Boardgames, homies!

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Played Dune Imperium a couple of nights ago. I'm not really into heavy Euro games, but this one was fun. Many moving parts, pretty overwhelming in the beginning. I stumbled through the game and became Lord of Arrakis!

Star Wars Outer Rim: bought for a good price at a flea market since I'd heard that it plays a bit like Runebound, which I enjoyed. Turns out it's a really neat game with smooth flow, quick turns, exciting adventures, and many interlocking mechanisms and other bits and pieces (if your player character is Han Solo and you meet Chewbacca, you can get him for free etc.). Got home from the mate, and FOMO-ordered the expansion straight away.

Rail Raiders Infinite: it's really the piece of shit everybody says it is. Shame for the nice materials. Don't mind though, bought it for a tenner in a Christas sale a year ago.

Vagrant Song: interesting boss battler with dungeon crawler mechanics. Incredibly charming story (you're on a train to the afterlife and have to free traumatized souls so they can be reborn) and artwork (looks like a 1930s cartoon).

So what're y'all playing?

[Vanguard]

Board games own. I've been playing a ton of Splendor lately. I think my all time favorite is 7 Wonders, but it doesn't work very well unless you have at least 3 people.

[Stevens]

Ugh. I loathe 7 Wonders. First time I saw it was at a wedding reception. There was a large table upstairs playing that and a smaller table downstairs. Four of us went down and played two or three other games. We came back up and they were still explaining the rules of 7 Wonders. Not kidding.

To be fair maybe the people running it sucked, but I never got that taste out of my mouth.

Splendor is dope though. Don't pretend you don't play with the chips: ) My two favorites are Betrayal at House on the Hill and Colt Express.

[Some-Mist]

I started playing the modern stuff with the s/o's side of the family back around 2016, but didn't get real deep into it myself until the end of 2019. I learned quickly that it was best to get games that played well at two players because me and her love to play but it isn't always easy to get a group together.

favorite 2 player games would be lost cities and hive pocket
overall favorite would probably be castles of burgundy, 6 nimmt, and great western trail though quacks of quedlinburg is what really won her over

(also saashi and saashi owns)

[Vanguard]

Ugh. I loathe 7 Wonders. First time I saw it was at a wedding reception. There was a large table upstairs playing that and a smaller table downstairs. Four of us went down and played two or three other games. We came back up and they were still explaining the rules of 7 Wonders. Not kidding.

To be fair maybe the people running it sucked, but I never got that taste out of my mouth.

It's really hard to learn through explanation, but really easy to learn by trying. Best thing is to just start playing right away. It's not a long game.

[To Far Away Times]

Forbidden Island is fantastic. Great casual fun, with a turn based timer making the game more difficult as you go. Victory or defeat is usually decided by a razor thin margin and requires team strategy. Great stuff.

[Air Master Burst]

Forbidden Island is fantastic. Great casual fun, with a turn based timer making the game more difficult as you go. Victory or defeat is usually decided by a razor thin margin and requires team strategy. Great stuff.

We have Forbidden Desert and it's real good, even for just 2.

Lately the games that get the most play in our house are Sagrada (build a stained glass window with colored D6s), Azul (deceptively simple tile drafting and placement), and Mystic Vale (deckbuilding with sleeves you stack clear cards in, really cool).

[Ebbo]

Been playing Carcassonne somewhat irregularly for at least a decade now. Works well with two players (as long as there isn't a huge gap in experience) but with more players it can get absolutely backstabby and conniving in the best ways possible. I like how there's really no go-to strategy in terms of scoring, you just have to wing it and see how things develop during the actual play. The plethora of add-ons help to keep things fresh as well, but I'm not fond of the more modern look of the new prints. My tiles are starting to show their age and I anxiously await the day I'll inevitably have to update...

For a more lesser known title, Perdition's Mouth: Abyssal Rift offers some fun co-operative dungeon crawling action. No dice rolls but that doesn't make this one less brutal in the slightest. High production values as well, although just setting up can take a moment - also good luck getting anyone to join you when they see the mess, it can be quite a high maintenance game and they better be ready in for a long session

[Rob]

Got into modern-ish board games with my wife a few years back and have played quite a few games mentioned here. Simple and short 2P games. Favorite is Patchwork, followed by Lost Cities. Indian Summer (same designer as Patchwork, but a little busier), Jaipur and Kingdomino got a fair amount of play as well.

[Some-Mist]

kingdomino is so good, but her parents and extended family got obsessed with it and are like professional grade players at this point since it's all they play

We like Jaipur a lot too but have only played it a few times.

[Sumez]

Not a big board game player, but I got a cupboard full of interesting games that I like to play whenever a chance presents itself - which is obviously incredibly rare for a working... adult.. parent.

We have a friend couple that we try to meet up with regularly to play board games, but with Covid we ended up having a very long break, and now with kids, chances are only getting rarer.
Most recently though we've been playing Betrayal at House on the Hill. A fairly popular game that I played a few times in the past, and I didn't love it much. But my GF gifted it to me for my birthday without knowing what the game even was (I hadn't been talking about it or wishing for it), and we played it with the group mentioned above, and had a hell of a time, really a lot of fun.

Other games we've played with that group that I think were really succesful off the top of my head were Tales of the Arabian Nights, Pandemic, Smallworld, and Formula Dé.

I like to try out some of those heavy ameritrash games once in a while, but it's really hard to get fun sessions out of it if you don't have extremely common sessions, and experienced players. But when you need to spend the first few hours explaining the rules and then look up little details every other second while playing, it's not really that much fun. We managed to get a semi-successful game of Middle-Earth Quest up and running once, but we need more sessions to get the best out of that game. I also have a dream of some time finishing a session of Twilight Imperium. Probably not gonna happen in my lifetime

My ideal board game is one that doesn't take too long to play, has simple rules that feel clear cut enough that everyone is always aware of their options, and ideally have a really strong theme. Formula Dé is a perfect example of a gameplay-heavy game with super basic rules, that really manages to replicate the feeling of controlling the momentum of a racecar, while trying to weigh risks and rewards. Though when we played, one player was lagging behind and just gave up, which isn't fun for her.

Another fun one I've played a lot with my girlfriend is Summoner Wars, kind of a card game, but the cards move around a grid map like units. Feels slightly reminiscent of MTG but with preset decks. I love how each faction feels very distinct with their own strengths and weaknesses, and ideal playstyles. It's a great 2-player game, and has a functional 4-player variant using two maps, but I prefer the smaller duels.
It's a really cheap game to get into because there's a bunch of available starter packs including just two faction decks and a folded paper map. But if you can get hooked, you can buy one of the larger boxes with a real board and a bunch more factions, and of course a ton of standalone factions or expansions.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Great to see so many of youse are into boardgames!

Ugh. I loathe 7 Wonders. First time I saw it was at a wedding reception. There was a large table upstairs playing that and a smaller table downstairs. Four of us went down and played two or three other games. We came back up and they were still explaining the rules of 7 Wonders. Not kidding.

I'm not as much a fan as most of the boardgaming pals, but still it's a really elegant and rather simple game. Those goofs at the wedding must have been really bad at explaining rules...

My two favorites are Betrayal at House on the Hill and Colt Express.

Colt Express is an absolute classic that just never gets boring... every year, a mate and I play demo games at the Gamesvention in Kempten on the Colt Express gaming board I built for the wife:



I must have a better pic of the board somwhere...

edit: aaah, here we go:

Spoiler

My ideal board game is one that doesn't take too long to play, has simple rules that feel clear cut enough that everyone is always aware of their options, and ideally have a really strong theme. Formula Dé is a perfect example of a gameplay-heavy game with super basic rules, that really manages to replicate the feeling of controlling the momentum of a racecar, while trying to weigh risks and rewards. Though when we played, one player was lagging behind and just gave up, which isn't fun for her.
.

Formula De is one of my absolute favourites - really simple and elegant rules, interesting decisions during the races, and there are always exciting scenes you remember later. I bought every additional track for it.

[Stevens]

Wait...is that the sheriff on the locomotive? After taking a closer look I see the rest of the roster too. HOW?! Where did you get those?

The board is fantastic! How did you make it? I don't have anything like that but I always put on Sunset Riders ost when we play.

What I've always dug about CE is that it feels like a video game when you play out everyone's decisions. Nothing else quite like it.

My only real issue is the horses and stagecoach should be part of the base game. We never play without them. They add a lot to the game and make a great game even better. That said we never play with the captives - they don't add enough to make it worth it.

I have the second expansion too. Sheriff as a playable character works really well and doesn't feel forced at all.

I've house buffed a few of the characters to make them better but I still think Doc is the best character in the game. He gets his ability every turn.

Formula D is really good. I have a group and we're in the middle of a ten race season. We started basic but are going to add tires in the next race along with two cars each, like an F1 team would have.

As far two player games? We usually have a deck of Monopoly Deal on us. Odin's Ravens and Jaipur are ok too.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Wait...is that the sheriff on the locomotive? After taking a closer look I see the rest of the roster too. HOW?! Where did you get those?

The board is fantastic! How did you make it? I don't have anything like that but I always put on Sunset Riders ost when we play.

What I've always dug about CE is that it feels like a video game when you play out everyone's decisions. Nothing else quite like it.

My only real issue is the horses and stagecoach should be part of the base game. We never play without them. They add a lot to the game and make a great game even better. That said we never play with the captives - they don't add enough to make it worth it.

I have the second expansion too. Sheriff as a playable character works really well and doesn't feel forced at all.

Yeah, mate of mine (the dude in the background) sculpted and painted all of the characters. Needless to say, he's a Colt Express maniac too haha. The board's made out of styrofoam, pine bark, cork, and a variety of stones. I've been making terrain for miniature wargames for teh greatest part of my life, in fact it's my favourite part of the hobby... here's a bunch of terrain I made for Manowar (fantasy naval wargame Games Workshop made in the 90s; the wizard's towers were printed on a resin printer):







We usually put on something by Ennio Morricone when we play CS, but Sunset Riders is a great idea! The stagecoach expansion is amazing, yeah, it's so cinematic: you jump over to the coach, punch the coachman in the face, grab the money box, then try to dodge the coachman's shots because of course the dude landed on top of the train and is now angrily trying to snipe you. Great shit. Gotta admit we've only played the Sheriff expanion once and weren't sure we enjoyed it, but we need to play it again of course.

I've always wanted to play a whole season of Formula Dé; do you use a specific ruleset?

[Stevens]

Yeah, mate of mine (the dude in the background) sculpted and painted all of the characters. Needless to say, he's a Colt Express maniac too haha. The board's made out of styrofoam, pine bark, cork, and a variety of stones. I've been making terrain for miniature wargames for teh greatest part of my life, in fact it's my favourite part of the hobby... here's a bunch of terrain I made for Manowar (fantasy naval wargame Games Workshop made in the 90s; the wizard's towers were printed on a resin printer):







We usually put on something by Ennio Morricone when we play CS, but Sunset Riders is a great idea! The stagecoach expansion is amazing, yeah, it's so cinematic: you jump over to the coach, punch the coachman in the face, grab the money box, then try to dodge the coachman's shots because of course the dude landed on top of the train and is now angrily trying to snipe you. Great shit. Gotta admit we've only played the Sheriff expanion once and weren't sure we enjoyed it, but we need to play it again of course.

I've always wanted to play a whole season of Formula Dé; do you use a specific ruleset?

A few of my friends have gotten into painting miniatures. Yeah those back drops are really cool, thanks for sharing.

We're only a few races in. We started with one lap, added a second lap for the next race. 3rd race we're adding a second car each and tires. Figure easier to add things slow as to not get overwhelmed. We have stuck to the rules of whatever track we are playing, but they currently only have the base two that come with it.

Thanks for the Ennio Morricone suggestion!

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

We're only a few races in. We started with one lap, added a second lap for the next race. 3rd race we're adding a second car each and tires. Figure easier to add things slow as to not get overwhelmed. We have stuck to the rules of whatever track we are playing, but they currently only have the base two that come with it.

We've played many many games with the basic rules only and I think only tried out the advanced rules (which has different and pretty small pools of points for tires, motor, ...) once; the latter did not make the game more interesting or fun, all in all it mainly slowed the race down because you have fewer points for when you overshoot bends. Haven't even tried out the rules for weather. I guess we'll play the campaign with the basic rules, but with two laps for each track and pit stops.
Just checking ebay.com for track expansions, and as usual, most of them are laughably overpriced. They're getting scarcer by the minute though, I'd suggest buying the cheaper ones rather sooner than later. Here's the Singapore one for cheap:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304739158302?h ... R5KsnaGyYQ

[Immryr]

I love boardgames, although I haven't been playing too many recently. Like with most things I tend to go through spells where I will be really into playing boardgames, then won't play any/many for ages.

I prefer games a little more complex than most of the ones you guys seems to enjoy, although i do like lighter games too. My favourites are Tramways, Agricola and Polis fight for the hegemony. My girlfriend loves the dice rolling 'clever' series, so we also play quite a lot of those.

[Some-Mist]

Agricola owns. Although you can stick with it and play it over and over again (they have some pretty wild tournaments for it too) we usually switch between Agricola, Le Havre, and Nusfjord which my s/o refers to as agricola, agricola but about shipping, agricola with shipping lol

My favorite Rosenberg is glass road. It’s a bit simpler and much less fiddly than something like Le Havre but man that production wheel is a real mindfuck

Maybe a hot take but I also think a feast for odin is overrated