I thought I would start a thread about my newest obsession:  Board Games.


I have always loved to play games,  from Role Playing Games ( duh!) to Monopoly.    Don't you dare play Monopoly with me unless you plan to finish!   I don't care if I am losing,  just finish the damn game!

I grew up in a family that would play games every once in a while.   We played Monopoly, Sorry,  Trouble,  and lots of card games.  We used to get together for huge poker games on the holidays.   

I always bring games to my sister's house to play with my nieces and nephews.  I hope I am not that pest uncle and they are just humoring me.      


Anyway, in the past year, I went bananas with board games.   I bought, and I think the technical term is a shit load.

I want to play some right now, but since my wife is sick of me,  am typing instead of playing.


So here are some of my recent games and what I think of them.

Elder Sign

If you want to play Arkham Horror, and who doesn't? but you don't have the time for a full on game, or you don't want to sort cards for an hour or so before hand, then Elder Sign is for you.

Its a cheaper, faster, but more luck based version of Arkham Horror.   I love this, and if not for Arkham Horror, this would be my go to game.   

Instead of roaming the town of Arkham for clues, you are in the Museum in Arkham going though rooms looking for clues.     You will lose more than you win,  and if the big baddy shows, he will probably eat your face.      Its  a hard, frustrating, but fun game.

My only problem with it is its all about die rolls.  Sure you can play the odds a bit, but its still comes down to luck.

B+
If you want to play Arkham Horror, and who doesn't? but you don't have the time for a full on game, or you don't want to sort cards for an hour or so before hand, then Elder Sign is for you.

Its a cheaper, faster, but more luck based version of Arkham Horror.   I love this, and if not for Arkham Horror, this would be my go to game.   

Instead of roaming the town of Arkham for clues, you are in the Museum in Arkham going though rooms looking for clues.     You will lose more than you win,  and if the big baddy shows, he will probably eat your face.      Its  a hard, frustrating, but fun game.

My only problem with it is its all about die rolls.  Sure you can play the odds a bit, but its still comes down to luck.

B+

Fluxx

Another card game similar to Munchkin and Smash up.

The rules are simple: draw one card, play one card.    That is it.

But each card has a rule on it, so the game is in a constant state of, you guessed it, flux.

I bought Star Fluxx, which goofs on all things science fiction and of course, Chthulu Flux, which is a goof on Lovecraft.

My wife beat me the two times we played.  Which is odd, she beat me the two times we played Smash Up too.

I would love to play this with a group of people.


C+

Gloom

This is a card game in the Munchkin vein.  You try to mess  with the other players while trying to score points.  But the catch is, you want to make your own characters as miserable as possible and make other player's characters as happy as possible.   When your characters are pretty miserable, then you kill them.   Only dead characters are worth points. 

The cards are clear, except for  the small text and the points.  So you play them on top of each other and you only score the points you can actually see. Its pretty clever.

If you like Ed Gory, or the Addams Family, you will love this game.

Another game where my wife regularly beats me.   I like to think she is a champ at causing misery.

B

Divine Right


This is my favorite board game of all time.  I played it a million times as  kid, and I don't think I ever played by the rules until this year.   Everyone but  the Oni and I hate this game.  So I don't get to play too often. In fact a few years ago, I flew to Wisconsin to play this game at a convention.  I got to meet Majestic, so it was a great weekend.

Its a 10 hour game that I have yet to play to the full 20 turns.  Its like Risk Meets D&D.   

The game is very easy to house rule, and it lends it self to it.  The few forums I found for this game online are all about how people make homemade counters,  new concepts and basically make this overly complicated game more complicated.

My wife hates it and will never play it.   


It takes me way too long to set it up, and when you are playing you  need someone to write down what is going on so you don't get confused.   

Yes is that type of game.


Paul played once and even though he kicked ass, he hates it.   Its ok, we all hate him for kicking our ass.


A+ for me.  Everyone else F

John wrote on Nov 21^st, 2013 at 12:05am:


I really wanna try this. I do have a weakness for big monsters, and my youngest daughter is a 4-year-old Godzilla fanatic!

Well my to copies of Steve Jackson Games 6th edition Ogre arrived last week, and I'm still punching pieces out (work digs into my slack time). GEV/Ogre were the games that got me into gaming (I discovered them and AD&D all in the same day). I loved playing back in the day, and still have my original copies from way back in 1980.

Tsuro

  This is a beautiful board game that you can play in about ten minutes.  It takes longer to read this review than it does to set up and to put away.     Its really easy, but it can be a bit addictive.  Its a good  starter game for kids.

The game is simple.  You get three tiles, and a playing piece. You place the piece on one of the starting lines.  You place your tile in the square by your starting line and follow the lines on the tile.   

You have to follow the lines to the end. If you go off the board, you are eliminated.  If you place a tile that forces another player off the board, he is eliminated.  If you crash into another player, you both are eliminated  ( this is due to you both following the lines back to the edge of the board).

Its elegantly simple. 

C+

Forbidden Island

This is a cooperative game where you are exploring an island that is sinking.   You take on the roles of the pilot, messenger, navigator, engineer, and others.   You have to work together to get four items and then leave the island.  The problem is, by stepping on the island, you have triggered its defence of sinking in order to keep its secrets.

This is fun, tense game that I played with my ten year old niece and her friends.  They loved it.   Its a fun game, easy to set up and you can put it away as you play.

A

I loved that game. It was fun.  Even if I don't win, I love the stories that come out of Divine Right.

I'll highly second (or is it third) Small World, although if you plan on playing it more than a few times, I'd make sure to get the small expansions (Grand Dames, Cursed! and Be Not Afraid), since some of the new races and powers are *really* nice and it makes it easier to leave out a few if no one in the group likes them.

Another game for me that is a current favorite is Formula D, a fantastic racing game which has multiple levels of difficulty, several of which could be used simultaneously if desired.

- Marc

dsumner wrote on Nov 21^st, 2013 at 3:40pm:

I was so tempted to get that, but the cardboard moved me away from it (I really wanted molded figures, probably so I could paint them).

Anyone else here play Car Wars?

I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan, Lord Inar, and I hadn't heard of that one.  Might have to hunt that one down!

If you guys haven't heard of it, another fun LotR board game that's a lot of fun (but is only for two players) is Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation.  It's sort of like chess, where each side tries to take out the others, but each counter has different abilities.  The Shadow wins by killing the Ring Bearer and the Fellowship wins if they take out all the bad guys or move their Ring Bearer all the way across the board.  Tons of fun, and it was made by Reiner Knizia, the German fellow who's made over 500 published games (many of which have won awards!).

Late Edit: Here is a good description of the game.

Majestic wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2013 at 3:26pm:


Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Rings_(board_game)

Lord of the Rings Card Game

I have been playing this game about once a day for a week now.  Its a game like Magic The Gathering, but you can play solo. 

Its super fucking hard.


Or


I am playing wrong.


You have two decks of cards.  One for the bad guys and events,  the other for you.

You have three hero cards with special powers and you can play other cards if you have the resources.    Its very frustrating,  and I can't help but think I am doing something wrong.

I solved the first quest after about 20 attempts, but I can not see how anyone can get past the first encounter in the second quest.


I still like the game, but I am about to set fire to the box.

All I meant is that you are so good at that game....

Lord Inar wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2013 at 4:37pm:


Thank you, sir!  Is this the one?

Jimmy, I never realized you never played Munchkin.  Its a blast.  I think Karen and Emily would  get a kick out of it.