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"

[entrager]

You're both wrong and right...

Before I go on, I have to point out that I only have a deep interest in AI, I haven't actually started my post-grad coursework in it yet (hopefully next year). So my information might not be 100% correct (I look forward to someone correcting/supplementing my post). I should also add that I play Go on occasion, but I suck at it...

Go does have a very large branch factor, so brute-force techniques to playing well are nearly impossible (or take WAY too long to compute). Chess doesn't have a large amount of branching (relative to Go), so brute-force is actually somewhat effective. But the real problem comes when trying to actually write an AI that makes decisions instead of exhausting all possibilities.

In Go, there is a very large amount of information to process. The relative strengths of each player in each position of the board, the aggressiveness of the other player, common move patterns, and of course the number of possible outcomes of an action. Simply put, Go is simply too complex to represent and analyze in a simple manner.

It's my understanding that successful Go programs work by simply looking up common scenarios in a large database of pre-programmed moves, supplementing that with some basic neural network pattern recognition, and then narrowing down decisions with a brute force attack on a reduced set.

Re:Do not pass "Go"

[Sabaki]

Yep, I very specifically didn't say that Go was easier overall, just that it's easier to teach. I was playing Chess for twenty years before I learned about en passant. I've taught Go to classrooms of kids within a few minutes, and they got a kick out of playing right out of the gate. But I admit that the strategies and tactics get complicated quickly, which is why I always advise the 9x9 board for beginning players. As for the Western mind being used to the concepts behind Chess, but not Go, all the more reason to expose more people to the latter. I think if we all had a competitive mindset that only required a little more than our opponent, rather than violent, bloody death, we'd be better off. (Granted, it's certainly not a panacea in Asia.)

Incidentally, "claim the middle, threaten as much space as possible" are valid Go strategies, too.

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.

Ob. Simpsons Quote

[Zorilla]

Bart: B6!
Homer: You sunk my Scrabble-ship!
Lisa: This game makes no sense.
Homer: Tell that to the good men that just lost their lives.

Settlers of Catan!

[kisielk]

Discovered this one over the summer and played with some friends online. Would love an actual board game version. Great strategy game, especially since you're forced to barter with other players to succeed, there's lots of strategy involved.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewitem.php3?gameid= 13

Lord of the Rings

[th1ckasabr1ck]

The Lord of the Rings board game that came out a while back was fairly decent. I played it with four players and it was very fun. Everyone plays as one of five Hobbits, and your goal (of course) is to throw the ring into Mt. Doom. It's a cooperative game that is actually fun. You all have to work together and actually play as a team, often giving up some of your valuable swag for the good of the team. There is a secondary board which shows how close Sauron is to you. When certain things happen in the game he moves a bit closer. If he touches you it's lights out.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. The boards, cards, etc. are all extremely well done.

Re:Trivial Pursuit

[Pxtl]

While the questions are excellent, the actual game in Trivial Pursuit is moronic. The board game is horribly chance-oriented "Oh, missed the pie. Missed it again. Missed it again."

Extensive list

[gopher_hunt]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/rankbrowse.php3?ranki ng=45#45

Pretty much lists everything you won't find at a local wal-mart.

cheapass games

[johnjay]

None of the games mentioned are from the eponymous Cheap Ass Games company. I just found out about this company a few weeks ago, when I was looking for cheap ass Christmas presents. I can't vouch for their products but they seem like a good deal for 2 reasons.
a) The games sound like fun. Sure, who's going to advertise their games as totally boring and stupid? No one. But, Kill Doctor Lucky and Deadwood to name two I remember, have funny concepts and sound interesting to play.
b) They are CHEAP. And, seeing as to how most board games I've owned have been played about 3 times, max, the money spent seems much closer to the value derived than the $50 it costs for a lavishly wood-crafted board game.

Again, I don't know much about the product so don't come crying to me if they suck, but I'm probably going to risk a few bucks on them this year.

Fluxx

[Shadow Wrought]

Another great game is Fluxx. If you have not heard about it, its a card game in which the rules are constantly changing. I've played rounds that last close to an hour, and some that lasted less than two minutes.

In the latter category was in which the player who won, wasn't even there! I played a card which basically caused everyone to play all the cards in their hand. One of the guys got up to answer the phone right before it became his turn. We played for him (since he had to play everything anyway;-) and the *&$*#&*&#*($&%**#&$^%*@&$ won.

Mindtrap

[echocharlie]

I'm partial to Mind Trap. It's like Trivial Pursuit with Riddles. Here's a sample question:

A black dog stands in the middle of an intersection in a town painted black. None of the street lights are working due to a power failure caused by a local storm. A car with two broken headlights drives towards the dog but turns in time to avoid hitting him. How could the driver have seen the dog in time?

Re:Mindtrap

[finnw]

The dog is on fire.

Re:Mindtrap

[lmh2671772]

How would you get the ping-pong ball out?

The ping-pong ball is on fire.

Re:Mindtrap

[Anonymous Coward]

Based on the success of previous answers:

The gerbil is on fire?

Be a Cheapass...

[rilister]

my favorite find of the last few years has been Cheapass Games: http://www.cheapass.com/products/index.html

All their games are imaginative, fun and, best of all, cost next to f-all. It's refreshing to see someone trying to be fresh about game styles.

Personal favorites:
Unexploded Cow - a poker-style game involving incinerating BSE infected cattle in French minefields...

The Great Brain Robbery - Get your Zombie out of the runaway train by stealing brains with special abilities.

Bitin Off Hedz - even works for kids - a standard-ish board game where dinosaurs race to extinction.

They're so cheap you can afford to take a risk anyway.

Munchkin!

[Masker]

Munchkin is a great tongue-in-cheek board game for the RPGer in your social circle or family. It's a card game (not CCG) with quite a lot of expansion packs. Basically, you try to clear a dungeon & if a friend gets in the way or is going to win first, you screw them over.

Very fun, quick game.