£499?
£499 has to be a typo surely? £49.99 sounds more reasonable, albeit still slightly overpriced for a few bits of plastic?
Hipsters ahoy! Top Ten BOARD games for festive family fun
There’s nothing cooler than board games at the moment, whether they are being referenced by the Marsh family in South Park, or popularised by one of the pop-up gaming bars in East London. Board games are now selling in droves. Often produced by independent companies, they can be intellectually rigorous and visually stunning. …
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Tuesday 23rd December 2014 01:11 GMT Graham Marsden
@Duffy Moon - Re: £499?
> £30-40 for a few bits of cardboard and plastic
Ah, thus speaks someone who is completely clueless about game design and production.
Games like these are very often several years in the making, they have been designed, Alpha Tested, redesigned, repeatedly Beta Tested, blind play-tested etc long before they even get to the production phase.
Then you need to get the artwork done for the box, board, cards etc, rulebooks written and checked and that's all before you get into actual production of these elements.
Of course if you're going for your own custom plastic playing pieces instead of generic wooden cubes or whatever, you've got a load of outlay for injection moulding.
And even once you've done all that, you're still taking a big financial risk, for every Settlers of Catan, there's a dozen other games that just didn't make it for whatever reason and you need to cover that financial outlay somewhere along the line otherwise you'll just be another game production company that went bust.
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Monday 22nd December 2014 17:07 GMT I ain't Spartacus
Re: Oooooh... pretty!
If he likes that, try him on Braggart. Utterly stupid game, but funny. Even competitive people tend to play it more for laughs than points. Although I think it really needs at least 4 players. And the game aspect seems to work properly too, even when you do play for points.
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Sunday 21st December 2014 13:47 GMT wowfood
Hmm
How about some other suggestions via el reg users themselves?
Personally I'd probably recommend Descent Journeys in the dark. Many hours wasted playing that game, and much hatred towards the game master at the end. It's pretty much the same as the star wars game on page 3 by the look of it.
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Monday 22nd December 2014 11:10 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Hmm
Dune was a fantastic game (as were most from Avalon Hill), but took too long to play with 5 and takes new players a while to learn it especially if they are not familiar with the book. It's also out of print.
Another old and simple card game is Nuclear War - used as a filler between games. Each player plays a country - last person with a living population wins.
Great modern games I play are Puerto Rico, Caverna, PowerGrid, Agricola, Le Harve, Terra Mystica, Ora et Labora, Steam, Princes of Venice. A good introductory card game is Dominion, the new filler. Simpler games Ticket to Ride, Fury of Dracula and Settlers.
See boardgamegeek.com for full details on all the games including pictures of the game, arguments about rules, how to play videos etc.
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Tuesday 23rd December 2014 01:14 GMT Graham Marsden
Re: Hmm
Dune (or, if you can't get the original, buy Rex which is the same game, but with the serial numbers filed off and a new paint job and log book) is great, but it's a "play for the whole of an afternoon and then some" more often than not game.
To your "simpler" (ie good for family play) list I'd add Discworld: Ankh Morpork, Alien Frontiers, Stone Age and Alhambra to name a few more.
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Tuesday 23rd December 2014 07:41 GMT Thomas 4
Re: Hmm
If you're after a game with a more adult theme to it and can be played at a table in a pub with no fuss, then look into Cards Against Humanity. As the website itself describes it, "an awful game for awful people".
Just don't come running to me if/when you get barred and/or lynched. >.>
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Tuesday 23rd December 2014 12:52 GMT monkeyfish
Re: Our set
I've played a lot of the Ticket to Ride games (and expansions). I'd say Europe with Europa 1912 expansion is the best for 3+ players. It can be a bit dull with 2, but the Switzerland map is good for 2-3 (and can be had on the back of India now, which it wasn't when I bought it). Africa, Asia, Nordic, and the other misc addons are ok*, but don't add that much over those 2.
* Please note that I don't own all of these, just happen to know a lot of people who have bought various expansions.
I also enjoy the Small World series by the same publishers, even my wife (who is not normally into fantasy games) will play it!
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Wednesday 24th December 2014 14:48 GMT Tom 13
Re: Please note that I don't own all of these
Amateur!
We had all the boards and card sets consolidated into one box before they release the Africa and Asia expansions. Now we need a bigger box. Same for PowerGrid.
I'm surprised none of the Rails (or as we call the game "Crayons") made the list. The original is British Rails making it highly appropriate for El Reg. Although I find Eurorails plays better. Mechanic is you deliver goods from one city to another with your train. You draw your train track on the board with a crayon paying the appropriate costs. You can also upgrade your trains. There's a Martian equivalent from another company and you may be able to find a Fantasy version on e-Bay or similar sites.
Also, if you like Stone Age, try Agricola.
Some other random thoughts:
- Through the Ages
- Smallworld
- Race for the Galaxy
- Russian Railroads
- Seven Wonders
If you're into more complicated games
- Call of Cthulhu
- Thurn and Taxis
- Merchants of Venus (old version not the new one even though you'll have to buy them as a set)
If you're into truly vicious backstabbing games:
- Bootlegger
- Caylus
If you're into mindless fun
- Any Munchkin game
- Any Fluxx game
If you're into insanely long games
- Titan (might not be published any more)
- War in the Pacific
And a book type game with where that is just plain luck:
- Tales of the Arabian Nights
We've also recently tried a game called Clash of Cultures, that looks promising but needs some rules clarifications.
I recommend the Seafarers expansion for Catan, but not Knights and Cities, which turns it into a war gamers game instead of an economic competition game.
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Sunday 21st December 2014 17:06 GMT steamrunner
Escape from...
My favourite board game as a kid (and first acquired after becoming entangled with the copy owned by the kid over the road) was "Escape from Colditz". I still have it, and it's had a high-profile new lease of life since my own kids discovered it (particularly my youngest) — it's now top of the list when cracking something open for the table top. I still love it.
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Monday 22nd December 2014 13:07 GMT IsJustabloke
Re: Escape from...
That's often the problem... I love board games and was a huge fan of the avalon bookcase games but they tend to be long and complex and people are less willing to invest an evening (or two) for a board game.... that said I recently discovered several friends willing to (eager even) to come and play with my Scalextric set so perhaps games aren't such a big leap... I shall broach the subject over Christmas dinner :)
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Tuesday 23rd December 2014 01:18 GMT Graham Marsden
@I ain't Spartacus - Re: Escape from...
The main problems with Escape from Colditz are 1) if you're playing it with someone being the Germans, they get to listen in to all your plans which is hardly realistic and 2) it's possible for you to spend ages assembling the bits for your escape and then someone go for a "Do or Die" (I think that's what it was called) escape attempt, succeed and all your hard work is wasted.
Ok, it may be "realistic" as regards what actually happened, but it's not necessarily always good fun.
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Sunday 21st December 2014 17:35 GMT Nick Ryan
Hunters and Gatherers?
Not sure about the inclusion of Hunters and Gatherers as while it's a fair game it's the one that I've seen so many times abandoned or thrown into charity shops and even my copy has been barely touched and is almost pristine. It's not a patch on the main Carcasonne game and has a few flaws that once you've sussed the tactics tend to ruin the game.
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Sunday 21st December 2014 22:48 GMT GrumpyWorld
Castles of Burgundy
excellent 2-4 player for under £20
The mix of strategy and luck makes it probably the best 2 player game I know; we have rattled up more than 200 games in the last 12 months (last years Xmas pressie).
good review here: http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/blog/post/review-castles-burgundy/
Carcasonne (original) is very good too, but we hold two tiles in hand (pick 2 to start with, play one, pick another) to increase the strategy and reduce the luck.
Big fan of Acquire too but is probably out of print.
Don't touch 'All creatures' 2-player mini-game offshoot of Agricola, it is probably the most boring game ever made. (Yes, even worse than Agricola!)
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Wednesday 24th December 2014 14:51 GMT Tom 13
Re: Still does not get close to some of the classics
Axis and Allies? You can't be serious. That game is seriously flawed. Only the PC version is flawed enough that anyone can win against the computer. If you play against a person, it's the 'Merkins all the way and Germany doesn't have a chance.
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Sunday 21st December 2014 23:04 GMT LINCARD1000
RoboRally
An oldie but a goodie. Relatively simple concept but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Not sure if it's still available or not but if so well worth grabbing.
If you're not already familiar with it, you have a number of boards that you connect up that contain multiple paths to get to the other side of each board, with lots of traps and conveyor belts etc . Each turn the players have a number of directional movement cards they can program into their robots to move them along in addition to the movement of the conveyor belts to take into account. The hilarity ensues as players accidentally (or more often deliberately) push others onto different squares as the 'pre-programmed' movements still take effect.
An awesome way to waste a few hours, and c'mon... card-programmed robots? Awesome!
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Tuesday 23rd December 2014 01:20 GMT Graham Marsden
@LINCARD1000 - Re: RoboRally
RoboRally suffers from the problem that if someone's good at programing, they can generally get streets ahead of everyone and have virtually won the game whilst others have barely got out of their starting positions because they keep falling into holes or getting zapped by lasers etc.
It works if everyone is on a similar level of skill, but if not it can be very frustrating for those who get stuck at the start.
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Thursday 25th December 2014 13:54 GMT PassingStrange
Re: @LINCARD1000 - RoboRally
The huge temptation with Roborally is to get out lots of boards and then string out a massive course across them all, tucking the checkpoints into fiendishly-hard-to-reach places to boot. Whereas to my mind the BEST games tend to take place when all the checkpoints are easy to get to and the route weaves back and forth across the middle of a mere one or two, fairly-easy-to-navigate boards. That way any lead player is forever having to negotiate his or her way past the rest of the field, who also get the chance to influence the outcome. Oh - and ditch the rule about number of lives; having your robot destroyed is quite enough penalty, and no social game needs a player elimination rule unless it's vital to the game.
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Monday 22nd December 2014 06:12 GMT Robert Helpmann??
Re: a board game isn't just for Christmas
Jenga? I understand it's used as a drinking game in some locales, so yes, that's good. I prefer Talisman* because it is quick and easy to learn, provides lots of entertainment (especially when characters get turned into toads!), and can be abandoned mid-game for use in endless who-would-have-won conversations later.
* The actual board game. The computerized version is a nice effort but just isn't the same thing.
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Monday 22nd December 2014 20:03 GMT John Gamble
Re: a board game isn't just for Christmas
"The best Go but if you insist Chess"
Chess has been improved (really), so it may deserve better than second place, but your mileage may vary of course.
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Thursday 25th December 2014 14:20 GMT PassingStrange
Re: a board game isn't just for Christmas
Depends why you play games. There's nothing at all wrong with Go or Chess if you play games for the intellectual challenge above all, but if you want a pleasant social gathering with a group of friends of mixed backgrounds and tastes, where the games aren't necessarily trivial but the company and the personal interactions are also a huge part of the pleasure, neither Go nor chess is going to fit the bill very well. Whereas there are a huge number of very good, mostly commercial games out there that would - but equally that most people have never even heard of (and, sadly, are unlikely to even come across, precisely because of the "board games are just for Christmas with the kids" idea that still seems so prevalent).
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Monday 22nd December 2014 07:39 GMT Ben Bonsall
Full Carcassonne - or small world
The spinoffs- hunters and gatherers and ark of the covenant are not a patch of the full game... Particularly not with a full set of expansions (well, not catapult or wheel of fortune... too random).
A full set has over 200 tiles and takes several hours, there's a lot of politics around who you attack with your towers, who you can talk into making a different move that advantages you...
Small world with the expansion (also available on android) is an idea starter game (and if you get it on a tablet, an idea pub/waiting for train/on train/pub again waiting for people type game), it takes about 5 minutes to learn the rules (there are only really 3...), and a total beginner can get lucky with a race and do surprisingly well and want to keep playing, even if they drop back to not doing so well in the next few games...
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Monday 22nd December 2014 10:59 GMT GrizzlyCoder
Re: Can anyone recommend a starter gamer for 9yr old?
If you can get it, try Flibbix. You build the track then play using cards so every game is different. Unfortunately you might not get it before Christmas if you are in the UK as I had to order mine from the US. I haven't managed to play it yet (no visits from grandkids/neices/nephews yet) but it has great potential! Also you can customise it to suit different ages with special 'DIY' cards and you are encouraged to vary the rules to suit (in fact you write the rules before you start as well as build the board) so if you don't like a rule you can change (or even not use) it.
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Monday 22nd December 2014 11:10 GMT Crabro
Re: Can anyone recommend a starter gamer for 9yr old?
All of these questions, and many more, can be answered by browsing www.boardgamegeek.com
It has a database of over 74000 games, and a huge knowledgebase of information There are forums for every game, strategies, photos galore, a marketplace and a thriving community. There are plenty of good games to be had for £20 or less, so don't think the above examples are exhaustive.
Health warning: a high percentage of board gamers are in the IT industry so visit the site at your own risk...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
