We need a boardgame thread here and I couldn't find one.

And I'm not just talking about (just) Risk and Monopoly I'm talking about super awesome boardgames made by germans and crazies. Carcassone! Spy Alley! Lost Cities! Small Worlds! etc.

I've run out of time now, but I'll hopefully put up mini-reviews of those and others.

Also we were talking in another thread about a board games meet up. Like the ageing looooooosers we are.

Ticket to Ride has a well deserved following here.

Totally Renamed Spy Game has potential but, sadly, isn't that fun.

Carcassone with the River expansion is awesome, too.

Will comment upon War On Terror when I have played it, as I will that Zombie game.

Blast Off! gets a mention in dispatches.

If you need two easy to learn but had to master games in your collection, get Ticket to Ride and Carcassone. They are the most loved in MaliTowers, and were well received in Derbyshire.

Space Hulk is the bestest.

You should have come to the last one we had

IMPORTANT: Warhammer games that come in one box can count. (Spacehulk, heroquest etc). Nerdlings go here: NERD HO!.

I found War on Terror to be a little underwhelming I'm afraid. A game mechanics based around the joke, rather than the other way around.

In fairness, that's every Warhammer game, depending on the box you buy.

I am rather deperate to play Advance Wars, but on a table.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Facts smacts.

Semi-obscure childhood fave - Lost Valley Of The Dinosaurs:

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3149 ... -dinosaurs

Buy ticket to ride ( USA or Germany) now, fool.

I can't begin to describe how proper ace it is.

You get that, and I'll let you play Zombies with me.

Considering I only have to print that out, it's a motherfucking deal.

My next games are either:
Citadels (you complete to build up a city or something)
Dominion a weird CCG game a like (without the buying new cards nonsense) which comes with 500 cards and your aim is to build a deck.

Or

Tales of the Arabian Nights which is a board game mixed with a choose your own adventure. It comes with a book where 3000 different things can happen. I'm normally all about the game's mechanics and this one has none as it is purely luck based and full of nonsense, but amazing fun.

My next games are either:
Citadels (you complete to build up a city or something)
Dominion a weird CCG game a like (without the buying new cards nonsense) which comes with 500 cards and your aim is to build a deck.

Or

Tales of the Arabian Nights which is a board game mixed with a choose your own adventure. It comes with a book where 3000 different things can happen. I'm normally all about the game's mechanics and this one has none as it is purely luck based and full of nonsense, but amazing fun.

Ace. Zombies should arrive this week. I'll have the social secretary work out a space in the calendar.

I suppose we could do an afternoon in a pub which has a large table in lieu of a weekend. We can probably organise this at shortish notic, too

'Ticket to Ride' and 'Carcassone' are ace, though I think the former is probably easier to learn and grasp (the rules on farmers in 'Carcassone' can be a bit tricky at first).

I really like 'Chrononauts', a time-travel card game. The mechanism of flipping over critical events and watching it ripple through time is very smart. Most games descend into multiple deaths and resurrections of Hitler though...

'Blast off'? The winner is the first person to understand the rules of the game.

though!‽ though!?! THOUGH!!??

wantwantwant.

EDIT: THERE IS A BACK TO THE FUTURE VERSION! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrononauts

Chrononauts is really good.

I think interior of MaliTowers can sleep 5 or 6 guests if people don't mind some snuggling, so I could offer some accommodation if people want gaming chez moi. Have two tables in living room.

It could be, but there needs to be some incentive for the players to not play defensively.
(The game, for those who aren't aware of it, involves building up an evil genius lair then luring spies in to kill them, with bonus points for successful taunting).

Sometimes games work because of the experience rather than the mechanism. I love 'The Big Idea', where people make crazy inventions and pitch them, ala 'Dragon's Den', but the actual way people score is somewhat arbitrary.

Are we allowed to include card games?
If so, then the best game ever invented is obviously "Shithead".

Oh! With the plastic lava! Yes!

Arkham Horror is acebest...especially if you are into your Lovecraft...however even the basic game does require an awful lot of real estate to play.

Looking forward to the new Lovecraft game Mansion of Madness (or something like that).

Maybe you already know this, but if not, make sure to play by the officially revised rules, which can be downloaded from http://www.riograndegames.com/games.html?id=48. They are much easier for new players to understand, and make the score easier and faster to tally up as well.

This isn't a problem if you play on the Xbox, though. Also, Curiosity can't spill wine on the pieces.

[edit]What's different about those rules?

I forget the exact name of it now. It was a Sherlock Holmes based game where you had to read clues and put it together. The difference, however, was that unlike Cluedo this one had actual cases that you needed to read through and study. This meant that you needed a notebook and had to think hard. Amazing game. When you were all done with all of the case files you could order extra ones, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. Will do some digging later !

JC, I think you're thinking of 221B Baker Street. I haven't played that one since I was a in my early teens, but I remember enjoying it.

I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to board games - I still love Cluedo, Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit but they're pretty much all I know. I got tricked into playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons with some of my geek mates at Uni and had one of the most dull and boring nights of my entire life, so I'm always fearful that these different board games you lot go on about that I've never heard of before would be like that.

Agricola! I'm a farmer! In the 17th century! In Germany! Lolz.

That's my first German board game. Played 3 games now. I luvs it.

That looks full of win.

I think the XBLA version uses the revised rules.

ORIGINAL RULES
Each completed city is scored once, giving 4 points to the player with most farmers 'supplying' the city. A farmer 'supplies' a city if he is in any farm that touches that city.

REVISED RULES
Each farm is scored once, giving the player with most farmers in a given farm 3 points per completed city touched by that farm.

EDITZ: Farm scoring is the only thing that has changed in the rules revision.

For drunken silliness 'The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game' is rather good...bet on horses and then nobble them as they go round the track.

I'm quite fond of the rather obscure game Quoridor, especially when drunk as it's quite brilliant at starting arguments.

I had a Willow (ie. the film) board game when I was younger.
That was okay, I seem to recall.

As a fan of Hero Quest as a nipper, we tried 'Key to the Kingdom' as a change of pace.

Time taken assembling the board: 30 minutes
Time before my brother won the game: 10 minutes
Time taken for Dad to give game to neighbours: 1 hour.

Well, I read that wrong.

Gay.

That looks brilliant, and gains extra marks for being suitable for two players. Might see if I can obtain that at some point.

Yeah, it's best with two players. Four players can be better arguments-wise as everyone starts talking smack about people blocking their path, though

That was the one yes ! Fantastic stuff.

What was pleasing was that we (myself and the friend I used to play it with) came to find when reordering the case cards that the company who supplied them was only three miles from where we lived. So we used to pop along and pick them up

Ah yes here we go Blucey will know this well..



They used to be based in Colliers wood, but I think the part they were on (in the industrial bit opposite Phipps Bridge) has been flattened now for council houses).

I have played this after buying it for my brother. It is fun.

Even more fun, is teh absolutely superb 'Abalone'. My brother and I once spent pretty much and entire 2 day Xmas stay playing this non-stop. Exceedingly addictive (2 players, btw).

ALso there are the simple but excellent 2 player games such as Stratego and Chess (to use a strange definition of 'simple').

Then there's the games such as "Kill Doctor Lucky", which is ace fun if played in the spirit of the game, as are the likes of "Devil Bunny Needs a Ham".

And then there's the epic games such as 'Axis & Allies' and 'Shogun', which I started about 562378 times and probably enver finished, as everyone always plays defensively and you can never compeltely win unless you have about a zillion hours in which to play. Still fun as a nipper though!

Blast Off! is shit.

Unless you really like Snakes and Ladders, because it's just an overly complicated version.

Gawd you just reminded me of of this.

http://vzone.virgin.net/vintage.games/shop/totopoly.htm

REVIEW!!!

Zombies!!!! is good fun. MrsA and I had a game and it took about 90 minutes, but I think it will be quicker if we don't keep consulting the rules.

To win, you either make it to the chopper, or kill 25 of the undead. Each turn, you place a tile which builds the city up, place zombies on it and any health or bullet tokens. You then move, fight or both then move zombies one space.

The city builds quickly enough Abd you have cards which you can play at anytime to help you or hinder other players.

I'd recommend this, but buy more zombies as the starting 100 isn't sufficient. With mire players it would be even more fun.

Overall, 8/10 and earns its place alongside Ticket to Ride and Carcassone.

I've added Ticket to Ride to my Amazon basket - might click "order" soon. Looks ace. Haven't played a board game for years.

Sorry for slightly changing the subject of the thread Dr Lave; but surely we should all at least be listing the XBLA Boardgames we have...you know for organising games and such like?

For me it's:

Ticket to Ride
Catan
Carcasonne
Risk: Factions

I own Zombies!!! and have two expansion packs for it. I rarely play it though it is good fun. I just don't play board games much. Should we have a board games meet I'll fetch it. If I come.

Which I probably won't.

Because I hate you all.

Obviously.

I really enjoyed it. What I did wrong last night was going to the hospital (was next to the starting tile) to be able to play the First Aid Kit card in front of me and then going 3 tiles over to go to another shop to play the +3 bullets card. MrsA then stopped me moving for one turn, and in the subsequent three turns I rolled a 1 and two 2s for movement. MrsA had cleared out a whole bunch of zombies in her wake and had 18 in her pile with 5 bullets and 5 health. in the next few turns she went down to no bullets and four health and was making for the chopper. She also stopped me moving. Again. We had 100 zombies on the board at this point. So I decided to play the card to make her move 5 spaces and sent her through 5 zombies. Amazingly, she rolled a 4 or higher for all of them, and then was on a score of 23, with 4 health. I played the Alternative food source card and tried to make a break for the chopper knowing that it was ll over soon. I rolled a 1 for movement and then tried to get the zombies around her away. It all failed miserably, and she won with 25 kills to my 8.

next time, I'm going to swap my cards out more often, and keep moving through the city and only go into stores if they are close and I have the card.

I got Catan for my birthday. Really looking forward to playing it.

Oh, that is good news.

if we're talking board games, only Go counts. Not the travel game


And drunk with friends, settlers of catan is hard to beat...