Board Games

[It's Me!]

A big part of my youth was playing table top games. We alternated between games like D&D and Car Wars, and board games like Risk, Diplomacy, Axis & Allies, and Civilization. I remember many a weekend where we'd get together on a Friday night and play all the way through Sunday afternoon.

Then I went off to college, graduate school, and then became a parent.

However, recently with my kids now old enough to grasp strategic concepts, I decided to start board gaming again. We're starting out small, games like Ticker to Ride: First Journey, Monopoly Jr, and Pandemic and my boys seem to like them.

I'm also getting into solo gaming (which I didn't know was a thing until recently). And on top of that, print and play games, so I'm learning to craft my own game boards, tokens, and playing cards.

Anyone into board gaming, and if so what games do you enjoy the most?

[viscousmemories]

Tell me more about this "solo gaming". I know it in the context of video games, of course, and card games like Solitaire, but no more than that.

We played a lot of Monopoly, Risk, Boggle, and Stratego when I was a kid.

[specious_reasons]

Mrs. Reasons buys a ton of games, and we don't play as often as we ought to. My eldest joined a gaming group in college and introduced a few games to us through that.

I'm interested in this solo play, too. I bought the Call of Cthulhu starter pack, and it has a solo play component, but I haven't tried it yet.

[It's Me!]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

Tell me more about this "solo gaming". I know it in the context of video games, of course, and card games like Solitaire, but no more than that.

We played a lot of Monopoly, Risk, Boggle, and Stratego when I was a kid.

Nowadays, a lot of games that are designed to be played multi-play will actually come with a solo variant, or if the game is a cooperative game (like Pandemic) you play multiple roles yourself (or you can typically find a solo mode that is created by a fan of the game and posted on games page on Board Game Geek (BGG)). Other games are designed purely to be played solo.

One of my favorite game designers Grey Gnome Games makes a variety of solo games like Tin Helm (dungeon crawler), Dustrunner (post-apocalyptic Mad Max style), Gate and its expansion Gates (fantasy tower defense). His games can fit into a mint tin and can be played on a small table top.

Different games have different mechanics. Some rely on randomness (dice rolls), while others have a push your luck element (pick two cards, select one and hope that discarding the one card doesn't come back to haunt you).

Then there are the roll and write games like Voyages, Aquamarine and Waypoints from Postmark games, where you roll a number of dice and then select which ones to use in what manner (e.g., In Voyages you roll three dice, one you select for direction, one for distance, and other for loot). Other games are flip and writes where there are no dice, but you have to manage a deck of cards (Cartographers is one such game).

Game time also varies. Most roll/flip and writes can be played in under 30 minutes. One card game I enjoy named Cursed?! can be played in under 10. Other games like Gloomhaven (designed to be played with 1 to 4 players) are campaign style and a typical session can be 1 to 2 hours at a time.

The world of solo gaming is pretty big. Games range from free (where you print out the sheets - I tend to laminate them and use a chalk marker so I can reuse them), to $4 (Voyages), to $25 (Cartographers), to hundreds of dollars for Kickstarter exclusives (which you'll have to pay for and not see for a year or two while the designer lines up production). A lot of the Grey Gnome Games can be found as print and plays ($3 for the game + the time and effort and printer ink and paper) but you can also buy them for around $20. I do like that there is a price point for just about everyone.

[Miss Shelby]

There are a lot of card games that are strategic.

[Miss Shelby]

And Battleship is another good board game.

[Crumb]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

Tell me more about this "solo gaming". I know it in the context of video games, of course, and card games like Solitaire, but no more than that.

We played a lot of Monopoly, Risk, Boggle, and Stratego when I was a kid.

Go buy a copy of Friday and try it out!

I've been known to play a few board games. Though recently haven't had many times to get any plays in. My usual board gaming crowd has drifted or moved away.

I am usually always playing a few turn based games on Yucata or BGA.

[It's Me!]

Originally Posted by Crumb

Go buy a copy of Friday and try it out!

I've been known to play a few board games. Though recently haven't had many times to get any plays in. My usual board gaming crowd has drifted or moved away.

I am usually always playing a few turn based games on Yucata or BGA.

Friday is on my Amazon Wishlist.

[viscousmemories]

I ordered it yesterday!

[Crumb]

[It's Me!]

Originally Posted by Crumb

Go buy a copy of Friday and try it out!

I've been known to play a few board games. Though recently haven't had many times to get any plays in. My usual board gaming crowd has drifted or moved away.

I am usually always playing a few turn based games on Yucata or BGA.

I grabbed Friday about a week ago from an auction on BoardGameGeek. I may have also purchased Robinson Crusoe:Adventures on the Cursed Island at the same time (to run with the theme). Oh yeah, and Pandemic Legacy: Season Zero, and Root.

I'm particularly interested in Root, but not sure if my boys are old enough to handle it yet (though both are quick learners and can be pretty crafty). The amount of games I've purchased recently is pretty scary, and I'm not sure if the wife is keeping track of it or not (hopefully not, because even I'm afraid to do so). I'm just hoping I can manage to keep the kids interested long enough to play at least a percentage of them with me!

[Crumb]

Been there.

[viscousmemories]

That reminds me, I really should open that one of these days.

[It's Me!]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

That reminds me, I really should open that one of these days.

I have it on my table with every intention of playing it sooner, rather than later. Trying to fit it around my kids soccer schedules (the only day I don't have some organized soccer activity with my kids is Friday evenings) makes it difficult though.

I think it'll be an interesting solo game. BGG has it listed as a fun, but tough solo game, and the online playthroughs make it seem quick but engaging, but I imagine I'll lose more than win.

[It's Me!]

Given the Halloween season, convinced my oldest to play Horrified: Greek Monsters. After we set up, the youngest joined in as well (but got bored and wandered off to play Roblox after the first couple of rounds). But the oldest and I wound up winning (though we played on easy). Wound up saving 7 Legends, and only losing two to Cerberus and the Basilisk.

Not sure if we played 100% correctly, but I imagine if we play a few more times, we'll figure it all out. Definitely recommend it but wonder if the original or American Monsters is the best overall (they're all rated pretty much the same on BGG, with H:GM being slightly the highest rated of them all).