What sort of Board Games do you Play (2 Viewers)

[Sam Posten]

Ooooh Tsuro and Pandemic have apps too!

 

[Dave Upton]

Dave, please see the link I put above your post, (and below here). They are making an awesome 'legacy' version of Betrayal.
https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/games-news-201117/

This looks great, i'll have to pick it up.

 

[BobO'Link]

I'm old school. Give me the board game and all the pieces to keep up with, please.

We played Catan Seafarers. I have the 4th edition of both and the pieces on Seafarers are thicker than those on the base game. A real annoyance! It makes me wonder why they went the cheap route on the base game but not the expansion. Oh well... we enjoyed the expansion and I "accidentally" won. I accumulated enough points to win and didn't realize it until I stole "Longest Trade Route" from my grandson! He counted the length and then points and proclaimed "You won! Before you even did that!"

We also got to Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails. We played the "easier" side (Great Lakes where the tickets are not multiple locations and the routes don't wrap to the other side) and it still took a bit over 2 hours to play. We even left out the tickets to make it easier for the 6 year old! It was a hit and everyone wants to play the "world" side of the board. I was a bit worried going in as several reviewers disliked the train/ship combos and thought some of the new rules overly complicated things. I admit, it does add complexity and totally changes how you have to think and play (Do I want a ship and a train? Two trains? Two ships? Hmmm... what do I need to play a harbor? Maybe I need to do that first.). We found it very easy to have a handful of cards and still not be able to make a route you "need."

 

[DaveF]

I'm old school. Give me the board game and all the pieces to keep up with, please.

Mostly we play actual board games. But it’s nice sometimes to just veg on the couch and play TTR two player with no bother of clearing space and setup and tear down.

We played Catan Seafarers. I have the 4th edition of both and the pieces on Seafarers are thicker than those on the base game. A real annoyance! It makes me wonder why they went the cheap route on the base game but not the expansion. Oh well... we enjoyed the expansion and I "accidentally" won. I accumulated enough points to win and didn't realize it until I stole "Longest Trade Route" from my grandson! He counted the length and then points and proclaimed "You won! Before you even did that!"

Seafarers was the variant that I couldn’t get into. I’ve also got the Traders and Barbarians (I think...the older variant from 20 years ago). I remember it was good, but haven played since. When we play, it’s just vanilla Catan all these years later.

We also got to Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails. We played the "easier" side (Great Lakes where the tickets are not multiple locations and the routes don't wrap to the other side) and it still took a bit over 2 hours to play. We even left out the tickets to make it easier for the 6 year old! It was a hit and everyone wants to play the "world" side of the board. I was a bit worried going in as several reviewers disliked the train/ship combos and thought some of the new rules overly complicated things. I admit, it does add complexity and totally changes how you have to think and play (Do I want a ship and a train? Two trains? Two ships? Hmmm... what do I need to play a harbor? Maybe I need to do that first.). We found it very easy to have a handful of cards and still not be able to make a route you "need."

I need to check out the new variant. TTR has fallen out of play with our gaming groups. But my wife and I still play it two player sometimes.

 

[BobO'Link]

Seafarers was the variant that I couldn’t get into. I’ve also got the Traders and Barbarians (I think...the older variant from 20 years ago). I remember it was good, but haven played since. When we play, it’s just vanilla Catan all these years later.

It was interesting but I don't know how often we'll play it, partly due to the extra time needed for selecting/creating the islands scenario to play and setup/teardown. I purchased it mainly due to reading that the designer intended it to be part of the base game but split it out to reduce the initial cost. It was felt it might be too expensive if left in. I agree with that assessment and think the game might not have been as successful had it been left in. I have a couple of the scenario expansions I need to incorporate at some point just to see what they add. When it comes right down to it, we still enjoy "just vanilla Catan" and don't need, or want, the diversity the expansions provide.

Conversely, we do enjoy playing Carcassonne with expansions on occasion. We have all of the Rio Grande and then Z-Man (after Rio Grande lost the franchise) released expansions (and several of the non-US ones) for the original artwork and will put one in to change things up a bit. My son likes them just for the extra tiles and puts his in a common pot totally disregarding the rules for any of them. I keep them all separate. If we play with one, it's played with its rules as well. We've only played once with two expansions. That was "Cities and Builders" and "Inns and Cathedrals." It was OK, but I prefer one at a time if we're adding the expansion's rules as well. I ordered a copy of "Under the Big Top," the newest one that uses the vII artwork, in spite of owning the original art version for everything else. We use bags for tile drawing so it should integrate OK. At least it'll be very easy to pull those tiles out when the game is over.

Yesterday we played Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers. It's a favorite with the grandkids. They like the art and the different scoring rules. My grandson got irritated at his sister for pulling his "I'm going to horn in on your points" tactic on him. I had to laugh and remind him "That's what you try on everyone!" At least she didn't try to squeeze him out like he does. It's a shame they don't keep this one in print as it's a very good variant. Even the new Z-Man printing went OOP rather quickly (I was going to get my grandkids one for thier house and it went OOP within a few months).

 

[DaveF]

Seafarers to me was too resource constrained compared to the normal game.

We used to play Carcassonne a lot with one or two of the small add-ons. But recently we found Carcassonne Discovery and it suits us better. It’s faster and breezier than the original while keeping all core mechanics that make the original fun.

I’ve not played any of the other flavors. But friends tell me the new Amazon version is fun.

 

[BobO'Link]

I almost purchased Carcassonne Discovery right after Rio Grande Games lost the franchise. I wound up purchasing Carcassonne New World instead. By the time I'd decided Carcassonne Discovery would make a good addition it had gone OOP and was selling for more than I wanted to spend. I'd initially looked at it thinking it might be the Eurogame that would entice my wife to join us in our gaming sessions but decided it likely would not. She's pretty much a old-style US gamer. Other than Mille Bourne, which initially gave me hope I could get her interested in other games, basic card games (Spades mostly), UNO, Scrabble, Yahtzee, and Sorry are about all we can get her to play.

I think she'd like Carcassonne, but we just can't get her to give it a try. Oh well... at least my son, when he's home, will play just about anything and loves the more complicated games. We always plan a game night when his family is home and try to play at least one "new" game with him. My daughter will try most games, depending on how much time there is to play, but somewhat balks if it's going to take a couple of hours for her to learn a new game. The grandkids are up for just about anything but can be rather fickle at times. It's nice that the youngest (6 1/2yo) is finally past the Candyland/Chutes & Ladders gaming stage.

I, too, have heard good things about Carcassonne: Amazonas. I keep thinking I need to get a copy before it goes OOP. It seems that, other than the core game and expansions, Z-Man Games doesn't keep the stand-alone variants in print very long.

 

[Sam Posten]

All time favorite board game (with sinking board!)

Huh. I HAVE Forbidden Desert! It was a present via RedditGifts exchange. Is it as good as the Island version???

 

[Carabimero]

Huh. I HAVE Forbidden Desert! It was a present via RedditGifts exchange. Is it as good as the Island version???

To each his own, but we didn't enjoy FORBIDDEN DESERT nearly as much, for three reasons.

One, the rules were poorly written and leave a couple of critical points ambiguous. Two, we found constantly piling up sandstorms and unpiling them, combined with the continually shifting pieces, much more work than fun. Finally, perhaps because of the first two reasons, our games seemed to go on too long.

On the other hand, we've been playing FORBIDDEN ISLAND for years and never grow tired of it. It is a cooperative game, however, so keep in mind everyone wins or loses together. But that's one of the things we most enjoy about it.

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah that's why I bought Zombicide.

 

[DaveF]

“50 Best Board Games of 2017 - Best New Adult Board Games”

http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/g18/15-best-new-board-games-of-the-year/?src=arb_fb_m

 

[DavidJ]

“50 Best Board Games of 2017 - Best New Adult Board Games”

http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/g18/15-best-new-board-games-of-the-year/?src=arb_fb_m

Had anyone here played Spaceteam? It sounded fun in that PM article.

 

[DaveF]

Had anyone here played Spaceteam? It sounded fun in that PM article.

I’ve played the original iOS game. It’s a chaotic riot! If you like loud, shouty, random team games, then I’d bet the physical version would be fun too.

 

[BobO'Link]

“50 Best Board Games of 2017 - Best New Adult Board Games”

http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/g18/15-best-new-board-games-of-the-year/?src=arb_fb_m

You suck! (JK)

Some of the games on that list are already OOP and command very high prices...

In spite of that, it brought three new items to my "Board Game Wish List" and possibly more once I give it a good going over. Those specific three, Clank!, Santorini, and Ethnos, sound like ones the grandkids would really like (truth be known... me too!).

Thanks?

 

[DaveF]

I’ve played a few games on the list and have heard about a few others. So I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt on the whole as giving good recommendations.

I already had Colt Express and Camel Up on my wishlist. But nice to see them recommended by yet another source.

 

[Sam Posten]

I put a few from that list on my wishlist. I wound up buying Sheriff of Nottingham as it was under $20 on Amazon. Currently $19.51 shipped prime

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007EZMABG?tag=popularmechanics_auto-append-20

 

[DaveF]

I’ve played Sheriff once. I liked it, despite not being into bluffing games generally.

 

[Sam Posten]

Amazon board games deals today. Ticket To Ride for $26. Should I get this or keep waiting on a deal on TTR Rails and Sails?
https://www.amazon.com/s/browse/ref...02-20&linkId=27c3c2d3b813b71d312683e1c4f350db

 

[Dave Upton]

Vanilla TTR was always a lot of fun, though I haven't tried Rails & Sails. Is it supposed to be a major improvement?

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah, too late tho it sold out.