Your personal top 10 board games

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TristramEvans said:
Never heard of this game, but I do love me some Mad King Ludwig! I hope it actually involves castle building...
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It does! And just like the real castles they are odd and unfinished at the end of a game.
The auction mechanics bin this one really throw off the optimization folks. It's very tricky to get a good feeling for how you should set prices.

Try the app if it sounds good to you.
 
Bunch said:
It does! And just like the real castles they are odd and unfinished at the end of a game.
The auction mechanics bin this one really throw off the optimization folks. It's very tricky to get a good feeling for how you should set prices.

Try the app if it sounds good to you.
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I may do just that!
 
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is really good. It's my wife's favorite game.

Some people get analysis paralysis setting up the prices at the beginning of the turn though, so it can slow down if you play with people like that.
 
About a month ago, I pre-ordered Gloomhaven for the next printing...amazon says they're getting it on 7/2. I got it at a bargain for $136...I swear I've already let myself get too hyped.
 
Edgewise said:
About a month ago, I pre-ordered Gloomhaven for the next printing...amazon says they're getting it on 7/2. I got it at a bargain for $136...I swear I've already let myself get too hyped.
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I hear this name dropped a lot these days. Whats Gloomhaven's claim to fame?
 
Long campaign, something like near 100 scenarios, they unlock in a kind of nonlinear branching method, and you can go back and forth between branches unless one locks off another from a story perspective. Characters level, retire, you can unlock new classes from sealed boxes, the city you base out of grows over time.

The mechanics are very deterministic, rather than being dice rolls, so combat is super strategic and not swingy. If you lose a fight it is because of your own errors, not because dice cursed you.

Really, really good game. Also a huge game.
 
EmperorNorton said:
Long campaign, something like near 100 scenarios, they unlock in a kind of nonlinear branching method, and you can go back and forth between branches unless one locks off another from a story perspective. Characters level, retire, you can unlock new classes from sealed boxes, the city you base out of grows over time.

The mechanics are very deterministic, rather than being dice rolls, so combat is super strategic and not swingy. If you lose a fight it is because of your own errors, not because dice cursed you.

Really, really good game. Also a huge game.
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So sort of D&D in a box?
 
Sort of like that. Obviously much less sandboxy as you can't literally do anything and are constrained to the mechanics, but it has the same feel.

Also the world itself is rather unique. It has none of the standard non-human races, instead creating a bunch of its own, with their own cultures and such.
 
I seem to be in a tiny minority, but I couldn't get into Gloomhaven. It seemed too puzzly for me. I've only tried it once. (Mice & Mystics is my choice for "rpg in a box").
 
Black Leaf said:
I seem to be in a tiny minority, but I couldn't get into Gloomhaven. It seemed too puzzly for me. I've only tried it once. (Mice & Mystics is my choice for "rpg in a box").
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We played it for a while. Really lost steam once the first character retired. It felt like more of a chore to me than anything after a bit.
 
Dungeon crawl board games don't hold much appeal to me. I want an experience different from D&D and fantasy in general when I play a board game. Now I do love Lords of Waterdeep but that is about as far from a dungeon crawl as you can get.
 
Not a big board game player, but I'll bite.

1) Chess. I was rather obsessed with it for several years, in fact. I have a healthier attitude about it these days, and only play on occasion - and not as well as I used to ...
2) Go. I think I like it even better than chess, but I can't really wrap my head around it, and so suck terribly ...
3) Forbidden Desert. Really fun co-op game, the missuz enjoys it as well. Slightly better than Forbidden Island, I'd say.
4) Forbidden Island. Natch.
5) King of Tokyo and 6) King of New York. Good, fast-paced fun, both.
7) Pandemic. A good co-op game with decent strategy to it.
8) Castle Panic. Supposedly for kids, but pretty fun for adults too.
9) Risk. A classic.
10) The Amazing Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Sorry, I had to throw a nostalgia pick in there ...
 
This one?
1977-Spidey-ff-board.jpg


I had it when I was a kid
 
Necrozius said:
Once Upon a Time is really fun, but the 20+ times that I ran it every story was pretty much the same, regardless of who was playing: a young person, usually a girl (princess) goes on a long journey to a weird castle and strange, surreal shit happens. Despite my efforts to avoid it, every ending was handled in a 5 minute monologue.
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Try playing it with professional storytellers, who know all the fairy stories in and out.

You won't get a word in edgeways, it's not even worth dealing yourself cards, but you probably won't actually care. Sit down and listen.
 
TheophilusCarter said:
That's the one! I'm sure it was criminally simple, but I recall having quite a bit of fun with it. :smile:
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It wasnt bad, but yeah, quite a bit simplistic. You drew cards that told you how many spaces you moved. If you land on an arrow , you move to the next set of circles. Land on a web, you capture a villain card. The person that gets to the centre with the most amount of captured villains wins.
 
TristramEvans said:
It wasnt bad, but yeah, quite a bit simplistic. You drew cards that told you how many spaces you moved. If you land on an arrow , you move to the next set of circles. Land on a web, you capture a villain card. The person that gets to the centre with the most amount of captured villains wins.
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That rings a bell. And no one actually got to play Spider-Man, right? You had to be one of the FF? That seems to violate the implicit promises of the branding ... :grin:
 
TheophilusCarter said:
That rings a bell. And no one actually got to play Spider-Man, right? You had to be one of the FF? That seems to violate the implicit promises of the branding ... :grin:
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Yeah, no one played Spider-man, but there was a variation where you could play as Iron Man, Namor, Thor, or Hulk.

pic2020787.jpg
 
Let's see ...

Blue Moon City
Castles of Burgundy
Fabled Fruit
Marvel Legendary
Terraforming Mars
Valeria: Card Kingdoms
 
Was just looking at Castles of Burgundy but went for the purty Tao Long instead. Does Castles allow for two player games?

 
Many Castles players say it's best with two players.
 
Who all here is familiar with:
Cosmic Encounters
Hyperborea
Junta
I have room for one more game for my upcoming trip.
Criteria:
Must play well with 5-7 players. Our group will be seven total. A game that only plays five is ok since people sometimes sit out
No more than four hours total play time
It must not suck donkey balls regardless of whether that is legal in Nevada or not.
 
Vargold said:
giphy.gif
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God I love that show. I mean it so looks like an RPG. You have a skill monkey who spent nothing on combat skills. You have a murderhobo with almost no social skills. Pilot with some combat skills. And Holden. A balanced character. And of course the whole world revolves around them.
 
Bunch said:
God I love that show. I mean it so looks like an RPG. You have a skill monkey who spent nothing on combat skills. You have a murderhobo with almost no social skills. Pilot with some combat skills. And Holden. A balanced character. And of course the whole world revolves around them.
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+1

...and I picked up the board game at Barnes & Nobles, but haven't played it yet.
 
Bunch said:
Who all here is familiar with:
Cosmic Encounters
Hyperborea
Junta
I have room for one more game for my upcoming trip.
Criteria:
Must play well with 5-7 players. Our group will be seven total. A game that only plays five is ok since people sometimes sit out
No more than four hours total play time
It must not suck donkey balls regardless of whether that is legal in Nevada or not.
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Axis & Allies? It can accommodate 5 or perhaps more. A game is doable in 4 hours if people are used to playing such board games.
 
Bunch said:
God I love that show. I mean it so looks like an RPG. You have a skill monkey who spent nothing on combat skills. You have a murderhobo with almost no social skills. Pilot with some combat skills. And Holden. A balanced character. And of course the whole world revolves around them.
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Of course, that's how the show got it's start.

First it was an idea for an MMO. Then it became a tabletop campaign (the Rocinante crew) for PbP. Then another campaign started in the same universe (Det. Miller on Ceres). The GM and Miller's player then adopted the Corey pseudonym and wrote the books. Finally, the TV series, which is one of the best things on TV right now (well, it was until last week when the third season wrapped up).
 
I don't know if I have ten; I really only got into board games about five years ago. I flirted with chess a bit when I was a kid but never had the patience to actually get competent at it. But, here we go:

1. Agricola. This was the game that got me into board games. Really tight design, a lot of different possible paths to winning, competitive without being too adversarial (generally speaking, trying to sabotage other players is a sub-optimal strategy). It's a great game, I love it, but I suck at it. Like, really suck.

2. Eldritch Horror. Probably my favourite game of all time. I like Arkham Horror too, but Eldritch's more streamlined play really hits the sweet spot for me - though later expacs have lead to rules bloat that I'm not crazy about. I've got more value out of this game and its expacs than pretty much any other gaming purchase.

3. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu. I like this version better than base Pandemic. (I like Pandemic too, but not enough to put it as a separate listing.) Less fiddly than base Pandemic, and a much lighter co-op Cthulhu option than Eldritch Horror.

4. Rising Sun. I backed the CMON Kickstarter and got Rising Sun earlier this year. I've only played it a couple of times but it is an awful lot of fun. Backstabbing, bribery, bluffing - it is a game where, unlike Agricola, betrayal and sabotage are optimal strategies. Main problem is that while you can play with three players you really need 4 or 5 to let alliances work best.

5. Spyfall. It's not really a board game as such, and it's a really light, bluffing, party game. It's a great game to start off or end an evening, though, before moving on to more substantial games.

6. 7 Wonders. A lot of different strategies to follow, and I like the mechanic where your choices (e.g. to buy a resource) benefits an opponent.

7. Betrayal at House on the Hill. It's a bit clunky, and the hiatus as the heroes and the monster separate to read up on what their goals are, is a bit mood-breaking. But I do like the idea of the game and I like how the tension builds as the betrayal gets more and more likely.

8. Navegador. Sail to Japan! Crash the market!

9. Fury of Dracula. I'm not very good when I play Dracula (...look, I'm good at some things, I swear) but I do enjoy the game.

10. Dominant Species. It's a bit too chaotic for my taste, admittedly; it's really hard to pursue a strategy, as there are wild swings in circumstances as the game progresses. It's not a perfect game, but I've had fun playing it. I like the arachnids, m'self. The spiders will get you in the end.

Hey, I got to ten! I like Once Upon a Time, but I'm not sure I'd add it to a list as a favourite (except where, as here, I don't otherwise have ten). I used to really like Munchkin, but the appeal has kind of faded over the years. Have never really cared for Settlers of Catan. Honourable mentions to Navegador (sail to Japan! Crash the sugar market!), Flash Point (playing Backdraft soundtrack mandatory), and Ticket to Ride (nice light family game plus, y'know, trains).

There are a lot of games in this thread I'd love to try out. I haven't played Forbidden Desert or Island, but would like to - likewise Gloomhaven and Mice & Mystics (I do like co-op games).
 
xanther said:
Axis & Allies? It can accommodate 5 or perhaps more. A game is doable in 4 hours if people are used to playing such board games.
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Ha, Axis & Allies reminds me of a 4- player game we played towards the end of high school, me and a friend versus another friend and his brother. The brothers chose to be the Axis. Now, in this game it behooves the Axis to go on the offensive at the onset of the game because the Allies, if you don't, will soon have the advantage of greater industrial capacity and resources. Anyway, this guy and his brother were the sort of fellows who believe themselves to be tactical and strategic genii, no matter the evidence to the contrary. Their family was from Afghanistan so they would have secret strategic conferences in Farsi. They would even go into another room to discuss their moves despite nobody else speaking Farsi. Anyway, for whatever reason they decided to sit back and not attack, just build more units and gather strength. My other friend and I sort of cocked eyebrows and looked at each other as I immediately noticed something. If I recall, they were spreading out their forces more evenly across their territories, thereby leaving their capitals less defended. Something to that effect, anyway. So on my first turn (or maybe second turn at the latest) I essentially blitzed the Nazis. Threw everything available at Berlin and knocked the Germans right out of the game. Oh, it was a sight to behold and hilarious how the Afghani brothers' eyes bugged out and jaws went slack. They were so mad. They went in the other room and yelled at each other in Farsi for 15 minutes. Didn't need an interpreter to know they were each blaming the other for their brilliant strategy (knowing these guys, had they won they would each have tried to take credit for it). All that was left after my blitz was a couple of turns wiping out Japan. Shortest game of Axis & Allies I ever played. :hehe:
 
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Erstwhile said:
I don't know if I have ten; I really only got into board games about five years ago. I flirted with chess a bit when I was a kid but never had the patience to actually get competent at it. But, here we go:
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That's an impressively ecumenical list of board games you have there.

There are a lot of games in this thread I'd love to try out. I haven't played Forbidden Desert or Island, but would like to - likewise Gloomhaven and Mice & Mystics (I do like co-op games).
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If you like co-ops Ghost Stories is good if FUCK THIS IS HARD WE DIED AGAIN. I like Sentinels of the Multiverse even though it's a bit mathy. And Space Cadets is a lot of fun.
 
Black Leaf said:
That's an impressively ecumenical list of board games you have there.
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It's by virtue of having access to the Internet, and various friends who are into a whole range of board games...Agricola, Spyfall, 7 Wonders, Fury of Dracula, and Navegador I encountered through friends; Dominant Species and Betrayal at House on the Hill were gifts; Eldritch, Reign of Cthulhu (and Pandemic itself), and Rising Sun I discovered via the Interweb.

If you like co-ops Ghost Stories is good if FUCK THIS IS HARD WE DIED AGAIN. I like Sentinels of the Multiverse even though it's a bit mathy. And Space Cadets is a lot of fun.
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One of my friends does have Ghost Stories! Only played it once though. It seemed pretty cool.
 
Black Leaf said:
If you like co-ops Ghost Stories is good if FUCK THIS IS HARD WE DIED AGAIN. I like Sentinels of the Multiverse even though it's a bit mathy. And Space Cadets is a lot of fun.
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My favorite co-op game is probably Legendary Encounters: Alien. That game is hard as hell and it manages the trick of feeling like it's telling a story. Very cinematic and strategic at the same time, which is a rare feat.

Tragedy Looper is also great co-op, but it has an evil GM (like Descent or Imperial Assault). And it's so different that some people just do not get it.
 
For me they would be the following, and in no particular order:
1. Panzer Blitz/Panzer Leader (essentially the same mechanics, but on different Fronts)
2. Battletech
3. Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
4. Hitler's War.
5. Risk
6. Fire in the East (Europa)
7. Wizards (by AH)
9. ASL (Advanced Squad Leader)
10. Space Hulk

(one game that should be on the list, but I have never played even though I have the rules, is Harpoon)
Can you see a pattern there?
 
Someone mentioned Clue in another thread...check out this awesome Clue board.
luxury_clue_environment_game_s.jpg

*Under the Cluedo name...does that rhyme with Scooby-Doo?
 
Dumarest said:
Someone mentioned Clue in another thread...check out this awesome Clue board.
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That's goddamn gorgeous, even though you won't get me to play a game of Clue without firearms.
Dumarest said:
*Under the Cluedo name...does that rhyme with Scooby-Doo?
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That's the British name...I believe it rhymes with "doh!" As in, "Oh shit, I'm playing Clue - doh!"
 
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