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18:47, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Board games? What is your group playing!

Posted by Azyur3
Azyur3
member, 7 posts
DnD 4e Apologist
-5 GMT // USA
Tue 16 Jul 2019
at 21:02
  • msg #1

Board games? What is your group playing!

Didn't see a recent active post about something like this- is there anything your gaming group has been playing recently that's been especially exciting? Let's let this thread be a board game recommendation thread, too!

Recently my group was able to get our hands on a copy of Wingspan and have been absolutely loving it. The casual engine building is so easy to get into and explain, and certainly has opened the floodgates for possible other similar games to make their way onto the table.

When we're not chattering about thinking on whether or not playing that crane is especially worth it, we've also been having fun putting Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra on the table. A fantastic remix of the original Azul (if you haven't played it, a superb game of mosaic creating that makes you super angry at your friends for leaving you with all of those damned white tiles in the middle).

What's been on your table lately? Playing some games of <b>Codenames</>? Maybe getting some arguments going with <b>Secret Hitler</>?
TheatricalHysterics
member, 24 posts
A small space
to hide the Hysteria
Tue 16 Jul 2019
at 22:11
  • msg #2

Board games? What is your group playing!

One of my all time favorites is Betrayal. The version we have at home is Baldur's Gate, but I think the original was a horror-based one, House on the Hill.

Great game for anyone big on roleplay, which I'm not as I generally freeform write myself, but it's on my top 5 list for sure.

Classics I love: Tokaido, Chez Geek, Robo-Rally, King of Tokyo, Villainous (A Disney game which is BRILLIANT and highlights all your favorite villains), Dixit, Grimm Forest, Sushi Go and the super-classic: Catan. :D

One day I hope to be brave enough to try Betrayal: Legacy. <3
Cygnia
member, 291 posts
Amoral Paladin
Tue 16 Jul 2019
at 22:13
  • msg #3

Board games? What is your group playing!

Dixit
Pitchstorm
(if my mother-in-law has her way) Splenda
icosahedron152
member, 970 posts
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 04:04
  • msg #4

Board games? What is your group playing!

Folks, I haven't heard of any of these games, and I don't have the time to Google every game mentioned in the hope that it might prove interesting.

My definition of 'classics' is Monopoly and Ludo...

If we're suggesting / recommending games here, can we at least employ a sentence for each, to state what the game is about, its type, genre, skill level, age range, etc. Thanks. :)
horus
member, 812 posts
Wayfarer of the
Western Wastes
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 06:22
  • msg #5

Board games? What is your group playing!

I bought a copy of Catan several months ago, and have yet to have the time to learn the rules, much less play the game.

EDIT:  Catan is a trading game of sorts from what I can tell.  It was previously published as Settlers of Catan.

There is a board gaming club near my locality - I may look them up in my copious free time...

(see:  http://www.catb.org/jargon/htm...pious-free-time.html)
This message was last edited by the user at 17:24, Wed 17 July 2019.
BFink
member, 60 posts
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 08:19
  • msg #6

Board games? What is your group playing!

Just ordered a copy of Spirit Island.

Though we are usually arguing over Legend of the Fiver Rings LCG or I'm taking the beating at Terraforming Mars.
cptcthulhu
member, 216 posts
Nuke em till they glow
Shoot them in the dark.
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 08:22
  • msg #7

Board games? What is your group playing!

My favorites are Starfarers of Catan and the Avalon Hill Civilization. Got a soft spot for Chez Geek and Redneck Life, too.
Azyur3
member, 8 posts
DnD 4e Apologist
-5 GMT // USA
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 13:38
  • msg #8

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

icosahedron152:
Folks, I haven't heard of any of these games, and I don't have the time to Google every game mentioned in the hope that it might prove interesting.

My definition of 'classics' is Monopoly and Ludo...

If we're suggesting / recommending games here, can we at least employ a sentence for each, to state what the game is about, its type, genre, skill level, age range, etc. Thanks. :)


Absolutely! Let me be your guide through artisanal board gaming.......

Wingspan - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan - A casual engine building / tableau building game with minimal interaction themed around birds and being an ornithologist. End the game with the most points, and you win! A game for up to 5 players, with a solo mode.

Engine Building - An idea in modern board gaming that has you building a kind o 'rube goldberg machine' where when you do one thing, it kicks off a chain reaction series of other things!

Tableau Building - An idea in modern board gaming where each player has their own mini-board that acts as their play space. This may include a place to store bits and cards, or a whole different place where mechanics can take place!

Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...stained-glass-sintra - Azul, the original was a great little casual game for up to 4 players where you took turns grabbing tiles in the fashion of a Portuguese mosaic to place on your own tableau to construct a kind of sudoku arrangement to get as many points as possible by the end of the round. A variant on push your luck style games where you take turns taking only one color tiles from the middle of the five to choose from, but you risk losing points at the end of the game! This newer sequel has you constructing a pretty stained glass window (with pieces that look unusually like the hard candy Charms) in a bid to earn as many points as possible by the end of the game, without pushing you too far into the negative points reward at the end of the game for taking too many tiles you can't use! A casual game for 2-4 players.

Push Your Luck - A modern idea that's started to show up more and more in dice and card games. Think of it like a spin on Blackjack where you could either stay, and make out because everyone else busts, or hit, go a little bit further, get a bit closer to the sun, and hit the big jackpot.

Betrayal at House on the Hill - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar.../betrayal-house-hill - A fancy board game take on The Haunting of Hill House and all of it's many spin offs. A group of teens/adults are tasked to spend a night in this spooky house, and it's up to the players to explore it, tile by tile, until their nerves finally snap, and the haunting happens. One or more players turn on the others and are tasked with flipping through a separate manual, and move on to play what feels like sometimes a whole new game of cat and mouse, hide and seek, kill the survivors/haunted ones or more. A ton of replayability here, and especially as TheatricalHysterics mentioned, there's also a D&D Baldur's Gate themed version! https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...etrayal-baldurs-gate

Tile laying Many classic Euro board games had a theme of tile laying where players were tasked to build the board themselves in an exciting way that made every game feel different and unique. Modern Euro/American games have adopted this play style and formed it around this concept of having the board almost be a whole new player in that each tile may do something different, unique, or spectacular in how it changes the game.

Legacy - Legacy games, as TheatricalHysterics also mentioned, are a realtively new design starting around the mid 2000's with Risk Legacy. Essentially, you get together with a group of the same people (typically) and play the game several times over the span of a couple months, with each game changing the rules, board or idea of what the game even is doing each time you play. Popular games have been Risk Legacy, Pandemic Legacy or Betrayal at House on the Hill Legacy. Pandemic Legacy is hailed as one of the best implementations of this sort of function, and it's definitely worth checking out: https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/review-legacy/

Tokaido - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/123540/tokaido - A game about travelling the feudal Japanese countryside. As you move through the map, each space does something different. Some spaces have you collecting money, others give you opportunities to spend money to get different ways to earn more points for the end of the game. It's a very relaxing game for 2-5 players that can really be a good way to ease people into the idea of more abstract, pretty games.

Abstract Games - Modern board gaming has hit this critical mass where games are mostly big, or heavy, crunchy with tons of fluff. The abstract genre grew from that and is beginning to flourish now. Games with just enough fluff to make you smile and really engage, without being very rules heavy, or over complex. Just enough strategy involved to get you to think about what you're doing, and make you want to play again, without feeling like you're being pushed to the side by those nerds at the other side of the table.

Chez Geek - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/553/chez-geek - Admittedly I haven't heard of this one, but it's by Steve Jackson, so it can't be bad! Here's the rundown from BoardGameGeek - In this light, humorous, and fast-paced card game that parodies geek culture and co-habitation, players are roommates just trying to get through life with as little work as possible. A game for 2-5 players.

Steve Jackson - A game designer probably most famous in the Board Game world for his polarizing game called Munchkin, which, if you're familiar with the term, is exactly what it seems like. You're trying to build the most overpowered little dungeon-delver, even at the expense of your friends.

Robo Rally - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/216201/robo-rally - A game that was recently re-released within the last few years, originally released in 1999. A kind of robot 'programming' maze navigation battle arena.......yeah........yeah that makes sense.

Programming Games - Much like you would program a piece of software, so do you program your units! In a way the little brother, or big brother? To engine building games where you are placing cards on a tableau, or in front of you to have your piece or pieces do something, in order, each turn. Turn left, go straight x2, go right, go straight, ATTACK, RUN AWAY, ATTACK, turn right. Games in this genre usually also have some kind of shared card pool, or push your luck mechanic to really drive home that competitive spirit.

King of Tokyo - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-tokyo - You're a huge monster that wants to kill all the other big monsters! Choose your city crushing monster (don't worry, they're mostly the same), roll some big chunky dice, and throw fists! It's a fun and easy to pick up game that is family friendly, and VERY playable over and over. Playable with 2-6 people, but works best at that 2-4 range.

Villainous - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...82/disney-villainous - Disney just HAD to jump into the board game market with a fantastic asymmetrical competitive card game. Each player picks which Disney Villain they'd like to play, takes their decks and special boards, and attempts to fulfill their own individual goal which is completely different from all the others. A really inspired game with an expansion already out, and another on the way. The game suffers from some balance issues (there are a couple Villains that are very hard to win with, and a couple that are very easy), but easy to pick up, and a great segue into more complex game design.

Asymmetrical - Another modern game design idea where each player has a different goal to win the game, and may even play the game entirely different from one and other through the use of special rule cards, tableaus, or decks of cards that wildly differ from one and other.

Dixit - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39856/dixit - Another family friendly game for 3-6 players where one person is tasked with being the 'storyteller' and has to choose a card from their hand- the cards are full-size pieces of abstract art- and has to say a work that describes their card, and place it face down in the middle. The other players at the table silently choose a card that is described by that word, and everyone has to guess which one was the Storyteller's card, without pointing out which was their own.

Grimm Forest - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar.../212402/grimm-forest - Another game that I wasn't familiar with and had to look up to find more. Here's the Boardgame Geek rundown: Using only their wits, a handful of sharp steel tools, and a few stacks of resources gathered at great risk from fields, brickyards, and even the dark and deadly Grimm Forest itself, each player must compete to be the first to build 3 Houses and gain the title of Royal Builder. Players are encouraged to use any of the devious tricks they have read about in the many books of Fables found throughout the land. Some will have their plans wrecked by that villain of old, the Big Bad Wolf, while others will gain bricks, straw, and wood by the cart load.

Sushi Go - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...92291/sushi-go-party - A game for 2-8 players, this is a super casual card drafting game that has you choosing pieces of sushi from a hand of cards, placing it face down in front of you, everyone revealing their sushi all at once, then passing that hand to the person beside you and doing it all over again. Simple premise with so many ways to score points, hurt your opponents and have a great time doing so. I linked Sushi Go Party! because it's the base game with all of the expansions rolled into one, and has much more replayability.

Card Drafting - A concept where players have a hand of cards, they choose one, and pass the hand to the next person, receiving their neighbor's hand in return. This is done over and over until no card hands remain to which the round ends.

Settlers of Catan - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/catan - As others have said, this is a classic of modern game design, and really what kicked off the modern board gaming phenomenon in the US on it's release here in the early 2000s. A series of hexagonal tiles are layed in a circle, surrounded by water, and it's your task as new settlers of this region to build towns, roads, cities, and harvest the many, many resources that are available to you. Card trading, dice rolling, and risky luck mechanics make this a fun game that anyone can pick up and enjoy, with some seriously deep strategy involved.

Pitchstorm - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254132/pitchstorm - A party game for 3-12 players where players form teams to try and pitch as many hilariously awful movie ideas to probably the universe's worst producers. Great if you need something to pull out at a party and the group is starting to groan at pictionary or taboo!

Splendor - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor - A card drafting game that also functions as a very simple engine building game. Buy cards using gem tokens that you get each round that allow you to discount the cost of later gem cards that may have victory point totals assigned to them, until someone finally hits 12 victory points and wins! Extremely nailbiting, games are usually snowball victories, or so close that almost everyone is on the brink of winning every time.

Spirit Island - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...162886/spirit-island - Probably the 'heaviest' game mentioned here so far. You choose an island spirit to be your character and, in what has been described as "Reverse Settlers of Catan, with powers and character abilities", you work with the other player spirits to fight the settlers and crush them, pushing them off your island and bringing it back to it's former glory!

Legend of the Five Rings LCG - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...five-rings-card-game - A game in the style of other 'living card games' where you can buy one box and be all set to play one game, or many with all of the cards provided! Netrunner and games like Arkham Horror are in this same vein. These style of games usually provide lots of fun and reputability, but really shine when you have multiple core boxes, or the expansions that go alongside them. There are usually large and vibrant competitive scenes that go along with these deck building games as well, as they're usually compared to things like "Magic the Gathering on a budget".

Terraforming Mars - https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...91/terraforming-mars - An excellent game that recently released that is a mix of engine building and points scoring. I haven't played it yet to better describe it, but here it is from BGG: In the 2400s, mankind begins to terraform the planet Mars. Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete for getting victory points that are awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system, and doing other commendable things. The players acquire unique project cards (from over two hundred different ones) by buying them to their hand. The projects (cards) can represent anything from introducing plant life or animals, hurling asteroids at the surface, building cities, to mining the moons of Jupiter and establishing greenhouse gas industries to heat up the atmosphere.

Hope this helps you all find new games that might really ignite a new hobby! :D
This message was last edited by the user at 13:38, Wed 17 July 2019.
Azyur3
member, 9 posts
DnD 4e Apologist
-5 GMT // USA
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 14:00
  • msg #9

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

TheatricalHysterics:
One day I hope to be brave enough to try Betrayal: Legacy. <3


Now that my mega post is finally done! Ahhhhh, me tooooooooooo. I'm pretty damn excited to give Betrayal Legacy a shot. One of my best friends has a copy of the game that he's waiting to crack open until we have a group that's willing to play it through to the end, like some kind of dungeons and dragons party that NEEDS to get together once every couple weeks, we'll be diving back into the mansion over and over, as well!

BFink:
Just ordered a copy of Spirit Island.

Though we are usually arguing over Legend of the Fiver Rings LCG or I'm taking the beating at Terraforming Mars.


What do you think of Spirit Island? Have you had a chance to play it, or still waiting for it to come in? I've been so on the fence about getting a copy of this game. It seems like it could be a ton of fun, but the initial rules explanation seems so daunting.
OakMaster
member, 115 posts
"Choose you this day
whom ye will serve..."
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 14:33
  • msg #10

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

This is a very interesting thread.  Now I will add my own query...

Which games (if any) could be played over RPoL?  Bonus points for games that are newbie-friendly, where only the GM is required to own the game, yet without needing to infringe upon copyright.

An impossible dream, I will boldly claim, (not so) secretly hoping to be proven wrong...  :)
Cygnia
member, 292 posts
Amoral Paladin
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 15:22
  • msg #11

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Honestly, I'd say Pitchstorm.  It's an improv game anyways, so it can easily be tweaked for free-form play.
icosahedron152
member, 971 posts
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 15:39
  • msg #12

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Thanks Azyur3, much more informative. Settlers of Catan sounds the most interesting to me, so far. I'll Google that some more. :)
cptcthulhu
member, 217 posts
Nuke em till they glow
Shoot them in the dark.
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 20:06
  • msg #13

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Redneck Life
Much like the classic game of Life, although it looks like it was designed by a famous Redneck comedian. You start off with $0 and most (if not all) of the game you are in debt. You move through life, getting an education (1st through 12th grade), pick up a job(paying $200-$420 per payday, of which there are only 9 on the board), get hitched, get divorced, get a second wife, and pick up more young'uns than you have room for. You pay for a house and multiple vehicles (each is rated for how many kids it holds, and throughout the game you must have enough carrying capacity to transport the whole family). Every kid reduces you paycheck by $10, and between board spaces and 'Go Redneckin' cards, be prepared to lose a few teeth. The winner at the end is the player with the most teeth left.
I challenge anybody with a sense of humor to get through 10 minutes of play without busting a gut, laughing.
DaCuseFrog
member, 61 posts
SW Florida
Wed 17 Jul 2019
at 20:19
  • msg #14

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

I love the concept of the Legacy games, and wish I could play them.  Unfortunately, I can't justify to my wife spending those prices on a game with a limited shelf life, and don't know anyone in the area with them.



On the board game front, it is usually a family affair.  While our collection tops 200 games, we have a small rotation of go-to options.

Villainous (See previous posts)

Hobbit/Lord of the Rings Deckbuilding
 - Deckbuilding games are a class of card game in which everyone starts with the same deck of limited resources, then uses those resources to add more cards to their deck, customized to their own style of play.

Lords of Waterdeep
 - Each player is a different hidden lord of the city with unique avenues to victory.  Recruit adventurers to go on different types of quests, visit different locations throughout the city to gain resources, purchase buildings, play intrigue cards. (1 expansion)

7 Wonders
 - Card drafting game in which you gather resources and use them to improve your civilization.  Each player starts with a Wonder of the World as a board to build off from. (Multiple expansions)

Machi Koro
 - Combination card/dice game in which you collect coins based on dice rolls, then use those to purchase cards to increase possibilities to collect coins. (Multiple expansions)

Ticket to Ride
 - Board game in which you collect train cards and use them to build links from city to city, trying to complete tickets connecting two cities. (Multiple expansions)

These are just a few of our favorites.
Waxahachie
member, 160 posts
The horn that wakes
the sleepers
Thu 18 Jul 2019
at 01:41
  • msg #15

Board games? What is your group playing!

I'm a big fan of Azul, Kingdomino, and Codenames. Of course, I'm always up for a classic like Settlers of Catan or Lords of Waterdeep. I also like Nefarious, and I have a few social deception games (Resistance, One Night Ultimate Werewolf + Daybreak, Salem, Bang!) though I'm tired of that genre tbh.

Ultimately my collection is pretty small, and I can't justify getting more games I'd like to have (like Terraforming Mars) when I never really get a chance to play the ones I have.

I'll be making my annual pilgrimage to Gen Con this where I'm hoping to demo a few dozen new titles, including Wingspan, Hadara, Ceylon, Bargain Quest, and a few more. I will probably pick up one or two, which will then sit on my shelf awaiting the mythical day that I get a group together to play.
Ameena
member, 200 posts
Thu 18 Jul 2019
at 14:07
  • msg #16

Board games? What is your group playing!

I like co-op games, where everyone is nice and friendly and helps each other out and isn't there to screw over the other players and spoil their fun, so my two favourite (non-RP) tabletop games are Spirit Island, which has already been mentioned here, and Sentinels of the Multiverse, a superhero-themed card game. And I'm not even interested in superheroes :D.

Love both these games, they are great. I can happily play either for many hours at a time, and while I thematically like Spirit Island more (it has a more Fantasy-ish feel to it than Sentinels, which as I mentioned is a superhero game), but I think they're both brilliant :).

Other, smaller/quicker games I enjoy are things like Dobble and Snake Oil, easy to explain/pick up and a game doesn't take super long (well, I mean, Dobble is more like several mini-games than one big one).
Azyur3
member, 10 posts
DnD 4e Apologist
-5 GMT // USA
Fri 19 Jul 2019
at 12:38
  • msg #17

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Ameena:
Other, smaller/quicker games I enjoy are things like Dobble and Snake Oil, easy to explain/pick up and a game doesn't take super long (well, I mean, Dobble is more like several mini-games than one big one).


I've heard REALLY great things about Snake Oil! Those types of smaller games can always be a ton of fun to pick up and play. I got to play a bit of that after my group tried to get into Sheriff of Nottingham and had a ton of fun.

For those who haven't heard of it, Sheriff of Nottingham is this game where you're attempting to pass 'contraband' (little tiles with weapons and other illegal items for the time) in a small felt bag alongside other normal tiles, bluffing your way past the sheriff in a hope that they won't call your bluff and check your bag. If you're caught with illegal items, you have to pay a fine, but if you pass them under their nose, then you get some extra bonus gold. It's such a great time if your group is unto bluffing and subterfuge! A great test of people's poker faces.
seraphmoon
member, 78 posts
I've Been Touched By
His Noodly Appendage
Fri 19 Jul 2019
at 13:24
  • msg #18

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Have, or play? :) We have a huge amount of board/card games; lots of SJG and Cheapass stuff, as well as indies and some themed versions of mainstream stuff like Doctor Who Monopoly. No play groups at the moment, though, just the occasional game with our 6-year-old. I'm not sure any of the games played with her count, though, since most of the time we're only using her house rules and they often bear little resemblance to the actual rules.
Azyur3
member, 11 posts
DnD 4e Apologist
-5 GMT // USA
Fri 19 Jul 2019
at 14:02
  • msg #19

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

seraphmoon:
Have, or play? :) We have a huge amount of board/card games; lots of SJG and Cheapass stuff, as well as indies and some themed versions of mainstream stuff like Doctor Who Monopoly. No play groups at the moment, though, just the occasional game with our 6-year-old. I'm not sure any of the games played with her count, though, since most of the time we're only using her house rules and they often bear little resemblance to the actual rules.


That's pretty fantastic though that you're involving her in your hobby, though! My parents introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons at a super young age and I totally love them for it now in my 30s. Shut Up and Sit Down (a popular board game review website/podcast) did a really great review of this all-ages dungeon crawl board game called Stuffed Fables that might be worth a look into! https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...33312/stuffed-fables

It uses this super neat storybook style representation of the maps, here's the breakdown from Board Game Geek for how it plays, and a brief description:

Stuffed Fables is an unusual adventure game in which players take on the roles of brave stuffies seeking to save the child they love from a scheming, evil mastermind. Make daring melee attacks, leap across conveyor belts, or even steer a racing wagon down a peril-filled hill. The game delivers a thrilling narrative driven by player choices. Players explore a world of wonder and danger, unlocking curious discoveries. The chapters of Stuffed Fables explore the many milestones of a child's life, creating a memorable tale ideal for families, as well as groups of adults who haven't forgotten their childlike sense of wonder.

Stuffed Fables is the first "AdventureBook Game", a new product line from Plaid Hat Games in which all of the action takes place in the unique storybook — a book that acts as your rules reference, story guide, and game board, all in one! Each adventure in the game takes place over several pages of the immersive AdventureBook. The book opens flat onto the table to reveal a colorful map or other illustration central to playing the game, with choices, story, and special rules on the opposite page.

On their turn, a player draws five dice from the bag. The colors of the dice drawn determine the types of actions and options available to the player. White dice can re-stuff stuffies injured in battle. Red dice perform melee attacks while green dice perform ranged attacks. Yellow dice search while blue dice are used for special actions and purple dice can be used as any color. Most dice can always find a strategic use, including moving, using items, or contributing to group tasks. Players can store dice for later, combine dice for stronger actions, or use them one-at-a-time for multiple activations. As turns go by, black dice are also drawn, and after enough appear, minions emerge or attack, and the dice bag is reset!

Players can encourage each other by sharing dice or their precious stuffing. In addition to fighting minions, each page of the storybook offers numerous points of interest, charming characters to interact or trade with, as well as many unusual challenges. And each page is but one chapter that folds into a branching, overarching story with a multitude of items and a special discovery deck full of surprises.

seraphmoon
member, 79 posts
I've Been Touched By
His Noodly Appendage
Fri 19 Jul 2019
at 17:04
  • msg #20

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Azyur3:
That's pretty fantastic though that you're involving her in your hobby, though! My parents introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons at a super young age and I totally love them for it now in my 30s. Shut Up and Sit Down (a popular board game review website/podcast) did a really great review of this all-ages dungeon crawl board game called Stuffed Fables that might be worth a look into! https://boardgamegeek.com/boar...33312/stuffed-fables


Heh. My dad probably would have played, but my mother and sister wouldn't. I don't remember anything before AD&D 2e in high school. Stuffed Fables looks interesting, thanks!

Right now we're only doing RPGs, and the GMs for both groups have daughters around the same age so they just play together during sessions. She's asked about RPGs and often plays make-believe games with her friends, but she can be pretty dictatorial about what everyone else does sometimes. Not a terribly good player or GM at the moment. :)

She made me get the Simon's Cat game, where you play cats trying to make mischief without being noticed by Simon, after seeing it pop up on my feed. We also got the Dino Hunt dice variant, where you try and capture dinosaurs for your zoo without getting stomped. She has not wanted to play them yet, however. :) I think she'd also like Super Kitty Bug Slap, too. That's a card-collecting game, where you start with a picture of a kitty and claim (by slapping, of course!) cards that match its characteristics as they're dealt. SJG also has some kid-oriented versions of Munchkin that we might try, if she ever gets curious about the ones we already have. RoboRally, where you program robots to go through a definitely-not-OSHA-compliant factory, is also a possibility.

I picked up Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau, where you play as uplifted dogs or cats in a distant future where humans have gone missing. It's based on 5e D&D, though, so I'd need to strip down the rules first. If she does want to play an RPG, I might start with Cat, where PCs are housecats protecting their humans from monsters they can't see, or Tooth & Claw, where the PCs are dinosaurs.

Her favorite game at the moment is actually Risk. The rules change every time, but she really likes setting up the pieces and then moving them around. Maybe some sort of minis game is in the future.
seraphmoon
member, 80 posts
I've Been Touched By
His Noodly Appendage
Fri 19 Jul 2019
at 17:42
  • msg #21

Re: Board games? What is your group playing!

Azyur3:
Chez Geek - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/553/chez-geek - Admittedly I haven't heard of this one, but it's by Steve Jackson, so it can't be bad! Here's the rundown from BoardGameGeek - In this light, humorous, and fast-paced card game that parodies geek culture and co-habitation, players are roommates just trying to get through life with as little work as possible. A game for 2-5 players.

Steve Jackson - A game designer probably most famous in the Board Game world for his polarizing game called Munchkin, which, if you're familiar with the term, is exactly what it seems like. You're trying to build the most overpowered little dungeon-delver, even at the expense of your friends.


Chez Geek is pretty fun. The goal is to accumulate a certain amount of points, called "Slack." Slack is gained by inviting visitors to your room, doing activities, or buying things. Every player has a different Slack goal determined by their Job card, which also determines Free Time and Income, both of which affect the amount of Slack you can gain in a turn. The original parodies geek culture, and there are variants parodying fraternities, military (Army), and goths, among other things.

SJ was well-known before Munchkin. :) Mainly for OGRE (wargaming with AI tanks),  Car Wars (exactly what it sounds like), and GURPS, a point-buy d6-based system designed to be used in any genre or setting. There are *many* additional books for it, from general genres to specific settings, conversions of other systems, playing specific types of characters (animals, wizards, faeries, etc), and collections of premade weapons/characters/NPCs/spaceships/etc with templates and instructions for making your own. There are not a few people who dislike him because of the sheer volume of GURPS material, viewing it as just a money grab and not done for love of gaming. Those people also tend to dislike Munchkin for the same reason.
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