# Favorite Board Games 2012 Edition



## SRoper (Nov 6, 2012)

You can read some previous posts here:

Favorite (Preferably Nerdy!) Board Games
great family game - Ticket to Ride
Fun game for the family

It's November, temperatures are dropping (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) and there are several upcoming occasions where we may be spending time with family. The board games be making more appearances at the table. Have you been exposed to any new games in the last year? What are your favorites? I'll start.

This year I got several new games (some based partially on recommendations from the links above). As we have several games that require at least three players (Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico) I was really looking for games I could enjoy two player with my wife but also play with friends and family.

Pandemic is probably our overall favorite. It is a game that is easy to teach to new people, and everyone we have introduced it to seems to enjoy it. The cooperative element and the constant tension seems to really drive repeat plays when we lose against the board.

Race for the Galaxy was a game I thought we would enjoy. We both like Puerto Rico and wish we could play it two players (there are some two-player variants, but we haven't tried them yet). However, we played Race once, and my wife did not like it at all. I think the difference is that there is too much hidden information in the game. In Puerto Rico you can see all the buildings that are available at any time. In Race for the Galaxy you'd have to play many times before you would have a good idea what cards are in the deck. This makes forming a strategy especially difficult for newcomers. I think I'm going to try it with my brothers, and if they don't like it I'm getting rid of it.

Carcassonne: The City is our newest acquisition. I had never played Carcassonne, but several people said this version was their favorite. I really like the appearance of it as it progresses, and the mechanic where the city becomes hemmed in by the walls is really fun. I thought it would be a much faster and lighter game than it is, but in many cases there is a lot to weigh with each tile. Maybe once we learn the rules better play will become more automatic.

Dominion is my favorite of the games that we got in the past year. It is more of a gamer's game, but the complexity comes entirely from emergent play rather than hidden information like Race for the Galaxy. The rules are simple, but the cards interact in complex ways. I like this game so much I already got an expansion (Prosperity) for it (and I'm not usually one to get expansions).


----------



## KMK (Nov 6, 2012)

SRoper said:


> You can read some previous posts here:
> 
> Favorite (Preferably Nerdy!) Board Games
> great family game - Ticket to Ride
> ...



I also recommend PR and Dominion. I agree with you about Race. I have never been able to get into the Carcassone type games.

Here are my game recommendations:

Family Games

Stone Age
Power Grid (Original) (First Sparks is lame)
Alhambra (Big Box has many awesome variants)
Catan
Puerto Rico
7 Wonders (Leaders expansion is good)
Dominion (Start with Base and Intrigue)
Ticket To Ride
Lost Cities
Cargo Noir (my wife and kids love it but I am lukewarm)
Quirkle (again, my wife and kids love it but I am lukewarm)
Bang! (you need 6 players to play it right but when you do it is a blast)
Pandemic/Forbidden Island (both of these require the gamers to work together against the game itself)

Nerdy Games

Twilight Struggle (The ultimate 2 player game for nerds! It has everything a nerd could want. History/Trivia/Spies/Nuclear Weapons/3 hour game time/visually uninteresting.)
Agricola (this two player game requires so much thinking it makes your head hurt. The game is different every time)
Quarriors (especially for nerdy teen age boys)
Duel of the Ages (it would be better if they spent a little more on manufacturing)

Jury is still out on these because the Kleins have not yet had enough time to flesh them out.

Hansa Teutonica
Memoir 44
Le Havre
Fresco
Thunderstone
Summoner Wars

With 4 teenagers and all of their friends we have some pretty extensive game testing going on in the Klein home. If you need some recommendations for your situation, give me a PM.


----------



## Elizabeth (Nov 6, 2012)

Jaipur is a fun, not overly involving, two-person game. Just the right game for when hubby and I are sitting fireside on a cold winter's eve.


----------



## Jeff Burns (Nov 6, 2012)

My wife and I are still huge fans of Trivial Pursuit, but only the genus edition. All of the modern variants are usually incredibly lame.

I'll give a hearty 3rd to Pandemic. Working against the game itself is a very unique expereince, and it helps folks who are competitively challanged (read: games turn them into ruthless jerks) get along with everyone as you really are united against the game itself.

Pastor Ken,

Are either of these friendly enough for my wife who often struggles with what she calls "mommy brain" after dealing with a 2.5 yo. and a 9 mo old all day? 


> Twilight Struggle (The ultimate 2 player game for nerds! It has everything a nerd could want. History/Trivia/Spies/Nuclear Weapons/3 hour game time/visually uninteresting.)
> Agricola (this two player game requires so much thinking it makes your head hurt. The game is different every time)


----------



## Theoretical (Nov 6, 2012)

Twilight Struggle is incredible and always plays out so differently. It has a younger brother now that is about the struggle of Communist and anti-Communists in 1989. 1989: Dawn of Freedom | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. Twilight can be tense, but 1989 is a whole different ballgame - it's downright nerve-racking at times.

One of my favorite games has been republished and improved: War of the Ring (second edition) | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. It's a well-balanced tell-story-through-play game of the Lord of the Rings universe. Both sides can win militarily, the Shadow can corrupt the ringbearer, and the Free People can toss the ring, so there's lots of ways Middle Earth's history can go. It plays in about 2-3 hours once you've got the hang of it, which isn't long.


----------



## toddpedlar (Nov 6, 2012)

Our girls range from 5 to 11, so we're expanding into a lot of new game territory. The three big games now are Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne (Inns & Cathedrals + Abbey & Mayor) 
Mostly we play with just the older two (11 and 9) with the younger two (7 and 5) helping me and my wife out, but the 7 year old plays Carcassonne with us on her own. All of them love these games and 
more (Bananagrams, Apples to Apples, Quiddler, Rook, Set, Pit)  Saturday evenings come on by and you can join in the fun at the Pedlar house game night


----------



## KMK (Nov 6, 2012)

Jeff Burns said:


> My wife and I are still huge fans of Trivial Pursuit, but only the genus edition. All of the modern variants are usually incredibly lame.
> 
> I'll give a hearty 3rd to Pandemic. Working against the game itself is a very unique expereince, and it helps folks who are competitively challanged (read: games turn them into ruthless jerks) get along with everyone as you really are united against the game itself.
> 
> ...



My wife is an extreme gamer, but she hates Twilight because there is no visual appeal. My wife loves Agricola because 1. It is two player so there isn't a lot of down time. 2. It is visual. 3. It is different every time. 4. It requires multitasking (which is a huge advantage for my wife  ) I think it is the perfect game for husband/wife time without kids. It does require a fair amount of table space. I also recommend buying some plastic storage containers for all of the little pieces.

I forgot about Jaipur and Jambo. Both are good 2 player games but not nearly as involved as Agricola.


----------



## KMK (Nov 6, 2012)

Theoretical said:


> Twilight Struggle is incredible and always plays out so differently. It has a younger brother now that is about the struggle of Communist and anti-Communists in 1989. 1989: Dawn of Freedom | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. Twilight can be tense, but 1989 is a whole different ballgame - it's downright nerve-racking at times.
> 
> One of my favorite games has been republished and improved: War of the Ring (second edition) | Board Game | BoardGameGeek. It's a well-balanced tell-story-through-play game of the Lord of the Rings universe. Both sides can win militarily, the Shadow can corrupt the ringbearer, and the Free People can toss the ring, so there's lots of ways Middle Earth's history can go. It plays in about 2-3 hours once you've got the hang of it, which isn't long.



I hadn't heard of 1989. It looks intriguing. I have friends who own War of the Ring but we haven't played it yet. It comes highly recommended.


----------



## Loopie (Nov 6, 2012)

With my friends I would say my favorite board games to play are Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights, and Axis and Allies. There are many versions of Axis and Allies, but I enjoy them all (although I think my favorite version is the European Theatre).


----------



## Zach (Nov 6, 2012)

I love threads like this...


----------



## jwithnell (Nov 6, 2012)

Pass the Pigs (Really) And my husband and I like Yatzee -- the element of chance keeps me in the game. Chess, Backgammon, and Pente are off limits. That saves us a bunch of money on marriage counselling.


----------



## Zach (Nov 6, 2012)

Has anyone here played Battle Cry? It's pretty quick and not overly complicated. I haven't had the patience to attempt to play Axis and Allies yet but its tempting. I think I would fail out of school with the amount of time a game takes.


----------



## Pilgrim Standard (Nov 6, 2012)

Loopie said:


> Axis and Allies. There are many versions of Axis and Allies, but I enjoy them all (although I think my favorite version is the European Theatre).


I am an absolute sucker for Axis & Allies. Superb game. Can have extreme game time length, so I have avoided it for some time.


----------



## toddpedlar (Nov 6, 2012)

I almost forgot... Killer Bunnies. Silly, but in so being, it's a lot of fun


----------



## KMK (Nov 6, 2012)

toddpedlar said:


> I almost forgot... Killer Bunnies. Silly, but in so being, it's a lot of fun



We have that but haven't played it yet. I will have to move it to the top of the list. Does it work for 11 year olds?


----------



## toddpedlar (Nov 6, 2012)

KMK said:


> toddpedlar said:
> 
> 
> > I almost forgot... Killer Bunnies. Silly, but in so being, it's a lot of fun
> ...



Yes, our 11 and 9 year olds both play it and love it


----------



## Theoretical (Nov 6, 2012)

You could do this to boost the visual appeal of Twilight. I've painted a set like this for my best friend's birthday. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/974471/twilight-struggle

War of the Ring has absolutely none of the visual appeal deficiencies of Twilight: War of the Ring (second edition) | Image | BoardGameGeek



KMK said:


> Jeff Burns said:
> 
> 
> > My wife and I are still huge fans of Trivial Pursuit, but only the genus edition. All of the modern variants are usually incredibly lame.
> ...


----------

