# Your favorite board game?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 6, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783 "2001-10-06T14:56:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/61 "2002-11-07T20:55:19Z")

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I _love_ Ricochet Robot - I’ve only played once, at a friend’s house (that isn’t you, Sola, is it?), but it was great.

My husband and I enjoy Kahuna, a two-player card/strategy game. We got it quite inexpensively from Funagain Games.

I also received Tikal for my birthday this year (2-4 player archaeology-themed game), and it’s a lot of fun, too. The board is different every time - it’s built out of hexagonal pieces placed by the players as the game progresses. It does lend itself to overanalysis, though - I think it’s best with a group where everyone else can talk while one player agonizes.

I really enjoy Scrabble, but my husband won’t play with me any more. I usually beat him at Boggle, too, but it’s more fun for him because he still feels good about finding words that I don’t.

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/62 "2002-11-08T00:17:36Z")

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Definitely **Memory Madness**. We play it at all our family gatherings, until half the players are ready to beat the crap out of the other half. Then we take a break and play it some more. 🙂

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**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/63 "2002-11-08T00:39:31Z")

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First of all, I hate to be negative, but I have rarely had a less fun gaming experience than when playing **Cranium**. It has these weird random rules where you get on the fast track if you’re already doing well, which doesn’t seem to encourage a close or competitive game. Secondly, most of the questions and clues seemed ridiculously easy. I do enjoy the sculpting however.

My favorite straight board game is [Tigris and Euphrates](http://kumquat.com/cgi-kumquat/funagain/10831?e9xI9bwV;;6), which is perhaps the ultimate expression of simple elegant rules leading to incredible complexity. (Although in this case, “simple” means “compared to advanced squad leader”, not “compared to checkers”).

Recently, I’ve been very into [Carcassonne](http://kumquat.com/cgi-kumquat/funagain/11110), which, like Settlers, is a game that almost everyone likes. It involves playing tiles into an ever-growing landscape, building cities and roads, and placing your little guys in an attempt to score points. If you follow the official rules, it’s a bit too luck-based, but the rules are easily modified to overcome that. (For anyone who’s interested, in the official rules, each player draws one tile at random on her turn and must play it. Thus, much randomness. The way we play is that on a player’s turn, she flips over n+1 tiles, where n is the number of players. Then she plays one of them of her choice, the next player plays one, etc., until the flipper plays the last of the revealed tiles. Then the next player flips over another n+1, etc. This flattens out the luck, and it adds enormous strategic decisions, since you know what tiles are coming, what tiles you don’t want your opponents to have, etc.)

Oh, and all the Catan games are great, although Knights and Cities is the clear winner.  
I also positively adore party games. My two favorites are **homegrown pictionary** and **chain reaction**.

In our version of pictionary, each player takes 3 or 4 sheets of paper and, on each one, writes a clue that she would like to see drawn, then folds them up and keeps them in front of her. The players then randomly divide into two teams. Players take turns, alternating between teams. On each player’s turn, she takes a clue from someone on the other team, reads it, and has a few seconds to decide whether to draw or challenge. If she decides to draw, she has 2 minutes to attempt to draw that clue for her teammates. If she succeeds, she gets 1 point, 2 points if she draws it within 1 minute. If she challenges, then whoever wrote the clue must attempt to draw it for his or her team. The team of the challenger still gets the points, but they are reversed (0 points for \<1 minute, 1 point for \<2 minutes, 2 points if it’s not drawn at all).

You play until all the clues are gone, and whichever team has the most points wins.

There are various things that, imho, make this lightyears ahead of regular pictionary, funwise:  
-no silly all-plays where you’re trying to draw “dog” as fast as you possibly can  
-no dice  
-you can put in inside jokes  
-it’s possible to communicate some pretty sophisticated clues in two full minutes. Things that have been succesfully drawn have included “Henry Kissinger”, “Saturday Night Live”, “contemplate”, “ambiance”, etc.  
-few things are more fun than watching someone try to draw something that you thought up. But beware, if you make it too hard you’ll be challenged.

But **Chain Reaction** is the most fun game of all. (It’s loosely based on the bonus round of an old game show of the same name, but it was invented in its modern form while I was in college). Here’s how it works (you really need at least 8 to play):  
-Each player takes 7 or so slips of paper, and on each one writes a clue. This can be anything that everyone has heard of which could be the answer to a simple question… ie “cancer”, “windmill”, “the san francisco giants”. These clues are all folded up and placed into a bowl.  
-Divide into two teams.  
-Teams take turns. While one team is going, one member of the team is the guesser, and the rest are askers. The guesser sits by himself. The askers huddle around, pull a clue out of the bowl, read it, and ask a question about it. The trick is that they have to take turns saying words, going around in a circle, forming a sentence. So if Al, Bob, and Charlie were the askers and the word was “Abraham Lincoln”, it would go something like this:  
Al: Who  
Bob: Was  
Charlie: The  
Al: President  
Bob: Who  
Charlie: Freed  
Al: The  
Bob: Slaves  
Charlie: Question Mark (yes, he says “question mark” out loud).

Then the guesser tries to guess the answer, and either succeeds, or eventually gives up and passes (the askers can also pass). Once the clue is either gotten or passed, the askers pick up another one, and try to get as many as they can in 90 seconds. Then the other team goes. Repeat until the bowl is empty, and whichever team succesfully got the most clues wins.

What makes this game so fun is the ridiculously malformed questions that come up… perhaps the classic example being “Who flew an invisible breast?” (answer: Wonder Woman).  
(there are a few other technicalities about how the game works… email me if you’re interested)

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**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/64 "2002-11-08T02:05:28Z")

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Well, Trivial Pursuit will _always_ be my favorite; **Francesca** , I’d take you any time you name! Well, you know, if it weren’t for that bothersome living-on-another-continent thing. Oceans can be _so_ inconvenient.

Some of my other favorites have been mentioned: Cranium, Balderdash (and Beyond Balderdash), RoboRally, and Taboo (I’m counting “party games” here). But there are a couple others:

Wise and Otherwise: like Balderdash, but you have to come up with endings to real proverbs from all over the world (you’re given the beginning of each).

Outburst: really simple; you just have to come up with as many examples in a certain category (like “Frank Sinatra songs”) as you can. Of course, only the ones on the card count; this is because, as the rules say, “Life is not fair”.

Wadjet: A _great_ Egyptian archaeology-themed game. Fabulous, but takes 3-4 hours to play. So much fun.

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**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/65 "2002-11-08T02:07:41Z")

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Oops, how embarassing; I of course meant to say that I’d take **Francesca** _on_ any time she named.

Never have I had more need of this smilie: :o

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**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/66 "2002-11-08T04:03:53Z")

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Go is the best game ever. The rules are simple but the game is very hard. It is also the oldest known board game. It it something like 6000 years old.

I love the game but, regretably, I suck at it and will probably never be very good. My rank is about 8 to 10 Kyu depending on the ranking system. (23 KYU is the lowest rank, after 1 Kyu the next rank is 1 Dan. The highest rank is 9 Dan. At the same time a 5 Dan amature is basically a 1 Dan Pro. The ranking system is truely screwed up)

Go is very elegant and blows chess out of the water.

Slee

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**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/67 "2002-11-08T05:07:05Z")

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Go is the best game ever. The rules are simple but the game is very hard. It is also the oldest known board game. It it something like 6000 years old.

I love the game but, regretably, I suck at it and will probably never be very good. My rank is about 8 to 10 Kyu depending on the ranking system. (23 KYU is the lowest rank, after 1 Kyu the next rank is 1 Dan. The highest rank is 9 Dan. At the same time a 5 Dan amature is basically a 1 Dan Pro. The ranking system is truely screwed up)

Go is very elegant and blows chess out of the water.

Slee

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**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/68 "2002-11-08T05:41:50Z")

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i have a few

hungry hungry hippo  
game of life  
operation

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**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/69 "2002-11-08T05:50:14Z")

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_British Rails_ or one of those Mayfair railroad building games. Nice, simple, fun.

_Starfleet Battles_ for the serious tacticians. Not for the lightweights. 😛

_Talisman_ gets boring after a while. You can’t lose with the Prophetess, either.

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**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/70 "2002-11-08T07:31:24Z")

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**Empire Builder** and variants. We have all of them, and we play all of them, over and over and over.

**Kill Doctor Lucky** , **Save Doctor Lucky** , and several other **Cheapass Games**.

**Settlers of Cataan** and its expansions.

Urban Ranger,

**SFB** is not that bad. At least it is not as bad as **ASL**. 😃

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**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/71 "2002-11-08T23:42:05Z")

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**Columbo.**

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**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/72 "2002-11-08T23:44:48Z")

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**Columbo.**  
.  
.

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**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/73 "2002-11-09T08:04:56Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lok \*  
> Urban Ranger,
> 
> **SFB** is not that bad. At least it is not as bad as **ASL**. 😃

Try playing with all the Optional and Commander’s Level rules.

😃

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**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/74 "2002-11-09T11:21:55Z")

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I’ll have to put in another plug for **Axis and Allies**. The game is so bloody fun! **Axis and Allies: Europe** isn’t as good, though. The Allies are at a severe disadvantage with any competant Germany, unless there’s a master tactician as the USSR. Anyone who’se played this will probably know what I’m talking about.

For a simpler version of the above, I’d reccomend **Risk**. It’s quite satisfying when, by sheer luck, you manage to fend off an army twice your size. Plus, there are all of the obvious jokes one can make about the territories. Don’t ask. Maybe it’s just my friends and I…

Also, **Chess** is one of the best games ever. The different pieces have such different strategic qualities, powers, etc. The game is so intricate, I love it.

Also, though I’ve never played it, **Diplomacy** sounds like a bloody good time. I read the rulebook.

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**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/75 "2002-11-09T12:47:02Z")

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Backgammon. Unfortunately, I have no one to play with. ☹

I’m teaching it to my nine YO son, but … well, I want a challenge sometimes.

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**Author:** ![mikeargo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@mikeargo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikeargo)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/76 "2002-11-09T15:18:15Z")

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ACQUIRE. A hotel-building game that can be learned in a few minutes, but has enough complexity to challenge a hard-core gamer.

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/77 "2002-11-09T18:08:46Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Drastic \*  
> \*\*…Not mentioned so far: “Cosmic Encounter.” The older version by Mayfair, and emphatically _not_ the current bastardization of it by Avalon Hill. The game really shines with five to six players. \*\*

I love Cosmic Encounters. The game was put out originally by Eon but like you I prefer the later version by Mayfair. I actually have a complete Eon set with all of the expansions (very hard to come by) and I also have everything by Mayfair which is what I actually play with. I’m not able to find enough people to play it anymore! You need a minimum of 5 people for a good game. If anyone in the Philadelphia area is interested in trying to get a group together let me know. Newbies are welcome. It is a GREAT game.

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**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/78 "2002-11-09T19:24:44Z")

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I add another vote for Cranium. I much prefer that to trivial pusuit.

Some other great games are from a company called Cheap Ass Games. The games are inexpensive as they don’t sell dice and tokens with each title. (They figure you have those things) From them I have and like

Kill Doctor Lucky (sort of a prequel to Clue) and Befor I Kill You Mr. Bond.  
I used to play a game that came out the same time as Axis and Allies (a very good game) that was called Broadsides and Boarding Parties. As you may guess fromt the title it was a pirate game with a ship battle and if the ships collided a hand to hand combat game.

Wiz War is a really fun simple game for two to four players.

I bought and old game from Ebay once. It is called What Shall I be? It is a game for young girls and they race around to see what profession they will have. The choices are Teacher, Nurse, Model (looks lik a ho) Ballerina, Actress or Stewardess. You race around the board getting trainging in a profession but also ‘personality’ chips with things like “YOU ARE A QUICK THINKER, good for Airline Hostess and Nurse” or “YOUR MAKE-UP IS TOO SLOPPY, bad for Airline Hostess and Model”. So you must get training to match your personality. The game is hoot.

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**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/79 "2002-11-09T19:28:01Z")

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😃 Scrabble! 😃 Best… board game… ever.

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**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-board-game/85783/80 "2002-11-09T19:46:03Z")

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**Pictionary** is my favourite. As a kid I loved to play **Monopoly** , but now it just drags on forever. Don’t have that kind of patience any more 🙂

**Scrabble** is really cool. Nowadays, after playing a round or two of regular Scrabble, we try out different rules. The last time I played, we had to make up our own words, and provide a _reasonable_ meaning for it. The jury (the rest of the players) then decide whether the word is allowed or not. And so on. Easily the most memorable word one of us came up with was **fortrate**. It’s a _portrait of you fucking_. Needless to say, the word was accepted by the jury 🙂

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