Board Games!

[zoraster]

blockus is a great game

[Mr. Flay]

Pandemic gets MUCH harder at 4-5 players though, and has the risk of new players getting steered around by the veteran(s).

TTR is good for that number of players. Dominion is good. Oasis is good if you have it, though it's hard to explain.

Blokkus us amazingly entertaining for such a simple game. Good for all ages too.

[diginova]

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.

[Sudo_Nym]

Betrayal is a neat game, but I wouldn't use it as a gateway game. If I was trying to get people who've never played a "non-PB" game, I'd start with something either rules light like TTR, or lighthearted, like Munchkin. Or you can go the other way and play something cooperative like Pandemic, where the more experienced can directly help the less experienced (but hopefully not just ordering them around).

[zoraster]

agree with Sudo. unless it's halloween time.

[xRECKONERx]

Betrayal is fantastic and it works well if someone understands the game because it's really easy to explain.

"Okay, what's your sanity? Okay, roll that many dice."

[hasdgfas]

Betrayal is a neat game, but I wouldn't use it as a gateway game. If I was trying to get people who've never played a "non-PB" game, I'd start with something either rules light like TTR, or lighthearted, like Munchkin. Or you can go the other way and play something cooperative like Pandemic, where the more experienced can directly help the less experienced (but hopefully not just ordering them around).

I think Betrayal works because of the theme and the fact that you build the board as you go. Those sorts of things make people go "board games can do cool things".

[petroleumjelly]

I

don't

think Betrayal is a good gateway game. It has a lot of ticky-tacky rules that even veteran players forget. And if a new person ends up being the betrayer, they can end up being hopelessly confused, but not wanting to ask questions for fear of giving away what they are supposed to do.

[Sudo_Nym]

Yeah. Generally, you want something that's a lot of fun, but has very simple rules, so that the strategy doesn't overwhelm people before they can get hooked. Stone Age is another good one like that.

[Chevre]

My friends are horrible for this. I mean a few nights ago I tried to explain 1000 Blank White Cards to them and they were like "that's tooo haaard"

[Claus]

Betrayal is a neat game, but I wouldn't use it as a gateway game. If I was trying to get people who've never played a "non-PB" game, I'd start with something either rules light like TTR, or lighthearted, like Munchkin. Or you can go the other way and play something cooperative like Pandemic, where the more experienced can directly help the less experienced (but hopefully not just ordering them around).

I think Betrayal works because of the theme and the fact that you build the board as you go. Those sorts of things make people go "board games can do cool things".

I feel carcassone is better in that regard, as far as "new players" go. You still build the board, but the rules are more immediately graspable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Betrayal, but unless you are already an RPG or videogame player, keeping track of your inventory/hitpoints etc, while thinking about a goal that will change mid-game adding a slew of new rules may be a step a bit too big.

[Nexus]

My lady and I went halves and bought Arkham Horror today (£49.99!)

After spending half an hour setting up the game, and following the instructions, we ended up stopping and watching someone on youtube set up the game - I have no idea whether we were doing something specifically wrong or I was just being a thicko.

Anyway, long story short our Terror Level raised to the maximum, the monster bowl ran out, the boss devoured me and my gf's character couldn't actually roll to attack because her bonuses were too low.

It was a fun, if infuriating game though. Hopefully we will play again tomorrow/later and have more success. She also has the Discworld Ankh-Morpork game, which is a lot of fun.

Contemplating finding some other games to purchase, preferably two players (because she's just moved and has yet to find others to game with), preferably longish games. I do enjoy Ascension, so might see if I can find a copy of that somewhere, but does anyone have any recommendations?

Cheers.

[Axxle]

Arkham's a great game, but I suggest playing with two characters each since two players total is a bit difficult.

[Chevre]

A few days ago I played Lord of the Rings. God it was tedious, I don't know if I want to play it again. I like how the fellowship travelling with the ring gave Risk a time limit.

Hopefully it acts as a sort of gateway game; it was the most strategic game we've played.

[Nexus]

Arkham's a great game, but I suggest playing with two characters each since two players total is a bit difficult.

Yeah but we still need to learn everything - didn't want to add any unnecessary stresses to the first playthrough...

[xRECKONERx]

7 Wonders. Oh my god fantastic.

[zoraster]

yeah we played a ton of 7 wonders this christmas. A great game for a medium size group too. Played with my sister's new puppy:

[Nexus]

7 Wonders is a lot of fun. Lots of number crunching at the end though.

[TheButtonmen]

I'm looking for a board game that takes 2-6 (4 is the most cruical number to hit) for a group of people who are experienced boardgame players, idly a runtime of about 30-45 mins ideas?

[xRECKONERx]

The iPad app is amazing for 7W.

Buttons: check out Kingsburg

[zoraster]

7 wonders would be your game at that player range (6p) and time. There aren't that many that will fit both those criteria. 4p alone would open you up to more games (dominion for example), and if you move up to 1-2 hours you get a lot more games. lots of games top out at 5p though

[zoraster]

reck: when i checked out 7 wonders on the ipad it just showed me a bejeweled game and a 7 wonders helper? or is the helper what you mean?

[xRECKONERx]

Yeah actually 7W is perfect

Zor: it's called the 7Wonders companion or something. Adds setup randomizer, stat tracking, score assistant, a new wonder, and a lot of quick reference cheat sheet type things.

[hitogoroshi]

Speaking of Arkham Horror, I played that last night. Be careful about expansions. It will eat your table, and a side table...



...and ANOTHER side table...



But it's all worth it when you can put Bokrug in his goddamn place.



Also, I have elevated storage of this game to an art form.

[zoraster]

jesus.