NG.com board game thread

Lagduf said:

You could always try Apples to Apples.

It's a fun little party game, especially when everyone is drinking. It's just a word association/trying to guess what your friends are thinking type of game.

There are a lot of simple games out there, but I don't really know of a lot of quirky stuff, since i'm a lame-o and like tried and true stuff like WW2 and Railroading.

Click to expand...

As for simple games, Don't Feed the Kitty is probably the best I have played. It can be found most anywhere for under $10 and is a game that anyone can play and enjoy.

Gameoz said:

While I own a lot of board games, mainly common games, I use to buy a lot of strategy board games from hobby stores. I will check to see if I still have any of them and list some names if I do.

Click to expand...

Thats cool, i'd be interested to see what you've got.

Not the type of games you all are talking about but I thought this thread could use a little gay. This is the last game I purchased. It is suppose to be a Super Mario Jenga type game. I have yet to figure it out.

http://www.ncsxshop.com/cgi-bin/shop/epc-nsmbb2.html

Click to expand...

Ha, that actually looks sorta cool

The rules are in Japanese I imagine? If so I wonder if someone has translated them.

Looks worth owning for translucent neon mario figures

Gameoz said:

As for simple games, Don't Feed the Kitty is probably the best I have played. It can be found most anywhere for under $10 and is a game that anyone can play and enjoy.

Click to expand...

I found a game called Feed the Kitty, but I haven't found Don't Feed the Kitty online. Is this the same game?

Now that I think of it I hear Pass the Pigs is fun. You basically have these two pig miniatures, and roll them like dice and try to get them to land in certain positions. Certain positions apparently yield more points then others.

Here is a description of the game:

BGG said:

"The object is to be the first to score 100 points using "pigs" as dice. On your turn, you throw the pigs and hope they end up in a scoring position such as a "snouter", "trotter" or "leaning jowler" (ranging in value from 1 to 60 points); if they do, you decide whether to "cash" the points (pass the pigs to the next player) or to roll again. If you roll a non-scorer ("pig out" --one pig on the right flank, the other on the left flank; a fairly frequent result), you lose any as-yet-uncashed points. If you throw an "oinker" (both pigs touch each other), you lose your entire accumulated score. If you throw a "piggyback" (one pig on top of the other), you're altogether eliminated!"

Click to expand...

I might get this.

I'm trying to add some games to my collection that are more "accessible" to casual boardgamers.

Lagduf said:

I found a game called Feed the Kitty, but I haven't found Don't Feed the Kitty online. Is this the same game?

Now that I think of it I hear Pass the Pigs is fun. You basically have these two pig miniatures, and roll them like dice and try to get them to land in certain positions. Certain positions apparently yield more points then others.

Here is a description of the game:



I might get this.

I'm trying to add some games to my collection that are more "accessible" to casual boardgamers.

Click to expand...

Sorry, it is Feed the Kitty and it is the best quick "accessible" game I have played. Up to five people can play and the game moves quick and is a blast to play. Even when you are out, you can be brought back to life, which keeps everyone interested. (I don't think I have had a game last more than five mins.) It comes with wooden mice, dice and a bowl. Pretty great quality for the price.

Pass the Pigs is fantastic as well. The only problem is, until you learn what points are gained from what pig position, the game can drag a little. (Since you have to look at a reference chart) However, once you know the points for positions, it is a great party game.

The import mario game is fun but I am unclear on the rules. It wobbles as you place Mario Characters on it and so that part is pretty simple. However, it also comes with a dice and I have no idea what it is used for.

Eric said:

If they were true communists then they should know that all property belongs to the bank.

.

Click to expand...

Well if they were marxists, then they would kill the banker and split up all the proprety.... Of course there would be no hotels, just houses.... Hotels would only be used when all the houses ran out... And would have to be shared...

But I would think that Anarchists would make things more interesting since they don't belive in propriety or money.

My friends and I used to love playing Axis & Allies (MB gamemaster edition). We started playing at age 11-12, and then realized --many years after we stopped playing-- that we were basically playing it wrong (we never gave ourselves income --you were stuck with what money you got at the beginning, and what money you got for conquering other territories... it made no sense now that I think about it). Meh, it was still fun.

I would love to play Axis & Allies again the right way. The thing took like 30 minutes to set up, though...

I'm surprised you didn't get the original Civilization board game by Avalon Hill --that was the game that Sid Meier based his superb series on (never played it myself), the version you have is like the recent version of the Producers: a movie based on a musical about a movie.

Thin Ice / Crossfire > your list.

Intense!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwn1NTK-50&mode=related&search=

Bobak said:

My friends and I used to love playing Axis & Allies (MB gamemaster edition). We started playing at age 11-12, and then realized --many years after we stopped playing-- that we were basically playing it wrong (we never gave ourselves income --you were stuck with what money you got at the beginning, and what money you got for conquering other territories... it made no sense now that I think about it). Meh, it was still fun.

I would love to play Axis & Allies again the right way. The thing took like 30 minutes to set up, though...

I'm surprised you didn't get the original Civilization board game by Avalon Hill --that was the game that Sid Meier based his superb series on (never played it myself), the version you have is like the recent version of the Producers: a movie based on a musical about a movie.

Click to expand...

A new edition of Axis and Allies came out a few years back, it's still near identical to the old MB edition, it just features a few slight tweaks and a more modern looking map.

Axis and Allies was actually the boardgame that got me interested in seeing what else was out there. My friend and I bought it in 2004 on a whim, we saw it at a local book/music/video game store and figured why the hell not - we were both history majors so we figure we'd enjoy it. And we did have a blast playing it. Your right that the setup time is long, which is mostly annoying since the setup is so specific as to where each piece goes. Set-up time is one aspect of board games that generally doesn't annoy me, but Axis and Allies gets close. It's worth setting up though.

I actually came to acquire SM's Civilization in a similar manner. I think it was 2005 or so and my friends were bored, so we went to the same local vide game/electronic/book store and saw SM's Civilization. So we picked that up. We enjoyed playing it, but the game is far from perfect.

I really didn't get into the board gaming "scene" until late 2005/early 2006 and most of my collection was started in the Summer of 2006.

I'd love to play Avalon Hills Civilization. I wish someone would pick up the license to reprint it, but since Hasbro now owns Avalon Hill and all it's properties I doubt we'll see a reissue unless some company can pay the cash to Hasbro for the license to reprint it. It's almost a miracle that someone picked up the license for Avalon Hill's Advanced Squad Leader series, a game which is most definitely outside of Hasbro's normal interests (of course it helped that Curt Schilling was on board...).

I thought Avalon Hill's Civilization was fetching high dollars these days, but I haven't actually looked into purchasing it. Some of Avalon Hill's other titles sell for/have sold for absurd prices these days, like their Hannibal game.

I thought Neo-Geo collectors were bad, but board gamers are crazy too.

Pretty barebones collection here.

Monopoly
Scrabble
Clue
Battleship
Risk
Stratego
Yahtzee
Atmosfear

...I see that there's an Avalon Hill Civilization over at Amazon, for $110 though.

HEROQUEST FTW.

I had a couple of expansions for it too. I think it's in the attic somewheres, but I used to have a blast playing it. This was years ago though, I wonder if it was ever reprinted?

Lagduf said:

I'd like to go to a board game convention or maybe even hit up a gaming store that isnt full of magic/warhammer/ccgs/clix minis sometime.

Click to expand...

We have a convention once a year in Pittsburgh, it's supposed to be fairly good. I've never been but it's run by a group of gamers that hold a once a month board game meet (of about 60-70 people) that I've been to several times.

Isn't BGG con down in Texas somewhere? Have you played Twilight Struggle?

Lashujin said:

We have a convention once a year in Pittsburgh, it's supposed to be fairly good. I've never been but it's run by a group of gamers that hold a once a month board game meet (of about 60-70 people) that I've been to several times.

Isn't BGG con down in Texas somewhere? Have you played Twilight Struggle?

Click to expand...

I have not played Twilight Struggle, but I would like to. GMT has several games, including TS, that i'd like to play or just outright own. My wish/want list on BGG is huge, sadly. I really like the idea of TS though. I actually don't own any card driven games at the moment.

I haven't even played any of Richard Borg's Command and Colors Games (Memoir '44, Battle Cry, C & C Ancients, Battlelore).

So many games to play

GD said:

HEROQUEST FTW.

I had a couple of expansions for it too. I think it's in the attic somewheres, but I used to have a blast playing it. This was years ago though, I wonder if it was ever reprinted?

Click to expand...

I played Heroquest with my friend many times when we were 12-14. He didn't own any of the expansions though, and it has only been recently that I found out there were expansions!

I don't think it's been reprinted ever, but Fantasy Flight Games Descent is a dungeon crawl in vein of that game (I own it + both expansions). There are actually quite a few new Dungeon Crawling board games out there at the moment, but Descent is the only one i've played.

Bump.


Some guys brought a card game to work (Munchkin, some sort of Magic lite). I'm just not into anything resembling Magic (because I prefer board games).

I wonder what would be a good choice for the hour lunch break? Any of you have suggestions?

BTW, lagduf if you're reading, I checked out the new version of A&A online over at boardgeek and --wow-- those Miniatures series of games have magnificent pieces that I wished were in my version back in the day. I'm kind of tempted to try the new Axis & Allies Miniatures series with the ground and new naval series.

Lagduf said:

From what I understand the Risk 2210 edition IS the best version of Risk available. There is an overall turn limit, which prevents the game from dragging on endlessly, plus some new mechanics like cards and commanders make for more strategic and tactical options then just massing troops and rolling dice.

Click to expand...

Shit, that game was an INSTITUTION around here. We made our own cards and terrains and had a blast. Still play from time to time. Holing up on Australia with 4 Space Stations FTW.

Bump. If you thought Neo shit was expensive, check this out.

HeroQuest Expansion

It's at $255 at the moment, and it's only a small expansion. I know I had this back in the 90's, now I'm wondering what the hell I did with it.

Bobak said:

Bump.


Some guys brought a card game to work (Munchkin, some sort of Magic lite). I'm just not into anything resembling Magic (because I prefer board games).

I wonder what would be a good choice for the hour lunch break? Any of you have suggestions?

BTW, lagduf if you're reading, I checked out the new version of A&A online over at boardgeek and --wow-- those Miniatures series of games have magnificent pieces that I wished were in my version back in the day. I'm kind of tempted to try the new Axis & Allies Miniatures series with the ground and new naval series.

Click to expand...

Munchkin is widely regarded among the boardgame elitists to be garbage. I think that is an unfair assessment, as the game actually isn't that bad (it can be too long for what it is) and it actually is not really similar to Magic: The Gathering (except maybe thematically?). Munchkin is essentially a tounge in cheek type spoof of D&D and traditional fantasy/dungeon crawling type games. The game is essentially a spoof of a Dungeon crawl. You get a character (via a card i believe) and then you get items and fight monsters, etc. I think first to reach level "10" wins. It's really a giant spoof and the cards and descriptions of the items are quite funny if you're a geek enough to get the references or cliches in the fantasy genre that the cards seek to make fun of. The game is made by Steve Jackson Games, who put out the game OGRE and then GEV many years ago. I figured you might be familiar with that, not sure though.

If you like abstract strategy games (like chess) you might want to look into getting Hive or Blokus (or maybe Travel Blokus which is a 2 player version) these can be played on a lunch hour I believe.

You might want to try Nexus Ops, but that might run over an hour.

On that same note if you like Chess, you should pick up a very awesome Chess variant called Proteus, which is put out by Steve Jackson games. Since proteus only uses half as many pieces as does a normal game it might be playable on a lunch hour if you aren't prone to suffering from the dreaded condition known as analysis paralysis.

You might want to check out these geek lists for games that play well in an hour or less (one is about 2 player, hour or less):

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/14820
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/5672

You might like Battle Line.

I have a feeling a lot of the short 2 player games are going to be card based though.

Something on there might peek your interest. I've actually been looking for some shorter 2 player games, but by shorter i'm looking for games that can be played in 1.5-2.5 hours.

I really dig the Axis and Allies Miniatures (land minis is what i play) but they are "collectible" just like Magic cards are and any other CCG. So it can be a money pit just buying random boosters.

If you're looking for a wargame with nice bits you could try, say Memoir '44 (or Battlelore if you prefer a fantasy theme) or Tide of Iron (a bit heavier rules wise).

I basically just surf Boardgamegeek.com when i'm bored and read about different board games. It really is a great site, even if it is lacking in more colorful members like we have here. 2007 was actually the first year in which one of the Admins banned someone! LOLZ. It was quite the drama over at BGG. Somehow I think a lot of people on that site would be shocked if they ever stumbled over onto this wonderful site.

GD said:

Bump. If you thought Neo shit was expensive, check this out.

HeroQuest Expansion

It's at $255 at the moment, and it's only a small expansion. I know I had this back in the 90's, now I'm wondering what the hell I did with it.

Click to expand...

I'm aware of some rare boardgames that fetch prices similar to some NGH carts ($300-500 range). Collectors are insane!

sweet: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5948

more sweet: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5947

weird: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15340

I played a few games of settlers of catan for the first time last week. The game is simply awesome.

wizkid007 said:

I played a few games of settlers of catan for the first time last week. The game is simply awesome.

Click to expand...

Yep thats a pretty solid little game. It's a nice one to use to show people that there are things besides monopoly, scrabble, etc. Settlers is available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points and it has online play. I think it's just called "Catan" on XBL.

Anybody else have the Ungame? It's great because it's non-threatening and non-competitive. The game never ends because no one can win. You just roll a dice and draw a "Tell it like it is" card and share your feelings - like who you'd like to be in a parade! No one else is supposed to talk while it's your turn. And sometimes, like if you worried this week, you get sent to Worry Woods. But don't be scared because you'll only be there one turn.

The box says "senior citizens love Ungame" on the back. And they seem to enjoy it. But I was playing with my grandmother the other day and she kept saying the game is stupid. I think it's nice to share your feelings. It leads to increased communication and understanding.

Lagduf said:

Yep thats a pretty solid little game. It's a nice one to use to show people that there are things besides monopoly, scrabble, etc. Settlers is available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points and it has online play. I think it's just called "Catan" on XBL.

Click to expand...

Im buying a 360 sometime this month. Or as soon as I can get my hands on a falcon chipset that is. Ill be getting a live account so if you have it, id like to play a few games.

Also I played it with the expansion and ports. Great game all around.

Alright kernow and co. i've acquired some new toys since last posting and I thought i'd talk about them because i'm bored. I apologize for spelling and grammar as this was hastily typed. If anyone wants me to elaborate on a game, i'll revise an entry (or post a link to a decent review) and try to be more articulate.

• Arkham Horror - Ah Arkham Horror, a game of Lovecraftian adventure. I know diddly about Lovecraft, Cthulhu, and horror isn't even one of my favorite genres! This game, however, is good times.
  
  Arkham Horror is an adventure game for 1-8 players. The premise of the game is that strange things are happening in Arkham, Mass...People are dissapearing, weird monsters are appearing, Portals to other worlds are opening, and one of the Ancient Ones is begining to awaken from his slumber...
  
  So 1-8 intrepid "investigators" have to go around Arkham, have random encounters at locations in town (drawn from a deck of cards) fight monsters (lots of dice rolling), collect clues, and close or seal the portals to other worlds (dice rolling, card drawing, etc). Of course if you wait to long the Ancient One will awaken and you'll have to fight him in an epic "if you lose this fight the world is doomed" style battle.
  
  Good times here. The game is sometimes fairly random, the rules are typical FFG fare (read: fairly poorly organized), but it creates a pretty sweet narrative and it's more about the FUN of the game then actually devising winning strategies and tactics to "beat" the opponent. This is a COOPERATIVE game, meaning you play against the game itself (the game system) and work together with your fellow players to win or lose together.
  
  The newest version of Arkham Horror by FFG is essentially a remake of the title from the '80s.
  
  
• The Fury of Dracula - This game is brilliant. It's for 2-5 players. One player controls Dracula, the other 1-4 players control the 4 vampire hunters. The premise is simple. Dracula was not killed after the events of the book Dracula. Instead he has risen once again (some 10+ years later) with plans to do evil vampire things. He must be stopped.
  
  The game is played on a map of late 19th century europe. At the begining of the game the hunters each place their figures on a city in Europe. Dracula then selects his starting location. The catch here is that Dracula's location is HIDDEN to the hunters, he does not place his figure on the board. Instead he lays a location card face down on his "trail" and places his figure on it. Each turn the hunters move from city to city trying to find dracula (and they can do stuff at cities as well). Each Dracula turn, dracula plays a new location card (that in 99% of all cases was adjacent to the previous city he was in) and slides his previous location card to his right. In this way a "trail" of locations starts to form. The hunters have various means to reveal cards in Dracula's trail. The closer to the left a card in dracula's trails is the more recent he has been there, if a card is all the way to the right...well dracula hasn't been there in some time.
  
  So the game is basically one of Deduction once you manage to find the trail. It's really cool to be dracula and have hunters 1 or 2 cities away from you on all sides, yet really not be sure of where you're at! Of course dracula has a lot of dirty tricks up his sleeve, and the hunters have their own share of tricks. Dracula is more powerful at night, can attack the hunters, etc, etc. The core of the game is the cat and mouse chase though which is pretty badass.
  
  The first time I played I lost as Dracula on the last day phase of the last turn of the game in an epic battle at Castle Dracula. Had i survived the attack and made it to nightime alive I would have turned into a wolf and eluded the hunters, or just plain fucked them up with my awesome night time powers. Still, it was fun as hell and a close game.
  
  The 2006 version of this game is a remake by FFG of the original 80's version. I highly reccomend this title.
  
  
• Battleball - You may have seen this in toy stores a few years back. It's a Hasbro title. I'm sort of embarassed to own this. It is FOOTBALL in the FUTURE played by CYBORGS and ROBOTS. Lots of dice rolling, and crippling of opponents. I got this in a pretty favorable trade. Speaking of which, BGG.com has a NICE trading system. I wish we could get something like that implemented here. It not only features feedbak, but lets you log when you recieved your part of the trade, and lets you log what day you shippied it. Uhm yep BATTLEBALL!.
  
  
• Commands and Colors: Ancients - If you have played any of Richard Borg's C&C titles (Memoir '44, Battlecry, or Battlelore) then you have essentially played C and C: Ancients. This is a card driven (ie cards in your hand dictate your available actions each turn) wargame about the battles of Rome and Carthage during the Second Punic War (ca the end of the 3rd century BC for those unfamiliar with the era). This game is not complicated in the least, is fast, and for what it is is a pretty cool depiction of ancient warfare without being bogged down in tons of rules trying to make it a simulation.
  
  I highly reccomend this title. I need to get the first expansion which covers the Wars of the Ancient Greeks from pre-Persian War Classical times all the way to the age of helenism w/ Alexander and even some of the battles of the Successors (so 500 to early 200s BC). Good stuff.
  
  
• Carcassone - It's on XBL. I paid $20+ and you dudes paid, what $5? And then to commemorate the 5 year anniversary of XBL it was FREE. No excuse to have not played this. This game is a tile laying abstract strategy game.
  
  
• Combat Commander: Europe - This is my latest acquisition. After playing C&C: Ancients I was interested in playing more games that use cards as the primary vehicle for determining a player's actions each turn. Come Combat Commander: Europe, a well recieved hex and counter wargame from 2006.
  
  CC:E is a light (low complexity) tactical, squad based, ww2 board game. It's exactly like the myriad other tactical games out there except this game favors gameplay over realism, and it's card driven. Each nationality has it's own deck of cards that is suited to it's fighting style. For example the russians have more cards allowing their troops to move, the Americans have less move cards but have more Fire (shooting) cards. The germans fall somewhere in between and have a pretty even distribution of cards ensuring they don't rely on one tactical plan.This is good stuff, especially if you want to play some more traditional hex and counter wargames. Although some people dislike the card driven mechanic and would prefer having more control over their units (to which I would point them to Tide of Iron or Panzer Grenadier) I still think this game is tops.
  
  One thing I like about this game is that it is only about INFANTRY combat. There are NO tanks in this game. Just men with guns over a variety terrain trying to achieve objectives. The game comes with 12 "scenarios" and has a random scenario generator to ensure replayability. CC: E features the Russians, Germans, and Americans.
  
  The first expansion which JUST came out adds the italians (and axis minors), the british (and commonwealth), and the french (and allied minors).

Lets see...I also got a cheap (relatively speaking)

• Subbuteo set because i wanted a dexterity game. I've yet to build a playing board though. This was an impulse purchase. I may have been intoxicated at the time.

And I have this game coming in the mail:

• Downtown: The Air War Over Hanoi, 1965-1972 - This is a medium-high complexity traditional hex and counter war game about US Air missions over the Hanoi region during the Vietnam War. One player is the US, the other the North Vietnamese. The gist of the game is that the US player is given a mission based on the scenario being played. He must then plan his mission and execute it. The NVA player must defend. So you've got SAM sites, AAA, MiGs, F4 Phantoms, Thunderchiefs, bombs dropping, misslie flying, radar being jammed, etc.
  
  This is something that probably wont hit the table often, but the design notes in this game are amazing, and it is SO well researched that I bought it for the historical value alone (and the fact i found a retailer online selling it for about $15-20 less than every other e-tailer didn't hurt either.)
  
  A sequel to this game is coming out next year. It will be about the air campaigns in the Arab-Israeli wars during 1967-73.

And the game I want for Christmas:

• Conquest of Paradise - I was sold on the theme of this game alone. Then I read the rules. Then I knew I had to get it. This is currently shipping to retailers.
  
  This is a game about exploration, civilization building, and conquest in Polynesia circa 500AD.
  
  Yeah, thats fucking awesome. The game is LOW complexity and The exploration element is cool because the island groups are in different locations each time (through a random draw) to ensure the game plays different each time, and to ensure it actually feels as if you are exploring. You can set up the game so that the island groups are actually placed where they are in reality, and several of the islands are always fixed (players home islands). Anyway,whoever builds the best civilization wins! This game is also very well researched, including a section in the rules for further reading on the subject (Downtown features this as well).
  
  War canoes, malaria, and possible exploration into South America to get potatoes? Whats not to love.
  
  Christ i'm almost ashamed to have wrote those last two sentences. Good stuff here people. Good stuff.

Hey Tak, you know anything about ESSEN SPIEL? I hear boardgaming is in the mainstream in Germany among familys? Care to comment? It seems like Essen is the E3 of boardgaming I preordered the yet-to-be-produced English language edition of one of the more popular 2007 Essen titles, a game called Agricola which is about farming in the middle ages Sounds lame I know, but I read a translation of the rules, many reviews, and at it's core the game is simply a building game where the player who builds the best farm wins.

Nice impressions. I love board games but haven't picked up anything in a while. (other than family type games)

That Subbuteo looks interesting. I would like to read some impressions if you ever set it up. The game has the date of 1947 by it, is that the only print?

Where are you picking these games up at?

Gameoz said:

Nice impressions. I love board games but haven't picked up anything in a while. (other than family type games)

That Subbuteo looks interesting. I would like to read some impressions if you ever set it up. The game has the date of 1947 by it, is that the only print?

Click to expand...

Go to youtube and search for Subbuteo to get a feel for the game in action. The St. Louis subbuteo club has a couple videos worth watching. There are some non english videos that are decent too. Some of these peoples subbuteo tables are crazy. They add seating for fake fans, lightting, etc. Subuteo is just an older game, still in print by various manufacturers...just not so much in the USA. I had to order my set from Canada.

Where are you picking these games up at?

Click to expand...

Online retailers mostly, though i've shifted some of my buying to a local game store now that the owner is starting to carry board games in addition to the standard D&D (and other rpg systems), Tabletop miniatures (warhammer and the like), and collectible games. The store also carries some comics.