board games

[Erloas]

So first I would like to say I did search for this and found a few things, but too old to post in.and yes, one thread even started by me, but I'm looking again

I'm looking for a game to pick up for my brother's birthday. Chances are most of the time there won't be more then 2-3 players. Play time and complexity isn't much of an issue.

We already have Zombies!, Munchkin, Settlers of Catan, and Carcassonne. (I'm thinking I've forgot something too)

After reading some older threads the games that seemed pretty good are:
Arkham Horror, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, Dominion, and A Game of Thrones.

I've read a little bit about each, but still not real sure on what to go with. With A Game of Thrones there seems to be a board game and a card game and no one seems to really make it clear which game they were talking about. In fact I'm still not totally sure they are different games or the same game that is in a different box.

So I'm wondering what people think of each, especially replayability and fun when you don't have a lot of players (as some games loose a lot with only 2-3 players).

[Timberwolf]

Dominion's great, 4 players max, pretty much infinite replayablity. You won't be disappointed.

Ticket to ride is also good.

[Zevox]

Dominion's great, 4 players max, pretty much infinite replayablity. You won't be disappointed.
Since when :smallconfused: ? We used to play it all the time at my school's game club, sometimes with 5 or 6 players. Granted, the game slows down a fair bit at that point, but still.

Anyway, I second Dominion, it's a fantastic card game.

Zevox

[Timberwolf]

Since the last time i played it when I was told that.

Not my game though.

[Thane of Fife]

I can say that Pandemic definitely works well with only 2-3 players, and it's cooperative nature means that you could easily have somebody control multiple characters if you wanted to mix things up and try it with four. It's pretty replayable, as the game is always set-up differently.

I'd also like to throw out Race for the Galaxy (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28143/race-for-the-galaxy) for consideration, though, if you're taking suggestions. It's more of a card game than a board game, but it's a lot of fun, and works quite well with anywhere from 2-4 players.

[Philistine]

A Touch of Evil (http://www.flyingfrog.net/atouchofevil) is fun, can be played either competitively or cooperatively, and works for 2-8 players.

EDIT: The Something Wicked expansion apparently includes rules for solo play, even.

[Corlindale]

Dominion is made of awesome. I've yet to meet anyone who didn't fall in love with it almost instantly. It's quick to play, every game is different, and it is extremely addictive.


Re. number of players - the original game is 4 player max, but you can combine it with the stand-alone expansion Dominion Intrigue to go up to 6-player max. I do hear it slows down a bit then (never played with more than 4 myself), and indeed the optimal number of players seem to be 3-4 (although it is also among the few games which work surprisingly well with just 2 players).

Ticket to Ride in all of its incarnations is also quite fun. The Europe edition is pretty nice, and work for up to 5 players (same as the US version, but I've only played that once).
But if you are mostly playing just 2-3 people you might consider getting The Nordic Countries instead, as it is actually designed for that number of players. It does make for a more "evil" and competitive game, though. It's much easier to mess up each other's plans on the smaller map, and I find that it makes for a much more interesting and competitive game this way.

[Cristo Meyers]

A Touch of Evil (http://www.flyingfrog.net/atouchofevil) is fun, can be played either competitively or cooperatively, and works for 2-8 players.

EDIT: The Something Wicked expansion apparently includes rules for solo play, even.

Seconding this (Hell, I think my second time playing this was with Philistine, here...). My best description is Arkham Horror lite. It's not quite as complex as Arkham, but still a load of fun. Something Wicked is almost a requirement, though.

[Dr. Bath]

Chrononaughts is a fun card game for any number of players really. Better with more generally.

[Driderman]

A Touch of Evil (http://www.flyingfrog.net/atouchofevil) is fun, can be played either competitively or cooperatively, and works for 2-8 players.

EDIT: The Something Wicked expansion apparently includes rules for solo play, even.

On that note, Flying Frogs other game, Last Night on Earth, is also quite good. Its a zombies vs. survivors game, with various scenarios and random board and item generation. You can play it 2 players or more

[Tydude]

Yeah, I love Dominion, especially with the Seaside expansion. I'd also like to suggest Small World (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692/small-world).

[Triaxx]

Risk? You said no time constraints, but I guess one measured against continental drift isn't quite what you meant.

That said, there are also variants of Risk, including a middle-earth version depending on how nerdy your players are.

[Trazoi]

Out of the games you've listed I've only played Ticket to Ride, but it's quite fun. The advantage of Ticket to Ride over many other board games is that it's quite easy to teach to new players even if they're not heavily into board games.

[fknm]

After reading some older threads the games that seemed pretty good are:
Arkham Horror, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, Dominion, and A Game of Thrones.

Arkham Horror is fantastic, and probably the best co-op on the market, although it really is too easy without the Dunwich Horror expansion and at least one small box expansion (IMO, the best is the King in Yellow expansion).

Pandemic is basically a dull version of Arkham.

Ticket to Ride has some major balance issues in the ticket draws (protip- get lucky, draw tickets that line up east/west, since that's where the more lucrative connections are), but it's probably the best of the "gateway" games (which also include Catan, Carcassone, and Ra). Consider going a bit towards left field and getting Notre Dame instead.

Dominion is crap, and I'll never understand why it's popular. For each set of cards chosen, there's one obviously optimal strategy (hint: if Village or Laboratory are out there, then it's that), which everyone will take, meaning that the entire game is decided based on luck of the draw. To quote a friend who basically summed it up perfectly:

PRO TIP: Combinations and possibilities don't mean jack when some options are blatantly superior to others, and every option is always open to every player, unless you somehow fail to jump on the bandwagon of something broken with 10 copies of it available. Thus:

Turn 1-3: Village (5/2 Split? Going late in the lineup? Sorry you got screwed, better luck next time.)
Turn 4-9: Smithy, Mine
Turn 10+: Province, Market

Plenty of downtime, luck of the draw, autopilot method of playing, but chiefly: with the same pool and virtually the same resources, every player might as well assume the same (optimum) strategy. What is this, Settlers?

- (Some of) The Buildings -
Cellar: Crap
Market: Replaces itself, never bad unless you could have purchased something better
Militia: Does very little, but sadly that's better than Woodsman. A secondary choice behind Mine.
Mine: Broken
Moat: Repels Militia and worth checking out, but if you expect to have one VP in hand Smithy is better
Remodel: Crap
Smithy: Ancestral Recall (Broken)
Village: Broken
Woodcutter: Crap
Workshop: Crap

Get Race for the Galaxy instead, but stay away from the expansions on that one.

A Game of Thrones is OK, but a bit long for what it is.

Other top choices:
Caylus is fantastic. So is Puerto Rico. Louis XIV is easily the best "area control" game out there, and puts the massively overrated El Grande to shame. In the Year of the Dragon has an utterly fascinating central mechanic, but the game is fundamentally broken- however, by the time you figure out what it is that breaks the game, you may well have gotten your money's worth out of it. Bidding/Auction games usually suck, but if you really need to buy one that isn't a 20 minute quickie, Chicago Express is the way to go.

[Joran]

Dominion is crap, and I'll never understand why it's popular. For each set of cards chosen, there's one obviously optimal strategy (hint: if Village or Laboratory are out there, then it's that), which everyone will take, meaning that the entire game is decided based on luck of the draw. To quote a friend who basically summed it up perfectly:


Get Race for the Galaxy instead, but stay away from the expansions on that one.


Dominion is popular because it's easy to learn, is different every playthrough, pretty deep, and fast to play. It's also a pretty ingenious game design

Dominion is a lot better with the first expansion: Dominion: Intrigue. It adds a lot more variety and opens up various different strategies. Sometimes, there are still dominant strategies (ie. Chapel is always a great card to have), but the expansion does mitigate some of the flaws you and your friend found.

Race for the Galaxy is better with two players in two player advanced. It has a fairly steep learning curve, but once you play three or four games, it's a great game.

I find Dominion to be the superior 3-4 player game but Race for the Galaxy the superior 2 player game.


Arkham Horror is fantastic, and probably the best co-op on the market, although it really is too easy without the Dunwich Horror expansion and at least one small box expansion (IMO, the best is the King in Yellow expansion).

Pandemic is basically a dull version of Arkham.

Pandemic is the 1 hour version of Arkham. There's an even simpler and faster playing cooperative game called Forbidden Island. At $16, it's pretty cheap and you can try it out to see if you enjoy cooperative games (games where you play against the board rather than each other).

P.S. Of those you listed, I'd vote for Dominion. Since Dominion + Intrigue came into our lives, it's been the alpha/omega of our gaming sessions.

[HamHam]

Risk? You said no time constraints, but I guess one measured against continental drift isn't quite what you meant.

That said, there are also variants of Risk, including a middle-earth version depending on how nerdy your players are.

The newest update of the basic Risk is actually pretty interesting, and the one game I've played so far of it only took an hour.

[Eldan]

We've also had quite some fun with Horus Heresy (2 players) and Chaos in the Old World (4 players, only played once, sadly). Both obviously Warhammer (40k) based.
In my first game of Horus Heresy, I utterly stomped the chaos player into the ground. Horus got away alive, but he lost all his legions.

[Castaras]

Kings and Things, Cosmic Encounters, Solar Trader, Sorcerer's Cave (floor game rather than board game) are all fun. They may be too old for you to find in shops though.

[Erloas]

Well for now I have went with Dominion. I'll keep many of the other suggestions in mind for Christmas when I'll need to think of something again.

[Pig Norton]

Ticket to Ride has some major balance issues in the ticket draws (protip- get lucky, draw tickets that line up east/west, since that's where the more lucrative connections are), but it's probably the best of the "gateway" games (which also include Catan, Carcassone, and Ra). Consider going a bit towards left field and getting Notre Dame instead.

Other top choices:
Caylus is fantastic. So is Puerto Rico. Louis XIV is easily the best "area control" game out there, and puts the massively overrated El Grande to shame. In the Year of the Dragon has an utterly fascinating central mechanic, but the game is fundamentally broken- however, by the time you figure out what it is that breaks the game, you may well have gotten your money's worth out of it. Bidding/Auction games usually suck, but if you really need to buy one that isn't a 20 minute quickie, Chicago Express is the way to go.

Now wait just a minute! Ra is one of, if not THE best gateway game ever designed! Ticket to Ride is fine and all, but it can't even begin to approach the tension and fun of Ra.
I also disagree with you about bidding games. I really enjoy Modern Art, Ra, and For Sale, and I think they're games that almost anyone could have fun playing.

As far as my own suggestions go, get Feudo and/or Tigris and Euphrates. Both of them are loads of fun.

[fknm]

Ra in a nutshell- Are you the last one in on a round where you go an improbable amount of time before the last red tile hits? If so, you win. Three chances for it to happen means it'll happen to someone, thus negating any "skill" in the game- just get lucky.

I do like For Sale, hence why I said that bidding games that aren't 15 minute quickies generally suck. Modern Art, though, is terrible (full disclosure: I generally dislike Knizia's stuff). Buy good art. What is good art? Decided randomly? I sure hope I draw a lot of doubles...

Tigris and Euphrates in a nutshell- draw red tiles. The sooner game designers figure out that drawing tiles from a bag is not a good mechanic when those tiles dictate a player's actions, the better off we'll all be (I'm looking at you, Tikal, and you, Carcasonne...).

[Pig Norton]

But what's good in Modern Art is NOT random. If you have few Lite Metals in hand, buying a Lite Metal painting is unwise, unless she's already far enough up the track that you know she'll place. Every player affects the artists, and it's not terribly difficult to discern what an opponent will likely put up for bid.

And yeah, if you draw a ton of red tiles in T&E and no one else does, you will probably win. But unless you're playing Chess, it's always possible for somebody to get super lucky and win a game. But 90% of the time, the player who played the better game will win Tigris and Euphrates.

[Linkavitch]

These ARE the Gitp forums, right? Has NOBODY suggested the OotS board game? (only if your brother reads OotS, though.)

[Erloas]

Actually I already have the OOTS game... though the way things have worked out we haven't actually ever played a game.

[banjo1985]

These ARE the Gitp forums, right? Has NOBODY suggested the OotS board game? (only if your brother reads OotS, though.)

Can I blaspheme and say that I don't think it's that great?

*dodges the inevitable attacks*

It drags on for far too long, and seems to play pretty much the same every time, with the only difference being in the character you play. Mind you, this is my problem with a lot of boardgames, Arkham Horror, Runebound and Descent all included in this as well.

A couple of little cardgames I'd recommend are Mag Blast and Saboteur, both playable in an hour at most and work well with 3 players. I'd suggest you not touch Descent with a bargepole, on the first play it's quite entertaining, but it soon becomes a bore, like Runebound really.

[Eloel]

Can I blaspheme and say that I don't think it's that great?

*dodges the inevitable attacks*

It drags on for far too long, and seems to play pretty much the same every time, with the only difference being in the character you play. Mind you, this is my problem with a lot of boardgames, Arkham Horror, Runebound and Descent all included in this as well.

A couple of little cardgames I'd recommend are Mag Blast and Saboteur, both playable in an hour at most and work well with 3 players. I'd suggest you not touch Descent with a bargepole, on the first play it's quite entertaining, but it soon becomes a bore, like Runebound really.

Yeah, ideally, a board game shouldn't take 'too' long, and should have replayability. Noone wants to trash a board game after a single session, and absolutely noone wants this (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4815/the-campaign-for-north-africa)

[mangosta71]

Nobody in their right mind wants this abomination (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1406/monopoly), either.

Loaded Questions (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2838/loaded-questions) is a sure recipe for good times (especially if you just ignore the dice and board completely), though it's really best with a larger group. The group size of 6+ is no lie.

There's also the "post-it note" game. This entails everyone writing something on a post-it note and sticking it to someone else's forehead (one note per person). You then take turns asking yes/no questions. This is at least playable in a small group, though again it's more fun in larger groups.

[Xyk]

A friend of mine suggested Talisman to me. He usually knows what he's talking about, so I plan to play it when we find some players. Does anyone know about it?

[Elaborigen]

Hi,
I've been a long time lurker in the forums but just registered today to answer this post.

I have played quite a number of different board games and thought I might be able to add something useful.

About A Game Of Thrones, they are 2 different games. One is a strategy board game with very little randomness (think of risk without dices and more complex), but best played with five players. The other one is the living card game. Haven't played it myself, but I've heard some good things about it. The thing is that the living card format means that you have a monthly expansion, and since the game has been running for some time, there are a lot of expansions, some of them maybe difficult to find.

There is another A Game Of Thrones strategy board game coming soon (at least here in Spain, maybe it has already come out in the US). It's called Battles of <<insert English name of the A Game Of Thrones world>> I'm sorry but I don't have more details of it.

I would suggest the card game Citadels. Very fun and easy to learn.
If you like longer games, you could try Descent. It's best played with 5 players, but since the game is 4vs1, the players can take control of more than 1 character since they play cooperatively anyway.

Hope it helped.

[MrPig]

Creationary (http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=3844&CMP=KAC-GOOGEU&HQS=lego+creationary). Seriously. It combines my love for LEGO with my love for LEGO

[king.com]

The Battlestar Galatica boardgame is absolutely fantastic if you have players with half decent poker faces. When you have a really ingenius cylon, things can get pretty crazy until that one fatal moment when your ship, fleet and entire human side all get systematiclly destroyed by 2 cylons acting 1 after the other :smallbiggrin:

[Erloas]

Dominion showed up on Tuesday and we got a chance to play last night. The rules made things seem a lot more complicated then it actually was once we sat down to play.
I won by about 15 points, but I think things will get more interesting with some more games and people getting a bit more aggressive.