Anyone into Board Games?!

[TBSN]

I recently discovered, via one of my geekier friends, that the realm of board games extends far beyond cards, monopoly and chess.

Getting wasted and playing mahjong was awesome, and we also played halfway into a game of "Settlers of Catan."

So if there are those here that are into board games, which one should I get? It shouldn't be something extremely dense or super geeky (i.e., NOT anything like D&D) because I'll be playing with people who... well people who aren't... I'm looking for something deeper than shoots and ladders and candyland but at the same time accessible.

Thanks!

 

[lxskllr]

I like the classics(Monopoly, Scrabble, Life...), and Stratego was always a favorite too. Some of the tactics and strategy of chess without the steep learning curve, and the sometimes tedious game play.

 

[thecrecarc]

I love board games, and German style board games are brilliant (of which settlers of catan belong). Some other games that are pretty good include power grid or imperial.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Descent is damn fun. It takes like an hour to set up but its pretty streamlined. It's not well balanced so the first half of the game is you dying while trying to not get raped by the GM, while the second half is you raping boss monsters. It's REALLY fun, and can take from 30 minutes to like 9 hours.

Axis and Allies is also pretty fun.

Twilight Imperium might be a bit much for your guys but its great.

You could try Arkham Horror and assorted Call of Cthulu games.

I also play lots of card based games.

Bang!, Muchinkins, Race for the Galaxy are all incredibly fun games.

 

[muskie32]

(Monopoly, Scrabble, Life...), and Stratego

+1 I still play off of em'

 

[shortylickens]

Shogun is good too.

 

[quakefiend420]

Risk ftw

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Monopoly is usually no fun, since most people don't play by the rules, but if you find a bunch that actually do, it's a really good game. I always liked Risk as well.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Risk ftw

Risk is epic.

THE UKRAINE IS WEAK!

 

[TBSN]

Cool, good suggestions. I have fond memories of risk but I'll have to relearn the rules (not that that's too hard)...

 

[gar3555]

Repost

but seriously, there are some good suggestions in there.

 

[datalink7]

Yes.

If you want the best resource for board games, go to www.boardgamegeek.com

Here is my current collection (though I still need to add a couple actually).

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/datalink7

By the way, if you like board games but what you have played consists of Monopoly, Risk, Life, etc., you really need to go and play something else. Monopoly is rated at about a 4.4/10. So if you like that game, you'll LOVE some of the games they have out there.

 

[tfinch2]

Our current rotation is:

- Settlers of Catan
- Zombies!!!
- Dominion
- Munchkin
- Loot

 

[datalink7]

Our current rotation is:

- Settlers of Catan
- Zombies!!!
- Dominion
- Munchkin
- Loot

If you like Dominion (which I love as well), Thunderstone is a fun alternative. It's like Dominion with a twist. Not necessarily better but fun in its own right.

 

[Dankk]

Dude dude! I haven't been into board games much, but I have a friend who introduced me to an AWESOME game called Shadow Hunters. It's kind of a role-playing game, also very Japanese-ey, but extremely accessible and totally fun and addictive to play. Check it out. It's kind of hard to explain, but check out the product description I guess.

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

http://squatter.com.au/

Seriously, it's a good game.

 

[Leros]

I don't like the traditional Hasbro style board games, but I do like the geekier board games.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Risk is epic.

THE UKRAINE IS WEAK!

Lol that guy hitting the board.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

Parcheesi ftw

 

[Malak]

I heard Settlers was really good but I've yet to get a chance to play it. Only games we play around here usually is poker and magic.

 

[datalink7]

If anyone is interested in trying out some board games to see if this is something they'd like to do, here are a couple of easy to learn but very fun to play ones:

Carcassonne http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne
The Settlers of Catan http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan

Carcassonne is a great place to start because you can find it pretty cheap (less than $20), the rules are simple, and the games are quick to play.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Monopoly is perhaps the worst board game ever invented. But there are lots of really good ones apart from that. Games are not just for kids.

 

[BrokenVisage]

I was into Jumanji once, if you know what I mean!

 

[preslove]

I played 2 games of settlers of catan last saturday at my library's national gaming day. That game is awesome.

 

[BoomerD]

MANY years ago, Aggravation was a good drinking game. It's rumored that some of the people at the table where I played might have also inhaled something other than oxygen and tobacco smoke...but of course, those are just unsubstantiated rumors...seems like the more fucked up you got...the more fun that game got...and the more everyone tried to cheat.