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What sort of Board Games do you Play (1 Viewer)

Pnochichi

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Sure! Here are some of the 10yo's favorites:

Sushi Go! - A very nice card drafting/set collection game. I like it for a game or two but that's it though both the girls (the 10yo and her 15yo sister) will play game after game. I got the 15yo a copy of Sushi Go Party! for Christmas a couple of years back (she specifically asked for it). It's a "better/improved" version of the game that lets you put different groupings of cards into the deck (kind of like Dominion) to create unique groupings. I like it better *but* it really drags things down to play one group of cards and then reset with a different group (you have to break all the cards used down into their groups and pick the new ones). Both come in a tin box (blech) with no option for a cardboard box.

Parfum - I think this one's OOP. She absolutely loves this one (and has been commenting the past week or so that we "need" to play it again). It's a dice drafting, bag building, type game. You pull scent tiles from the bag to place on the board. Each has specific dice types to be able to purchase and add to your tableau. Using your actions you either select dice to roll hoping to earn a specific scent for your perfume stack or sell a completed perfume to a client (also blind drawn), earning points. It plays fairly quickly and isn't too complicated. We can usually get her mom to play (but her brother and sister never have been around when we've played this one).

Micropolis - Another that may be OOP. This one's similar to Kingdomino in that you're drafting tiles in a bidding order. This time the tiles create a circle around a central stash of ant soldiers. First tile in line is free, to get the 2nd you put one of your ants on the first, etc. Tiles have tunnels on them that connect. You earn points by connecting tunnels to group items, having queen ants, commander ants, longest tunnel, and placing your ants in special areas. Also plays fairly quickly.

Ticket to Ride - Pick a version/map... She's been playing this one since she was 5 (called it "That chugga choo choo game") and it's also a family favorite. Initially when she played we did so without the tickets but over time those have been added. You used to be able to count on her to grab any locomotive (wild card) that hit the card row - and she'd hoard them until we pretty much said "OK... you *have* to put some trains down this turn!" She's gotten quite good and we now always play with the tickets. I have just about every map released (all but Poland, which was a UK only release and I'm not paying that much) and every full game release (except for Marklin as it's OOP and stupidly expensive and the US Anniversary edition, also OOP and more than I'm willing to pay). That includes the more recent "small box" versions (TTR: New York, TTR: London, and TTR: Amsteram). Her favorite (mine too) of the small box versions is TTR: London. Those play quickly (15 minutes or so) and can be *very* cut throat with super tight maps.

The Quest for El Dorado - This one's also quite high on her favorites list. It's a racing game with deck building. It has a modular board which makes for a huge number of maps possible (there's a BGG user who posted a "book" of 50+ maps that his group play tested). The deck building portion is rather unique. You purchase cards from a specific market row and there's a limit of 3 of each card. Once a type is depleted you put a new one, from a group of 12 or so, in its place. Each card type improves your hand (a limited hand of 5 cards but you can keep the ones you don't play on a turn and simply draw back up to 5) in some manner. We got her mom to play with us and she, too, liked it. It's also one I really enjoy and she does quite well with it. Once she figured out what each card type can do she became quite aggressive with her selections.

Harry Potter: Hogwart's Battle - A deck building coop game where you play one of the principal characters from the books/movies and attempt to defeat a group of "villains" from the books/movies with each round (book). It plays in 7 rounds with each representing a book in the series. It introduces new cards for drafting and new bad guys, with their respective damage cards, and locations pulled from the respective book for each round. Each character has a unique starting deck that can be supplimented by purchasing cards from the "market" area. The students in the box are Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. The first expansion adds Ginny Weasley (and a 5th player) and the other adds Luna Lovegood (and both add 4 more levels/cards/etc. to the base game). It starts out fairly easy but ramps up with each level as you *add* villains to the group each time. That also makes each book/round/level longer. It's a solid coop game that doesn't seem to fall victim to the "Alpha Player" syndrome quite so much (and it helps that we discuss the options and work out together what we feel is best - basically, I guide but let her drive more often than not so she feels more invested).

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers - She, her brother, and sister, all started playing "modern" board games with base Carcassonne. I have all of the published expansions and many of the mini-expansions plus most of the stand-alone versions that've been released. Hunters and Gatherers is their favorite flavor. It's the same but different enough to feel like a new game. I introduced them to this one when they got to where they understood farmers and how to manipulate them for scoring. This version rewards the player who can worm their way into someone's stream/field or complete a forest for another player.

Sagrada - A game I almost didn't purchase as it sounded like it'd be too much like Azul. It's not. It's a fun and quick dice drafting game where you place the drafted dice on a special "window" in specific ways to get points. Those specific ways can change every game as it's randomly pulled from a stack of inserts for your "window." Another surprise hit.

Azul - Yep - she likes this one too, though not as much as Sagrada. In this one you're drafting tiles from a limited selection and placing them on a player board in a specific manner.

Ascension - More deck building (yeah, we like that mechanic). This time you're racing to get the most points by purchasing point cards from the center row and defeating monsters in the center row. Those purchased cards make your personal deck stronger over time. As there are many sets/sub-sets of this one I recommend the one linked above (it's the first set released and supports up to 4 out of the box) *or* Ascension: Eternal, the most recent "beginner" set (plays 2 out of the box), a less expensive way to test the waters and it combines easily with any of the other sets.

Star Realms - Yep, another deck builder. This time you're purchasing the best cards from the central row and attacking your opponent hoping to knock them out before they knock you out. She'd watched her sister and me play this one frequently and couldn't wait to join in. It's mostly a 2 player game (there are variants for 3 or 4 but...) and plays very quickly. There are 4 versions of this one. The original (linked), Colony Wars (a stand-alone expansion), Frontiers (another stand-alone expansion that supports 4 players out of the box), and a updated version of the original which includes everything from the first game, supports 4 players, has a small expansion, some coop challenge stuff, and a board for the center row (unnecessary but nice). It's a good way to get your feet wet with this one but is usually twice the cost of the original set. A plus is the box insert looks like it'll hold most of the currently released content (the other 2 stand-alone sets for sure) which is a plus if you go for the other sets.

Barenpark - A very fun polyomino tile laying game that her mom also really likes. It *can* have a bit of AP due to tile placement so be aware of that. I have the Bad News Bears expansion but we've not played with it yet (I think Dave has so maybe he has some insight on that one).

Draftosaurus - Pull a specific number of wooden dinosaurs from a bag, draft one for your park, pass the rest to the person next to you. There's a single die *one* person rolls to determine exactly *where* on the boards you must place your drafted dino and that person doesn't have to follow the die placement mandate. The die passes with the dinos so everyone gets equal turns rolling the die. Each dino pen has different requirements for occupancy/scoring, and the boards are double-sided with different scoring methods on each side (everyone plays the same side though). The dinos are very good quality with each being a different shape (and all of one shape are the same color) and it plays very quickly. My 8yo grandson loves this one.

Letters to Santa (aka Love Letter) - A Christmas themed version of Love Letter. She absolutely loves this one. Biggest issue is getting everyone else on board as it's best/better with more players (I prefer 4). I usually bring this one out if we have some non-gamers at the house and decide to play a game.

Gingerbread House - Tile laying/set collection/contracts. You draw a tile from a pile and place it on your player board. What you cover with that tile provides resources you use to purchase cards (the contract) for points. The board is constantly rising and you have limitations on just where that tile can be placed.

Marvel United - a coop game with miniatures where you're a group of Marvel heros attempting to take down the selected villain. It has a fun, and unique, card playing mechanism. We were surprised that we really enjoyed this one (we're not much into coops and not Marvel fans - I got this as a review copy - we liked it enough that I've ordered the newer X-Men stand-alone expansion).

Photosynthesis - She and her sister both really like this one. It's a somewhat abstract game where you're growing trees (3-D standees no less) for points. BUT - as those trees get larger they can block the sunlight, putting trees behind them in shadow and restricting their growth. And the sun moves around the board constantly changing the direction of the shadow. You must be careful to not block your own trees while casting shadows on your opponents crop. Lots of fun.

Santorini - She really likes this one but struggles with it a bit. It's a very abstract 3D area control type game that can be quite challenging.

Trash Pandas - A dice rolling, hand management, set collection, push your luck card game. It's surprisingly lots of fun and plays very very quickly.

Point Salad - Another set collecting card drafting game. Yet, it's unique and lots of fun. It also plays fairly quickly.


There are a few others we've played and she seems to enjoy but those above are the ones she'll ask for the most.
This is a great list. We have several of them, and I've put many of the others in my wishlist to add over time. Trash Pandas and Sagrada are on the way now, so we will check them out soon. We are starting Catan with the youngest this weekend and that might open up a few new games if he takes to it. Isle of Cats was already on the way due to his love of cats, but if he takes to it, we'll give barenpark a try as well.

Everyone really loves playing D&D, so we might explore some of the games that scratch that itch as well.
 

BobO'Link

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This is a great list. We have several of them, and I've put many of the others in my wishlist to add over time. Trash Pandas and Sagrada are on the way now, so we will check them out soon. We are starting Catan with the youngest this weekend and that might open up a few new games if he takes to it. Isle of Cats was already on the way due to his love of cats, but if he takes to it, we'll give barenpark a try as well.

Everyone really loves playing D&D, so we might explore some of the games that scratch that itch as well.
One in that genre I highly recommend is Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. It's also currently on sale at Amazon ($31.99 with a $5.33 coupon). I've only played the first scenario/level but enjoyed it enough that I purchased a copy for my son (who's a D&D fan). There's enough content in that smaller version of Gloomhaven to last for many play sessions (there are 25 scenarios in the campaign).

I also really enjoy Mage Knight. It, too, has only had a single game played. This one's a table hog and the primary reason I set up a game area in my den with a dedicated table. It can take time to set up so I wanted to be able to leave it on the table for a few days. I've not done that yet but soon... This one's kind of difficult to get as it is frequently OOS (I set an alert on the "Ultimate" edition and was able to snag one on sale).

Another I've played with the older grandkids (though when they were ~12 & 15) is Arcadia Quest. It has a modular board and you play a campaign of 6 scenarios out of the 11 in the box. We all enjoyed that one but, like the others, it has had limited play (mostly due to time/space - it needs a larger table than we used initially). This one has lots of expansions/modules/characters you can add. There's also an alternate version called Starcadia Quest which has an outer space theme. Supposedly game play is practically the same.

I don't know how far back you've read or if you came across the various online game stores. These are the ones I use on a regular basis:

https://www.miniaturemarket.com/ (they were recently purchased by Asmodee) in St. Louis, MO: They have fast shipping and excellent packaging - free shipping with a $99 or higher order, otherwise it's a flat $6 (or you can pick up at their store for free). They'll do price matching and have customer holds (can order something, you pay for it, they hold it until you say to release it. Allows you to slowly build to a free shipping threshold by using several orders over time to get there). And they give you "points" you can use as money towards future purchases (earn $.01 per $1 spent and what you earn can be used without having to build to a minimum amount).

https://www.gamenerdz.com/ in Plano, TX: Also fast shipping and excellent packaging. Free shipping starts at $75, otherwise it's a flat $5 (also offer free local pickup). They also have a customer hold program. They also have a "points" program but you build to specific amounts before it can be used. Theirs is 1 point earned per $1 spent (350 points = $5, 600 = $10, 2000 = $50. IIRC they give you $5 worth when you sign up for the program).

https://tabletopmerchant.com/ in Las Vegas, NV: Reasonably fast shipping (I think they're a smaller company), some of the best packaging I've ever seen, usually include personal notes in each order, and often has the lowest price. BUT they have a $150 minimum for free shipping. Under that it's a flat $12.99. They also accept "Amazon Pay" - which I like. They do *not* offer holds on orders.

All three offer a wish list so you can keep track of games in which you're interested and quickly see what, if any, is on sale or stock status. MM and GN offer "in stock alerts" for OOS product and MM offers a price drop alert. GN and TTM have "Daily Deals" which can be quite good. At GN you can snag these and do a "hold" to build up to free shipping.
 

Pnochichi

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Isle of cats and Sagrada came today. Man, the isle of cats box is big. Wasn't expecting that. No way I'm getting out of playing that one tonight unless the youngest is exhausted from being on set all day. He did have a 9am call time so he might not be home until late. Maybe it'll slip to tomorrow.
 

BobO'Link

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I, too, was surprised at the size (mostly thickness) and weight of the Isle of Cats box. I was expecting something ~2.5" thick weighing ~3lb. and this 4" thick box weighing ~6lb. arrives.

I've not been brave enough to open it and see how much cardboard is inside...
 

BobO'Link

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I forgot about it having lots of cards. And there's a fairly large player board for each player - I forget about those, too. Doesn't it have quite a few wooden parts? It's really difficult to tell with the photos on BGG (people never seem to post "plain old pics of the actual box contents").
 

Pnochichi

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The kids both loved isle of cats. Took a round or two to get used to the steps, but once we got the hang of it, everyone loved it. The youngest and I played a few games of Catan and he really liked it, so I think we will be exploring that vein of game more.

Finally, we played both trash pandas and sushi go party. Again both were hits. The kids love the drafting mechanic of sushi go and isle of cats so I know thats a hit for them for sure.

Trash pandas is now the official goto for a quick game. There have probably been a dozen games of that one in the past 24 hours with the youngest asking anyone who will play to do a quick game.

We also broke out the playing cards and they learned poker and spades. A nice family game of spades was a lot of fun and its easy to play on set, so that will probably become one of our travel games along with trash pandas.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions.

I think we are going to try sagrada tonight.
 

BobO'Link

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My wife loves Yahtzee - we played it constantly when young marrieds with no entertainment budget and a small child. And I *still* can't get her to try Sagrada, a game I think she'd *really* enjoy in spite of her not particularly liking board games of any kind.

My son called yesterday to let me know they'd played the copy of Monster Baby Rescue I gave his kids (ages 5, 8, & 9) for Christmas. He was surprised when I told him I'd never played it before but got it thinking it looked like a good one for his bunch. He *did* say it's a bit "fiddly" with the pieces (have to be careful not to bump your tableau) and it took the kids a bit to "get" the player movement part and how it decides what piece you get for your tableau but once they understood it they really had a good time. That means that I'll get to play it a time or two when I next go to visit.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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Thanks for all the recs -- I've been mostly lurking around this thread...

I may try picking up the trio of Catan (or do people prefer calling it Settlers?), Gloomhaven and Harry Potter's Hogwarts Battle the next time there's a Target B2G1 deal -- think my 15-yo should like most/all of them, not to mention other visitors, including my early-20-something kids...

Might also throw in Marvel United...

Too bad Target doesn't carry Talisman (other than what looks like completely different Disney version)...

_Man_
 

BobO'Link

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The official name is now simply Catan. They dropped "The Settlers of" part several years back.

The Target B2G1 that just ended saw them taking *all* Asmodee product OOS a couple of days prior to the start of the sale and then all of it miraculously coming back in stock today. Hopefully that won't happen with the next one but I'm also not holding my breath. At least Gloomhaven and Harry Potter aren't Asmodee titles... Catan is.
 

DaveF

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We’re on the cusp of potentially winning Harry Potter Battle of Hogwarts. We were playing Book 7 this weekend with friends. We were having a good run, but ran out of time. So we managed to pack the game up and set it aside with our game state preserved, and we’ll pick it up this coming weekend.
 

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It was Settlers of Catan, which got shortened to Settlers. It was less often shortened to Catan. So now, it's not natural for me to just call it Catan.

But I've been playing since maybe 1997 -- I was introduced possibly when in it debuted in the US.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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The official name is now simply Catan. They dropped "The Settlers of" part several years back.

The Target B2G1 that just ended saw them taking *all* Asmodee product OOS a couple of days prior to the start of the sale and then all of it miraculously coming back in stock today. Hopefully that won't happen with the next one but I'm also not holding my breath. At least Gloomhaven and Harry Potter aren't Asmodee titles... Catan is.

Hmmm... I didn't notice that about the sale. Catan was definitely back in stock over this past weekend (and I believe Amazon even bothered to do some sorta match because of that)... though I just wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger on the trio I mentioned...

I was also debating about maybe going w/ this Marvel United bundle offered by Amazon instead...

_Man_
 

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That Amazon bundle is what I have - got it as a review copy. It's a nice set and a fair price, even taking into account how inexpensive the base set alone is during a Target sale. I recently picked up a copy of the WM exclusive edition of the base game at Big Lots as it has a Venom character in place of Wasp (which is in the regular edition). It was $20 and I had a 20% off coupon making it $16. A bit expensive for a single character but since I'd gotten that large set free I figured why not? And then I picked up the X-Men edition during Target's sale last week. That should be more than enough characters to make it feel "fresh" for some time.

I also snagged a copy of King of Tokyo Dark Edition from Target's sale. It worked out to be $1 more than the regular edition and, IMHO, looks cooler plus has an additional module included. I've not played it before but it looks like something we might like. It, too, has a Yahtzee type dice rolling mechanic.

I really wanted to get a copy of Catan Starfarers but it and its 5/6 player expansion were among those titles that went OOS a couple of days before and came back in stock today. I'd also decided to finally pick up Fields of Arle but it, too, hit that same snag. Maybe next time...

I really shouldn't complain too much as I've picked up over 20 titles in those B2G1 sales over the past year and gotten some great deals, a couple of which were the 25th Anniversary edition of Catan and Feast for Odin.
 

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Been playing Red Rising again this weekend. It's not everything I'd hoped for. But it's a fun game and it gets better and more casual the more you play. It's got a steep learning curve, which is a tough go for what's really a lightweight game. And while it is criticized for being strongly influence by a prior game of same concept, I've never played that game, so Red Rising is a unique experience for us. I don't have any other games quite like it in the collection.


And if you do happen to get it, this fan-made scoring website is essential.
 

Pnochichi

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Been playing Red Rising again this weekend. It's not everything I'd hoped for. But it's a fun game and it gets better and more casual the more you play. It's got a steep learning curve, which is a tough go for what's really a lightweight game. And while it is criticized for being strongly influence by a prior game of same concept, I've never played that game, so Red Rising is a unique experience for us. I don't have any other games quite like it in the collection.

I think next time we play, we might make the endgame criteria a little higher. We like the gameplay, and we love the books, but our game ended before it felt like we could really develop a strategy and put it in action.
 

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