Do you play board games?

[Sammy Boy]

Are there any board games you enjoy in particular?

I sometimes play Puerto Rico with my friends. It's fun but there is not much "variety" after a few games.

I borrowed my work colleague's copy of "Last Night on Earth" the other day, and my wife and I had a game. She played the Heroes and I was the Zombies. We enjoyed it and decided to buy our own copy.

[Scarecrow]

I used to be a big board game geek... I still try to get into them but I really can't anymore. They're so complicated and boring unless you have a really good group of enthusiastic friends.

The one board game I still play is Shadows Over Camelot. It's fun, quick to learn, moves at a pretty brisk pace and lasts about an hour. You're a knight of the round table and everyone is playing against the board on a team aside from a traitor who is secretly working with the board. You do quests to earn white swords to place at the table, black swords are lain on failed quests. At the end when the last sword is placed, if there are more white swords at the table, everyone wins (aside from the traitor). If there are more black swords, the board (and the traitor) wins and everyone else loses.

But other than that, nope I'm thinking of trying Battle lore since a fast pace war game that only lasts an hour. I'm just not hard core enough to get into games with a lot of instructions and mechanics or take a while to explain to a new player. That's why I love Shadows Over Camelot... quick to learn, and everyone has fun.

[uc pseudonym]

It wasn't possible to have a social life at my college without playing at least a little Settlers of Catan, and I've played from time to time since then. My current circle is more interested in Ticket to Ride (and though I don't see friends from Kenya as often, they're heavily into Citadels and Dominion). Anything is better than a luck-based game where you have nothing to think about.

I sometimes play Puerto Rico with my friends. It's fun but there is not much "variety" after a few games.

I'm sorry to hear that. I have played Puerto Rico exactly once, but it struck me as having potential.

[Nate]

I've played a few good board games with friends when I was in the Navy. Don't really get the opportunity now. We played Risk of course, as well as Risk 2210 which is a fun variation. History of the World was a really fun game as well, although we only ever played it with 3 or 4 people, and History of the World is a game that really benefits from having around five or six.

One old board game that remains a favorite of mine, and is extremely difficult to locate copies of, is a D&D type game called HeroQuest. MAN, seriously, that game is all sorts of awesome. I had a copy as a kid, but you know how kids are with board games, and a lot of the pieces were missing or broken...and I have no clue where it is these days. Finding copies online is very difficult and as such they're usually pretty expensive when you do find one (usually over a hundred dollars for it).

[Sammy Boy]

I used to be a big board game geek... I still try to get into them but I really can't anymore. They're so complicated and boring unless you have a really good group of enthusiastic friends.

The one board game I still play is Shadows Over Camelot. It's fun, quick to learn, moves at a pretty brisk pace and lasts about an hour. You're a knight of the round table and everyone is playing against the board on a team aside from a traitor who is secretly working with the board. You do quests to earn white swords to place at the table, black swords are lain on failed quests. At the end when the last sword is placed, if there are more white swords at the table, everyone wins (aside from the traitor). If there are more black swords, the board (and the traitor) wins and everyone else loses.

But other than that, nope I'm thinking of trying Battle lore since a fast pace war game that only lasts an hour. I'm just not hard core enough to get into games with a lot of instructions and mechanics or take a while to explain to a new player. That's why I love Shadows Over Camelot... quick to learn, and everyone has fun.

That sounds similar to the game The Resistance. Just wondering if you know whether one is a variation of the other?

I'm sorry to hear that. I have played Puerto Rico exactly once, but it struck me as having potential.

I should add that this was only my impression. Perhaps I am not very skilled and thought there was not much variety when in fact there is....

One old board game that remains a favorite of mine, and is extremely difficult to locate copies of, is a D&D type game called HeroQuest. MAN, seriously, that game is all sorts of awesome. I had a copy as a kid, but you know how kids are with board games, and a lot of the pieces were missing or broken...and I have no clue where it is these days. Finding copies online is very difficult and as such they're usually pretty expensive when you do find one (usually over a hundred dollars for it).

HeroQuest! I have a copy of that game!!! I enjoy it too, but you're right, my copy is kinda tattered because I had it as a kid (cardboard on those door pieces ripped or shredded). We found it a bit too easy to beat the monsters, so we came up with a system where the monsters had hit points (we even made little paper markers with hit points), and I also drew a couple of treasure cards. Fun times.

[Warrior4Christ]

I like board games. I like the classics like Risk and Monopoly, as well as Settlers of Catan. It's more a card game, but Bohnanza is pretty good too, once you get your head around the rules and aim. It seems most of the good (more recent) board games are German.. has anyone else noticed that?
I've heard Puerto Rico's good too. I may have played it once some years ago, but I don't know if it really was that one.

[Fish and Chips]

I enjoy boardgames, though these days I'm short on people to play with.

Picked up Settlers of Catan from my roommates in college, though they also tried to get me into Axis and Allies which I flatly refused. Besides that, I guess I've played the ones everyone's played.

I'd like to get a regular boardgame night going with some friends at some point in the future.

[ShiroiHikari]

I have Quelf and have played that a few times. It's good silly fun but it gets old after a while unless you play it with new people every time.

Generally I don't like board games though, because I'm not a very social person, and I'm not a fast learner when it comes to complicated rules. Most of the board games I get conned into playing are for extroverts. :I

[blkmage]

Twilight Imperium has ruined all other board games for me.

[ShiroiHikari]

Most games take four to six hours to complete

D: Yikes.

[Sheenar]

I enjoy Risk, Scatergories, Scrabble, Upwords, Clue, Settlers of Catan and a few others.

The youth group I volunteer for likes to play Life sometimes (we usually play a card game called Demon/Nerts.) I wound up with 6 kids one time. O.O

[ShiroiHikari]

I have Life but I've never played it. Also have Upwords but never played that either.

I've never played Clue, but I would really like to try it sometime.

[Scarecrow]

Yeah, I have Twilight Imperium and I've never played it. The rule book is fat and it's not something you can just get new people to play. Especially when they're not hardcore gamers and don't do well listening to rules being explained.

I do like the concept and it sounds fun but yeah, just don't know anyone who plays board games like that so I'm gonna sell it (it's in absolute pristine condition if anyone is interested )

I also have Descent which I bought causes it sounded like a really advanced version of HeroQuest... and it basically is except it takes about 5 hours to play. If someone wants a more complicated HeroQuest, that is definitely it. And they still make expansions for it if you play a lot and somehow manage to play all the quests in the quest book. Again, another game I've never actually played but it looked cool and sounded fun. Too much character upkeep though (15 minutes down time between each turn was just for character upkeep...)

One game I have played and it is fun is Conquest of the Empire... it's like a more advance style of risk but the mechanics are a lot better, relies less on luck, and becomes very interesting with Senate votes and the power you get from controlling the Senate. Very fun game and I'm not selling it even if I have only played it twice Highly recommended if you like risk and stuff. Doesn't take 5 hours either.

[Davidizer13]

Sure, I'll play board games: Monopoly, Catan, Power Grid, those railroad games that always take forever, etc. One of my favorites is Bang!, a Western-themed card game which is kind of like Mafia: you've got a couple different groups pitted against each other, each with their own goals, and from there, things descend into a giant gunfight. It's a great quick game if you've got a few people around.

we usually play a card game called Demon/Nerts

Oh, that's a good one. Somehow my parents almost always win when we play, though. They're merciless.

[Nate]

D: Yikes.

Wait, you think four to six hours is long for a board game? Someone never played Axis and Allies. :p

[ShiroiHikari]

Four to six hours sounds like a long time for just about anything. XD And no, never played Axis and Allies.

[rocklobster]

I used to play Monopoly and Sorry as a kid. We played Fortress at a family reunion. It's a D&D style game my cousin found at a yard sale.

[jsav777]

Shoots & Ladders was my favorite

[Scarecrow]

That sounds similar to the game The Resistance. Just wondering if you know whether one is a variation of the other?

Didn't see this earlier... Nah... it's not really like that... Resistance is closer to stuff like Werewolf/Mafia than Shadows Over Camelot... Camelot has an actual board and a quest book... you try to get excalibur, the holy grail, defeat the black knight etc... it's closer to a cooperative RPG but extremely simplified. You can't level but you have health points and you can take on quests together or you can do them solo. The traitor is there to mix things up and make the game more interesting. Every turn, the board gets to play (you draw a black card... bad things happen) and then the player gets to play. Then the board and then the next player. If the game goes on too long, you wont be able to hold off siege engines attacking the castle and the game ends if all the siege engines are placed and you lose. So you gotta do quests and stuff quick.

[MomentOfInertia]

I used to play Risk and Monopoly when I could get enough people together.

[uc pseudonym]

My friends in China are trying to get me into Wesnoth, which is basically like an electronic version of a war-based board game. They think we might be able to set it up even though we're a continent apart. Anyone here play it?

I should add that this was only my impression. Perhaps I am not very skilled and thought there was not much variety when in fact there is....

Having played only one game I can't be sure either. I just found it interesting that there were a large number of potential paths to victory (trading vs building vs colonists). Whether or not that would translate into re-playability is less certain and might depend some on the individual.

It seems most of the good (more recent) board games are German.. has anyone else noticed that?

It's definitely noticed, though I'm not sure exactly why that would be other than cultural trends gaining momentum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game

[Htom Sirveaux]

I picked up the D&D 4th edition starter set a while back, just to see what it's all about, 'cause I've never played it before and there's a 1-player adventure thingy in it. I didn't like it, though. Too much math.

But I'm going to visit friends in Florida later this month, so I got a card game called Munchkin (a sort of D&D/Magic satire) to bring along. Haven't actually played yet, but it looks like a lot of fun.

[Nate]

Munchkin is CRAZY fun, especially if you have most of the expansion packs.

[Atria35]

Certain ones, sure.

There's an old one called Masterpiece which me and my family play. We like looking at the different paintings

We're also still big on Sorry! and Clue, our faves to pull out on Game Nights!

[Davidizer13]

Munchkin is CRAZY fun, especially if you have most of the expansion packs.

Seconded]My friends in China are trying to get me into Wesnoth, which is basically like an electronic version of a war-based board game. They think we might be able to set it up even though we're a continent apart. Anyone here play it?[/QUOTE]

I mess with it every so often - it's a combination of Fire Emblem (or Shining Force, if you're a Sega guy) and Advance Wars, or a simplified version of Civilization. Like Advance Wars, the army you recruit is pretty much expendable, but they level up and become more valuable, pushing things towards strategy RPGs.

The PC/Mac version is free, the single-player campaigns aren't too bad, and if what it comes with isn't enough, there's a ton of mods and user campaigns to mess with. I haven't played much online multiplayer, but the lobbies seem pretty easy to deal with, so it shouldn't be too bad to set up an online game.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Fire Emblem

Sold.