NationStates

with the current popularity of board games- I wonder what you lot have to say on the matter?

which are are good/bad, what are they good for, tips on gameplay, quirky moments - whatever you wanna discuss.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... lash-point

I looked at the twitter feed of a local gaming cafe and they seem to be moving towards d and d.

I'm expected to post something on this topic now, aren't I? Ooooh- not got a lot of past form here.
Played a little chess- can't even remember how the pieces go now- I wasn't great,got caught out by fools mate several times when younger.
draughts- well that's nowt.
seeing how the west indians play it, doms looks good fun- but i'd just try to get a number that matched - without any thought about strategy.

aside from that

cluedo, monopoly etc - got whooped by my opponents. Cluedo seemed quite limited or am i missing something.

to be honest i think snakes and ladders/ludo and others of that ilk were my limit.

This pandemic type game- is it oubreak? -seems interesting, from what some people I met in a pub said.

Anyhoos- that's my preamble - over to you

I used to play Monopoly quite a lot. As much as I love playing it, the classic ones are quite a chore to setup, I must say. I have also played the updated version of using plastic credit cards to keep track of your cash, and I think that idea works well when you ran out of actual notes to give to people.

Werewolf is alos a total classic - During my conscript days, my friends, my sergants, and I would sit around the table, get the roles from the narrator, and then we would start accusing each other. It's all in good fun. Technically not a board game, but hey, it has cards and stuff, so yeah.

I also wanted to try Dungeons and Dragons, so maybe I will find one interest group and talk to them about it. In the meantime, I have a rather avid collection of the play dice that I bought not for the games but because they look like jewels.

Aside from chess and Scrabble, not much going on here.

Even watching other people play RP-type games gets my over-reactive cringe mechanism bouncing off the walls and makes me want to smash my head through the window.

I’m very much a tabletop gamer
Rpgs are big with me, and I love things like Settlers of Catan, Axis and Allies, and all sorts of board games. Never quite got into War gaming cuz it’s expensive but I love the idea

Board games are popular?

I mean it's been a while since I played any but I can get down for some monopoly or risk or something.

They're cool, and in my humble opinion there's should be organized competition of monopoly, like chess.

Monopoly allegedly ranks regularly at or near the bottom of board game popularity lists. The board game tons of people have but that no one wants to actually play. I think it is easy to win, provided you roll onto good spaces. Use all the houses you can, and no other players will be able to build hotels. No one seems to know that you're able to auction property if you want a chance to perhaps be able to get it for below list price.

I love playing Monopoly and have only won once in my life. My sister and I invented our own rules to make it easier but I still never win. It's fun though. Card games, I play BS with people at church a lot. It's not as fun as Monopoly, but there's a lot of laughing. Still, nothing beats Choirs Are Horrible. I've played it with my choir and we just make soprano jokes the whole time.

Monopoly is extra fun. Especially if you get a little bit of corruption in there.

I play backgammon and gomoku. The internet has been great for them, simply by allowing me to play better players.

I just find the strategy side of them much more compelling than video games.

Board games like Catan are great, but I am a dedicated tabletop RPGer. RPGs aren't for everyone, so I play other types of games (like Catan) with friends who aren't into RPGs. There are plenty of other game types out there -- parlor games, card games, board games, RPGs, and my next favorite, wargaming.

I have a dedicated group where we play RPGs as a hobby, but we otherwise lead separate lives. Board games allow time well spent with friends and family. Board games are a great way to spend inexpensive (minus the one time purchase) to enjoy each others company.

I grew up with board games like Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Twixt, Diplomacy, Kensington, Stratego, and Easy Money. Churches would host game nights and encourage a weekly family game night. A number of local game shops rent out games or have space to come and play. I still have Twixt with most of the pieces. We would make up our own games and variations of chess or other board games.

One summer when we got with our cousins we created map variations, new cards, and special pieces for Risk and tried to make it more like Axis and Allies. My step-father got me into wargaming with Blitzkrieg. All good memories.

I think the more time people spend interacting with each other in person (such as over board games) and the less time we spend passively glued to the cell phone/movie screen/video monitor is a good thing for everybody. Our local game shop catereds to a broad range of gamers -- rpg, cards, boards etc with contests and tournaments.

My favorites currently are Battlestations! and Quantum.

Last 5 board games of played:
1. Catan
2. Frag
3. Pandemic
4. Chess
5. Quantum

They can be pretty fun.
I love to play DnD when I have the chance to do so

I heard that Pandemic was great. Apparently it's a cooperative game, where you all need to work together to get the best outcome.

I enjoyed playing another cooperative game - zombicide. It to a while to work out the rules at first, but when we'd got them, it was a great game. There's a map, and you and the other players have to reach the objective whilst dodging zombies.

Another zombie themed game is Zombies!!! In that one, you're competing against other players, trying to be first to reach the escape helicopter. You create the map as you go, with no idea where the helicopter will be. So if you end up at the wrong end of town, it's a race to try and get back.

I played Betrayal at the House on the Hill once. It's another game where you create the map / board as you go. In this one, you're exploring a haunted house with your friends, but one of them ends up betraying you, turning out to be a monster / the monster's ally.

I like SmallWorld. There's a fixed map, and you start building an Empire. But less than half way through the game, your empire becomes over-stretched and will collapse. You can choose when to abandon your empire and start a fresh one. The real challenge is trying to time when to change. The game only has ten turns, but you probably get onto your third empire by the end.

But my all time favourite has to be Ludo. I love the simplicity. I hate snakes and ladders, where there is no control, and no decision to be made. But in Ludo, as soon as you get a second piece out, you need to start thinking strategy. It's amazing how long it can take to play a game though!

Another good game is ticket to ride, I enjoyed pandemic and I love playing risk.

Risk was always a fun game for me to play, but I never was able to play a game with more than 3 people.

Lots of good games out there, I'm not a competitive person but I do love a good bit of chaos. Try Aldor, Bohnanaza, (the old version of) Robo-rally, Camel-up, Small World, Bang, Werewolf, Carcassone, Blood Bowl, Space Hulk to name just a few. Played some of the ridiculously long high-strategy games like Twilight Imperium and it was good fun but 10 hours of plotting without any random chances or chaos was tedious.
I also DM for a D&D group currently and that's really good fun if you're not shy of a bit of roleplaying, hard drinking and chaotic adventure...

Also Monopoly can just get out. It was that game that put me off table games for a long time.

Space Hulk! There's a blast from the past. I remember playing it after watching the Alien films.

um-this thread seems to need a poll- as i presume I'm the only one that can do it- if you edit your posts and whack on recommended games for beginners- i'll whack that up for say 10 days and then add the results to this post before going onto the next one

if you also suggests possible polls that would be great too.

so far from your posts some things seem to pop up on that front
1. co-operative
2. card games
3. tradional board games

um

My personal top 5

1: Diplomacy
2: Imperial 2030
3: Axis and Allies
4: Secret Hitler (not a board game, but close enough)
5: Betrayal at Baldurs Gate (Betrayal at House on the Hill meets D&D)

I highly recommend playing these. Diplomacy and Imperial especially as they require strong skills in deception and deal making.

I like board games, I play them a lot with my folks. My favorite board game is Payday despite being pretty simplistic, but that’s what I like about it.

Monopoly, Scrabble, Werewolf, Sorry, Clue, Battleship, Settlers of Catan, Axis and Allies are all my favorites

Well, my favorite almost-board game is UNO. It's so fun and I have beaten my elder mother 3 times in a row

The devils work obvs.

Catan, Carcassone, ticket to ride, Mice and Mystics..
And of course "card' games like Citadels, Fluxx, once upon a time and munchkin