I've been using Vassal for awhile, there are a few pretty popular games that usually have people waiting to play, but otherwise you have to get your own group together. Like, I know Game of Thrones & Arkham Horror
I need recommendations for a board game for the family to play at Christmas, trying to keep away from the Milton/Park Brothers types but still suitable for a group who hasnt played anything harder than Risk.
AlyG: If he's not a joke account then what is he? He starts bandwagons on himself and insults other people.
i know lots of people love Settlers, and I admit a bias against it, but I don't actually think it's that great a game to introduce to a wide range of people. but it's not a BAD one to introduce.
@UA- depending on the sensibilities of the fam in question, i might recommend Guillotine. It's more a card game, but the rules are simple, there is strat involved, and it's rather fun/lightly irreverent.
Btw- is anyone on Yucata.de/en? It's a free board game website with many great games.
Mystery of the Abbey is a pretty good one too. It feels familiar to those who have played Clue, but more interesting. People in my family (even the not very game loving ones) have liked Dominion. Wits and Wagers is a pretty fun party game if your family likes guessing trivia.
To give a better idea of my family, they claim to like board games, but insist on playing games like Life, and Monopoly, and RISK, and I want to ease them into life outside of Parker Brothers
AlyG: If he's not a joke account then what is he? He starts bandwagons on himself and insults other people.
To give a better idea of my family, they claim to like board games, but insist on playing games like Life, and Monopoly, and RISK, and I want to ease them into life outside of Parker Brothers
Carcassonne is probably a really good idea, too. It was my first "non-Parker Brothers" board game and I still cherish it. I have non-geek friends who played with me all the time and they loved it.
Also, how many people are you looking to fit into a game? I actually recently had a friend bring over a game called Zombies!!! and while it was kind of slow for me, it was a lot of fun overall. It involves building the board as you go along and trying to run around and collect weapons/bullets/etc. while also trying to place zombies in your opponents' paths to try and get them eaten. Nobody gets "eliminated", if you "die" you just start back at the starting area, and the cards you can play for special actions all have comical flavor on it to make it fun.
To give a better idea of my family, they claim to like board games, but insist on playing games like Life, and Monopoly, and RISK, and I want to ease them into life outside of Parker Brothers
How many people?
jdodge1019: hasjghsalghsakljghs is from vermont
jdodge1019: vermont is made of liberal freaks and cows
jdodge1019: he's not a liberal
jdodge1019: thus he is a cow
Do you think they'd enjoy co-op games, along the lines of Elder Sign or Pandemic? Or all against one such as Scotland Yard or what Betrayal at House on the Hill becomes after the haunt? 4-5 are great numbers for all those games(although I think Pandemic only goes up to 4?)
jdodge1019: hasjghsalghsakljghs is from vermont
jdodge1019: vermont is made of liberal freaks and cows
jdodge1019: he's not a liberal
jdodge1019: thus he is a cow
What I love about Scotland Yard is that it has a neat theme and it's relatively easy to figure out the strategy necessary as the investigators. I'd call it a good gateway game, even.
jdodge1019: hasjghsalghsakljghs is from vermont
jdodge1019: vermont is made of liberal freaks and cows
jdodge1019: he's not a liberal
jdodge1019: thus he is a cow
UA: have you tried "blockus". Maybe it is not "boardgame-y" in the sense that it doesn't have a heavy backdrop such as the games everyone here plays. But maybe because of it, it is very approachable, has very few rules, and still there are quite a few strategies that can be developed and even discussed.
I introduced boardgames this weekend to a group of 5 friends through the: Blockus --> TTR --> Turn The Tide route, and everyone loved the games.
