Fun Tabletop Games?

Mr. Ghost asks: "My friends and I have recently been in the market for a good new boardgame or other tabletop game. We have worked through the gamut of games like Axis & Allies, Supremacy, and War! Age of Imperialism. More recently we have been playing tile based games like Carcasonne and Settlers of Catan. I am looking for some suggestions on some new games we could get into."

civilization

[zal]

i can higly recommend the civilization boardgame

Great Board Games!

[hugerobot]

When me and my buddies want to play board games, its either: 1 RoboRally (with all the expansions, especially Armed and Dangerous), or 2. Cosmic Encounter, which was the inspiration for Richard Garfield to create Magic: The Gathering

Go, really

[gninnor]

If you havent tried go, then I think it is about time to. It has a great handicap system for new players, yet allows people to improve over a life time.

Robo Rally

[trynis]

I think most geeks would like Robo Rally [roborally.com]. You use movement cards to "program" the movement of your robot in a race against other robots. Great fun!

Puerto Rico

[Fledsbo]

Check the top rated games at BoardGameGeek [boardgamegeek.com]. My personal favourite is Puerto Rico.

Sorry, didn't add as a link in my post...

[hoppo]

Munchkin Fu homepage [sjgames.com]

IceHouse! Lots of Games in one!

[shapr]

IceHouse [wunderland.com] is awesome! It's a game construction set and has rules for lots of games, and you can make up your own. It's perfect for the creative geeky type, for the easily bored type, check it out!
Looney Labs [looneylabs.com] has lots of other neat games too, Fluxx, Aquarius, many more.

Settlers Expansions

[hivebrain]

If you like Settlers (and who doesn't?), you should pick up the expansions: Seafarers of Catan adds ships, a new resource type and a bunch of different board layout options. Cities & Knights of Catan ads so much it's like a whole different game. Also, check out the game Puerto Rico. Lots of Catan players migrated to it when it was released a few years ago.

Modern Art

[Shambhu]

For quick games, Modern Art [boardgameratings.com] is exellent. A game takes about 20 minutes, IIRC (it's been a few years). It may not be what you want for your centerpiece game, but it is really good. You're basically buy and selling art pieces (cards) via different auctions. At the end of each round you total the value of the pieces in your collection plus whatever cash you have left over from the buying and selling part of the round. There's more to it than I make out, though, as the value of the work of each artist is based on the average value of all of the artist's pieces sold during the first half of the round. It's a subtle, well-balanced game, and unlike most of the big games, it is quick to play.

Board games

[deanj]

Fun Again Games [funagain.com] is a great site to buy this stuff.

Recommended games: Loco, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Tigris and Euphrates, and RoboRally.

Re:civilization

[bhorling]

I concur with the original poster. To be clear, this is the Avalon Hill version of Civilization, which was the inspiration for the more widely known computer version by Sid Meier's. The board game is long out of print, but you can sometimes find copies of it on ebay. There's also a European version made by Gibsons Games, which is very similar to the AH version.

Fluxx

[way2trivial]

can;t be beat..

http://www.wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Fluxx/Default .html [wunderland.com]
it's only a simple card game, but then it rapidly becomes a complex card game...

Re:Ogre and G.E.V.

[Seraphnote]

Oh yes. You can still get them!

http://www.sjgames.com/ourgames/board.html

Metagaming may have died with Mr. Thompson, but Mr. Jackson rescued a few gems.

This post is easily answered

[loomis]

Why not look at the highest user-rated board games in existence, many or which are new, and then read the comments about the games in order to determine what sounds appealing to you? Board Game Geek.com has all of this information readily available right here: game rankings [boardgamegeek.com]

Looney Labs

[OpenYourEyes]

Looney Labs [looneylabs.com] (and their weekly blog [wunderland.com]) make some excellent games that might fit your audience. They are perhaps best known for their card game Fluxx [wunderland.com] (my personal favorite), but also have a number of other games which are more board-game like.

The one that sounds most similar to what you're looking for is Chrononauts [wunderland.com], the card game of time travel, which involves a time line that you build and control on the table. It also has an "Early American" version.

As already noted, they make the Icehouse pyramids [wunderland.com] which are most noted for games like Zendo [wunderland.com] and Ice Towers [wunderland.com], but are also used for quite a few others [icehousegames.com].

Enjoy!

Re:Settlers Expansions

[rherbert]

Mixing Seafarers of Catan with Cities and Knights gives you a bunch of fairly radically different games as well. And if you're looking for even more alternate scenarios, get Buch Zum Spielen [mayfairgames.com], which includes a bunch of new pieces and variants from Klaus Teuber. The Mayfair version sells the original German book, but they also provide an English translation (with no pictures). Once you figure out the German words for desert, brick, sheep, etc., it's pretty easy to decipher.

Stratego

[06metzp]

This is a fun 2-player game that is something like a board version of capture the flag. Each piece has a value, 1-9 or bomb, and you must navigate your pieces across the board to try to find the other player's flag. When two pieces collide the values are revealed (you can't see the other player's pieces' value) and whoever has the lower number value wins. Lower rank (higher number) pieces are more plentiful but are also defeated more easily. The catch is that only Miners (#8, I think) can dismantle bombs.

I've had a lot of fun playing this game and recommend you try it out. The only bad thing is that if you lose one of the pieces you can't make another one to fill in for it (everyone will know what value it is!)

Days of Wonder, Blogs, and BoardGameGeek

[Obiwan Kenobi]

I've written on these guys before, but let me do so again in a more straightforward manner:

Buy everything you see here [daysofwonder.com]. I assure that you will NOT be disappointed.

Days of Wonder is a great company who takes brilliant designs the world over and shares them with a geek-like audience. Me and my wife love Mystery of the Abbey. Think of it like a really interesting, deep version of Clue. No candlesticks, no ridiculous characters, and it actually has -strategy- incorporated, and everyone who has played it loves it immediately.

And no, I'm not even getting paid to say that (though of course, it would be nice).

You can also read some (tabletop) gaming blogs:

- BoardGamePlayer.com [boardgameplayer.com]
- BoardGames-To-Go [melankolia.net]
- Chris Farrell's Gaming Blog [mac.com]
- Jeffro @ Mindsay [mindsay.com]

Lastly, I'd like to say that me and my wife's favorite non-boardgame is Bang! [twilightcards.com], an easy-to-learn great mechanic-filled game that anyone over the age of 7 will adore.

Oh, and of course, get all the recommendations you can handle over at the always fantastic BoardGameGeek.com [boardgamegeek.com].

Have fun!

Evan
CCGBlog.com [ccgblog.com] - CCG Design, Theory, and Commentary

Re:Puerto Rico

[nitehawk214]

I have to concur, Pureto Rico [boardgamegeek.com] and Settlers of Catan [boardgamegeek.com] are probally the best two games my group of friends have been playing recently.

I enjoy both becuase although the rules are rather simple, the interatcions to actually win are quite complex. And they are both very balanced, so there are many strageties that can win.

I would say that Puerto Rico is the more balanced of the two; however Settlers relies on some social engineering skills as there is alot of player to player trading nessesary to win.

Another major feature of these two games (and many others) is they are not your standard military conquest game, so they can appeal to a wider audience. (Even people who generally dont like stragety games can get into Puerto Rico, though Catan has a slightly higher learning curve)

Re:Age of Renaissance

[jkroll]

I strongly concur with the recommendation of Age of Renaissance. It is an excellent multi-player game. Even better, it actually plays well with 3-6 players. You don't need to fill out all the factions to have a good game. Most multi-player games fall short if you don't have the maximum number of players.

MWDA Twighlight Imperium

[orin]

MWDA is a streamlined version of Battletech. The minatures contain the record sheets. The game plays pretty quickly and you can pick up second hand minatures on eBay cheap. An expensive game to play at the tournament competitive level - but cheap if you are just looking for something with your friends.

Of course you can play Classic BattleTech - though this requires a longer investment of time. Things are quite detailed and it can take quite some time to resolve rounds.

I play more MWDA now because although I miss the detail of classic BattleTech, being able to fight a company vs company level engagement in 2-3 hours (versus 2-3 days) is a big plus.

There is a new edition of Twilight Imperium [fantasyflightgames.com] out. Highly complex and takes a while to play - but a deep and rewarding experience.

The "future" version of Risk is quite fun as well.

Zombies and Filthy Rich

[Digital_Quartz]

If you're into the tile based games, Zombies [twilightcreationsinc.com] is kind of interesting, although IMHO it's a little overly random, and not nearly as interesting as the other games you listed. Still, it's fun.

A game we've been playing lately is Filty Rich [wizards.com], a "3D" board game by Richard Garfield (creator of, amongst other things, Magic: The Gathering). The idea is you open shops, and then collect income from them, with the objective being to be the first one to buy three luxuries (trophy spouse, patent of nobility, private jet, etc...). The "game board" is a binder with four 3x3 plastic card-protector sheets [ultra-pro.com] inside. When you open a shop you place it's "sign" into the card-pockets on the sheet (a sign could span multiple pockets), then you roll some dice to see which pockets get visited, and collect income, and then there's a 50% chance you'll move to a new random page.

The game is "3d" since on a given page you can "see through" to pages underneath. It's quite a clever and fun little game. You can see the rule-book at the link above, if you're curious.

Re:Go

[Garin]

Yes, and another benefit of Go: it can be muuuuch cheaper than some of those hideously expensive board games. Check it out.

Speaking of cheap, my other recommendation is for cheap-ass games. You can buy about half a dozen of these games for the price of a single "normal" game. In my experience, we get about as much fun out of one cheap-ass game as we do out of a regular game. So that's six times the total fun! Heck of a deal.

My current favourites: Unexploded Cow and Kill Dr. Lucky. Maybe the C-A games are not six-hour hyper-political intrigue marathons, but they sure are fun.

Where to find info (and some personal favs)

[Chuck Messenger]

First, some suggestions on places to find info on what games are good:

The newsgroup rec.games.board is a great source of info on enthusiasts' opinions on board games. Someone maintains a database of ratings of games, as rated (mostly, or originally) by readers of the newsgroup. Search for "INTERNET TOP 100 GAMES LIST" (posted to the newsgroup every 2 weeks). Here's the current top 10, along with rating (1-10 scale) -- here's the link: http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/Top100

1 8.494 Puerto Rico
2 7.865 Euphrat & Tigris
3 7.756 Die Siedler von Catan
4 7.742 Die Fursten von Florenz
5 7.504 Modern Art
6 7.503 El Grande
7 7.451 Carcassonne
8 7.409 Ohne Furcht und Adel
9 7.399 Goa
10 7.387 Vinci

You'll see two of the games you mentioned on the list - Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan (note that the bulk of the best boardgames are German in origin -- the original German names are used in the list). I would guess that if you liked Carc and Settlers, that you match the taste profile of the contributors to the list fairly well, so you'd probably like many of the games on the list.

I've played maybe half the games on the top 10. Personally, I like Settlers, Euphrat & Tigris, and Modern Art particularly well.

One important question is: how many players do you have? 4 seems to be considered to be the optimal number for multi-player games (which are the most fun). If you have a different number, then there are specialized lists you should refer to. However, from your post, it sounds like you have several players, so the above list should be suitable.

Another question is: what type of games do you like? There are economics-style (e.g. Settlers), bidding-style (e.g. Modern Art), deal-making (e.g. Chinatown), path-connection style (e.g. Streetcar), war games (e.g. Axis & Allies), race games (e.g. Detroit-Cleveland Grand Prix), etc. etc. I guess you'd call this the genre.

Another thing to look for is the game designer. If you like a book by a certain author, you're likely to like other books by the same author. It's the same with games. Settlers was designed by Klaus Teuber -- a prolific game designer. So, you might look for other Teuber games. Many of the top-rated games were designed by Reiner Knizia -- I like just about every game of his which I've tried.

Another consideration is the complication of the game. You've mentioned Axis&Allies, which is relatively simple, and Settlers & Carc, which are moderately complex. Some of the games on the Top 100 list are fairly complex -- generally, at least as complex as Settlers and Carc.

Then there's game duration. If you like Axis & Allies, then you're probably not turned off by long-playing games. I'd think most games on the list would be OK.

There's a great website for boardgame enthusiasts, which you'd probably find useful in looking for new games: Boardgame Geek -- http://www.boardgamegeek.com

Finally, bearing all the above in mind, and considering the little scraps of information I have about you and your group, my tenuous suggestions:

I think you have maybe 4-6 people in your group. You have a taste for long games, and war and deal-making are appealing themes for you. Two classic games stand out in this category: Civilization (the board game which inspired the computer game), and Diplomacy. These are games which I would _most_ love to play, if I had a large enuf group of like-minded people available, and an unlimited amount of time. If you try Civilization, I recommend Advanced Civ over Civ.

I envy you, just starting to really delve into boardgames, with a group of enthusiastic players. You have some really great gaming to look forward to!

Good luck!

Risk 2210

[bigmaddog]

Risk 2210 is actually a lot of fun. I was sceptical when all the new variants of Risk started coming out, one for everyone and their uncle, but having played this one extensively I must say that it's very satisfying, and going back to the original on the occassions that, for whatever reason, we had to go back to the original, was met with a lot of grumbling.

It's way more complicated than the original Risk so it takes a while to get into, but some of the complexity goes a long way to alleviating the problems that made the original such a pain in the ass to play some times, like exponentially increasing army sizes and the potential for the game to never end. The rest of it is just fun.

If you haven't played this version but played the original, here are some highlights of what's new/different:

• there's a moon that you can fight over
• there are tons cards that do all sorts of horrible, horrible things to players
• there's a limited number of turns (5) and at the start of each, you get to bid for the order in which you can go, which adds a cool layer of strategy - even though there are only five turns, there's so much to do that a game can easily last 4-5h
• three territories get randomly taken out of the game at the start, so the map could potentially be really really wacky, with wide-open continents suddenly isolated, etc.
• the map is pretty wacky to begin with
• there are special units called commanders which give you bonuses in combat and each has its own set of cards (you need to have the commander to play them), and which consequently end up as a magnet for all sorts of evil coming your way form other players
• there's limited resource management of "energy" - you get it much like you get troops, from the number of territories you control + some from cards, and you use it to buy commanders, troops, space stations & cards, and to activate some cards and bid for turn order

Having said all that, there's nothing preventing people from being very very bad losers, throwing pieces, getting whiny... I hope the next version comes with a tazer.

A Few Suggestions

[Zonk]

A while back we had a 2004 Board Game Gift Guide [slashdot.org] that linked to some good resources. You might try those folks.

Here are some other games that I have played and enjoyed -

Tikal [rainydaygames.ca]: One of a set of three board games published by Rio Grande Games, the other two being Mexica and Java. Having played all three, Tikal is probably my favorite. In it you play an archeological team unearning mayan-esque ruins for the win. Lots of fun, 2-4 players and about an hour and a half or so needed. Family Friendly.

Cosmic Encounter [rainydaygames.ca]: Definately a more "hardcore" title, the best way to think of this is like Pax Imperia or Galactic Civilization in boardgame format. Requires a large table and has *lots* of little pieces, but it's incredibly fun if you have the time and patience. 2-4 players and about 3 hours (or more, depending).

Dos Rios [boardgamegeek.com]: An incredibly fun game about diverting a pair of rivers such that you have the most plentiful harvest, while avoiding the bandits and your fellow players. Family friendly fun, 2-4 players and about an hour and a half or so.

221-B Baker Street [purcifuls-toys.com]: An oldey, but a good game nonetheless. Each time you play you're solving a different case. You travel from location to location finding clues and trying to stop your fellow players from doing the same. Family Friendly, 2-4 players, 60 minutes or less.

Shogun

[MachDelta]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, so i'll toss one into the ring: Shogun, aka Samurai Swords, is an excellent wargame. If you at all enjoy risk or A&A style games, give this one a shot (assuming you can find it because I don't think anyone makes it still). I remember having SO much fun playing it... its an absolute riot with the right people. I really loved the for being strategic, yet simple to follow. The majority of the action will always involve one of your three Daymo's (armies), rather than being a complete mess of independant units (ala risk). Every turn was a surprise too, because all players had to secretly distribute their resources (koku) and then reveal their 'plans' simultaneously (seeing who won the ninja/assassin was always exciting). Then you got to draw swords to determine that rounds playing order. Like I said though, people make a difference too. When we weren't moving stuff around on the board, someone was always whispering behind someone else's back... forging temporary alliances, playing all sides, plotting to stab your friends in the back. I think that was the part I liked the most - screwwing with other players heads as a part of the game. You were constantly plotting to double team the most powerful player, and then at the same time ruin your ally to come out on top yourself... only to be drug back down by the heads you stepped on to get to the top. Some games would last for days in a seemingly endless cycle of alliances, betrayals, feints, and strategic wizardry.
Many a sunrise-too-early crept over the blood stained fields of feudal japan when we dug out that game. Good times! :)

Re:Great Board Games!

[hibiki_r]

If anyone is looking for a copy of RoboRally, you should know that Hasbro will be reprinting it this summer. We still don't know if there are any real changes from the original, but I don't think they can screw it up too badly.

Cheapass Games

[Shipwack]

This company makes a ton of wierd, fun, -cheap- games. Prices range from free (on their website) all the way up to $7.50 or so (with most being being 5 bucks or less). They should be in stock at ayour local game store, if you have one. http://www.cheapass.com/ [cheapass.com]

Cranium!

[arhar]

http://www.cranium.com/ [cranium.com]

Re:Board games

[hibiki_r]

Funagain has probably the larges selection in the US, but it's also the most expensive of the 'popular' online stores. If you're not looking for a simulation of the political situation of germany, or something of that caliber, you'll do better of at Time Well Spent [timewellspent.org], Fair Play Games [fairplaygames.org] or Cardhaus [cardhaus.com],just to name a few that will save you some bucks.

Good discussion on this last December

[Chazmati]

See here [slashdot.org]. To save you the time, here's a list of stuff I found from that story, games that sounded interesting or worth checking out.

First, I decided I should really get into Go. Some links from that Slashdot story: here [bigpond.net.au], The Second Book of Go here [pandanet.co.jp], here [kiseido.com], here [dragongoserver.net], here [samarkand.net], and here [usgo.org].

Other games:
Apples to Apples - got this for my cousin, they liked it.
Settlers of Catan - got this for myself, very nice game, try a local hobby shop or here [mayfairgames.com] or try Amazon.com

Others: Puerto Rico (Similar to Settlers of Catan), Lord of the Rings board game was mentioned, Kill Dr. Lucky, Deadwood, Give me the Brain, Lightspeed Games [cheapass.com], Fluxx [wunderland.com] is fun, very random and quirky.

There's more! Mind Trap [mindtrapgames.com]
Munchkin [sjgames.com], Heroscape [hasbro.com], Ticket to Ride, Mystery of the Abbey, Memoir '44, Queen's Necklace at Days of Wonder [daysofwonder.com], Bang! [twilightcards.com], Betrayal at House on the Hill [wizards.com], Articulate [peedeetoys.com.au]
Killer Bunnies (and Quest for the Magic Carrot) [killerbunnies.com], Illuminati [sjgames.com], Acquire [wizards.com].

Some other reviews/top game lists here:
here [bu.edu]
here [boardgamegeek.com]
here [gamerdad.com]

Happy gaming!

Try this one. . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

How about "The Awful Green Things From Outer Space"?

http://www.sjgames.com/awfulgreen/

Loads of fun!

Re:civilization

[anaradad]

Civ is my favorite game ever, but it takes 8+ hours, 7+ friends, and is out of print (costs $200+ on EBay). Age of Renaissance [boardgamegeek.com], History of the World [boardgamegeek.com] and Struggle of Empires [boardgamegeek.com] are all more accessible and likely to be played.

Bork Hasbro

[korbin_dallas]

I cant believe with all the conspiracy/monopoly nuts we have around here that they missed out on the chance to BASH Hasbro Inc.

Hasbro spent the 80s and 90s buying up everything. They were even smart enough to buy The Avalon Hill Game Company. AH held the copyrights to a huge stack of games. I mean hundreds and hundreds of games. AH had in the early 80s bought the rights to all the old SPI games. James Dunnigan had created and edited hundreds of games and simulations for SPI.

Yet Hasbro has not rereleased ANY of these games in their original forms. And apparently plans not to.

Junta

[just fiddling around]

If you want REAL political intrigue, double-crossing and some strategy, try Junta! from West end Games.

You are the ruling families of a banana republic (it sounds so eighties!) and the aim of the game is diverting the most foreign aid funds possible in your swiss account.

Hours of fun, for people with a sense of humour!

Like Risk? Try Diplomacy.

[AxB_teeth]

If you like alliances and political intrigue in Risk, I heartily recommend Diplomacy. Simultaneous movements (everyone moves at once) make for some very interesting situations. There are all sorts of resources online for Diplomacy:

• The Diplomatic Pouch [diplom.org]
• The Stabbed [brinkster.com]
• diplomacy-archive.com [diplomacy-archive.com]

I've played with people all over the world at Diplomacy 2000 [demon.co.uk], and I've never even owned a board. There are quite a few open source boards/adjucators (they do the logic behind the moves to determine movement success/failure). Of those, I recommend jDip [sf.net], a feature-rich cross-platform java version.

The game can get a bit involved, and there's a slight learning curve (very slight, especially if you've done Axis & Allies). Not for everyone, but it's worth a try if you like Risk.

Cheap Ass Games and Others

[Agilus]

My favorites include some of the Cheap Ass games (http://www.cheap-ass.com/ [cheap-ass.com]). They are wacky, usually have an interesting play dynamic, and cheap ($10 or less usually). My favorites include:

Falling - Awesome, fast card game based around the idea that everyone is falling, and fighting. The winner is the last person to hit the ground (so in effect, everyone is eventually a loser, because everyone eventually hits the ground). Games usually take less than 5 minutes, so you don't feel so bad if you lose.

Spree - Another really fun one. The theme is a competitive shopping spree in a mall, with guns and cars. It gives you lots of opportunities to screw over your opponents. It's one that I always request at parties.

Kill Dr. Lucky - This one is a bit like reverse Clue. You try to get into the room alone with Dr. Lucky, and out of sight of other players (via windows and doors into adjacent rooms), and try to kill him. It has an interesting psychological component, because other players may have cards to stop you, but they don't have to use them, and can pressure other players to use up their stopper cards instead. If there is too much manipulation going on, they might actually lose the game for themselves. I like this one a lot, too, but it's not as hectic as the previous two mentioned (which is one reason why I like them).

I have one other favorite that I always request, too, but it's not a Cheap Ass game. It is called Ricochet Robot, and it is basically a competitive pathfinding game in which you try to get one of four colored robots to a particular square on the game board. Each round is timed, and the person who bids the best path first (better paths have less steps), and proves it after the time runs out, gets a point for that round.

Here's a link to what appears to be the product website: http://www.riograndegames.com/games/rio122.html [riograndegames.com], but the description isn't that much better than the one I gave above. There is a picture, however. Here's a link to an online Java applet that appears to have the same game dynamic: http://www.braunston.com/kevin/rrobot/rrobot.html [braunston.com]. I really enjoy this game, but it could be because I win often among my friends. :)

I believe Ricochet Robot is out of print, however, so it may be difficult to find. I've seen a used copy in one of my local hobby shops, and my friend has a copy, so maybe it's not -that- hard to locate. I think I also heard a rumor that it was going to be reprinted, but I haven't checked up on that.

Re:Settlers Expansions

[mindriot]

I agree on both Settlers and Puerto Rico being great games. The minor beef I have with Settlers is that the game, at least in the standard version, too strongly depends on the initial choice of settlements (which in turn depends on the tile distribution and numbering, and the order in which players get to place their settlements). But it's only a minor problem, the game is still excellent.

I can also recommend Tikal [gamesinabox.com], which also uses hexagonal tiles and is turn-based, but has practically no random elements apart from the random distribution of tiles. Strategy and tactics play a more important role here, IMO. Great fun.

Re:civilization

[Lord Satri]

Civilization (Avalon Hill) is really the only boardgame I'll play with my limited time redirected to games (with some Go). Here's why:

- Almost no luck at all involved, yes this is important
- It is not exponential: the more you lose, the more the game mechanics makes you win, the more you win, the more the game makes you lose. So you have to be wise in balancing your civilization and adapt yourself to other player's styles
-You can win without fighting, playing peacefully, you can win through religion, of course you can with with force, etc. There is plenty ways to manage your civilization and they can all be good.

Only cons is that it is a long game, 7-10 hours. It almost can't be found anymore. Like another poster said, Civ Adv is 200$+ on eBay!!

Also: bu sure to play Civilization Advanced, since the "advanced" fixes important flaws of the game and is way improved. ...happy gaming ! :-)

Re:Illuminati card game!

[f0rtytw0]

Its fun, lots of fun. At times it can be complex. The best part I think (besides the humor) is that you find yourself forming an alliance against someone and then usually stabbing your ally in the back. I usually played in games of four people. You should try it.

Re:Great Board Games!

[hugerobot]

Directly from the source "Though there are about a dozen games that have directly influenced Magic in one way or another, the game's most influential ancestor is a game for which I have no end of respect: Cosmic Encounter." Richard Garfield, designer of Magic: The Gathering

Re:Modern Art

[Speare]

Diplomacy takes a lot more talking and a lot less board-play. On every round, an adjudicator would listen to all the move orders, and move all the pieces simultaneously. The game was in how you lie to whom, not particularly about moving the pieces around on the board.

There used to be an automatic Diplomacy adjudicator by email -- this would let folks take hours or days to run each round. This worked out well for a group of friends at work at lunch time. We'd get the new board layout from the adjudicator daemon at 10am, we'd do all our deal-making during lunch (and just afterwards in private offices if we were feeling sneaky), and we'd email our moves by 2pm at the latest.

The adjudicator we used was at the University of Washington, but I think there were others. Maybe some still exist. It's been years.

See civproject.net and other Avalon Hill games

[Fallen Kell]

If you have a hard time finding the game (and you will since it is no longer being made), I would go check out http://www.civproject.net/ [civproject.net].

Even before you buy the game if you manage to find it, the above site will give you an idea about it and help out with expansions and rule changes for the better of the game. They have done a HECK of a lot of work on continuing the development of the game, adding comodities, calamities, technologies, expanding the board, adding more players, rule changes, etc., which all create an even more interesting game.

I will say this, if you can not get the Advanced Civilization expansion set, the game is not NEARLY as good. But this is what makes it so hard to find. The regular Civilization game shows up on Ebay about 1-2 times a week and usually goes for around $80 depending on condition. However, Advanced Civ only shows up 1-2 times a month and goes for between $100-200 depending on condition. That is a lot of money to spend on a game if you are not sure you like it. I was lucky enough to play it about a year after it stopped being in production and absolutly loved the game. I was also lucky enough to actually find a store which still had it in stock (I called up every game store I could find, and found a place 80 miles away which still had it, they held it for me and I bought them, if I recall for their retail price of between $35-40 each, which is an absolute bargain now).

Another GREAT game is Republic of Rome also by Avalon Hill. Again, this is also no longer being made and is fairly rare to find. I didn't want to pay more then $150 for it and it took me 7 months to win an auction on Ebay for that price. Yes, there were several that went for less then that, but those were games that the sellers did not know if all the pieces existed anymore.

I would also check out other great Avalon Hill games like "Merchants of Venus" and "Blackbeard". Not everyone likes Blackbeard, but we do. We made some rules changes to add another player, it also seems to balance the game better (basically you do not really go in "turns", the person who's current turn it is pulls a card at the end of the turn to find out who goes next (the cards have a place on them for the number of players in the game and either a "blank", "player 1", "player 2", "player 3", or "player 4"). The game was designed for 4 people max, and if the blank come up, it remains that person's turn OR if it come up with your number (say player 3), it is also your turn. The blanks are there for the single player version of the game... Anyway, we changed the rules so you use the line for the number of players that you have minus 1 (i.e. if you have 4 players you use the 3 player game line), and if a blank shows up, it remains your turn, but if a certain player shows up, it is the player who is that many from the left of the person who drew the card (i.e. if player 2 is shown on the card, the person 2 people to the left of the current player now has a turn). I really helps balance the game more as well as give all the people at the table more turns instead of it being the same players turn 3 or 4 times in a row while everyone else does nothing but sit there...

Again, civilization is probably one of the greated board games ever created, especially if you have a large number of people (8-19 or more with the civproject.net expanded rules). Now it will take some time for you to get/make the board, pieces, cards, etc., if you use the civproject.net's expanded board and rules, but it is worth it to do. The regular Advanced Civ game is for 2-8 players and is really good as well (we play this the most, we only use the extra board/rules when we have more players).

I know I didn't talk much about Republic of Rome. It is too hard to describe. Basically I will give you this paraphrased quote from the rule book "The complexity of this game will make games such as 'Diplomacy' seem like 'Shoots and Ladders'". And to give you a hint, "Diplomacy" is a complex game.... You will proba

Re:Cheapass Games

[dead sun]

I really have to second the proposal of adding Cheapass Games to your collection. There's a variety of skill levels to their games, from simple move your pieces to lay tiles properly and thwart others.

A few of my favorites are:

Devil Bunny Needs a Ham
Spree! Hong Kong Edition
The Great Brain Robbery
Unexploded Cow
Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition

There's a number of their games I haven't played, and more that I have that I haven't listed. However, there hasn't been one that I've played that I didn't really care for. Fun, often quick, always amusing.

CASTLE OF MAGIC and THE CASTLE CURSED

[Anonymous Coward]

Absolute gem of a game I picked up at GenCon in the early-mid 90's. Your victory depends on three elements being either on or off... thing is,BEING on or off does something different in each game, and YOUR motivation depends on what character your draw from a deck of cards. For instance if your goal is to be the king of a particular country, and someone whose goal is to control the monster seals the three elements while you own its token, you're likely to win... as would the monster controller! That's right, multiple people can win or lose if the outcome is favorable for their highly individual goal. Vicious battles to control the state of the bell book and candle arise, with incomplete knowledge of what will happen! It's brilliant!

Rare as heck I'd imagine, but worthy of an intense hunt. No! You can't have my copy!

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1738

Checking further, it is still in print. (!)

http://www.cloudkingdom.com/

Palabra

[murph]

http://palabragame.com/worldwhatsnew.html [palabragame.com]

Fun game, with scrabble-like wordplay, but with cards.

The Late Great Sidney Sackson

[Thedalek]

While I've seen a few mentions of Sid's works here (Most notably Acquire), there are other works by him which are worth looking into. Specifically, I look at this statement:

We have worked through the gamut of games...

And wonder if you are aware of Sid's wonderful book, A Gamut of Games which contains protoypical versions of many of his best games, including Focus and Solitaire Dice, as well as some great discussions on gaming from a gamers POV, from a collector's POV, and from a designer's POV. The book is sadly out of print, but used copies can be found in all the old familiar places.

Next, you'll likely want to pick up a copy of Sid's answer to Clue, that being Sleuth. I find it superior to even Mystery of the Abbey (Which I would probably like better if I could figure out a way to keep track of where stuff is after mass), and it only costs $15 retail.

Another really interesting game by Sid (and currently being published by Face2Face games, who publishes the current versions of Sleuth and Buyword as well) is I'm the Boss, which is purely a dealmaking game, with plenty of cutthroat action.

I'd recommend Buyword too, except I've never played it.

Abalone

[pekeler]

I really like Abalone. http://uk.abalonegames.com/ [abalonegames.com]

Re:civilization

[Tecknowolf]

My friends and I, whom share a wide background of interests and lifestyles, enjoy a game called Zombies. This is a dice and tile game. You basicly move your zombie hunter around a board that keeps growing, killing zombies if you can and moving them to stop other players.

Yes, Diplomacy rocks

[sterno]

Diplomacy is a game of pure neogtiating skill and strategy. It's really a unique game because your success is entirely based on your effectiveness at manipulating your friends :).

I remember a game I played where one of the people involved was completely honest and open with everybody. However, when he talked to them, he always sounded like he was just about to stab them in the back. So of course people would betray him before he got the chance.

Of the tabletop style games, this is the only game that my wife will actually play. She can't stand Axis and Allies, etc, but with this game she has had quite a bit of fun.

One word of caution: NEVER EVER DRINK WHILE PLAYING DIPLOMACY. A game that is primarily based on back stabbing can get people really cranky when they've had a few.

Re:Cheapass Games

[__aahrlq8808]

I've played a number of Cheapass games and Kill Doctor Lucky takes the cake for funniest and most fun to play. I bought this for my sister last year for Christmas and she loved it, even when I can't get her to touch any other sort of game, board or computer.

P.S. You'll love this game so much that you'll be tempted to buy the sequel, Save Doctor Lucky. Don't, but try some other Cheapass offerings instead. This isn't half as fun as the original.

On Carcasonne, Settlers, etc.

[Qbertino]

Carcasonne, Settlers, Puerto Rico, Tikal, ... each of these is a representative of a refreshing trend that has held on for at least a decade now: The decade of a new generation of german boardgames. It's the first time we actually see leasure products being translated en masse from german into english. I can say that any of these games are good for perfect passtime.
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/ is a website that has many official web/internet variants of these types of games with english versions aswell. It's main gaming client runs with java and gives a chance to test games that you might want to purchase as hardcopy. If you find a game that you like I can strongly recommend getting the german version and a seperate translation of the rules, as german boradgames, especially the new generation, are of an impressive quality.

Personally, I found Cranium inane

[sserendipity]

YMMV

But the two times I've tried this game, it's been a complete failure. The tasks are too easy, and lack any depth. It's like an american version of a cool foreign film.

JMHO

Villa Paletti!!!

[Gulthek]

Everyone must own this game of construction and destruction. It's somewhat like jenga, except someone wins.

Game of the year for Germany in 2002.

More info via wikipedia [wikipedia.org].

Re:Like Risk? Try Diplomacy.

[welloy]

Junta [boardgamegeek.com] is a great, less serious game along these lines.

Re:Pente

[timster]

Calling Pente a "Go variant" is like calling checkers a chess variant. The play equipment is sort of similar but that is as far as it, er, goes.

Re:Not a fan of Go, try Hex

[timster]

The rules to go are very clean if stated cleanly; see http://homepages.cwi.nl/~tromp/go.html [homepages.cwi.nl]

Sometimes people who have played only a game or two think that ko is an exception, but this is a misconception; in advanced strategy it is a fundamental rule that is considered in almost every important move.