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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.
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!!