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What sort of Board Games do you Play (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Northgun
- Start date
I appreciate the suggestion.
That's the type of game that'd receive one or two playings and wind up on the shelf. We just don't care for "dexterity" type games at all, maybe playing "Ker Plunk" once or twice a year, and then only if one of the younger kids ask. My oldest grandson asked for Jenga one Christmas. We played it a few times when he opened it and it's never been played again.
That's the type of game that'd receive one or two playings and wind up on the shelf. We just don't care for "dexterity" type games at all, maybe playing "Ker Plunk" once or twice a year, and then only if one of the younger kids ask. My oldest grandson asked for Jenga one Christmas. We played it a few times when he opened it and it's never been played again.
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Scythe came in today. Man... that's one *heavy* game! As in it weighs a ton! I can't wait to try it out.
Also in today's mail was Five Tribes.
My grandson thought both looked very interesting. There are a few more on the way...
Also in today's mail was Five Tribes.
My grandson thought both looked very interesting. There are a few more on the way...
I skimmed the video, but the title image appears to be a lie: I couldn’t find anywhere in the video where they featured Big Trouble The Game. 
Ars Technica’s gift guide:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/12/ars-technicas-ultimate-board-game-buyers-guide-2018-edition/
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/12/ars-technicas-ultimate-board-game-buyers-guide-2018-edition/
^I really enjoy reading their lists - but they always seem to come too late for Christmas purchases (of course I don't actively seek them out so there's that...). I'm rather surprised at the number of titles on their list I own:
Splendor: My son asked for a copy for Christmas and since WM had them for $20/copy I got one for my house just in case. We've never played it before. I figure for $20 it's worth a gamble - plus we'll play *his* copy when he's home for Christmas. If we don't like it well enough I can return my unopened one.
Azul: We like this one. Like many others, it doesn't hit the table as often as I'd like.
Kingdomino: A huge hit at my house. I purchased Queendomino because the granddaughters wanted more tiles but once I got it out and started going over the new rules they balked "I just want more tiles! Not a harder game!" so it's never been played. Just got the Giants expansion as it comes with a 5th player, more tiles, and the tile tower. That, for sure, will be used. I'd also purchased a copy of the Target Kingdomino "exclusive" which comes with a tile tower but not Giants. It's still unopened and may go home with my son.
Century Spice Road: Picked up in the Barnes & Noble sale. Still unopened. I really want to get it to the table.
Isle of Sky: Another unopened game I'm sure we'd like. Just need to get it to the table.
Kingdom Builder: This has been played a few times and we've enjoyed it every time. I have the first 3 expansions but we've not yet played with them. I want that last expansion for completeness' sake. I'm a bit annoyed that the "Queenies" are only in the new "Big Box" as I'd like those, too. I'm somewhat placated by the fact I purchased the base game and those 3 expansions for $60 so even getting that 4th expansion at its current price will still be a bit less - but I want those "Queenies" dang it!
Castles of Burgundy: This one's a favorite of my oldest granddaughter (just turned 12 yesterday!) and I really like it too. Her brother has only played once with us but likes it. I have several "expansions" (mostly different player boards). It's one of 3 Feld games in the collection (the others are Notre Dame which hasn't been played and La Ilsa which has and is liked). It needs to hit the table more often.
Scythe: Just got it. Can hardly wait to play.
Carcassonne: A top favorite. This will frequently come out if we can't decide what to play. It's also one the 7 year old can join us on and hold her own. I have all of the original expansions for this one but only 3 have been opened. My son says "Get 'em open, dad! We need more tiles on the board!" I approach it from "If I put the expansion in we use the expansion rules" so don't necessarily want them all out at once.
Ticket to Ride Europe: Still haven't played this one - but we play the original frequently. It's the 7 year old's favorite "grown up" game. I have several versions and expansions: Rails & Sails (we like it but what do we know?), United Kingdom/Pennsylvania (not yet played but really looks fun), Nordic Countries (played once, liked by all), TTR; Germany (not yet played), India/Switzerland (Played India - that's one vicious and tough map!), and the 1910 expansion mainly for the larger train cards.
Star Realms: Another favorite of my oldest granddaughter (me too). Until the latest version came out we had everything for this one. It gets very regular plays.
I've been looking hard at these for some time - mostly waiting for the "right price":
Viticulture
Sagrada
Terra Mystica
Great Western Trail
Terraforming Mars
Jaipur
King of Tokyo
Port Royal
Welcome to the Dungeon
And... Gloomhaven. Part of me *really* wants this one. I just can't wrap my head around the cost and that it's a "once through and done" at that price. I'll just content myself with Arcadia Quest. It's a "dungeon crawl" that's quite fun and seems to have replayability. At least you're not stickering things, changing abilities/cards/locations, permanently just because of events. I'm too OCD to ever be able to play a "legacy" type game. I'd want the ability to roll back the changes and do it again. I think there are "removable" sticker sets for Gloomhaven to allow for that but then we're back to the entry fee...
Splendor: My son asked for a copy for Christmas and since WM had them for $20/copy I got one for my house just in case. We've never played it before. I figure for $20 it's worth a gamble - plus we'll play *his* copy when he's home for Christmas. If we don't like it well enough I can return my unopened one.
Azul: We like this one. Like many others, it doesn't hit the table as often as I'd like.
Kingdomino: A huge hit at my house. I purchased Queendomino because the granddaughters wanted more tiles but once I got it out and started going over the new rules they balked "I just want more tiles! Not a harder game!" so it's never been played. Just got the Giants expansion as it comes with a 5th player, more tiles, and the tile tower. That, for sure, will be used. I'd also purchased a copy of the Target Kingdomino "exclusive" which comes with a tile tower but not Giants. It's still unopened and may go home with my son.
Century Spice Road: Picked up in the Barnes & Noble sale. Still unopened. I really want to get it to the table.
Isle of Sky: Another unopened game I'm sure we'd like. Just need to get it to the table.
Kingdom Builder: This has been played a few times and we've enjoyed it every time. I have the first 3 expansions but we've not yet played with them. I want that last expansion for completeness' sake. I'm a bit annoyed that the "Queenies" are only in the new "Big Box" as I'd like those, too. I'm somewhat placated by the fact I purchased the base game and those 3 expansions for $60 so even getting that 4th expansion at its current price will still be a bit less - but I want those "Queenies" dang it!
Castles of Burgundy: This one's a favorite of my oldest granddaughter (just turned 12 yesterday!) and I really like it too. Her brother has only played once with us but likes it. I have several "expansions" (mostly different player boards). It's one of 3 Feld games in the collection (the others are Notre Dame which hasn't been played and La Ilsa which has and is liked). It needs to hit the table more often.
Scythe: Just got it. Can hardly wait to play.
Carcassonne: A top favorite. This will frequently come out if we can't decide what to play. It's also one the 7 year old can join us on and hold her own. I have all of the original expansions for this one but only 3 have been opened. My son says "Get 'em open, dad! We need more tiles on the board!" I approach it from "If I put the expansion in we use the expansion rules" so don't necessarily want them all out at once.
Ticket to Ride Europe: Still haven't played this one - but we play the original frequently. It's the 7 year old's favorite "grown up" game. I have several versions and expansions: Rails & Sails (we like it but what do we know?), United Kingdom/Pennsylvania (not yet played but really looks fun), Nordic Countries (played once, liked by all), TTR; Germany (not yet played), India/Switzerland (Played India - that's one vicious and tough map!), and the 1910 expansion mainly for the larger train cards.
Star Realms: Another favorite of my oldest granddaughter (me too). Until the latest version came out we had everything for this one. It gets very regular plays.
I've been looking hard at these for some time - mostly waiting for the "right price":
Viticulture
Sagrada
Terra Mystica
Great Western Trail
Terraforming Mars
Jaipur
King of Tokyo
Port Royal
Welcome to the Dungeon
And... Gloomhaven. Part of me *really* wants this one. I just can't wrap my head around the cost and that it's a "once through and done" at that price. I'll just content myself with Arcadia Quest. It's a "dungeon crawl" that's quite fun and seems to have replayability. At least you're not stickering things, changing abilities/cards/locations, permanently just because of events. I'm too OCD to ever be able to play a "legacy" type game. I'd want the ability to roll back the changes and do it again. I think there are "removable" sticker sets for Gloomhaven to allow for that but then we're back to the entry fee...
Splendor is great! Love it for two player, especially.
I put Las Vegas and Century Golem Edition on my wishlist. Vegas looks like a slightly more involved take on Roll For It. And I watched a Dice Tower video review for Centure Spice Road and Golem Edition, and it looks good and I like the art for the golems a bit more.
I put Las Vegas and Century Golem Edition on my wishlist. Vegas looks like a slightly more involved take on Roll For It. And I watched a Dice Tower video review for Centure Spice Road and Golem Edition, and it looks good and I like the art for the golems a bit more.
I had the Golem Edition on my wish lists until that B&N sale. I'd actually planned originally to get all three games in the series but then watched the Dice Tower reviews on Golem and Spice Road. When they said that these were essentially the same game with mostly different art I pulled Spice Road off the list as I like the looks of Golem a bit better. When that B&N sale came along I just couldn't pass up Spice Road at the ~$15 price so got that one instead.
** EDIT **
Something else I'd forgotten... Century Eastern Wonders can be combined with Century Spice Road to make somewhat a 3rd game. That can't be done with the Golem Edition.
** EDIT **
Something else I'd forgotten... Century Eastern Wonders can be combined with Century Spice Road to make somewhat a 3rd game. That can't be done with the Golem Edition.
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I'm interested in your opinion of Rails and Sails. Many of the reviews I've seen and read are kind of "meh" and don't seem to like it much. I thought it was a fun variant on the theme. It likely won't receive regular plays here simply because it's a bit more difficult and convoluted but everyone liked it when we played the first time. I feel we need a few more plays to get a true feel for the changes and that those additional plays will remove much of the difficulty and convoluted feel.
I've been looking at My Little Scythe pretty hard for just that reason. If the 7 (almost 8) yo can't handle Scythe I may pick up a copy. It looks like it'd be fun for adults too.
As luck would have it... Amazon's running a "Up to 30% off Family Games" sale today.
My Little Scythe is part of that one, selling for $24.70. Ordered!
While most are games aimed at kids and casual players, Retro Sorry (looks almost identical to the copy my sister and I practically wore out as kids), Cootie, Battleship (the good, original setup version but adding planes), and others, there are a few that'll please more "serious" gamers while bringing in those casual players, Imhotep, Sushi Go!, Sushi Go Party!, and Bob Ross: The Art of Chill (which, surprisingly, looks like it would be a good intro type game).
**EDIT**
Imhotep is sold out... I guess $16.25 was too hard to pass up for lots of people. I snagged a copy before it sold out.
My Little Scythe is part of that one, selling for $24.70. Ordered!
While most are games aimed at kids and casual players, Retro Sorry (looks almost identical to the copy my sister and I practically wore out as kids), Cootie, Battleship (the good, original setup version but adding planes), and others, there are a few that'll please more "serious" gamers while bringing in those casual players, Imhotep, Sushi Go!, Sushi Go Party!, and Bob Ross: The Art of Chill (which, surprisingly, looks like it would be a good intro type game).
**EDIT**
Imhotep is sold out... I guess $16.25 was too hard to pass up for lots of people. I snagged a copy before it sold out.
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MLS was gone when I looked
Jarl Edition of Champions of Midgard back in stock!
https://www.greyfoxgames.com/games/champions-of-midgard-the-expansions-jarl-level/
https://www.greyfoxgames.com/games/champions-of-midgard-the-expansions-jarl-level/
My grandson (15yo) and I finally managed to play Queendomino. I suggested a game and he chose Queendomino since we'd not yet played it. We both felt it was "OK" but for now prefer Kingdomino. I commented I might feel different with 3 or 4 players and a couple more games but with a single 2 player game it just felt kind of fiddly. We're also not sure we understood the scoring of some of the red/special building tiles. One type of those pushed our scores over 300 making it feel like a "point salad" game.
Following that, he and I played Ticket to Ride New York. It was an instant hit. He said "I need a copy of this one! It's small enough to carry with you, easy and quick to play, and fun!" We played 3 games in roughly 30 minutes. It took longer to read the rules to see what, if anything, was different than to play the first game. We really liked the special 2 player rule which eliminates the 2nd route to a location once someone claims one side of the route. That really makes for a tight board. Tickets make or break you in this one and taking more can be a huge gamble due to the short game play and fewer "trains" (actually a taxi - and we kept calling them trains out of habit). After supper we played a 4 player game with the 12 and 7yo. In the first game, the youngest did her usual take-all-the-wildcards-and-hoard-cards which caused a major card drought for the rest of us. She'd managed to get, and keep, all but one of the wild cards and had enough of the pink ones to prevent us from completing needed routes. Once we made it clear she couldn't do that the next game was much better and she actually completed her 2 original tickets. The girls really liked it and we played 3 games.
Following that, he and I played Ticket to Ride New York. It was an instant hit. He said "I need a copy of this one! It's small enough to carry with you, easy and quick to play, and fun!" We played 3 games in roughly 30 minutes. It took longer to read the rules to see what, if anything, was different than to play the first game. We really liked the special 2 player rule which eliminates the 2nd route to a location once someone claims one side of the route. That really makes for a tight board. Tickets make or break you in this one and taking more can be a huge gamble due to the short game play and fewer "trains" (actually a taxi - and we kept calling them trains out of habit). After supper we played a 4 player game with the 12 and 7yo. In the first game, the youngest did her usual take-all-the-wildcards-and-hoard-cards which caused a major card drought for the rest of us. She'd managed to get, and keep, all but one of the wild cards and had enough of the pink ones to prevent us from completing needed routes. Once we made it clear she couldn't do that the next game was much better and she actually completed her 2 original tickets. The girls really liked it and we played 3 games.
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Wait, is that a house rule or was she cheating somehow?
I saw the NYC TTR at Target, and wondered if it was any good.
In normal TTR, I don’t know how hoarding wildcards would be effective. While trying to get them, everyone else would be getting twice as many cards, and take alternate routes to complete tickets. Plus, there are often multiple wilds out, plus random draws also get them; the erstwhile hoarder would be foiled.
Are the NYC dynamics so different that hoarding is an effective strategy?
In normal TTR, I don’t know how hoarding wildcards would be effective. While trying to get them, everyone else would be getting twice as many cards, and take alternate routes to complete tickets. Plus, there are often multiple wilds out, plus random draws also get them; the erstwhile hoarder would be foiled.
Are the NYC dynamics so different that hoarding is an effective strategy?
A house rule in effect only when she plays because she tends hoard cards otherwise. We don't set a hard limit but keep an eye on her stack and simply tell her "Next turn you have to claim a route" if it's getting out of hand.
If she were doing this as an overall strategy to keep us from getting cards it wouldn't be an issue. Sure, we'd be annoyed, but she'd be knowingly clogging the game. She's usually just card collecting with no eye on strategy which is why the rule comes into play if she's at the table.
With TTR:NY there are far fewer cards (only 8 wild) and it's a small, quick, board. We were essentially stalled waiting for the few cards we all needed to cycle back into the draw pile hoping we'd get them before her. When the game ended she complained that she didn't get any routes, showing her cards and pointing to where she wanted to play. It was 3 routes and she was planning to claim them all at once - even though she knows better. So... we explained how important it is to not wait to try and connect your tickets. She did far better after that and, even if in last place, proudly showed her completed tickets during scoring.
Not really. It slowed us down and clogged things up but we were able to finish anyway. It's just something she does because she likes the multicolor look of the wild cards. It hurt more as she also hoarded the limited supply of a couple of other colors. She had 75% of the pink cards and it seemed that we were all trying to make connections that needed pink. She had over half the small deck of cards in her hand.
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