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I second this, Tikal is a sweet game. A little down-time waiting for your turn, but it plays out nicely and looks fantastic. Check it on the geek. There's a new edition coming out soon. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/54

You might check out http://www.boardgamegeek.com/. It can be a bit daunting at first as there is a lot of information to go through. And be forewarned, there is a definite bias against traditional American games (i.e., Monopoly). But if you enjoyed Carcassonne and Settlers, its hopefully a bias you'll agree with. Most games have a review or two (many written by reviewers that are very good at what they do), plus session reports of various depths and often times player aids.

I have to concur, Pureto Rico and Settlers of Catan are probally the best two games my group of friends have been playing recently.

I enjoy both becuase although the rules are rather simple, the interatcions to actually win are quite complex. And they are both very balanced, so there are many strageties that can win.

I would say that Puerto Rico is the more balanced of the two; however Settlers relies on some social engineering skills as there is alot of player to player trading nessesary to win.

Another major feature of these two games (and many others) is they are not your standard military conquest game, so they can appeal to a wider audience. (Even people who generally dont like stragety games can get into Puerto Rico, though Catan has a slightly higher learning curve)

I have to concur, Pureto Rico and Settlers of Catan are probally the best two games my group of friends have been playing recently.

I enjoy both becuase although the rules are rather simple, the interatcions to actually win are quite complex. And they are both very balanced, so there are many strageties that can win.

I would say that Puerto Rico is the more balanced of the two; however Settlers relies on some social engineering skills as there is alot of player to player trading nessesary to win.

Another major feature of these two games (and many others) is they are not your standard military conquest game, so they can appeal to a wider audience. (Even people who generally dont like stragety games can get into Puerto Rico, though Catan has a slightly higher learning curve)

... you might be interested in moving up to grognard-level wargames.
... where Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) by MMP (originally the game is by AH) is still the king of the hill. Online training at: http://vasl.org/

I've written on these guys before, but let me do so again in a more straightforward manner:

Buy everything you see here. I assure that you will NOT be disappointed.

Days of Wonder is a great company who takes brilliant designs the world over and shares them with a geek-like audience. Me and my wife love Mystery of the Abbey. Think of it like a really interesting, deep version of Clue. No candlesticks, no ridiculous characters, and it actually has -strategy- incorporated, and everyone who has played it loves it immediately.

And no, I'm not even getting paid to say that (though of course, it would be nice).

You can also read some (tabletop) gaming blogs:

- BoardGamePlayer.com
- BoardGames-To-Go
- Chris Farrell's Gaming Blog
- Jeffro @ Mindsay

Lastly, I'd like to say that me and my wife's favorite non-boardgame is Bang!, an easy-to-learn great mechanic-filled game that anyone over the age of 7 will adore.

Oh, and of course, get all the recommendations you can handle over at the always fantastic BoardGameGeek.com.

Have fun!

Evan
CCGBlog.com - CCG Design, Theory, and Commentary

In Scotland Yard, one player takes the role of "Mr X" and attempts to evade the detectives. The playing area is a map of London, with routes marked in taxi, bus, underground, and ferry routes. Each player has a set of tickets they can use for each type of route. There are x of taxi tickets, y of bus tickets, and z of underground. Mr X is less limited. Mr X moves in secret, but every few turns, he must show himself.

I always liked this game, when I played it as a kid. As an adult, I found a copy of it in the game store. I told Chris, the owner, that I had played it as a kid, but forgotten about it. When I saw it on the shelf, I had to have it. It didn't matter that it cost around $30 at the time.

Chris informed me that this was a standard story. The game was rarely, if ever, advertised. Everyone who bought it did so because they had played it somewhere else, and found it hard to balk at the price. He said they had trouble keeping the game on the shelves. I believe it.

The beauty of the game is that every person who plays Mr X will do so differently. Inspectors are individuals. Every game is different, though the map stays the same.

Another favorite of mine is Empire Builder, but we're heading out to the truck stop for breakfast, so you'll have to do your own research on that one.

Mmmmmm... Illuminati. The best back-stabbing game ;-)
I thought the throne belongs to Junta... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/242 other back-stabbing favourites:
Diplomacy: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/483
Kremlin: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/196
(although it seems to have lost much of the minijokes in the english translation)

Mmmmmm... Illuminati. The best back-stabbing game ;-)
I thought the throne belongs to Junta... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/242 other back-stabbing favourites:
Diplomacy: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/483
Kremlin: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/196
(although it seems to have lost much of the minijokes in the english translation)

Mmmmmm... Illuminati. The best back-stabbing game ;-)
I thought the throne belongs to Junta... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/242 other back-stabbing favourites:
Diplomacy: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/483
Kremlin: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/196
(although it seems to have lost much of the minijokes in the english translation)

Why not look at the highest user-rated board games in existence, many or which are new, and then read the comments about the games in order to determine what sounds appealing to you? Board Game Geek.com has all of this information readily available right here: game rankings

Age of Renaissance is even better. Its like a improved version of Civilisation.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/26

Get your geek on at BoardGameGeek where we have enough games to scratch just about any itch for tabletop games. If you really liked Axis & Allies, you might be interested in moving up to grognard-level wargames.

Check the top rated games at BoardGameGeek. My personal favourite is Puerto Rico.

I have not yet seen anyone point this person to some of the online implementations (commercial and OSS) of popular board games.
Examples:
Settlers of Catan (http://www.s3dconnector.com/)
Ticket To Ride (http://www.ticket2ridegame.com/)
Lost Cities (http://www.flexgames.com/)
Dune (http://homepage.eircom.net/~monalisa/Dune/
Most require Java-enabled brower. Some have a downloadable binary for Wintel (or WINE...YMMV). All of them (that I have played) require mouse only to actually play the game.

This is just a tiny fraction of boardgames available online. See a whole host of Online Boardgames at Board Game Geek in the following list...and elsewhere on the site:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action= view&listid=6451

In 1996 I wrote an article for Comics & Game Retailer (a trade magazine) predicting exactly this current situation and asking publishers to consider the route companies like Games Workshop took - restricting who could access their products at wholesale and eventually restricting online sales to their own operation only. While this hasn't made Games Workshop products less expensive, it has allowed them and retailers such as Dark Horse to make a fair profit and if anything, the market for Warhammer and Warhammer 40K has grown over the years. There is also a thriving secondary market on sites such as eBay for players to sell off their GW items, often at terrific discounts, which doesn't directly impact the sales of GW or the retailers.

Games Workshop's model works. That alone is enough to lend credence to my suggestion that online discounters could eventually shrink the market for board games rather than increase it. Miniature games demand in-store selling. Columbia Games is another example of an approach that works. They sell at retail. And except for sales when they have slow-moving games, people pay retail when they buy from Columbia. So why did Grant and Tom take that approach? I think they took it to do two things: keep the company alive and make a good living doing it.

This looks suspiciously like the old Games Workshop game Space Hulk. Which might not be a bad thing, since Space Hulk was a blast to play and has been out of print for years.

Let's teach these search gurus some basic set theory.

To be fair, maybe OR works differently in MSN. On the other hand, that blue background is so ugly.

If your frame of reference is Monopoly (which sells well, but is not a favourite of the majority of the 'gamer crowd') you probably should play something else - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/top50.htm/ will give you some ideas...

I would probably read the reviews at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ before buying either of them...

a General reply to the many posters:

people have said chess and other classics ranks low because they're too abstact. Go is even more abstract, and it ranks 11th. Bridge is 71st and it's not even a board game.

Others are pointing out that Risk and Monopoly are hardly the best games ever made. This is true, but what other examples should I give that everyone has heard of?

Yes, I have heard of Puerto Rico and other very highly ranked games.

And to those who are offended my suggestion that vote-rigging may be occuring I say: you don't know fans and you don't know companies. Fans, even board game fans who should know that breaking the rules ruins it for everyone, can get really offended when something 'unworthy' is ranked higher than something they like. BTW D:TBG has dropped 7 places to 75th since 12 hours ago. OTOH if boardgamegeeks is A Trusted Site, the temptation is there for manufacturers to pump up the scores of it's games, thereby indirectly increasing games sales.(If you can't grasp how that works, I pity you.)

Also I did not say that vote-rigging WAS going on, I just said I suspect it might be. I do not trust the rankings, but hey - I'm not Buddha, Allah, Vishnu or any other all-powerful deity; make up your own mind.

Oh, and regarding Zombies!!! - yes, as CaptMonkeyDLuffy points out, it's the interminable uninteresting slog once all the tiles are out that detracts from it.

a General reply to the many posters:

people have said chess and other classics ranks low because they're too abstact. Go is even more abstract, and it ranks 11th. Bridge is 71st and it's not even a board game.

Others are pointing out that Risk and Monopoly are hardly the best games ever made. This is true, but what other examples should I give that everyone has heard of?

Yes, I have heard of Puerto Rico and other very highly ranked games.

And to those who are offended my suggestion that vote-rigging may be occuring I say: you don't know fans and you don't know companies. Fans, even board game fans who should know that breaking the rules ruins it for everyone, can get really offended when something 'unworthy' is ranked higher than something they like. BTW D:TBG has dropped 7 places to 75th since 12 hours ago. OTOH if boardgamegeeks is A Trusted Site, the temptation is there for manufacturers to pump up the scores of it's games, thereby indirectly increasing games sales.(If you can't grasp how that works, I pity you.)

Also I did not say that vote-rigging WAS going on, I just said I suspect it might be. I do not trust the rankings, but hey - I'm not Buddha, Allah, Vishnu or any other all-powerful deity; make up your own mind.

Oh, and regarding Zombies!!! - yes, as CaptMonkeyDLuffy points out, it's the interminable uninteresting slog once all the tiles are out that detracts from it.

a General reply to the many posters:

people have said chess and other classics ranks low because they're too abstact. Go is even more abstract, and it ranks 11th. Bridge is 71st and it's not even a board game.

Others are pointing out that Risk and Monopoly are hardly the best games ever made. This is true, but what other examples should I give that everyone has heard of?

Yes, I have heard of Puerto Rico and other very highly ranked games.

And to those who are offended my suggestion that vote-rigging may be occuring I say: you don't know fans and you don't know companies. Fans, even board game fans who should know that breaking the rules ruins it for everyone, can get really offended when something 'unworthy' is ranked higher than something they like. BTW D:TBG has dropped 7 places to 75th since 12 hours ago. OTOH if boardgamegeeks is A Trusted Site, the temptation is there for manufacturers to pump up the scores of it's games, thereby indirectly increasing games sales.(If you can't grasp how that works, I pity you.)

Also I did not say that vote-rigging WAS going on, I just said I suspect it might be. I do not trust the rankings, but hey - I'm not Buddha, Allah, Vishnu or any other all-powerful deity; make up your own mind.

Oh, and regarding Zombies!!! - yes, as CaptMonkeyDLuffy points out, it's the interminable uninteresting slog once all the tiles are out that detracts from it.

Doom's boardgamegeek.com entry shows the following stats:

Number of Views:
74585

Number of Ratings:
190

Average Rating:
7.79

Bayesian Average Rating:
7.52

Overall Rank:
75

Standard Deviation:
1.67

It has made the top 100 already, looks promising.

I played the Doom boardgame a couple of weekends ago and although I was a fan of the video game, I really didn't care for the board game version. We played a game with 3 Marines against the evil baddies, and here's a microreview of the game.

The first thing I noticed was the game had approximately a metric buttload of figurines, dice, cards, and widgets. Heck, I think there are even some out-of-state fireworks and dancing girls in the box. So, if you're into games with lotsa bits, Doom has some serious heft to it.

With those bits comes a lot of dice-rolling. Each weapon has an array of dice to be thrown, each with varying damages, ranges, and ammo-usage. We found ammo to be extremely scarce. Each player starts out with a small amount of ammo, and it tends to run out quickly -- at least one out of every three attacks. Due to some bad die rolls, our "sharpshooter" marine was constantly running out of ammo, and had to often resort to the classic "fist" attack. (Which, strangely enough, seems to be more effective than the pistol.)

The line-of-sight rules combined with Evil's spawning rules seemed a little out-of-line. Evil was able to use a constant supply of cards in his hand to spawn new bad guys (which is a departure from the video game). Evil could spawn anywhere he could put a critter out of our "line-of-sight". Unfortunately, even one or two little critters could block line of sight for a big critter. When we finally started working carefully to cover every corner, being careful of line-of-sight, Evil played a "Darkness" card which allowed new baddies to spawn. Twice. This was all great fun for the Evil player, but irritating and frustrating for the players. (In the original game, a player could "clear out" an area and use it as a safe zone. Nothing doing in the board game.)

The game allows 6 respawns of the players before the evil player wins. Which is a good thing -- us players had lost 3 lives before we got out of the first room. The game also took a long time to play. We played for nearly 3 hours before we gave up the ghost, but none of the players except for Evil seemed to have a good time.

Earlier the same day, we played the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" game, which is along the same lines as Doom. A similar theme, a similar style of play (one player versus the rest), but Buffy seemed much better for some reason. Buffy kept things simple, which Doom bogged down with the details.

I'm not really looking forward to playing the Doom boardgame again, but I'll probably give it another shot to see if there was something that I missed. Although it had lovely pieces, I think the gameplay was a lot of dice-rolling for three hours, with the odds stacked frustratingly against the Marines to the point of being "not fun." Maybe the dice were just not with us. If you like the pretty bits, and like slapping a bunch of dice and figures around the table, then you might want to check this out.

After looking over the link and reading the comments here, it sounds a lot like the old game Space Crusade (link goes to first hit on Google).

In both games, up to three players control marines searching through a map, with another player (controlling the nasties) able to drop new things in places the players can't see.

Space Crusade was fun, but fiendishly hard for the marines...which is where I think they got the idea :)

I laughed when I saw the headline, but after thinking about it, I believe this think has the potential to take off (Not that well, but still could prove to be a success for the manufacturer).

After looking at the link provided by Warlock48 (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10640), it looks like they are taking the base elements of Magic the Gathering (playable cards leading to in-game results), and packaging them into a Heroquest-like environment (D&D-type miniature play). This looks like it's a prime example of how recycling ideas can make money......

I do feel sorry for the company that's putting this out, however. Most of the target market for this will simply play it on the computer......however I can see a bunch of pimple-faced teenagers having 'Doom' parties. The joke'll get changed from 'I'm gonna cast......MAGIC MISSILE!' to 'If there are any girls on Mars, I WANNA DO 'EM!'.

Ranked 68th, that's very good!

I don't trust the rankings there. Boardgamegeek ranks DOOM: The Boardgame higher than Risk ,Monopoly, and even Chess. It also beats Kill Doctor Lucky, which is definitely an award-winning kick-ass game (as well as a Cheap-Ass Game)

Now I havent played DOOM::TB, but I doubt it's more interesting and holds a better replay value than Chess. I have played Zombies!!! - a seriously flawed game, yet the voters of boardgame geeks still rank it higher than Risk and Monopoly. I suspect theres some vote-rigging going on, much like that which the admins at IMDb are constantly battling.

Ranked 68th, that's very good!

I don't trust the rankings there. Boardgamegeek ranks DOOM: The Boardgame higher than Risk ,Monopoly, and even Chess. It also beats Kill Doctor Lucky, which is definitely an award-winning kick-ass game (as well as a Cheap-Ass Game)

Now I havent played DOOM::TB, but I doubt it's more interesting and holds a better replay value than Chess. I have played Zombies!!! - a seriously flawed game, yet the voters of boardgame geeks still rank it higher than Risk and Monopoly. I suspect theres some vote-rigging going on, much like that which the admins at IMDb are constantly battling.

Ranked 68th, that's very good!

I don't trust the rankings there. Boardgamegeek ranks DOOM: The Boardgame higher than Risk ,Monopoly, and even Chess. It also beats Kill Doctor Lucky, which is definitely an award-winning kick-ass game (as well as a Cheap-Ass Game)

Now I havent played DOOM::TB, but I doubt it's more interesting and holds a better replay value than Chess. I have played Zombies!!! - a seriously flawed game, yet the voters of boardgame geeks still rank it higher than Risk and Monopoly. I suspect theres some vote-rigging going on, much like that which the admins at IMDb are constantly battling.

Ranked 68th, that's very good!

I don't trust the rankings there. Boardgamegeek ranks DOOM: The Boardgame higher than Risk ,Monopoly, and even Chess. It also beats Kill Doctor Lucky, which is definitely an award-winning kick-ass game (as well as a Cheap-Ass Game)

Now I havent played DOOM::TB, but I doubt it's more interesting and holds a better replay value than Chess. I have played Zombies!!! - a seriously flawed game, yet the voters of boardgame geeks still rank it higher than Risk and Monopoly. I suspect theres some vote-rigging going on, much like that which the admins at IMDb are constantly battling.

Ranked 68th, that's very good!

I don't trust the rankings there. Boardgamegeek ranks DOOM: The Boardgame higher than Risk ,Monopoly, and even Chess. It also beats Kill Doctor Lucky, which is definitely an award-winning kick-ass game (as well as a Cheap-Ass Game)

Now I havent played DOOM::TB, but I doubt it's more interesting and holds a better replay value than Chess. I have played Zombies!!! - a seriously flawed game, yet the voters of boardgame geeks still rank it higher than Risk and Monopoly. I suspect theres some vote-rigging going on, much like that which the admins at IMDb are constantly battling.

"Okay, I slowly -- SLOWLY -- enter the room. What do I see?"

"It's dark. There's some blood on the ground."

"And that's it?"

"Yes. ROWR!"

"What? What? I spin around!"

"There's nothing there. Just a scary noise. Oh, but you see a box of shotgun shells."

"OK, motherfucker, I know what's going to happen. I sneak up, and JUST AS I GRAB THE SHELLS I spin around!"

"A closet opens up and an imp pops out!"

"I shoot the bastard! BLAM1 I rolled a 12! He's dead!"

"Good job, marine. So what now?"

"I walk toward the door..."

"And just as you do so, three Hell Knights teleport in behind you!!"

"What the..."

"GRROWR! ROAR! SLASH! BOOM! You're dead."

"Motherfucker... OK, I hit Alt-tab."

"What?"

"You heard me. I navigate to the DOOM directory and hit unistall.exe . You backstabbed me for the last time, bitch."

If you're interested in board games, you could view a list of Games By Rating.

How many games in the top 100 have you even heard of?

Some other videogame to boardgame conversions that exist are Age of Mythology: the Boardgame, Sid Meier's Civilization - The Boardgame, Sid Meier's Pirates!: The Boardgame, and Warcraft - The Boardgame

Doom: the Boardgame actually has a 7.82 rating (7.52 Bayesian average) at www.boardgamegeek.com, which is actually quite decent (the highest rated game, Puerto Rico, is 8.75 and 8.72 respectively).

Actually, the boardgame community has been anticipating this title for quite some time. You can find more details, discussions, and mods (yes, mods!) on Doom from the perspective of boardgamers here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10640

The place to check this out is the BoardGameGeek Doom: The Boardgame page, which has reviews, scenarios, and other good stuff.

See what real boardgame geeks think of it:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10640

Ranked 68th, that's very good!

The licensing behind Call to Power was messy.

Way back when, Heartland Trefoil made a board game called Civilization, which was distributed in the US by Avalon Hill.

Avalon Hill even released an expansion, called Advanced Civilazion, and a computer game based on this.

Sid Meier had acknowleged that the original board game was as a source of ideas for his computer game.

Some years down the road, Sid's game has been popular and has spun off sequals, and Activision goes and licenses Civilization from Avalon Hill (who has a license from Heartland Trefoil) to compete directly with Sid Meier/Fraxis/MicroProse.

While the lawsuits were underway, Microprose bought Heartland Trefoil.

Funny thing is that Hasbro eventually ended up buying MicroProse and Avalon Hill, and aside from what rights Sid/Fraxis curretnly hold, have complete control of everything...

You can download it from SoftUnity though you need to read some german to do so. Around $10 for the original game, another 14 or so for the expansion.

This site will help you through ordering it. If you want to play a good german game online, this one rocks!

(Note, the game is not advertised in english, but simply changing the language flag in the config file from '2' to '1' will change the entire game to english)

I guess I'm a dither-er. I'm going to try to play this Christmas break using sub-30 second turns. Thanks for the advice!

Any experience with Citadels?

Hi there,
i could go on for hours :-) but my current favourites are

* RailRoad Dice (http://www.railroaddice.de/) - a great strategy board game, a mix from "eurostyle"game & railroad game. 90min+ for players, for whom "settlers form catan - knights and towns expansion (or so)" is an fun game instead of "too complex"
(For sceptics - have a look at http://www.fwtwr.com/ for a "play by mail" version)

* BlockOut : 1 Rule, 1 Starting-Position, 1 Ending-Condition, 2 - 4 Players, awesome shortlived game, fun tactics and amazing

* Feudo : Brandnew, Complex Rules, Mix between Military & Boardgame. Definitely has potential. A Review can be found with http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

If this is to strategic for you, check back with me

Greetings, Norgan

Great strategy game, especially since you're forced to barter with other players to succeed, there's lots of strategy involved.

For people that like the bartering more than anything else, I recommended Kuhhandel. Don't let the goofy pictures set you off: this game can be very hard to play, with the right (determined to win) fellow players.
There's a Dutch* downloadable DIY version so you can try the game for the cost of a couple of color prints.

* There's no text on the cards, only the instructions are Dutch. But you will find PDF's of the rules at boardgamegeek anyway.

These are multiplayer strategy games with typical play times of 4-6 hours or higher. Players invest in and operate railroad companies, with the goal of making the most money.

During the coarse of a game, train technology periodically improves and railroad track gets built across the landscape. In addition to the operation of railroad companies, players also engage in stock market speculation (or manipulation ...). Once the initial turn order is decided, there is no "chance" element in the game.

These are multiplayer strategy games with typical play times of 4-6 hours or higher. Players invest in and operate railroad companies, with the goal of making the most money.

During the coarse of a game, train technology periodically improves and railroad track gets built across the landscape. In addition to the operation of railroad companies, players also engage in stock market speculation (or manipulation ...). Once the initial turn order is decided, there is no "chance" element in the game.

These are multiplayer strategy games with typical play times of 4-6 hours or higher. Players invest in and operate railroad companies, with the goal of making the most money.

During the coarse of a game, train technology periodically improves and railroad track gets built across the landscape. In addition to the operation of railroad companies, players also engage in stock market speculation (or manipulation ...). Once the initial turn order is decided, there is no "chance" element in the game.

This may sound strange, but NOT ONE of my friends is a geek :-) I'd have to say that a lot of them are complete illiterates when it comes to computers - and I'll bet they'd agree.

The Lord of the Rings board game is a blast. The Sauron tracking board is great: as the hobbit's morale falls (because they fail challenges or are tempted by the ring), they move toward Sauron. As Sauron gains power he moves toward the hobbits. You'll typically have to sacrifice at least a few hobbits to Sauron to win. The game is very cooperation oriented; Sauran is controlled by the board itself while the players are the hobbits. Typically you'll have players/hobbits sacrifice themselves for the good of the group. "I don't think I can make it. Here, I'll let you take the last token of Hope. Even though it will doom me, hopefully the rest of you can make it." Once you're beating the game regularlly you can start playing to maximize score or increase the difficultly (giving Sauran an edge). It's always exciting since you never know if bad luck will doom the party. On the down side, after a dozen or so games we pretty much understand the strategy. It's still fun, but the only surprises are from the order of the deck, not the big picture.

I bought Quarto several years ago and have enjoyed it often with people ranging from my (at the time) 5 yo son, to colleagues from work. "Quarto has a 4x4 board and 16 pieces. Each piece has four dichotomous attributes: color, height, shape and consistency. So each piece is either black or white, tall or short, square or round, and hollow or solid. The object is to place the fourth piece in a row where all four pieces have at least one attribute in common. The twist is your opponent gets to choose the piece you place on the board every turn." - From: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewitem.php3?gameid= 681

Carcassonne Castle is a 2-player-only game, it's self-contained (it's not an extension and there's no extensions for it).

It's similar to Carcassone, except you play inside city walls, you score paths (1), houses (1) and keeps (2) and at the end, markets (3) and the biggest empty space for the player with the biggest house. The most interesting element is the score board, where some special tiles are placed at predefined spaces. So sometimes you want to score less than you could, so that you get one of those special tiles.

I like it a lot, the special tiles give it the strategy that is missing in a 2-player H&G.

Hunters and Gatherers is my next choice for 3 to 5 players. Never even played the original one, because I read that H&G was better anyway :-)

I played Ark of the Covenant once, didn't find it as good as H&G, but it's probably the right choice for X fanatics. :-)