[AstroLad]

This OP is intended to provide a guide to people relatively new to the hobby. Beyond the recommendations here, feel free to ask anything in the thread. The thread will also have relevant (and thrilling!) news regarding upcoming releases and the like for enthusiasts. I’ll be using the super-generic term “modern” gaming throughout, but these types of games are variously referred to by the names “euro games,” “designer games,” and dozens of other terms.
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Sections
Post 1
I. What is modern board gaming?
II. Modern Gaming 101: Gateway Games
III. Gaming for Majors: Next-Step Games
IV. Gaming for Couples: Two-Player Games for those without Nerdish “Leanings”
V. Euro Gaming on the Cheap (by StoOgE)

Post 2
VI. Ain’t No Party Like a Board-Game Party: Party Games
VII. Thematic Gaming (by Neverfade)
A. Where to Buy
B. Free Online Play
C. iPhone Board Games
D. BGG Guild
E. Notable Upcoming Releases
F. Podcasts
G. Other Board Game Links
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I. What is modern board gaming?
Let's start out with what it isn't: It isn't Monopoly, Clue, Risk, Scrabble, or any of the countless crappy licensed TV/movie tie-ins (except Battlestar Galactica). I love some of those games, and I'm happy to discuss them here, but many suffer from key problems that modern games try to avoid: (1) aimed at kids; (2) hastily and sloppily put-together with terrible aesthetics; (3) no concern for length (looking at you Monopoly and Risk); (4) heavily luck-dependent; and (5) little replayability once you've figured out the one or two strategies needed to win.
Modern games distinguish themselves from those and other faults of mainstream games that may have pushed people away from board gaming a long time ago. They focus on novel mechanics. They incorporate varying degrees of luck, but often in a more fun manner than simply dice v. dice (though there's certainly a fair sprinkling of dice). They try to keep every player involved and their endgames don't drag on forever (typical length is 45-90 minutes).
As far as this thread is concerned, the term is very broad. Want a dungeon crawler akin to Diablo? Try out Descent. Want a competitive storytelling party game? Try Dixit. A Civ-like empire builder? Through the Ages. The permutations of theme and mechanics are seemingly endless. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all “modern” games.
Below are three different lists: I. focuses on entry-level or “gateway” games; II. on “next-level” more advanced games and; III. on “girlfriend games” -- two-player games with a heart. I highly recommend all the games listed below, and I’ve organized them in order of my preference all the way through the honorable mentions.

*A word about boardgamegeek: For every game listed, I’ve including links to BGG -- an incredible repository of information about games, including sometimes dozens of quality user reviews for each game and “geeklists” focusing on certain types of games (e.g., It plays similar to Risk, but a lot more fun!, Boardgames based on PC- or Videogames, and many others). I’m keeping my descriptions succinct to avoid OP bloat as much as possible, but if you want to know more about any game, just visit BGG or ask away here.
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II. Modern Gaming 101: Gateway Games
Entry-level modern games generally play quickly and have themes that appeal to a wide range of people, while having very simple rules (often easier than even mainstream games). They stand out, however, by remaining fun and appealing well after you’ve “moved on” to more complex games. I still play all of the games listed below fairly often, and yet they’re all simple enough to introduce to someone with zero experience.

Ticket to Ride
Players: 2-5
Difficulty: Easy
[img]http://i51.************/f296vo.jpg[/img] [img]http://i53.************/256g0pg.jpg[/img]
For my money, the king of gateway games. Collect sets of cards to lay down tracks across the U.S. for points. Get bonus points for completing specific routes on tickets randomly given at the beginning of the game. Also get bonus points for the longest route and/or most completed tickets. As simple as it gets, but nevertheless engaging even for long-time players. There are other versions too, including Europe and Nordic Countries, all with novel twists on the base game. For newcomers I’d recommend with base game with the 1910 expansion (bigger cards and some better routes).

Settlers of Catan
Players: 3-4
Difficulty: Moderate
[img]http://i53.************/10rntzb.jpg[/img] [img]http://i56.************/25sse2u.jpg[/img]
Probably the best-known and most common gateway game. You’ve probably played it on XBLA or iPhone. Compete for resources and points while you expand by building roads and new settlements and cities on an island. The rules are fairly simple, but the trading element is what lures most players in and keeps them going.

Carcassonne
Players: 2-5
Difficulty: Easy
[img]http://i53.************/2eevfc4.jpg[/img] [img]http://i53.************/qzja0i.jpg[/img]
Everyone draws from a tile bank that contains pieces of roads, cities, fields, and cloisters, and various combinations thereof. Place your little meeples on one of those spaces to rack up points. The entire kingdom then forms tile-by-tile as you try to horn in on others’ cities and fields. Very easy to learn, yet still holds a lot of challenge even for more experienced players. The Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders expansions are highly recommended.

Dominion
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Moderate
[img]http://i51.************/dggx7l.jpg[/img] [img]http://i52.************/16ly4b9.jpg[/img]
On the fly deck-building game. You start with 3 point cards, and 7 copper cards worth one coin each. Shuffle and draw 5. Then choose from either one of ten Kingdom Cards (which always change, and which give you the ability to carry out an action that helps you and/or hurts others), more coins, or more point cards -- all with varying costs. Add that one card bought to your discard, then keep drawing and progressing until you get near the end when everyone starts rushing to buy point cards. The game itself is really simple, but it takes a game or two for anyone to get their heads around the mechanic. Once you do, I can almost guarantee this will rarely leave the table. The Seaside and Prosperity expansions add many new cards and are both highly recommended.

Honorable Mentions: San Juan, RoboRally, Stone Age, Alhambra
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III. Gaming for Majors: Next-Step Games
These games are “next steps” from the simpler games above. But really I haven’t discriminated too much in terms of complexity, and have just included what I consider the best of the best complex games. These games are also generally more theme-rich, for those looking for dungeon crawls, zombie hunts, or farming sims.

Agricola
Players: 1-5
Difficulty: Very Hard
[img]http://i51.************/2m7t9fs.jpg[/img] [img]http://i51.************/1ihp9f.jpg[/img]
Build up your farm -- what could be simpler! Unfortunately for dullards, this is not quite the board-game version of Farmville. Rather, it’s a fairly intense worker-placement and resource-management game. You can build stables, build different improvements such as ovens and wells, and do many other things, but fall too far behind in any one area and you’ll be made to pay at the end of the game. Or your family will starve. The difficulty level is brutal compared to most other games here, but it’s incredibly rewarding. The game is actually much cuter than the complex mechanics might indicate, too: For example, you actually get to design the layout of your stables and the allocation of your animals. Cute!

Puerto Rico
Players: 3-5
Difficulty: Hard
[img]http://i56.************/29vxfo3.jpg[/img] [img]http://i54.************/2qdc3tl.jpg[/img]
The quintessential next-level game has you growing and shipping crops and trying to build the most efficient plantation possible. The game is very light on luck and a great way to introduce the role-selection mechanic to players.

Race for the Galaxy
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Hard
[img]http://i55.************/2lk7muw.jpg[/img] [img]http://i53.************/2wp7a1c.jpg[/img]
The advanced version of the above-referenced San Juan, this is a card-draw game where you choose roles and build up an empire playing cards (which you pay for by discarding other cards in your hand). Cards are both general resources and currency, so it’s always a balancing act. The interaction between players is very light, but the strategic depth is quite deep as the game allows you to follow several different building strategies.

Twilight Struggle
Players: 2
Difficulty: Very Hard
[img]http://i53.************/oj019g.jpg[/img] [img]http://i52.************/rvlmv5.jpg[/img]
A card-draw game with a very strong Cold-War theme. Play the U.S. & Russia and spread influence throughout the world, compete in the space race, and even win the game by getting your opponent to set off a nuclear war. Use cards like “We Will Bury You” (Degrade the DEFCON level by 1. Unless the UN Intervention card is played as an Event on the US's next action round, the USSR receives 3 VP.) and “Lone Gunman” (The US reveals their hand of cards for this turn. The USSR may use the Operations value of this card to conduct Operations.) to end the Cold War the right way.

Tigris & Euphrates
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Hard
[img]http://i53.************/2py2p0k.jpg[/img] [img]http://i51.************/xpcynt.jpg[/img]
Considered by many to be Reiner Knizia’s (of Reiner Knizia fame) masterpiece. This is a tile-laying game where you’re again seeking to build a balanced empire. For those seeking a more abstract and chess-like game, this is probably the best of those listed. There is some luck involved due to the random drawing of tiles, but spatial reasoning and strong tactical thinking are greatly rewarded. A huge brain-burner.

Honorable Mentions: Galaxy Trucker, Kingsburg, Power Grid
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IV. Gaming for Couples: Two-Player Games for those without Nerdish “Leanings”
People are always looking for two-player games to play with significant others, or just friends who are easily scared off by fantasy, sci-fi, or other heavily nerdy themes. The games below stay away from those kinds of themes, but nevertheless often pack a nice thematic punch to lure in casuals, and also have easy-to-learn mechanics.

Battle Line
Difficulty: Easy
[img]http://i51.************/lwgsl.jpg[/img] [img]http://i55.************/24xo28z.jpg[/img]
A card game with deceptively simple rules, where you compete with cards 1-10 to make hands (similar to poker hands) on your side and capture flags. Several special "tactics" cards can make things quite cutthroat.

Jaipur
Difficulty: Moderate
[img]http://i56.************/ilbmeh.jpg[/img] [img]http://i53.************/xkudec.jpg[/img]
Gorgeous card game where you have a hand containing one of six goods and you decide each turn whether to take more from the market or to sell them for amounts that decrease as more goods of each type get sold, so there's good balance and tension.

Lost Cities
Difficulty: Easy
[img]http://i52.************/e9vwc1.jpg[/img] [img]http://i55.************/kbf8ur.jpg[/img]
Press-your-luck-type card game where again you use numbered cards and investment cards to go on expeditions. But launching an expedition costs you points, so you really have to think about whether you even want to start each one out of the five available. Simple rules but some tough decisionmaking throughout.

1960: The Making of the President
Difficulty: Hard
[img]http://i55.************/2dgkjt3.jpg[/img] [img]http://i53.************/2vwg38p.jpg[/img]
A less intimidating version of Twilight Struggle above. Here, players play as Nixon or Kennedy and seek to win votes with cards like “Late Returns from Cook County” (On election day, the Kennedy player gains 5 support checks in Illinois.) and “Old South” (The leader in Civil Rights must subtract 5 state support in the South and may not spend CP on campaigning in the South for the remainder of the turn.).

Honorable Mentions: Mr. Jack, En Garde, Hive
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Let’s Work Together (Except the Traitor): Cooperative Games
With the influx of new people into the hobby, co-op games have become increasingly popular the past few years, and there’s now an incredibly wide variety of games that allow you to work together to beat the game, or more often lose valiantly. I’m including co-op games that have a traitor in this category as well.

Arkham Horror
Players: 1-8
Difficulty: Very Hard
[img]http://i53.************/eask8w.jpg[/img] [img]http://i56.************/25g88b4.jpg[/img]
A true board-game “experience” bordering on RPG-like immersion. Team up with a bunch of friends (or go solo) to battle Lovecraftian nightmares throughout the town of Arkham. The aesthetics of the game are second-to-none, and the storytelling is fantastic, but it requires a heavy time investment (3+ hours) and a true rules scholar to learn the game’s complex rules beforehand.

Battlestar Galactica
Players: 3-6
Difficulty: Hard
[img]http://i55.************/2e1y5hw.jpg[/img] [img]http://i52.************/2yywp60.jpg[/img]
One of the hottest games of the past few year, BSG thrilled nerds everywhere by being faithful to the beloved series while also implementing wonderful (if rather complex) co-op mechanics, and of course most notably -- a traitor. I’m hardly an expert on this game, but GAF’s resident BSG freak Neverfade would be glad to help you along I’m sure.

Pandemic
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Easy
[img]http://i53.************/fz0u8l.jpg[/img]
Finally a nice easy co-op game -- about saving the world from multiple outbreaks. Quite popular around swine-flu-fever time, the game has retained its fans because of its easy-to-learn nature, but high level of difficulty (the diseases will get overrun the world, quite often).

Honorable Mentions: Forbidden Island, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, Red November
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V. Euro Gaming on the Cheap (by StoOgE)
So, you are looking to check out some of these games you have never heard of that Board-Game GAF keeps telling you are much better than your beloved classics, but you aren’t ready to drop 30-40 dollars on a game you have never heard of, let alone played? Below are some fun games that play very well, introduce you to the concepts of “Euro” board games and can easily be found online for under 20 dollars, some much lower.

Carcassonne
Players: 2-5
Difficulty: Easy
Price: 16.99 (www.coolstuffinc.com)
[img]http://i53.************/2eevfc4.jpg[/img][IMG]http://i52.************/ztwvpz.jpg[/IMG]
Description: Already mentioned above, this is a tile laying game that scales well from 2-5 players and can be added on to with two great expansions mentioned above that go for 10.99 each online that will increase the strategy required and difficulty in the game as well. The game has a great balance of deciding if you should use a tile to help make a castle or road you control larger (and worth more points) or if you should play the tile in a way that makes it impossible for another player to complete their elements. But beware, you don't want to leave your own castles, farms and roads vulnerable to evil friends either. It's a balancing act between finishing your elements quickly before someone else sticks it to you or stopping your friends from finishing their elements.

San Juan
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Easy
Price: 19.99 (www.coolstuffinc.com)
[IMG]http://i52.************/j7q0dh.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i54.************/33d9z5y.jpg[/IMG]
Description: San Juan is the card game adaptation of Puerto Rico, and introduces the concept of role selection that is critical to other top tier games such as Puerto Rico and Race for the Galaxy. It is a fun game of resource management in a race to produce goods in order to add buildings to your colony. Role selection at the beginning of a turn is critical as selecting the right role (builder, trader, etc) will give you bonuses that turn for performing specific tasks that will help you in your quest to build the best colony possible.

Citadels
Players: 2-7
Difficulty: Easy
Price: 16.49 (www.coolstuffinc.com)
[IMG]http://i52.************/2q0w0mh.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i56.************/nyxuef.jpg[/IMG]
Description: Another card game, with a role selection mechanic, and in this one you are in a race to build the best city you can. Don’t let the surface level similarities to San Juan throw you off. Where San Juan is all about each player trying to build up their own colony, Citadels is about doing everything in your power to destroy your friends colonies while building your own up. If you want a game with tons of interactions with the added possibility of destroying friendships this is the game for you. Hate your hand of cards? Think your buddy has better ones? Select the Magician Role on your turn and swap hands. Think your buddy is doing too well? Select the Warlord and destroy one of his buildings. Want to end your marriage? Choose the assassin and "kill" your spouses character preventing them from doing anything that turn.

Forbidden Island
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Moderate
Price: 11.99 (www.coolstuffinc.com)
[IMG]http://i56.************/w88eht.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i55.************/2i1z9kh.jpg[/IMG]
Description: A Co-Op game from the creator of the excellent Pandemic. The game shares a lot of the same rules and game play mechanics as Pandemic, just streamlined for a simpler, quicker game with a bit more light hearted theme than the death of billions of people. You and your friends have stumbled upon an island filled with treasure.. Problem is, the island is sinking. You have to do what you can to find the 4 hidden treasures and get everyone back on the helicopter before the island sinks completely. Also, it’s 12 dollars. 12. Buy the stupid game already.

Honorable Mentions: Battle Line, Hive, Glory to Rome, Chrononauts
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(continued in post 2 below)

[AstroLad]

VI. Ain’t No Party Like a Board-Game Party: Party Games
Sometimes you’re getting a big group of people together and you somehow don’t have those two copies of Agricola needed to run an amazing tournament. While party games have historically been an overlooked genre, talented designers and specialized publishers have increasingly turned their attention to party games. These tend to be much easier to learn than any of the above-mentioned games and lend themselves to raucous behavior. They’re also typically best-played with five or more players, even though several of them allow for play with fewer. No more charades! (Note that several of these games -- Time’s Up, Telestrations, and Werewolf, have free-to-play variants (or originals) that you can effectively make yourself.)

Time’s Up
Players: 4-18
Difficulty: Medium
[img]http://i52.************/257zrme.jpg[/img] [img]http://i52.************/2072a1v.jpg[/img]
The game does have a timer, and is definitely time-pressured, but it should probably be called ubercharades or something along those lines. Form teams of two, each get a set of cards with the names of celebs, historical figures, and other notables, then throw them into a pile and shuffle. In the first round, you get 30 seconds to describe the person using any hints except for the person’s actual name or cheapo “rhymes with” clues. Your partner gets it right, you keep the card and get a point at the end of the round. When time’s up, pass the pile of cards over and continue until all cards are gone. Next round (using same cards) you can only use one word and your partner is limited to one guess. Last round you can’t use any words at all. Bonus round you can literally only do a single pose. It’s hard to describe how fun the game is until you play (and the concept doesn’t come naturally to people until they play, which is why I classify it as a Medium), but you’ll equally love and loathe your partner by the end of the game. And you will have formed a true intellectual bond.

Wits & Wagers
Players: 3-21
Difficulty: Very Easy
[img]http://i55.************/2re2mn6.jpg[/img] [img]http://i51.************/vuo1d.jpg[/img]
Finally, a trivia game for everyone! Is what a generic ad for this game could express. Everyone answers questions that have numeric answers (no math, though, stuff like historical dates (When did the NES come out in America!), demographic information, etc.) and places them on a board from high to low, with middle answers in the middle. Players can then bet on who they think got the closest without going over, but the odds for the higher and lower answers have increasingly better payouts. You can bet for whoever you want, and this is a game that people who are terrible at trivia are notoriously good at winning. In many ways Trivial Pursuit done right. Even comes with a cute betting pseudo-felt mat.

Say Anything
Players: 3-8
Difficulty: Very Easy
[img]http://i56.************/2ahi886.jpg[/img] [img]http://i56.************/125mey1.jpg[/img]
A great game for groups looking for a little assisted creativity in their party games. Players take turns asking questions from the box, including stuff like “What's the worst thing to say to a cop after getting pulled over?” and “What’s the most overrated dramatic movie?” Come to think of it, it’s like 1000 GAF OT topics in a box. Everyone else writes answers and places them face-up on the table (no duplicates, which encourages speed), the player secretly chooses his favorite, and everyone bets on which answer you chose. The mechanics are quite simple, but the game is always something people want to keep playing just because of the fun topics it brings up and the context into which it puts those topics.

Honorable Mentions:
Dixit, Telestrations, Werewolf
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VII. Thematic Gaming (by Neverfade)
American-style gaming known colloquially as "Ameritrash". These games use rich core ideas unrelated to game mechanics to generally pull the player towards a goal. They're know for their tendency to feature more luck-based gameplay via dice, etc and variable powers where everyone may not initially be on the same footing.

Game of Thrones
Players: 3-5 (6 with necessary expansion)
Difficulty: Moderately Hard
[img]http://i52.************/2mrfgr5.jpg[/img] [img]http://i55.************/20uwhzk.jpg[/img]
A Game of Thrones is a relatively easy progression into American style gaming. At its core, it shares a common ancestor with Risk, making it a logical next step into advanced game of light warfare. A Game of Thrones improves over Risk by removing the luck element of the die and adds an influence bid that both fits well around the source theme, and throws interesting power grabs for both strength and politics into the mix. Base game plays well for beginners, but the Ports rule from expansion 1 is a must for serious play. A good transition from Euro-gaming as this features luckless combat and euro style bidding.


War of the Ring
Players: 2
Difficulty: Very Hard
[img]http://i55.************/2ir45js.jpg[/img] [img]http://i56.************/2cmp3e0.jpg[/img]
War of the Ring is an American-styled game designed by three non-Americans. That didn't prevent them from crafting a game that fits the "Ameritrash" category to a 'T'. This one is dripping with theme -- because it IS the story of Lord of the Rings in a 2-3 hour boardgame. The tables are stacked against the Free Peoples as the forces of light and dark battle it out to decide the fate of Middle Earth. Skirmishes, seiges, the fellowship, the hunt for the ring, the events from the books/movies and a constant uphill battle lie within. This is one of the more complicated games to learn. Definitely not something to jump headfirst into boardgaming with.

Runewars
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: Hard
[img]http://i54.************/oqanpv.jpg[/img] [img]http://i56.************/eu0w1t.jpg[/img]
Runewars is perhaps the penultimate experience in AT-style gaming. Right out the box, its lavish production values never cease to amaze. Dozens of detailed figures, hundreds of cards of various sizes and purposes, thick, colorful tiles to make up the board, and to top it all off: 3D mountains that snap into the tiles to give it that final pop. Asymmetrical powers are the name of this game. Man one of four factions (with their own strengths and weaknesses) vying to battle, plot, seige, and spy to control several Dragon Runes secretly located around the board, which is crafted each game by the players for a unique experience each time.

Twilight Imperium
Players: 3-6 (up to 8 with necessary expansion)
Difficulty: Very Hard
[img]http://i55.************/2hgxn3o.jpg[/img] [img]http://i56.************/35byvjd.jpg[/img]
Twilight Imperium is the granddaddy of American produced designer gaming. Plan on setting aside a large portion of the day -- pricy, but worth the nigh unmatchable epic scale of all out galactic warfare and politics. Variable powers return as you choose an alien (or human) race to gain control of the Galactic Capitol along with countless other variable objectives. In Twilight Imperium you can expect to get: Space battles, planetary invasions, Alliances forged and broken, a system of interplanetary trade, and political intrigue as players convene for a stellar council to propose, vote on, and approve the Galactic Laws that will forge the outcome of war. The Shattered Empire expansion is a must here, too. In addition to adding more players, races, unit types, and politics, its fixes the areas of the game considered poor or broken by some, namely one of the role cards (think Puerto Rico).

Honorable Mentions:
Robo Rally, Last Night on Earth, StarCraft: The Board Game, Axis & Allies
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A. Where to Buy
There are several great online stores where you can get very good deals on board games. Those board-game gaffers have had good experiences with:
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/
http://www.thoughthammer.com/
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/
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B. Free Online Play
If you’re interested in starting up a game of any of these (or any other online implementations you might find) just post in the thread and you’re sure to find willing players at some point.
Live
Dominion: http://dominion.isotropic.org/
BSW (many board games, including Stone Age, Dominion, and Carcassonne): http://www.brettspielwelt.de/
Race for the Galaxy: http://www.keldon.net/rftg/ (also has a solo version)
Asynchronous
Tigris & Euphrates: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/tigris/
Race for the Galaxy: http://flexboardgames.com/Rftg.html
Mr. Jack: http://mrjack.hurricangames.com/
Yucata (Stone Age, Campaign Manager, and many many others): www.yucata.de
GAF Yucata Usernames:
Artadius
BigAT
carno
Chifty
Choodi
CzarTim
eznark
fenners
JeremyH (GAF: Unison)
joeyjoeshabadoo
Mashing
MrMan2k7
Neverfade
platypotamus
Seth
sneaky77
StoOgE
stump
Triphibian (GAF: Flynn)
Yaboosh

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C. iPhone Board Games
We have a very active iPhone Carcassonne thread if you’d like to join us (my personal favorite iPhone implementation) for some games.
Catan: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/catan/id335029050?mt=8
Knizia’s Samurai: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reine...386828321?mt=8
Carcassonne: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/carca...375295479?mt=8
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D. BGG Guild
Join! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/911
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E. Notable Upcoming Releases
-Mansions of Madness
-Dominion: Cornucopia
-Troyes
-Vinhos
-51st State
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F. Podcasts
The Dice Tower
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G. Other Board Game Links
Original Boardgame-Age Thread
GAF at BGG.con 2010 Thread
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[Drkirby]

I am guessing you discourage people from doing something like, say, get the online version of Ticket to Ride? It also seems they want $5 for the 1910 version on top of $10 for the normal US version, its not to step but does sort of suck if you only want one of the variations :lol

[Brashnir]

Yes, the online version is definitely for someone who already knows how to play (unfortunately most free online implementations are like that; heck even most iPhone games have lackluster tutorials (excepting the ones listed imo)). The nice thing is for all Rio Grande games, you can get the rules PDF on their site: http://www.riograndegames.com/upload..._gameRules.pdf (note that's for the base game so it doesn't go into the expansion cards).

Even just reading the rules can make it tough to pick up through the abstraction encountered when playing with digital cards. The game didn't really sink in for me until I had a physical deck in front of me that I saw my moves directly affecting.

I imagine it could be learned digitally as well, but it helps a lot of have the cards physically in front of you to understand what's really going on.



Then again, once I learned how to play, playing digitally opened my eyes to new things that I may not have otherwise tried, due to the different information being presented. .

[AstroLad]

Don't discourage online play at all! I generally prefer gaming on a table because to me a big part of it is the social experience and the actual physical quality of the games rather than just chugging through the mechanics. But I learned Carcassonne and Tigris & Euphrates online first and I play tons of Carcassonne on iPhone as well as other games. It's nice to have different options for different situations.

As Brashnir said though it can be easier to learn when you actually have the game in front of you. Less of a problem for simpler games like Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride, but it might be tough learning Twilight Struggle or Race for the Galaxy online (then again it might not be -- every game I've tried to learn online I've been able to so maybe it's not that bad).

[Staccat0]

Great OP. It will actually probably help me sell my wife on a few more games.

I would maybe suggest a section for cooperative games? I've known more than one person who is reluctant to play board games because they are too competitive. When I tell them about games like Pandemic they usually freak out.

I'm gonna be playing some Fireball Island (which my friends all know/love) with some friends as well as introducing them to Catan and Pandemic. Hope its not "too nerdy" for them.

[Drkirby]

Where do you go to find people to play with?

[MissyElliottSmith]

Where do you go to find people to play with?

It is possible your town/city has a few places that may sell games and also runs tables where people can play or try before they buy. My city doesn't have any place that sells board games, but the places that sell Pokemon and Magic are more than happy to allow anyone with a boardgames to come in and play on their card tables. Sometimes they organised weekend tournaments for the card games, and other weekends are board games meetups if they can get the appropriate interest levels.

If that is not available, perhaps those from your group of friends could be interested or persuaded to try. Most of my friends are console gamers, and I started with getting them to try out the various Xbox Live Arcade titles like Catan and Ticket to Ride. After coaxing them to try those out, they became interested and hooked with the demo/full versions, I then suggested we try a "real" game. From there it has been a journey introducing them to newer and more complex titles and expansions of games they know.

From what I've learned my friends didn't know there are many boardgames out there that aren't based for the 8-12 age group, or require the time or luck like Monopoly or Risk. With the XBLA titles they had a chance to demo them with little investment. I offered to show them how to play initial with a physical board, but they didn't want to waste there time :p.

[Brashnir]

As for something to add to the thread, I tend to play games with a big group of friends, and often struggle to find games that play well with 6-7 players. Plenty of games can stretch to that number with expansions, but so often I find that core mechanics end up breaking as you add people to the mix.

Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

[MissyElliottSmith]

Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

I highly suggest Battlestar Galactica, but the standalone game sits at 3-6 players. It is complicated and confusing to learn, but the aspect that most of the group is working against a double agent adds great amounts of fun during gameplay. Sometimes the accusation against said double agent can drag game play down, but this only happened to me and my friends once. Alcohol was involved though. Aside from that, it has been a blast and gets played in every board game night.

[XiaNaphryz]

As for something to add to the thread, I tend to play games with a big group of friends, and often struggle to find games that play well with 6-7 players. Plenty of games can stretch to that number with expansions, but so often I find that core mechanics end up breaking as you add people to the mix. Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

Not a lot of games cover that number. Bang, Saboteur, Citadels, and Slide 5 are some of the easier ones to learn that handle that many (Saboteur and Slide 5 can scale up to 10). Alhambra, Ave Caesar, and Winner's Circle handle up to 6 and are also not hard to pick up. Formula D can handle up to 10 and isn't too hard to learn, but can go long. For something with a bit more meat, Arkham Horror's the only one that can handle 7-8, but can go rather long and is rather complicated. BSG's also a pretty good one but only goes to 6.

[Jexhius]

Excellent OP, bookmarked for further reference.

[XiaNaphryz]

Also, AstroLad totally sucks for not including Through the Ages in the "best of the best complex games" section. Same for Power Grid. ;P

[Ferrio]

Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

Robot rally plays up to 8 players and is an awesome game.


Picked this up the other day:




Pretty neat game if you're a fan of D&D and like dungeon delves. The quests last about an hour if you're familiar with the rules game, and and is pretty challenging. I played 3 quests with some friends (one with 2 players, two with five) and we only succeeded in beating a single adventure. My only complaint is I wish the difficulty leaned more toward from monster interaction and less from encounter cards which are basically random "You're fucked" moments.

[XiaNaphryz]

I will look in to RFTG then! Thanks for the advice guys, sorry I didn't get the tone of my rant across very well, it was supposed to be tongue in cheek. My bad (as the kids say). Oh and a few other games that caught my eye: El Grande (a big influence on CITOW apparently) Agricola Puerto Rico Small World (keep seeing this one pop up in discussions, but I'm not sure if I'd play it lots. Doesn't seem to have much long term appeal)

El Grande is awesome and doesn't get enough talk around here. ;P

[Staccat0]

As for something to add to the thread, I tend to play games with a big group of friends, and often struggle to find games that play well with 6-7 players. Plenty of games can stretch to that number with expansions, but so often I find that core mechanics end up breaking as you add people to the mix. Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

Oh, this would be good too!
This is our typical dilllema. This is why we usually end up playing party games like pictionary, taboo and whatnot.
We do have alot of luck playing fireball island with too many people. Its mostly just fun because its such a grind and by the end everyone hates eachother and is standing over the board screaming at he pieces.:lol
My friends LOVE screaming at eachother

Robot rally plays up to 8 players and is an awesome game. Picked this up the other day: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61stheMnCpL.jpg Pretty neat game if you're a fan of D&D and like dungeon delves. The quests last about an hour if you're familiar with the rules game, and and is pretty challenging. I played 3 quests with some friends (one with 2 players, two with five) and we only succeeded in beating a single adventure. My only complaint is I wish the difficulty leaned more toward from monster interaction and less from encounter cards which are basically random "You're fucked" moments.

I really wanna try this! How easy is it for someone who knows board games, but has never played D&D? My wife is interested. I've played D&D but none of my opther friends have.

[Brashnir]

Picked this up the other day: Pretty neat game if you're a fan of D&D and like dungeon delves. The quests last about an hour if you're familiar with the rules game, and and is pretty challenging. I played 3 quests with some friends (one with 2 players, two with five) and we only succeeded in beating a single adventure. My only complaint is I wish the difficulty leaned more toward from monster interaction and less from encounter cards which are basically random "You're fucked" moments.

How does that one work? Does it use the typical D&D "DM plus players" paradigm like Descent, or is it like Arkham Horror where the game DMs itself and all the players play co-op against the board?

[Ferrio]

I really wanna try this! How easy is it for someone who knows board games, but has never played D&D? My wife is interested. I've played D&D but none of my opther friends have.

The game is really easy to learn, don't have to have played D&D before to play it. The rules are really really loosely based on 4th edition, power names, classes etc. Outside of that it has it's own rule set.

How does that one work? Does it use the typical D&D "DM plus players" paradigm like Descent, or is it like Arkham Horror where the game DMs itself and all the players play co-op against the board?

There's no DM. It's like Arkham and each monster has a sorta AI built into them you have to follow when it's their turn. A monster's AI is something like this:

1. If monster is adjacent to hero, use this attack
2. If monster is within 1 tile of hero, move monster adjacent to that hero and use this attack
3. Otherwise monster movs 1 tile closer to hero

Of course each monster type has a different AI, attacks, hp and what not. I can see the game might get a little repetative after you've gone through all the quests since there's not a wide range of monsters... but the randomness of the game always keeps it a tiny bit fresh.

[Brashnir]

The game is really easy to learn, don't have to have played D&D before to play it. The rules are really really loosely based on 4th edition, power names, classes etc. Outside of that it has it's own rule set. There's no DM. It's like Arkham and each monster has a sorta AI built into them you have to follow when it's their turn. A monster's AI is something like this: 1. If monster is adjacent to hero, use this attack 2. If monster is within 1 tile of hero, move monster adjacent to that hero and use this attack 3. Otherwise monster movs 1 tile closer to hero Of course each monster type has a different AI, attacks, hp and what not. I can see the game might get a little repetative after you've gone through all the quests since there's not a wide range of monsters... but the randomness of the game always keeps it a tiny bit fresh.

Sounds pretty cool. I had it on pre-order but cancelled a while back since I wasn't sure if it was right for my group. Thematically it's perfect, but some of what I was hearing kind of led me away from it. I'll have to take a look next time I'm looking for a game to buy - My group loves Arkham due to the co-op nature, and doesn't like the Overlord Vs. Players dynamic of Descent, which I think works a lot better in a RPG than it does in a board game.

[xbhaskarx]

I have all the major board games for XBLA and iPhone but I haven't played a physical board game in years... I kinda miss playing some of them like Catan and Axis & Allies...

[mrklaw]

just subscribing. Great work Astrolad.

[Zeouterlimits]

Recently won my first 3+ hour game of (physical board game) Catan, looking to start my boardgame collection.
Big fan of Carcassone and Catan on XBLA, so looking to expand, shall price Ticket to Ride locally/online.

[narcosis219]

If you wanna play Dominion online, use BrettSpielWelt. It's partly in German but it blows that other text based one out of the water.

http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele/Dominion/?nation=en



It has most of the cards from Intrigue/Seaside/Alchemy but I haven't seen a handful that involved tokens like embargo and pirate ship. Still, it's friggin fun :D

BrettSpielWelt also has a host of other games, but I havent played their versions yet. Just Dominion.

EDIT: ADD PUERTO RICO NAO

[speedpop]

Great thread.

[jepense]

It has most of the cards from Intrigue/Seaside/Alchemy but I haven't seen a handful that involved tokens like embargo and pirate ship. Still, it's friggin fun :D

No, BSW only has a few cards from each of the Dominion expansions and as such it's a bit limited. It's pretty fun still, and as you said there are lots of other games available for online play as well.

[ToddG15]

Awesome thread! Great work!

Picked this up the other day: Pretty neat game if you're a fan of D&D and like dungeon delves. The quests last about an hour if you're familiar with the rules game, and and is pretty challenging. I played 3 quests with some friends (one with 2 players, two with five) and we only succeeded in beating a single adventure. My only complaint is I wish the difficulty leaned more toward from monster interaction and less from encounter cards which are basically random "You're fucked" moments.

With that being your only complaint, would you recommend the game? Been thinking about picking it up, as I love coop (vs the board) games.

[mrklaw]

Just bought Ticket to ride Nordic (amazon.co.uk had one left in stock so I grabbed it) and Pitchcar mini (mostly for the kids but sounds fun).

Nearly bought robo rally too, but it seems better for 3-4 players, and I can't always assume there will be that many playing.

[StoOgE]

Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

Robo Rally is about it for large scale games that play well.

Also, lack of Power Grid and Pandemic in the OP make stooge sad :(

[StoOgE]

Is there a place to get a full list of the rules to Dominion? I wouldn't mind giving it a try online, but the FAQ on the online version is dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ENsEhRbVIM

This guy makes the game really really simple to understand.

[AstroLad]

I would maybe suggest a section for cooperative games?

Yes -- of course! Good call. I'll whip something up. I've actually been playing a good amount of Forbidden Island recently so I've got a lot of stuff to throw into a section like that.

Also, AstroLad totally sucks for not including Through the Ages in the "best of the best complex games" section. Same for Power Grid. ;P

Hey I did mention Through the Ages though! As platypotamus well knows though (since he's been telling me to play it since forever) I haven't played it yet unfortunately. I'm actually really interested to see how the Sid Meier game turns out too (so pretty), so I'll definitely be grabbing one of those in the next month or so.

Picked this up the other day: Pretty neat game if you're a fan of D&D and like dungeon delves. The quests last about an hour if you're familiar with the rules game, and and is pretty challenging. I played 3 quests with some friends (one with 2 players, two with five) and we only succeeded in beating a single adventure. My only complaint is I wish the difficulty leaned more toward from monster interaction and less from encounter cards which are basically random "You're fucked" moments.

Even though I don't think this game would go over that well in my group (not enough people outside of me with nerdish "leanings" and the D&D brand just scares people) I want it so bad just because I've heard good things and also I think the cover is so badass.

If you wanna play Dominion online, use BrettSpielWelt. It's partly in German but it blows that other text based one out of the water. http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele/Dominion/?nation=en EDIT: ADD PUERTO RICO NAO

Ooh thanks for mentioning these. I actually intended to add both, so they're just oversights on my part. Will add shortly in my next update. I will say the nice thing about the text-based Dominion is that you can play without installing anything (a huge bonus for the game-at-work peeps: you know who you are!), and also some people seem to have trouble figuring out BSW (I certainly originally did) -- but there's no doubt that it's the best system out there bar none. Also I don't think BSW has Prosperity yet, but isotropic does.

Just bought Ticket to ride Nordic (amazon.co.uk had one left in stock so I grabbed it) and Pitchcar mini (mostly for the kids but sounds fun). Nearly bought robo rally too, but it seems better for 3-4 players, and I can't always assume there will be that many playing.

Lucky! People have a lot a lot of trouble finding Nordic Countries -- and it's my personal favorite (ooh should mention that in the OP).

Does anybody have any recommendations for games that play well with 6 or 7 players?

Actually this is a very good category for me to add to the OP too.

Where do you go to find people to play with?

Another suggestion is to post on BGG looking for gamers in your area. You're almost guaranteed to find several groups and helpful people. Board gamers in general tend to be super friendly, which is a nice bonus: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/8...ek/game-groups

Thanks for the great and helpful posts people have been making here! If I missed a question or something was unanswered feel free to ask again. :p

[BattleMonkey]

Idea of "modern" board gaming is odd since it's been around for decades.

[Askani]

My friend in our board game group just ordered Dominion. Really excited to try this out soon. We're now getting complete on our "intro" games and can hopefully branch out soon. So far we're up to two copies of Catan, one 5-6 player expansion, Munchkin, and soon to be Dominion and Carcassone. I want to buy another one to add soon but I don't know which one yet. Looking at Tigris and Euphrates or Agricola, or maybe even Drakon. So many choices!

[Screaming_Gremlin]

Great thread AstroLad. I haven't posted in a while in the old thread since my group hasn't played anything new recently. If I would ever get around to reading the rules for Imperial 2030 we will probably try that out.

Also, here is the link to my BGG profile. For whatever reason I used Differential as my tag over there.

[crowphoenix]

I love board games. I just have no one to play with around here.

[Petrie]

So where would it be recommended to pick some of these games up? I usually get them on Amazon, but it seems like something that may have better deals elsewhere, and it seems worth asking. Definitely interested in Descent, and have been itching to pull the trigger on Dominion as well, just wish I could find a better/more reliable group, and maybe a better price on Descent, as I have trouble getting my friends together as often as I'd like for Last Night on Earth already, but that's because the game takes like 4 hours for us typically.

[BattleMonkey]

So where would it be recommended to pick some of these games up? I usually get them on Amazon, but it seems like something that may have better deals elsewhere, and it seems worth asking. Definitely interested in Descent, and have been itching to pull the trigger on Dominion as well, just wish I could find a better/more reliable group, and maybe a better price on Descent, as I have trouble getting my friends together as often as I'd like for Last Night on Earth already, but that's because the game takes like 4 hours for us typically.

The OP thread has links to 3 popular online stores that have most games cheap

[Screaming_Gremlin]

So where would it be recommended to pick some of these games up? I usually get them on Amazon, but it seems like something that may have better deals elsewhere, and it seems worth asking.

The links are in the OP, but if you live on the east coast I would recommend CoolStuffInc. Everything I have ordered from them has been cheaper then Amazon and they have reasonably fast shipping. From what I understand, ThoughtHammer has similar pricing, but is based on the west coast so you would get faster shipping if you lived on that side on the country.

[AstroLad]

Idea of "modern" board gaming is odd since it's been around for decades.

Yep I wrestled with it for about five minutes before I just said eh fuck it :lol. Damn terms.

[mrklaw]

Lucky! People have a lot a lot of trouble finding Nordic Countries -- and it's my personal favorite (ooh should mention that in the OP).

still have two left for anyone in Europe - link


I like the comments about games being missed off the OP - if it was an exhaustive list you'd have nothing to discuss :)

[Captain_Spanky]

Which one should I get to start:

Dominion or Dominion: Intrigue?

[Volodja]

Which one should I get to start: Dominion or Dominion: Intrigue?

I'm going in order: Dominion, then Intrigue and so on.

[StoOgE]

I kind of fell off the boardgame wagon the last few months with possible moves across the country and all.

Has any word come from Days of Wonder on reprinting the SmallWorld expansions?

Any news on the new Game of Thrones Battlelore game?

edit: What the fuck? A Small world expansion with cards? The hell. It jumped the shark didn't it?

[Stumpokapow]

Great job on the thread.

[eznark]

Looking into Ticket to Ride, figured I should buy the XBLA version just to see if I like the mechanics. Is there local multi on the xbox version? I imagine since it's card based, probably not?

[StoOgE]

Looking into Ticket to Ride, figured I should buy the XBLA version just to see if I like the mechanics. Is there local multi on the xbox version? I imagine since it's card based, probably not?

I have to caution against the XBLA version of the game. Catan and Carcasonne are both pretty decent on XBLA but for whatever reason the XBLA version of Ticket to Ride just sucks all the fun out of it.

Try out the demo for mechanics.. but it's really my least favorite of the XBLA board games despite being my favorite gateway game.

[iapetus]

EDIT: ADD PUERTO RICO NAO

This. There are some games that are debatable/personal preference things for the OP, but Puerto Rico is mandatory. Right up there with TtR and Settlers.

[Brashnir]

Which one should I get to start: Dominion or Dominion: Intrigue?

Get plain old Dominion first. It has the simplest, best balanced cards and is the best way to learn the game.

[eznark]

I have to caution against the XBLA version of the game. Catan and Carcasonne are both pretty decent on XBLA but for whatever reason the XBLA version of Ticket to Ride just sucks all the fun out of it. Try out the demo for mechanics.. but it's really my least favorite of the XBLA board games despite being my favorite gateway game.

So can you play local multiplayer? It's only like $10 so I don't really care about buying it. If you read the old thread at all you know my wife is incredibly finicky when I try to get her to play a board game so letting her try it before I buy it would be cool.

[StoOgE]

So can you play local multiplayer? It's only like $10 so I don't really care about buying it. If you read the old thread at all you know my wife is incredibly finicky when I try to get her to play a board game so letting her try it before I buy it would be cool.

I'll check when I get home. I think it has local multiplayer, but I don't remember.

Also, everyone likes TTR. It's pretty much Gin Rummy with trains! Who wouldn't like it.

[StoOgE]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/stooge

BGG profile.