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I'm looking for a good board game. I'm actually considering Arkham Horror, but from the reviews, it looks like it might take a little too long to play for my board-gaming group.
Here are some of our favorites:
Settlers of Catan: Old standby. Basic resource collection and building game; takes about 1-2 hours to play. It is most fun with 3-4 people.
Carcassonne: Tile game; you make cities, roads, monasteries, and claim them. Simple and very, very fun. Good for families with children who can control their elbows. It usually takes about .5-1.5 hours to play through.
Formula De: This is a car racing game. Don't laugh-- it's really, really fun. It's also hard to explain-- so I'll let Boardgamegeek.com explain for me.
Talisman: I play this with the kids about once a week. I think I've grown out of it, though. It's a too random for me. Talisman is a fantasy board game-- you're given 20 characters or so to choose from, each with their own abilities. You roll the dice and wander around a game board, drawing adventure cards and battling other players.
Ages of Mythology: Resource/building game based on the video game. You play one of four mythical civilizations, and you compete with other players to gain the most victory points through conquest or building. It's not my favorite game-- it's not focused enough.
Puerto Rico: This is probably my favorite resource collection/building game. The premise is you fill your fields with different types of crops, or with a couple quarries; then you build up your town. You get points for shipping crops and for certain buildings. It's a quick game once you know the rules-- but getting familiar with the rules may take some doing.
Queen's Necklace: This is a fast-paced card game. The premise is that you're the Queen's jeweler, and have to choose the most fashionable gems to make the perfect necklace for the queen. The gem's level of fashion changes each turn, and other players may play action cards to take your gems from you. Surprisingly, I'm kind of good at this game.
Guillotine: An excellent, fun cardgame-- you're an executioner, and you get to kill nobles. The more powerful the noble, the more points you get. Players compete to get the highest score. It takes about 30 minutes to play through.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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My go to card game is Egyptian Rat Slap. If you are familiar with this game you know it to be a fast-paced, requiring both wit and quick reflexes. Rules: Started to type them, took to long: Egyptian Rat Slap/Screw RulesPosts: 247 | Registered: Jun 2008
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If you like Talisman, the OotS game should be fun. It's a bit longer, and it still has some random elements.
I also like Lunch Money (schoolyard bullying) and Illuminati.
Outside the genre of your games, but I find Ingenious to be very fun.
Survive! is an awesome game and in keeping with the others you've posted. It can be hard to fine - my copy came from ebay. Sea Serpents, Sharks, and Whales, Oh My!
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Card games: Flux: Fast, easy to learn, lots of fun.
Once Upon a Time: Use cards to tell a story, and hijack other people's stories using your own cards... with the ultimate goal of getting to your predrawn "ending" card.
Chrononauts: Harder to learn, pretty decent amoung of setup, but fun for those into history and time travel.
Board Games: Kill Doctor Lucky: Awesome game that's made by "cheap Ass Games", which is essentially the reverse of Clue. You're not trying to solve the crime, you're trying to get the victim alone in a room with a weapon so you can kill him.
WizWars: Very hard to find at this point, but it's an older game that's a lot of fun. Tile boards that can be arranged however you like, with card actions and dice-roll movement.
Other: Jungle Speed: Sort of like Egyptian Rat Slap, but more complex and a lot of fun.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I forgot one, Kill Doctor Lucky. It's like clue, but instead of solving a murder, you're trying to commit it.
Cross posted with FC. There is a "real" version of the game now. The Cheap Ass version can be a little hard to find.
Posts: 212 | Registered: Nov 2006
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Arkham Horror's my absolute favorite. We have it along with the Dunwich expansion. I've trimmed the decks (you pretty much have to get rid of half the spells and make that deck worth picking through) and I usually go for 'extended' play where turns elapse before the mythos deck gets put into play, and then gates start appearing before anyone knows about or can act against the ancient horror.
The good points are that the game is cooperative and theatrical. I like to 'gm' the game for new groups, where I don't play, I just run the events for everyone and read out all the encounters.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Power Grid. Resource/building game. Tactically challenging, a little long to play. Can be hard to catch up once you've fallen behind (although whether or not you've fallen behind is subjective).
Primordial Soup. Resource management. Wacky theme (you're a group of amoebas drifting through the ocean trying to evolve) that's very well integrated into gameplay. Lots of different strategic approaches allow for high replayability. On the downside, lots of little fiddly bits to manipulate can make gameplay slow until you get the hang of it.
Colliseum. Resource management. I am -terrible- at this game, for whatever reason, but everyone but me in the gaming group seems to love it.
Elasund. Resource management/building. Some similarities to Catan, but much more balanced and with less randomization. It's a game with lots of opportunities to mess with your opponents, so it can get a little nasty if you're all competitive types.
Reef Encounters. Not sure how to describe this. I've played twice and really enjoyed it, but no one else in my game group can be talked into playing it again. Dense rules, lots of strategic options. The theme is reef ecology, and I have a feeling that some of the rules might make more sense if I had a graduate degree in oceanography. Or maybe not.
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If you want horror themed, Betrayal at House on the Hill is fun. Shadows over Camelot is a nice cooperative game (well, cooperative unless you are the traitor).
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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Ticket to Ride. It's an eurogame somewhat comparable to Katan, Carcasonne, Puerto Rico, etc., but it's a little lighter and easier to learn and play then most of those games are.
Cash 'n Guns is really fun to play because you get to point guns at each other, but as a game I find it lacking, since in my experience, winning or losing is mostly a matter of luck, not skill.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Scott, which of the Carcassonne expansions do you have? Of those, which do you regularly play with?
The OotS game *is* a lot of fun, but it's incredibly time consuming. I think the game I played with Enigmatic, ElJay, twinky, Slash and Mrs. Berzerker took about 8 hours.
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I always use The River and Traders & Builders, and often use Inns & Cathedrals too. The Tower (or is it The Towers? I can't remember) and The Princess & The Dragon I don't really care for.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: Survive! is an awesome game and in keeping with the others you've posted. It can be hard to fine - my copy came from ebay. Sea Serpents, Sharks, and Whales, Oh My!
When I started reading this thread, I got to thinking about a game that I used to play at a friends house when our families would get together. I've tried to figure out what the game was a few times over the years and never tracked it down. Survive! is the game. I remember it being a lot of fun. Thanks!
Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by FlyingCow: Card games: Flux: Fast, easy to learn, lots of fun.
Chrononauts: Harder to learn, pretty decent amount of setup, but fun for those into history and time travel.
Fluxx and Chrononauts are both awesome. (I am never going to forgive Bob for my first experience with the latter, but that's another story. ) I have both versions of Chrononauts and all the expansions and extra cards I could get my hands on.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by FlyingCow: Card games: Flux: Fast, easy to learn, lots of fun.
Chrononauts: Harder to learn, pretty decent amount of setup, but fun for those into history and time travel.
Fluxx and Chrononauts are both awesome. (I am never going to forgive Bob for my first experience with the latter, but that's another story. ) I have both versions of Chrononauts and all the expansions and extra cards I could get my hands on.
You wouldn't happen to have a spare Beatles Reunion Album would you?
Posts: 212 | Registered: Nov 2006
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This reminded me of a game my family used to play when I was a kid - "Outdoor Survival"
I remember that I usually died of thirst wandering through the wilderness...good fun. I think it was an Avalon Hill game.
Posts: 571 | Registered: Mar 2001
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Wow... People have already suggested most of the things I would have. I'm occasionally reminded just how cool (nerdy?) a group of people hang out at Hatrack.
I'll second Betrayal At The House On The Hill, Kill Doctor Lucky, and Ursuppe/Primordial Soup.
Bohnanza is a fun trading card game with some interesting mechanics. It makes it useful to trade things to other people for "future concessions", as my family likes to put it (no, there's no rules guaranteeing such things will actually come to pass) or even giving away valuable cards for free.
Riccochet Robots is almost more of a puzzle than a game, but it's a blast, and it seems to encourage (among the people I play with, anyway) more of a sense of amazement at other people's cleverness than actual competition. It involves trying to move robots into various positions on the board, while using other robots to make sure they don't move too far (robots keep going until they hit an obstacle, whether a wall or another robot), and trying to get to the goal in the least moves possible.
"The Big Idea", from Cheapass Games, is just a lot of fun. Like Apples to Apples, it involves cards that are nouns and cards that are adjectives, but TBI has players put them together to create products and then pitch them to the other players. The last game I played had me pitching the "Ducky Flag" to the other players in my best Ernie voice. Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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I don't think Cheapass makes Kill Doctor Lucky. They sold out and now there's an expensive version (or at least at my local game shop). You can buy Save Doctor Lucky from Cheapass though.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Noemon: I always use The River and Traders & Builders, and often use Inns & Cathedrals too. The Tower (or is it The Towers? I can't remember)and The Princess & The Dragon I don't really care for.
I like the River and Inns and Cathedrals. Traders & Builders sometimes, but don't use the Big Follower or the Builder (takes away from strategy). King & Scout sometimes. Definitely not Princess & the Dragon -- too silly and random.
There's a few new expansions I want to check out sometimes. There's one called The Cult where you set up a cult next to a monastery and see who can finish building it first...
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by FlyingCow: Card games: Flux: Fast, easy to learn, lots of fun.
Chrononauts: Harder to learn, pretty decent amount of setup, but fun for those into history and time travel.
Fluxx and Chrononauts are both awesome. (I am never going to forgive Bob for my first experience with the latter, but that's another story. ) I have both versions of Chrononauts and all the expansions and extra cards I could get my hands on.
You wouldn't happen to have a spare Beatles Reunion Album would you?
I don't have that card at all. Now I'm sad.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Why do you think the Builder takes away from strategy? If anything, I believe the opposite.
If someone's Builder gets trapped in a city that can't be added on to, it gives the other players way too much of an advantage.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Ah. Me, I think that's one of the joys of the Builder. And one of the nice things about the later sets is that a number of really rare tiles -- the ones that, to some degree, alleviate the "can't be added on to" issue -- are included.
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BTW, one of the Amazon Gold Box deals today was a copy of Settlers for $19.99. I grabbed one to give as a gift.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: Arkham Horror's my absolute favorite. We have it along with the Dunwich expansion. I've trimmed the decks (you pretty much have to get rid of half the spells and make that deck worth picking through) and I usually go for 'extended' play where turns elapse before the mythos deck gets put into play, and then gates start appearing before anyone knows about or can act against the ancient horror.
I just got Dunwich Horror myself. Arkham Horror is a fantastic game. My friends and I all love it.
How do you run the "extended" version? Is that a rule variant I can look up, or a home brew? We've only played a few times so far, so I'm not an expert on rules yet, we may actually be playing wrong for all I know Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:You wouldn't happen to have a spare Beatles Reunion Album would you?
I don't have that card at all. Now I'm sad.
Some info to help you in your search then. The actual title is Beatles Reunion CD and it was a promo found inside the first run of Fluxx Blanxx.
Posts: 212 | Registered: Nov 2006
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Fluxx version 2.0 is a lot better than Fluxx ver 3.0, imho.
My Fluxx 2.0 deck is getting really beaten up, but I don't want to replace because I just don't like the 3.0 cards as much.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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A few games that haven't been mentioned yet:
Agricola--this game is big and heavy (literally--the box has tons of stuff in it!) but well worth it once you work through the learning curve. You might find the farming theme a little dry, but Agricola makes an art out of resource management and agonizing choices.
Race for the Galaxy is a card game that puts some of Puerto Rico's mechanics into a sci fi theme. You colonize planents, build developments, produce goods and then consume them for points. There's endless variety to the tactics you can try, but if everyone knows how to play, the game can go really quickly (maybe 10-15 minutes per person.)
Posts: 47 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Another favorite - and fun with a group - is Curses!
We played it with my brother in law last Christmas and had to get it for the family. Hilarious good fun!
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Euchre is huge in my house, and around here in general. It's a commmon belief around here that it really isn't played all that much outside of Michigan, but I find that hard to believe. Someone must play it that wasn't born here or initiated here.
Other than that:
Egyptian Rat Screw Phase 10
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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One classic board game that hasn't been mentioned is Cosmic Encounter. Came out in '77 and was recently re-released. I've only played it a few times, but maybe someone else can write a more helpful review
boardgamegeek has a review that gives this helpful advice: This is the game for you if you like or don’t mind chaos, or like highly interactive games. If you prefer seriousness or a payoff from a carefully thought out strategy, you should probably avoid it.
Posts: 1261 | Registered: Apr 2004
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It'd be fun to find or make a game based on founding old-school colonies, like in the New World. Or Ancient Greek colonies, like so many cities started out as.
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You know, Tom, I wish there were games that involved money, like in the civilized world. Maybe have a way to earn it, a way to spend it, and encourage trading.
What do you think?
Posts: 1261 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Thanks to this thread, "Ricochet Robots" got on my wish list, and was under the Xmas tree this morning. Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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My son got a small dice game called LCR. (or LRC or RLC or something with those three letters)
Its very simple. You have three dice. One side has an L. Another has an R. A third has a C. The rest have dots.
You play with three or more players--each with three chips (we play with 6 so the game lasts longer)
The first person roles three dice. For every R you pass a chip to the right. For every L you pass a chip to the left. For every C you put a chip in the center--where it is out of play.
If you have less than 3 chips, you use less than 3 die on your turn. (2 for 2, 1 for 1, 0 for 0).
If you are out of chips you are not out of the game, for the person on your left or right may pass you one.
When only one person is left with chips however, the game ends and the chip holder is the winner. (He gets all the chips in the center).
This could be played with a regular trio of dice, calling 1-L, 2-R, 3-C, and using pennies, or $20 gold pieces as chips.
Posts: 1941 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Blast you all! I now have 5 tabs of games that at least sound interesting open.
One fun game (which also happens to be free...) is Celebrity. Each player at the beginning of the game writes ~10 (however many you want, really, just changes game length) names of people that you think you could get teammates to guess by describing the people. All the names are thrown into a bowl which will be used throughout.
We usually play with two teams. On each turn one team is trying to guess the people that one of their members is trying to describe. The other team waits patiently and times out a turn (of however long you want.. not sure what I normally use). Like Taboo you could get any number of people guessed in a turn. Record how many people your team successfully guessed, then it's the next teams turn.
It's great fun(particularly with reviewing names from history...). The most frustrating are historical names which you KNOW you should know, but that you can't remember.
ok, anyway. Fun game.
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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) I have both versions of Chrononauts and all the expansions and extra cards I could get my hands on.
