Favorite Board Games?

[GreatWolf]

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.

Ah, the train scenario.  I used to sit in the basement, playing that against myself....  Yeah, I guess I did have too much time on my hands.

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.

Now that sounds like a challenge.

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.

I'd be curious to hear about it.  If I bought any Diceland, the Ogre set would be on the list.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[Umberhulk]

GreatWolf wrote:
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.

You should try getting a copy of MetaGaming's Ice War.  Its like Ogre/GEV, set in the same setting, very well balanced, but the outcomes of the game vary more.  My biggest criticism of GEV is that all the scenarios ended up being Pyhrric victories.

[ScottM]

I like a number of games... heck, Shannon Appelcline over on RPG.net could probably sell me a bridge with her writeups.

Favorites, particularly at this moment:
Puerto Rico
Through the Desert
Tigris and Euphrates
Carcassonne (Hunters and Gatherers is slightly better than the base)
Domaine
Web of Power
La Citta
Gillotine
Empire Builder is good (but takes too much time)
Settlers of Catan is still good, but usually used just long enough to draw new people in.
I'd like to play more Victory, particularly fewer unit variations.
I want to like El Grande; I need to drag it out and expose this group to it.
Age of Renaissance, if only I had more time. History of the World, with the same wish.

I hate to agree, but yeah, I'm not fond of the Eagle game I've got and the horror stories on most other games keep me away.  It's too bad-- they're beautiful, though they blow it in the strangest places.  (Like: elegant horse rider units, but only supplying horses enough for 1/4 of the riders... intentionally).

(Ergh: I keep adding to the list.  I'll stop, but I love more games than these...)

[rafial]

You should try getting a copy of MetaGaming's Ice War.

Ice War!  Ah the memories!  A friend and I in grade school pooled lunch money to buy microgames, and Ice War was the first one we ever bought.  We played it to death.

I still have it in storage.  I'll have to dig it out and have another go at sneaking the Command Sled down the map before the orbital lasers get it.

Oh, and Orbital Lasers reminds me of the beer and pretzels fun that is MBs Fortress America.  The coolest Hovertank miniatures, and these days if you play it you can pretend to be the Shrub and shake your fist at all those "furrin' evildoers!"  After all, it's got Saddam on the cover.

[quozl]

I like a number of games... heck, Shannon Appelcline over on RPG.net could probably sell me a bridge with her writeups.

Actually, they are his writeups.

[Jonathan Walton]

In my house, where the game snobs reign, we only play games that are masterpieces of design and efficiency: Diplomacy and Wei Qi (Go), mostly.  Sometimes you can also catch me playing Settlers of Cataanor "Drunken Pirate" Risk (which I have to post the rules for sometime).  If card games count, I mostly play Mao and Big Two ("Da Er" for my fellow Sinophiles), though I'm usually up for Spades as well, as long as we're counting points.  And then there's my near obsession with Ma Jiang.  What a game!  Yes, most of the games I play come from China.  What of it?

[quozl]

"Drunken Pirate" Risk

Sounds like Pirate's Cove to me.

[GreatWolf]

Go rocks.  I wish that I could get more people to play it with me.  I'm still very much a beginner at it.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

[Jonathan Walton]

Sounds like Pirate's Cove to me.

Does Pirate's Cove involve cheap rum?

[Christopher Kubasik]

Diplomacy.

I can't imagine really playing anything else anymore.

I know there are a lot of other great games out there right now... But at the thought of playing a boardgame, all other thoughts are shunted aside by sitting around that map o' intense conflict.

Christopher

[quozl]

Sounds like Pirate's Cove to me.

Does Pirate's Cove involve cheap rum?

In order for it to be enjoyable, yes.

[quozl]

Diplomacy.

Yes, my favorite game.  Do you play PBEM or at http://www.dipbounced.com/ ?

[ethan_greer]

Cool thread.  Here's my list:

Sorry
Parcheesi
Settlers of Catan
Spree! (best of the Cheapass line, a frickin' blast)
Can't Stop
Monopoly
Get Out

If traditional card games are allowed:
Poker (Stud and variations, Draw and variations, Hold 'em and variations)
Give Me the Brain
Hearts (Black Lady, shoot the moon)
Euchre (no ace-no-face, no farmer's hand, no partner's best, screw the dealer)

I would rather bite off my own penis than play Diplomacy.

[Jonathan Walton]

It's true.

Diplomacy is just the greatest board game ever invented, period.

If you can find a used/new copy of Colonial Diplomacy, it's also very nice and good when you want a break from the standard European conflicts.  It's fun to be China, Japan, or French Indochina every now and again, but nothing beats the original for elegance and sheer coolness.

Someday I'll also have to write a thread that analyzes Diplomacy games using GNS.  It would be really fun.  Gamist players love the challenge, Simulationist players love watching the conflict unfold and experiencing the thrill of shifting alliances, and Narrativist players basically address the premise "What relationships are you willing to destroy for ultimate power and victory?  Who can you trust?"  I mean, it's basically a roleplaying game with a board.

[Asrogoth]

Wow... I feel outta my arena here.

I have heard of only about 90% of the games listed so far (Monopoly, etc).

I'm a big fan of Scrabble.  It is my all-time favorite.  Although, maybe you don't consider it a board game????


As for cards:  Hearts and Spades are my favs.

-Asrogoth