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Sequence is a game we picked up before Covid to play with the elders. Sounds really dull but is actually pretty cool because you team up in pairs but can't confer, so you end up trying to win the game yourself while hoping your partner has cottoned on and starts helping, only to find they have their own ideas that screw you over. Simple to play, and the pressure ramps up if both/all teams are level towards the end.
+1 Forbidden Desert. We played three times as a foursome. Screwed up big time on the first attempt. Lost it on the penultimate turn on the second game - boy, was that frustrating. Then won it with 1 turn to spare on the third go. A really clever game and great for teamwork.
Pandemic is cool. We also have the Cthulu version but not got round to it yet.
Catan is surprisingly fun too. I think we have the basic/starter set.
Scotland Yard is great for kids because you have an 'invisible' baddie on the run and you X moves to capture him/her.
Sherlock requires a bit of lateral thinking, and is particularly suited to people who love words/saying/phrases.
FTR, monkey junior started playing all of these aged 8 and had no problem picking up the rules and getting stuck in. He's beaten us all at Catan and Scotland Yard, and contributed loads to the others.
Have Betrayal at House on the Hill in the loft, and will give it a go now junior is a bit older (11).
SmallWorld and Kings of Tokyo we wanted to get on with, but neither lasted a full game. Just didn't engage with either of them.
Sequence is a game we picked up before Covid to play with the elders.
Is that the one with the board of playing cards? I was visiting a friend once and I mentioned something about board games and she went, "oh, here's one we (her and her young son) really like!" and produced Sequence. I quietly rolled my eyes. Turned out, it was great! I got home and immediately bought the travel edition.
I’ll ask in the FB group.
Well, I got a lot of replies. Pick the bones out of this lot.
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SpyFall
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
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Happy Salmon, 1 pack 6 people, blue and green (2 packs) 12 people
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One Night Werewolf, Spyfall, Codenames, Dixit, Cockroach Poker.
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Wavelength
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I just bought Telestrations which accommodates 8
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I would check out Spaceteam and Ravine from Stellar Factory. The former literally takes 5 minutes to play but is really interactive and fun. Ravine is like Robinson Crusoe but much simpler and has an added madness mechanic thats hilarious!
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Skip-Bo
The Game
The mind
All play pretty quickly and nicely interactive for groups too.
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Decrypto (even numbers)
Telestrations (up to 8 )
Dixit (there’s a version that does 10 players) [this is Dixit Oddyssey I believe]
Camel up (up to 8 )
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Seconded for wavelength. It works great but requires splitting into teams. Also Monikers or fake artist.
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Growl, Codenames
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Cash n guns, Red November, wacky races.
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Shadow Hunters; Pitch Car; Crosstalk; Just One; Letter Jam; Decrypto; Concept; Monikers; Trapwords; Scrawl; Wavelength; Codenames; Magic Maze; Dixit (or anything using the Cards Against Humanity mechanic, including CAH, Apples to Apples, Joking Hazard, etc); Any social deduction games (Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Antidote, Werewolf et al, Salem 1692, etc)
Balderdash; Wits & Wagers; Say Anything; Any team games (I included several)
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Camel Up, Cash N Guns, Jamaica (6), Decrypto,
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Anomia
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Fake That
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Dixit (with expansion for more players), Mysterium (7 players)
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Dixit!
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Herd Mentality
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6 nimmt, coloretto
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Saboteur!
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Telestrations, grabola and sushi go party are good fun for bigger groups!
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So clover, dead last, happy salmon
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Just one
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... to be continued!
Part the second. Comments in [square brackets] are mine.
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Dixit,codenames, apples to apples or cards against humanity for an older group
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Fake artist goes to New York or 6nimmt
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6 nimmit
For sale
Lamma
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7 wonders, 6 nimmt
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I always carry a copy of Zombie Dice with me. It's got no limit on numbers of players, easy to teach, and pretty quick to play.
Most times I've introduced someone to it they've wanted to play a second game immediately after the first.
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Go for Avalon Resistance simple rules but loads of interaction
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6 nimmt is great fun and No Thanks
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Bang!
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Cash n guns
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Dixit Odyssey is up to 12 players [aha, I was right!]
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Doodle dash ... is a great game for up to 7 players you will laugh a lot
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Cash & Guns always seems to go down well with a variety of ages
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[deep breath]
Best 8 player games we own: Pitchcar 9/10; Tsuro 8/10; Camel Up 8/10; 6 Nimmt! 8/10; Bang the dice game 8/10; Incan gold 8/10; 7 Wonders Cities 8/10; Midnight Party 8/10; Hexroller 9/10; Knaster 8.5/10; NMBR9 x2 9/10; On Tour with European Expansion 9.5/10; Skyjo 9/10.
Best 7 player games we own: 7 Wonders 10/10; Bang 8/10; No Thanks 8.5/10; Between two cities 8/10; Hoppladi hopplada 8/10.
6 Player games we own: Alhambra 10/10; For Sale 10/10; Medici 9/10; Medici the card game 9/10; Tiny Towns 9/10; Junk Art 8.5/10; Micropolis 9/10; Mi Tierra: New Ages 8.5/10; Doodle City 8/10; Patchwork doodle 9/10; Criss cross 9/10; Dodekka 8.5/10; Tumblin dice medium 9/10
[phew!]
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Secret Hitler is a good quick party game with simple rules
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Shifty eyed spies!
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Muse is a more party- game version of Dixit/Mysterium and is great fun.
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Throw throw burrito/avocado
On a scale of one to trex.
One night ultimate...
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Sushi Go Party
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Happy salmon
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Ghost blitz
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I liked Masquerade, Dixit, Deepsea Adventure and Bang for this kind of thing
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Concept is also great for drop in drop out play with large numbers of people
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I would personally reccomend any dobbles, taco cat goat cheese pizza, ghost blitz, chameleon, dutch blitz is the same as ligretto but it can size up to 8, telestrations x x youve got crabs and chameleon could take up to 20tbh
And finally, an answer to the other question:
"Silver - I wouldn't recommend it, but you probably could. It would be awful for downtime though, and info overload."
Out of that huge list, most I haven't played and many I've never even heard of! 7 Wonders is a solid classic but not really a 'party' game. Alhambra is nice and gentle, I didn't think it'd scale to 6+ players though? I'd have to check, there's a buttload of expansions for it so that might make it more scalable. Secret Hitler would likely work well and I think there's a free print & play version of it? Camel Up! crops up often in the group and gets a lot of love generally though I've not played it myself.
Bit late, but Cards against Humanity family edition is a free printable download here if anyone's interested.
Not a board game at all, but Dobble is a good giggle, quite competitive, multiple ways to play and each game is quick fire. There's different versions too - our nephew proper beat us on the Star Wars version as we didn't know the "modern" character names. Although ancient, always enjoyed Yahtzee and Trivial Pursuit.Cat is a fun drawing game and our German friend introduced us to Ganz Schõn Clever (that's pretty / really clever), numbers and strategy game that takes a bit of getting your head around, it's great though!
There is - of course there is, it involves people - a degree of snobbery in some corners about "old" games. I bristle a little at this. There's nothing at all wrong with Yahtzee, it's a classic. People ask for recommendations for a quick-to-teach 2-player game, no-one ever says Backgammon and it's about the best 2P game on the planet.
I've had my eye on GSC for a little while, it looks a bit like a modern implementation of Yahtzee and that's no bad thing. There's a sequel too but I know nothing about that.
For old games we still like a round ot two of "Sorry".
I once heard it described as "Ludo for ****s".
That is a gloriously perfect description. I'm totally stealing that.
Arkham Horror card game has just arrived about 5 minutes ago 🙂
Avoided it for ages as it looks like it could be a money pit with all the add ons, but couldn't resist in the Zatu sale.
Might give it a go after Strictly.
Have played Terraforming Mars a few times now and it just gets better.
A bit hard to get your head around initially, but there's so much depth to it, crazy.
Possibly getting Brass - Lancashire for Christmas,looking forward to that one too.
Anyone up for a North West gaming night?
Oh, another shout for Forbidden Island.
The 8 year old granddaughter is now properly addicted.
It's a great little game, 12 year old nephew asked for it for Christmas after playing it recently.
Not sure it has the replay value of Port Royal, but it's a game that changes depending on who you're playing it with. Well worth a pop.
Bristle away Cougar, Yahtzee is still one of my favourite games, good numbers game to teach kids to help them learn adding up, number patterns and a bit of strategy too.
Sequence is a game we picked up before Covid to play with the elders.
Is that the one with the board of playing cards?
Yep, sounds like it. Deceptively fun fo sho.
BTW I’ve just ordered Memoir 44 because junior now has interest in WW2 after studying it for this term’s topic.
It’s been on my radar for a while and always highly regarded so I figured we may as well give it a go. Lots of expansions available too.
Love citadels, going to try and bully the family into playing at christmas.
It never gets mentioned in these threads but I love, absolutely love London (2nd ed). Looks like a deckbuilder or a city builder, actually is a rube goldberg machine designer game in disguise. It's probably not a good choice for more casual gamers or family play but it always seems to go down well with Adults Who Board Game.
blanklook
Full MemberNot sure if 7 Wonders has been mentioned yet. On the face of it the gameplay is complex but once learned, it is actually very simple.
Yep. but don't get any expansions- it's not that they're bad, it's just that they throw away a lot of what makes the core game so good. Like one of those old GW games that started out lean and ended up drowning under all its bolt-on parts.
Some may scoff but my missus got Villainous (Disney) for her birthday and it's bloody good. With 5 players (of 6 with the basic set) it turned into a 3-odd hour game that my daughter damn near won at one stage (before I ruthlessly screwed her over, yes I'm a bad dad). With 2 players it's much shorter but still good fun. Can see that getting a fair amount of mileage. The win conditions and powers/limitations of each character are completely different so it keeps things interesting.
Cranium
There's a good way to fast track a holiday divorce. NEVER play it as a team with a significant other. Ever.
@sweaman2 By Labyrinth do you mean the MB (or whatever) game or the Movie game? We have the latter and it's definitely kid friendly.
@sweaman2 By Labyrinth do you mean the MB (or whatever) game or the Movie game? We have the latter and it’s definitely kid friendly.
I'm assuming it's the maze-like game where you find secret treasure by moving tiles around? We played that a fair bit when monkey jnr was maybe 6-9yrs. Simple and good for what it is. Enchanted is another where you hunt down 'secret' treasure. Requires more use of your memory than anything, but decent enough for kids.
Possibly getting Brass – Lancashire for Christmas,looking forward to that one too.
I badly want to play that. Birmingham is supposed to be the nominally better game but, eh, I don't live in Birmingham.
Anyone up for a North West gaming night?
Hell to the yes. Have you got space or do you want to do it here?
There are local gaming groups. There's at least one in Burnley, two I know of in Preston, and there used to be one in Ozzy. How active they are currently I'm less sure.
What are the top recommendations for 2 player games?
Mrs and I love Carcassonne, but everything else we've tried seems to work much better with more players. Even Carcassonne is better when you add the element of "are we co-operating or backstabbing here?".
"The Castle" is a specific 2-player version of Carcassonne.
And yeah, "Cutthroat Carcassonne" is a thing, but not a thing I'd recommend playing with someone you're hoping to have sex with in the near future.
What are the top recommendations for 2 player games?
Really like these 2.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/119890/agricola-all-creatures-big-and-small
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/372/schotten-totten
Talking only about 2P-specific games,
I was going to suggest Agricola:ACBAS myself. It was hard to find for ages, but there's a "big box" reprint now with the two mini-expansions included. I really like it, it's got a 'big game' feel in a small package, doesn't outstay its welcome and is a gentle introduction to worker-placement style games.
Similarly, there's a 2P twist on Caverna called Cave vs Cave. It's decent, but I prefer Agricola.
Kosmos do a range of 2P games in a similar size of box. They tend to be on the lighter side, I've not played them all because there's shitloads but I've yet to play one that's outright bad.
Rivals for Catan is a specific 2P game... let's say "loosely based on" Catan. Like the full game you roll a die, collect resources, spend resources to buy stuff, but it's a card game so your actual play area is wildly different from its big brother. It's good, but it's longer and meatier than the above.
And finally: Jaipur. I hated everything about this game from the premise to the artwork to... just everything, there was nothing about it that appealed other than people saying it was good. Then I found something that did appeal: the price when it went on sale. I impulse-bought it and, it is outstanding. Anyone with a passing interest in playing a card game at a 2-player count needs this in their collection.
On multiplayer games that scale well to 2P,
Dominion works well at any player count (well, above "one"). Sagrada is my new favourite "gateway" game and again player count is largely immaterial, the base game is 1-4 players. The baby Ticket To Ride games (London and New York) suit 2P as it's a much smaller board and faster game.
Oh yeah,
I haven't played the 2P outing myself yet, but 7 Wonders: Duel is supposed to be excellent.
Happy with either tbh, your place is a bit bigger, we've probably got more parking.
I'm off between Christmas and New Year and most weekends now if that helps.
Parking isn't too bad here so long as you don't arrive when the chippie is open. And there's an actual car park like fifty yards away.
ION, I'll just leave this here:
https://www.micromacro-game.com/en/democase.html
And finally: Jaipur. I hated everything about this game from the premise to the artwork to… just everything, there was nothing about it that appealed other than people saying it was good. Then I found something that did appeal: the price when it went on sale. I impulse-bought it and, it is outstanding. Anyone with a passing interest in playing a card game at a 2-player count needs this in their collection.
Jaipur is a fantastic game, can't believe I forgot it!
What's your rule for drawing the panda?
🤣
I've never house ruled it, but I know the backstory is that it was a gentle dig at a rival game at the time.
Ah, got it. From the designer via BGG:
"the race between Zooloretto's panda and Yspahan's camels was a running gag during Summer 2007 in the French-speaking ludosphere, and the panda pelt as a good on one of the camels in Jaipur is a wink to that. ;-)"
Not really a 'board' game, but when round at Sisters for dinner, it's the occasion of Dominoes that has the 5 of us round the dinner table for a few hours.
It's all power play and stratagem.Nobody wants to finish on a duck.
I said this earlier, don't dismiss "old" games. I love me a game of does.
Right.
Boardgame season has taught me a few things:
If you're taking Codenames, always take Qwirke as well. Everyone will absolutely adore one or the other.
A 10 year old can explain Forbidden Island to an 8 year old better than a 62 year old who's been at the Benedictine for several hours.
8 year olds should be held upside down regularly to dislodge Quirkle tiles that have been 'saved for emergencies'.
Small children cannot be beaten at Dobble.
Don't buy the basic Arkham Asylum core set. Sent mine back and replaced it with the new October revised release - over twice as many cards so can accommodate 4 players. And no, I still have no idea what's going on, so it fails Cougar's 'easy to learn' test. Massively.
But I suspect that when it all falls into place, it's going to be epic.
Brass, Lancashire.....(thanks Sue!)
Firstly, it's very nicely presented. Dark, lots of small text on the cards, but everything fits the theme and the rulebook is a work of art.
It takes a while to set up, so factor that in.
Not played it yet, had a solo run-through and it looks like a properly deep, tactical challenge.
Looking forward to it once we've sent the grandkids back home and de-stickied the table. 🙂
Hasn't got a board, but Bananagrams is fun. Word game - Scrabble-ish but er, without the board. It's the only game I've played so far this Christmas.
My niece brought Mind with her this Christmas. Cooperative card game for 2 to 4 players.
It's really good fun (IMO), quick to set up an play and dead easy to learn.
It all went a bit south after we had a Baby Guinness or two though...
Got a few new ones in the house over Christmas:
Azul - Played lots. Still haven't won.
Pass the Bomb. Makes me sweat. Didn't win.
Dr Who* Uno. Got beat 4-0.
Dr Who** Dalek Invasion Earth Risk***. Played for 5 hours. Lost.
*My son likes Dr Who.
**A lot.
***Risk, but with warring Dalek armies.
Fancy a 10 minute fix of Ticket to Ride? The New York edition is aces 🙂
Wingspan was this year's addition. Only played a couple of times so far but like it lots.
+1 for Bananagrams and Qwirkle - both simple to play and fun for all the family
Latest games here are:
Memoir 44: Excellent for WW2 fans. 20 odd scenarios based around D-Day missions. 2 players (but more could team up and confer). Sure, a bit of luck is involved with drawing cards, but ultimately it comes down to figuring out strategies for taking/holding various positions. I'd heard it was good and it really is. Loads of expansions available too.
Arcadia Quest Inferno: An expansion for Arcadia Quest. Great fun for 2-4 players if you have a penchant for fantasy creatures or simply like a good old hack n slash / loot n shoot. Flexible rules allow you to work together or tear into each other. Excellent quality miniatures, cards, artwork etc. Hero upgrades are fun and encourage you to play harder levels. Does take 5-10 mins to set up though.
On the radar:
Mage Knight: Said to be the 'best' adventuring game out there with plenty of scope to buddy up. High quality miniatures. Bloody complex though, and hard to get hold of at present.
Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion: The more I look at this the more I think I'll get it. Far easier to learn than the full GH, with booklet-based scenario maps meaning super quick set ups.
Oh, I meant to post this earlier. Micro Macro is getting a bit of attention, I haven't played it directly but they have a free online demo and it looks like it might be fun.
https://www.micromacro-game.com/en/democase.html
I’ve just discovered this thread. Quite a few games entered the household this Christmas:
Carcassonne
Ride the Rails
Z-Cars
Elf (snakes and ladders engine so youngest happy)
Ticket to Ride arriving tomorrow after reading the above.
Finding one the kids don’t get upset with is a challenge and the easier to play the better.
Thanks for the interesting suggestions.
My wife picked up Kids Against Maturity as a family Christmas pressie. Basically a toned down version of Cards against humanity. Played it on Christmas day. I didnt think it was going to be any good but it surprised me. We had 3 kids aged 9,10 and 11 and 4 adults playing. Lots of belly laughing at some of the answers. Edgy enough for the adults to find funny but not too dodgy for the kids. It won’t have much longevity so probably not great value for money but good fun in the short term.
That micro macro demo was quite interesting. Nice concept.
We added Catan and a Ticket to ride expansion this Christmas. Got beaten be our 9 year old at Catan last night 😠.
About a dozen more added to the list!
Brass Lancashire:
My head hurts, but in a good way.
By far the most complex game we've touched.
Every rule is conditional - you can do this, but only if x, y or z applies. And then each condition has sub conditions. And there are lots of them.
Annoyingly, it's all logical, but the manual barely scratches the surface.
Tactically, it's terrifying.
Unless your called Marvin, don't attempt to think too far ahead.
Everything links to everything else.
A degree in economics might help, but don't count on it.
A very deep game indeed, I could see us losing an awful lot of time to this one.
Anyone else played it?
If so, how's the counselling going?
I watched an interview with the designer where he said he came up with this in response to those who complained he'd gone soft and his games were getting too simple.
The utter ****. 🙂
It's like reading 'A Brief History Of Time'. Occasionally, you can cling onto some of the simpler ideas whilst catching fleeting glimpses of the overarching concept.
So far so good.
Arkham next. That has a manual thicker than a whale omelette.
Great....