enjoy.
#10:    Power Grid An economic game; build cities and power them. Power more than others at the game end and you win.

Wow indeed! I've never heard of any of those games, you are in a totally different league from me =P Now I won't have to think too hard when I need to give a friend a birthday gift, tons of great ideas here =)

This is the sort of list that makes me question the rankings in Board Game Geek.

Dr Kidstache · « **Reply #277 on:** October 07, 2019, 11:52:24 AM »

Quote from: Will on October 06, 2019, 09:17:30 PM

e roll of the dice to place family members to get cards or favors, ultimately scoring points.
#5: Tichu Ladder climbing, card shedding, partnership card game of awesomeness!

I've been playing Fight the Landlord quite a bit which I think is basically Tichu with a regular card deck. Great game for 3 players.

Will · « **Reply #278 on:** October 07, 2019, 12:00:51 PM »

Quote from: Dr Kidstache on October 07, 2019, 11:52:24 AM

Quote from: Will on October 06, 2019, 09:17:30 PM
e roll of the dice to place family members to get cards or favors, ultimately scoring points.
#5: Tichu Ladder climbing, card shedding, partnership card game of awesomeness!

I've been playing Fight the Landlord quite a bit which I think is basically Tichu with a regular card deck. Great game for 3 players.

I haven't heard of that, so I will need to look that up!

Have you ever heard of/played Haggis? It is essentially a Tichu-type game that plays well with 3.

Lews Therin · « **Reply #279 on:** April 03, 2020, 01:48:52 PM »

Welcome, welcome, one and all, please take a seat and listen to my story:

"There once was a person who installed zoom. Not having paid for the upgrade, was limited to 40min meetings. But the person was frugal, and knew that you could simply create a 2nd meeting after 40min, and so on and so forth.
To talk and chat with others, all that was required was click "invite others and copy link" and the others could join the meetings.
When the desire to play Jackbox (of which Drawful 2, the simplest and one of the most fun games, is currently free on Google Play), which required everyone to see the main screen, using the Share Screen button was the secret technique that made it possible.

As a crafty one, the importance of closing people's videos was not lost on that person, and it made everything run smoother.

During game cards, the creator invited people to the game created on this site: http://playingcards.io/ ; which allows for Cards against Humanity, checkers, chess, card games, and could even create specific desks for any game that requires cards! The person would create a game, invite others and the fun continued.

But sometimes.... the person was lonely, and didn't have many friends, and for some GD reason, people weren't always available.... but a SAVIOR APPEARED.

PICTIONNARY WITH STRANGERS: https://skribbl.io/

Our lovable protagonist lived isolated ever after, and rumors have it that at some point..... Was finally able to leave the house."

This is a tale passed down for generations in my family, feel free to share with others.

Reviving this for those who love board / card games, and could use the info.

Playing with Fire UK · « **Reply #280 on:** April 04, 2020, 02:01:19 AM »

I'm finding Pandemic very therapeutic right now.

Villanelle · « **Reply #281 on:** April 05, 2020, 03:09:30 PM »

Just played Hanabi for the first time. It's a cooperative game and is pretty simple. And it's cheap since it's just cards and a few cardboard tokens.(I believe it was less than $10 on Amazon). One round took maybe 10-15 minutes, and it seems to work quite well as a 2 player game, which is nice as sometimes games listed for 2 players *can* be played with 2 but aren't very fun.

I would think older kids could play it. It's a strategy game. Basically, you don't see your own cards and other players give you hints about what is in your hand so that you hopefully know what moves to make. You are trying to create a fireworks display. ("Hababi" is Japanese for "fireworks", literally meaning "fire flower".) To do so, you have to play cards in the correct color in numerical order. It's not high level strategy but younger kids would likely struggle. It's listed as age 8+, which I think is about right, especially if you chat with the kiddos about some of the strategy ahead of time or during a first cheater-round of play.

spoonman · « **Reply #282 on:** April 05, 2020, 05:30:28 PM »

I've been playing D&D 5e with my regular play group through roll20. We do voice through Discord and so far it has worked out very nicely.

DadJokes · « **Reply #283 on:** April 07, 2020, 07:21:47 AM »

Thanks to the quarantine (or social distancing, whatever), I've been fairly limited lately.

We've played a fair bit of Ecos and One Night Ultimate Werewolf at home or with wife's family. I've also played a lot of Azul, Ticket to Ride, Tokaido, and Pandemic via apps/internet.

News:

Author Topic: What are your favorite board games? (Read 75296 times)