New Games and Gifts

[Phoebe]

Talk to me about fun games you have been playing over the last year that you would want me to purchase for my nieces and nephews and various others for the holiday? What new thing can I buy my friend who loves games like settlers of Catan and those round perplexus mazes and such?

[Phoebe]

Who are you people? I need gift ideas!!! From people like you!!! For people like you!!!

[Akiva]

Ivanhoe is a massively under appreciated game.

[Phoebe]

Ivanhoe is a massively under appreciated game.

Thank you I shall investigate at once!

[Kyle]

I just bought this:



It’s an RPG you play through text messages without speaking.

I’ll get it tomorrow and let you know what I think.

[Kyle]

What ages are you talking about and what are they in to? It’s hard to recommend games based on that they like Catan- everyone likes that.

[Phoebe]

I don't even have that game. What is this world? Apparently it takes a long time to play. People who like board and role playing games, all kinds of ages. Also old men who have been sanded down by the winds of time.

[Eliahad]

Catan played by folks who have a good handle on the game can finish a game in about 45 minutes to an hour.

Remember you can always trade 4 of the same resource for one of another. The first time I played that rule was neglected and it made the game terrible.

[Eliahad]

Wingspan is a game where the theme is that you are building ecosystems for birds and the birds get you points. It's an accessible engine builder with great components.

Sushi Go! Is a quick set collection drafting game where you try and choose cards from (what amounts to) a sushi boat. Everyone takes a card from their current hand, and passes the hand to the next person.

[Eliahad]

Carcassonne is an excellent tile laying Euro that is enjoyed by grognards and dabblers alike.

Azul is a mathy pattern making game about choosing tiles to fill in your pattern board. Points are earned based on the shapes you make. Once a horizontal row is completed by anyone, though, the game is over. It's a beautiful super tactile experience.

[Eliahad]

Dixit is apples to apples mixed with balderdash, but with pictures. Choose a card from your hand and describe it in a short word or phrase. Then everyone else choose a card from their hand. You score if people guess your card, but don't be too obscure... Or too obvious... Because if it's not picked... Or is the only card picked, you score nothing.

[Eliahad]

Codenames is also an excellent game where the clue giver for your team is looking at a grid of words, some are locations of your agents, some are for the other team and one is a rogue agent who will give your team up if you find them. By giving a one word clue, and a number, you are trying to guide your team to guess the words for your agents, while avoiding the other team. It's delightfully, agonizingly difficult.

[Eliahad]

Heavier games:

Terraforming Mars. You're a corporation trying to, over generations, make Mars inhabitable. You gain money and resources every turn to purchase cards that allow you to build an engine to get more resources. It makes it seem dry, because it kind of is. Not a lot of player interaction, but a lot of numbers go up, which is oddly satisfying as the cards are placed in front of you.

Terra Mystica, Scythe, Agricola... Other things...

[Eliahad]

Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. Lots of people really like this series of games. I will play it, but it's far from my first choice. Probably just haven't found a good group of folk to play them with yet.

[Mike]

King Domino and Azul are both good shortish games that involve strategic maximization of points. You can play them both casually and have a great time, but if you have a mind for some calculations as you go, they both become a fun puzzle.

[Stan]

For people who don't have a ton of board game experience, I'd avoid game with lots of parts that have a long set up time. Taking half an hour to set up and then four hours to play can be a bit much. There are quite a few card based games with minimal set up.

King of Tokyo is like battle yatzee; you roll/reroll to get combos. There are also multiple ways to win.

There are also many cooperative games which go over well with some groups. A bit on the nose but there Pandemic is popular - work together to get a cure and stop spread. Similar mechanics but thematically different is Pandemic: Fall of Rome, which I like. In Castle Panic, you defend a castle from waves of monsters. Both of these have some setup but not extreme. Hanabi is a cooperative card game where your try to set up combos to shoot off fire works - the unusual element is everyone but you can see your cards and you give each other hints (in rule specific ways) on what to play. Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Island have you cooperating to grab stuff as things get progressively worse over the course of the game - in Island, the island is sinking as you work.

Love Letter is a simple card game that comes in many thematic variations.

[Mike]

If you want beginner games that are fun for everyone:

Battle Sheep: my best intro game ever. A kids game with strategy enough for adults who want to take it seriously. With cool ceramic sheep tokens. I wore out one set and bought a new one.

Simon's Cat: It's like Uno, but better.

Uno Flip: It IS Uno, but better.

Cobras: A great intro game for adults who are familiar with trick-taking games but haven't played anything that wasn't Monopoly or a standard deck of playing cards. Not taking tricks earns you cobras. Taking tricks let's you cash them in for points. Trade in too early or too late, and you get little to no points, so the goal is finding that sweet middle ground to cash in while blocking others from same. Super fun, but sadly was a Kickstarter game, and I don't know if you can find it outside of eBay and the like: For example.

[Phoebe]

I am loving these suggestions!!!!! I'm so behind still on the shoppa.

[Phoebe]

I am researching your suggestions still and have thereby covered two of the people on the shopping list.

[Mando]

splendor

and most of all

Survive! Escape from Atlantis great for kids and fun for adults too!


You can still get this in time for Christmas

[Mando]

https://www.amazon.com/Stronghold-Games ... M8UE4&th=1

[Kyle]

splendor

and most of all

Survive! Escape from Atlantis great for kids and fun for adults too!


You can still get this in time for Christmas

YO! Double up the votes for this. It's a HUGE family favorite. Kid friendly. Easy rules. Tons of fun.

[Phoebe]

I have ordered the Atlantis game for our crew from Santa and we'll see what happens. I am hopeful most of the drama comes from the game itself rather than from the players playing the game. I note that we had purchased the game munchkin based on several recommendations from this NPR group, and immediately encountered the situation that some of the kids find it extremely fun and wish to play a lot, and we are a group that does not cope well with games that not only encourage but almost require argument over interpretation of the rules and the way various conditions intersect relative to advancement or victory. The game also depends on side dealing with your friends and rivals, and is impacted by such things as whether one person wants to stop playing while others wish to continue. This is a recipe for conflict that the world's greatest diplomats and military strategists could never fathom. This is probably also why I have a headache this morning.

[Mike]

I cannot stress enough times: I've played Munchkin with your husband... and If your children or anything like him, then maybe it's best to avoid the game all together. Any game with social/negotiation elements that puts players in opposition with each other is probably not a game you will enjoy playing with your family.

[Eliahad]

I have heard Munchkin described as twenty minutes of fun packed into 2 hours. Is that an accurate assessment?

[Kyle]

I have heard Munchkin described as twenty minutes of fun packed into 2 hours. Is that an accurate assessment?

After the first couple of games, yes.

[Phoebe]

I cannot stress enough times: I've played Munchkin with your husband... and If your children or anything like him, then maybe it's best to avoid the game all together. Any game with social/negotiation elements that puts players in opposition with each other is probably not a game you will enjoy playing with your family.

All were raised by him, and each has absorbed the same qualities but in a unique and different way:
Offspring #1. Clever strategizing which unfortunately usually leads to being in second or third place instead of first place; easily bores of the game. Then attempts to negotiate for victory and, if cannot achieve it, does whatever will blow up the game in a purely malicious manner. But is extremely nice about it while this is happening. Result: everyone else enraged.
2. Quietly dominates all games of strategy and usually is the winner; also a vicious rules-lawyer. Result: everyone else frustrated because they can't beat this one. At present plans to be a business major and financial analyst.
3. Desperately wants everyone to do the right thing while also desperately competing for victory at all costs. Result: this person is always anguished and frustrated by everyone else's actions.

It's like the three faces of Eve, how each of these emerged from the parent persona. They love playing games like this, absolutely love it. So it's not that they shouldn't do it, it's that other people shouldn't do it with any of them! I do it and then just drink a lot. You will see my vicious and play for blood side come out only when it's card games like Hearts, Canasta, etc.

[Phoebe]

I have heard Munchkin described as twenty minutes of fun packed into 2 hours. Is that an accurate assessment?

What Kyle said except that I would say it's a solid hour of fun packed into 4 hours. And the fact that I say that should let you know what the experience is like, because you can imagine what's making it take that long.

[Mando]

I have ordered the Atlantis game for our crew from Santa and we'll see what happens. I am hopeful most of the drama comes from the game itself rather than from the players playing the game. I note that we had purchased the game munchkin based on several recommendations from this NPR group, and immediately encountered the situation that some of the kids find it extremely fun and wish to play a lot, and we are a group that does not cope well with games that not only encourage but almost require argument over interpretation of the rules and the way various conditions intersect relative to advancement or victory. The game also depends on side dealing with your friends and rivals, and is impacted by such things as whether one person wants to stop playing while others wish to continue. This is a recipe for conflict that the world's greatest diplomats and military strategists could never fathom. This is probably also why I have a headache this morning.

Regarding " Survive! " a favorite tactic of mine is to infiltrate everyone else's boats if possible. This will make your survival dependent upon theirs and like a good symbiote you get all the benefits. File this away in your head for later. You will thank me...unless you don't...