Board Games: Entertainment with Good ROI

[Penn42]

One of the things my SO and I are really into is table-top gaming.  For those of you who don't know: there is a whole world of board games that exist aside from Monopoly and Life and such.  My brother opened up that world to me several years ago and I have since amassed a dozen games and a couple expansions.  They can be (though not always) somewhat expensive up front, but after you start accounting for the number of hours you spend playing them it averages out under a buck a play pretty quickly.  Heck if we wanted to go see Thor in IMAX this weekend that'd be $30+ for us both for two hours of entertainment.  I've spent that much on games off CL and have played them hundreds of hours.

There's games of all types from complicated strategy to family/party to roll playing to story telling.  And it's a great way to have some light competition and companionship among friends.  We have a dedicated Wednesday game night we do weekly and often play on the weekends with some friends as well.  My favorite games are ones that limit (or at least curb) chance and instead make all your in-game decisions matter. 

If anyone else likes table-top gaming it'd be fun to chat about them.  If you haven't heard of this other world hopefully this thread will spark some curiosity.  I didn't think it was something I'd ever enjoy as much as I do until my brother showed me just how dull Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit are.

What are you favorite mustachian ways to entertain yourself?

[Acorns]

Soooo...what are your favorite games? Due to small children in the house, I don't get a chance to play games very often, but my kids like to play board games (for kids) and I can see that it will be a fun activity as they get older.

[Penn42]

 The first stop most make on the way down the rabbit hole is Settlers of Catan.  Solid game about resource acquisition and management.  I think the box says for ages 10 and up.  Could be a good possibility.

My favorite game is a game for two called Twilight Struggle.  It's a cold war themed heavy strategy game.  Pretty much the opposite of a kid game.

Other great games are Tales of the Arabian Nights (think choose your own adventure book in a game, with some adult themes), Carcossone (tile laying town building game), and Pandemic (a collaborative game where players work together to control a viral outbreak).

[Kakanui]

Another board game fan here. Twilight Struggle is also my favourite 2 player strategy game and Captain Sonar is my most entertaining multiplayer (needs 2 teams of 4) game for bigger groups- it is Battleship on steroids and the most fun game my group of long time board gamers (20-30 years plus) have had in a long, long time.

There are some fantastic board games out there and would rather sit around a table with some mates kicking back and chilling and having a laugh while playing board games than computer gaming any day of the week.

Anything on Board Game Geeks top 20 is usually good value.

Craig

[Syonyk]

Loves us some board games, though are working on getting people who play them lined up out here.  My wife's parents play, but are old enough that we try not to load them up with too many new and exciting games.

Settlers is great, Settlers with some expansions is awesome.  There are tons of other games.

My problem right now is that I really need to learn to play less aggressively.  I played a lot of board games out in Seattle where we were all out for blood, and people knew the games.  If you were at all obvious in a strategy, someone else was going to shut you down, hard.  And that's how I've learned to play - without mercy, go for the win.  Out here... that strategy works too well, and kind of irritates a few of the people we play with.  A masterful stroke of "I win, one move before you thought I could, with the following bizarre set of things," is good, once or twice.  Gets old if I pull that off every time.  I need to learn to come up with losing strategies for Settlers and Ticket to Ride, against people who aren't particularly merciless at it.

But, yeah.  Entertainment value per dollar is awesome.  Even with some Kickstarter flops in there, we've got a ton of great games, the replay value is quite high, and (important to me), they don't rely on the internet working or an industrial base working to be playable and fun.  You could play them by candle and have just as good a time.

[pdxmonkey]

I love a good board game and they're cheap entertainment, but terrible ROI. If you sell them it's almost always at a loss. If you're good the ROI on a game like Magic (which MMM rants against) can actually be positive. And the ROI on poker can be even better. YMMV based on skill level.

[simonsez]

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

See Davin's post on page 3 (reply #129) for a good decision tree flowchart.

[MightyAl]

I love exploding kittens but my wife hates it. 

[DeskJockey2028]

I too am hugely in love with modern board games!

Not only do I love playing them, but I love the fact that if they're good, they can stick around for as long as the cardboard and wood lasts. I can pull out a game I bought 10 years ago and still enjoy it today, or 10 years from now.

Some of my absolute favorite games:

Easy to learn and play in under a half hour

Age of War - a cool little dice game like a condensed version of that old game Samurai.

Eight Minute Empire: Legends - like Risk, but takes about 1/10th the time and remains fun through the whole game.

Love Letter Batman - my favorite version of this 16 card game. Plays up to 4 people, very fast and lots of strategy in a tiny package. Plus little wooden Bat Signals.

Lost Legacy - a slightly more advanced version of Love Letter. 16 cards again but sets can be combined (there are 6+ versions out there) to play more than 4.

Swamped - a semi-cooperative game where everyone fights for control of a boat traveling through a swamp, collecting ingredients. Oh and there's a giant crocodile following along trying to eat you too.

Red7 - super fast game that changes as you play it. Each round lasts perhaps 5 minutes.

Codenames - Wonderful party game that plays with teams of 2+ people. Easy to learn, lots of fun to play.

More involved, longer games

Seasons - one of my all time favorite games. 2-4 players, with a little bit of card drafting and lots of strategic play. No two games are quite the same.

Camel Up - a racing/betting game that plays up to 8. The winner is the one who makes the best bets, not the one who comes in first.

Tiny Epic Galaxies - a small game package with tons going on. Expand your galaxy, take over planets and influence your opponents.

DC Deck Builder - horrible name, great game system. A deck building game where each player starts off with the same 10 cards and purchases others to build up their deck, all while tackling super villains.

Oceanos - explore the ocean, collect treasures, build a better submarine!

Eminent Domain - another space conquest game but with no real direct player conflict. Elements of deck building here too.

Scythe - easily the most beautiful game I own. Set in an alternate 1920's players fight for territory and resources while building giant mechs and advancing their factions.

Zooloretto - an awesome game about building the best zoo.

Those are just a few. I own over 200 games and while I've slowed down my purchasing quite a bit (especially since I found FIRE stuff) I still make the occasional purchase and look at these as an investment. Not monetarily but as a way I very much enjoy spending my time. When I finally punch that clock for the last time, I'm very much looking forward to play more games!

[JayhawkRacer]

Castle Panic is really cheap and provides co-op fun for a group of 2-4 people. It's a great warm-up game for board game night since it's only 20-25 minutes to play.

[Scortius]

Just FYI, there are already two fairly detailed threads in the Off Topic forum where you may want to jump in and join the discussion.