Board Games!

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For 4, I'd recommend Alien Frontiers.
If you don't have it, I'd also highly recommend Betrayal at House on the Hill. It plays up to 5, and has an interesting traitor mechanic when one player (or the house itself, depending on which scenario occurs) turns against the party and you then try to fight them.

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Lords of Waterdeep. It's one of the most fun worker placements I've had.
Also, if you like 7W and Magic, I would highly recommend Seasons.

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Space Alert. Those memories *shudder*
It's a fun game, but dying in a fire in space because I forgot to jiggle the mouse to prevent the screensaver...

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Shadow Hunters is also a great Mafia-esque game. It has elimination, but it's easier to get into.
Bang! is also on a similar vein.

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Ascension still has the issue (even with expansions) of get 4 or more Mechana constructs = Win.

Thunderstone 2 (the rerelease) is a lot better than Thunderstone 1. It's another good deckbuilding game.

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Did you have them in play? Their synergy with each other plus the fact that they are worth VP = cost means I've never lost a game where I get at least 4 Mechanas. (Now, my deck isn't solely Mechana; once I get enough money to buy the 7- and 8-cost ones, I switch into killing things)

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Galaxy Trucker is insanely fun. It's a bit chaotic/too RNG for some of my group's taste, but I always enjoy it.

If you like strategy with very low randomness, I would highly recommend Brass. It's top-10 on BGG for a very good reason.

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If you like Thunderstone, have you played Ascension?
Nightfall's also good, but my absolute favorite deckbuilder at the moment is Eminent Domain - and it doesn't even have random setup.

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So reading through the thread and seeing Reck's earlier complaints about TTR, I think that exactly encompasses what my group needs: a game where no matter whose turn it is, everyone is at least somewhat involved. For example, in Catan even when it isn't your turn, the dice might give you resources to ponder, and trades will happen, and all this in addition to possible building on the board. Looking at my list of potential buys, I think Puerto Rico and Dominion encapsulate this, but what about 7 Wonders?

I was about to buy Carcassonne after pondering FOREVER with the long list, but after this realization I'm definitely not so certain. I think we'll end up playing some games tonight maybe, so I'll see how a game like Hey, That's My Fish goes before I make another purchase.

Race for the Galaxy would be a good one.
Smallworld has less interaction, but still has trying to convince your opponents to skip attacking you

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Seasons is excellent. It's pretty much literally Magic, though, plus the expansion is expensive for what you get.

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I've found that Agricola overstays its welcome about a half hour to an hour too long for me, especially if you have a new player.

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Anyone at gencon this weekend?

For the first time in six years, no.
It used to be right before college started and an hour away. Now I'm on the other side of the country.

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This is good

I have playtest pdfs if anyone wants to check it out. My friend Grant is the designer, and it's fucking hilarious.

That seems awesome.

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I'm getting ready to run another game in person - which would your recommend between Cyberpunk or Shadowrun 5/e? I could also just say screw it and run a Numenera campaign instead.

On an unrelated note, anyone going to PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend and want to meet up for a board game or two?

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Forbidden Desert for co-op.
And Pathfinder the card game, but you're pretty much playing a campaign there.

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Splendor is really fun, though $25 is a pretty standard online price.
It's a light game but with a nice amount of strategy... it's a pretty standard 30-45 minute game in my group now.
I ran it in MM last month if you want to see how it plays out.

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King's Forge is very similar but more random, but it also has a bit more player interaction than Splendor.

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I'd be up for the BSW group.

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Lost Cities is an amazing 2p... it's older and light, but I've never had someone not like playing it, even non-board gamers.
There's also a board game version of it that plays 2-4.

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Desert is better than Island IMO, specifically because you're in control and can't lose due to one of your requirements to win sinking
If you're going co-op though also add Pandemic.

Reck, you should join the game of Robo Rally that's going to start next week
I'm also going to start Game 2 of Splendor once it gets a couple new players.

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So has anyone tried

In the Grove

? It's a microgame but it's actually crazy fun. I may run it in MM as it's super simple.

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Lords of Waterdeep

also has an app.

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Why

It sounds kind of fun! But I definitely don't want to invest any money unless I'm sure that I like it.

Letters from Whitechapel

is probably your game for deductions. Or

Scotland Yard

Ooh, yes,

Letters from Whitechapel

is also very good.

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective

is the No.1 game that I want to try but finding a copy appears impossible at the moment.

I have a copy here, but that doesn't help.
I do have scans of everything you need if you want.

The issue I have with

Mystery Express

is that the timing part of the game is algorithmically solved, so it's one where new players will have trouble while people who have played before s

Mystery in the Abbey

is my preference for the hyper-Clue(do) game, as it is all about the deduction aspect.

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Just played a whole bunch of new Gen Con/Essen games.
I'll rank them later, but for now

Secret Moon

(Love Letter II) is really fun.

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Just played a whole bunch of new Gen Con/Essen games.
I'll rank them later, but for now

Secret Moon

(Love Letter II) is really fun.

I only have one question for you: Does this game have guard cards? They always confused me, I think I need Kanye to help explain it to me.

Technically it has Guards, but they work nothing like the Guards from Love Letter. They're basically just VTs.
If you're looking for a game that plays a lot like Love Letter, the other Love Letter sequel (Lost Legacy) is more your style.
This is basically "What would happen if we turned Love Letter into a Mafia game where nobody could talk"

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I'm running

Blood of the Werewolf

in MM (http://forum.mafiascum.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=59746).
Never played it before, but it's like a cross between Mafia and Hanabi/other games where everyone else except you can see your role.

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Holmes is super fun.
I may try running it again on here, but it died in MM previously.

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Also make sure you're playing the newer version of Betrayal. The errata for the first edition is longer than the rulebook.

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Go Ticket or Small World next if they loved Catan.

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My LGS finally got in some more copies of

Dead of Winter

.
BSG, you've had a good run, but I don't think I'll ever play it again. Dead of Winter takes the BSG formula and improves it in so many ways.

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Do you have

Small World

? I find that's my favorite gateway at the moment.

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If you want to mix up the style of game, I would suggest a Matt Lecock game. Forbidden Island or Pandemic are great for beginners and have a ton of replay.

I'd prefer Forbidden Desert over Island, as it doesn't have the feelbad of immediate game loss due to board state.
Roll for the Galaxy has also seen a lot of play in my group, and it's easier to get into than Race.

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I would be /in to be a cylon.

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Nothing's as bad as my luck with Shadow Hunters.
I've played 50 games and been Unknown 47 of them.

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Sheriff is boring

Also, Unknown is worse if everyone assumes you're it, as nobody will hand you Hermit cards.
(What's in the Shadow Hunters first aid kit anyway to deal 7 damage?)

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I played the AH version (from the 70s I think), but I've never played the Civ IV one.
Hopefully they simplified the tech tree.

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Come to Seattle!

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My go-to party game now is

Strut

.
Competitive Yahtzee pretty much. We can get cutthroat with it.

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So I won an extra copy of Dead of Winter at Tabletop Day. Would any scummers be up for a trade?

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I played a playtest of

Apocrypha

at ECCC last month; it's by the creator of the Pathfinder card game and is a spiritual successor to it.

Also, have any of you heard of this Kickstarter? I'm not involved in any way, just debating whether or not to back it. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/78 ... tan-series

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I'll also throw in my thumbs-up for

Bohnanza

, which doesn't get nearly enough play or love. It's one of the quintessential trading games.

I played

Dead of Winter

for the first time last night. Not since

Five Tribes

have I encountered a game with so much hype and so little to show for it. [/incendiary] I love the Crossroads mechanic, and I am fascinated with the "cooperative, but" element of the game, but

the entire rest of the game

is clunky and not nearly as good as almost every other co-op I can think of.

Did you play the base scenario (roll a die on every kill)? It's by far the weakest and most luck-based. There's luck involved, but there's enough to do even if you roll poorly or to balance out the luck (using food for +1 or building barricades / using fuel to move / getting weapons) that I've found it strikes a decent balance... moreso than

Battlestar

with bad rolls or

Pandemic

with bad Epidemic draws.