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Intelligent Board Games and Social Interaction?
frogcircus asks: "Several weeks ago, at a neighborhood yard sale, my wife found an intact copy of Scotland Yard. I had been looking for one for several years (ever suspicious of eBay), driven by fond memories of group games in the late 80s. We played with a group of friends last night, and while some of us loved the game, others seemed a little less enthralled. It soon surfaced that the logic and reasoning involved in the game made it highly attractive for some of us. This got me thinking that perhaps the game was especially appealing to the geek mind. Which leads to my question: to which board games do you feel a close affinity? And to what degree have they engendered social interaction who don't share your particular interests?"
The Rail Builder games from Mayfair (too lazy to google the links) were awesome. There were versions for the UK, Europe, India, North America, and Japan, IIRC. Best of all, though, was the fantasy version - the mighty Iron Dragon. For a while I was playing a game a night with a friend who was staying with my family; we had it down to such an art that we could get through a 2-player game in 45 minutes.
;-)
I'm on my second copy, though it's lent out at the moment. I can't think of another board game that captured my interest like Iron Dragon. We had quite the little circle of players going for a while, too, though I think it's fair to say that we are all geeks of one sort or another.
There was an attempt to create an online version, but I don't know what happened to it - I've never been able to get the demo to work on my machines. Anyone know anything about this?
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
First and foremost Settlers of Catan. Other games may be Junta for the social interaction, History of the World, then the list drops off fast.
I play and socialize with Advanced Squad Leader.
www.multimanpublishing.com
Hey, if Curt Schilling likes it (and owns the company), then it's gotta be good.
Best board game on the planet. Come on now, it's got mouse, pussies and gadgets. How can you go wrong.
I haven't played it fo about a decade, but I remember it as being like a "grown-ups version" of Monopoly. Instead of property, you bought shares in companies. The general dynamic was the same as Monopoly, but it was more complex.
Here in Raleigh, NC we have a few nice game stores. I like All Fun and Games in Cary best. As for the actual games, Carcassone can't be beat. It's a map building tile game with intrigue and guile.
Also, Bang is nice group fun. Scotland Yard is a favorite of my family's. San Juan is card-tastic. Bohnanza is a really cute, easy to pick up game. Once Upon a Time is a neat storytelling game for little kids to share with adults.
--
(sourceCode == freeSpeech)
You might be hard pressed to find this game as well as the many expansion but it sure is a lot of fun and a geek game. Programming robots to take part in a race of conveyor belts, pits and laser damages. WOW.
As far as I know the game is discontinued but the community is still out there. There is plenty of alternative board to download, new rule sets and so on if you go looking.
Go Twitch!!
My family enjoyed playing this game. Until my Dad (an embedded system engineer) figured out a strategy for winning really fast. He would basically keep track weather or not somebody could disprove a hypothesis (Mr Green, in the Library, with the Candlestick) After a while, when somebody says they can prove a hypothesis wrong, and you have marked that they do not have Mr Green or the Library, then you know they have the Candlestick.
Basically a turn based strategy game. You grab resources and build settlements and cities to be the first to get a certain number of points.
First turn takes 30 minutes. Subsequent turns take 15 minutes each.
Unless you have a very small circle of friends (up to seven others), your social life is over.
I know it's not strictly a board game but I cannot remember the last time I lanned with this group of friends. Lanning was a regular event, now its like why did we bother?
The depth in this game is amazing due to all the possible combinations of cards. Every one seems to devlope their own play style and deck construction. Ive only been playing about a month but in that time I've played nearly every second night. Its well worth a look if you can get past the "thats way too geeky for me" factor. My mum saw a game and decided she wanted to learn how to play.
Chess, for example, would always be preferable to Yahtzee. In a less black and white model (yes, I know, and I meant to do it, durnit!) Scrabble vs. Poker might have been a harder call, each having
As I grow older and (maybe) wiser, I've found that status and "winning" have become less important to me and the experience of playing has become more important... so chance plays a more important role (roll? :) in the games I enjoy.
Of course, it might also be that a purely random game gives my young daughters a chance to win once in a while, and durn they're cute when they're proud.
Any generalization is a stupid one.
I love Junta, which is a game for 3-7 players where each player is either the president or a member of the cabinet of a corrupt government in a Central American republic. The point of the game is to get as much foreign aid money into your Swiss bank account before it all runs out.
The gameplay is wonderful if you like double-crossing.
I can second the Settlers and Carcassonne nominations. Those both reward skill, though Settlers takes some bargaining craft to really excel.
I didn't like Iron Mountain very much, but Eurorails had the best map for the rail series of games I played. The US (Empire Builder) is too large, and Australia has the same problems of overly wide spaces with no cities. Never played India Rails.
blarg.
First of all, there is a whole class of Board Game Geeks.
It should also be noted that Scotland Yard is still available as a game called N.Y. Chase, but with a different map.
With those points out of the way, I think the appeal of board games depends greatly on the type of board game. There are several board categories that each appeal to a different group of people. Logic games that involve deduction like Scotland Yard probably appeal to technology geeks more than they do to the general population.
Some people play games as a way to relax, and they do not like to spend as much time thinking about things as it takes to play a deduction game. Some of those people prefer "party" games like trivia games and more social offerings.
You could try to create a Venn diagram of different demographics and the type of board games that they prefer, but I don't know that it would be that useful. It is better, in my experience, to just try to find games that the people you plan to play with like and have fun.
Here is a partial list of some broad categories of games (off the top of my head):
Party games that revolve around social interation like Cranium, Apples to Apples, most trivia games, and most board games that are mass marketed for adults in the USA.
Deduction games that involve eliminating possibilities and figuring out the answer like Scotland Yard, Master Mind, Coda, and Clue.
Induction games that involve formulating a theory based on observed evidence like Zendo and Eluesis.
Programming games where the moves are all set up and then executed like RAMBots and RoboRally (Diplomacy uses this mechanic, but it's really a different kind of game).
Abstract strategy games where the players pit their mental abilities against one another. Many of these are limited to two players and frequently have perfect information. Examples include Chess, Go, Dvonn, Zertz, Tigris and Euphrates, Blokus, and Through the Desert.
Dexterity games were players have to use physical ability to achieve an objective, like Pitchcar, Jenga, and Crokinole.
There are many other types of games, and then there are many games that incorporate several of these aspects. There are even games that I refer to as "psychological interation" games because they revolve more around how well you can judge how the other players will act in a given situation (like Citadels and Werewolf).
Many of the Euro/German/Designer games incorporate different elements to create an experience that appeals to many people for different reasons, but a lot of the preference comes down to why people want to play games. I personally like to win, so I tend to dislike games that involve too much luck. I also like to think, so I enjoy games that are "brain burners".
Some of my favorites include:
Go, a classic two player abstract strategy game
Ricochet Robot, a brain burning puzzle game
Zendo, an induction game
Through the Desert, a multi player abstract strategy games similar to Go
Princes of Florence, a complex designer game that incorporates auctions and strategy in an interesting way
Carcassonne, a relativly light tile placement game that still has enough strategy to be enjoyable
Age of Steam and Power Grid, economic simulation games that require tough decisions to try to implement complex plans
However, I own a broad collection of games so I have something that is approprate and enjoyable for almost any situation. It all comes down to having fun, in the end (and winning).
fnord
We play Zendo asynchronously in my workplace (people take turns whenever they have a break, and we are pretty lax with turn order). This is an inductive logic game, like Eleusis. It's very friendly as opposed to competitive when we play, and is very social indeed as people talk over their reasoning with one another.
is A Game of the Throne. one of those military conquest / diplomacy / resource management type games (based on George R.R. Martin's excellent fantasy book series, A Song of Fire and Ice). It's quite fun, and a total time waster. With 3 players, games take upwards of 4 or 5 hours. I haven't played it yet with a bigger group. My wife, who doesn't really like things fantasy or military, had fun playing it. Biggest draw is that there's no dice throwing and what random effects there are affect everyone, so on one can feel cheated by a lucky moment.
A great game to play with other intelligent people. It's not hard to learn, but difficult to master. There's almost no element of luck in the game (there is one non-player source of entropy, but it's not completely random) but the design of the game leads to billions of possible scenarios. An excellently designed and balanced game - highly recommended.
You can play it online too at BSW.
Hampered by a tedious setup and long turns, A&A is a battle of strategic resources that involves equal parts WWII and trash talk. It is fun to play with three to five players. (With two players, there is less finger pointing amongst the Allies or Axis. What fun is that?)
If you're a geek, you love history, and you've never played it, you really must try it some time.
The world will not get better through technology. We must seek to be better people.
Perhaps you should check out the site in the subject line. It has them all with ratings and reviews.
Personally, I've tried Settlers of Catan (original), Puerto Rico, and Tigris and Euphrates with much success. Settlers of Catan is easily the best board game ever. No matter your taste you will like Settlers of Catan on your first game. I own two sets with expansions and three of my friends bought their own copies. I think one of the best aspects is the resource trading which puts a lot of control in the hands of all the players because you simply must trade to get enough resources. I also like that ending your turn is signified by courteously passing the dice to the next player.
I also have a copy of El Grande which I need to try out. I understand this is one of the best for advanced competition.
Robo Rally has to be the #1 geek board game out there. Unfortunately it's out of print and you can only get it used and abused from places like Ebay
I still create RoboRally parties and spend hours playing this game with friends and co-workers. And when I can't get together a group of people to play, there are variants online that are really cool to play too.
It was created by Richard Garfield (the same guy that made the Magic the Gathering game) and published by Wizards of the Coast back in 1994
It won 2 awards that next year
PR - is a relatively easy and straight-forward game of market economies that is extremely complex upon examination. There are dozens of strategies to follow and while luck can help a bit, skill is large part of the importance to winning.
Acquire - what can I say about this brilliant and somewhat abstract game that hasn't been said before. Luck is too important to the game in my opinion but it definitely will make the geek mind think about the right strategy and approach to the board at any one time.
Both are GREAT games.
I concur with the recommendations of Settlers of Catan and Chess. In addition, I'd also recommend Trivial Pursuit, which is a good social game as well as an excellent brain tease.
Foremost however, I can't believe my absolute favorite board game has yet to be mentioned. Axis & Allies! Avalon Hill just recently released a Revised edition of the game in celebration of its 20th anniversary. It's a fantastic game for 2-5 players that pits countries (the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union), against each other in the middle of World War II. It's a strategy game that can last for several hours.
Somehow though, I almost always wind up playing Russia...
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
One problem with selecting a game is that it will only appeal to some of your friends and not others.
I love strategy, logic and bluffing games. I hate word games. I'll play Risk, Monopoly or poker for hours. Most of my friends like playing things like Boggle or Scrabble-- they'll play something like Cranium.
One solution to this is to use game kits which can have multiple uses. A deck of cards can be used to play a huge number of games depending on the crowd.
Another really cool "game kit" is Icehouse Pyramids. The pyramids are these pretty colorful plastic pyramids. You can use the pyramids to play a dozen different games. You can download the rules for free from their website, and many other people have made other kinds of games using the pyramids.
Another issue is time: Alot of the strategy games take a long time to learn, play and master. When everyone has busy lives or kids and can only spend a couple hours every other week or month to play these games, a game which is quick to learn is essential.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
Stratego is by and large my favortie board game. It's not got a lot of social interation as it's only a two person game, unless you count people watching the game. One thing I like about Stratego is that it is really fun to watch two people play who are good at it. It's like watching a really good game of poker because it's very easy to bluff both on offense and defense. I especially like the now-defunct Electronic Stratego just because you don't know the rank of a piece until that piece dies and the electronic bomb system is more challenging.
The other board games I love are Risk, Trivial Pursuit 80's Edition, and Clue.
Hands down one of the best classic games. No dice. No cards. No Random bonuses.
It's purely a derivative of chess mixed with politics! A highly addictive game if you have a set of highly competative and suspicious friends!
Before they switched the the card (a la "Magic the Gathering") format. It was cut-throat, and a LOT of fun! Be careful who you play with. I've only played it with close friends, but I wonder if being a total bastard in the game would affect friendships that aren't so close...
I haven't lost my mind!
It is backed up on disk...somewhere...
1) You have to work together towards a common goal (argue)
2) You go through a number of adventure boards where you relive the adventures the hobbits went through (argue more)
3) You have to deal with limited resources, and by the end of the game have tough decisions you need to intelligently discuss with the rest of the group, in order to succeed (open brawl/fistfight)
I can't believe no one has mentioned cosmic encounter, my favorate social game.
3 or 4 different game companies have produced versions of it and the original had 9 expansions.
Add that to the tons of user created expansions available on the web and you get a game that never gets old.
The best CE site in my opinion (disclaimer, I did the database programming) is The warp
IP is just rude.
Is there any torture so subl
So far I've seen no mention of Trivial Persuit. I love this game. Right now though I am at the point where in order to keep the game fair I have to answer two questions per turn rather than just one when I play with my wife and our friends. I've even gone so far as to give them the childrens cards for their questions and the uber-esoteric ones for myself.
"War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left"
Steven Wright
Two board games that I still can play and enjoy are Risk and Settlers. These two games are amazingly simple, yet because of the infinite strategies involved, can provide endless hours of entertainment.
I'm sure most of you know what Risk is. Basically, you can have up to 6 players and the objective is to take over enemy territory using die rolls to determine the victor. (Yes, a primitive form of D&D I guess but I never played the latter so I wouldn't know).
Settlers is much more complicated. The object is to mine resources and build roads and towns (which cost resources to build). Each road/town is assigned points and the first player to 20 points is the winner. There are other variations of the game as well which allow extended multiplayer as well as expansions. (Hmm I guess I would compare it to a primitive Warcraft now that I think about it)
So yeah, take a look at those two.
My husband and I collect board games, and will try any game (within reason) once. IMHO the way to make board games social is to have a set of friends who will also try anything once and consider the time fun, even if the game sucks. Then, once you know what to expect of a game, you can figure out who would enjoy it.
Often if you ASK people what games they enjoy, or what they enjoy in a game, you can figure out what else they'd enjoy.
My mom is a self-avowed game-hater, but she likes Scrabble and will tolerate games that are just excuses to hang out and talk with friends. "Apples to Apples" is a great one (it even plays well with kids), and a little-known Richard Garfield game, "What Were You Thinking?"
For game geeks, anything by Steve Jackson Games is excellent. Illuminati (not INWO) is my all-time favorite. "Ninja Burger," however, is a brand new and darned awesome game.
The "Chez" series (Chez Geek, Chez Grunt, Chez Greek...) are a lot of fun for a group of 20-30somethings. They're more about shared experience than about real gaming, but they've got enough game elements to keep a geek happy.
For IT folk, I love Management Material (Zipwhaa Games) and now IT Management Material. I got a copy for one of my co-workers as a gift and we all spent the rest of the afternoon locked in an office playing it (poor users couldn't find a single sysadmin anywhere). Again, more about shared experience than the game, but beautifully balanced and with nice mechanics.
Fluxx is another one that you can play with anyone, plus it's very portable. Easy to learn (starts with a single rule) but deep enough that someone who loves strategy can have a blast with it.
Mmmmm...games....
~
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." -Emerson
Others have already mentioned several of my favorite games:
- Risk
- Settlers of Catan
- Magic: the Gathering
I think all of these games have "engendered social interaction". These games have been the impetus for social interaction since I was a kid, be it playing Risk with my family, the nights (and days) spent playing M:tG in college, or the evenings with friends around the coffee table and Settlers board now.For me, the games have always been a distant second to enjoying time with those close to me. Through these games I've found many people with whom I have common interests. I consider this a boon, and it was especially so in college. There was always a group of five or six Magic players who would hang out on weekends together. We'd relax, complain about politics, talk about whatever, and generally have a good time. Meanwhile, the rest of the campus was at the frat houses giving themselves alcohol poisoning and acting the fool until the cops or paramedics were called -- and that was never my idea of a good time.
The way I see it, those who share my interest in these games probably have more in common with me, and I am more likely to get along with them and enjoy their company. At least, it's worked that way so far.
With all the postings mentioning RoboRally, I thought I'd mention another, slightly rarer, game where you do some programming, RoboTanks
Each player has a small group of tanks, which you put cards into stacks for their program, which they then follow from that point out. Reminds me of the old Playstation game Carnage Heart, only with many units per side.
It's a lot less direct than RoboRally, and hard to play if you can't think ahead a number of turns, but can be a lot of fun in the right company.
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Scotland yard is a bad example.
...but if you want a real fair chalange play chess or go, or mastermind.
it is a very one sided game. (like axis and allies)
the odds are stacked well in favour of the detectives....
both games are quite fun to play, and involve some level of thinking
--meh--
Okay, maybe not quite a board game, but closely related. I remember continually increasing the difficulty by:
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
That only works for so long before people start to catch on.
If memory serves, after shuffling the three sets of cards seperately and choosing the hidden cards, all the sets are shuffled into one big bunch. I remember many games with only one person or weapon. In that senario the other players will be pretty keen to know that you have Professor Plum.
Unfortunately, Illuminati suffers from the typical flaw of the Steve Jackson Game: a long, tedious endgame.
Basically, your ability to hinder your opponents is far greater than your ability to make progress on your own. Thus, the end of the game consists of everyone taking down the leader until all the players run out of screw-you cards, and somebody wins. And winning isn't usually a matter of skill, just dumb luck that your opponents were out of cards when you were in a position to win.
Munchkin and Hacker have the same problem.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
There's an awful lot of extraordinary games being mentioned, but also some surprising omissions:
El Grade, an easy to learn game which ostensibly centers around players vying for political dominance in 16th centruy Spain. This one will be coming back in print later this year, supposedly, but most gaming stores still have or can get it. While you're at it, get the Expansions, although King and Intrigue is the only one you'll be using with any regularity. Cost hovers around $45 retail.
Babel is an out of print gem from Uwe Rosenburg, creator of the popular Bohnanza series. The game is in Kosmos's Spiele für zwei (Games for two) series. In this game, players command groups of middle-Eastern peoples trying to build towers, but the beauty of the game lies in the simplicity of the design and the strategic possibilities. Cost is about $22.00 retail.
El Caballero is the brain-burning sequel to El Grande, but shares very little gameplay-wise. The idea in this game is that players now control groups of explorers who are trying to claim land masses in the "New World." This game resembles the already mentioned Carcassonne in some superficial ways, but it is to Carcassonne what Axis and Allies is to Risk. Cost is usually $20.00 retail.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for games that are good for two players, but can allow more. Most of the ones mentioned here seem to only be good for a larger group.
Carcassonne is the game that bumped the excellent Settlers of Cataan from the top spot for me.
Carcassonne is incredibly elegant. You place new tiles to expand the world, optionally claiming them for your side. Play is simultaneously competitive and cooperative between players as temporary aliances are formed and broken based on mutual interest. There are several ways to earn points, leading to vastly different strategies (like in an RTS on a computer), and enough expansion packs to keep the game ever fresh.
-m
Just one of Reiner Knizia's several award winning games .
Probably the most prolific designer alive.
Oh wait. The question is about intellectually challenging games. Hmm. How about a nice game of chess?
My family still plays games when we get together mostly cards now (Penochle, or (Liverpool or Shanghai) Rummy we used to play hearts or Oh heck. Mom loves clue, I never found it very interesting, we all started playing pente (something like go or Othello). Risk was fun but we only did two player games. I loved Axis & Allies (and later Warhammer) but found Shogun/Samurai Swords to be more interesting. The game was different each time since players select territories, also the battle mechanism was different. Warhammer rocks but takes forever to setup and play and the learning curve is steep. Scotland Yard was fun, but Mr. X rarely escaped, the family is pretty smart and would set up very effective dragnets. Apples to Apples is a newer interesting game. I'd like to try Settlers of Katan (heard many good things about it).
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
I'm suprised I havent seen this up already!
Star Fleet Battles Baby!
Ah, the memories of devistating alpha strikes, bording parties, and that lucky shot that just knocks a shield down and distroys your brigde!
Trivial Pursuit
Direct away from face when opening.
By Avalon Hill (the game that inspired the PC game by Sid Meier) is still one my favorites. Fairly easy to understand, yet difficult to master, the endless permutations and political backstabbing make this a fun, although long game, to enjoy with friends (8 hrs. is a typical game).
Another big hit was Four Player Chess, formerly purchaseable at 4playerchess.com but is now managed by a domain-name squatter. :/ Anyway, mine has always been a big hit amongst the Coffee Shop Crowd. it's not too hard one of your own. Take a normal chess board then add three rows to each side (making the board look like a big Plus sign). Add two sets of Chess pieces (preferably all distinct) and you're off!
Steve Jackson Games' Knightmare Chess. It's a card game played while playing chess. Play a card, move a piece. The cards change the rules as you go (e.g. "All Pawns attack forward and move diagnal until this card is banished"). This game in conjunction with Four Player Chess is hours of insane fun. A quick search revealed one for sale elsewhere.
Lunch Money is a sick and masterfully done game of kill-thy-neighbor. Always a big hit amongst those with a ken of violence.
Hot Death UNO. My personal-favorite diversion, an extension of Crazy Eights (UNO), this card game add almost 30 new cards to the game of UNO. For example: Mutual Assured Destruction, Fuck You!, Harvester of Sorrows, The Shitter, Glasnost.... This game is not for the meek and merciful. There's also a PC version here and a Sourceforge project desperately in need of a programmer with mad (motivational) skillz.
I don't know anyone around here to play chess with anymore, but at one time I was pretty good at it, I probably played at about an ELO rating level of 2000 or so (expert). I liked the older, flashy gambits, just for fun, although most modern masters prefer the queen's-pawn games.
Risk has always been the game of choice amongst my friends. In fact, I liked it so much I wrote a computerized version.
A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
The most bizarre board game I've ever received is called The Tomato Game, (c) Susan A. Tambone. There isn't any other company name or publisher anywhere on it. It's a standard game with a path, tokens, die, and question/action cards that you draw when you land on different spaces. It comes in a box designed to look like a cardboard tomato crate. I grow veggies at home and my wife got this game for me several years ago after finding it advertised in the back of some magazine.
It has the feel of a game written by an instructor at an ag college for people in the tomato industry. Here's a sample question:
No wonder store-bought tomatoes are never ripe.
Or this trick question:
I bet you too thought that the existence of choice E ruled out a combo answer!
Of course, the fun is all of the silliness as people try to guess obscure tomato diseases and "best" practices (by the industry's standards) when noone has a chance. A very surreal experience. Best played in conjunction with Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/rankbrowse.php3?ranki ng=1
I recently got Puerto Rico, and it is great indeed!
I feel a bit proud that games from german or european game designers are as popular in the rest of the world as they are here.
Most of the classics have already been named so i will not repeat them. For those of you who seek games which are out of print in the US have you considered importing them over from germany or other places in europe? Of all the mentioned out-of-print games at least RoboRally and Scotland Yard are available here in germany and there may be others I don't think of at the moment.
My all time favourites are:
Civilisation and its successor age of renaiscance.
Diplomacy. No other game can kill friendships that easily. (Once one of our friends walked out vowing that he "would not ever play any game with us again" after being backstabbed more than once during negotiations.
Also one of those games which can take hours or even days to finish when several expert players play it. (The phrase: "let's play a quick diplomacy became some kind of running gag)
Settlers of Catan
Carcassonne
I'd highly recommend the lord of the rings boardgame as one of only a few truly cooperative gaming experiences.
Robo Rally
Junta
Kreml
If you take the term board game not quite literally i'd recommend battletech.
Jeff
Got to be the best 4 player game I have ever played.
Its a boardgame that starts with the second Roman invasion of the UK and ends with the aftermath of the battle of Hastings.
Well balanced game that takes a minimum of 3 hours to play with experienced players.
The board is divided into stragetically important regions of the UK.
We've taken it with us on various trips - the idea being to play a game in every region on the board. Started this with a few friends years ago, managed to get a game going up in the Orkney Islands and Caithness. Got a long way to go to do'em all. but hey, Whats the rush?
I recommend the game I believe is called Democracy (I wasn't able to google it). It utilizes cards & chips and the goal of the game is to has out the victory conditions "democratically". It is very social, but not for everyone, being so open ended and all (may people seem to prefer the rigidity of Trivial Pursuit).
Snakes 'n' ladders. Arguments, when done properly, are thought provoking, and nothing causes more arguments than what, if anything, gets another throw. And whether or not you count the square you started on. Or even, 'does that mean I go forward four squares or do I go to square four?'. I wish I made that last one up.
Geeks play Go. Nuff said.
Also good social that I've been playing: Cosmic Enconter, Game of Thrones, Settlers of Catan, and Citadels.
If you have a PS2 handy, Culdcept is an interesting Monopoly / MTG mix, and you can play 4-players with a multitap or hot-seat.
the brain teasers are incredible (some of them are a little preposterous), and it scales well. sometimes i'll get bored and just start trying to figure out the questions myself. the game really comes into its own, however, when you have two teams of players constantly double-guessing themselves.
there have been a couple sequels that add different types of puzzles as well, but they're getting harder to come by.
I don't like logic games, they seem like too much work and I might learn that I'm not as smart as I assume I am.
I love Pictionary though, just the creative element involved...
Scrabble and other similar word games suck...I hate the idea of treating words as mere collections of letters devoid of meaning. On the other hand, crossover stuff like Scattegories, which brings the meaning back into play, are ok.
And Monopoly is just boring boring boring.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Every year I go to the DunDraCon -- http://www.dundracon.com -- and there I get most of my board game fix (funny, I go to an RPG convention to play board games)
Settlers of Catan - mostly with the Cities and Knights expansion
Outpost (out of print from TimJim Games - still trying to find an affordable copy)
1830 (great rail game from AH)
Advanced Civ
Republic of Rome (another out of print, from AH)
Acquire (Hotel based stock game from AH)
Sometimes it feels good to just kick back and toss dice and sip Wild Turkey.... }:>
I think I've just been disappointed by Steve Jackson Games too many times. While I think the core game of Illuminati is interesting, it has some end game issues and becomes a little bit too much about who gets the richest groups. The ability of the players to constantly stop each other just short of winning can make the game drag on far longer than I'd like it to. Many other Steve Jackson efforts are cute or funny concepts, but don't really have interplay that is interesting to me in the longer term.
I guess I'd prefer a game with more elegant and polished mechanics to cute concepts and pretty art. I also prefer the depth of the games I play to be in the strategic interplay, not the interpersonal psychology and intrigue. In Illuminati there is depth to the interplay of the player's style, but not really much going on in the way the rules work.
It's a little disingenuous to directly compare the depth of Illuminati and Ricochet Robot because I wasn't trying to compare them as equals as much as I was proposing alternatives that I'd generally rather play than Illuminati. For a better comparison, I'd usually rather play Citadels than Illuminati. They have similar in many aspects, but Citadels has a much smoother game play and the end game, while it can be intentionally delayed, isn't as tedious because the mechanics provide ways to second and third guess a players move.
Part of the attraction that other games hold for me also has to do with the fact that they tend to play in a more managable time frame. A game of Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, Carcassonne, Ricochet Robot, etc. will have a shorter and more predictable time frame than something like Illuminati, which can take several hours, but is unpredictable. Players can be knocked out of Illuminati as well, which is something I think should be avoided in a game that long.
Of course, everything depends on your preference and your intended audience, but when I look at a new game, being made by Steve Jackson games is a red flag to me indicating that I need to do a lot more researching before deciding to sink money into it.
fnord
I am quite fond of Illuminatti. Lots of strategic thinking, and the ability to interfere with rolls calls in alot of deal making and diplomacy.
And how can you not love a game that specifically allows any sort of 'meta game' deal that you can arrange? And also explicitly allows you to break those deals?
The only flaw is that the game can bog down when players try to calculate best / worst case scenarios for making thier rolls.
END COMMUNICATION
The original Scotland Yard is still very much in print. The latest edition is just gorgeous - the board is heavy with nice artwork and the box is really well designed. The original board for tracking Mr. X's movements is also still included and is really well made.
Overall a great game! You can get it for about $9 under MSRP by going to Fair Play Games.
The AH Dune (re-released in a French format by Descrates Games a few years ago) is one of the most interesting and compelling strategy board games I've ever played. I grew up in a household with two copies: products of my father & uncle's Science Fiction Hayward Area book club. The game is one of Avalon Hill's most famous and until eBay and the French re-release, copies would sometimes go for more than $100.
e /) It's not easy to find people at college who are willing to sit down for a six hour game, but most everyone who does has wanted to come back for more. When you consider the expansion packs, the basic and advanced rulesets, and the fact that people will spend 1-2 years playing these games, I have to give the creators a lot of credit. It remains as my favorite game of both my childhood and my life now.
What makes it terrific is the six unique characters (and abilities) that are based on the books. Furthermore, it's a game that allows for alliances. There are a lot of rules clarifications that have come up over the years, but overall it remains a very positive and fun game.
Social interaction? It takes somewhere between three and eight hours to play. (I'd estimate 4-5 as a regular face-to-face session.) It's inspired a pretty active Play-by-email yahoo group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DuneBoardGam
indeed..
Never understood the attraction of Settler. It's iffily balanced and bland in play. Nothing particularly wrong with it (that is not easily fixed) but it is hardly novel or exciting. Later games from the same company are better...but still: there've been better for decades.
For multiplayer action with limited rules learning, Kremlin is still tough to beat. Frenzied doubled crossing and limited information with great buried jokes.
Merchants of Venus is right up there, though without experience the setup can be a slog (I've got it down to a couple minutes--but I've also played a zillion times).
Cosmic Encounter is ***THE*** classic quick-learn, deep-strategy, quick-play board game. It is also now online, being run by the original creator. Pay rates are reasonable to great (don't play too much and get refunds). Implementation is stellar. Requirements are modest.