Game Recommendations

I'm writing this to get some recommendations/predictions from everyone!

Some of you may remember but my wife's first #1 game was #Catan from 2019 Thanksgiving, which opened her eyes to the world of board games. Then it got overthrown a few months later by #Viticulture: Essential Edition and #Tuscany: Essential Edition (our favorite game to play together). Since then, a few games came close but it hasn't happened yet.

Here are the other games in our collection that came close:

• #Root - We still need to get in games vs. bots and see how we like it. She also wants to try out the other factions (only played as the Cats so far). I predict 2p gameplay won't ever reach the point of overthrowing Viticulture/Tuscany as our #1.
• #Clans of Caledonia - This is very close, but hasn't happened yet. There's still a possibility after repeat plays but I suspect it will fall short of becoming our #1. If there's a great expansion in the future that's on par with how much new content Tuscany added to Viticulture, that would be perfect.

So give me your predictions! Do you think any of these games below in my wishlist may overthrow it? If not, are there other games out there that you think will accomplish this feat?

• #Agricola (Revised Edition)
• #Concordia
• #Keyflower
• #The Isle of Cats
• #Brass: Birmingham
• #Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar

I have chosen to plug some board game media that I think everyone should check out.

Firstly, I have three podcasts.

1. So Very Wrong About Games. I really enjoy this podcast, it is full of humor and sharp, biting commentary. I don't agree with all of their conclusions but, they have helped me understand what I like in games. And, furthermore, their coverage of games is such that I can usually understand whether or not I will like a game, irrespective on whether or not they do.
2. Board Game Barrage. This is three friends, with differing tastes in gaming, who get together and talk about games. I really enjoy the interaction, and the dialog format is very valuable.
3. I am going to recomend Solosaurus. It is a fairly young podcast, and they are a little stuffier than some of the other choices on my playlist. But they have good thoughtful commentary on single player board and card games that I, as a solo gamer, find very helpful.

Now I would like to recomend 3 blogs.

1. Space Biff is hands down my favorite blogger/review. He reviews games I am interested in, but he is also a consumate writer. I highly and unreservedly recomend checking him out at https://spacebiff.com/. I read his reviews, if he has one, of every game I am interested in.
2. https://meeplelikeus.co.uk/ is a blog with a focus on accesibility. I find their commentary very interesting and thought provoking.
3. https://stidjenplayssolo.wordpress.com/ What can I say, I enjoy solo gameing, and this is my favorite solo gameing blog that I have found.

Finally, I want to recomend Ricky Royal's Box of delights youtube channel. His playthroughs are mostly solo, but they are the best playthroughs on the internet, at least of the ones I have found.

Anyways, I recomend all of these, aknowledging that I do disagree with some of their viewpoints. I highly encourage ya'll check them out. Shout out what you want to recomend in the comments below.

I have been falling deep into the hole of Pax games, I don't have any, nor have I played any. I think that will change this year. One of the things that intrigue me is that they have big, full sized game experiences in teeny tiny boxes. For instance, #Pax Emancipation is a weight 4.49 on BGG, has a 60-120 minute play time, and comes in a 5x5x2 inch box.

As I thought about my tastes, and needs, I realized I love the idea of big games in small boxes. For instance, #Innovation is a full game in a tiny box, same with #Impulse Card Game......

So, what do you think of when you think of big "feature" games in small boxes? I realize that the Garphill trillogies would fit this. They all have a 9x9 inch box. What can you think of that is even smaller?

I love super fillers. I characterize these as games that you can play in under 45 minutes but have a lot of quality deep decision space.

I don't really care if there is a learning curve or not. 

An example for me would be #Race for the Galaxy. Once you learn it, and there is a learning curve, you can easily whip out a game in inner 45 minutes. If you are playing two player you can play two games in 45 minutes. But there are a lot of bigger longer games that don't offer as much good decision space. 

What are your recommendations? 

A few days ago I asked about the "Pax series" of games. Specifically I asked about #Pax Porfiriana, and if anybody had played it. The more I look into this whole series the more intrigued I am. I love the ideas behind them, I love that they come in small boxes but have full sized gameplay, I love the historical aspect. So, had anybody hear played any of the pax games? What did you think of them? Do you recommend them? Which are your favorites? 

My current order of interest is:

#Pax Renaissance

#Pax Pamir (Second Edition)

#Pax Porfiriana

#Pax Emancipation

#Pax Transhumanity

P. S. 

I'm sorta interested #Greenland (Third Edition) by Sierra Madre Games. Anybody ever play it? 

I just played my first three games of #CIV: Carta Impera Victoria. I played all three games two player. I won two and lost one. I ended up being quite impressed. I'll try using "Brian's Battery" to offer a short review of the game. 

+ the game always to be fairly lovingly made. The components are not out of this world great but they are good. The art, while subjective, is cute. 

+ this will potentially be a negative for some, but it leans hard into it's cuteness. Everything from the name to the number of cards is very ostentatiously self aware. I like that. It is a cute, light, little tableu builder, and it doesn't try to be our look like anything else. 

+ this game is fast. Two player should take 20ish minutes. 

+good player aids for each player. A good rulebook. Clear iconography. 

+ it feels great. It feels like a bit of a cross between #Lost Cities and #Innovation. But, it is actually light and accessible unlike innovation, and cute and a little deeper than lost cities.                         

+/- player interaction. There is a fair amount of direct, usually negative, player interaction. I like it. Some people will most definitely not. 

- the box is too big. Seriously.... I know it's cute.... But couldn't it have been smaller. 

-it is a fun tactical filler with fun choices. But it doesn't have the deeper crunchier choices that I often look for. 

All in all I really enjoyed it and look forward to playing it more. I really expect it to be a game my wife will enjoy and is easy to bring out with new players, but also one I would suggest for me. I give it a 8 out of 10.

If you enjoy this game and want more you have to try #Innovation.  I prefer that by a considerable margin. But it is a lot wilder and swingy(er). 

P. S. 

As you can see I misspelled the title of the post. Sorry. 

Games I currently have:

Settlers of Catan + 5-6 Player Extension

Ultamite Werewolf Deluxe Edition 

The Resistance + Hidden Agenda Expansion

100's of MTG Cards (Mostly EDH Format)

Family Business 

Coup 

Captain Sonar

I would love to get some more 3-8 player games that are cooperative or possibly quite long in time, maybe Eldritch Horror or games like it. 

Thanks!

So, I was very interested in watching the videos by 3 minute board game on this subject. I was wondering what your list would be and why. So, the question is, "I am thinking about getting into board games and I want to buy 10 games. What should I buy?" 

I do think it would be nice if we could cap the real world price at $50. I have a hard time seeing many people jump for games that cost more than that. 

So I've been thinking about the games with which to start a collection. 

It occurred to me that when starting my collection, price was a very big deal. So tell me good games $25 or under. They don't have to be just for new gamers. 

Edit: please don't bring up roll and writes. Not because they aren't good, but otherwise that is all we will get. 

Yesterday, I made a post asking for recommendations on games I could play with my wife. Here's a bit of an update on that.

First, let me give you a bit of background and some clarifications. Anna got introduced to modern board games through me this year. Before Thanksgiving, her experience with games included Love Letter, Azul, Santorini, Skull, Just One, Welcome To, and a few other games.

Then Thanksgiving came around and she had her first experience of Catan (mine as well)--and she loved it! Since then, I've been asking her a lot of questions (probably too many or too often) to find out more about her preferences. And I learned that Anna heavily favors games with player interactions.

Now, just so that you don't misunderstand, Anna clarified that she still likes games like Welcome To because it's a great game for a relaxing downtime--after all, who would be constantly in the mood for a brain-melting, cut-throaty, or whatever type of game? (I'm probably asking the wrong crowd here). But in general, she is way more interested in games with interaction in various forms (e.g. Just One, Skull, Catan), where there's the exchanging/trading/taking away of cards, decision-making that affects other players, observing how different people make choices, etc.

And since Catan, Anna has been introduced to two more games that helped me grasp to what degree she wants her games to have player interaction:

Test #1 - Quacks of Quedlinburg (basically zero interaction)

• I tried this out thinking maybe some games could be potentially too good that she wouldn't mind not having any player interaction at all--I was wrong. She didn't find it as enjoyable that all she had to do was to focus on her own board/pot and that there's basically zero need to be aware of what the other person is doing.
• On a side note, we took a long time to finish the game because we had to stretch it out into three different sessions throughout the day. If we were to play again and took around 45 min, maybe she might enjoy it as much as she enjoys Welcome To? Maybe, maybe not, but definitely not as fun as Catan was to her.

Test #2 - Wingspan (has limited player interaction)

• Anna got her first game of Wingspan in tonight, and I could immediately tell how she felt about the game afterwards--good, but still doesn't scratch that itch from the kind of enjoyment she got from Catan. She also mentioned that she liked Wingspan more than Quacks because it seemed like a deeper game with more dimensions. I'm pretty sure she'll like Wingspan even more after giving it a second play because she was starting to understand what it means to build an engine (Anna won by the way haha).

Future Test #3 - Viticulture (another step up in player interaction)

• I'm going to try to get it out this week.
• Elements of player action include choosing the wake-up time, blocking your opponent's workers from taking certain action spaces, and visitor cards that could affect the other players)
• It'd be great if she likes Viticulture because it's one of my favorite games.
• I have a feeling that Anna would like it especially when played with more than two players.

Again, this doesn't mean Anna thought any of these games were bad. They just didn't have that same type of fun she liked in Catan. For now, I think I should avoid games that (1) only have individual player boards since that often suggests limited player interactions like in Quacks and Wingspan, and (2) look for games with a modular board, route/network building, and maybe even tile placement mechanics.

Based on previous recommendations, I am thinking about Carcassonne and also trying out Forbidden Island with her to see if co-ops could be our thing, but if you can think of any good two player games similar to Catan, let me know!

Lastly, this gives me high hopes for being able to play Root with her some day! :)

Ok, so I was about to buy Welcome To but wanted to add one more game to avoid the shipping costs. Now I need to figure out which game would be the best to play with my wife Anna.

Here's some info:

• Needs do have lots of interaction and must play well for two players (it will probably be played 2p ~80% of the time).
• Anna has limited experience but I could see that she's open to and can handle medium-light weight games. I'd say a game like Viticulture should be the max in terms of complexity.
• Speaking of Viticulture, I honestly have no idea how she'll feel about the game when we try it out this week (hopefully). The game has interactive elements in terms of blocking each other from certain actions, but I don't know if this is the sort of interaction she'd find enjoyable/fun. I feel like it'll also be a test of whether she just prefers these types of games in a bigger group.
• Based on her comments on past games we've played with others, I could see that she ultimately enjoys the aspects of interacting with other players and also seeing others' personalities come into play. So games like Quacks was a miss, while she liked games like Skull and got really into Catan.
• In case anyone's wondering, while she likes games that are interactive, it's not like that's all she wants to play. She likes Welcome To for a fun, short, relaxing game time. I'm specifically wanting a recommendation for the other side of the spectrum.

Thanks! Hoping to get Viticulture out this week and give everyone an update. I have a feeling this will give me a clear idea of her preferences. If she doesn't like Viticulture, that will be a quite a bummer because it's one of my favorites.

I see that Porta Nigra is at an all time low. Anybody here play it? Is it worth $10-15 from cool stuff Inc? 

Today is the 30th anniversary of when the Berlin Wall effectively ceased to function. The guards opened the gates to a flood of people. This is clearly a important point in world history. I am curious if there are any games specifically about the Berlin Wall? I imagine that there are games that incorporate it as a part of the game. But I'm wondering if there is something specifically about the wall and the forces that led to its fall. 

Has anyone played Shobu before? It's a game that immediately caught my eyes since I used to play Go a lot as a kid. It gives off an elegant vibe and I have a feeling I'll like it since I love strategy, the components look satisfying to play with, and seems like a quick play.

For those who like abstracts, see Ben's post here from a few days ago!

I've really enjoyed the shared board and alternate play of Root a lot recently and would love to know what other games have mechanics like this that are good.

Ok yáll. I'm a board game novice trying to find a good 3-6 player game to play (besides Catan, Ticket to Ride, Monopoly, and Codenames). Any ideas?

(The more challenging the game, the better)

(But also easy enough to teach myself the basics)

I thought a thread on recommending games could be fun. I've got a few games on my wishlist I could get next but I'm not sure. I'm thinking about 

• Scythe
• Viticulture
• Welcome To...

Any recommendation on what to get first or maybe a good worker placement game you'd recommend?

I like the recommendation thread on Reddit and though I'd start one here! Post what kind of games you like and what you're looking for and others can respond with recommendations!