I remember when I lived in Brooklyn, me and my friends would play "Sorry!" a lot at the neighborhood coffee shop. It's not really a good game, but we had a lot of fun, and it was more social than video games (and the girls preferred it to that). Sigh. those were good times.
Boarded Up: I love me some board games
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 On 10/03/2014 at 11:26 AM by Jesse Miller See More From This User » |
I imagine that I’m not the only one whose childhood was dotted with the ubiquitous game night. Whether it was with family, friends, or likeminded strangers at a sketchy bus stop, most folks at some point in their life have sat around a table to roll dice, play cards, and move little wooden or plastic miniatures. To some extent video games have supplanted the board game as the go-to group party game, but I don’t think that it ever could completely wipe it out. If anything, board games offer a more inclusive and fun experience. You can bend rules, introduce house rules, or ignore certain rules completely. You’re forced to use your imagination to a much greater extent, and – perhaps the biggest thing – you have to interact with actual human beings. Online multiplayer has by and large replaced local MP as the de-facto videogame MP mode. We talk to each other over crackly headsets, alone in living rooms.
That’s why I love board games so much. When I was younger, my friends and I would play friendship testing marathon games of Risk and Monopoly. When I got older, traditional board games were replaced with pencil and paper RPGs, as they offered a more complex and creative experience that I craved. But now we find ourselves amidst a board game renaissance that has been going on since the early 2000’s. While there used to be just a few great games that you could easily get your hands on, now there are hundreds.
So I figured I would share a few of my favorites below (just a few) and I hope that you guys share some more in the comments section below.
I’m a big fan of cooperative games. There’s far less a chance that the game will end in tears, broken bones, and destroyed friendships. Forbidden Island takes place on – you guessed it – an island. You and up to three of your friends are treasure hunters in search of the island’s four elemental treasures. There’s just one problem; the island is trying to kill you by sinking into the sea. Players have to work together to retrieve all of the treasures and make it back to Fool’s Landing before the island sinks. There are several different roles that players can take on, each with their own special abilities. Your strategy will largely be based on the composition of your group and island (both of which are random). It’s a fun game that can be played in about 30-40 minutes.
Oh, how I love thee Love Letter. The very definition of a quick play game, Love Letter’s beauty is in its simplicity. You and your fellow players are helplessly in love with the princess and seek to deliver a love letter to her in an attempt to win her over. You can’t directly hand the letter to her as she’s locked herself in the palace, so you have to depend on others to deliver it in your stead – all the while blocking other potential suitors’ attempts to do the same.
Every round you pick up a card and play a card. It’s that simple. The goal is to knock out all other players and be the last standing. The game is quick, and players can be knocked out in the first round of play quite easily. This is a great break game and is highly portable as the deck only consists of a few cards. Nothing difficult about this game, but it is super fun.
Carcassonne is a classic at this point, so I’d be surprised if at least a few of you haven’t at least heard of this one. In this game you and up to four other players take turns placing tiles to create Carcassonne, France. With each tile placement, the player can also place a follower on the tile. This is where the strategy comes in – depending on the geographic makeup of the tile, your follower is designated differently. They can be marked as farmers if they are placed on a field, monks if placed on a monastery, bandits if placed on a road, or guards if placed in a city. There’s more rules to how and when you can place followers, but I won’t get into that here. Once you complete segments around those followers (based on the type of follower) you can remove the follower from the board and collect points accordingly. Getting followers off the board is important as you only have a limited supply that can be used at any one time.
Getting the basic gist of this game is simple, but being a European style game, the scoring aspect of Carcassonne is where most people have trouble grasping the game. I’d recommend playing with someone who either already has the game or has some experience. It’s a blast to play, and you’ll find that no one will actually run away with the game – games stay competitive throughout – but that you’ll need a calculator at the end.
So that’s it for now. Down the road I may add more recommendations of my own, but I also want to see some games in the comments. What board games do you guys play?
Game on.
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