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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?"
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.
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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 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.
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.
IP is just rude.
Is there any torture so subl
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....
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." -Emerson
Exactly! Settlers is not only a fantastic example of game design, it's also a great way to pass an evening laughing hysterically. Any game where two of your main resources are sheep and wood is bound to lead to some interesting comments.
It's also a great game for social interaction. The interpersonal dynamics that show up are always interesting - it never fails to amaze me how fast the tables will shift when people realize someone's winning. Suddenly, that person can't trade for any useful resources, as everyone allies against them. At the moment, I can't find anyone to play with either, which is why I found Sea3d.
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).