I bought Junta the other day. Heard it was really fun, sort of like Diplomacy, only with bribes and such. Only nobody wants to play with me…
My friends and me also like to play the Lord of the Rings board game, but we keep losing to Sauron, it’s darn hard.
I also like the Settlers of Catan (and ALL the extension packs / cardgames etc.)
Chess is a given. (Nerd Alert!)
And [url=http://www.games-workshop.com/Warhammerworld/bloodbowl/news.htm]Bloodbowl. Lucky for me, my brother likes to spend money on these things and bought all the Star Players. Go Skavens!
My roommates and I used to play friggin’ marathon sessions back in the day. The kind where you have to whip out reams of notebook paper to keep track of all the ridiculous treaties you’d cooked up and if you wanted to quit for the night and start up again in the morning you had to dig out a poloroid camera (pre-digital age) and take a picture of the board so no one could sneak to the table and cheat.
There was another favorite I had – when I was in jr. high, my best friend had one that we played often. But it was more obscure – not on the shelves of regular stores and such. Called “Awful Green Things From Outer Space”. Anybody else actually heard of it? (doing a Google search, then saying yes, doesn’t count… ;))
For the people who like Risk give Axis & Allies a try. It’s a very loosely WWII based game for two to five players and about a half step up in complexity (more unit types, more rules) from Risk. I have a group of guys who’ve been getting together every few weeks for a game for the last (god has it been) ten years. Very fun.
A few of my friends used get together on Monday nights to play Risk. (It was a chance to drink a little beer and be away from the wifes). A few weeks ago, someone brought Junta.
We love it. We like it much better than Risk. It is a more social game (you make open deals with players etc.) and it relies less on the luck of the role of dice. I highly recommend Junta.
I just picked up Puerto Rico yesterday (based on a cover article in Games magazine). It looks very good. There’s virtually no random or hidden elements involved; it’s all planning and reacting to the other players.
I have never seen more general enthusiasm for a game than for Settlers of Catan. I played with a friend and immediately bought a copy for myself. So far, everyone that I’ve gotten to play the game has loved it. That includes boys and girls and all skill levels of gamers. Its already been mentioned here a few times, but I take any chance I get to plug it.
I am with Lear’s Fool on this one. I love Go as well. (Also known as Paduck/Baduck and Weichi.) It’s more intense than chess, the best computer programs don’t challenge competent players and probably won’t for at least a hundred years, and you can play it online against thousands of other players all over the net. Oh, it also takes about 15 minutes to learn the rules but a lifetime to master.