Balroc
Molten Core Raider
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- 229
this game looks absolutely insane. i would love to play something that huge in scope but there's no way in hell i could talk my friends into it.
Board Games
- Thread starter Balroc
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Szlia
Member
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I played a number of games of Twilight Imperium with 6 (8?) players and I would say the biggest problem of the game is that you cannot interact with everybody. So you play 8 hours, but because of something that happened at the other end of the board, a guy is winning and you can't do jack about it. That and king making (Player C cannot win, but his action can decide which of Player A and Player B win) makes it a bit of a frustrating game. The turns are fun though, because you start with a plan and you have to adjust it or scrap it and make a new one like 5 times during each turn.
Catan is a good one, but I will not play it unless it's with the Cities and Knights expansion.
I also just started playing Crude with a buddy of mine and I highly recommend it. It has some of the same elements as catan such as dice rolling but with less worry about being screwed by the RNG. The key mechanic is that the value of commodities and structures (which you can sell) is hard coded into the game but it changes regularly. It is easy to learn and it plays fast.
I also recommend Power Grid and Manhattan Project.
I also just started playing Crude with a buddy of mine and I highly recommend it. It has some of the same elements as catan such as dice rolling but with less worry about being screwed by the RNG. The key mechanic is that the value of commodities and structures (which you can sell) is hard coded into the game but it changes regularly. It is easy to learn and it plays fast.
I also recommend Power Grid and Manhattan Project.
I started watching this yesterday and love it. I've started making a list of the games they play that look really fun and will probably pick up a few and see who I can get together to play with. Great thing about being able to watch them play is getting the basics down before even picking up a manual.
I picked up Catan a couple weeks ago when it was on sale on Amazon. Last night I picked up 2 core sets ofLord of the Rings: The Card Gamelast night on Amazon for $17 each. It sounds like its right up my alley. Its a deck building game similar to MTG but its a living card game vs. collectible meaning I wont be spending all my cash on foil packs trying to get rares. Just buy the expansions and play. It can be played Solo or co-op with 2-4 players. I will primarily play it with my wife and we don't do well competitive so this should work out well. If she likes it then I will start picking up all the expansion packs. Anyone have any experience with this game, especially playing it 2 players?
This thread has advice that's at opposite ends of the hardcore-casual spectrum. For the OP, or anyone else reading and looking for advice on what to get, you need to be aware of what kind of gamer you are and what kind of games are suitable for you. I assume we all played WoW or something similar, so I'll use metaphors from there to show you what I mean.
Were you a hardcore raider or Arena Junkie? Did you lose your shit when noobs would fight in the roads instead of at objectives in BGs? Did you enjoy min-maxing the shit out of your character and reading forums like Elitist Jerks? Well you're a hardcore gamer, and you will probably enjoy hardcore board games. The general keywords you are looking for are "euro games" and/or "war games" These are long (1-4 hours) and strategic games that you can spend many weeks on internet forums reading about optimal strats and how to pwn noobs. Euro games are very, very low on luck. It's rare to even find a euro game that uses dice. If you are control freak like me and rage-quit when you roll 1s twice in a row, you'll appreciate games like these. War games tend to involve a lot more luck (dice or cards), but you still have a high degree of "agency" (i.e. your decisions matter).
If what I just wrote rings true for you, then your best resource is Boardgamegeek.com and their rankings for "strategic games" and "war games." Anything in the top 50 is going to be the equivalent of an Oscar Winning movie, so don't be turned off by a game ranked 49 or something like that. On the other hand, you will probably hate everything played on Wil Wheaton's Table Top. I know I do.
If you're not the kind of gamer I described above, then the "thematic" and "party" game sections of Boardgamegeek are more for you. (NOTE: the top-ranked game in this section "Mage Knight" is probably not for you, at least not yet). But an even better resource for you would be Wil Wheaton's Table Top series, a video of which is a few posts above this one.
That's some pretty generic advice, but I hope it helps just to know *where* to go looking for info on games. I'll write up some specific games that I like later.
Were you a hardcore raider or Arena Junkie? Did you lose your shit when noobs would fight in the roads instead of at objectives in BGs? Did you enjoy min-maxing the shit out of your character and reading forums like Elitist Jerks? Well you're a hardcore gamer, and you will probably enjoy hardcore board games. The general keywords you are looking for are "euro games" and/or "war games" These are long (1-4 hours) and strategic games that you can spend many weeks on internet forums reading about optimal strats and how to pwn noobs. Euro games are very, very low on luck. It's rare to even find a euro game that uses dice. If you are control freak like me and rage-quit when you roll 1s twice in a row, you'll appreciate games like these. War games tend to involve a lot more luck (dice or cards), but you still have a high degree of "agency" (i.e. your decisions matter).
If what I just wrote rings true for you, then your best resource is Boardgamegeek.com and their rankings for "strategic games" and "war games." Anything in the top 50 is going to be the equivalent of an Oscar Winning movie, so don't be turned off by a game ranked 49 or something like that. On the other hand, you will probably hate everything played on Wil Wheaton's Table Top. I know I do.
If you're not the kind of gamer I described above, then the "thematic" and "party" game sections of Boardgamegeek are more for you. (NOTE: the top-ranked game in this section "Mage Knight" is probably not for you, at least not yet). But an even better resource for you would be Wil Wheaton's Table Top series, a video of which is a few posts above this one.
That's some pretty generic advice, but I hope it helps just to know *where* to go looking for info on games. I'll write up some specific games that I like later.
Cutlery
Kill All the White People
- 6,420
- 17,878
I picked up a couple copies + all the expansions on Ebay a few years ago, specifically for the purpose of playing with my kids as they get older. Great game. Simplified D&D, with more visuals and predefined quests. Had to make some house rules to balance it up a bit, but all in all, it's still pretty solid.
Also, if you're a Risk fan but not a "play the same game for 12 hours" fan, I suggest Lord Of the Rings Risk. It's not just a shitty merchandising knockoff like you'd expect. It's got a lot of great rule changes that speed the game up and make it more interesting. Don't think it's in print anymore either, but it certainly did a good job of cutting the game time down since the game absolutely ends at a certain point, and you're scored off points if you haven't reached domination by that point.
My friend and his wife own this, I don't know what their 2 player experience is like but we tend to play it 3-4 player on game nights sometimes and its fun. Some of the more difficult adventures you need to look through what you might encounter and design decks against it but other than that its a well executed game.
For those in this thread who like(or just like the sounds of) Twilight Imperium, I got Eclipse last week and have played a couple of games and am thoroughly enjoying it. Its like Twilight Imprium lite with a 3 hour playing time instead of 9-14. Building the map as you go is a bit of a twist for new players and one player really didn't like it. The random availability of technology is nice as you can't just setup a plan and execute on it until you encounter another player as you can sometimes with TI.
Arbitrary
Tranny Chaser
- 27,160
- 72,030
Eclipse is one of my favorite games but one of the players in my group absolutely hates it and I don't ever want us to pick a game to play that one of us hates so it's off the table. He's got Twilight Imperium on lock and would play that but I don't know what the fuck I'm doing with that one.
I will be a very sad panda when no one is willing to play Age of Empires with me anymore.
I will be a very sad panda when no one is willing to play Age of Empires with me anymore.
I know it's not a board game but I am printing out my first set of Cards Against Humanity. We are going to play it Christmas Eve.
The printed version is okay but its well worth the few bucks to buy the real thing just for the quality of the cards and the ease of shuffling.
I bought some good card stock at least.
http://www.amazon.com/Cards-Against-...dp/B004S8F7QM/<-- I really don't think paying over $50 plus shipping for something I can print to see if I like is the way to go
Moebiwan
shitlord
- 90
- 100
Talisman is something I go back to regularly but the potential open-endedness of it may turn you off (that is, it's possible to simply never complete the game and just run around the board fighting monsters and other players). There's also plenty of luck involved (die rolls).
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardga...-third-edition
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardga...-third-edition
As already mentioned, Arkham Horror is not a '60 minute' game. That said, if you and your friends are Lovecraft nerds of any stripe, or like games that allow you to build a narrative/story out of what's going on, it's a good game. Best bet is to play it with one other person first, and walk thru a handful of turns and understand the rules. Fantasy Flight games are, by a rule, kind of "fiddly" in terms of complexity. But if at least one person really understands the rules & the turn order, the game can clock in at under 4 hours pretty consistently.
But if you aren't big lovecraft nerds, i'd stay the hell away. For a pretty fast/easy board game, Memoir '44 is awesome. There is also (if you're sufficiently interested in Game of Thrones) a Game of Thrones version of the game as well. Downside is it's a 2-player only game.
Oh, and Wings of War is a nice game with a ruleset that can vary from 'easy to play while drunk' to 'complex tactical air battle'. See also the Xwing/Tie-Fighter board game that just came out, uses a similar mechanic/ruleset.
Angerz
Trakanon Raider
- 1,234
- 826
When the actual CAH guys have it in stock, its $25. The other people selling it are resellers. The last few printings have sold out very fast though. If you follow them on twitter, the tend to tweet when its back in stock.I bought some good card stock at least.
http://www.amazon.com/Cards-Against-...dp/B004S8F7QM/<-- I really don't think paying over $50 plus shipping for something I can print to see if I like is the way to go
You must be incredibly well off financially IRL to just go ahead and 'pick up all the expansions'. That's a minimum of like $5,000.
Roughly 4-5 years ago I bought a still shrink-wrapped copy of Heroquest for $130 on Ebay and I started looking to buy the expansions. I stopped tallying it up after it went over $5k and I wasn't even done finding all of them. Not saying someone couldn't just buy them all regardless, but to have that kind of disposable money to just throw at this old board game is pretty absurd imo.