Top 5 Boardgames

[Bergie]

Okay, here's the question:

Pick 5 boardgames that everyone should own instead of the 'typical' games such as monopoly.

1) Settlers of Catan
2) Ticket to Ride
3) Tales of the Arabian Nights
4) Lords of Waterdeep
5) Guillotine

What games are on your 'everyone should own' list?

[JackSlack]

Carcassone, Catan & Ticket to Ride. In no particular order. These remain to my mind the essential games, the three true greats.

After that, I'm not sure. Though I agree that Lords of Waterdeep is very, very good.

[ChroniclerC]

The Game of Thrones boardgame is fascinating, if a little difficult to teach. The game has almost zero random elements, so play is basically all down to your skill in bluffing and reading the other players.

The all of the games in the Arkham Horror series that I've had the chance to try are quite good. (Arkham Horror, Elder Sign, Eldritch Horror, & Mansions of Madness.) Although they do tend to take a good chunk of time, and expect for your group to lose as many games as they win, if not more. But you'll come out of it with great stories ("Did... Did you just kill a shoggoth with a fire extinguisher?")

I grew up with Talisman, so of course I have a fondness for that.

They've already been mentioned, but Ticket To Ride and Lords of Waterdeep are great. I've used them to introduce non-gamers to complex board games.

Oh, and some friends recently got me into Dominion. Fascinating build-your-deck-as-you-play kind of game, and there's a free (for the base set, at least) browser-based online version.

[Master Gunner]

The all of the games in the Arkham Horror series that I've had the chance to try are quite good. (Arkham Horror, Elder Sign, Eldritch Horror, & Mansions of Madness.) Although they do tend to take a good chunk of time, and expect for your group to lose as many games as they win, if not more. But you'll come out of it with great stories ("Did... Did you just kill a shoggoth with a fire extinguisher?")

I once punched out Cthulu. It was amazing.

[JackSlack]

Also, Guillotine isn't a board game.

[Bergie]

It is a tabletop game, and I included it for variety.

[Duckay]

I know that it's a "typical" game, but in addition to Ticket to Ride and Carcassone, I would stand by Risk.

[JustHarms]

Throwing in a vote for Catan and the Arkham games for sure. Seven Wonders is also great and has some unique mechanics. And if you really like losing at board games there's always Pandemic.

[JackSlack]

JustHarms: Have you played Shadows Over Camelot? I'm really keen for someone who's played both to defend Pandemic over SoC; I was very unimpressed with Pandemic by comparison, so curious to why someone would take it over the other.

[JustHarms]

@JackSlack I haven't, but from what I just internetted it sounds cool. Questing and fighting black knights is always choice. Now if I could convince my friends to play a game with a betrayal mechanic. :/

[ChroniclerC]

@JackSlack I haven't, but from what I just internetted it sounds cool. Questing and fighting black knights is always choice. Now if I could convince my friends to play a game with a betrayal mechanic. :/

Betrayal at House on the Hill. Starts off as a generic horror story, with the players being the idiots stumbling into the creepy old house. Halfway through, the Haunt will begin, and you'll find out which horror story you're playing. The kicker is that the game will then, based on the events so far, chose one of the players to become the Traitor. And what started out as a co-op exploration game turns into one-versus-everyone-else survival game.

[JackSlack]

Betrayal's got some iffy mechanics and any individual game can be hit or miss, to my mind, but it's definitely inventive and when it works, it works like GANGBUSTERS.

My advice: Grab a spooky noises soundboard and go full tilt stupid spoopy atmosphere.

[Bergie]

I really like Betrayal, and to be honest I like Pandemic more than SoC. Then again, I haven't lost a game of Pandemic in 2 years (though it is almost always close)

[JackSlack]

Bergie: Why is that? What does Pandemic do for you that SoC doesn't? I find Pandemic too ... linear. I feel like I know the result after about halfway in.

[Bergie]

For me it is a balance between complexity and playability. Without a traitor, SoC is more complex without adding anything really to gameplay. As much as I like sweeping games and theme, each piece has to serve a purpose. Pandemic may be a bit linear, but it is a tight game with simple mechanics with a lot of challenge.

That said, with the Traitor mechanics SoC solves the "Board Leader" problem that Pandemic has (and other co-op games) because everyone really does play for themselves. That said, I much prefer Battlestar Galactica over SoC too, though that may be just on theme.

[JackSlack]

Haven't played Battlestar Galactica, so will need to try it out.

[Jamfalcon]

I have relatively little experience with board games, but Betrayal and BSG are the two I'd be quick to call my favourites. Granted I've only played Betrayal once. Also my tastes seem to be different from the norm, since I've played Settlers of Catan and Carcassone on multiple occasions and have never enjoyed either. I may not be the best person to weigh in here.

[Volafortis]

My top 5, in no order:
Arkham Horror
Carcassone
Dominion (if it counts)
Zombicide
Risk (If only because I'd credit it with being the game the got me into board gaming at a young age.)

That said, and I know this is heresy, I've never played either Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride (takes shelter).

I've been meaning too... I promise! It just seemed to always turn into another game when I planned it with my old board game group, and I don't own either, one of my friends did, and I've recently moved, so now I have no one to play games with

I also, after reading the thread, think I need to pick up Shadows Over Camelot.

I really don't care for 7 Wonders, primarily because I felt they were doing too much with the victory conditions, and didn't incentivize building the wonders enough, and some of the wonders are just plain bad. Honestly, I'd probably like the game more if it didn't try to sell the premise around the wonders, and presented itself as a more Civilization style game, which is actually what it is. From my perspective, it's not the the mechanics are bad, it's that they don't match what I wanted the game to be, or what I was led to expect the game to be.

[JackSlack]

Dominion is wonderful, absolutely no question. It's a marvellous game, and the expansions really do improve it, turning it into an endlessly malleable, replayable masterpiece. It may sneak a spot in my top 5, to be honest.

Zombiecide and Arkham Horror are blind spots in my education.

[Bergie]

Arkham definitely falls into that Epic Game zone I like, and I recommend everyone play it. Alas, it is like Twilight Imperium (or even Eclipse) in the "you should play it, but probably only 1 in 6 should BUY it". It is big, expensive (especially with the expansions), and can be a bit unintuitive. That said, the Mansion of Madness game I didn't like but that could have been us not understanding the rules. Of course, if we can't understand the rules, that is a bit of an indictment right there.

I too have never played Zombiecide, though I have heard much good about it. I mostly avoid Zombie-anything because I'm so sick of the genre.

EDIT: I have no idea why my phone is obsessed with "Luke" instead of like.

[PlasmaCow]

Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride are ace, but not to everyones taste.
Jungle Speed is good for anarchic fun - again not quite to everyone's taste.
Scategories (also known under several other names) is a great game for everyone to just lounge on sofas in the evening to play.
Monopoly Deal I see as underrated but great aggressive and fairly short card game.

[TStodden]

My Top 5, in no particular order are...

* Ticket to Ride + 1910 Expansion -- Very easy game to learn quickly, but challenging to master. 1910 Expansion adds more tickets & give you larger cards to play with (compared to the one included with the base game).

* Qwirkle -- Another day game to learn. A tile laying game where you must match by color OR shapes to score points.

* Milles Borne (aka Kilometers Borne) -- Classic car racing cars game by Parker Brothers that has been lost to other major classic (like Monopoly).

* Blokus / Duo -- A piece laying game where your pics can only touch on the corners for 4p. The "Duo" version is the 2p only (smaller board & different starting points)

* Forbidden Island -- A tile based co-op game where you try to claim the 4 treasures of the island before it sinks under the water FOREVER.


I know my list includes some known titles & a few mainstream, but is a good cross-section of titles to suit most gamers.

[Mums]

Resistance: Avalon - Will include One Night Warewolf here. Had some of my best evenings with a few beers and these games. Bluffing game where you play the players and not the game. You all have secret identities and you have to figure out who is who, who is on your side and who can't be trusted.

Dixit - Story telling game. You all have cards with fairytalesque pictures, you each take a turn to say a word/sentence/song/poem... to represent your card, everyone else picks a card that resembles that sentence and then you all guess what the original card was. Great starter for a gaming evening, starts the imagination and the fun right away!

Space Cadets - Awesome co-op, everyone have different roles and different tasks, none of the playstyles are like eacother and you mostly play at the same time, 30 seconds of stress and then watch how your mistakes ruins you!

GoT: The Board Game - Risk done right? Random annoying elements are gone, higher bluff, higher skill and for fans of the show, you really do feel emerged

Mage Knight - Heavy board game, loaded with fantastic mechanics which alows you to feel terrified and badass, not for new players or people who have a hard time with a lot of rules. Amazing design

[Volafortis]

Alright, I finally have righted one of the wrongs in my board game education; I've been playing Settlers on Catan a lot for the past week.

It probably ultimately beats Risk on the list, because it's got all the backstabby politics, in a much more elegant game design. The game is quick to learn, and it's basically the perfect length. It doesn't drag on, and I'm always finding myself willing to play another.

[Tzimisce]

1) lords of waterdeep
2) chez geek
3) fluxx
4) Zombies!!!
5) munchkin