Board gamers: recommend me some games

[MsWhatsit]

I know it's early, but I want to start compiling a list of potential games to get for MrWhatsit for Christmas this year. We love board games at this house. He and I play two-player games against each other quite a bit, and then we get together with my sister and brother-in-law on a near-weekly basis to play some games that require more people.

Games we have and enjoy so far include Bohnanza, Carcassonne (a huge hit with my sister and brother-in-law, who have every single expansion), Titan, Can't Stop, Ticket to Ride, Advanced Civilization, Lost Cities, Lord of the Fries, Awful Green Things from Outer Space, and Settlers of Catan. More standard party games that we play on a regular basis include Taboo, Apples to Apples, Hear Me Out, Trivial Pursuit (I think we have just about every edition of this), Boggle, Scrabble, and Cranium.

So if anyone could recommend me some additional board games that they particularly enjoy or think would be good, that would be swell.

[Shirley Ujest]

Card Game: Rock, paper, scissors. Even fun for adults and has great potential for a drinking game.

Michigan Rummy is one of my all time favorite games. Involving poker and cheating and bluffing (at least in our family rules. Your family's moral terptitude may vary.)

Skills game: Jenga ( also a drinking game. If you make the tower collapse, you have to buy the next round. Never play this with Professional German Drinkers. I lost every round.)

Sequence is a game I have lined up for Xmas already for the kids. Looks very promising. I'm sure it could be a drinking game too. :)

Miscellany: Floor pong. Ping pong paddles, a free standing net or wall made out of blocks and ping pong balls. Good times. Yes, it could be a drinking game too.




Good on you for thinking ahead! I have 60% of my Xmas list done for the year. Nice to know someone else plans ahead.

[Garfield226]

Acquire.
Abalone.
Monopoly (by the rules, it doesn't last forever and can be quite strategic).

[Podkayne]

FFG has finally printed another run of Through the Desert (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/503). Hip hip hurrah! Camels that look like Sweetarts! Avaricious landgrabs! Truly, it is the most awesome abstract strategy game for 2-5.

If you're interested in the Hot New Thing, Powergrid (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2651) is creating quite a stir in our circle.

Personally, I have my eye on Primordial Soup (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/124), aka Ursuppe. It's like Evo (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1159), if by any chacne you've played that, but, IMHO, more elegant.

[Miss Violaceous]

Try The a-MAZE-ing Labyrinth (http://www.toys2wish4.com/amlabgam.html). It looks simple, but the design is elegant and it's lots of fun. It has adaptable rules for kids and adults. I know someone who loves board games, particularly Settlers, and can't get enough of Labyrinth.

[Little Nemo]

You didn't include Puerto Rico on your list. If you don't have it, you should definitely get it. It's an excellent game. The only downside I can think of to say about it is that it's a weak game for two players.

[Misnomer]

Sequence is a game I have lined up for Xmas already for the kids. Looks very promising.Yep, that's (http://www.jaxgames.com/seq.htm) what I came in here to suggest. :)

[John Corrado]

I'll second Little Nemo's suggestion of Puerto Rico- the rules are not complex, but the strategies definitely are.

If you like Puerto Rico but don't like the "not good for 2 players" element, look at San Juan, the card game that is loosely based on the board game.

Other games I'd recommend? Powerplant is a relatively new game, but I'm completely fascinated by it and think it has a lot of good levels of depth.

[LindyHopper]

Titan :eek:

You have a copy of Titan? Jeez, I've been trying to get one forever (it's out of print), and all the ones I've seen cost $500 or more. Where did you get it? Have you just had it since it was in print?

Wow.

OK, here are my recommendations (besides ones that have already been posted):

Tigris and Euphrates
Entdecker
Domaine
Africa
Babel (for 2 people only)
Samurai
Java
Tikal
Mexica

And, since you already mentioned Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne, I'd suggest Seafares of Catan and Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers. Good stuff.

[iamthewalrus(:3=]

Roborally. It's a little maze navigating/fighting game with robots.

It's out of print right now, but it's going to be rereleased in a month or two.

[lno]

Empire Builder and all of its flavors (Iron Dragon, EuroRails, et cetera). It's the drawing-railroads-with-crayons game which plays reasonably well with two players but much better with four.

Princes of Florence is a Puerto-Rico-esque game, also from Rio Grande, which I've highly enjoyed.

I see you've mentioned some Cheapass games. For four players, I'd also pick up Deadwood (and its expansions), Kill Doctor Lucky (and its prequel, Save Doctor Lucky), and Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition. Generally you won't go wrong with Cheapass games, but there are some duds in the mix. I'd avoid Ben-Hvrt and US Patent #1, but for five bucks, they're worth a shot.

Lord Of The Rings: RISK is a rather decent variant on the classic that works extremely well for two or four people. It's a relatively quick game, compared to some of the more massive tabletop wargames, and is a much 'lighter' game than something like War of the Ring, which is also a great two or four player game if you're Tolkien buffs and want to kill a few hours.

[MsWhatsit]

:eek:

You have a copy of Titan? Jeez, I've been trying to get one forever (it's out of print), and all the ones I've seen cost $500 or more. Where did you get it? Have you just had it since it was in print?

Wow.

It belongs to MrWhatsit. I assume he's had it since it was in print; he's had it as long as I've known him, which is 10 years now. Uh... $500, you say? :eek: Not that we've been careless with the pieces, but holy flurking schnitt, I'm going to have to start playing with protective gloves on. Yow.

(It's a great game, btw. I dunno if I'd lay down 500 bucks for it, but it's a lot of fun.)

Thanks for all the other suggestions piling in. I'm furiously taking notes. Puerto Rico is definitely at the top of the list, as is Power Grid. I've been wanting Kill Doctor Lucky for awhile anyway, so that's a definite possibility. I'm going to look up a bunch of the rest of these on Boardgamegeek to see what they're all about. Keep it coming!

God I love board games.

[ultrafilter]

If you're open to card games, Fluxx and Set are both extremely high-quality.

[FilmGeek]

A good drinking and shouting game I just played is Scene It. Requires a DVD player and at least one sober person. :)

[Hal Briston]

Michigan Rummy is one of my all time favorite games. Involving poker and cheating and bluffing (at least in our family rules. Your family's moral terptitude may vary.)If I may hijack for a moment, I'm very curious as to what your house rues may be. We have a weekly game (a few hours of Michigan Rummy, then a few hours of standard poker), and I'd love to mix the game up a bit.

Our only current house rule is "must have a pair or better to take the poker pool".

[Punoqllads]

I highly recommend TransAmerica. Fun, easy to play, easy to clean up. Most importantly, you don't have to worry about a player before you making your planned move impossible. All they can do is make things easier for you. This makes it easier to plan ahead; consquently there's a lot less waiting for your turn.

[mlerose]

Since my two favorites, San Juan and Carcasonne, have already been mentioned, I'll put my two pence in for Munchkin and its iteration of Star Munchkin. It's a multi-player card game, and wicked fun.

[MaxTheVool]

Here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2575361&postcount=63) is what I had to say about it last time it came up. (In fact, that whole thread might be helpful).

Seriously, give Chain Reaction or Homemade Pictionary a try. It's the most fun you'll ever have in a party game situation, and costs nothing!

[Happy Scrappy Hero Pup]

Another vote for Tigris and Euphrates.

The kind of game where all the strategy and planning and conceptualization can be undone by treachery and underhandedness, forcing you to take deep breaths and remind yourself that physically beating your fellow players is bad form.

[Odinoneeye]

Rummikube is a great game. It's played with tiles. I can easily spend 20 minutes analyzing the board to figure out how to play one tile.

My family loves Sequence, but personally I'm not that fond of it. Maybe it's just me.

[Little Nemo]

Duel of Ages is fun. It's about halfway between a board game and a role-playing game. I've only played the basic version myself but there's several expansions.

[Little Nemo]

The Duel of Ages website (http://www.duelofages.com/).

[Morgyn]

Arkham Horror (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/arkhamhorror.html) has been re-released. It's a very fun boardgame; Lovecraftian knowledge is not required but can add to the fun. I have the original version, and I'm thinking of getting the updated one.

I'd suggest Talisman, but it's been out of print for years and will never be re-released. You can get it on eBay, but the prices are very high.

Robo Rally is fantastic fun. You should definitely grab it when it comes out again.

[Marconi & Schmeese]

Owning a toy store, I have a little bit of experience with games. My favorite is an old pub game called Shut the Box. I carry this one (http://frontporchclassics.com/product/shut.asp) by Front Porch Classics. There is a $25 and a $50 coffee table version. I, personally, cannot stop playing it!

Also, this is a newer game that has won a TON of awards that I sell a lot of: Wordigo (http://wordigo.com/main.asp).

Finally, my other favorite and best seller is Blokus (https://educationalinsights.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EISchoolProducts&Product_Code=2995).

BTW, all of these links go straight to the manufacturer's websites. I will not profit from any purchases you make. :D

[Askance]

Rummikube is a great game. It's played with tiles. I can easily spend 20 minutes analyzing the board to figure out how to play one tile.

It's Rummikub, actually. And as you might guess from the name it is identical to the card game Gin-Rummy.

To the OP: others have mentioned Puerto Rico but that is not a 2 player game. If you like Settlers, I wouldn't bother with the Seafarers expansion but Knight and Cities is OK for a change. Better still is an entirely new take on the system called Settlers of the Stone Age, which I now prefer to the original Settlers.

The best rail game IMO is still Rail Baron, but again that's not two player. BTW there is a wickedly good computerisation of it available at http://www.insystem.com/rbp/index.html - it also has several alternate maps available some of which are very good.

I'll second RoboRally, but you need to not mind having to do a bit of spatial thinking.

[Scuba_Ben]

Most of the games by Cheapass Games are worthwhile, and it's hard to beat the price -- they sell you the rules and board, but not the pieces or fancy packaging. I personally recommend Kill Dr. Lucky and Totally Renamed Spy Game.

[Madd Maxx]

Are you pondering what I'm pondering? Where are the board games of my youth? We need the classic's here, Monopoly as previously mentioned, Scrabble and my all time favorite Risk. Hell, checkers and chess are board games too.

[Adversary]

Here are some suggestions. I am a German style boardgaming fan.

Classic:
Settlers of Catan - Excellent game for 3-4 players. The base game is a ton of fun with alot of replay value.

Euphrates & Tigris - This is a real brain burner. I haven't played in a while but I do enjoy it.

Strategy based:

Medici - I played this recently and loved the bidding in it. You bid your points for cargo that then scores more points for you. Theme is weak, but game is good.

Alhambra - Very enjoyable tile laying/buying game. A bit on the luck side I think.

St. Petersburg - I like this one alot if could fit in the light/easy category once you learn it.

Struggle of Empires - New to our group, we have played a few times, this is a longer game, 2-4 hours depending on number of players. I like this for the confrontation and civ like abilities cards.

Light/Easy:

For Sale - Simple Bidding game that easy to learn and has replay value. Great filler game.

Diamante - It is basically a game of chicken, with all players collecting diamonds from a mine and deciding when to run out. If your group likes to chatter and quote Indiana Jones you will get a good laugh.


One of the best sites for reviews and suggestions is www.boardgamegeek.com.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

Old school, simple, but yet not simple at all: Scotland Yard (http://www.areyougame.com/interact/item.asp?itemno=RB26117&q=RB26117)

I've had the game for years and it never gets boring. It says three or more players, but you can play all five detectives vs. Mr. X with two players.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

One other thing: if you're into simulations, find some old Avalon Hill games. Some are still made, but others are long out of print, much to my disappointment.

[TommyTutone]

I have 100ish German games in my collection and will be co-hosting an invitation only boardgaming event that will run four days next week (it takes place in a hotel conference room and is an awesome time). Some recommendations:

You said they were on top of you list and I agree that Puerto Rico and Power Grid are outstanding games. San Juan is light and fluffy, but makes a good filler as a card game.

St. Petersburg is also a fun 'card game' played on a board that still sees a lot of play. Amun Re is a bit heavier and plays best for 5 (but also good for 4) and is one of my favorites.

For Party Games, I really enjoy Time's Up as well as all of the old standards.

If you want an excellent card game Tichu is probably the greatest card game of all time, and Mu has elements of bridge, but is sufficiently different with an alternate deck, a different style of bidding, and the bid winner choosing his partner, plus plays great for 4 or 5.

[EarthStone777]

Among many others already mentioned above, I'll add Corporate Shuffle to the list of 'must have' games.

Also know as 'the dilbert game', it is a version on The Great Dalmuti game. A very simple card game, easy to learn, that is enjoyed by many of my friends who don't like games in general. An added attraction is that every card has a different panel from the Dilbert Comic, making the cards fun to read while waiting for your turn.

Excuse me now, I'm off to wrap my copy of Titan in acid free paper and double ziploc baggies for protection... $500 !?!?? Geeze, and I thought selling off my M:tG Alpha Black Lotus cards for $100 each was insane!

[TommyTutone]

Oh, and wanted to add Attika with its constantly changing board and multiple ways to win, which plays awesomely for 2-4 players equally (a rarity in boardgames anymore).

[lno]

Most of the games by Cheapass Games are worthwhile, and it's hard to beat the price -- they sell you the rules and board, but not the pieces or fancy packaging. I personally recommend Kill Dr. Lucky and Totally Renamed Spy Game.You know, I nearly bought Totally Renamed Spy Game before I realized it was, well, a totally renamed version of Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond which I surmise ran into trademark difficulties.

[XT]

I didn't see anyone mention it, but one of my favorite board games is Allies and Axis. There are also some follow up games in the series, some of which I've played and others I haven't (Allies and Axis Europe and I think there is a Japanese variant too which I haven't played). Its strategy light, but its still a lot of fun if you have an evening to spend and 2-5 close friends to spend it with.

-XT

[Mtgman]

$500 !?!?? Geeze, and I thought selling off my M:tG Alpha Black Lotus cards for $100 each was insane!Had you kept them they would each be worth about twice the current value of a copy of Titan (http://findmagiccards.com/Cards/A/Black_Lotus.html). And that's selling to a store. They may fetch even more on the market to regular players as stores sell them for ~1500 each.

Enjoy,
Steven

[FilmGeek]

I didn't see anyone mention it, but one of my favorite board games is Allies and Axis. There are also some follow up games in the series, some of which I've played and others I haven't (Allies and Axis Europe and I think there is a Japanese variant too which I haven't played). Its strategy light, but its still a lot of fun if you have an evening to spend and 2-5 close friends to spend it with.

-XT
Isn't this called Axis and Allies?

[lno]

You do indeed mean Axis & Allies. Recently (that is, within the past five years) they've come out with Axis & Allies: Pacific, Axis & Allies: Europe, Axis & Allies: D-Day and a new edition of vanilla Axis & Allies. The most annoying thing about this proliferation of spinoffs is that each one of them has a minor variant in its rules.

"Okay, does this one allow fighters to escort bombers on strategic bombing raids? No? Ok, that must have been in A&A Pacific. Wait, transports can carry armor AND infantry simultaneously? I thought that was in ... oh, fuck, yeah, I guess you can do it."

On the other hand, some nice game balancing has taken place - heavy bombers now only roll two dice instead of three, no industrial complex can produce more units than the value of the territory, the Atlantic has been split into a few more sea zones, the Sahara is now impassible, et cetera. The game can also be quite strategy-heavy once you've played it a good number of times, as the wise player will minimize the effect of the dice upon his fate, even though it cannot be completely eliminated.

[XT]

My bad...yes, I meant Axis & Allies (its been a while since I've played obviously). I used to play it with a group of room mates in college and it can be quite engaging. I haven't actually seen the original game on the shelves (I assume they still make it though), but I've seen the spin off games a few times.

-XT

[sturmhauke]

I played a lot of Diplomacy in high school. This game was said to be a favorite of JFK. There are no dice to roll, so it's purely strategic. Each player controls one of the major powers of World War I. During the Diplomacy phase, the players wheel and deal with each other, attempting to form alliances or concocting betrayals, whatever they can do to get ahead. After that everyone writes down their moves in secret and hands them to a neutral arbiter, who then determines the results during the Move phase. If all the players know the rules the arbiter isn't strictly necessary, but it helps speed things along. Finally everyone who controls a factory gets to build new units in the Build phase.

Ya know, I keep missing the Doper Diplomacy threads somehow. Next time, the world will be mine! Muahahahaha!

[gonzoron]

I've recommended it before, and I will again: Get yourself a set of Icehouse pieces. Like a deck of cards, it's not one game but dozens. The one GonzoGal and I enjoy most is Zendo, which is a great puzzle/game for 2 or more players.

Also, I disagree with Askance about Seafarers. I find it to be an essential part of the Settlers experience. What else do you do with all those sheep? (On second thought, don't answer that..) But then, I'm a Settlers Junkie, and prefer to play Settlers/Seafarers/Cities&Knights all together, if at all possible. (Either that or the weird scenarios in Settlers: Das Buch (The Book).) I never play plain ol' Settlers if I can help it.

[Reloy3]

A couple of weekends ago, I was at my brother-in-law's house and he pulled out The Farming Game (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5195), which looked like a horrible game just a little more advanced than Candyland. Trusting my BIL, though, who usually has great taste in games, I gave it a try.

5 hours later we were still playing, and have been looking for a copy ever since.

[straight man]

Just to comment on a game you already have...

Apples to Apples is much more fun when you make your own cards. Trust me on this one.

[Indyellen]

If you're open to card games, Fluxx and Set are both extremely high-quality.

I was going to suggest Fluxx, which is wonderful, but also pretty much anything made by Looney Labs (http://www.looneylabs.com/) (who also make the Icehouse pieces listed in another post.) I'm particularly fond of Chrononauts myself.

[EarthStone777]

Had you kept them they would each be worth about twice the current value of a copy of Titan (http://findmagiccards.com/Cards/A/Black_Lotus.html). And that's selling to a store. They may fetch even more on the market to regular players as stores sell them for ~1500 each.

Enjoy,
Steven

<Picking Jaw up off the floor>

<Deleting my initial comments because we're not in the Pitt>

<Going to bed to cry myself to sleep>

[clairobscur]

Though I'm not sure it's still in print, and despite it being a long game (typically, it take us most of a night, but you mentionned Civilization that is quite long too), I'm going to mention my favorite boardgame ever : Roma.

The theme is the roman republic. Each player is leading a roman faction and victory is achived by seizing power (being elected consul for life, attack Rome when coming back with your victorious armies, there are several ways..). It's mostly a diplomatic game (since there's an elaborate senate phase when you vote to elect officials, choose generals, send senators to take care of some remote province so he won't bother you for some time, vote populist laws, assassinate your concurrents, agree to vote for a player as Censor in exchange for some denarii and providing he doesn't prosecute you for you stealing in the treasury when you were propretor, etc...), but with a great deal of variety in your possibilities of action.

The most interesting part of the game is the fact that if Rome collapses, all players lose. So, you're playing at the same time against the game and against the other players. You're always walking on a fine line, because you have to cooperate if you don't want Rome to collapse (and there are plenty of ways it can : bankruptcy, unrest and revolt of the plebs, military victory of Rome's ennemies...), but you must keep your own interest in mind.

It's quite often a dilemna : for instance should you vote to send an excellent general belonging to another player with a mighty army to fight the Carthaginians? If you don't Rome might fall and you could lose. If you do, he could become hugely popular or alternatively march on Rome after his victory, and you could lose. An option could be to assassinate him after, but which other player is going to take the risk of assassinating a popular victorious general?

This is this part that made it the best game I know (at least the best *long* game).





I play various board game of widely different kind quite often but since a number of them are french or german games (for some reason, Germany produces excellent boardgames), I don't know whether they are publisghed in the USA and under what name.

However, a game creator I know has an "ideal game library" on his site, with a detailled and bilingual description of his (long) list of "must have" games (his owns an incredible number of games), with the american, french german versions mentionned. Here's the link (http://www.faidutti.com/index.php?Module=ludotheque) .

I notice looking on the first page "Adel Verpflichtet", another game I like a lot, quick to play and fun (essentially a bluff/double guessing game). And also "Britannia" , another favorite of mine in the "long" category (you play, in turn, the various people, from the celts to William the conqueror, who invaded Great Britain and try to accumulate as much point as possible by seizing and keeping territory as long as you can). A number of games already mentionned in this thread (like the settlers of Catane, indeed a great game) are presented on his site, and even some "old classics" (like "Clue"). The list is in alphabetic order of the french title, so if you're searching for a specific title it can be disorienting.

Though I don't necessarily like all his favorite games (he tends not to like much very long games/comlicated rules), I think he did a great job presenting them, that's why I mention his site.

[clairobscur]

Just found on the site I linked to that the actual english name of the game I described above is "Republic of Rome", not "Roma".

[XT]

Just as an aside, since it looks like the thread may be dieing. Has anyone played the card game advertised on the History Channel called Anachronism? If so, what did you think? It looks kind of cool, at least on TV.

Another board game I played (besides tons of games from Avolon Hill which probably would not be fun for too many folks) is one called Supremacy (something like that), about being a world superpower. Could get pretty deep if you had the right bunch of guys playing.

-XT

[Askance]

Just as an aside, since it looks like the thread may be dieing. Has anyone played the card game advertised on the History Channel called Anachronism? If so, what did you think? It looks kind of cool, at least on TV.

I suspect you mean Chronology (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/834) . Yes, I played it just last weekend, for the second time. Clever and fun, and certainly quick, but the problem with my group of gamers is we know our history too well and the standard victory rules of getting 10 cards is too easy, it's rare for anyone to miss a question. This time we went to 20 cards and that was a much better game, guessing whether an invention or event was between 1610 and 1620 or 1620 and 1630 was much tougher!

[Shirley Ujest]

If I may hijack for a moment, I'm very curious as to what your house rues may be. We have a weekly game (a few hours of Michigan Rummy, then a few hours of standard poker), and I'd love to mix the game up a bit.

Our only current house rule is "must have a pair or better to take the poker pool".


It has been years since I played it, but the official unoffical rule is to sneak cards under the table, keep refilling others drinks and getting them more beer and then in the end, when I have 4 kings Ace High and I win the final pool for the night...( about $12 in nickels) nobody notices or cares because they are lubricated.

I just gave away my secret.......

[Shirley Ujest]

That game link review thingie provided above looks really cool. It doesn't seem to carry kids games, that I've noticed during a quick look.

[Shirley Ujest]

I played a lot of Diplomacy in high school.

Is this game still in print?

[sturmhauke]

They reprint it from time to time. I picked up a new copy a few years ago, but I can never seem to convince anyone to play it.

[Scuba_Ben]

I was going to suggest Fluxx, which is wonderful, but also pretty much anything made by Looney Labs (http://www.looneylabs.com/) (who also make the Icehouse pieces listed in another post.) I'm particularly fond of Chrononauts myself.I'm trying to get my hands on Early American Chrononauts, covering American history 1770 - 1916. Has anybody played this game?

[Shirley Ujest]

Kama Sutra Board Game (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=234&item=5981984375&rd=1) HAH!

It's over in two minutes!




:)



I love ebay!

[TommyTutone]

I've recommended it before, and I will again: Get yourself a set of Icehouse pieces. Like a deck of cards, it's not one game but dozens. The one GonzoGal and I enjoy most is Zendo, which is a great puzzle/game for 2 or more players.


Zendo is in essence a remake of an old card game called Eleusis (free and you can probably Google the directions) that plays any number of players and uses many many decks of cards. Having played many many games of the latter and a few of the former, I generally prefer Eleusis because with Zendo I disliked having to eventually disassemble structures because of the limited amount of pieces, whereas with Eleusis, since you are playing with 6-8 decks of cards, you will never run out and the game is less memory driven and more pattern recognition.

[XT]

I suspect you mean Chronology . Yes, I played it just last weekend, for the second time. Clever and fun, and certainly quick, but the problem with my group of gamers is we know our history too well and the standard victory rules of getting 10 cards is too easy, it's rare for anyone to miss a question. This time we went to 20 cards and that was a much better game, guessing whether an invention or event was between 1610 and 1620 or 1620 and 1630 was much tougher!

Nope, Anachronism (http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=81721). But Chronology sounds pretty cool too....sounds like a history quiz type game.

-XT

[gonzoron]

Hadn't heard of Eleusis before. Looks interesting, but I think I'd prefer Zendo based purely on aesthetics. Little clumps of multicolored plastic pyramids is cooler than a deck of cards, in my book. :) Also, as mentioned, a Zendo set is many, many games in one.

I picked up Anachronism the other day. Looks like fun, but haven't played it yet. Probably will sometime next week. I'll report back.

Diplomacy is currently out of print, I think. The last printing was from Hasbro/Avalon Hill maybe 5 years ago. Very flashy, with little metal ship and army miniatures. I picked it up half off at a Wizards of the Coast store. Shouldn't be too hard to find on ebay. The rules and map are available free online in many places, though. http://www.diplom.org/ for example.

[lno]

Diplomacy is still in print and is widely available (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=diplomacy&btnG=Search+Froogle).

[Podkayne]

Hey, XT, I've been sucked into Anachronism.

It's a good filler game—fifteen minutes long, or so. It' works a bit like a miniatures game, because there's quite a bit of strategy in maneuvering into range to attack, then hustling into your opponent's blind spot.

It's fun looking for clever combos, but that means buying multiple warriors. And there are a few crazy warrior/support card combos that are very frustrating to be up against.

On the other hand, there is a lot of luck involved. You roll 2d6 to attack or defend, and the bonuses to your roll are rarely higher than +3. So sometimes you can get lucky, even against a badass combo. Some people complain that there's too much luck, not enough strategy, but I figger that, and the short length of the game, keeps things light and fun.

Scuba_ben, I've played Early American Chrononauts, but only once. Gameplay seemed pretty similar to the original.

[gonzoron]

Diplomacy is still in print and is widely available (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=diplomacy&btnG=Search+Froogle).

That's the printing I meant. I had assumed it was out-of-print since I haven't seen it lately in game stores.

[Siege]

I'll second Carcassonne, which I bought specifically so the gentleman and I could have a good 2-player game, Settlers of Cataan, et al, although the gentleman, and old friend and I were disappointed that you couldn't use your knights to attack other players in Knights of Cataan, Fluxx, Chronology and Rummikub. My mother and I also play a game called Phase 10, quite a bit, although that's more of a card game and Word Thief which is sort of a cross between Scrabble and Rummy. I'll also suggest Nuclear War which, I heard, was supposed to demonstrate the horrors of nuclear war, but in all the games I've played, winds up with people seeing who can destroy the planet first. If you've got 3 or more players, there's a card game called Wizard, which is an enhanced version of Oh Hell, or "Up and Down" as Mum calls it. (Mum doesn't swear, but the way she plays cards inspires swearing in other people.;)) If you enjoy backgammon, a friend taught me a truly vicious variant which he calls "Suicide". It's played by the same rules as Acey-Deucy, but both players are going the same direction.

You might also check out Games Magazine's Games 100 which is their list of the best 100 games to come out during the past year. It usually appears in their November or December issue, and I've been known to read it and draw up a mental wish list.

By the way, looking at one of our New Jersey Dopers, I'll be bringing most of these games to Gettysdope with me, including Fluxx. I'll throw in the expansion set for Settlers of Cataan, too.

CJ

[Airman Doors, USAF]

BTW, thanks a bunch for making me think about board games. I'll be out about $100 by tomorrow on E-Bay from buying old Avalon Hill games. I already have Blitzkrieg and D-Day, and I'm about to get Afrika Korps, Guadalcanal, and Rise and Decline of the Third Reich. Add that to Midway and a few other non-World War II games I have and I've got enough battle sims to last me the rest of my life.

Of course, I did it to myself. I just love those old games. I grew up playing them with friends, and the novelty never really wore off.

[Shirley Ujest]

I was at a toy store this weekend and bought goblet for the kids for Xmas.

I probably would have never looked at Settler of Cataan but really gave the box a once over before I realized the game is for about 12 and up. So in a couple of years I will get it for the kiddies.

Thanks for the links for the game reviewer guy ( that is awesome) and funagain games, it really helps finding a place like that to show you the way to an entire new world that doesn't involve Candy Land.


And now, I shall kill this thread.

[lno]

I'll also suggest Nuclear War which, I heard, was supposed to demonstrate the horrors of nuclear war, but in all the games I've played, winds up with people seeing who can destroy the planet first.I'd be interested to find where you heard that, since the Nuclear War I'm familiar with is extremely tongue-in-cheek. (You do mean the one with the spinner to determine the damage caused by the warhead, and having to queue up warheads and missiles and propaganda cards to eliminate other people's population?)I already have Blitzkrieg and D-Day, and I'm about to get Afrika Korps, Guadalcanal, and Rise and Decline of the Third Reich.Rise & Decline is an absolute beast of a game and takes more dedication than any other Avalon Hill game I've played, and I've got a closetful.