Favorite Board Games?

[Christopher Weeks]

I've noticed over the eight months that I've been here that a bunch of people play board games.  Seth's Gipf query made me think of this more concretely.

What board games to Forgemaniacs like?

I think that Knizia's Euphrat & Tigris is the best board game ever made.  I also like: Traders of Genoa, Cosmic Encounter, Puerto Rico, Illuminati, The Settlers of Catan games (except Sternenfahrer), Wyatt Earp, The Carcassonne games, Balloon Cup, History of the World, Um Reifenbreit, Ursuppe, Stephenson's Rocket, Robo Rally, Trias, Aladdin's Dragons, Modern Art, Medici, Roads and Boats, Vernissage...

OK, I'll stop now.

Chris

[xiombarg]

Too many to list here. But check this out:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/xiombarg/369437.html

[GreatWolf]

Boardgame Geek is down right now.  Otherwise I'd post a link to my game collection.

Personally, I'll play just about anything by Reiner Knizia.  His games tend to fit my one of my criteria for a good game:  any game where I wish that I had *just one more action*.  I am familiar with the criticisms that his games are too abstract, but I'm willing to accept that.  In general, I find his games to be excellent primers in good game design, which is something that can carry over into RPG design as well.

As I mentioned in another thread, I've also been enjoying the GIPF games a great deal.  This is primarily because of the elegance of system and the subtle trade-offs that the games require.  Again, excellent studies in game design, and quite clever to boot.  I am particularly proud of the fact that I managed to get my hands on Tamsk, which is currently out of print.  (For those of you who don't know, in this game your playing pieces are 3-minute hourglasses that are flipped each time that you move.  Run out of time on an hourglass and you can't move it anymore....)

The current games that are getting a lot of play for me recently:

Puerto Rico
Tigris & Euphrates
Yinsh
Zertz
Dvonn
Tamsk
Clans
Carcassonne:  The Castle

BTW, I play Tigris online at //www.boardgamegeek.com and Zertz on Richard's PBeM Server.  I am GreatWolf on both servers.  Drop me a challenge!

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[Umberhulk]

I think Formula De is one of the best built games ever and I love playing it.  Who knew that race car driving was risk - resource management?

X-Bugs has me totally addicted, too.

[rafial]

Me, I've been enjoying the German Game renaissance, but I'm still fond of crunchy old American style strategy and tactics as well.

If I had to pick a few all time favorites:

SJGs Ogre/GEV (haven't check out the new Ogre minatures line though)
MBs Shogun (now Samurai Swords) -- one of the best mixes of tactics and diplomacy I've played
Junta  -- el Presidente for life is a very short term of office
Starship Command -- beer and pretzels starship combat card game -- to bad it didn't do well
2038 -- Swap spaceships in for trains, and you've hooked me.
Star Fleet Battles -- although I doubt I'll ever have the time to play it again
GWs Warrior Knight -- tons of fiddly bits and fun politics
Twilight Imperium -- Like Warrior Knights in space -- looking forward to the new edition

recently I've become highly addicted to Diceland.  The Diceland Space sets are the best.

[GreatWolf]

I actually prefer GEV to Ogre.  Maybe I'm missing something, but Ogre seemed to rely too much on dice rolling on tread attacks.  I mean, you can blow off all the guns, but if it can still run over the command post, who cares?  Playing with "conventional" units, though, is a lot of fun, and I even enjoy scenarios that include Ogre vs. Ogre combat.

And Ralph Mazza (Valamir) introduced our gaming group to Junta a few weeks back.  I really enjoyed that game, although, admittedly, the fact that I tromped everyone else may have contributed....  ;-)

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[quozl]

Lots of boardgames in my BGG profile:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewusername.php3?username=quozl

[GreatWolf]

Ah, the Geek is back up!

My collection

Not much, I know, but I try to buy games that I *know* that I'll like....

Plus I still add to this list when I remember stuff that I have.  :-D

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[quozl]

My collection

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

Nice list!  But why haven't you rated Chess, Go, Othello, and Carcassonne?

[GreatWolf]

Because I'm dumb.  :-)

<Seth wanders off to rate some games>

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[Valamir]

Favorite Boardgames...hmmm, I have about a zillion.

I'm a big fan of Vinci.  A near perfect stripped down merger of AH's Civilization and History of the World (both also near the top of my list).

I love Brittania.  There should be a Brittania/Maharaja game for every geographical region in the world.

I wanted very badly to love the new Eagle Games games, but by and large they're only 60-80% playtested and thus full of holes.

Diplomacy is of course an all time classic.

I love the old Source of the Nile game, although its weakness is that it really is a bunch of people playing solo with little interaction

Columbia Games Waterloo is probably the single best (and most accessible) teaching tool on the operational challenges of that battle you're likely to find.

And of couse, Parker Brother's Bonkers with its funny twisted track that sends you backwards to go forward and forward to go back; is fun, nice, and never the same game twice.

[Ron Edwards]

Get Out from Cheapass Games.

Best,
Ron

[rafial]

I actually prefer GEV to Ogre.

I totally concur.  The basic Ogre vs. Swarm scenario never caught my fancy, but I still get a shiver when I think of a phalanx of GEVs snarling through the grasslands on their way to take out that train.

The Iron Mountain scenario from the Ogre Book did however deliver the nail biting terror an Ogre on a suicide mission should imply.  A Mark III/B chases a convoy up a winding mountain pass.

And I have the Ogre set for Diceland, but we haven't tried it out yet.  I've heard several people say that it actually makes the original Ogre scenario worth playing.

[GreatWolf]

Get Out from Cheapass Games.

Best,
Ron

Really?  That's been about the only Cheapass game that I haven't liked.  To be fair to the game, though, I don't like Monopoly, and Get Out is essentially Monopoly.

Great premise, though.  :-)

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[rafial]

Go

As if I needed more things to distract me.

How about a Forge room on KGS?

[edit: in answer to my own madness, I just created "The Forge" in New Rooms on KGS]