Board games and card games

[Handruin]

After participating in the PAX East event, I've started getting into board games. I'm not talking about your typical hungry hungry hippo or monopoly games, but other games such as:

Pandemic (plus on the brink)
Fluxx (specificaly Zombie fluxx)
Power Grid
Zombie Dice
Nanuk
Dominion (Intrigue)
Race for the Galaxy
Puerto Rico
San Juan
Settlers of Catan


Is anyone else into playing these types of games? They're a lot of fun and more challenging eastern influence than the aforementioned monopoly etc. If so, what games have you played/enjoyed and what did you like about them? I've also gotten sucked into Magic the Gathering and been playing a bunch of that too.

 

[ddrueding]

Still have all my MtG cards, quite old now. The group that played regularly is now scattered all over California. I do own Settlers of Catan as well, and Ticket to Ride. Good fun, but my wife doesn't like to lose, and I tend not to

 

[Handruin]

You might want to check out Pandemic if you like board games and there is concern with the wife losing. Pandemic is a cooperative board game that you two can work together to win against the game itself. I find it a lot of fun and challenging.

You should look into your older magic cards and see what you have. They could be worth a good amount of money if you happen to have some older rare stuff.

 

[ddrueding]

This one is fantastic as well, though it can get awful lonely if you are "it":

Betrayal at House on the Hill

 

[sechs]

One of my significant other's coworkers used to hold a regular game night, and stuff like San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Catan were popular. We also played a lot of German games (I guess there some board game conference there every year).

I've also owned a copy of Fluxx since the 1.0 days. Many years ago, I knew a guy who created his own expansion deck for the game; I took part in a ~20-player match once.

 

[ddrueding]

RoboRally is also quite fun.

 

[Howell]

Carcasonne was an easy play. Slightly easier than Catan and way easier than Puerto Rico.

 

[Mercutio]

I had to throw out about 95% of my Magic cards. They were in my car when it got crushed by tree, and they were soaked and eventually covered in mold. Kind of a shame, since most of my collection were the oldest cards.

Sometimes-lurker Nitsirk is a big board game fan.

 

[Handruin]

That sucks to hear about your older Magic cards. If they were really that old, they were probably some good cards that may have even had some good monetary value.

I've really been playing a lot of the game Dominion lately. One of my coworkers has it and mine is still in transit from Amazon. We play M,W,F during lunch at work which is nice. The game is a lot of fun and I highly recommend checking it out if you like card games. The game is interesting in that it plays very well as an easy to learn card game but it can be complex enough for tournament play.

 

[BingBangBop]

I'm a big game fan, but I'm old-time and haven't heard of a single game you've been talking about.

I like Chess, Checkers, Diplomacy, Risk, War-games, and lots of others.

 

[Handruin]

If you like challenging games, you might like some of the ones I mentioned above. Another game which I found to be very fun is a game called Revolution. There are a couple videos on that page which explains it and gives a quick demo. I was able to play the game for the first time with one of the guys in the video. They demo'ed is at PAX East and we played a full game. I also did the same for the game Nanuk. Both games are made by Steve Jackson. I own the Zombie Dice game that he also produces. They also produce the Munchkin game.

 

[Mercutio]

That sucks to hear about your older Magic cards. If they were really that old, they were probably some good cards that may have even had some good monetary value.

I had at least two of each of the Moxes and five Black Lotuses. And a complete set (four each) of the dual land cards. I was collecting Magic cards in high school because I liked the artwork but didn't really play much until college. Even then I caught a lot of flak for having "expensive" cards, but in all the time I played, I think I only sold two cards and never bought any singles.

I still have a couple decks that weren't with my other cards, but that's it.

My friend in Wyoming is apparently the only certified Magic judge in that state. She told me about some of the recent rule changes. It's not the same game any more. The last set I bought from, Ice Age, is the first set she played with.

 

[ddrueding]

Indeed. I hear no-more mana burning? That would make my Saproling deck completely awesome. It looks like I'll have a chance to play on the 3rd of July in Sac with some friends, time to start reading up again.

 

[Mercutio]

My favorite play deck was Black Vises, The Racks, Millstones, Hypnotic Specters and some assorted low-cost black cards.

I also had a hilarious deck designed to discard high-value summons so I could use Resurrection and Timetwister to get those cards in play. I was always surprised how well that worked.

 

[ddrueding]

http://www.essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=710656

 

[Mercutio]

http://www.essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=710656

Those cards are almost all much newer than the ones I played with.

Nitsirk has suggested that I try Munchkin sometime. It's a card game, but it comes with all the card you need to play.

 

[ddrueding]

Munchkin is enjoyable, if a bit simple. It is good for small groups, as it can be taught in about 10 minutes, and after 2 rounds you are an expert.

 

[ddrueding]

I didn't start MtG until 7th edition...before then I didn't have any friends, so playing would have been tough

 

[ddrueding]

Getting ready for a MtG booster draft/tournament with a few friends in San Jose.

Just sorting through the cards I have to build some new decks is quite a project.

 

[Handruin]

Draft tournaments are challenging and fun. I did one this past labor day with some friends while away on vacation. I made a red/black deck and it was a lot of fun. Building a new deck is a project, but the fun part is seeing how well it will do.

 

[Handruin]

Unrelated to MtG, I just got my copy of Dominion: Seaside and it's a lot of fun as an expansion to the base and Intrigue game. I also have Dominion: Prosperity on order. That's the most recent version of the game.

I'm working on recreating the game as a PC game as a learning project. If I get it done and working, I'll share if anyone wants to try playing it. I know one exists already, but I want to learn a few things by trying this myself.

 

[ddrueding]

Draft tournaments are challenging and fun. I did one this past labor day with some friends while away on vacation. I made a red/black deck and it was a lot of fun. Building a new deck is a project, but the fun part is seeing how well it will do.

Indeed, things are very different now than when I started. I remember buying boxes of packs, opening them all one after the next, and sorting all the cards. Now I have a decent organization of my existing stock, and buy singles online as needed.