# Board games



## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

I seemed to have been sucked into playing boardgames recently. Not just scrabble and monopoly but geeky ones like Seven Wonders. I used to poopoo them as the last refuge for fun with other people that people with limited social skills had, but after being persuaded to play a couple of them, I've found out they can be fun, although some are alarmingly complicated and/or narrowly specific.
For instance: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12333/twilight-struggle or http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2651/power-grid
Anyone on here play boardgames like these? There's a whole world of games out there - it's ridiculous:
http://boardgamegeek.com/
Nothing will ever beat Scrabble mind.


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## Santino (Feb 28, 2012)

I enjoy the odd complicated boardgame. Acquire and Carcassonne are current favourites.


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## Crispy (Feb 28, 2012)

Yep, I'm a fan. Have a great one on loan at the moment called Cyclades. Conquest o! mythic greece islands, with gods and temples and warships  We should have a games night!


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## discokermit (Feb 28, 2012)

chess. everything else is shit.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

this looks mental. huge and complicated!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17226/descent-journeys-in-the-dark
reviewed here:
http://www.shutupshow.com/post/8055401121/episode-2-descending-deeper
I'm not sure how I'd get on with the vast majority of boardgames, as I'm lazy and impatient, but maybe with practice....


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

discokermit said:


> chess. everything else is shit.


it's too hard/i'm too lazy to play it.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Crispy said:


> Yep, I'm a fan. Have a great one on loan at the moment called Cyclades. Conquest o! mythic greece islands, with gods and temples and warships  We should have a games night!


i'd be up for that!


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## discokermit (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> it's too hard/i'm too lazy to play it.


learning how to play those other games sounds like hard work,


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## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2012)

I want to play a game of Junta


All hail Space Hulk though.

Wooden Spoon goes to Atmosfear for being shit, and the version of monopoly where everyone has little machines rather than paper currency. You'd think it would eliminate cheating wouldn't you. Oh no.


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## Santino (Feb 28, 2012)

discokermit said:


> chess. everything else is shit.


Chess is shit. Antisocial, too abstract and there are too few expansion sets.


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## Santino (Feb 28, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> I want to play a game of Junta
> 
> 
> All hail Space Hulk though.
> ...


Cheating is the point of Monopoly. It more accurately reflects the reality of capitalism.


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## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2012)

yes and when the little machines battery falls out mid game and every player is reduced to zero but claims they had loadsamoney this accurately reflects the sheer board-in-the-air insanity of gangster capitalism and enron style lunacy


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## discokermit (Feb 28, 2012)

Santino said:


> Chess is shit. Antisocial, too abstract and there are too few expansion sets.


ahh, but there is a huge amount of different boards and pieces. plus different time limits create slightly different games and there are many variations of chess. and you can create your own.

it is a bit antisocial though. perfect for when you want to crush the will of a complete stranger.


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## Yossarian (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> this looks mental. huge and complicated!
> http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17226/descent-journeys-in-the-dark
> reviewed here:
> http://www.shutupshow.com/post/8055401121/episode-2-descending-deeper
> I'm not sure how I'd get on with the vast majority of boardgames, as I'm lazy and impatient, but maybe with practice....


 
Sounds insidious - you start off with a bit of Scrabble and before you know it you're a grown man playing Dungeons & Dragons, which the game above clearly is.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> I want to play a game of Junta


this one's for you:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1510/class-struggle


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Santino said:


> Cheating is the point of Monopoly. It more accurately reflects the reality of capitalism.


indeed, it was based on this game:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord's_Game


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## D'wards (Feb 28, 2012)

What's that game thats like Uber-Risk? Basically a world map and warfare but i think you have trade blockades and that sort of thing.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

My mum once sent me to buy this game:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113397/the-grain-drain
as she was worried that Monopoly was turning us into potential yuppies.
We played it once. It was shit of course.


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## N_igma (Feb 28, 2012)

discokermit said:


> it is a bit antisocial though. perfect for when you want to crush the will of a complete stranger.


 
When I was in uni we used to get drunk and play chess all the time. It was ace.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> this looks mental. huge and complicated!
> http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17226/descent-journeys-in-the-dark
> reviewed here:
> http://www.shutupshow.com/post/8055401121/episode-2-descending-deeper
> I'm not sure how I'd get on with the vast majority of boardgames, as I'm lazy and impatient, but maybe with practice....


 
i have that


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## Shippou-Sensei (Feb 28, 2012)

Yossarian said:


> Sounds insidious - you start off with a bit of Scrabble and before you know it you're a grown man playing Dungeons & Dragons, which the game above clearly is.


 
FUCK OFF!

 different rule set innit


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## Shippou-Sensei (Feb 28, 2012)

shouldn't this be in games?


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> shouldn't this be in games?


mebbe. thought that was for videogames though.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Feb 28, 2012)

recently really got into  Conquest of Nerath

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/92044/dungeons-dragons-conquest-of-nerath-board-game


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## Shippou-Sensei (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> mebbe. thought that was for videogames though.


 
i post all my D&D stuff there


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

i prefer this forum i think


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## Shippou-Sensei (Feb 28, 2012)

elitist


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## DotCommunist (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> this one's for you:
> http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1510/class-struggle


 

Nobody other than the makers has ever finished a game of this


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 28, 2012)

I played BrainBox the other week.  No board involved though.


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## Part 2 (Feb 28, 2012)

We had this when we were kids. It seemed so American but it says it was made in York in 1940. I imagine it was my Dad's from when he was little.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25662/millionaire


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## sim667 (Feb 28, 2012)

I play pucket, but im not sure if it counts as a board game.


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## stavros (Feb 28, 2012)

Scrabble is my favourite, but Pass The Bomb is a good one for more than two players.


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## Crispy (Feb 28, 2012)

stavros said:


> Scrabble is my favourite, but Pass The Bomb is a good one for more than two players.


I like PtB  Although after you've played a lot of it, you tend to build up an arsenal of words for the tricky letter combinations.


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## BigTom (Feb 28, 2012)

yes, I do.. carcassonne and small world probably most regular at the moment, borrowed illuminati from a friend recently as well which is a great game.
Also just learning to play go.


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## BigTom (Feb 28, 2012)

D'wards said:


> What's that game thats like Uber-Risk? Basically a world map and warfare but i think you have trade blockades and that sort of thing.


 
Diplomacy? It's not a world map, and I've not played it so I don't know if there is any trading or blockades.


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## quimcunx (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> this one's for you:
> http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1510/class-struggle


 
Or this one. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Terror-...YT0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330462670&sr=8-1


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## Orang Utan (Feb 29, 2012)

this looks a bit, er, dry:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/80446/weimar-german-politics-1929-1933


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## belboid (Feb 29, 2012)

mm, I could do with another boardgame sesh......

Still enjoying playing The War On terror - tho we tend not to wear the mask so much these days.

There's a goodie about the Holy Roman Empire, but I cant work out what its really called...aha!  google is, eventually, my friend - In The Shadow of the Emperor.

And the Train Game is another popular one, aka The Great Game of Britain.  very very simple but very clever in that even tho someone always speeds ahead straightaway, they are always caught up and its a real anyone can win game.


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## Crispy (Feb 29, 2012)

belboid said:


> And the Train Game is another popular one, aka The Great Game of Britain. very very simple but very clever in that even tho someone always speeds ahead straightaway, they are always caught up and its a real anyone can win game.


 
Hah! I played this one at Sparrow's mum's place at Christmas. I liked how the "Instructions" have two pages on how to play the game and 14 pages on British railway history


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## belboid (Feb 29, 2012)

great innit? Does she have the edition where they send you to stations that aren't even marked on the board? Getting stuck in fucking Lynton, god thats a bitch


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## Crispy (Feb 29, 2012)

belboid said:


> great innit? Does she have the edition where they send you to stations that aren't even marked on the board? Getting stuck in fucking Lynton, god thats a bitch


It's a spectacularly unfair game


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## Santino (Feb 29, 2012)

I used to love Britannia, which recreates the invasions of Britain between the arrival of the Romans and the Norman invasion. You had to ignore the scoring rules though, because they encouraged you to recreate real history too closely.


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## fractionMan (Feb 29, 2012)

roborally is the best boardgame I've ever played. It's awesome fun.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally


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## Epona (Feb 29, 2012)

I have this vintage 50s edition of monopoly - I was very confused as a kid the first time I played it at a friends house and the player pieces were what most people think of as the normal ones - shoe, top hat etc.


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## DotCommunist (Feb 29, 2012)

D'wards said:


> What's that game thats like Uber-Risk? Basically a world map and warfare but i think you have trade blockades and that sort of thing.


 
Campaign


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## Santino (Feb 29, 2012)

I've got Civilisation, based on the PC game which was itself based on a board game. The board is absurdly large and comes in three pieces.


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## Crispy (Feb 29, 2012)

Have to get Sunray on this thread. He has a copy of Rave: The Boardgame, removed from sale in 1991 for "promoting drug use"


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## lighterthief (Feb 29, 2012)

A friend introduced me to Carcassone last weekend (fun) and had also recommended Ticket to Ride and Hive.  I had no idea such a plethora of odd board games existed.


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## no-no (Feb 29, 2012)

carcasonne and catan are both really good games, agricola is another by the same company which looks abit like a farmville board game.

This is the next one I'm after, good for the little ones with the added excitement and danger of real naked flames!! move the pieces around whilst stating out of the light....

Waldschattenspiel - is that forest of shadows in german?


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## no-no (Feb 29, 2012)

BigTom said:


> Diplomacy? It's not a world map, and I've not played it so I don't know if there is any trading or blockades.


 
We got this a while ago but haven't got around to playing it yet, seem it's all based around alliances and treachery.


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## BigTom (Feb 29, 2012)

no-no said:


> We got this a while ago but haven't got around to playing it yet, seem it's all based around alliances and treachery.


 
Yes, I think it sounds fantastic.. everyone writes down their moves and moves simultaneously.. and each round every goes to have a private conversation with everyone else to make deals and setup double crosses etc.. apparently very hard to win if you are Turkey, and takes a long time to play.


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## DotCommunist (Feb 29, 2012)

Santino said:


> I've got Civilisation, based on the PC game which was itself based on a board game. The board is absurdly large and comes in three pieces.


 

I see your Civilisation and raise you a hex based wargame Battle of The Five Armies (pre LOTR films)


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## belboid (Feb 29, 2012)

Crispy said:


> Have to get Sunray on this thread. He has a copy of Rave: The Boardgame, removed from sale in 1991 for "promoting drug use"


still available
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RAVE-Boar...13?pt=UK_Toys_Games_Games&hash=item4ab47491e9


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## Citizen66 (Feb 29, 2012)

As mentioned countless times, used to enjoy games workshop ones when I was young such as Talisman, Blood Bowl and Judge Dredd. 

Nowadays quite fancy the board game version of Civilization. Doubt I'll get round to it. It pops in my head now and again then I forget about it for another couple of weeks.


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## purenarcotic (Feb 29, 2012)

BigTom said:


> Yes, I think it sounds fantastic.. everyone writes down their moves and moves simultaneously.. and each round every goes to have a private conversation with everyone else to make deals and setup double crosses etc.. apparently very hard to win if you are Turkey, and takes a long time to play.


 
The problem with Diplomacy is you really NEED people who know the game very well in order to play with newbies to the extent they really get anything out of it. Plus you're supposed to write your next move down in a very odd language, even though you vocally read your move out, which I never understood.

I don't think it helps that the last time I played, while discussing a move, the mini swing playground thing I was standing on in my mate's garden broke and I smashed my eyebrow open.  I spent the rest of the game in agony and with blood dribbling down my face until we decided it needed sticking back together.  This has tainted my overall opinion of the game somewhat, so I don't recommend it.


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## purenarcotic (Feb 29, 2012)

For those of you who enjoyed either the books or the TV series, http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6472/a-game-of-thrones  is brilliant.


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## Greebo (Feb 29, 2012)

no-no said:


> This is the next one I'm after, good for the little ones with the added excitement and danger of real naked flames!! move the pieces around whilst stating out of the light....
> 
> Waldschattenspiel - is that forest of shadows in german?


Near enough - forest shadow game.  Where did I see that one a few years ago - Hawkin or Manufactum?


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## Stigmata (Feb 29, 2012)

Do they still print Kingmaker? It was a board game based on the Wars of the Roses. After playing it for a while I was a bit shocked that other ten year olds didn't know what 'Warden of the Cinque Ports' meant.


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## likesfish (Feb 29, 2012)

advanced squad leader 2 
  Release your uber geek be afraid be veryafraid


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## belboid (Feb 29, 2012)

Stigmata said:


> Do they still print Kingmaker? It was a board game based on the Wars of the Roses. After playing it for a while I was a bit shocked that other ten year olds didn't know what 'Warden of the Cinque Ports' meant.


i think I still have a copy of that somewhere.  Great game except for the annoyance of those bloody thousands of tiny House marker things


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## Stigmata (Feb 29, 2012)

belboid said:


> i think I still have a copy of that somewhere. Great game except for the annoyance of those bloody thousands of tiny House marker things


 
It was that and Divine Right, which was similarly fiddly. My old man was well into his board games.


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## fractionMan (Feb 29, 2012)

Man, I remember kingmaker


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## Stigmata (Feb 29, 2012)

I've been told that the recent board games based on A Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica are beyond excellent if you can get 4-5 players together.


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## Santino (Mar 1, 2012)

I also had Blood Royale, where you rule either England, France, Italy, Spain or Germany during the 15th century. One of the main bits of the game was maintaining a decent royal family, marrying off your kids, ensuring their was an heir etc. War was very expensive, which was a clever bit of realism.


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## bouncer_the_dog (Mar 1, 2012)

I read the RPS review of Mage Knight and now I want it.. it's out of print

http://wizkidsgames.com/mageknight/


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## purenarcotic (Mar 1, 2012)

Not really a 'board' game as such, but Werewolves is a fucking immense game.


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## no-no (Mar 1, 2012)

I was trying to remember the name of the other one we play a lot, Quoridor, it's a wall blocking game, reminds me of the tron bikes slightly.


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## stavros (Mar 1, 2012)

Crispy said:


> I like PtB  Although after you've played a lot of it, you tend to build up an arsenal of words for the tricky letter combinations.


 
Yeah, but Scrabble's the same for me. The number of times I've used "JO", "XI" or QI" to get rid of difficult letters near the end.


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## The39thStep (Mar 2, 2012)

DotCommunist said:


> I want to play a game of Junta
> 
> 
> All hail Space Hulk though.
> ...


 
Got Junta upstairs in a cupboard.Played it a lot in the 80s.You could play a card and get the students to rise up and then get wiped out by the army. 

Haven't played these since the 80s  when computer games took over but also have:

Die Macher , a game based on the German electoral system before the wall went down.
Class Struggle- ok , there is an option to end everything with a nuclear strike
Superpower- indifferent
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective- good
Gumshoe - I really liked this
Win Place and Show- excellent horse race and betting game
The Fury of Dracula-quite good
Railway Rivals- quite liked this
and some other one where you steal art collections


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## fractionMan (Mar 14, 2012)

There was several versions of railway rivals.  The best version had plasticy flexible boards that you drew on with non permanent markers


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## Crispy (Mar 14, 2012)

stavros said:


> Yeah, but Scrabble's the same for me. The number of times I've used "JO", "XI" or QI" to get rid of difficult letters near the end.


Playing an I after a triple letter, before the X and Q have been played, is a rookie mistake!


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## Crispy (Jul 11, 2013)

I have just ordered the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game. It's a dogfighting game where you decide your manoeuvre in advance by turning a little dial in secret, then both players move at the same time. You have to try and predict your opponent's moves and counter them, getting him in your firing arc whilst evading his. Plus it's got these really sweet little models of xwings and tie fighters. I played it at Rezzed a few weeks ago and it really is great. You can learn and play the "starter rules game" in 20 minutes.

Review: http://www.shutupshow.com/post/33228053805/review-star-wars-x-wing-miniatures-game


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## Stigmata (Jul 11, 2013)

I just played Battlestar Galactica for the first time. Bloody brilliant. Recommended.


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## fractionMan (Jul 11, 2013)

Crispy said:


> I have just ordered the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game. It's a dogfighting game where you decide your manoeuvre in advance by turning a little dial in secret, then both players move at the same time. You have to try and predict your opponent's moves and counter them, getting him in your firing arc whilst evading his. Plus it's got these really sweet little models of xwings and tie fighters. I played it at Rezzed a few weeks ago and it really is great. You can learn and play the "starter rules game" in 20 minutes.
> 
> Review: http://www.shutupshow.com/post/33228053805/review-star-wars-x-wing-miniatures-game


 

I've got the old starwars miniture "starship battles" starter set on the shelf.  It's a slightly different thing, and got a board/map element to it.

I inherited about 3 tons of starwars minitures from my nephew when he went to uni


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## Lord Camomile (Sep 16, 2016)

Got Mysterium as a late birthday present, very excited about trying that out 

Captain Sonar just became available for pre-order. Can I hold on until Christmas...


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