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The best board games of 2016

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61–70 of 84 posts

Re: The best board games of 2016

#61
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Catan is particularly complex. I play casual rounds with friends all the time.

Catan is more complex (but less complicated) than Monopoly.

That's a pretty low bar, considering how little strategy is involved in a game of Monopoly.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#62
post #9

Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? It could just be what I've seen from my friends but a lot of the times you can tell from the box art and title alone that you're going to need tiles, tokens, cards a 3 page manual and a practice round before you can even start. For me, that's a slog. It's too hard to hold conversation or focus on anything other than the game…

I have introduced Cogz:

http://cogz.raez.net/

to a few friends. They all liked it and a couple bought it to play with their children.

The rules are reasonably simple, setup takes about 5 mins. Success requires some strategy and some luck. Games usually take about 30 mins.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#63
post #9

Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? It could just be what I've seen from my friends but a lot of the times you can tell from the box art and title alone that you're going to need tiles, tokens, cards a 3 page manual and a practice round before you can even start. For me, that's a slog. It's too hard to hold conversation or focus on anything other than the game…

Speaking as a hard core board gamer, I find it absolutely hilarious that your idea of a complex board game is Settlers of Catan!

That's the intro, beginners board game to these complex Euro games.

But I guess that kinda proves your point...

Re: The best board games of 2016

#64
post #19
post #9

Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? It could just be what I've seen from my friends but a lot of the times you can tell from the box art and title alone that you're going to need tiles, tokens, cards a 3 page manual and a practice round before you can even start. For me, that's a slog. It's too hard to hold conversation or focus on anything other than the game…

This past year at work friends and I made a little board game and your complaints were our top requirements. We wanted it to be setup in minutes, explained in 5, played in about an hour, with turns lasting just minutes at most and with a high degree of social interaction and yet still have a fair amount of depth and strategy. We ended making a little stock game called "Day Traitor" where on your turn you play one of…

You should def share the full game somewhere. Sounds super fun.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#65
post #44
post #9

Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? It could just be what I've seen from my friends but a lot of the times you can tell from the box art and title alone that you're going to need tiles, tokens, cards a 3 page manual and a practice round before you can even start. For me, that's a slog. It's too hard to hold conversation or focus on anything other than the game…

3 whole pages... Today's active grognard community of hex based (and other) military sims with their 60 pages of manuals for MBT/Panzer or the COIN series games are providing plenty of pressure from the other end to keep things level. To say nothing of the guys with a lineal yard of book shelf space of pathfinder rulebooks or binders full of advanced squad leader and federation commander... I'm just saying theres man…

a mere 60 pages? :-)

- ASL fan

Re: The best board games of 2016

#66
I believe the best board games are timeless, as with music, books and many movies. I'm not too hip on the latest from the last few years, but ones I'd recommend:

Diplomacy. Axis & Allies (some variants more than others). Liberte. Illuminati. Ticket to Ride. ASL (esp SK's by MMP). Carcasonne. Empire Builder. Acquire. Puerto Rico. Dominion. Empire of the Sun. Uno. Fluxx.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#67
post #9

Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? It could just be what I've seen from my friends but a lot of the times you can tell from the box art and title alone that you're going to need tiles, tokens, cards a 3 page manual and a practice round before you can even start. For me, that's a slog. It's too hard to hold conversation or focus on anything other than the game…

Giant jenga is fun. Dependinh on how you play it can be more demamding than you might assume. But still, no ruke book or cards means anyone can pick it up in seconds.

Correction: "giant wood block stacking game" as the "giant jenga" product isnt exactly giant imgo.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#68
post #34
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? Nah, both simple and complicated board games are more popular than ever. This particular list is focused on the complicated side. But off the top of my head some great and recent simpler ones: Codenames, Bring Your Own Book (free if you print your own copy), Potion Explosion, A Fake Artist Goes to New York, Spaceteam, Colt…

A few more to add.. You can teach the rules of these amazing games in about a minute: Love Letter (best card game ever?), Hand of the King, Splendor, Carcassonne. You can teach the rules of these equally great games in about 5 minutes: Forbidden Island, Inis (my favourite game of the year!), Not Alone (a brilliant cat-and-mouse game card game that scales from 2 to 7 players )

I can second the recommendation of Forbidden Island. Got it for a 9yr old and it has been a big hit with the kids. The cooperative goal was a huge draw for me -- "we" win the game together, no one person can win. The kids are competitive enough, so having something like this was a great way to bring them together.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#69
post #9

Anyone think recent board games are becoming unnecessarily complex and deeply strategy based? It could just be what I've seen from my friends but a lot of the times you can tell from the box art and title alone that you're going to need tiles, tokens, cards a 3 page manual and a practice round before you can even start. For me, that's a slog. It's too hard to hold conversation or focus on anything other than the game…

If anything, what I have seen are games get simplified and play optimized to the point where each player has little downtime. It all really depends on the designer of the game and the style of games they create. I would recommend titles such as Splendor or Ticket to Ride. Both have very simple rules and are addicting to play. As for Jenga vs strategy games, its not really fair to compare these since they lie in very different genres. The preferences and expectations of the players will be towards different genres. The strategy genre is booming right now.

Re: The best board games of 2016

#70
Nice to see The Networks by Gil Hova on this list.

I've been working on developing a couple board games for a couple of years now, and at the start of that campaign, I ran into Gil Hova's Bad Medicine on Kickstarter. On a whim, I sent him an email through his website asking for some advice about creating board games, not really expecting much of a response.

What I got was a 4-page email of well-thought-through answers to all of my questions, and a bunch of additional pointers furthermore. I met Gil at the Boston Festival of Indie Games in 2015. Super nice guy.

I have The Networks in my collection, but haven't got it to the table yet, but I eagerly await my first play-through.

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