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Why we still love board games

timharford.com

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Re: Why we still love board games

#61

Post by archon »

kriro wrote: post #37
PussyRiot wrote: post #34

My main problem with board games is that they're too expensive sometimes.

If I'd do a ROI analysis on all my board games most of them beat out lots of other social activities. If an average game lasts maybe an hour and you play it with an average of 3 players that's 3h of entertainment per play. 10-15 Euros per hour of entertainment seems very reasonable so most games actually tend to pay for themselves after just one play if oyu look at it that way.

And with sites such as boardgamegeek, there isn't as much risk involved unless you're buying just-released games.

I've had my copy of Dominion for over three years. I got it on sale for $30. I've played literally hundreds of games since I bought it.

Granted, I've added expansions over the years. But let's assume I paid full retail price for the game and four expansions: around $225. I've played at least 300 20-to-60 minute games. Conservatively, 100 hours of gameplay time. $2.25 an hour to entertain myself and 1 to 5 friends is an amazing value proposition.

Re: Why we still love board games

#62

Post by DanBC »

qznc wrote: post #24
DanBC wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

German style board games are so named because of the influence of a few designers in Germany, and because of the popularity of some games in Europe. Luck is reduced. Planning and skill is increased. They can be short fun easy to learn games for a wide age range (Carcassonne; Bohnanza), or they can be harder more in depth games that take longer to play (Le Havre). Usually there's an element of competing against the ga…

I think you rather classified "modern" board games, not "german style". On the other hand, do you know a modern non-german board game?

Games Workshop - Space Hulk.

Re: Why we still love board games

#63

Post by DanBC »

kriro wrote: post #35
michaelochurch wrote: post #25

Board games are discrete and closed, often in a well-thought-out and beautiful way. It's generally intended as a social experience, but the discrete world makes the game possible to take apart and analyze, so that if you want to dive deep into the game, you can. It's up to you what kind of experience you want to have. If you want to play today and forget who won tomorrow, that's fine. On the other hand, if you want t…

I love to analyze games and as a programmer there's quite a bit of neat stuff you can do due to the discreteness. Build DSLs for the game logic or strategy, the whole field of AI, modelling of games as FSM, Petri Nets whatever seems interesting. There are quite a few of these cafes. They have game collections and you can rent a table+game and pay for the drinks. You can also bring you own etc. the atmosphere is usual…

I'd love to see some more analysis on "Button Men" - (http://www.beatpeopleup.com/start.html)

Re: Why we still love board games

#64

Post by infinite8s »

archon wrote: post #52
mikeknoop wrote: post #26

Haven't seen these mentioned yet, and I recommend both: Powergrid: Unique because there are no dice involved; a game of economics Steam: Unique because there is a bank (partly tied to your score) that you can borrow against to build pieces faster

I enjoy Power Grid with a larger group (4+) people, but with a small group, the game really drags. This is unfortunate, because my usual gaming group consists of my fiancee and myself.

Which 'german' style board games do you recommend for 2 people? It's often just my wife and I, and it seems like most popular eurogames are best with 3-4 people.

Re: Why we still love board games

#65

Post by barbs »

shocks wrote: post #16
phatbyte wrote: post #4

Lately I've been buying some of my child board games like Monopoly, Cluedo, Hotel and such... I noticed that people are going back at this type of games, and I can see it why. It's an awesome excuse to invite some friends to your house, setup a game, get a few drinks and just play, talk and have some fun. You can't do this with videogames. Also, you'de be amazed at how much a good strategy boarding game can reveal of…

Huh? What? Yes you can. I invite friends over for beer, pizza, and video games all the time...

I totally agree, though obviously has to be particular games. I think the whole 4-controllers-1-tv formula works best here. Games like Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., Bomberman, Goldeneye, Mashed/Wrecked/Micro Machines make for great times, although they provide a much more energetic vibe than boardgames, which may or may not be a good thing.

Also, LAN parties :).

Re: Why we still love board games

#66

Post by dagw »

infinite8s wrote: post #64
archon wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoy Power Grid with a larger group (4+) people, but with a small group, the game really drags. This is unfortunate, because my usual gaming group consists of my fiancee and myself.

Which 'german' style board games do you recommend for 2 people? It's often just my wife and I, and it seems like most popular eurogames are best with 3-4 people.

Take a look at http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/67262/near-perfect-2-playe...

edit: for what it's worth the game my wife and I end up playing most of the time when we have 45 minutes to kill is Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, which isn't on the list.

Re: Why we still love board games

#67

Post by archon »

infinite8s wrote: post #64
archon wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoy Power Grid with a larger group (4+) people, but with a small group, the game really drags. This is unfortunate, because my usual gaming group consists of my fiancee and myself.

Which 'german' style board games do you recommend for 2 people? It's often just my wife and I, and it seems like most popular eurogames are best with 3-4 people.

Dominion is great for two players, and has excellent replay value.

Settlers of Catan can also work well for two people. You just have the two players control two colors each. This preserves the competition for resources needed to make the game fun.

Edit to add: Race for the Galaxy is also one of our favorites, but we've house-ruled it a bit so that the military strategy is not a guaranteed win.

Re: Why we still love board games

#68

Post by JimWestergren »

RTigger wrote: post #57

Love this article. I think the end captures it perfectly - there's really nothing else that gets the same social interaction as board games. At work we use board games on a daily basis for team building, usually play a 1-hour-or-less game over every lunch. It's amazing how quickly you get to know someone and how those relationships build and blend into your work as well. You can see how someone teaches a new person h…

Wow, sounds like real fun to work there :)

Re: Why we still love board games

#69

Post by Adrock »

michaelochurch wrote: post #25

Board games are discrete and closed, often in a well-thought-out and beautiful way. It's generally intended as a social experience, but the discrete world makes the game possible to take apart and analyze, so that if you want to dive deep into the game, you can. It's up to you what kind of experience you want to have. If you want to play today and forget who won tomorrow, that's fine. On the other hand, if you want t…

There is a "board game cafe" in my neighborhood:

http://www.thebrooklynstrategist.com/

They seem to be doing quite well.

Re: Why we still love board games

#70

Post by phatbyte »

shocks wrote: post #16
phatbyte wrote: post #4

Lately I've been buying some of my child board games like Monopoly, Cluedo, Hotel and such... I noticed that people are going back at this type of games, and I can see it why. It's an awesome excuse to invite some friends to your house, setup a game, get a few drinks and just play, talk and have some fun. You can't do this with videogames. Also, you'de be amazed at how much a good strategy boarding game can reveal of…

Huh? What? Yes you can. I invite friends over for beer, pizza, and video games all the time...

Yes, if most of your friends are dudes, most female friends I have don't know/care about video games. However that changes when it comes to board games.
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