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board games
May 29th, 2019
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cat just dropped a nice phlog [0] about board and card games that
he loves. He wrapped up by asking others what they enjoy.
(TXT) [0] cat - top 3 board & card games
I'll try to keep this to just 3 games as well (with an honorable
mention or two). Unlike cat, who favors the solo or two player
games, I'm a fan of the epic.
1. The Republic of Rome (Avalon Hill)
Avalon Hill is famous for making complex war simulation board
games that take hours to set up, let alone play. It is a company
at the forefront of destroying friendships. Diplomacy is probably
the game responsible for the most gamer-feuds in history, which
makes Republic of Rome remarkable in that it was created
specifically for gamers who thought it too tame. Avalon Hill had
a rating system for complexity in their games and at the time of
its release, RoR was the first game to max it out. These days we
can enjoy a few that have since jumped the shark in terms of
complexity [1].
(HTM) [1] The Campaign for North Africa
For all its ridiculous complexity and legal-code rulebook, it's
a brilliantly fun game to tackle with a group of friends. The
players control factions of senators in either the early, middle,
or late republic time periods of Roman history. They struggle
against one another for money, influence, popularity, and military
might until one comes out dominant enough to meet one of several
victory conditions. But they must be careful! If the factions
don't cooperate, Rome itself can fall and everyone loses.
This has been responsible for so many amazing nights of board game
fun I can't sing its praises enough. As I'm gearing up to leave
the country, my friends here planned one last get together to say
farewell and what better way could they have done so than with
a game of RoR.
2. Carcassonne (Hans im Glück)
This tile-laying game is fast (20-30 min), easy-to-learn, and
endlessly amusing. It's a great lunch-time game if you work with
another board game geek. You are building a sprawling city and
trying to occupy the buildings you create to score points when
they are completed. You farm the lands servicing these buildings
and set up monestaries. Oh, and don't forget to build roads! All
of this is done with puzzle-like square tiles that connect and
extend the existing city into a new crazy puzzle of awesome. Score
keeping is a little tricky at first, but it becomes second nature.
3. Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game (AMIGO)
I adore storytelling and this game really scratches that itch.
It's a card-game with fantastic creatures and items all fantasy
themed. You will find character types like the witch, or princess,
and items like magic swords. You'll also find story elements like
a broken promise. With these building blocks you and your friends
will create an epic tale. Together. Entirely improv style.
The way it works is really cool. Someone starts telling the story.
As they tell their story they will begin to play cards in their
hand that match the story they're telling. If they introduce
a swarthy princess who runs an illegal footwear consortium, then
they may lay down the princess card. If that princess discovers
a way to hide switch blades in the magical Air Jordans she's
creating, then the player may play the magical sword card. But
it's not as simple as just making up gibberish and laying down
your cards!
If the story fails to make sense, contradicts itself, or if the
player pauses too long (as determined by the other players) then
the story moves to the next clockwise player and the previous
storyteller must draw a new card to their hand for having "lost"
the story. There's also a tricky way to steal a story from
a storyteller. If the storyteller mentions a story element that
matches a card in your hand, you can play that card and take over
the story. But you better be ready to start right away or you may
pause too long and lose it.
All of this storytelling and card playing/drawing is leading
toward and ending that's unique to each player. You draw secret
ending cards at the start of the game. Your ending is different
from the other players and you need to steer the narative in the
right direction to get there. If your story ends with "The twins
were cooked in the pie." and the story doesn't even have twins
introduced, you have some catching up to do.
This game requires outgoing friends and benefits from some
moderate drinking. It also has a special place in my game
collection because of our house rule on "who goes first."
No matter what game we're playing, the choice of who goes first
comes down to the Once Upon a Time deck. Everyone cuts the deck
and takes out one card. Whichever card is "Closest to Unicorn"
goes first. We love the ambiguity and determining whether the
Princess or the Magic Sword is closer to unicorn (magic sword,
obviously). It starts every game out with a smile.
Honorable Mentions:
A. Chess
A classic, and I'm totally addicted, but it didn't feel right to
include in this list.
B. Tabletop RPGs
Pathfinder, D&D, Fate, The Riddle of Steel, Alternity, Fiasco, and
all the rest are the very best games in the world. As much as
I love a board game, a D&D campaign has no equal. I guess I'll
probably have to write more about that soon.
Okay, people... what's your top 3?