What Board Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Taeblewalker]

I prefer games with theme. Kemet and Cyclades are two of the best out there, and as @akden pointed out, they do have Euro elements. But I trend toward the Ameritrash games generally, like Start Trek Fleet Captains and Mansions of Madness. I also like Prophecy and Elder Sign a lot.

[rym]

Originally Posted by Matthias Maccabeus

I guess I'm a gaming snob then, because I really only like Ameritrash games.

There's nothing better than rolling dice, killing something, and then saying something about their mom!

Amen to that, brother!

[Johngee]

Whenever I hear the term "AmeriTrash," I immediately think of the huge inventory of mass produced so-called 'games' that stock the shelves in every Toy-R-Us in the months prior to Christmas. These are the traditional 'Cash-Cows' of the Hasbro megalithic toy manufacturing conglomerate that "ate the world" by gobbling up most of the smaller good game companies in the United States at the end of the 20th Century. Titles like: Monopoly, Operation, Sorry, Clue, Life, Candyland, Whack-A-Mole, and Hungry-Hungry Hippos, come to mind.

"Euro-Games" was a phenomena that took the entire gaming industry by storm about twenty years ago and broke the proverbial mold of how average people view board games in general. The arrival in North America of out-of-the-ordinary games was a watershed moment that has redefined the hobby by attracting [dare I say] millions of participants. This includes hundreds of designers all around the globe who have their own ideas for improving existing games, creative ways to exploit underserved market segments, and unique combinations of methodologies that may yield that perfect entertainment experience.

In the past twenty years the Board Gaming Hobby has not only been invigorated (spurred on by massive infusions of capital via 'crowd-funding' and KickStarter projects), but it has also EVOLVED. With so many thousands of new games available today that did not even exist conceptionally just a few short decades ago, IMHO - the distinction between Euro-Games and AmeriTrash has blurred to the extent that this argument is obsolete.

@Hahma has hit the nail on the head with his list of "game types," but I couldn't find the "LIKE" <button>. I believe the vernacular for describing a games mechanics will eventually metamorphose as well to become more precise as our capitalistic system rewards those games that people enjoy with good success and those less appealing to the gaming community audience never realize a significant profit margin for their producers to warrant a reprinting.

To get this thread back on topic after this brief attempt at a hijacking, regarding Ticket-To-Ride, I still enjoy it immensely and want to play it more often, but in its variant forms, i.e. Europe, Nordic, Asia, India, Africa, etc. As @akden succinctly stated, it satisfies a certain itch sometimes. It is also an excellent way to introduce new-comers to some of the simpler strategies that abound in the gaming world today.

Board Games also have remarkable qualities that can be used as teaching aids. I remember reading about one survey's results that stated the only students who could identify Kamchatka on a map wee those who had played RISK. I think that TTR and other similar board games should be required resources in every Middle School Geography classroom. I've heard many parents comment about how much their child's math skills had improved because of HeroScape (building armies to certain point levels and calculating the probability of success when achieving a height advantage for that all essential extra die, etc.). I am glad that I can be a part of this revolution that is encouraging more social interaction between human beings in such a fun manner. It was quite an unexpected journey for me. Let's see where it leads us without disputes over trivial semantics.

[Hahma]

Nice post John. I agree that board games can be very educational while having fun, but one thing that I think is key is the social interaction that it brings to the table so to speak. In an era of online video gaming and texting vs. calling, there is something to be said about people actually being together in person and interacting.

[Porkins]

Originally Posted by Hahma

Nice post John. I agree that board games can be very educational while having fun, but one thing that I think is key is the social interaction that it brings to the table so to speak. In an era of online video gaming and texting vs. calling, there is something to be said about people actually being together in person and interacting.

This crap drives me crazy! My daughter is uncomfortable making phone calls, even to her friends. She wants to text them and then just say, "well, I sent him a text..."

[chas]

What is funny is how often now a new technology is introduced. I used to complain that computers in general were not user friendly enough, having seen the first generation of PCs introduced in the work place, where a local support guy was overwhelmed by helpless new users (including me). My trick was to go out to lunch with him, to get some of his precious time!

Recently, my yahoo group on 54mm minis (www.littlerwars!@yahoo.com) started discussing a Facebook page. Although I don't do FB and wouldn't participate, I suggested running both types of page simultaneously, with a new younger moderator for the FB. Of course, once established, the two could cross pollinate to some extent. We'll see if it happens. The problem is, most of us Yahoos are older, and many younger folk won't even check out a yahoo page anymore...

They say that as an experiment they put some teens in a room, and they couldn't figure out how to operate a dial phone...

[chas]

To Hahma's excellent game typology post, I would add Tile Placement as well as Two Player and Multiplayer (3+) and fold his Tactical Miniatures into his other category of Wargames: Tabletop Miniatures, as well as adding subcategories in Wargaming of Historical and Fantasy/Science Fiction. I copied his classification list out, and it would make a very good tool to describe one's own likes and dislikes--I'm going to work on that one alphabetized for myself! As he points out, many games, perhaps the most interesting include several of the resulting 28 types.

If anyone has more to add before I create my Board Game Interest Tool, based on Hahma's post, please chime in!

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by chas

To Hahma's excellent game typology post, I would add Tile Placement as well as Two Player and Multiplayer (3+) and fold his Tactical Miniatures into his other category of Wargames: Tabletop Miniatures, as well as adding subcategories in Wargaming of Historical and Fantasy/Science Fiction. I copied his classification list out, and it would make a very good tool to describe one's own likes and dislikes--I'm going to work on that one alphabetized for myself! As he points out, many games, perhaps the most interesting include several of the resulting 28 types.

If anyone has more to add before I create my Board Game Interest Tool, based on Hahma's post, please chime in!

Could add:


Solo/Solitaire
Role Playing

[davidlhsl]

Battleball!!! One of the many games I have on the shelf without getting it on the table. Well, that's not exactly accurate, as I've used the miniatures to play Matt Helm's excellent Heroscape customs. I think it's time to try the actual game.

This is a football game of the future designed by a certain someone who may have a certain affiliation with Heroscape. Mr. Bistro has some excellent add-on rules posted on BGG which I'll want to try at some point, but I wanted to give the game a try as published.

You have 11 ballers (if "bawlers" when I lose), and the color bases correspond to the polyhedral die you roll when moving or tackling. Some will roll a d6, some a d8, and up to d20. So when moving, the d20 dudes can potentially move much farther than the guys rolling the d6s. However, since the lower roll succeeds in tackling, those same swifties have a far more likely chance of getting whacked against those same d6s. Slow and tough, or fast and weak.

Object of the game is to be the first to score two touchdowns. I won the first game and lost the second against my dad. We both enjoyed this.

Decktet: I printed out the Print and Play file from BGG and tried some of the games for this special deck of cards. The basic deck consists of 36 cards in 6 suits, ranked Ace, 2-9, and Crown. The neat trick: 2-9 cards consist of two suits each. There are three cards of each rank. There's a 9-card extention to the deck consisting of a non-suit card and two sets of cards with three suits.

Gasp! is a trick taking game. You receive a chip when you take a trick in the suit you won. You can only have two chips in each suit. If you go over, you can trade it for a different suited chip from another player provided they don't already have two chips in that suit. If all players are "full" in that suit, then you actually lose one of your chips instead of gaining any. Object is to collect exactly two chips in each of the six suits. I really like this, as there will be times towards the end game where you don't want to take some tricks.

Frogger is reminiscent of Pachisi where the object is to get all six of your "frogs" through the 12-card "highway." You play a card and pick a suit that you want one of your frogs to advance. You exit by playing a suit that's not ahead of that frog. Ok game, but not didn't tickle my Blizzard (only at Dairy Queen).

Jigger! The Decktet version of Go Fish! and is a children's game. I don't mind simplistic games and this is ok. I'd rather have a Blizzard.

Adaman: Solitaire game where you attempt to collect all the face cards. I love playing various solitaires with the standard deck of cards, and I found this addicting. Of the several games I played, I only won once.

There are many other games for this deck, and the double suits really add a lot to game play. The smaller number of cards in the deck means the games mostly work with no more than 3 players, but that's perfect for my purposes.

Letter Head. I played this with a multi-function deck of cards I purchased some time ago called the Rainbow Deck. The RD has cards 0-9/J/Q/K in 12 colors and 6 suits. Each color is also numbered 0-11, there's a 6-sided die result on each card, and each card has an alphabet letter and letter score for word games.

In Letter Head, you play a word on the table, with cards in any combination of face-up and face-down. You announce the word. Your opponent(s) each decide whether you actually played the word or played other letters in a bluff. If you bluff and anyone calls you on it, you don't score and those who called the bluff get a bonus. If you bluff and don't get called on it, you score the letters you played (including those point-y Qs and Zs!). If you don't bluff, you score the word plus a bonus for each person who thought you were bluffing. This is a really fun game. My dad barely beat me in the first game and I won the second by a huge margin.

If you decide to research the Decktet and Rainbow Deck, you might also check out the Badger Deck. I've considered it, but I'm not certain I'd be able to use it for anything at the moment.

[stubobj]

Played some Dice Masters today. Even though there was an errata for Spider-Man: Wall-Crawler I really wanted to play Spider Bomb. The plan is to be attacking on turn 3 with Spider-Man. Through the use of Professor X global, Black Widow, and the Relentless global the opponent should be at 10 life (or less if you are attacking with Widow as well). Games usually over then on turn 4-5. Its even faster than the Gobby builds that plagued the game in the beginning. The only problem is a simple Distraction can put a damper on your whole plan. The Yugioh set provides some answers against Distraction but our group is just sticking with super heroes.

I also taught one of the guys there the Skirmish side of Imperial Assault. He was talking a lot of smack after Vader took out Garrkhan but didn't have much to say after he saw the combo of Luke/Diala/and Son of Skywalker. Can't wait for the expansion to come out in just over a week.

[rym]

What is this errata for Spider-Man: Wall-Crawler that you speak of?

Also, have you tried the new D&D Dice Masters that released today? I wasn't interested at first (anxiously awaiting DC), until my local game store mentioned that they were handing out a promo card to the first people buying the D&D starter. Between that and hearing one of the guys at the store talking about a Beholder, I became hooked. Told myself I'll swing by when they open, pick up the starter, nab the promo, and continue to anxiously await DC DiceMasters.

And then I opened it with my son. And dammit, it's just as I feared. I fell in love with it. It is awesome and now I'm looking at all my loose pocket change to go pick the boosters up. It feeds the D&D itch, and the dicing itch all at once. It's a good one to pick up, in my opinion. But alas, there goes all my spare money again...

[Johngee]

@Gurei-Ornery
Last night I finally managed to get my wife, Carol, to a local gaming event with me and get "BLACK FLEET", which I've had since Christmas, to the table to show her how fun it can be with more than just two players. The session took much longer than I expected because each of us had to read and re-read the cards many times to learn the special abilities that each card granted. It turned out to be a very close finish with a new friend, Sarah eventually rescuing the governor's daughter, but Carol was only two doubloons away from also doing so. I would have needed six and there was absolutely no way for me to get any in the last round.

Tonight Carol and I joined her son and daughter-in-law for our almost weekly gaming session. I was delighted to play "Stone Age" again as it is a change from our usual "Carcassonne" or "Settler Of Catan" sessions. We do use the "Style is the Goal" expansion, so it's about a two hour game with each of us applying our own favorite strategy. Tom and Brenda have become really good players. I wish I could interest them in playing a wider variety of games or accompany us to a local game club. She won again with 218 points, my wife was second with 204, I finished right behind her with 203, and Tom who had taken an early lead was not far back with 199. It's always a fun evening, but all the simple arithmetic (counting the pips on 1 - 7 dice, then dividing by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 depending on the type of resource, with some multiplication during end scoring) tends to give me a headache. I think this would be a great game to help kids practice mathematics in a fun way.

@davidlhsl ~
"Battleball" is another one of the games that I picked up several copies of when they were on clearance at a KB Toy Store when it was going out of business. Unfortunately, I've only managed to play twice with @clancampbell and Xanth. Not only are the figures suitable for HeroScape customs (i.e. proxy Gladiatrons), but the bases are perfect for mounting other miniatures on to (D&D, AT-43, -Clix, etc.). What I really love about this game is the mechanic of the Base's Color matching the color of the polyhedral die that its character uses. I've seen a similar device in the Catalyst Game Labs steampunk game, "Leviathans," where the different weapons on a naval vessel each roll a different combination of color-coded polyhedral dice to determine its effectiveness against the target. I wish Richard Borg and Craig Van Ness would collaborate to use this combat resolution methodology on a Sci-Fi or Sci-Fan Command & Colors type of war game with unit bases matching the color-coded polyhedral dice that they would use. For instance green-D4 for light infantry/militia, blue-D6 for elite infantry, yellow-D8 for cavalry, red-D10 for light artillery, purple-D12 for heavy artillery, black-D20 for helicopters and airplanes, etc.


P.S. ~ I got so wrapped up in the Euro-Game vs. AmeriTrash controversy, that I forgot to mention that on Saturday 03/07 I drove 165 miles to Savage MD, just to play FIVE rounds of HeroScape in @Dad_Scaper 's "Multi-Player Madness" tournament. It was a very fun day and it's always nice to get together with old friends and share a common interest . . . (HS).