[Petrie]

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

I'm sorry for missing that. Don't know how I looked past it. :(

[Captain_Spanky]

Caylus looks cool (been looking in to more euro based games), but I want some lighter games to play with non-gamer friends. Dominion looks good for that. Louise, my partner, has fallen in love with Agricola after finding out about it and seems set on buying that when her student loan comes through (she's going back to uni this month). RFTG looks really good, but a little dense for my friends. Because we only get together for games once every 6 weeks or so it's not really practical to get a game with a hefty learning curve right now :(

Had a great day of gaming yesterday with my partner. Played a couple of games of DungeonQuest (we've played about 5 games in two days!). It's fantastic, really entertaining, tense, and rather silly. Especially when you imagine all the player characters as bumbling idiots.

Then had a game of Runebound, which we've not played for a while. Much better than I remembered it being, again, got quite exciting towards the end. Was quite funny imagining the aristocratic lord character (who looks like he has down's syndrome on his character card) pushing his sidekicks in front of particularly nasty attacks.

Got the Dunwich Horror expansion in the post this morning. Traded Dungeon Twister 2 for it and feel like I got an excellent deal. Look forward to busting it out this evening.

Any good online UK stores?

[Yeef]

Caylus is awesome. It took us a few plays to get all the rules down, but once you do it's one of the most interesting and intricate games I've played. If you're looking for card games that non-gamers will enjoy check out San Juan and Quiddler.

[ChackanKun]

Actually thinking of buying Carcassone with a few friends, thanks to the iPhone version :lol

None of us is an avid board gamer so Carc might just be perform because of it's simplicity yet challenge.

[AstroLad]

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

These have all been reprinted I think and are available on the cheap. Not sure if these are the ones you're looking for but: http://www.coolstuffinc.com/main_sea...arch_number=25

Actually thinking of buying Carcassone with a few friends, thanks to the iPhone version :lol None of us is an avid board gamer so Carc might just be perform because of it's simplicity yet challenge.

Yeah, it's a great game for that purpose. Let me recommend the Big Box if you're diving in. It contains a bunch of expansions and is pretty reasonably priced.

Any good online UK stores?

I tracked down the BGG wiki that has a bunch of online retailers sorted by country (probably particularly useful for people in small countries). If anyone has had good experiences with any of these I'd be glad to add them to the OP: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/pa...Gaming_Vendors

[SapientWolf]

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.

XBLA's Ticket to Ride has local multiplayer support but the other players have to look away during a turn because there's no way to hide your cards. Carcassonne is better for local multi but it's missing the best expansions.

[GDJustin]

Great new OP! The wife and I have been getting more into board gaming the lat year or so.

One thing I've learned is that it doesn't need to be "all or nothing." You don't need to fall deep into the board game rabbit hole and play 6 hour marathon sessions of Arkham Horror and have a huge BoardGameGeek.com profile.

You can also just work board gaming into your normal leisure schedule every now and then, resulting in a more well-rounded... life. My wife and I only own Carcassonne, Dominion, and Lost Cities right now, and we typically play one of the three about once a week. It's a nice break from our typical movie nights or video game nights.

This post is basically a stealth-tag of the new topic so it's easy for me to find.

Edit: my BGG profile. Add me: http://boardgamegeek.com/user/ErrorJustin

[XiaNaphryz]

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

Still not a bad term to use for the non-boardgamer given the common perception of what boardgames are to them.

[XiaNaphryz]

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.

TH is actually based in Texas, but seems to get stuff a lot faster to west coasters than to the east coast.

[Imbarkus]

Hey nice new thread. Wife and I just joined a group that does a monthly game night. We're both total board game newbs, but we're having fun. We did BSG 2 months in a row, first with the Pegasus expansion and second without. Then this last time we had our first experience with Arkham Horror.

Having a good time with our first tender steps into this way of playing! Thanks for the handy thread...

[AstroLad]

Added the co-op section and some other new stuff to the OP (updates will be spelled out in first line as now).

Glad people are enjoying the thread!

[Cyan]

Awesome thread!

But you didn't include x, one of my favorite games! :( Thread ruined.

For all values of x such that x = Power Grid.

[duracell017]

very nice thread. didnt know they have iphone versions of some games. will def check it out.

[FrancisH]

Any good online UK stores?

I have always bought from GamesLore.com and have had no problems. The games come in a box of appropriate size with wotsit-shaped polystyrene which seems to do the job of protecting the boxes, I have had no damaged ones so far. Delivery is pretty fast too!

Any others that are good?

[Jo-El]

Great thread! I just ordered Pandemic :D

[Magicked]

Awesome OP Astro!

My BGG name: http://boardgamegeek.com/user/Magicked

My group has been playing a lot of Race for the Galaxy lately. It took a few games to get used to the rules, but I love it so much now! :D

[deadbeef]

This is a cool thread. Thanks for being so welcoming in the thread title. I may pick up one of these "gateway" games for me and my girlfriend to play.

What's the deal with boardgamegeek.com? Can you play games on there?

[JonStark]

My all time favourite :

[StoOgE]

This is a cool thread. Thanks for being so welcoming in the thread title. I may pick up one of these "gateway" games for me and my girlfriend to play. What's the deal with boardgamegeek.com? Can you play games on there?

It's GAF meets Wikipedia for board games.

You can play some games there by posting moves on the message board, but it is more of a resource than anything else.

[Ferrio]

Awesome thread! Great work! 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.

If you're a fan of D&D and coop board games ya, I say it's a worthy purchase. Again my only complaints would be that it probably has a limited life span (after so many plays you've pretty much seen it all, randomness or not), and that some of the shit it pulls seems cheap.

Case in point, one of the encounter cards (which you most of the time pull every turn) says "Every hero takes 1 point of damage". This hurts a lot, since as soon as a hero goes down that can't be raised (by default you get 2 healing surges among the group) it's game over. It is possible to counter these cards, but you only can that so many times. I figure the encounter cards were their way of trying to balance the game among a variable number of players.

[AstroLad]

Shot of our Stone Age setup for tonight -- posting since it's one of the purtier games out there.

[img]http://i55.************/5fqc9c.png[/img]

[Captain_Spanky]

That looks cool!

[CavemanLawyer]

This thread is perfectly timed. My sister-in-law can be very hard to purchase gifts for, but last year I got her the board game Ingenious and she loved it. Well her birthday is coming up again + Christmas so I've been casually browsing around for another game or two to get her.

A browsing through the OP and looking at Amazon reviews has me leaning towards Pandemic and Ticket to Ride. Maybe in the next couple of years I can start getting her some of the more advanced games.

Anyway, thanks for the great OP Astrolad. Looking forward to following this thread.

[jason10mm]

Don't forget Small World. Very much a "dudes on a map" war-game distilled down and made light and funny. Wife loves it, especially the 2 player iPad version.

"command and colors:ancients" is a great light war-game, the use of cards to issue commands means you don't have to move every unit each turn, and limits the moves you can make, so noobs sorta have their strategy handed to them.

Played "Twilight Struggle"for the first time this weekend. WOW! Pretty easy rule set, but deep deep strategy.

Saw a lot of cool games at dragoncon. 8 player Twilight Imperium looks INSANE. frag looks cool, and I am 100% getting back into battletech. Met the guys at catalyst and it seems like they have good things planned, now they just need to get that box set reprinted!

And "Shadows over Camelot" is a 8 player game, IIRC, and is loads of fun. The traitor mechanic spices up what can otherwise plague co-op games, when one guy tells everyone else what to do.

[echoshifting]

Great job on the new OP AL! I think we're going to get a lot of use out of it and it's nice to see some fresh faces! :)

You didn't mention the Intrigue expansion for Dominion...is it not as good? I'm planning to pick it up soonish but I'll skip it if it was poorly received.

I'd recommend mentioning the expansions for RtfG...it's a much better game with 'em, but obviously you don't want to expand it too fast.

The new Ravenloft game: Does it follow the Hero Quest model of "GM vs. players" or is it completely coop?

Twilight Struggle is a game I've been interested in for awhile...is it a really in-depth "war" game along the lines of Axis & Allies or WotR? If so I doubt I could get my wife to play it and therefore it isn't really worth the investment.

Again, great work! Subscribed. It would be cool to have a "board game night" with online game play. It's tough to just hop in here and get a game together on the fly...

[Ferrio]

The new Ravenloft game: Does it follow the Hero Quest model of "GM vs. players" or is it completely coop?

Completely coop.

[echoshifting]

Completely coop.

Cool, that makes it MUCH more attractive...thanks!

[BattleMonkey]

Really not all that interested in Ravenloft after reading about it's rules. Sounds like a dumbed down version of D&D that uses lots of randomness for resolution.

[ianp622]

I think I'd add Galaxy Trucker to the list of newcomer friendly games. The rules are clear, and I can't think of any obscure rules. It has a lot of depth, but it's also just fun to play even if you don't think too hard.

[Ferrio]

Really not all that interested in Ravenloft after reading about it's rules. Sounds like a dumbed down version of D&D that uses lots of randomness for resolution.

Pretty much. Which doesn't bother me, if I wanted to play D&D I would.

[Captain_Spanky]

Really not all that interested in Ravenloft after reading about it's rules. Sounds like a dumbed down version of D&D that uses lots of randomness for resolution.

Did you not play Warhammer Quest? Castle Ravenloft, at least rules wise, is a reskin of that, and WQ was the tits.

[BattleMonkey]

Did you not play Warhammer Quest? Castle Ravenloft, at least rules wise, is a reskin of that, and WQ was the tits.

Already play D&D and other games that give the same or better experience. Much prefer Descent and Claustrophobia from what I've read of the ruleboook so far, and Ravenloft seems fairly constricted in amount of replay that I will get out of it. It basically really simplifies d&d to not needing a DM and using automated functions for a coop like experience.

If your not into D&D and want something simple though it should be fun for a person, but I think theres better alternatives for those who have played other games.

[deadbeef]

Well shit, might as well dive in with both feet. Just ordered Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Lost Cities, and Agricola. :lol

[AstroLad]

Well shit, might as well dive in with both feet. Just ordered Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Lost Cities, and Agricola. :lol

Congrats! Be forewarned though, Agricola is a huge jump up in complexity from those other games. That said, happy to help out when you're getting into it.

[Neverfade]

You didn't mention the Intrigue expansion for Dominion...is it not as good? I'm planning to pick it up soonish but I'll skip it if it was poorly received.

I'd say its less "intrigue is bad" and more "seaside is fucking amazing".

[deadbeef]

Congrats! Be forewarned though, Agricola is a huge jump up in complexity from those other games. That said, happy to help out when you're getting into it.

Yeah but it looks awesome. That's why I also got the others, so I could hook some people before we jump into that.

[eznark]

Well shit, might as well dive in with both feet. Just ordered Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Lost Cities, and Agricola. :lol

Let me know how you like Lost Cities. It's one that looked promising to me so I'd like to hear the feedback of a fellow bg n00b.

Is there a place to play Dominion online? I am pretty positive I could never get my wife into it but it looks pretty dope.

[Petrie]

Gah, this thread just reminds me I want so many games, Dominion, Diplomacy, Ticket to Ride, Descent, Lost Cities, Settlers...so much $$$

[Drey1082]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/drey1082

Sweet thread.

[Brashnir]

I'd say its less "intrigue is bad" and more "seaside is fucking amazing".

I personally prefer Intrigue to Seaside, FWIW.

[Flynn]

Awesome thread. Looking forward to helping GAF learn the ways of boardgaming.

Add my BGG profile -- I really need to get more active over there.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/Triphibian

EDIT:

Just got back from Strategicon on Los Angeles. Spent most of the three days playing games.

Games played:
At The Gates of Loyang
Carson City
Stone Age
Perry Rhodan

And a TON of Race For the Galaxy -- Tom Lehman was the guest of honor at the con. I sat in on a podcast and was able to talk to him about about the difficulties they've had getting game companies to commit giving them a fair shake in videogame versions of Race and Dominion.

The designer of the new Race dice game talked about the new game and Tom hinted at the next expansion.

I played in two Race tourneys. Placed third in a two-player event. Lost my first match and fought my way up to third thanks to double elimination.

The second tourney was played with Brink of War and the new prestige points, which I know next to nothing about. I tanked big time. Gotta learn that better. I'm still getting a grasp of Rebel vs Imperium.

[AstroLad]

Is there a place to play Dominion online? I am pretty positive I could never get my wife into it but it looks pretty dope.

Yes, it can be played in text form here; we've actually played several games here: http://dominion.isotropic.org/

It's also available on BSW, but I haven't used BSW in a while so I'm not sure if they've improved the usability: http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele/Dominion/

Instructions for all Rio Grande-published games are available on the Rio Grande Games site in PDF form, which is also a nice way to check out games: http://www.riograndegames.com/

[Justin]

I watched a hour long walkthrough of Arkham Horror on youtube yesterday and now I really want it. There is no way in hell any of my friends would ever play it though.

[The Quiet Man]

Thanks, OP. I was at Pacificon this weekend, my first tabletop gaming con, and I saw many of these games. I had no idea what they were, but I thought they looked really cool. Before this weekend, the only game in your list I'd played was Ticket To Ride.

I'm pretty interested in getting into Arkham Horror now.

[ultron87]

Very nice OP.

My roommate who has our copy of Dominion is finally coming back to town after being gone all summer, and he got one of the expansions that I haven't played yet. I'm quite excited.

[echoshifting]

The designer of the new Race dice game talked about the new game and Tom hinted at the next expansion.

What...WHAT. :O Seriously though how am I gonna shuffle that deck :P (not that I'm complaining...the wife will though! "When did this game get so complex??" :D )

Would love to hear more about your time with Lehman. I'm...something of a fan.

Well shit, might as well dive in with both feet. Just ordered Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Lost Cities, and Agricola. :lol

Woooo! One of us....one of us....

Of those four the only one I don't own is TTR, and I need to rectify that sooner rather than later. ;p Don't try to dive in to Agricola till you've spent some time with the other three. It's much, much more complex.

edit: Beaten...I should have known AL would already have covered this further down...

I'd say its less "intrigue is bad" and more "seaside is fucking amazing".

Well, THAT I can agree with. ;)

Let me know how you like Lost Cities. It's one that looked promising to me so I'd like to hear the feedback of a fellow bg n00b. Is there a place to play Dominion online? I am pretty positive I could never get my wife into it but it looks pretty dope.

Lost Cities was my personal gateway game, fwiw. My wife's as well. Great noob game.

YMMV, but...I would have NEVER guessed my wife would now be not only playing Dominion/RtFG/etc. with me on a nightly basis, but also frequently kicking my ass. :D Lost Cities was the beginning for us; now we play everything (excluding the super-deep war/tactics games).

Gah, this thread just reminds me I want so many games, Dominion, Diplomacy, Ticket to Ride, Descent, Lost Cities, Settlers...so much $$$

Are you buying 'em online? You can save a huge chunk of cash if you buy from a place like thoughthammer...especially if you buy multiple games at once so you can nab the free shipping...

Also worth noting that there's a pretty wide price variance in your list there...Lost Cities can be had for $16 from TH (and many other online retailers). FFG games (Descent) tend to dwell at the top of the "...HOW much is that game??" list.

I watched a hour long walkthrough of Arkham Horror on youtube yesterday and now I really want it. There is no way in hell any of my friends would ever play it though.

Doesn't matter, it rocks solo, believe it or not (I hardly ever play it with others these days; I prefer the flow to the game solo, and most everyone tends to get worn out and/or bored when I play it with a big group). In fact most vets would probably recommend spending some time with it on your own before trying it out with your friends. It's pretty complicated (hint: understatement). This applies to many of the games listed in this thread, btw....my wife will not play Agricola with me until I practice. ;p

[Brashnir]

Doesn't matter, it rocks solo, believe it or not (I hardly ever play it with others these days; I prefer the flow to the game solo, and most everyone tends to get worn out and/or bored when I play it with a big group). In fact most vets would probably recommend spending some time with it on your own before trying it out with your friends. It's pretty complicated (hint: understatement). This applies to many of the games listed in this thread, btw....my wife will not play Agricola with me until I practice. ;p

Yeah, Arkham is pretty interesting as a solo experience. As for the complexity - yeah. I've played the game a couple dozen times, and each time it seems like I find a new rule or exception that I was playing slightly wrong before.

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Big day of gaming today. I played Ticket to Ride, Cyclades, and Agricola. Cyclades continues to impress. I won a pretty cutthroat game by taking the two metropolises from my opponent. Which brings me to what I've doscovered, 2 player Cyclades is a much better game than 3 players. Sure four or more players is ideal but if you are looking to pick this up and mainly play with one other person it's a good buy.

[Flynn]

What...WHAT. :O Seriously though how am I gonna shuffle that deck :P (not that I'm complaining...the wife will though! "When did this game get so complex??" :D ) Would love to hear more about your time with Lehman. I'm...something of a fan.

The guy is pretty accessible. Apparently he's been playtesting games and attending cons like this for quite some time. He was around for the whole con -- not just there for a talk -- you could go to his table and play new Pandemic expansions with him fairly easily. When he wasn't doing that he bumped around the con socializing. My friend noted that he played lots of light dice games and stuff -- the polar opposite of Race.

During the podcast recording (I'll link it when it goes up) he talked a lot about the new dice game but wouldn't offer much on the post-Brink expansion. I think he's not very deep into it. He did have some prototypes, but I didn't really get a chance to flip through them. :(

He did hint that there was ANOTHER Race project in the works, but that's all he would say.

[thetrin]

I need to pick up a copy of Arkham Horror for myself, because I'm tired of having to go to my friend's house to play it.