SRoper
Puritan Board Graduate
You can read some previous posts here:
Favorite (Preferably Nerdy!) Board Games
great family game - Ticket to Ride
Fun game for the family
It's November, temperatures are dropping (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) and there are several upcoming occasions where we may be spending time with family. The board games be making more appearances at the table. Have you been exposed to any new games in the last year? What are your favorites? I'll start.
This year I got several new games (some based partially on recommendations from the links above). As we have several games that require at least three players (Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico) I was really looking for games I could enjoy two player with my wife but also play with friends and family.
Pandemic is probably our overall favorite. It is a game that is easy to teach to new people, and everyone we have introduced it to seems to enjoy it. The cooperative element and the constant tension seems to really drive repeat plays when we lose against the board.
Race for the Galaxy was a game I thought we would enjoy. We both like Puerto Rico and wish we could play it two players (there are some two-player variants, but we haven't tried them yet). However, we played Race once, and my wife did not like it at all. I think the difference is that there is too much hidden information in the game. In Puerto Rico you can see all the buildings that are available at any time. In Race for the Galaxy you'd have to play many times before you would have a good idea what cards are in the deck. This makes forming a strategy especially difficult for newcomers. I think I'm going to try it with my brothers, and if they don't like it I'm getting rid of it.
Carcassonne: The City is our newest acquisition. I had never played Carcassonne, but several people said this version was their favorite. I really like the appearance of it as it progresses, and the mechanic where the city becomes hemmed in by the walls is really fun. I thought it would be a much faster and lighter game than it is, but in many cases there is a lot to weigh with each tile. Maybe once we learn the rules better play will become more automatic.
Dominion is my favorite of the games that we got in the past year. It is more of a gamer's game, but the complexity comes entirely from emergent play rather than hidden information like Race for the Galaxy. The rules are simple, but the cards interact in complex ways. I like this game so much I already got an expansion (Prosperity) for it (and I'm not usually one to get expansions).
Favorite (Preferably Nerdy!) Board Games
great family game - Ticket to Ride
Fun game for the family
It's November, temperatures are dropping (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) and there are several upcoming occasions where we may be spending time with family. The board games be making more appearances at the table. Have you been exposed to any new games in the last year? What are your favorites? I'll start.
This year I got several new games (some based partially on recommendations from the links above). As we have several games that require at least three players (Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico) I was really looking for games I could enjoy two player with my wife but also play with friends and family.
Pandemic is probably our overall favorite. It is a game that is easy to teach to new people, and everyone we have introduced it to seems to enjoy it. The cooperative element and the constant tension seems to really drive repeat plays when we lose against the board.
Race for the Galaxy was a game I thought we would enjoy. We both like Puerto Rico and wish we could play it two players (there are some two-player variants, but we haven't tried them yet). However, we played Race once, and my wife did not like it at all. I think the difference is that there is too much hidden information in the game. In Puerto Rico you can see all the buildings that are available at any time. In Race for the Galaxy you'd have to play many times before you would have a good idea what cards are in the deck. This makes forming a strategy especially difficult for newcomers. I think I'm going to try it with my brothers, and if they don't like it I'm getting rid of it.
Carcassonne: The City is our newest acquisition. I had never played Carcassonne, but several people said this version was their favorite. I really like the appearance of it as it progresses, and the mechanic where the city becomes hemmed in by the walls is really fun. I thought it would be a much faster and lighter game than it is, but in many cases there is a lot to weigh with each tile. Maybe once we learn the rules better play will become more automatic.
Dominion is my favorite of the games that we got in the past year. It is more of a gamer's game, but the complexity comes entirely from emergent play rather than hidden information like Race for the Galaxy. The rules are simple, but the cards interact in complex ways. I like this game so much I already got an expansion (Prosperity) for it (and I'm not usually one to get expansions).