Favourite board games

[matt j]

Favourite board games

WOM wrote:

I dunno. Uno tends to get loads of house rules, or people ignore the official rules. (Particularly regarding Draw +2 and Wild Draw +4.)

What do people do here vs what they should do?

Draw +2s tend to get another draw+2 on top in a common house rule (making a +4 to the next player and so on), but this is incorrect. Draw +2 is effectively a draw & skip.

Wild Draw +4s are similarly added on to (+8, +12, etc...), but this is also incorrect, as the player must draw and skip their play. Wild Draw +4s can also only be played when you have no other option (defeating a common strategy in the two-player games of my childhood).

[WOM]

Favourite board games

Well sonofabitch...

We allow putting down after getting a +2. Is that wrong, then?

But we don't do the multiple +8, +12 thing.

I didn't know that Wild +4 was only to be used last-resort. Must reread the rules.

[linus]

Favourite board games

matt j wrote:

(there can't be another game with a higher percentage of players who don't know the real rules)

I dunno. Uno tends to get loads of house rules, or people ignore the official rules. (Particularly regarding Draw +2 and Wild Draw +4.)

Risk as well gets a lot of house rules, some of which just prolong the game too much.

Actually, most of the classics (generally bad) get this way. Everyone has played them so much, they don't bother checking the rules when they replay.

That's why the online version is better, the settings are all set in advance, no fussing. It takes 5 to 10min to finish a regular Risk game if you're playing in live mode on the basic map.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Favourite board games

Whenever I've played we've allowed consecutive cards and bluffing on Wild+4.

EDIT: To WOM.

[matt j]

Favourite board games

Nah, just get Coup or Get Bit (or The Resistance) instead. Much more fun.

I've ensured we play Uno by the rules when we play. I should have ensured we never played Uno again. (But old habits die hard in the in-laws house.)

[matt j]

Favourite board games

Incidentally, the Galaxy Trucker app released relatively recently is great. Well worth the 5 bucks.

[Ginger Yellow]

Favourite board games

Agreed. And, unlikely a lot of board games on iOS, you can play it on an iPhone/iPod.

[Muzz Lightyear]

Favourite board games

The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game

Armchair Cricket-really a card game with a cricket scorebook

[KGR]

Favourite board games

Just played card game Backpacker for the first time.

After taking a while to get used to it, found it quite enjoyable. Three of us playing. Can imagine, with two, it's a bit rubbish.

One of the cards, 'Internet Cafe', was a bit confusing though. Vague explanation in the rules. Anyone?

[Ginger Yellow]

Favourite board games

Have you tried Board Game Geek? It's rare that you can't find a rule explanation on the forums there.

[ad hoc]

Favourite board games

A question for you board game buffs. I'm looking to pick up a board game which satisfies the following criteria
+ Challenging and involving thinking for a 9 year old (but not so higher order that she'll give up)
+ Enjoyable to play with 2 players but also with more (4 at least, but possibly up to 6)
+ a standard game probably takes around half an hour (no more than an hour)
+ I'm thinking more board games in which you have to move pieces around, rather than games in which you have to build something (though this is not a deal breaker)

In an attempt to help out with what I'm thinking here, Cluedo is good (involves some problem solving, thought, but not really massively complex), but Cluedo is not as good with 2 players. Downfall isn't bad either, but it's just for 2 players.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

[sw2borshch]

Favourite board games

I've never played it with kids, and it's five players max, but I suspect you could do a lot worse than Ticket To Ride, as it will also keep any adults involved engaged.

[Wouter D]

Favourite board games

RoboRally?

[Levin]

Favourite board games

Oh, Hare and Tortoise. Race game but no dice. You decide how far you move but the further you move costs you exponentially more carrots. Pick up carrots by landing on spaces or going backwards.

Or the Amazing Labyrinth, only goes to four I think but involves making a maze into different shapes to help build yourself a path.

Hey That's My Fish is fun but also 4 players

[Mumpo]

Favourite board games

The biggest problem I have finding a game with 'universal' appeal is that most are designed either for two players or more then two (often optimally four/five players). There aren't that many games around that play as well with two as they do with more around the table.

Hey That's My Fish is one that plays equally well with two, three of four players. It's relatively lightweight but there's a lot of strategy involved and the theme is fun. It's a good primer for Go, as it involves basic principles of territory capture.

[ad hoc]

Favourite board games

Thanks all

[WOM]

Favourite board games

Blokus. Just played it last night and again this morning. Takes about a minute to learn and is great fun. Thinky and strategic.

[3 Colours Red]

Favourite board games

I became aware of Blokus through the PSP version.
Anyone else here only aware of a board game's existence because of a video game?

[sw2borshch]

Favourite board games

My group has become Catan daft over the last six months, King of Tokyo has been working well, plus we had a fun Cards Against Humanity session this week.

[Jah Womble]

Favourite board games

'Blokus'? Looks intriguing, but they could've given it a better name.

It sounds like some kind of short-lived late-night TV discussion forum about beer and women.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Favourite board games

san2sboro wrote: My group has become Catan daft over the last six months, King of Tokyo has been working well, plus we had a fun Cards Against Humanity session this week.

My gang were impressed with 'King of Tokyo', which they played when in Oxford last week. My youngest has received 'Tokaido' for her 9th birthday this morning - she also tried this out and really enjoyed it.

[sw2borshch]

Favourite board games

And I'm watching the first episode of the second series of 'Happy Valley' and two of the characters are setting up King of Tokyo.

[Levin]

Favourite board games

God, I've not bought anything from GW in years and years but I'm very tempted by the new edition of Blood Bowl. No new rules but new pitches and models.

[Patrick Thistle]

Mrs Thistle found a game called Super Farmer in charity shop. It's got an intriguing back story - invented in the Warsaw ghetto in the war.

It's a decent game. You start off with one rabbit and roll dice in turn to increase your animals, trading rabbits for sheep, sheep for pigs, etc. Roll a fox or a wolf and it's bye bye to your livestock.

[Jah Womble]

Ha - that sounds tremendous.