Board / Card Game Recommendations

[Gargamel]

My SO and I have found ourselves playing a lot of board games of late, there's even a cafe in the area that we frequent.   The problem is, this is like going into a library (it is literally a library TBH) and having to guess which books you'll like right off the bat.   We hate wasting 30-45 minutes trying to learn a game to just realize it's not what we want.   So I started a google spreadsheet where we can manage our "reading list" while we're there.    I just copied the list from their website and pasted it into  xcel and alphabetized it.  https://www.tabletopcleve.com/new-index

So, if anybody has any recommendations from the list, or in general, share them! 

[TheSaint]

Oh dear. You seem to have inadvertently tapped into another one of my major geekouts.

Okay, so, I'm going to run down your list there and just comment on games I've actually played, as opposed to things I've heard second hand.

Gloomhaven: Everyone raves about Gloomhaven. It's literally the #1 rated game on Boardgame Geek. I bought the digital edition to see what all the hype was about. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled. It felt like an RPG with a ton of mechanics implemented to limit what you're allowed to do. And, it's a legacy game, so the whole point is that the game changes permanently as you play through it. So I wouldn't recommend playing a copy that  is sitting in a game library. If you really do want to give it a whirl and get the full experience, you can either shell out $150 for a physical copy on Amazon, or buy the digital edition when it goes on sale on Steam, I think I paid $10.

Scythe: Also another highly hyped game that I bought the digital edition for. It's fun, it's like a resource/process building game that also involves some player conflict. I liked it enough that I've debated buying the physical edition for the family.

7 Wonders: No joke, one of the best games ever made. We have had the base game and several of the expansions for years, and they still get played on a regular basis. One of our all time favorites. One of the few on the list I would say you shouldn't bother playing the loaner, just buy it.

Agricola: Legendary worker placement/resource allocation game. We have the first edition of Agricola, which from what I understand is much more dense and complicated than the second edition. We still enjoy it, but it is not everyone's cup of tea. Even we don't play with every option, and a typical game still takes three or four hours. If the one on their shelf is the new edition, I would say give it a try. You will either love it or hate it.

Le Havre: It's a fun worker placement/resource game, sort of like Agricola, but a bit simpler. Definitely worth playing.

Power Grid: I want to say this was the second game we bought when we started getting into German board games, what, fifteen years ago? It still gets pulled out and played every couple of months. Absolute classic. Buy it with confidence.

1960: Making of a President: Another very highly rated game that I went straight out and bought when we started getting into games. And, man, I really wanted to love this game. I loved the concept, the execution seemed great. We played it three or four times, gave it every chance. It just never worked for us. One of the games we wound up selling for quite a bit of money on EBay, since it's very popular and out of print. Give it a try, YMMV.

Twilight Struggle: Another one like 1960. Seemed like it would be right up my alley, but when I actually started to get into it I realized that it was just too crunchy, too much detail. too many little fiddly rules to keep track of. It makes Agricola look simple and unsophisticated. Some folks love games like that, but they don't really get any traction in our house.

Puerto Rico: This was literally the first German-style board game we bought. At the time we started we were buying our games from a little game shop near our house, and when the owner found out we were just starting out he said, "Start with Puerto Rico." He was not wrong. Fun worker placement game, just complex enough to be interesting, but not complex enough to be a turn-off. Now that I see it on the list I'm asking myself, "Why don't we play Puerto Rico more?"

Dominion: I am not a fan of Dominion, I just don't like deck-building games. But I am the only person in my household who isn't. We have, like four expansions for it and it gets played constantly, maybe more than any other game we own, actually. So, in complete truth-in-advertising, you should give it a try.

Galaxy Trucker: This is just a stupid fun game. Go into it expecting to lose by complete random chance, with a willingness to laugh at your own misfortune, and you will enjoy it.

Catan: Catan is one of the most popular board games on the planet. It is universally reviled in our house. We bought it early on, played it a couple of times, trying to figure out why it was so popular, and never figured it out. It's a dice-rolling contest. There is a tiny bit of strategy involved, but once you figure that out it's all luck. If the dice come up well for you, you win. If they don't you lose. But unlike, say, Galaxy Trucker, the game doesn't do a good job of keeping you busy while it is killing you by random chance. If things are going poorly for you, you roll the dice, do nothing, and your turn is over. Terrible game, another one we wound up selling on EBay.

Chicago Express: Looked like a great game. Fun to play once. When we went to play it again, we realized that there was one-and-only-one winning strategy. Poor game design. Sold on EBay.

Tokaido: Played this once. One of my friends from California brought it when he was visiting, and it was so much fun. I really should pick up a copy. Maybe for my wife's birthday. <makes note> Just such a unique game premise and execution.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill: A great game, very unique mechanic that I've never really seen anyone else try, except maybe Shadows over Camelot. Cooperative game where, somewhere in the middle of the game, the mechanic flips and one of the players randomly becomes the enemy that all of the other players have to defeat. You really do need a lot of people who are into the concept for it to be fun.

Small World: My wife hates this game. She hates games that involve direct conflict, she just wants to ruin everyone else economically, like in Agricola or Power Grid. Small World is a war game, pure and simple. It has some twists to it, but the goal is to eliminate your opponents as quickly and efficiently as possible. I love it, but the rest of my family is meh.

Camel Up: Another simple, fun game. This one is dice-rolling, but it is more of a gambling/statistics mechanic. We bought it to be a simple game to play with our in-laws, and they hated it because our kids would run circles around them. They just sit there and crunch the numbers in their heads like little computers. It's amusing to watch.

Colt Express: Really fun game, lots of 3D elements. I think the only reason we don't play it more is that the train parts make it a pain to set up and put away. But the actual game play is really fun.

Kingdom Builder: We bought this to play with the kids when they were little-littles. Not a bad game, but it has really simple mechanics and strategy. Haven't played it in years now, probably should sell it.

Ticket to Ride: Another perennial favorite. Gets played regularly in our house. Simple, elegant. The base game has some strategy flaws, but most of the expansions are better balanced.

Cosmic Encounter: I love Cosmic Encounter. Everyone else in my family hates it. To be fair, I don't know what edition they have on the shelf there. I own the Mayfair edition, which went out of print decades ago. I hear the newer editions are inferior.

San Juan: Two-player card game version of Puerto Rico. Really fun, totally worth playing.

Zooloretto: Another one we bought for the kids when they were little. Really fun and simple for youngsters.

Viticulture: What a great game. Worker placement game with lots of twists and options. We have the Essentials expansion, never played without it, so I can't speak for the base game. But the version we have is really good. Highly recommended.

Acquire: Classic game. Used to play the Avalon Hill version in high school all the time. I assume that the newer edition is unchanged. One of those simple, but deep strategy games.

Splendor: Another family favorite, although it is a bit hobbled around our house since it only handles four players. Still sees a lot of play when one of us is unavailable.

Pit: TWO! TWO! TWO! TWO! Great game for punchy teenagers at 3:00 in the morning.

Carcassone: Fun little game. The tiles will make or break you, so don't imagine that it isn't random chance. But it is worth playing.

Isle of Skye: Carcassone with money. And more strategy. Another one of those games we really like but just never get around to playing.

Robo Rally: Awesome game. Really hard to find a copy these days. It's kind of like Galaxy Trucker, where the cards will hose you but you will be laughing so hard you won't care. If you like programming and destroying stuff with comical robots, play it, you'll love it.

Forbidden Desert: We never played Forbidden Island, because it only handled four players. But Forbidden Desert is the sequel, and it's great. Cooperative game, all the players against the board.

Pandemic: Absolute classic. The expansions are hit and miss, I don't really feel like they added a lot to the game. Another cooperative game, everyone against the board.

Munchkin: I should love Munchkin, since I'm a big Steve Jackson fan. But I don't. My kids play it all the time, but I just never got into it. It's a very simple, random game. It's very popular, maybe you'll love it.

Azul: Fantastic game. Simple, deep strategy. Beautiful components. The only reason we haven't bought a copy: four players. 

Sheriff of Nottingham: A fun little game. It's all about lying and bluffing. If you're not a bunch of poker players this isn't your game. If you're a poker player and nobody else is you will crush everyone else. Ask me how I know....

Kill Dr. Lucky: I love this game. Simple concept, so fun to play. I still have the Cheapass version in the white envelope. I have a ton of those, actually, from back in the day when you could buy them in a game store for a buck. James Earnest is an unrecognized genius.

 

[Geonovast]

Catan.  Catan.  Catan.

[18Watt]

Simpsons Trivia game would be fun, if you like the Simpsons that is.

I didn't see Sequence in the list, but it's a really long list, I could have missed it.  Sequence is a simple to learn card/board game, but difficult to master.

Crikey that's a lot of games!

[Gargamel]

5 hours ago, 18Watt said:

Crikey that's a lot of games!

That's our problem.  The hosts are excellent in suggesting games, but even then, there's so much to choose from.

5 hours ago, TheSaint said:

Okay, so, I'm going to run down your list there and just comment on games I've actually played, as opposed to things I've heard second hand.

Excellent!   Added a number of "want to plays" to my spreadsheet.   It's very convenient that the cafe is around the corner, as we can play a game multiple times before purchasing if we choose.   Our first game was "The Hive", simple no speaking card stacking game.   Host said she'd never seen anybody get beat the game, we beat it on our second try, got free drinks from the host on that one.   We enjoyed that one so much, we ended up buying it (You might enjoy for a light warmup game @TheSaint).  

"Wordsey" was one of my favorites, as it tickles my ADD mind significantly.  Ever play scrabble and think "If I only had these three letters...", well no you do have those three letters.  And it's about speed, so the random bouncing in my brain is a plus for once in my life.  Shared letters on the board, and you score only those letters, but your not constrained to just those letters.  My girl, who is no intellectual slouch herself, was just decimated playing this.   One of the reasons I loved it and she got it for me for my birthday. 

[adsii1970]

5 hours ago, TheSaint said:

Oh dear. You seem to have inadvertently tapped into another one of my major geekouts.

Same problem here. But I won't bore anyone with my list of games. I'll just toss out a few of my most very favorites. These are in no certain order with the exception of how they came to my migraine-pained and depression-wrecked brain:

• Kingmaker by Avalon games. One of my first "bookcase" games I picked up in Germany. Hours of fun for a teenager who loved English/British history.
• Axis and Allies - the board game that took forever to set up and a really good game could stretch into a week. At 14 years old, this is how I got into drinking coffee. Black. I still own my third copy of this game, purchased in 1998, but I've not had a group to play it with since 2003. So, it sits in the game closet.
• Clue! Yeah, the old cheesy board game. Was very good at it.
• Uno - the card game. Not the modern renditions of the game. Just the good old fashioned game.
• Spades - another great game. But cannot play it alone.
• Solitare - and it's a good thing I can play it alone.
• Chess - always loved the strategy of a good game. When you play someone who is either way below your level or way above your level, it sucks.
• Mancala - I was introduced to this game by a good friend of mine from Israel back in the 1990s. Been playing it ever since when I get the chance to play with someone who knows how to play it.
• Dominoes - how can anyone be in the U.S. military for any length of time and not learn how to play and come to love playin' the bones!  Spent many Friday and Saturday nights on lockdown playing dominoes.
• Upwords
• Boggle
• Scrabble

[TheSaint]

1 hour ago, Gargamel said:

That's our problem.  The hosts are excellent in suggesting games, but even then, there's so much to choose from.

Excellent!   Added a number of "want to plays" to my spreadsheet.   It's very convenient that the cafe is around the corner, as we can play a game multiple times before purchasing if we choose.   Our first game was "The Hive", simple no speaking card stacking game.   Host said she'd never seen anybody get beat the game, we beat it on our second try, got free drinks from the host on that one.   We enjoyed that one so much, we ended up buying it (You might enjoy for a light warmup game @TheSaint).  

"Wordsey" was one of my favorites, as it tickles my ADD mind significantly.  Ever play scrabble and think "If I only had these three letters...", well no you do have those three letters.  And it's about speed, so the random bouncing in my brain is a plus for once in my life.  Shared letters on the board, and you score only those letters, but your not constrained to just those letters.  My girl, who is no intellectual slouch herself, was just decimated playing this.   One of the reasons I loved it and she got it for me for my birthday. 

Oh, two-player card games, don't know how I missed it the first time around: 7 Wonders Duel is excellent for that. Give that one a try as well.

My wife crushes everyone at the worker placement/resource harvesting/process building type games, like Agricola, Viticulture, etc. She just has this uncanny ability to plan everything out four or five turns in advance and down to the last dollar/worker/resource. The running joke whenever we play one of those is that Mom always wins and the rest of us are just playing for second place.

[Entropian]

10 hours ago, TheSaint said:

Catan: Catan is one of the most popular board games on the planet. It is universally reviled in our house. We bought it early on, played it a couple of times, trying to figure out why it was so popular, and never figured it out. It's a dice-rolling contest. There is a tiny bit of strategy involved, but once you figure that out it's all luck. If the dice come up well for you, you win. If they don't you lose. But unlike, say, Galaxy Trucker, the game doesn't do a good job of keeping you busy while it is killing you by random chance. If things are going poorly for you, you roll the dice, do nothing, and your turn is over. Terrible game, another one we wound up selling on EBay.

I'm so happy to finally find someone else whose hatred of Catan rivals my own.  Nobody in my family or friend group understands how luck-based the thing is.

[TheSaint]

41 minutes ago, Entropian said:

I'm so happy to finally find someone else whose hatred of Catan rivals my own.  Nobody in my family or friend group understands how luck-based the thing is.

Well, the problem with it isn't even that it's heavy on luck. We have a lot of games like that that we really enjoy, it's just part of the game. The problem is that in Catan, when a player's luck starts to run sour, the game becomes really boring for that player. And they have no control over it, they have to just pray their luck turns around. It's just a poor game design.

[cubinator]

I have heard that there is an Apollo 11 board game. 

[TheSaint]

29 minutes ago, cubinator said:

I have heard that there is an Apollo 11 board game. 

Maybe. But these may be closer to what you are really looking for:

High Frontier 4 All

Terraforming Mars

Attack Vector: Tactical

[jimmymcgoochie]

I’ll throw in a couple of card games:

Dobble: it’s like Snap on steroids- each card has ten different things on it and has at least one in common with every other card, you just have to get your card in first and say what you’re matching. Works better the more people you have.

Jungle Speed: Again super-Snap but with a greater chance of staved knuckles- see a match, grab the wooden totem in the middle, hand highest to the top wins in the event of a draw. You might not have all your fingernails when you’re done, but it’s good fun nonetheless, reaction times dependent. Many players.

Dutch Blitz: Another one where fast reflexes are key, it’s possible to play it with regular playing cards but you’ll need two packs. Two piles in the middle, you can play a card one higher or lower on top and the aim is to get rid of your cards as fast as possible and then pick a pile for the next round- pick the smaller one! First to empty their entire hand wins, so it gets very tactical near the end. Two players only.