The Board Game Thread

[RobinFinderson]

If Mike Waters doesn't want to be a part of this board, I think people should respect that. Leave the dude alone!

[Hot Lunch]

You should play with my FIL. You two would get along swimmingly, at least when playing games.

How are your fist tapping skills, btw?

Haha

They are good and improving as the days go on.

[TripletDaddy]

I will say this about board games, I hate board game guy or gal that stands up and cheers loudly when they get lucky they drew or a lucky bounce of the dice. I have a family member that i refuse to play the board game if they are playing.

You should play with my FIL. You two would get along swimmingly, at least when playing games.

How are your fist tapping skills, btw?

[Hot Lunch]

I will say this about board games, I hate board game guy or gal that stands up and cheers loudly when they get lucky they drew or a lucky bounce of the dice. I have a family member that i refuse to play the board game if they are playing.

[TripletDaddy]

In general, any excuse to get together and engage in some group mental activity is a good use of an evening.

[RobinFinderson]

I will add expensive elitist European board games to your already impressive list of humble, inexpensive pursuits....I believe you called it "materialism."

If you add 'camping equipment' to the list, all of my materialistic bases are covered. Photography, computers and software for art making, camping, motorcycling, and elitist board games (though in this last category we typically play other people's games, and only own a couple dozen ourselves).

Eventually I hope to add 'millionaire day-trader' to the list, but I still have a long way to go on that one.

On the trivia front, I certainly didn't mean to suggest that trivia games are any better or worse than any other games. In general, any excuse to get together and engage in some group mental activity is a good use of an evening.

[TripletDaddy]

Trivia games are a fun way to show everyone how smart you are. Plus they have a life outside of family home evening (the architecture students, for a while, tried to compete at trivia nights at Anna Liffey's in New Haven, where we always lost badly). I still go through periods where I watch Jeopardy and shout answers at the television.

I have never played with Euro-style board gamers that got upset with losing. This in spite of having attended numerous board game festivals, which are events designed to facilitate anonymous board game hookups. I have met a lot of nice board game players, but not since my Axis&Allies days of high school and college have I met the angry throw the board off the table types.

For us, board games are a reason to sit around a table with friends for four hours and discuss family, politics and culture. If the conversation isn't engaging, you can focus on the game. If the game isn't engaging you can focus on the conversation and snacks. Board gaming, for us, is also about food, wine and salty snacks.

In fairness, trivia games are also cool because you are basically making a game out of classroom information. Geography, current events, sports, history, arts, science, popular culture. In short, everyone is learning something new with every question. Strategy games are also educational and valuable, so I am not discounting those. Just pointing out that trivia games serve a pretty practical purpose.

In terms of conversation, you can generate conversation playing any game (or no game at all), when you are in a group. Board games have no special magic power to do this.

An example would be our recent thanksgiving dinner. We played Trivial Pursuit afterwards....busted out the original Genus Edition. One of the questions was "Who asked, "Have you ever been to Electric Ladyland?" Admittedly an easy question, but we started talking about Jimi and music for a bit and someone made a Wayne's World referece to Garth dancing to "Foxy Lady." In other words, conversation is spontaneous. You don't need to be havesting imaginary wheat to have good conversation. in fact, the way you present it, no wonder there is so much talking going on while playing these monotonous games.....the actual game is boring everyone.

[TripletDaddy]

Has any of our serious gamers tried Die Macher or Indonesia? These are two games that, due to cost, length of game, and complexity, you will only find in elite gaming circles. I own neither, but play them both about once a year. If you get the chance to play one, jump at it.

I will add expensive elitist European board games to your already impressive list of humble, inexpensive pursuits....I believe you called it "materialism."

[Sleeping in EQ]

I played a Niagara game that was fun.

[RobinFinderson]

Has any of our serious gamers tried Die Macher or Indonesia? These are two games that, due to cost, length of game, and complexity, you will only find in elite gaming circles. I own neither, but play them both about once a year. If you get the chance to play one, jump at it.

[ERCougar]

OK, I will go to a specialty shop. Hopefully, it isn't called The Android Dungeon (worst board game store....ever).

I have played Settler's before...a few times. We even played once at Lake Powell, where there isn't much else to do in the summer when you aren't in the water. I just don't enjoy it.

I don't think boardgames are nerdy, necessarily. I am not sure it is any cooler playing trivia games than it is playing board games. Also, I play video games here and there, which have a nerd component to them, for sure.

If you guys recommend one that you think most people will love, then maybe I should bite the bullet. Also, it occurred to me that pretty much everyone else in that house LOVES playing these type of games, so just because I might not dig it doesn't mean everyone else won't. Just try to pick one that isn't too long.

Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne. They're both short, easy to explain, and pretty light. Ask the person at the game store for similar games and they can recommend some others.

[RobinFinderson]

Trivia games are a fun way to show everyone how smart you are. Plus they have a life outside of family home evening (the architecture students, for a while, tried to compete at trivia nights at Anna Liffey's in New Haven, where we always lost badly). I still go through periods where I watch Jeopardy and shout answers at the television.

I have never played with Euro-style board gamers that got upset with losing. This in spite of having attended numerous board game festivals, which are events designed to facilitate anonymous board game hookups. I have met a lot of nice board game players, but not since my Axis&Allies days of high school and college have I met the angry throw the board off the table types.

For us, board games are a reason to sit around a table with friends for four hours and discuss family, politics and culture. If the conversation isn't engaging, you can focus on the game. If the game isn't engaging you can focus on the conversation and snacks. Board gaming, for us, is also about food, wine and salty snacks.

[smokymountainrain]

wow.

after reading through this thread, I realize I need more friends like Grace, DDD, Surfah and cougjunkie.

Everybody I know, from my spouse to friends to relatives to enemies who consider themselves friends or relatives absolutely loves board games.

Friggin' sucks.

[smokymountainrain]

I hate board games.

I like trivia games.

Amen and amen.

[TripletDaddy]

#1 is going to limit you. You're gonna have to swallow your anti-geek pride and step in. Europeans view boardgames as nearly works of art. Creators of boardgames (Reiner Knitzia, Klaus Teuber, etc) are household names. They expect great components. None of this comes cheaply and they don't mind paying $30 for a game, which is still a fairly cheap form of entertainment. Americans expect to pay $5-10. Walmart can't afford to devote shelf space to a product that's not going to move, and a $30 game is not going to move in America. The other advantage to going to a good game store is that they'll usually have knowledgeable workers who know the different games well and can steer you towards a game you'd like. They also will generally have open copies that you can take a look at and get a feel for whether or not you'd like it. It's sort of liking shopping running shoes at Wal-mart or at a specialty running store. A good store in SLC is Game Night Games--doesn't have a D&D, nerdy feel, like some stores have. OhioBlue could probably tell you a place in Utah County.

That said, it may just not be your thing. If you've played Settlers and genuinely don't like it, you've given it a shot. To overuse the cheese analogy further, Settlers is the Camembert of games--it's a well-made game with a good mechanism and most people who are going to like boardgames will at least sort of appreciate it. There are lighter games that are easier to get into (Ticket to Ride is one that comes to mind), but I'm not sure you'll like those either. Risk and Monopoly are not good examples of good boardgames--they're long, they eliminate players, there's nothing to do or think about when it's not your turn, they're almost entirely luck-driven, etc. They've obviously tapped into some market, but they don't represent boardgames well, IMO.

I get that boardgames are geeky. I'm not really too concerned about it because it's a fun way to spend time with friends (plus, I could beat about any of you at basketball, so I'm comfortable with my geeky side... ). I obviously like talking about them, just as you like talking about food or fashion or whatnot. It's fun to connect with some other people on here who "get it" so I've already spent way too much time on this thread.

OK, I will go to a specialty shop. Hopefully, it isn't called The Android Dungeon (worst board game store....ever).

I have played Settler's before...a few times. We even played once at Lake Powell, where there isn't much else to do in the summer when you aren't in the water. I just don't enjoy it.

I don't think boardgames are nerdy, necessarily. I am not sure it is any cooler playing trivia games than it is playing board games. Also, I play video games here and there, which have a nerd component to them, for sure.

If you guys recommend one that you think most people will love, then maybe I should bite the bullet. Also, it occurred to me that pretty much everyone else in that house LOVES playing these type of games, so just because I might not dig it doesn't mean everyone else won't. Just try to pick one that isn't too long.