2004 Board Games Gift Guide

The Morning News has come out with a nice guide to good gift boardgames, while Funagain Games has the list of the 2004 Board and Card Games of the Year (and the runners-up). Like a bowling ball with your name engraved upon it, these make great gifts for your significant other. Any other suggestions for good adult boardgames?

Comments

Do not pass "Go"

[SIGALRM]

The last time you played a board game you got the Adam's apple caught in the funny-bone slot and then you couldn't pass GO or collect $200

Speaking of Go... now there's a fantastic game of strategy; one I've only recently discovered. The potential for complex and intricate maneuvering seem (like chess) to be limitless. I've heard there are Go masters who have played for fifty years and still consider themselves to be serious students of the game.

Me: still a Go newbie but loving every minute of it.

Re:Do not pass "Go"

[entrager]

Want a headache? Look into the current state of "Go" in the computing world.

It's amazing how simple the game is, yet the best computer programs in the world only play at an intermediate level at best.

Re:Do not pass "Go"

[Sabaki]

Go is actually far more complex than chess in strategy and tactics (see earlier note about the best computer programs being only as good as intermediate level players [like me], and much weaker than professional level players).

On the flip side, it's actually easier to teach than chess (fewer rules, no difference in the pieces), so it fits a guideline in the article ("can be taught within five minutes") much better than most, if not all of the games in the article.

Incidentally, if you do get a board, you might want to get one online. Places like Samarkand have good stuff. And the US Go Association has links to more vendors as well as local clubs.

(Incidentally, "sabaki" is a Go term meaning light and flexible play.)

Re:Do not pass "Go"

[xenocide2]

It is indeed true that Go has a large space of possible board positions, and that it also has a huge number of possible moves for each player. But that alone doesn't make Go a difficult problem. The critical element is how one measures success.

Most people measure the success of an AI by its comparability to humans, especially in games. It's important to note that not every AI researcher agrees; some feel that the state of the art is what matters more than material success. That aside, there is a game that plays similar to Go, and features similar gamespace factors: Othello. Despite this, computer opponents usually trounce their human counterparts.

Go never recieved the attention that Chess programs do in the States, which partially explains why the state of the art lags behind other game agents. But behind that surface analysis, I've found that today's researchers in the field feel that human Go players utilize a strong sense of pattern recognition that common min-max and other brute forcing techniques fail to capitalize on. The human pattern finding ability quickly outpaces move searching, because the board doesn't change much. We can predict much of what the future will look like from the present. Reversi/Othello is a contrast to this property, where every move can drastically alter a number of pieces and potential moves therein.

I have to admit that I too haven't a PhD in the field, but to my credit I share an interest in the field, and I've studied under a fairly brilliant mind in the field. This is my meager understanding, and probably indicates why you can't play a Go game against a bot on Yahoo! games ;)

Apples to Apples

[TheAngryArmadillo]

If you want a game everyone can enjoy, pick up Apples to Apples. It's easy and a game only lasts 30 minutes or so. A perfect party game length if you ask me. Whenever we get together with friends that's the first game to come out.

What! No Risk?

[tomhudson]

Risk isn't there? Heathen SOBs :-)

Re:What! No Risk?

[jellomizer]

Risk can be a very long game especially when you get people like myself even if I going to loose I will hold on to the last guy because who knows I might get lucky. A couple of times I did. My last little Guy held off an army of 80. After they saw that they gave up figuring that God was on my side. (that and it was late and they wanted to go to bed.)

Re:Mensa Recommended games . . .

[spacepimp]

mensa a group that exists to fill the self indulgence of moderately intelligent people to each other. let me use them as my guide.

Axis & Allies

[Plecostomus]

In my oh so humble opinion, Axis & Allies beats Risk in all regards. Sure it's not for everyone, but the more advanced rules, AA guns, and multiple units makes this game great fun for most adult boardgamers. Unfortunately, the most players you should try to incorperate is 5 (1 per nation), otherwise it gets quite hectic (we tried this once, it didn't work very well). And, if you're a diehard for wargaming: Warhammer! Tiny models you paint and assemble yourself and then pit against other people. Fun for some, paintful for others.