Non-video games

[infovore]

Yes, quite a few. Mainly two-player stuff - it's hard to summon a big crowd that know the rules - but there's lots of good stuff out there. Highlights include:

• Knizia's Lost Cities, which is a brilliantly simple two-player game that's very fast, and a great way to get people into boardgaming
  
• Blue Moon, also by Knizia, which is a take on the CCG that removes "collectable": instead, each deck represents a single race, and the decks never merge; the game is perfectly balanced even though each deck plays totally differently. I really love this - it's a fast two-player game with push-pull scoring, and each deck totally changes the match-ups. Also, the main game plus every deck is only going to get you back about £50-60, and that's a lot of game.
  
• The Catan card game. Not really a card game - it takes up vast amounts of table - but designed for two and two alone, and I like it more than Catan itself; there's more strategy around buildings attached to cities, and the expansions are all brilliantly thematically designed.
  
• Carcassone, obviously, because it's about making the board
  
• 1960: The Making of the President was my surprise highlight of last year. A two-player strategy game about refighting the Kennedy-Nixon election? Hell yes. Turns out it's bloody brilliant, and has some wonderful mechanics - notably, the bag of cubes for probability, meaning that the more influence a player has on the board, the less likely they'll win any probability test.
  

Anyhow, basically: I like boardgames lots. These are some of the ones I'd recommend to people, but I'll also bang on about backgammon for at least ten minutes if pushed...

[Lord Gonk]

I play Heroscape time to time, and even though seeming a litle kiddy it is very fun. Buildable terrain fields for the game is also a plus for me since anything like legos. But anyways the real gme is a great battle game.

I also own Shadows Over Camolot a co op board game where you fight against the game. Sadly I have not played thias enough but love it when I do.

Oh and I have been thinking about getting Zombies!!! Is it a good game?

[Patters]

Oh and I have been thinking about getting Zombies!!! Is it a good game?

I have heard good things.

Note to self never play roborally again.

[n0wak]

Oh and I have been thinking about getting Zombies!!! Is it a good game?

I played the original, and I've read that some of the later games address some of the issues, but with the first one I'd have to say: no.

That said, it is pretty good for non-gamers and can be pretty hectic and fun. You never know who's going to escape, who's going to die, things turn from good to bad in a moment. It's a decent party-level boardgame.

But if you play with gamers you will be frustrated at all the randomness and unbalance. Basically, the second someone gets close to winning everyone unleashes their cards to stop that person, penalizing them hard. And because there are only so many cards they all get reshuffled so next time someone gets close to winning... well, you get the idea. It ends up being more about luck than anything.

[Nachimir]

Can't believe I forgot Shogi! It's basically Japanese Chess, but I find it much more enjoyable. It can be a lot more aggressive, but that doesn't make it a shorter game.

You can expend turns placing captured pieces back on the board as your own, or move a piece normally. This means you have to keep an eye on what pieces an opponent has in reserve, as it's sometimes possible to maneuver everything into fairly innocuous looking positions, then checkmate your opponent by placing a single piece.

The people I used to play with have moved to other cities and countries now. I'm getting really rusty

[Lord Gonk]

Thanks n0wak I'll look into it a little more then. I have a few friend who are not big boardgames gamers but this seems like something they will like. Also could get them to play some of the other games I have.

[DanJW]

Rab Florence of Consolevania fame and friend of the Thumb, has been doing some reviews of tabletop boardgames in a video blog series called Downtime Town.

He rolls a double.

His gun's jammed.

He's fucked.

Yay!

[Korax]

Cheapass Games. Some fun and creative board games for very little money. Kill Doctor Lucky and Freeloader are great. Also their zombie games: Lord of the Fries, Who's Got the Brain, and The Great Brain Robbery.

[Irishjohn]

I started playing Dungeons and Dragons 4E over the summer. I'd never played a tabletop game before. Lots of fun. 4E is clearly video game influenced anyway though.

[DanJW]

4E is clearly video game influenced anyway though.

Yes, a bit. But the video-game genres it is influenced by were in turn influenced by earlier editions of D&D.

[Shakesbeard]

I always check out Boardgamegeek before I head to my local game shop for ideas, it's a great resource. I'm seconding a lot of people here but when starting out or introducing people to board games that aren't Monopoly or Clue, I went with Lost Cities, San Juan, Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride, planning to move onto more complicated stuff once we got tired of them.

That was a couple years ago, and we haven't bought a new game yet...

[George B]

I picked up Carcassonne and a few expansions earlier this year, it is lots of fun, easy to get into yet there are some complicated strategies that emerge. Too bad most of my friends don't have the patience for games

Anyone ever try and play a game over a message board? It might be fun, no?

[Razor]

we have Carcassone + all non-fantasy expansions (wtf kind of idea was that anyway)

Alhambra is pretty fun and similar, but not quite as good. Basically it feels like you can do less to influence the outcome outside of managing your own stuff.

Bohnanza (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/11) is pretty fun

a short fun game everyone gets is Kniffel / Yathzee (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2243)

I guess the most time I spent with with that kind of games is with BattleTech though. Still waiting for the Clan box which is supposed to be released this year so we can start a new campaign =D

[miffy495]

I don't think I've mentioned Pueblo yet, which is a nice uncomplicated one for when you've got a bunch of people who don't have much patience around. It's sort of like building a Jenga tower while trying to screw your opponents out of points. Very entertaining.

[Scrobbs]

On a different level entirely, I was introduced to a game called Spoons on my birthday. It is a drinking game, but unlike most drinking games is actually good fun to play, and possible to for hours, as it's not too punishing.

For those that don't know it:

Get everyone in a circle and count the number of players. Put one less spoon in the middle. Then everyone gets three cards. Starting with the dealer, who picks from the unused deck, the idea is to make three of a kind. The dealer discards a card, and the next player has to pick it up, keep it and dump another or pass it on. The person who sits to the right of the dealer plays last, as they have to wait for a discarded card to come round before they can start to play, so clearly the dealer has a massive advantage, but after every round the dealer changes hands. The cards must move as fast as possible, and as soon as someone gets three of a kind they grab a spoon. It is up to everyone else to keep an eye out and grab a spoon as soon as possible after this, and the person left over without one has to down the healthy shot. It's quite possible for cards to pile up in front of people if they are being too slow, and thus they get shouted at by everyone else who's waiting for more cards further around the circle. After a few rounds the game descends into chaos, with cards flying round everywhere, and fits of giggles. Cheaters should not be tolerated (e.g. grabbing a spoon before anyone has three of a kind) and can be dealt with as you deem fit, but this typically involve an alcoholic forfeit. Finger pointing is encouraged.

It is one of those games that once you start losing, you are likely to continue losing. If the game goes on for long enough, everyone loses enough times and much fun is had.

It is such good fun, despite only the loser drinking a shot (or a double), that it's easily possible to kill a couple of bottles of <chosen spirit> in a session.

Fucking hilarious and highly recommended.

[miffy495]

My friends and I don't play spoons anymore. The battle for the last spoon always got waaaay too intense. Last time we played, we broke the table. For real. There's been a ban on the game since.

[Irishjohn]

Yes, a bit. But the video-game genres it is influenced by were in turn influenced by earlier editions of D&D.

Oh, no argument there! I wrote a paper a couple of years ago on the evolution of CRPGs and JRPGs. Actually, since I started playing D&D I've gained more perspective on video game role playing games.

[DanJW]

22 Years later, Rogue Trader has returned!

Rab has been looking into it.

[mkenyon]

I'm a pretty avid Warhammer Fantasy Battles player, at least 1 or 2 games a week. If you like the Total War series, you're really doing yourself a disservice by not playing Warhammer

I also play a couple boardgames when time allows, Carcassone, Race for the Galaxy, Axis and Allies, Wings of War, and Arkham Horror are in the main rotation.

[Digitalfox]

This: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Horror is one of my personel favorites.

I also enjoy some D&D, though still playin some 3.5e.

Also like to play some Shadowrun.

[Nachimir]

I tried out Dominion a couple of weeks ago, I really like that you're basically building an economy into your deck.

[miffy495]

Goddamn that game is good. Played it some more last week. I do enjoy heading to games night when I don't have to work. Also played a new one (new to me) that was about Space Truckers. Can't remember the name, exactly, but it was really awesome. Highly recommended if you can find it.

[MrHoatzin]

A buddy of mine recently bought at some Goodwill store a Carcassonne clone marketed towards Christian folk called Ark of the Covenant. Why Christians would need their own version of a game so very, thoroughly un-satanical is beyond me.

Unfortunately the tiles don't quite connect with the regular Carcassonne tiles, otherwise it would be a neat expansion.

[Nachimir]

I find the whole Christian repackaging of games slightly weird, especially when it's that elaborate. We have a copy of some crappy card game at work, which basically works on a collecting mechanic like Fluxx without the rule changes. Each set centres on a bible story, and when you complete one the rules dictate that you have to shout "The battle is the Lord's!". It's quite badly designed, but probably because it's solely designed to make families discuss the bible.

I just found out my housemate has a copy of Ticket To Ride that's been sitting around unplayed for years (!)

[Moelman]

I'm a pretty avid Warhammer Fantasy Battles player, at least 1 or 2 games a week. If you like the Total War series, you're really doing yourself a disservice by not playing Warhammer

I also play a couple boardgames when time allows, Carcassone, Race for the Galaxy, Axis and Allies, Wings of War, and Arkham Horror are in the main rotation.

I used to play Warhammer fantasy, but don't have much time for it anymore and also don't know anyone else who plays to play with. I loved it though, had multiple armies.