Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Board Games?

I love board games and playing cards. I want to get into a regular game night if possible and I also was wondering...gee what kinds of games are there out there...so yesterday on Facebook I asked if anyone knew of any good board games. I got a lot of fantastic recommendations. And over half of the games friends suggested i hadn't even heard of! Wow! Am I ever out of it in games. So I went to a terrific web game ranking site called Board Game Geekand got some information about the some of the recommended games. Games have really changed and so have the attitudes about games...like who the designers are behind the games. To me this shows the influence of the film industry, painting, and computer and video games...we now are more and more interested in knowing who made a game, who designed it. We have an aesthetic demand as well as the fun and challenges of games. This is way beyond Monopoly and Risk (btw...I absolutely loathe playing Monopoly). A lot of these look pretty damn cool.

I spent a little time on Wikipedia reading about the game playy on some of the following games as well as the breakdown on Board Game Geek which I post below. Sheesh, The Washington Post called "Settlers of Catan" the board game of our time. I never even heard of it! I thought Cranium was the board game of our time! So I am pretty excited to look into getting some of these and playing.

I also found a review written with these kinds of questions...regarding Mr. Jack Pocket

Components - Does the game look nice? Are the bits worth the money? Do they add to the game?
Accessibility - How easy is the game to teach, or to feel like you know what you are doing?
Depth - Does the gameplay allow for deeper strategies, or does the game play itself?
Theme - Does the game give a sense of immersion? Can you imagine the setting described in the game?
Fun - Is the game actually enjoyable? Do you find yourself smiling, laughing, or having some sense of satisfaction when it’s over?


Do yuo have any favourite board games?



Designer
Thomas Lehmann
Artist
Martin Hoffmann
Claus Stephan
Mirko Suzuki
Publisher
ABACUSSPIELE
Albi
Gabinete Lúdico
Gamesinitaly
Show More »
Year Published
2007
# of Players
2 − 4
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 2, 4 players
Recommended with 2, 3, 4 players
(527 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
60 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
12 and up
(119 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Some necessary text - easily memorized or small crib sheet
(200 voters) [poll]


Designer
Bruno Cathala
Ludovic Maublanc
Artist
Jean-Marie Minguez
Publisher
Hurrican
Year Published
2010
# of Players
2
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 2 players
Recommended with 2 players
(11 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
15 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
14 and up
User Suggested Ages
10 and up
(6 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
No necessary in-game text
(11 voters) [poll]
Honors
2010 Tric Trac Nominee
2011 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Nominee
Subdomain
Strategy Games
(9 voters) [vote]
Category
Deduction
Murder/Mystery
Mechanic
Modular Board
Variable Player Powers
Expansion
Mr. Jack Pocket: Goodies
Expands
Family
Jack the Ripper
Mr. Jack
Sherlock Holmes


Designer
Klaus Teuber
Artist
Volkan Baga
Tanja Donner
Pete Fenlon
Fine Tuning
Show More »
Publisher
999 Games
Albi
Astrel Games
Brain Games
Show More »
Year Published
1995
# of Players
3 − 4
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 4 players
Recommended with 3, 4 players
(607 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
90 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
10 and up
User Suggested Ages
8 and up
(142 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Some necessary text - easily memorized or small crib sheet
(182 voters) [poll]


Designer
Uwe Rosenberg
Artist
Klemens Franz
Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher
999 Games
Hobby Japan
HomoLudicus
Lacerta
Show More »
Year Published
2008
# of Players
1 − 5
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 3 players
Recommended with 1, 2, 3, 4 players
(309 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
150 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
12 and up
(66 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Moderate in-game text - needs crib sheet or paste ups
(76 voters) [poll]

Designer
Uwe Rosenberg
Artist
Klemens Franz
Publisher
999 Games
Brain Games
Compaya.hu - Gamer Café Kft.
Hobby Japan
Show More »
Year Published
2007
# of Players
1 − 5
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 3, 4 players
Recommended with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 players
(897 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
120 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
12 and up
(312 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Extensive use of text - massive conversion needed to be playable
(474 voters) [poll]


Designer
Matthew Kirby
Mark Alan Osterhaus
Artist
John Kovalic
Publisher
Beverly Enterprises, Inc.
Mattel
Out of the Box
Pegasus Spiele
Show More »
Year Published
1999
# of Players
4 − 10
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 6, 7, 8 players
Recommended with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, more than 10 players
(105 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
30 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
8 and up
(32 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Extensive use of text - massive conversion needed to be playable
(39 voters) [poll]

3 comments:

Candy Minx said...

Apples to Apples after a little reading...seems to be quite a bit of fun. I also found a few sites where people have wanted to add their own words to the game...either by topics like sports...or naughty themes.

And I found a template for making these kinds of additions...this is so fascinating when games take on their own life and people want to innovate them themselves...

http://www.otb-games.com/apples/apples_blank.html

mister anchovy said...

I've played Settlers (yawn, I'm feeling like a little nap now). These days I only play one board game and it's a pretty old one - Go. With a few simple rules, it is a lifetime study. I've played thousands of games and the more I learn the more I realize how little about it I really know. It has elements of philosophy, poetry, engineering, and battle strategy. Is it fun? I don't know if that is the word I'd use exactly, but it is very satisfying on many levels. I saw a picture posted either here or at Stagg's place with a crib board. Boy did that ever bring back memories. I used to play a lot of crib with my father. That and Gin. And of course I recall many games of canasta with you. I will say, you can be quite a cut-throat player when you put your mind to it.

Candy Minx said...

Uh oh...if you got bored with Settlers of Catan, I'm worried! I think I have similar tastes as you for game play. I am really interested in the Gates card game and the Apples game. I think the Apples one sounds like a lot of fun for a bunch of people to play.

We have been teaching Stagg to play Crib. My nephews and sis and I in Vancouver would play when the boys got home after school. we are keeping it up here when we can. He's beat me a few times and he is getting the hang of it. He didn't play cards growing up...what a crime!

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