Your Favorite Board Games

In My Humble Opinion
41

First off, I’ve got to throw in my lot with the Backgammon players.

That being said…

If you have 4+ players who want to kill about 10-12 hours, try getting a copy of Civilization (by Avalon Hill). The game is out of print, but there is usually a copy or three available on Ebay at any given time.

A good game for detail-noticers is Scrutineyes. This game has 12 pictures from Mike Wilkes’ book The Ultimate Alphabet (a great book, BTW). These pictures are crammed with things that all begin with a certain letter of the alphabet. The object is to find as many objects within two minutes that begin with the letter for the picture. After you and all your opponenets reveal your answers, you search again for another minute and try to find new things (and you are penalized if you mention something mentioned in the previous round).

A great card game for 4+ people is The Great Dalmuti, a card game where the people at the bottom of the pecking order have to crawl and claw their way to the top.

A good card game for two players (but better with more than two) is Guillotine. Set during the French Revolution, you and your opponent manipulate a line of convicted criminals in hopes of bagging the more valuable heads.

An interesting board game (if you can find it) is Robo Rally where you have to have your robot navigate a factory filled with all sorts of hazards.

If you want simple strategy, try Cathedral. In this game, you and your opponent (only two players) place buildings on a grid in an attempt to control more land.

Another simple strategy game (already mentioned above) is Twixt. The very simple premise of this game is to build a line from one end of the board to the other before your opponent does the same the opposite way.

A great strategy game, mentioned above, is Pente. The premise of this game is simply to get five stones in a row. Of course, you also need to watch out, because your opponent can steal your stones two at a time (and if he gets 10 of them, you lose!).

Then, of course, you have the classics. Scrabble (a personal favorite), Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit are always good for a fun play.

Lastly, find a book that lists different variations on Poker. If you play with enough variations, you can keep going for quite a while before boredom sets in.

Zev Steinhardt

42

Hey, bughunter! Yeah, been a long, long time! Good to see you, too; I trust all is well?

I notice we’ve slipped into card games as well as board games here. In that case, another SJG product (or rather, two): Illuminati and Illuminati: New World Order. Fundamentally the same game, the first is the original version, and the second is the collectible card version (with slightly different mechanics) that came out a few years back. Each player is an international conspiracy that is trying to wrest control of the world by building elaborate power structures. High on strategy, often very funny (INWO has an absolutely hilarious authorized Subgenius supplement that can be played as a standalone game), always a lot of fun.

A newer SJG game is Chez Geek, where each player is a college-age roommate in an apartment, trying to relax from their job with friends, food, booze, drugs and nookie. A big game can get very rowdy and very funny.

Not from SJG, and out of print, is Credo – in which each player is a power block at the 2nd-Century Council of Nicea, attempting to draft the Nicene Creed. Rarely does Christianity come out the same as it did in history…

– Bob

43

I played a board game the other week which was just brilliant

it is called CRANIUM

its a bit like trivial pursuit but not as serious. There are just so many categories from hum the song to un-mix words to pictionary type to model in clay

I could have played for a week it was seriously that good

one down side it does need 4+ players, but im sure you have 2 or more friens who could come over

trust me you wont be disappointed

44

Realm and Havannah are tied just below Go as my favourite games.

Realm’s interesting because you get your option of a type of move to make:

[list=1][li]Concentration - move pieces from different realms into the same realm.[/li][li]Dispersion - move pieces from one realm into different realms.[/li][li]Rearrangement - rearrange pieces within one and only one realm.[/list=1][/li]
Depending on what happened during the move, you either created or destroyed a base, enforcer, or power.

God, that’s one deep thinking strategy game.

No longer made.

45

Well I’m a hug Balderdash fan but recently discovered a new favourite. Nym introduced me to ** Cranium ** a fun game that… well it has a little of everything. Wordplays, trivia, pictionary aspects, even play-dough. An excellent time!!!

46

Chess
Diplomacy
Various football and baseball strategy games (Stratomatic, Pursue the Pennant, etc)
Mille Bornes
Nuclear War
Wiz War
Cosmic Encounters
Kremlin
221 B Baker Street

and many, many others.

47

Wow. I want to thank everyone for the suggestions, they’ve been great. For the record, I went to http://www.cheapass.com and got Devil Bunny Needs a Ham, and Kill Dr. Lucky. Both are solid games that we enjoyed.

Cranium IS a great game, but apart from it needing 4+ people, it isn’t long before you start recycling cards. And even with the expansion pack available, there just isn’t a good chance of replayability. Still a solid suggestion.

I would love to learn Diplomacy, but I know that Sue would hate it. She despises Risk, and and probably wouldn’t go near something that could accurately be described as a “complex Risk.” She/we are prefering mindless games more and more.

Now I need to go find a hobby store to get some cheap pawns to play with on Kill Dr. Lucky.

Keep 'em coming, folks!

48

Oh, and for whoever was asking, here’s King Oil on eBay.

49

Take a look on Ebay or at yard sales for some fun, older games. For example, one of my favorites is the Barbie Queen of the Prom Game, from about 1962. It’s a hoot - 2-4 girls compete to be Prom Queen, and they have to be president of a club, buy a dress, get a date and…something else. Another is Careers, which has gone through periodic refurbishments as times have changed.

50

DON’T, and I mean DON’T teach someone to play Diplomacy, who is NOT a “serious” gamer. Diplomacy pretty much requires a deviousness, cynical and backstabbing, “trust no one” attitude, that can be quite a shock for those who don’t get into the spirit. (I imagine much like someone not exposed to “live action role playing” must think “What the hell is this shit?”)

Culture shock, in other words.