Board Gaming
 

I've really gotten into board gaming since I got to college, especially German-style games like Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, and Carcassonne. I was wondering if anyone else is into board games and what games they suggest.

My personal favorites are:

German Style Games:

• Settlers of Catan -- 3 or 4 players play on a "board" of randomly-shuffled tiles, building settlements and cities to acquire resources. Each turn players may acquire resources by a die roll which decides which board tiles produce resources. Relies heavily on trade and interaction, and the random, modular board makes each game different. 10/10, 1.5-2 hours
  
• Carcassonne -- up to 5 players lay down different tiles, expanding the territory. They deploy followers to claim different terrain objects and score points. 8/10, 0.5-1 hour
  
• Puerto Rico -- players try to develop the most successful town of Puerto Rico by assuming the roles of Mayor, Trader, Captain, Builder, Craftsman, and Settler. Players gain victory points for building structures and shipping goods to spain. 10/10 1.5-2 hours

War Games:

• Axis and Allies -- in this classic title, the USA, England, and Russia are pitted against Germany and Japan. Think risk, but with teams and different units. 9/10, 3-5 hours
  
• Twilight Imperium, 3rd Edition -- Assume one of 10 different races and try to conquer space by becoming the next Emperor of Mecatol Rex. Conquer planets, build fleets and develop technologies to be the first race to 10 victory points. 8/10, 4-6 hours

Party Games:

• Time's Up! -- Players partner-up to play 3 rounds, using the same deck of 40 famous people each round. During the first round, your partner may say almost anything, but in the second, he can only say one word. in the third he can say nothing at all! A real riot, the best party game I've played. Best with 4 or 6 people. 10/10, 1 hour

So that's what i've played and really loved so far. If anyone has suggestions, I always love playing new games!

Get hold of a copy of Diplomacy - you'll need at least 3 players, but playing with 6 or seven is awesome.

The game is played out on a map of Europe dated 1902 - and the object of the game is to take control of one of the seven powers (England, France, Germany, Russia, Austo-Hungary, Italy or Turkey) and by forging alliances with the other players, take over Europe with your fleets and armies.

The best thing about it is the simultaneous reveal of orders, which means that there are no dice to roll to see who wins each round of play - The excitement and random factor is all down to the interaction of the players as they plan, conspire, betray and back-stab one another. It's an absolute classic of a game.

no twister? thats also a big board game :p

for me, nothing beats chess

Risk with my friends has lost it's novelty. All we do is promise we will wipe everyone else out, and then when we really need each other's help, we fuck each other over.

I guess it doesn't help that we're usually drunk when we play.

Any board game can be made into a strip game and a drinking game.

Examples: Scrabble, Poker, Twister, Chutes and fuckin' Ladders, etc... use your imagination for the rules.

That will liven up your games, assuming you have friends of both genders. :)

We're fans of a lot of the same games. We LOVE the German games. Here are some others we enjoy:

- San Juan (card game version of Puerto Rico)
- Three dragon ante (bidding/bluffing game based on D&D dragons - more fun and less geeky than it sounds)
- RoboRally
- Nexus Ops

Party games:
- Catch Phrase
- 25 Words or Less
- Who What Where (one of my favorites)

Simon and I used to play Scrabble at least once a week. Now we're down to once a month if we're lucky.

Munchkin is another one of our "all the time" games (cards, not boards, but blah). It's good with lots of people because Simon's brother has all of the expansions and everything. Very fun, very nerdy.

Strange Synergy is an amazing game. I suggest that if you have an ounce of geek in you to try it out. SO GOOD.

We really like Personalitease. It's a very fun party-oriented game that can be adjusted depending on the kinds of people present.

We also really enjoy Scrabble and other classic board games.

We are planning on starting up a game night sometime soon so we'll have to see if some of these games fit the bill.

What a great thread! :) I wish I had more fun games to add to those already here, but I'm afraid all of my game-playing friends are no longer in the area. :( Two years ago, we got together just about every weekend to play (and that's how I got to know ktspktsp). :icare: Those were fun times.

So, a BIG :thumbsup: for Settlers of Catan. One of my all-time favorites there, although it requires at least 3 people so I hardly ever get to play it anymore (I have the expansion set, allows for 6, but have only played it that way once).

And Scrabble, of course. Ktspktsp recently got his own set so we've been trying to play that when I'm at his place. I have loved that game since I was a kid, and it's even better getting to play it when I'm all grown up. :)

I suspect I would really get into chess if we had more time to play it, and a board... but maybe when we're older, ha ha. :)

I've always wanted to get into Go... seems deceptively simple, and very challenging. Anyone here a Go player?

I missed Cranium, Taboo and Balderdash, some of the most entertaining party games yet!

Monopoly, c'mon! Nobody ever wants to play me.

Oh I am so surprised The Great Dalmuti wasn't on your list! I had to order it from Germany and download English instructions. Great card game for parties!

Wise and Otherwise is a good board game for parties also.

pictionary is always fun for a party game, especially if you are drinking...

My brother has an old avalon hill game called "Samurai" - played over twenty turns, on a map of feudal japan. Fairly complicated, but really fun to play with lots of players (handles up to 6).

Balderdash is another good one for a large group.

Risk is an interesting game but it favours the player who goes first.

Monopoly (I have the Stars Wars version with little die-cast people)

Chess - would be good if I didn't have to pack up my set because of having small children. My set is a replica Lewis Chess set .link ) and this means rather breakable.

I like Go and Chess for two player games.

Balderdash is probably my favourite multi-player game, followed closely by Monopoly and Risk.

-Tamerlain

I love Chess.
Shogi is alright.

Other games sound fun though, hope to try some how when I return to the States.

I played that a few years ago at a party... some of the stuff was easy.. like making stuff out of clay - - this was the game that i discovered I absolutely positively could not hum - especially with an audience... it's good fun though...

My favorite games.....

Strip poker
Strip blackjack
Strip Uno

I see a pattern here....

I like card games.

Some day I'd have to work out a strip axis and allies. "Haha I have taken the Ukraine, thats your bra there Lisa!"

Buwaha! :lol:

I'll have to suggest that as a house rule variation. Or strip bridge. One article of clothing for every trick you're down at the end. Heheheee.

I adore Balderdash! Other games I enjoy are Scattergories, Wist (or is it Whist?), Settlers of Catan. There was a version of Pictionary where you used play-doh instead of drawing things, that was fun for at least a bit. "Matador" and "Binoculars" were particularly hard to render in 3 dimensions in under 1 minute, lol!

That Personalitease game that Snowy mentioned sounds interesting. :D

I hardly ever play board games anymore. :( Someone, come out and play with me!

Oooh! Didn't think of that one... gotta add it to the list. :)