The Board Game Thread

[Tim]

We played the game Resistance tonight. Very similar to the party game Mafia, but a bit more codified and more structured. I liked it a lot.

[OhioBlue]

I think you're thinking Battle Cry.

Oh, right. I'll have to check out Battle Line.

[ERCougar]

Is Battle Line the one that uses the same mechanic as Memoir '44? Or am I thinking of something else? I have Memoir and enjoy it a lot, and it was easy for my son and his friends to pick up.

I don't own 7 Wonders but have played it several times with a friend. I would say that it may look fussy on first inspection, but is actually quite easy both to teach and to play. It's a good balance of theme, tactics, not much luck involved, and plays in 45 minutes. It is a very solid and enjoyable game.

I think you're thinking Battle Cry.

[RobinFinderson]

I've played 7 Wonders many times with my group, and we love it. It is one of Little Robin's favorites. I just happened to be looking at it on Amazon today and noticed that there is a new expansion for the game, so I just might have to plunk down and pick up the two. I think that card protectors are a must, with all of the card passing, they get handled a lot, and will probably rot/bend without them. What I like about 7 Wonders: Everyone is doing stuff at the same time, so it isn't boring while you wait for your turn. It is pretty short to play. It is fairly newb-friendly. The graphics are great, and it kind of tickles my Civ IV/V sweet spot.

Faith and I love Lost Cities, so I will definitely look into Battle Line. Thanks for the tip!

[OhioBlue]

Battle Line is well worth it and could easily be played with a 10 year old. If the 10 year old can understand few simple poker like hands (3 of kind, straight, flush) and their ranking he can play it.

Buy 7 Wonders on Amazon, it is a lot cheaper. $36.00 seemed a lot more reasonable for the game than $50. Also, if you are driving up from Southern Utah, stop at Board Game Revolution instead. The games are a lot cheaper.

Also, for the boardgame fans. Keith Law actually does a lot of boardgame reviews on his blog.
http://meadowparty.com/blog/

Is Battle Line the one that uses the same mechanic as Memoir '44? Or am I thinking of something else? I have Memoir and enjoy it a lot, and it was easy for my son and his friends to pick up.

I don't own 7 Wonders but have played it several times with a friend. I would say that it may look fussy on first inspection, but is actually quite easy both to teach and to play. It's a good balance of theme, tactics, not much luck involved, and plays in 45 minutes. It is a very solid and enjoyable game.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Dang...
My last trip into SLC last week, I stopped by game night games and almost bought Battle Line. I might have to order it. Playable with a 10 yr old?

I was sort of disappointed in 7 wonders. I don't have a copy, but looked a little at the store copy. You're right--it looks a little cheap. And a bit too complicated for the people I play with. And way way way too expensive. From what I had read, it seemed like a simple to explain game with some depth, but instead, it looks a little fussy. I still will probably get a copy eventually, but it'll have to wait , for now. Maybe christmas.

Battle Line is well worth it and could easily be played with a 10 year old. If the 10 year old can understand few simple poker like hands (3 of kind, straight, flush) and their ranking he can play it.

Buy 7 Wonders on Amazon, it is a lot cheaper. $36.00 seemed a lot more reasonable for the game than $50. Also, if you are driving up from Southern Utah, stop at Board Game Revolution instead. The games are a lot cheaper.

Also, for the boardgame fans. Keith Law actually does a lot of boardgame reviews on his blog.
http://meadowparty.com/blog/

[ERCougar]

So I did get a copy of 7 Wonders once it was reissued and the price was reasonable. It really is a great game. It has quickly become one of my favorites. It is a game that I would love to play with more people. My only complaint is the cards are incredibly flimsy. They seemed poor enough quality that I went ahead and bought card sleeves for them. It is a great game and highly recommended. The game play is extremely simple and I can see it being a great gateway game. The scoring is somewhat complex, but the mechanics are simple and quick to learn.

I've also picked up Battle Line and it is now my favorite quick 2-player game. I like it a lot better than Lost Cities. It has similar card drafting mechanics but the game is executed a lot better.

Unless, something amazing comes out, I'm done buying games for awhile. Mrs. Funk and I do have a tradition to buy a boardgame for Christmas, so I think that is basically going to be it for me. We have a nice well rounded collection now.

Dang...
My last trip into SLC last week, I stopped by game night games and almost bought Battle Line. I might have to order it. Playable with a 10 yr old?

I was sort of disappointed in 7 wonders. I don't have a copy, but looked a little at the store copy. You're right--it looks a little cheap. And a bit too complicated for the people I play with. And way way way too expensive. From what I had read, it seemed like a simple to explain game with some depth, but instead, it looks a little fussy. I still will probably get a copy eventually, but it'll have to wait , for now. Maybe christmas.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I would really like to play 7 Wonders, but won't until it is back in stock and doesn't cost a ridiculous amount. My FLGS sells it for about $35 but is obviously out of stock.

So I did get a copy of 7 Wonders once it was reissued and the price was reasonable. It really is a great game. It has quickly become one of my favorites. It is a game that I would love to play with more people. My only complaint is the cards are incredibly flimsy. They seemed poor enough quality that I went ahead and bought card sleeves for them. It is a great game and highly recommended. The game play is extremely simple and I can see it being a great gateway game. The scoring is somewhat complex, but the mechanics are simple and quick to learn.

I've also picked up Battle Line and it is now my favorite quick 2-player game. I like it a lot better than Lost Cities. It has similar card drafting mechanics but the game is executed a lot better.

Unless, something amazing comes out, I'm done buying games for awhile. Mrs. Funk and I do have a tradition to buy a boardgame for Christmas, so I think that is basically going to be it for me. We have a nice well rounded collection now.

[MartyFunkhouser]

We picked up Thunderstone for XMas, along with two expansions, and we have really been enjoying the game. It is a lot of fun, and a hit with the whole family. I love how the game changes so much from session to session.

I had the chance to play the big money expansion to Dominion, and thought that was pretty fun. As long as we are playing Thunderstone, I doubt we will be picking up any additional expansions to the two Dominion games we already own.

Finally, I have a friend who will lend me Memoir 44 very soon, so I will finally have a chance to try that one with Little Robin.

Oh, and one other 'finally,' we also got to play Amazon.com: 7 Wonders Board Game by Asmodee Editions: Toys & Games, which is a lot of fun, and it plays quick, but I just saw that it lists for about $80, so I guess we won't be picking up THAT one any time soon. But if you get the chance to play, don't pass it up. 7 Wonders is cool.

I would really like to play 7 Wonders, but won't until it is back in stock and doesn't cost a ridiculous amount. My FLGS sells it for about $35 but is obviously out of stock.

[RobinFinderson]

We picked up Thunderstone for XMas, along with two expansions, and we have really been enjoying the game. It is a lot of fun, and a hit with the whole family. I love how the game changes so much from session to session.

I had the chance to play the big money expansion to Dominion, and thought that was pretty fun. As long as we are playing Thunderstone, I doubt we will be picking up any additional expansions to the two Dominion games we already own.

Finally, I have a friend who will lend me Memoir 44 very soon, so I will finally have a chance to try that one with Little Robin.

Oh, and one other 'finally,' we also got to play [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wonders-Board-Game-Asmodee-Editions/dp/B0043KJW5M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1294456583&sr=8-2"]Amazon.com: 7 Wonders Board Game by Asmodee Editions: Toys & Games@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51uuPxVySBL.@@AMEPARAM@@51uuPxVySBL[/ame], which is a lot of fun, and it plays quick, but I just saw that it lists for about $80, so I guess we won't be picking up THAT one any time soon. But if you get the chance to play, don't pass it up. 7 Wonders is cool.

[Mrs. Funk]

Dominion Prosperity is awesome.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I now have 3 of the Dominion expansions which make it a pain to transport if we want to play away from home. I downloaded one of the tab pdfs on board game geek, printed them, and made this storage solution. I just used some cardboard to create the channels. It isn't pretty or perfect, but it works. I have Dominion, Seaside, Prosperity, and Alchemy in the box right now. There is also room for other expansions.





Mock away.

[Surfah]

Go buy some card protectors (available at any game store) and sort your Dominion cards into them (each type of card grouped into a card holder), and then only use the insert to hold your money cards and your victory points (maybe some others, but I don't have my game here so I can't remember). It makes choosing your ten card types much easier and set up quicker. Still, like Ohio and you...I'm just not a huge fan of the game.

If you're sick of learning new games, do Carcassonne--it's quick and easy, and plays really well with two players (in fact, I think it's best with two players).

Once I got it all separated the box actually had individual slots for everything so setup from here on out shouldn't be too painful. That first one was a PITA though.

We're now playing card games like Trumps.

[ERCougar]

I only played Small World once, but I was waaay underwhelmed. Fun game to look at, in true Days of Wonder fashion, but light on depth--again, at least the first time I played. Maybe it needs a couple more plays, you've convinced me to give it another shot.

Given the choice, I'm still going to prefer a game of Puerto Rico, El Grande, or even Amun-Re. I really need to play Agricola, Power Grid, and Caylus--still haven't tried any of those. They have stuck around for a while in/near the BGG.com top ten.

I'm still not ready to say Small World is a deep game--just that it's deeper than it appears on the first play. The first time I played, it seemed like it was just a matter of expanding until you couldn't expand any more, then declining your race and starting a new one. Obviously, certain races are more interesting than others at different phases of the game, but still, overall, pretty straightforward. After a few more plays, you start to see the importance of a strong declining race through the midgame, which changes your opinion of some of the races, and moreover, the timing of your declines and the importance of position. I now think these latter two factors may be what separates good players from really good players at this game, and I'm not sure there's an obvious answer for either one. So I'm interested for a little while. I'm encouraged that there seems to be a pretty active online community at the DOW website, which usually indicates there is some depth to the game.

My tastes have definitely moved towards lighter games over the years, chiefly because I like playing with friends and I have so few friends who will play anything tougher than Settlers. I'd rather play a good light game with friends than a really good game with weird guys at the gaming store. PR is still about as close to a perfect game that I've found, but I have exactly one friend who's any good at it. PR has a huge kingmaker problem, so if we bring the obligatory third person into the mix, I can tell you who's going to win before we start (whoever gets to sit to his left). So I'll play that online, but I think that sort of defeats the purpose of a board game, which to me is having fun interaction with friends. Sure, light games tend to have more luck (not always), but even that's not always a bad thing, as it evens the playing field a little. I care now a lot more about having a good time than winning, so I just enjoy the experience. There's really nothing worse than playing with someone who agonizes over every decision (analysis paralysis) because he simply has to win the game, even if it is a really good game.

EDIT: I was just browsing through the strategy articles on BGG and came across this. This guy sounds like kind of a dick, but he has some of the same thoughts on this game: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/...-do-not-get-it

[ERCougar]

Gidget played solitaire Set. She likes it. I have yet to play it.

I forgot that we own Carcassone and Settlers. Gidget bought me Carcassone a few years ago and I don't think I ever took it out of the shrink wrap. I bought Settlers for Gidget when we were dating and we too have never played that. So we now own a fair number of games. I think I am now officially a board game geek.

Go buy some card protectors (available at any game store) and sort your Dominion cards into them (each type of card grouped into a card holder), and then only use the insert to hold your money cards and your victory points (maybe some others, but I don't have my game here so I can't remember). It makes choosing your ten card types much easier and set up quicker. Still, like Ohio and you...I'm just not a huge fan of the game.

If you're sick of learning new games, do Carcassonne--it's quick and easy, and plays really well with two players (in fact, I think it's best with two players).