Board Games

Balroc · Dec 11, 2012

so i have a bit of a board game itch.

i've got a small group of friends who are sort of into board games. as a group, we are by no means board game connoisseurs. we play pretty basic games at the moment like monopoly which i am starting to grow to hate.

can anyone recommend me some games that are somewhat like settlers of cataan but with a greater possibility for back stabbing, treachery, and deceit? looking for like 30 minute to an hour duration.

Angerz · Dec 11, 2012

Catan is generally hated by my group of board gamers (basically they call it island of monopoly cause of the die roll allocating so much resources to luck).

Our favorite (most played) 4 to 5 player games are probably Smallworld and Lords of Waterdeep. A little longer than your 30 to 60 minutes (probably in the 60 to 90 range), however they do fit your backstabbing category.

We have only played Spartacus: A game of blood and treachery once, but it seemed like it has a lot of potential (also longer than an hour) and its another game that has a lot of potential for politics in a game.

For other 4-5 player games I or someone in my group owns:

Pandemic is a pretty neat 4 player co-op game that is pretty difficult to beat.

Carcassone and Ticket to ride are pretty fun and simple games that fit the time frame.

7 wonders is a drafting game that is pretty good for 4 people and plays pretty quick.

Dominion and Ascension are good deck building games.

I own and have played more board games than that in the last year, but those are some of my top games right now.

Ash80 · Dec 11, 2012

http://www.wolfire.com/desperate-gods

CHeck this out its an open source, board game me and my friends have been playing it quite a bit and it being online means you don't have to share any of your fuking cheetos

pluss its free

Arbitrary · Dec 11, 2012

Angerz_sl said:
Our favorite (most played) 4 to 5 player games are probably Smallworld and Lords of Waterdeep.

Much like how I think Settlers of Catan is a great game to introduce new players to what the genre can offer I would highly recommend Lords of Waterdeep as an introduction to the sub-genre of worker placement games. In Lords of Waterdeep each player has a number of Agents determined by the number of players in the game. Each player than takes a turn placing their Agent at a location on the board. The locations do things like provide resources, build buildings that offer additional actions that can be taken, let you play cards that screw people over a bit, and so on. The catch is that each location has a limited number of spaces, often 1, that can be occupied so while you are trying to complete objectives you cannot be sure who is going to fill up what location and when.

Right now my group has been playing a bunch of Age of Empires III : Age of Discovery + the Empires : Builder expansion and I've got a real crush on that game. It's a worker placement game like Waterdeep and I'm going to be sad once everyone else burns out on it.

Synj · Dec 11, 2012

balroc_sl said:
so i have a bit of a board game itch.

i've got a small group of friends who are sort of into board games. as a group, we are by no means board game connoisseurs. we play pretty basic games at the moment like monopoly which i am starting to grow to hate.

can anyone recommend me some games that are somewhat like settlers of cataan but with a greater possibility for back stabbing, treachery, and deceit? looking for like 30 minute to an hour duration.

This and San Juan (similar mechanic, card based) are very interesting and as you get better and figure out the intricacies of the game you can screw over your friends pretty well.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico

If you don't like your friends or have no interest in remaining friends:

http://72.233.16.130/boardgame/483/diplomacy

PatrickStar · Dec 11, 2012

My group of friends played the fuck out of Axis and Allies and Shogun. Much like 4 day AV battles in Vanilla, usually the game ended when the guy playing Russia got sick of taking back Ukraine for the 55th time and flips the board.

Note: I may be in the minority but I enjoyed Shogun over A&A.

tad10 · Dec 11, 2012

balroc_sl said:
so i have a bit of a board game itch.

i've got a small group of friends who are sort of into board games. as a group, we are by no means board game connoisseurs. we play pretty basic games at the moment like monopoly which i am starting to grow to hate.

can anyone recommend me some games that are somewhat like settlers of cataan but with a greater possibility for back stabbing, treachery, and deceit? looking for like 30 minute to an hour duration.

Imperial (90 minutes)
Small World (60 minutes)

Are my current favorites for what you're looking to do.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24181/imperial
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardga...92/small-world

Imperial is the better game for what you're looking to do but small world is easier to pick up.

StarDotStar_sl · Dec 13, 2012

My friends and I have a weekly board game night. We are incredibly picky about what we play and rarely find a game all four of us are willing to play more than two or three times.

A few weeks ago one of the guys bought Chaos in the Old World and we have been pleasantly surprised by it. It is set in Warhammer fantasy where each play is one of the chaos powers. There are various ways to win: dominating areas and corrupting them for victory points, accomplishing power specific goals to gain ticks on your "victory wheel", or everyone can lose if the game lasts too long. Each power plays a vastly different game than the others, which adds a lot of replay value.

We've only played four or five times, and two of those we messed up the rules, but I think there is a lot of play to the game. After three games we had a fifteen minute discussion about how Khorne seemed unstoppable and there was nothing you could do to keep them from winning in three or four turns. We played one more game after discussing it and Khorne was solidly in last place due everyone being hyper aware of their power.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4...-the-old-world

Wuyley_sl · Dec 13, 2012

To get a nice idea of some popular games out there, and for just entertainment value alone, may I suggest Wil Wheaton's Tabletop web series on youtube.

nate_sl · Dec 13, 2012

Settlers is still the best. The rolls will tend to balance over time, and the game is much more complex than people think. Playing settlers with 4 or 5 tournament caliber players versus 4 or 5 people who have played a handful of times or that haven't really mastered the game is eye opening.

Jazser_sl · Dec 13, 2012

Agricola.

businesscats_sl · Dec 13, 2012

Risk: Legacy is pretty fun if you plan on playing with the same group of people. Formula D is a fun racing board game that my friends and I played a 'season' of for cash with teams. I second pretty much all of the other suggestions with my favorite being Diplomacy, which you can also play onlinehttp://www.playdiplomacy.com/

Azziane_sl · Dec 13, 2012

I just bought munchkin quest to play with my 7 year old. The box just arrived so i did not to try yet but the manual is much thicker than i expected. Anyone play it before? How simple is it to get for a kid? Can you start playing right away and learn as you go?

Doleo · Dec 13, 2012

i second Agricola. I feel it has a higher "fun factor" than Puerto Rico. Maybe its the theme of farming and if you get custom meeple accessories. The problem is that it takes a while to setup, so 30 minutes won't work. Le Havre is right inbetween Agricola and Puerto Rico imo, pick it up on the iPad if you have one.

For 30 minutes, you could try Quarriors. It isn't really a board game but 30 minutes will definitely be enough time to dish out a game or two.

Balroc · Dec 13, 2012

small world looks like a lot of fun. thanks for the replies.

Sulrn · Dec 13, 2012

Munchkin. With an expanded deck you can fuck people for 30 minutes or hours.

Black Sun Wizard · Dec 13, 2012

If you want something simple and easy, look into Carcasonne or Settlers.

I give huge recommendations for Galaxy Trucker. It's one of those easy to learn but hard to master ... if anyone actually masters that.

scal_sl · Dec 13, 2012

Sulrn_sl said:
Munchkin. With an expanded deck you can fuck people for 30 minutes or hours.

Came here to post this. Munchkin is awesome. It's fun and has some depth, but it's not a game where you're going to spend the majority of the time going over rules.

I don't know how people do complicated board games with booze. The last time we tried Axis and Allies, people were too drunk to continue before the 3rd team even got their turn.

Ebris_sl · Dec 13, 2012

If you like card games:
Race of the Galaxy
Resident Evil Deck Building game
Ninja Burger

Actual board games:
Pandemic (mentioned)
Power Grid
Settlers of Catan
Last Night on Earth

Vaclav · Dec 13, 2012

Descent: 2E, Arkham Horror (seriously not one mention yet guys? for shame on all of you!) and Mage-Knight are all the gotos for the wife and I right now.

Lords of Waterdeep and Ticket to Ride (w/ 1911 expac) are our favorites with others.

Board Games

Molten Core Raider

Trakanon Raider

Tranny Chaser

Dystopian Dreamer

Trakanon Raider

Elisha Dushku

shitlord

shitlord

shitlord

shitlord

shitlord

shitlord

Trakanon Raider

Molten Core Raider

Deuces

Silver Knight of the Realm

shitlord

shitlord

Bronze Baronet of the Realm