Game Night

[newton]

My wife and I socialize with a group of friends.  Usually involves dinner out or dinner and a movie out.  We have recently tried to start "game nights" in order to not spend quite so much eating out and going to events and movies.

Any suggestions for games?  We are all adult couples, 40's and 50's (gosh that sounds old). 

Thanks.  Interested to hear what's out there.

[kwh03001]

Pass the Popcorn - movie trivia

[BlueHouse]

Charades is best and there are free websites that provide ready-made clues.
I also like catchphrase,but that costs money

[MDM]

Bridge

[Vwjedi76]

Well, we're a little twisted in this house but thoroughly enjoy Cards Against Humanity.

[CaveDweller]

Well, we're a little twisted in this house but thoroughly enjoy Cards Against Humanity.

+1 CAH

[canaryyellow]

If you think your group might like strategy board games we really Carcassonne, which is a great entry to the broader euro game / German boardgames genre.  I typically like abstract strategy games like Chess and Go, but games like these are able to satisfy my need for meaningful, difficult decisions and I can actually find people to play them with me.  Even those who don't need deep strategy have fun with these games, but there is strategic depth to contemplate for those who like it.  They typically work with 2-6 players so great for a group of friends.  A few popular titles are Carcassonne (an excellent first eurogame), Puerto Rico (another good choice for a first pick), Castles of Burgundy, Keyflower, Troyes (maybe complicate for people new to this style of game).  Boardgamesgeek.com has nice descriptions of these games and a nice strategy game ranking list.  The rahdo runs through video series on youtube is a good resource to see what a game might be like before you buy it.

[newton]

Well, we're a little twisted in this house but thoroughly enjoy Cards Against Humanity.

Never heard of this game...What is it all about?

[Mrs.LC]

Card games - Sheepshead, Michigan and Royal Rummy, Golf, Stupid Card Game (not sure the official name of this game. DIL taught it to us and that's what she called it).

Board Games - Pictionary, Apples to Apples

Game night is more popular during the cold months.  It's a fun time to spend with friends without breaking the bank.  We serve home made wine (yum!) and munchies of some sort.  Good times. 

[stephan]

Billiards for sure :)

[Paul der Krake]

Well, we're a little twisted in this house but thoroughly enjoy Cards Against Humanity.

Never heard of this game...What is it all about?

Basically, you use a set of cards with parts of a sentence to create the most humorous/horrible combination possible. It rewards creativity and non-PC, twisted thinking.

It's a massive hit among the younger crowds.

[lemondirgopie]

So a great way to find out about boardgames is Wil Wheaton's show called Tabletop: http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/

But here are a few of my favorite games:

Fluxx (http://www.amazon.com/Looney-Labs-001LOO-5-0-Fluxx-Card/dp/B00OETKWCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434926634&sr=8-1&keywords=fluxx)

Settlers of Catan (http://www.amazon.com/Mayfair-Games-MFG3061-Settlers-Catan/dp/B000W7JWUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1434926721&sr=1-1&keywords=settlers+of+catan)

Pandemic (http://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-Games-ZMG-71100-Pandemic/dp/B00A2HD40E/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1434926742&sr=1-1&keywords=pandemic)

[Vwjedi76]

So a great way to find out about boardgames is Wil Wheaton's show called Tabletop: http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/

But here are a few of my favorite games:

Fluxx (http://www.amazon.com/Looney-Labs-001LOO-5-0-Fluxx-Card/dp/B00OETKWCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434926634&sr=8-1&keywords=fluxx)

Settlers of Catan (http://www.amazon.com/Mayfair-Games-MFG3061-Settlers-Catan/dp/B000W7JWUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1434926721&sr=1-1&keywords=settlers+of+catan)

Pandemic (http://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-Games-ZMG-71100-Pandemic/dp/B00A2HD40E/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1434926742&sr=1-1&keywords=pandemic)

+1 Settlers of Catan

[expectopatronum]

Husband has this awesome board game called Robo Rally. You navigate your robot to the three checkpoints on the board using sequences of moves. Big strategy game, huge success among our engineer friends, get hilariously chaotic with >4 people. I'm baffled that it's not more popular. Programming and logic types will like it as well.

Settlers of Catan is a house favorite too, though I've become disenchanted with it (despite winning the past few games...) because I ALWAYS spend the whole game feeling like I'm losing. So much depends on your initial setup and then you just have to see how things play out. Two hours later, even if I win, I'm pissed off 'cause someone put the g**d*** robber on my Nine again.

Lately we've done Ticket to Ride and TTR Europe. Unlike Settlers, even if you're losing it's still quite fun since you get to play with trains the whole time. : )

Phase 10 is a rummy-like card game and Rummikub is similar. Good for people who see sequences, a little repetitive by the end.

Lastly, Bohnanza! Card game. Objective is to harvest the most amount of beans...oddly endearing.

Oh, and a DIY game...some call it the salad bowl game because you put the slips of paper in a salad bowl. Everyone comes up with 5-10 things and writes them on a piece of paper. They get folded up and tossed in a bowl. Divide into 2 teams. Game takes place in 3 rounds: catch phrase (describe it, but can't say any of the words it contains), charades, and "single word". This link describes game play:http://sarasfavoritethings.com/2012/12/17/the-fishbowl-game/

It's a nice game because the selection of words to guess will change every time you play it.

[homehandymum]

^ Roborally is great fun!

I guess it depends on you guys.  Are you wanting a game to just play to keep your hands busy while chatting about a bunch of other stuff, and eating and drinking?  Or are you wanting the game to occupy most of the energy in the room?

For non-gamers, Pictionary and Cranium games are great as they are easy to pick up and play, take very little set up time, and don't have rule books many pages long.  Games like yachtzee and scattergories are also in this category.

The next level would be something like Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride.  The games take focus, and it will take a couple of games to really work out how it all works.  Games take 45 min to an hour. (this is about my comfort level, personally)

Another option for 'the next level' is card games - euchre, cribbage, 500.  Or gambling games like poker.

And then of course there are those other games, that either take many many hours to play (think Risk), or are stupidly complicated to set up (like Agricola), or both.  These are great games if everyone in the room is mad keen.  But I suspect if you were these people, you'd already have half a dozen games you'd like to play :)

[homehandymum]

Other threads about board games:

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/board-game-suggestions/

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/what-are-your-favorite-board-games/

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/board-game-recomendations/

[Lis]

So a great way to find out about boardgames is Wil Wheaton's show called Tabletop: http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/

But here are a few of my favorite games:

Fluxx (http://www.amazon.com/Looney-Labs-001LOO-5-0-Fluxx-Card/dp/B00OETKWCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434926634&sr=8-1&keywords=fluxx)

Settlers of Catan (http://www.amazon.com/Mayfair-Games-MFG3061-Settlers-Catan/dp/B000W7JWUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1434926721&sr=1-1&keywords=settlers+of+catan

Two amazing games! Fluxx can be super quick and you can get multiple games out in a small period of time. It also requires little strategy and you can easily trip up your friends. Catan is more strategic and takes more thought. Depending on the number of players (and if you have any slow pokes among you), it could take any where from a half hour to 2+ hours (and if it's the latter, kick the slow poke out!).

Another game I picked up (actually heard about it from this forum!) is We Didn't Playtest This At All: http://www.amazon.com/We-Didnt-Playtest-This-All/dp/B001N11OI2/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1435092925&sr=1-1&keywords=we+didn%27t+playtest+this+at+all. Ridiculously silly and stupid. Games will last at most two minutes. You'll find yourself laughing over the sheer stupidity of this game. A group of friends and I played this for 3+ hours straight one Saturday night.

(PS - if you go with Fluxx, there are a zillion versions out there. I've played a few and Zombie Fluxx is by far the funnest.)

[Jeremy E.]

I really enjoy "Are you a werewolf?" it's my favorite. you can play it with just a deck of cards too. You can look the rules up online.
I also enjoy cards against humanity a lot, I laugh so hard, but fair warning it's very vulgar, racist, sexist, discriminatory and hilarious. It's like a VERY "adult" version of Apples to Apples. Theres also a spinoff called Crabs Adjust Humidity
If you have a smart phone or tablet you should get heads up, it's fun
Disney trivia is fun too, if you like Disney Movies as much as me!
Also, I like brewing my own hard cider to take to game night, much cheaper than buying other alcohol

[I'm a red panda]

I recently got "Metagame" and really enjoy it.  It's like Apples to Apples, but you have to back up your choices.  (We have friends who love Cards Against Humanity, but to me it gets boring. It's just a giant dirty joke, and once you've played 10-20 times it gets really old.)

We like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassone, Killer Bunnies, Castle Panic, Wise and Otherwise, Wits and Wagers, Fluxx, Catchphrase, and Funglish. 

[CmFtns]

How about Dungeon & Dragons. I've played it off and on with a group of friends for a year or two. It was actually more fun when we had no idea what hell we were doing. But you do need at least 1 person who knows something about it to be the dungeon master and add some sort of structure to the chaos.

Image an infinitely open ended board game where anything can happen. You just grab a whiteboard/paper, some dice, and a dungeon master with some imagination and watch a world unfold in front of you.

Of course the best part is when your dungeon master has some nice town and story lined up and some backstory on the nice town citizens. Then you decide let's pillage plunder and burn down the town and watch him/her try to salvage whatever was left of the plan.

[Mrs.LC]

Jigsaw puzzles. They are fun to work on with friends. Add a bottle of wine and you have a pleasant evening.

[KisKis]

Coming from a big time game family:

7 Wonders - 30 minute playtime, great when trying to fit a game in when young kids are around
Settlers of Catan - 90 minute playtime
Dominion - 30 minute playtime, but it does take a few minutes to set up
Race for the Galaxy - Bit more complex, try this later on

Boggle and Bananagrams are also fun for fast and quick games.  We like to play different versions of Boggle, like no three-letter words, no three or four letter words, longest word wins, etc.

I also like Countdown, which you can play using this link: http://www.subtangent.com/maths/countdown.php
If you want to see how it is done, try watching an "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown" episode which you can find on YouTube.  Pretty fun, and a great brain teaser.  I like the math version.

[Erica/NWEdible]

Lots of great, classic and soon-to-be classics already mentioned.

Two I haven't seen mentioned are Forbidden Island and the sequel, Forbidden Desert. Moderately quick, lots of fun, and collective play makes them a good choice for families with younger kids playing.

[frances]

Settlers of Catan is my favorite. Saboteur, Blockus, and Wise and Otherwise are also highly recommended.

[PARedbeard]

+1 to watching Tabletop for ideas. Better yet, search for Shut Up & Sit Down. It was started by two guys when they were underemployed as a way to get more people into board gaming. They do great reviews, and I have found many, many great games through them.

There are a lot of good ones already posted here. I'd also add Ticket to Ride as well as Suburbia to the pot. They are great for 4 people! If you have more, check out hidden role and cooperative games. Ones like One Night Werewolf and The Resistance. They are amazing with a group!

If your group likes problem solving together, I cannot recommend Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective enough. There are some typos that make it frustrating, but the game is just so interesting, and it really lends itself to a group of people.

[patrat]

Catan, Cards against humanity, pandemic, Munchkin, Rumikub (could be played with two decks of cards, the tiles just make it flow better), Triominoes, Sorry/Aggravation (good with young ones).  Talisman if you are really into Munchkin but want to take it seriously, and want to kill a whole day. Don't forget college games if you want to include drinking to excess! Beer pong, quarters, kings cup, minefield, etc. Just make sure to have people bring pillows and camp pads, lol.