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[SCHUEY F1]

Lately I have been playing more and more boardgames. I recently picked up Tide of Iron(I got it for free!!), which is a squad, hexed based, WWII strategy game. The game comes with 12 doubles sided game boards as well as overlays, which allow you to create your own scenario's. There is a fair bit of rules, but nothing too complicated. I love it!

I also played a game War on Terror, which is satirical strategy war game, which it my opinion is a combination between Risk and Settlers of Catan. You have a world map, which you occupy countries with villages towns or cities. On each country is also a number marker which represents the oil for that country. On each players turn the dice is rolled and if that number marker corresponds to a country you own you get a certain amount of money based on if it is a village, town or city.

Combat between countries is done using cards, which are drawn. One of the main concepts though is the use of terrorist cells, which you may place in any country, which you may use to attack a village/town/city. There are also special cards, which allow you to nuke countries, suicide bomb, etc.

The game board also includes a spinning wheel, which if it lands on your colour you become the Axis of Evil. The game comes with a black ski mask thats says EVIL on it, which is awesome. The Axis of Evil is supposed to wear it.

If you are losing the game you can decide to fully become a terrorist and control those units on the board. It is still possible to win the game.

It may seem a game like this could take long to play, but it is much shorter than risk. I would say it takes between 2 and 3 hours to play. Good times!

 

[Ferrio]

Been playing RoboRally recently.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18

AWESOME game, up to 8 players "program" their robot and for the next 5 turns watch what happens. Sometimes insantiy ensues when robots will smash into each other causing others to go off course and flying off the edge. Hihgly recommend it.

 

[AstroLad]

Been playing RoboRally recently.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18

AWESOME game, up to 8 players "program" their robot and for the next 5 turns watch what happens. Sometimes insantiy ensues when robots will smash into each other causing others to go off course and flying off the edge. Hihgly recommend it.

Fuck yeah! Came in here to post this. This game would be amazingly fun eight players over XBLA or something as well. I pretty much post about it in every XBLA-request-type thread I stumble upon. Hey, we got Catan and Carcassonne!

I wish they would release expansions to the new one like they did for the old one, but the game is so perfect--even non-board-game players love it and get into it quickly.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

RoboRally sounds pretty sweet. Definitely will have to check it out!

 

[Eric P]

robo rally is AWESOME fun.

add alcohol

 

[Oblivion]

Ah, how I miss playing the likes of Monopoly, Clue, and Life with my cousins when I was younger.

 

[iapetus]

Best part of Robo Rally is where everyone does the Robo Rally shuffle - watch everyone else sitting around the table turning to the left and the right as they try to work out where their program's going to lead them.

 

[relaxor]

Oh yeah, those hex games are great fun. That War on Terror one sounds like a hoot too.

I know that this is old hat, and kind of a duh point, but man is Settlers of Catan a great game! I just started playing it about six months ago. I've played Carcassone, which I like, but not as much. What are some other good GAF recommendations for this style of board game?

Oh! And Ticket to Ride is another really fun one. I played the European version, good one.

 

[Parallax]

i need to start up a game of monopoly or life. i havent been really pissed off while playing a board game in a while

 

[AstroLad]

Best part of Robo Rally is where everyone does the Robo Rally shuffle - watch everyone else sitting around the table turning to the left and the right as they try to work out where their program's going to lead them.

:lol the best is when someone quickly sets down their cards, is completely confident they'll reach the flag, and they wind up turning left into a pit at the end instead of right into the flag. "No, that can't be right!"

 

[SCHUEY F1]

I almost bought Ticket to Ride today on my lunch break. Settlers is always good! Carcassone is good times as well, I still haven't tried the latest expansion yet (Mayor and the Abbey, it is called I believe).

 

[Vark]

I'm currently obsessed with this game.

It's sort of a warhammer gateway though, it has tons of expansions (that involve bagpipe playing cow riding dwarves) including an expansion that lets you hook multiple boards together to make a giant battlefield.

EDIT: (Added picture of Epic Battlelore)

 

[Ferrio]

I almost bought Ticket to Ride today on my lunch break. Settlers is always good! Carcassone is good times as well, I still haven't tried the latest expansion yet (Mayor and the Abbey, it is called I believe).

Ticket to ride is a good game, really easy game for anyone to play. It's easy to have your whole plan shattered by someone else taking a path before you're able to. One of the better board games out there.

I'd also HIGHLY suggest "Puerto Rico" especially to anyone who likes catan (so would boardgame geek, it's their #1). The game is great since there's NO luck (no dice rolls, percentages or anything).

Basically in the game you try to collect the most points. This can be done by buying buildings, or shipping cargo. There's two extreme ways to play the game, either soley an exporter, or soley a money maker. Of course most people play a combination.

If you go soley exporter you try to extend the game as long as possible so you can ship the most materials out. Also you try to grow/make the cheaper goods (CORN CORN CORN!) since they all count the same number of points when exported.

If you go soley money maker then you want the expensive goods (tabacco), and to end the game quickly as possible while buying up all the end game buildings.

Very fun game with lots of strategy.

 

[iapetus]

I almost bought Ticket to Ride today on my lunch break.

Which Ticket to Ride? IME the Marklin edition is by far the best - the map is infinitely superior to either Europe or US for 3+ players. For 2 players, there's a special version which is 2-player only with a map designed specifically for that. Works pretty well in the one game I've tried.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Which Ticket to Ride? IME the Marklin edition is by far the best - the map is infinitely superior to either Europe or US for 3+ players. For 2 players, there's a special version which is 2-player only with a map designed specifically for that. Works pretty well in the one game I've tried.

I'll have to check for the 2-player version so my wife and I can play.

 

[iapetus]

Basically in the game you try to collect the most points. This can be done by buying buildings, or shipping cargo. There's two extreme ways to play the game, either soley an exporter, or soley a money maker. Of course most people play a combination.

Most people are pussies. I've won games of Puerto Rico where I've only gained two or three shipping victory points. The right combination of big buildings for the win.

The expansion is a must-have as well. You can buy it or it's available for download and you can print it yourself (buy it - the proper board tiles are worth every penny). It features a whole new set of buildings, and introduces a draft phase before the game starts in which the players select which buildings to use. Makes every game unique, because you're playing with different sets of buildings and different building combos are available. My own favourites are the guest house (can hold up to two colonists, who you can move off onto other buildings/plantations at any time) and the library (doubles the effect of each role privilege).

 

[iapetus]

I'll have to check for the 2-player version so my wife and I can play.

If I remember rightly it's an expansion to one of the larger games - probably US.

 

[lastendconductor]

Recently a friend of mine got Twilight Imperium. We've been playing a lot and is really good; the game is really deep, complex and rich, very strategic and highly entertaining.
On the downside, one game can spawn through several days easily.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ti3.html

There's spaceship fights, planetary invasions, technology research, industrial production, commerce, laws that can be voted in a galactic congress a la star wars, diplomatic treaties, different races with their backgrounds and abilities... etc. It's really great, I suggest everyone to try it on if you have the chance.

 

[Ferrio]

Most people are pussies. I've won games of Puerto Rico where I've only gained two or three shipping victory points. The right combination of big buildings for the win.

I go extreme money always if I have the chance (sometimes not possible due to choices by other players).

 

[dextran]

I spent my winter break at my brother's house in Rochester, NY. My mom told me to bring board games so I bought them as xmas gifts. My brother got Ticket to Ride : Märklin edition (he's a Germany buff), and Formula De for my dad. Formula De was great fun since my family loves cars and Formula One. You pick a gear, and then roll the corresponding Die, making sure to land the required times within turn spots. I ended up winning, but I blew my engine just as I crossed the finish line. Good times. It was my first time trying these German Board games and I was definitely hooked.

 

[Tsubaki]

I got to try that on New Years.

It

Is

Awesome.

It's like many many games in one. Setup time takes a while, but all that is forgotten when you start up the game.

 

[Ace 8095]

I enjoy this relativity unknown board game.

 

[chickensoup]

If I remember rightly it's an expansion to one of the larger games - probably US.

Do you mean TTR: Switzerland?
You just need the train cards from either US or Europe. If you've only got the Marklin set and don't want to buy another box, then you can get the 1910 expansion, which contains a complete reprint of the US cards (trains + tickets) in a nicer to hold large size.

 

[NJ Shlice]

 

[chickensoup]

I know that this is old hat, and kind of a duh point, but man is Settlers of Catan a great game! I just started playing it about six months ago. I've played Carcassone, which I like, but not as much. What are some other good GAF recommendations for this style of board game?

The Cities and Knights Expansion to Settlers is excellent if you haven't tried it yet. If you want to give a new game a try, go with Alhambra. It's another good, light introduction to boardgames. TTR would be a must as well.

Be careful with Puerto Rico - it's very good, but it's pure strategy (kind of like multiplayer Chess in a way) and can get quite complex easily. We've got a couple of people in our group who like to take their time over-analysing each move, and it can make the game drag.

 

[jeffy_johnson]

Not sure if this is really a board game but...

 

[Fuzzy]

I haven't played a board game in a very long time.

A friend of mine created a "World Monopoly" where there was another square inside the normal board. He added Airports instead of Railways and if you owned two of them then you could jump from one to the next if you wanted (but only after landing on them). He also split the jail into High and Low security (it was tougher to get out of High security). The Stock Market (a gambling game) was also added as well as joining the Mafia (a Chance card that gave you a discount on building houses/apartments but sometimes they asked for a "favour").

He also created a Deep Space 9 game that was a cross between Monopoly (in the shape of the station) and Risk (the Alpha Quadrant). You would play the game like regular Monopoly but you could make extra money by gambling (Dabo, an evolution of the Stock Market game) and then spend that money on ships in order to conquer the Alpha Quadrant. The game would take a VERY long time to play and the two of us were the only ones that got all the rules.

I wish I had pictures of the boards for each of these in order to share.

 

[CB3]

wtf is up with all these strategy weird ass games

 

[electricpirate]

http://www.cheapass.com/products/boardgames/cag028.html

Not to complicated, but fun "Jump on the leader" strats later in the game. Most of the cheapass games are like that, fun interplayer dynamics. Nice middle ground between party games and hardcore strat games.

 

[Ferrio]

wtf is up with all these strategy weird ass games

Not *weird*, they're good unlike monopoly. Unfortunately not many people play past shit like that to know the difference.

 

[The Suspect Device]

I don't quite remember why, but I loved this game more than anything growing up.
I dug it out the other day but it's missing too many parts to play it now.

 

[electricpirate]

http://www.cheapass.com/products/boardgames/cag028.html

Not to complicated, but fun "Jump on the leader" strats later in the game.

 

[NameGenerated]

.

 

[LazyLoki]

based on what i play when i am getting around to do so with my friends:

+1 Catan
+1 Puerto Rico (in the same "universe" there's also San Juan which focuses more on "in-town" production which is not too bad. only the brown worker-tokens are... strange)
+1000 Twilight Imperium, great game

most of Fantasy Flight's versions of the blizzard games are pretty nice imho (warcraft, starcraft, world of warcraft)

there's also a game based on ken follett's Pillars of Earth which is pretty interesting.

and yet another game would be Dungeoneer, but i think that mostly appeals to fantasy and rpg people.

 

[UnholySpectacle]

STRATEGO BITCHES!

 

[Fritz]

Stratego is awesome. Generally I think less rules more fun. I still love this one:

Settlers. So simple, yet so good

 

[Blackace]

have not played in years, but it is so simple yet soooooo deep

 

[Mr. Lemming]

Just picked this up the other night. Players cooperate against ancient Lovecraftian horrors. So many cards and tokens!

http://boardgamegeek.com/game/15987

 

[Zoramon089]

Lol, I remember this being pretty fun...

 

[Aladuf]

Recently I've been going old-school and playing Scrabble with family/friends. Last night I got my ass whooped in it when I was playing with a couple of friends. Good times though!

 

[crowphoenix]

Stratego is awesome. Generally I think less rules more fun. I still love this one:

Settlers. So simple, yet so good

Agreed. I didn't discover Catan until it went up on XBLA, but man is it good. I haven't had that much fun with a board games since Key to the Kingdom. It's a damn shame that this game seems to have been all but forgotten. Can't even find a decent picture of it.

 

[Nabs]

I'm a big fan of Stratego. I even bought it for PC to play against friends online.

 

[Photon]

Monopoly? GTFO. This thread is for German Boardgames.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Every now and then, I go into phases where I'll play a lot of Go for a week or so.

I'm never going to be good at it :lol

 

[iapetus]

A fine choice. The cooperative nature of the game and the fact that it can be played by pretty much any number of players from one up reminds me a little of Warhammer Quest. The expansions are pretty good, and add a lot to the scope of the game - I've got the first two and plan on picking up the third tomorrow.

Monopoly? GTFO. This thread is for good boardgames.

Fixed. Doesn't have to be German to be good (plenty of the games named already that don't suck aren't German...)

 

[Frank the Great]

Not *weird*, they're good unlike monopoly. Unfortunately not many people play past shit like that to know the difference.

i swear, neogaf has at least one nerd who thinks he's better than everyone else for every object of discussion.

seriously, fucking board games.

 

[Mashing]

I've still got about 20 board games sitting in my closet. All of them are pretty much classics IMO.

 

[tekumseh]

My wife and I have a small group of folks we get together with every couple of weeks for board/card games. We usually play monopoly about every 3-4 months which is really a great for nostalgia's sake. We also (the men) played RISK every Sunday night over the summer. It was really like I was a middle schooler again, as I had a group of friends who played this game every week for literally years.

Our best time, however, is every New Year's Day, playing an Avalon Hill game called Rail Baron, which we've been doing for probably 15 years or so. I love that game so much...

 

[Fowler]

have not played in years, but it is so simple yet soooooo deep

I JUST got this.

Freaking AWESOME game.

Everything you love about Risk without the whole "luck of the dice" thing.

 

[Blackace]

I JUST got this.

Freaking AWESOME game.

Everything you love about Risk without the whole "luck of the dice" thing.

Best thing is the double crossing... I used to play with a group of close friends. Andonce you read the turns outloud and saw the faces of some of the players you knew someone screwed them over somewhere.. :lol :lol