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My favorite board game is risk. When I think of risk I can't help but to smile. I'm instantly transported back to childhood. Lazy sunday afternoons pierced with yells of joy and the agonies of defeat. In all my years of playing my uncle I only won once but those were the days.I never believed in luck until risk, and my uncle had it in abundance. He would turn a mistake into a brillant military maneuver. I miss those days. When I joined the Air Force years later I had the fortune of having a group of friends that loved risk. We would meet on sunday nights, and we'd play while watching X-Files (back when X-Files was actually good.) I still remember my best campaigns. The time I conquerd Africa and S. America in three turns. Shermans March to the Sea. The Slip and Slid maneuver. Operation Zero Tolerance. These games were epic struggles. I miss them. My friends are scattered all over the world now, but we will always have sunday night, X-Files, and risk.
So what's your favorite game?
Posts: 421 | Registered: Jan 2001
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I've been wanting to learn Risk for a few years, but haven't had the chance yet. I do love my Lord of the Rings Monopoly. Posts: 486 | Registered: Feb 2005
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Monopoly is my second favorite game. There's nothing like crushing your Pastor and taking all of his money.
Posts: 421 | Registered: Jan 2001
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Junta! "Comrades! It is a bad year for the Republic. The banana harvest has failed. The cocaine harvest has failed. And, thanks to the ill-considered coup attempt of the former Minister of Internal Security (demotes Minister to Admiral) the tourist harvest has also failed. Therefore, I am unable to grant more than three million pesos to the new Minister of Internal Security. (Promotes former Admiral.) The loyal General of the First Brigade shall of course have his reward of no less than two million pesos. (Hands out total of eight million pesos in budget. Puts twelve million in own pocket.)"
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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You can't play Risk by the actual RULES. Of course you hate it. It's all about dice and cards that way. Duh.
Ditto with Scrabble. Dull dull dull. It's a game only for people who memorized the dictionary.
CHANGE THE RULES till the GAME IS FUN!
For instance, with Scrabble, play with an open dictionary. Or five dictionaries. Everybody has access. No challenges allowed. Just a time limit.
Then play with a wraparound board. You can make a word that goes off the bottom of the board and continues from the top down, in the same column; or goes off the right side of the board and continues on the left.
This is so cool because it allows you to get double triple word scores all the time. You multiply by three and then by three again, and so you win! Seven-letter words are passe when you can get double-triples. Points out the wazoo!
As for Risk, the best rule change is: You can leave countries empty. So nobody can just attack your guys and keep rolling the dice till they wipe you out. They can only move in using their move at the end of the turn. Then YOU can attack THEM. Which is way more like the real world.
You collect for a continent as long as you're the only person with any armies on the whole continent. Somebody invades by just moving in, and you can't collect for the continent next time.
And NO CARDS. Cards are for wimps. Cards are all about chance.
If I could find a way to eliminate the dice I would. It should be more like when you're playing war as a kid. You just aim your finger at the other guy and say "Ka-pow! You're dead" and if you said it first or loudest or you're bigger, then he has to be dead and you won the battle.
Actually, I love Risk the way it is. AND scrabble. But those changes would be worth looking into when I have nothing better to do. Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Sorry. It's been my favorite game for over thirty years, and I will kick any of your bee-hinds.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I have always wanted to play Risk. I hear that it brngs out thehidden evil in people, though.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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That might have been what I hated about it, actually...I played with Jim, and both of us are super-competitive, and I had never played before, so of course he was kicking my butt (rather ruthlessly). And I found myself just wanting to strangle him.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote: As for Risk, the best rule change is: You can leave countries empty. So nobody can just attack your guys and keep rolling the dice till they wipe you out. They can only move in using their move at the end of the turn. Then YOU can attack THEM. Which is way more like the real world.
Are you sure, because I highly doubt any general would allow an enemy to occupy an entire country just to gain a tactile advantage. Maybe in a skirmish he would draw them in to a trap, but to leave all the people in the country without any protection and allowing the enemy in just sounds pretty stupid to me.
quote: And NO CARDS. Cards are for wimps. Cards are all about chance.
If I could find a way to eliminate the dice I would. It should be more like when you're playing war as a kid. You just aim your finger at the other guy and say "Ka-pow! You're dead" and if you said it first or loudest or you're bigger, then he has to be dead and you won the battle.
I think some sort of random is needed in most games, whenever I play games with my friends/family I usually kick their butts, so usually the only thing they can really rely on for beating me is the random factor, or handicaps. Also the random factor is more realistic, there are always random things that can effect you in a war.
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Scrabble and Super Scrabble (modified rules = no challenges; dictionaries OK; if you have 3 letters the same, you can trade in one of the letters for free; if you have 7 vowels, you can turn in 2 vowels for free; if you have 6 vowels, you can trade in one vowel for free).
Other current faves = Settlers, Carcasonne, Pictionary
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Rummikub is my all-time favorite, but I also really enjoy Cranium and Monopoly. Unfortunately, I've been banned from all family Monopoly games. Posts: 862 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Yes, Super Scrabble! You can run over two triple-word-scores at once!
I worked at an independent toy store last Christmas season, and sold board games like there was no tomorrow. Some of the best of this season:
Blokus Abalone
(I put these in the same group - they're all visual and spacey. Blokus is by far the coolest, and the best seller. Something about the Tetris generation having grown up and ha kids makes this the best family game out there)
Apples to Apples Super Scrabble Trivial Pursuit 6 -or- 90s Edition -or- Book Lover's Edition
(My personal favorites; the Trivial Pursuits are listed in ascending order of impossibleness)
Settlers of Catan Carcasonne - the Castle India Rails
(these are all by the same company and work well for people of the Risk mindset. I am not of the Risk mindset, but I sure did sell a lot of them)
The Farming Game Pit Mille Bournes
(All three of these turn unbearably dull subjects - farming, futures trading, car racing - into very fun games. And everyone likes them.)
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Apples to Apples SET Scrabble (though I've always wanted to mess with the rules by doing all names scrabble or all countries scrabble or something like that and no one will do it with me. *pouts*) Rummikub Balderdash (but not with the cards and the board, just use the dictionary and keep score on a piece of paper, that way you get to choose the word and it's so much funner)
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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If dice are not your thing, Diplomacy is an excellent game, though it does need seven players to bring out the best in it. And since you have to backstab someone to win, it may be best not to play with family members. Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Does anyone else find it amusing that Orson Scott Card was yelling "NO CARDS!"
I enjoy risk, though I don't know if it's my favorite board game. I've never actually tried it, but I think that it would be interesting to play a multi-world game of risk, where the Alaska of one connects to the Kamchatka (sp?) of the other, and so on, and so forth. Would probably take way too long, though.
Posts: 1466 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I love, love, love Carcassone. Technically not a board game though, it's a tile laying game.
My children love it too, and it's a game that is interesting for several different age levels which helps.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Scrabble is most fun when everyone works on everyone else's letters to come up with the best points possible, and keep individual scores if you want, but keep a total score to try to get as many points as possible total.
Well that's how my family likes to play... Posts: 772 | Registered: Feb 2005
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Solar Quest is a favorite among my crowd. I've never been a fan of Risk because my friend is a big positve mental attitude freak and always ends up rolling twenty sets of sixes in a row, killing off armies ten to one.
Axis and Allies, once my friends and I took two sets of that and played a giant game on a 4x8 piece of plywood with continents taped on it in my garage over summer break. We devised new units and a movement system. It took all summer.
The Totally Insane Game, based of of Uno, with myriads of house rules, including stacking and adding, matching and just about anything else. It's crazy especially at two in the morning. Pit Mille Bornes, Rook all these stand as classics.
Cranium, Baldedash, Taboo fun party games.
And I have a standing scrabble with my mother and British grandmother every sunday night.
Chess would have to be my favorite 'cause if I lose its my own #$%^ fault, can't blame it on rolls or draws.
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Civilization, by Avalon Hill. I'm not sure the company's in business anymore.
It's very much like Risk (some will debate this), except that war is usually just an inevitable consequence of population growth. I try to avoid war, and that tends to help me win. Trading is a pretty good demonstration of the Nash equilibrium too, as I understand it.
There's a computer a game of the same name, I don't know if there's a relationship between the manufacturers. The board game of Civilization has a similar feel to WarCraft.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I'm not sure if it's new or not, but their website made it seem like it, they have a new Risk game out. Risk: Godstorm.
You play in the ancient world, with the celts, greeks, persians, etc, even Atlantis. You fight, and there are units that represent gods on your side, and some wacky cards that do special things. And you have to build temples, and battle in the underworld if your men die.
It looks complicated, but it might actually have something to it.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I played Risk Godstorm, and it's alright. However, they modeled it almost exactly after Risk 2210. Instead of Commanders, you have Gods. However, the Gods don't let you do different things (like go into space, or the sea in Risk 2210), they just give you certain advantages like attacker wins ties, etc. The gods don't really add to the strategy of the game like the commanders of 2210 do.
Also, the underworld sounds cool, but when you start playing it, it just makes the game MUCH longer without adding in that much fun.
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I like playing with "sligtly adjusted rules", it makes the games more interesting. Especially when I can win Risk on the first turn. I also like Lord of the Rings Risk, Monopoly, and Chess (even though I suck at it), and LotR Trivial Pursuit (put all those random facts to use ).
quote: No one else likes Cathedral?
I love Cathedral! It's not a very popular game, I'm surprised that you have heard of it.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I also like Lord of the Rings Risk, Monopoly, and Chess (even though I suck at it), and LotR Trivial Pursuit (put all those random facts to use 
