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[kd.hebbes]

The game mechanics of some board games are pretty sweet. I'm not huge into the classics but some of the newer ones are really different. It would be interesting to draw video game ideas from board games.

1. Eldritch Horror

2. Coup

3. Terramystica

Anyone ever heard of these before?

[Arno]

I've come to really like this one: Formula D (review on boardgamegeek.com)

I find it very creative for a board game.

[Mittens]

Risk
Age of Empires III
Resistance

[Netsu]

Twilight Imperium - The epitome of space 4X, a full game can take up to 12 hours, but it's phenomenal, invite your friends over and make a whole day out of it.

Neuroshima Hex - A fast tactical game, loads and loads of varied factions (thanks to a constant stream of expansions) but all pretty balanced, good for tournaments and competitions thanks to little dependence on luck.

Citadels - The game really starts to shine when you play with 5 players or more, it gets boring after a while but it's worth having because the rules are simple, it's not fantasy/sci-fi and it's not about killing stuff - so it's great for your non-nerd friends :x

[Nillo]

Eldritch Horror - It fixes pretty much all the problems I had with Arkham Horror and streamlines the gameplay while keeping the same roleplaying feeling and even enhances it in some ways (like the AO-specific encounters). The double-sided card mechanic is genius. Highly recommended, a must buy if you enjoy cosmic horror themes and co-operative games.

Clash of Cultures - A recent purchase that rapidly cemented itself as a favorite in my group. It's very strategic and greatly rewards long-term planning. We love the theme and the fact that you can see your buildings on the map. Compared to Eclipse, there is less luck in the opening turns which means you are not as likely to be fucked over by random chance. The Barbarians create a strong PvE element of the game which we also find enjoyable. My favorite civ-builder.

Agricola - This old classic has seen dozens of plays for me in various groups, both among relatives and gamers. It has something for everyone. Casually interested players will be drawn in by the theme of keeping farmland and stable animals, while gamers will appreciate the high pressure to create a food engine and start racking in the victory points. Caverna is very similar but I still think that Agricola is the best. A staple among the worker placement games.

7 Wonders - This card game is notable for compressing a plethora of meaningful decisions into a very short time. It ends after three brief rounds of drafting and always leaves you itching to give it another try. The simultaneous play makes it an excellent game with almost any number of players. I consider it a "must own" for any collection simply because it is SO easy to bring to the table, this game is flexible enough to work in almost any situation.

[s0]

current faves: eldritch horror (should finally get the 2 latest expansions for that), mage knight the boardgame, samurai spirit, imperial settlers

[Nillo]

Mage Knight falls into the category of "amazing games that are too heavy to ever see play in my house".

[battlerager]

Survive - Escape from Atlantis
Super simple, super fun. Great with board game noobs and it's really fun messing each other's plans up all the time.

Citadels
The mindgames are really fun, the characters add good variety and the artwork is great. What's not to love?

Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends
A complex, abstract game made digestible by great theme and flavor. I barely scratched the surface of this.

Smash Up
Deckbuilding made quick by just picking two factions and slamming them together. Some combinations are way better than others, but this adds a quick and fun draft phase to the equation.

Sentinels of the Multiverse
Great superhero-themed coop game. Artwork is a bit nooby imo and encounter difficulty can be oddly frontloaded, but its theming and sense of "im playing a character" is fascinating.

[s0]

Mage Knight falls into the category of "amazing games that are too heavy to ever see play in my house".

i only play it every 2 months or so (and tbh i've played it more solo than with other people).

it's like a meal that is very expensive and complicated to prepare so you don't have it often but when you do it just leaves you totally satisfied.

[Dacke]

Dominion is my all time favorite. Every new setup is a new little puzzle you all try to solve in the best way possible. The rounds are a super nice length, so I just want to play more. The way expansions work it's possible to refresh your entire set when it starts becoming too familiar. Importantly, it's fun with 2 players as well as 3-4.

This summer I've been playing:

Timeline. Super easy to learn and set up and quick to play. Like a trivia game, but actually fun for real.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig, players compete to build the most lavish castle that will please King Ludwig. It feels a bit like building stuff in Sims or Team Hospital, but competitively.

Some modern medium-light classics like Catan and Ticket to Ride (especially Ticket to Ride Nordic, which is a bit more cut-throat) also tend to be a lot of fun. Same goes for Citadels if you have a big group.

I have heavier games as well (like Puerto Rico & Power Grid), but I don't have a regular game group. So attempts to play them just tend to get too slow and a bit boring, since it requires learning basics rather than figuring out strategies together.


I'll also quote myself from the 2012 board game thread:

...
Tien Len (the vietnamese national cardgame) played with a Alice in Wonderland-themed Borogove card deck. The combination is perfect; the Borogove cards have 13 suits (instead of 4) and 4 values (instead of 13), making Tien Len much more intuitive.
...

[Alex Higgins]

Coup, Resistance, Dominion, 7 Wonders, and Puerto Rico are all faves of mine as well! Bloody excellent.

Cash and Guns is another fave of mine - it's like if you took the final scene of Reservoir Dogs where everyone's standing in a circle and shooting each other, but as a board game. You play as a group of gangsters divvying up loot after a heist, and you point these foam guns at each other and yell "bonzai" a lot and its the best.

[Fallsburg]

Coup, Resistance, Ticket To Ride

I'm a big fan of deckbuilding games, but I find Dominion to be a bit too samey (I know there are a lot of cards, but the removal of a random element in terms of what cards you can buy leads to trying to solve the game and isn't particularly fun).  I'm actually a really big fan of the DC deckbuilding game.  Each player gets a random super hero that modifies the game and it's probably the deckbuilding game I've played that is most accessible while still allowing for interesting strategies.

I had a Risk: Legacy league going, but I moved and so that was that.  I'm definitely considering another, but will probably hold off until the creator's next game.

[Alex Higgins]

I'm a big fan of deckbuilding games, but I find Dominion to be a bit too samey (I know there are a lot of cards, but the removal of a random element in terms of what cards you can buy leads to trying to solve the game and isn't particularly fun). 

Have you played any of the expansions? I agree that vanilla Dominion can feel a bit "samey," but the expansions give the game a ton of vitality.

[Dacke]

Fallsburg, I'm not sure what you mean by "removal of a random element"? Do you mean that later titles (like DCs deckbuilder) have made the board set up more random?

I haven't had any issues with "solving the game". Most of the time, each player will initially have a different idea about what to do (at least in our group). If someone is rushing, attacking or doing the same thing as you, you have to adapt. After a round we discuss what worked and what didn't. We bring up different ideas how to best "solve" the current "puzzle" in the best way. We play with the same board set up 2-3 rounds, then we mix it up and get a new puzzle to solve.

[Nillo]

I think the problems I have with Dominion is mainly that the theme is tacked on (I'm just building a deck, the cards don't tell me a story) and often your hand plays itself (always play any +action cards in your hand, if you have 6 money then take a gold coin, if you have 8 money then buy a province). It's still a good game, just not one I would consider among my favorites. Also this is speaking from my experiences with the base game since I have not felt any desire to expand it yet.

[Dacke]

Yup, Dominion is pretty focused on mechanics and fairly low on theme. But it's just thematic enough for me for it to not feel cold. The art is pretty nice most of the time and I usually make up small stories about the link between the cards and their abilities.

The base game is somewhat meh on it's own, though the vanilla is really nice to balance out all the other flavors later. If you want to get started with Dominion and want a somewhat more interactive/aggressive experience, then start with Dominion: Intrigue, which also comes with the base cards.

[s0]

I think the problems I have with Dominion is mainly that the theme is tacked on (I'm just building a deck, the cards don't tell me a story) and often your hand plays itself (always play any +action cards in your hand, if you have 6 money then take a gold coin, if you have 8 money then buy a province). It's still a good game, just not one I would consider among my favorites. Also this is speaking from my experiences with the base game since I have not felt any desire to expand it yet.

yep i have the same problem w/r/t the theme, but even tho i prefer thematic games i can still enjoy a thematically weaker game if the mechanics are really good. i guess the "hand playing itself" part is kind of the point tho. the deck building IS the game, the drawing and playing cards is just a test to see if your deck works.

Fallsburg, I'm not sure what you mean by "removal of a random element"?

i think he means that the card pool doesn't change during the game, unlike a game like e.g. ascension where when someone buys a card it gets removed from the pool and replaced with a new one drawn from a randomized stack.

i actually (from what ive played) prefer fixed pool btw. changing pool always seems to mean that you can't really build any clever combo decks and stuff unless you get super lucky, so it just comes down to buying the best cards first.

[s0]

oh also

i've been playing the ios version of splendor a bit in the last couple days. seems like a really nice light drafting & set collection game (somewhat related to deck building) and seems like it would be fun to play with non-nerds. im considering getting the physical version atm.

[Alex Higgins]

oh also

i've been playing the ios version of splendor a bit in the last couple days. seems like a really nice light drafting & set collection game (somewhat related to deck building) and seems like it would be fun to play with non-nerds. im considering getting the physical version atm.

Splendor is great, definitely get the physical version.

[kd.hebbes]

current faves: eldritch horror (should finally get the 2 latest expansions for that)

You should definitely get the expansion. I don't have mountains of madness yet but Forsaken Lore was enough to revive the game a bit for me. One of the new Ancient Ones is beyond impossible to beat. You know its a great game when you just as happy if you lose.

I reallllly want to play Splendor its on my list of things to buy. Did anyone catch any sweet boardgames on that absurd Amazon sale a week or so ago?