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Risible said:
We brought this along on our family vacation this week and it saw a lot of play. Player ages ranged from 6 to 46.

The goal of the game is to collect three sets of properties. There are property cards, Event cards that work kind of like Chance cards, and money cards. Every card has a dollar amount on it, so every card can be used either as money or for its actual stated purpose.

Each turn you get three actions. You are attempting to build up a personal bank to pay rents with while also putting out sets of properties to win the game. If you run out of bank you need to pay the rent with your property cards.

The game thus becomes a balancing act of trying to keep enough cash on hand, build up properties, and screw over other players with Chance cards with your three actions each turn.

Fun game, and we all enjoyed it, young and old alike.

It is a solid game, both cheap and accessable. The only issue is that damn deal breaker card, With three or more players it's not too bad, although it does still feel cheap, but in a two player game it pretty much breaks the game, as it becomes an instant win card.
 
Yeah, the deal breaker card in Monopoly Deal is a motherfucker and is probably too big of a reversal of fortune. But:

1) Just remove them from the deck if you want. Or remove half of them.
2) There's plenty of "Just say no!" cards. If you get one, save it. Don't spend it on actions that aren't that painful.
 
SquallASF said:
Wow, you guys are some serious board game guru's!

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good party games. They probably shouldn't be too heavy because generally, there will be drinking. Some games we enjoy for reference are "Things" and "Apples for Apples". They will obviously need to support a decent amount of players.

Say Anything is the last game you'll ever need for a party setting. Wits and Wagers is pretty good, but SA takes things to the next level. It also lends itself to drinking and plays up to 8, more if you add in homemade tokens and little dry erase boards.

This is not an option. Buy it and prosper.
 
Neverfade said:
Say Anything is the last game you'll ever need for a party setting. Wits and Wagers is pretty good, but SA takes things to the next level. It also lends itself to drinking and plays up to 8, more if you add in homemade tokens and little dry erase boards.

This is not an option. Buy it and prosper.

Thanks, I was going to buy Apples to Apples but I googled this and a lot of peopled compared it to that game but say this is better. Sounds like something I can play with more than 8 which is what I need. Only thing is we just bought Things, do you think this game is too similar to play both in the same night? I wanted to find another game that was varied from Things but would be fun in a party setting.

That charades like game that AstroLad mentioned has potential too.
 
SquallASF said:
Thanks, I was going to buy Apples to Apples but I googled this and a lot of peopled compared it to that game but say this is better. Sounds like something I can play with more than 8 which is what I need. Only thing is we just bought Things, do you think this game is too similar to play both in the same night? I wanted to find another game that was varied from Things but would be fun in a party setting.

That charades like game that AstroLad mentioned has potential too.
To be honest I have no idea what Things is. But for reference, in SA one person reads a question, everyone else writes down anything they want as their answer on a little dry erase board, then the judge picks and answer and everyone votes on who they think the judge picked. Points are awarded based on these votes so it's still possible to win without ever being picked.

You can compare accordingly now!
 
Neverfade said:
To be honest I have no idea what Things is. But for reference, in SA one person reads a question, everyone else writes down anything they want as their answer on a little dry erase board, then the judge picks and answer and everyone votes on who they think the judge picked. Points are awarded based on these votes so it's still possible to win without ever being picked.

You can compare accordingly now!

Oh ok. Things also has one person read a statement such as 'things you shouldn't do with glue' and then everyone else writes their response on a piece of paper and hands it to the reader. The reader then reads all the statements and starting from one side of the reader, each person gets to try and match a statement with the person they think wrote it (you can have the reader re-read the responses). If you guess correctly, the person that wrote the statement is eliminated from that round and the guesser gets a point and gets another turn. You can only have two consecutive guesses before it moves on to the next person (unless you miss your guess in which case you only get that one) and it keeps working it's way around until everyone but one is eliminated (discluding the reader, ofcourse). The reader changes when each round ends and you tally the points for each person. Pretty fun game and if you have perverted minded people, the card statements can be often seen as innuendos.
 
AstroLad said:
I've also heard very good things about Dixit but haven't yet had the chance to try it out

This link goes to the top party games at boardgamegeek.com listed as rated by consumers on the site and you can read all the comments as well: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/partyg...objecttype=family&rankobjectid=5498&rank=#101

Apparently, Dixit is the number 5 and that Times UP! game you mentioned consists of 3 out of the top 5 pics rated by people. I guess it came out with different iterations. The number two party boardgame also sounds interesting and I was wondering if any of you guys tried it.
 
SquallASF said:
This link goes to the top party games at boardgamegeek.com listed as rated by consumers on the site and you can read all the comments as well: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/partyg...objecttype=family&rankobjectid=5498&rank=#101

Apparently, Dixit is the number 5 and that Times UP! game you mentioned consists of 3 out of the top 5 pics rated by people. I guess it came out with different iterations. The number two party boardgame also sounds interesting and I was wondering if any of you guys tried it.


Werewolves down at #12 is my absolute favorite light drinking social game if you've got a large group (10ish). I've literally had a group playing it non stop for hours before.
 
SquallASF said:
Wow, you guys are some serious board game guru's!

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good party games. They probably shouldn't be too heavy because generally, there will be drinking. Some games we enjoy for reference are "Things" and "Apples for Apples". They will obviously need to support a decent amount of players.
I'm not ne of the gurus but my group has been enjoying Loaded Questions off and on for a couple years now. Its really fun, but only works if everyone at the table knows eachother at least a little.
New additions to a group of friends won't necessarily have a lot of fun.
 
ggs guys. that online dominion is crazy fun bite-sized gaming
Werewolves down at #12 is my absolute favorite light drinking social game if you've got a large group (10ish). I've literally had a group playing it non stop for hours before.
Yeah #2 is just a variant. Werewolf is best described as not even a party game but a group game. As in you need >8 but it can be very fun and is super simple. You can check out the rules online and see what you think. The various boxed packages are just implementations of a super simple game. (Same is true of Time's Up to a lesser extent.)
 
AstroLad said:
ggs guys. that online dominion is crazy fun bite-sized gaming

Yeah #2 is just a variant. Werewolf is best described as not even a party game but a group game. As in you need >8 but it can be very fun and is super simple. You can check out the rules online and see what you think. The various boxed packages are just implementations of a super simple game. (Same is true of Time's Up to a lesser extent.)

Ha, skipped over #2 looking for werewolf. derp derp.

These 14 hour work days really fry my brain sometimes.
 
Man, those curse-givers are killer with that many players. It's like MAD. I mean, we had platinum and colonies and they never got touched. :lol

Edit:
Sorry yeef, I think we all called it quits after that last cursed game.
 
But that's the fun part! I always go for curses even if it makes little sense strategically. It's even more annoying in person too, which is a bonus. I just hate running out as I mentioned. If there was no limit, or if there were just a few more cards, everyone would have been in negative territory that game.
 
So, for some time now I've been really interested in getting into boardgames because I think it would be a great way to spend time with my girlfriend and also other friends. I've already decided to buy the new Essential Dungeons and Dragons to start with.

However, I need some help with choosing the first boardgames to buy.

I was listening to an old GFW Radio podcast (EFF YEAH!) the other day and a game that was mentioned was Zombies. I was wondering if anyone else would recommend this and perhaps relay any of their experiences with it. Would there be a superior alternative in your opinion?
I mention this because it'd be nice to get into boardgaming with my friends and since we're all very much into zombies I think it might be a good gateway into other boardgames of other themes.

Edit: Spellcheck.
 
caromelo said:
So, for some time now I've been really interested in getting into boardgames because I think it would be a great way to spend time with some my girlfriend and also other friends. I've already decided to buy the new Essential Dungeons and Dragons to start with.

However, I need some help with choosing the first boargames to buy.

I was listening to an old GFW Radio podcast (EFF YEAH!) the other day and a game that was mentioned was Zombies. I was wondering if anyone else would recommend this and perhaps relay any of their experiences with it. Would there be a superior alternative in your opinion?
I mention this because it'd be nice to get into boardgaming with my friends and since we're all very much into zombies I think it might be a good gateway into other boardgames of other themes.
If you want a zombie themed game get Last Night on Earth. That game is dripping in theme, light enough for newbies, and tons of fun. The basic premise is one group of players play the human characters while one or two players play te zombie side. There are a number of different scenarios each with different goals to accomplish. For example, one scenario has you searching through buildings looking for gas and the keys to a truck in the middle of town. Once the human characters find the items they have to make it to the truck, gas it up, and get out of town. The zombie players are looking for tasty brains.

From what I understand Zombies!!! is not that great. The mechanics don't match the theme and it can drag for far too long.

Edit: Anybody gaming over the long weekend? I've got a group of 6 or 8 people coming over Saturday for a BBQ so I think a couple rounds of Wits and Wagers or Bang are in order.
 
AstroLad said:
But that's the fun part! I always go for curses even if it makes little sense strategically. It's even more annoying in person too, which is a bonus. I just hate running out as I mentioned. If there was no limit, or if there were just a few more cards, everyone would have been in negative territory that game.

Contrary to most people, I don't really care for Dominion (and the fact is I was one of the earliest testers for it, majority of my plays were done before the game was released). To get me to play, I have to have curses in. For me that changes the game drastically. It's no longer just a race to see who gets their combo working the fastest, but instead it is about minimizing the damage. I just find "vanilla" Dominion to be an extreme boring exercise.
 
joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
Edit: Anybody gaming over the long weekend? I've got a group of 6 or 8 people coming over Saturday for a BBQ so I think a couple rounds of Wits and Wagers or Bang are in order.
Hellz yeah. Still deciding specifically what to do and with how many people though. Really looking forward to it; I just wish my giganto CSI order with Prosperity and about five other games would come in. :/

I mention this because it'd be nice to get into boardgaming with my friends and since we're all very much into zombies I think it might be a good gateway into other boardgames of other themes.
Yeah I've also often heard the LNOE is the much better game. Don't have enough experience with Zombies to compare but LNOE is decent and jumps to great if you are really into zombies. Scenarios really play out like a zombie movie.
 
Is playing Battlestar Galactica with only 4 people worthwhile, or does it really need to be with 5 or 6? Also, how is the Pegasus expansion?
 
Whifflebat said:
Is playing Battlestar Galactica with only 4 people worthwhile, or does it really need to be with 5 or 6? Also, how is the Pegasus expansion?
I played this for the first time with 4 people relatively recently. I kind of feel there was a balance problem though. Because we did "too well" in the first half of the game, 2/4 people became cylons. And you're really screwed if half the players are cylons.

Aside from that it still worked though.
 
Whifflebat said:
Is playing Battlestar Galactica with only 4 people worthwhile, or does it really need to be with 5 or 6? Also, how is the Pegasus expansion?

Doable with 4, but 5 is far superior.

With 4 or 6 people, there is a chance that an additional person will or will not be a gimped cylon. It fucking sucks for whomever draws that card and undermines the whole sneaking portion of t he game, which really... IS the game, because everyone knows immediately that the person is on the cylon team.

Also, avoid Pegasus like the plague.
 
With 4 or 6 people, there is a chance that an additional person will or will not be a gimped cylon.

Is that the Cylon Sympathizer card? Can you leave it out of a 4 or 6 player game or will that seriously imbalance things?
 
Whifflebat said:
Is that the Cylon Sympathizer card? Can you leave it out of a 4 or 6 player game or will that seriously imbalance things?
I've only played once, but from the point of view of a newbie, our game would have been much better if we had just taken out the sympathizer card and replaced it with 'not a cylon.' Maybe that changes with player experience though.

edit:
I've heard to avoid pegasus because it makes the game needlessly long what with the whole new caprica thing where the entire game changes gears.

edit2:
One of the great things about this game is that it is so easy to "fine tune" it via the resource dial starting locations. For a 4 player game I think the best option is to throw the sympathizer card into the garbage but mess with the resource dials if that ends up making things too easy.
 
Taking out the sympathizer card will not always, but absolutely sometimes affect balance.

in a 4 player game that would be one cylon per game. If no one gets the cylon card until the sleeper phase, there's no fucking chance in hell they're going to win unless the humans are serious newjacks.

In a 6 player game thats 4 humans vs 2 cylons with potentially the same problem. 5 people is the sweet spot with 3 humans vs 2 cylons. No bullshit with confusing rules and no one gets the shitty end of the stick by being both forced to reveal and being gimped.




As for the question regarding Pegasus and why to avoid: It adds WAY too many unecessary rules. The Caprica phase is bloaty and confusing, the executions are silly and take away from the focus of the game (i.e. experienced players won't bother with them anyways, there's better ways to deal with a cyclon and the skill check to kill someone just eats up precious cards needed for crises.)

And probably the worst offender is it flat out changes some of the rules. Don't activate X at Y phase where you previously did. Hurts the brain.

In short, it fucks with a great system too much. Instead of building on to something, it tears it down and tries to redo it -- when nothing needed rebuilding.


Edit: Slayn's suggestion of adjusting the dials is probably the best bet. Still doesn't beat a proper game of 5 though! :p
 
Just got some more money, and looking for some recommendations. DungeonQuest is tugging at me, it's brutality sounds hilarious. I'm also considering Small World, Ticket To Ride, Castle Ravenloft or anything cool I'm not aware of. My tastes are fairly broad (but could be broader. Ok maybe not THAT broad haha), these are the games I own and I enjoy all of them. The only game I've played and disliked is Dungeon Twister.

Chaos In The Old World
Arkham Horror
Descent
Starcraft
Horus Heresy
Last Night On Earth
A Touch Of Evil
Runbound
Battlestar Galactica
Drakon
Dungeon Lords
Doom
Warhammer Invasion
Call Of Cthulu LCG

(Haha lot of Fantasy Flight. I should branch out really)

So feel free to "fill a gap" in my collection, or give thoughts on what I listed above. Thanks guys!
 
Your gaps are anything not hardcore Ameritrash! :lol

It really depends on the level of complexity and number of players you're looking for, as well as how open you are to eurogaming.

Some of my favorites that are pretty scalable and that you don't own and would probably enjoy:
-San Juan (card-draw gap)
-Carcassonne (gateway gap)
-Stone Age (worker-placement gap)
-RoboRally (party gap)
 
Hello fellow BGers...been awhile since I've been in this thread but it's always a pleasure to visit and see the same familiar faces hanging around. :D

My wife and I have been playing the CRAP out of Dominion. It's been sort of a "Race for the what?" situation over here, basically eliminating our former nightly champion from play rotation. Then we added the Seaside expansion and took it to a whole new level. On average probably 8/10 of our kingdom cards hail from Seaside; the cards are just more fun (though we almost immediately did away with the utterly pointless mats), and duration cards make for a more sophisticated play experience. It's just that perfect niche between being a great game for a retired CCG geek (me) and also a great game for a CCG-loathing resource management addict (my wife). Incidentally, my wife wins probably three out of every four 2p games, and brutally destroys me every tenth game or so. She is really, really good at this one, which is nice as she was sort of falling behind on the RtfG curve as the third expansion went into that deck.

Here's how we've been putting together our kingdom cards: we shuffle together the base deck and the Seaside deck, then draw two cards and discard nine; this is something we found necessary to prevent the same combos hitting the table every single game. Then we deal out the rest of the deck - it's usually just the 2 of us and even when there are more people they wouldn't know the game well enough to draft, so it ends up being 20 cards for each of us. Then we take turns adding cards to the kingdom until we hit 10.

Anyway, I know it's been mentioned in this thread before, but this is a game I thought I was going to hate, and even when I started getting into it I thought I would have a terrible time getting my wife into it...but neither of those things turned out to be true, so it seemed worth a mention.

All right, that's it for Dominion. Question: your essential Carc. expansions? We used to just play The Castle, which is basically a different game, but we've started getting into the "classic" version the past couple of months and I'm starting to think about adding an expansion or two, and I know everyone has preferences.

Should probably pick up that Pandemic expansion, too, as that's starting to get a bit stale. That's easily our fave coop game right now (plays much differently than what we've come to expect from this sort of game).

Finally, received Agricola for my b-day in July but have yet to bring it to the table. Set it up once for a game with the wife, but less than a turn in she politely requested that I try out a single player round before giving it another go... :D

Now to go through the last few pages to see what you all have been into lately...
 
Online Dominion! :O

On vacation in CO for another week or so but I will definitely be patrolling this thread for a game or two when I get back home...looks fun!

edit: Looks like I need to pick up Glory to Rome :lol
 
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