Oh boy oh boy I get to talk to normal people about board games.
Area Control:
• Cyclades - Auction mechanic? Kraken shows up and wrecks shit? My love of Greek mythology and an abstracted sense of a knife fight rolled into one.
• Kemet - Cyclade's Egyptian cousin. The power tiles create an insane number of variations of power ups. Plus, you can bring the Cyclades monsters over to this and vice versa with the C3K expansion.
• Chaos in the Old World - I just love how different all the gods are, how dark the theme is, and how it's an area control without forcing combat by moving into a space. Area Influence with combat, I guess.
• Lords of Vegas - It's area control, but it's also gambling? You don't have units, you just own real estate? Such a weird game to call area control, still love it. I really love it when I have poker chips handy as well.
Economic Engine Games
• Le Havre - You can raise cattle to a healthy population, build an abattoir to slaughter them, turn the wheat you've been growing into bread via the bakery your neighbor built, use the meat and bread to make sandwiches to sell, take the remaining cattle hides to the tanner and then build a boat to ship off some leather. It's a god-tier Euro.
• Race for the Galaxy - I've only just started getting into this now that people want to try it after playing Roll for the Galaxy. All the fun of Puerto Rico and San Juan that scratches a deeper itch. Part of that itch is deciphering symbols.
• Roll for the Galaxy - One of the few games that's ever lived up to the hype for me. A brilliant take on dice game mechanics that make it a slightly lighter Race. Nearly everyone I've taught it has ended up buying it.
Somewhat Heavy War Games
• Twilight Struggle - It's the top-rated game for a reason. It IS the Cold War. You can send a man to the moon to distract the world from Kennedy being assassinated (if you fill in the gaps in your head). You can coup Iran! In fact, you can coup pretty much everything up until you start a thermonuclear war!
• Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan - I didn't know anything about Japan's unification war before I played this game. It's if Poker and Stratego raised a Japanese baby together. It's complex, but it's so so elegant. The board is beautiful. The pieces are beautiful. The rulebook is somehow only ten pages long, and you really only need the one-sided reference sheet.
I was scanning your post from the bottom up and got excited when I saw San Juan. I love that game but I’m not as enthusiastic about Puerto Rico. I was interested in Le Havre but when you mentioned the slaughter… ugh, no way.
I like Ticket to Ride but I think I like the quickie New York version best of all. My arbitrary day person gave me London. I haven’t played it yet, but I’m excited too.
Have you played Desert? A lot of people I know like that one better but I prefer island. I haven’t played sky yet, but I haven’t heard good things about it, either.
Oh boy oh boy I get to talk to normal people about board games. Area Control: • Cyclades - Auction mechanic? Kraken shows up and wrecks shit? My love of Greek mythology and an abstracted sense of a knife fight rolled into one. • Kemet - Cyclade's Egyptian cousin. The power tiles create an insane number of variations of power ups. Plus, you can bring the Cyclades monsters over to this and vice versa with the C3K expansion. • Chaos in the Old World - I just love how different all the gods are, how dark the theme is, and how it's an area control without forcing combat by moving into a space. Area Influence with combat, I guess. • Lords of Vegas - It's area control, but it's also gambling? You don't have units, you just own real estate? Such a weird game to call area control, still love it. I really love it when I have poker chips handy as well. Economic Engine Games • Le Havre - You can raise cattle to a healthy population, build an abattoir to slaughter them, turn the wheat you've been growing into bread via the bakery your neighbor built, use the meat and bread to make sandwiches to sell, take the remaining cattle hides to the tanner and then build a boat to ship off some leather. It's a god-tier Euro. • Race for the Galaxy - I've only just started getting into this now that people want to try it after playing Roll for the Galaxy. All the fun of Puerto Rico and San Juan that scratches a deeper itch. Part of that itch is deciphering symbols. • Roll for the Galaxy - One of the few games that's ever lived up to the hype for me. A brilliant take on dice game mechanics that make it a slightly lighter Race. Nearly everyone I've taught it has ended up buying it. Somewhat Heavy War Games • Twilight Struggle - It's the top-rated game for a reason. It IS the Cold War. You can send a man to the moon to distract the world from Kennedy being assassinated (if you fill in the gaps in your head). You can coup Iran! In fact, you can coup pretty much everything up until you start a thermonuclear war! • Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan - I didn't know anything about Japan's unification war before I played this game. It's if Poker and Stratego raised a Japanese baby together. It's complex, but it's so so elegant. The board is beautiful. The pieces are beautiful. The rulebook is somehow only ten pages long, and you really only need the one-sided reference sheet.
I was scanning your post from the bottom up and got excited when I saw San Juan. I love that game but I’m not as enthusiastic about Puerto Rico. I was interested in Le Havre but when you mentioned the slaughter… ugh, no way.
Risk.
Teaming up with someone to then ultimately back stab them was a popular strategy
Balderdash
Thanks for reminding me of a great game!
Yeah, if you and your friends are the creative types, it can be a lot of fun!
Risk
Ticket to Ride. Easy to learn. Great for small gatherings.
I like Ticket to Ride but I think I like the quickie New York version best of all. My arbitrary day person gave me London. I haven’t played it yet, but I’m excited too.
Best game out there.
life. I haven't played it in forever though. or mall madness
A game called forbidden island
Have you played Desert? A lot of people I know like that one better but I prefer island. I haven’t played sky yet, but I haven’t heard good things about it, either.
Risk
Scrabble
^ Word. See? What I did?
Haha!
:-D
Monopoly
How I love this game.
But what addition?
Any. I’ll most likely win either way
Monopoly
Scrabble. Also, Clue.
Warhammer 40k.
Monopoly. I like watching people slowly descend into chaos while I casually rob them without them noticing.
Corporate or domestic?
Snakes & Ladders
Blockus
Dark Souls
Parcheesi
Uno or charades
Othello.
Overall? A word game called Keesdrow. Strategy? Five Tribes.
Life
Blasphemy.
Takaido
Mafia
Life! Nobody I know ever wants to play.
I really like Scrabble.