Hiya.

Some more advice required:

Looking for something midweight that has a good replay value and doesn’t take more than a couple of hours.

Root?
Great Western Trail?
Everdell?
A Feast for Odin?
Five Tribes?

Just about to buy 7 Wonders: Duel and The Crew, but looking for something a bit meatier as well.

Thanks, oh wise ones.

We love everdell in our gaming group, just a really nice game to play and has some proper sneaky tactics with some of the expansions, pirates are ace.

Soooo,

7 Wonders: Duel.
My word, it’s absolutely superb.
Relatively easy to learn, though maybe not for absolute beginners as the written rules are awful.
But huge depth, great value and so much replayability.
Several different paths to victory, can be as light or heavy as you’d like it to be.
Great value.
Doubt it needs an expansion, though Pantheon gets great reviews.

Quacks of Quedlinburg.
I’m a bit conflicted on this.
It’s beautiful and well designed, delightful artwork and a great family game. The 10 year old grandaughter loves it.
But…..it’s basically a ‘Push Your Luck’ game and feels like other, not so interesting bits have been bolted on to make it more complex than it needs to be.

We should be in the honeymoon period with this, but we seem to gravitate to Port Royal instead, which we’ve been playing for years.

Speaking of Port Royal, the ‘Big Box’ with all the expansions is under £20 atm. You’d be absolutely daft not to pick it up at that price. The expansions are fun, they either add to the base game without making it over complicated, or change the premise entirely.

Also bought Catan, after borrowing it from the boy Cougs. Lovely game.
Perhaps a little dependent on dice rolls but still fun. Not a patch on Ticket To Ride Europe, Small World, Port Royal, Pandemic or Carcassonne as a gateway game, but a nice thing to own.

I’ve recently (re)discovered Board Game Arena and am mostly enjoying the family version of Heat just now. It was The Hotness (ho ho) a little while ago, now changing hands for sensible money again. I’m UKCougar, should anyone fancy a no time limit turn-based game of something.

Also bought Catan, after borrowing it from the boy Cougs. Lovely game.

I gave you my old copy, dufus. :-p

I’ll take a look at that cheers Cougar. 

“Also bought Catan, after borrowing it from the boy Cougs. Lovely game.”

I gave you my old copy, dufus. :-p

And I gave it you back, Knobby 🙂

Swapsies anyone?
Have mint condition copies of Port Royal (plus the Just One More Contract expansion), Colt Express and Quacks of Quedlinburg for sale or trade.
In each case, I’ve caved in and ended up buying the big box versions.
Yes, even Quacks, as it’s so popular with beginners and small people.

Any takers? Happy to trade for owt in really good/excellent/mint condition. Cash/beer adjustments if required…..

Btw, please get 7 Wonders:Duel if you’ve not picked it up.

Simply brilliant on several different levels.

And yes, I’ve bought the expansion…..😶

Can someone link to the Port Royal and Carcassonne versions that are the ones to buy for a newbie family please.

I am struggling to get anyone to play against IRL so despite owning Azul I am currently playing it online for free at Azee

Thirsty Meeples sell the Port Royal big box for 19 quid, dunno about Caracassonne, we just got the normal one with the river expansion bundled in.

We started with the base Carcassonne set and added the River Expansion. We then bought the “Big Box”, but the Czech edition as it was cheaper, and downloaded the English instructions.

Some expansions aren’t great. Princess and Dragons just caused a fight, same with Towers. The one with the Bandit is just too confusing.

We tend to stick with The Big Box and River now, and vary which ones we use.

Zatu have it on pre-order for a reasonable price. Still not cheap, but there is a lot in there and we have had our money’s worth.

https://www.board-game.co.uk/product/carcassonne-big-box/

@cougar – sent you a friend request on BGA. Happy to play some games!

As for real life, been playing the following at me and a couple of buddies regular games night…

Dune Imperium – played first game last night, was ruddy awesome. A real mix of card building, combat, resource building. Came down to the final move of the game. I love the Dune universe, so adds a little extra to the experience, but its not essential to know any of the characters.

Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion – i really wanted to get into Gloomhaven, but as someone pretty new to these games i didnt want to be overwhelmed. So picked up JOTL and its a great introduction into it. First 5 scenarios are spoon fed to you, adding extra rules and moves as you go. Story is quite cool and better if you immerse yourself into it. Option to crank up the difficulty as you go too. Plus after scenario actions that can change how the story or side quests play out.

Quacks of quedlinburg – A fun game, a bit of skill and a bit of luck. I seem to do really well at it. Maybe as i play it safe. Great to fill 20-30 mins or so. Some tactics required.

Love Letters – a great time filler. Guesswork, card counting and a strong poker face are keys to success!

Scythe – Not really enjoyed this one. Played a fair few games, but one of the group seems to steam roller everytime, which is pretty frustrating.  Feels like you have to spread yourself so thin and are trying to complete many different tasks all at once. Not sure how much we will play that one in future.

Catan – great game. Especially after a few weeks of dungeon crawling etc.

I have also been investing in some game to play with my family (wife, daughter 17 years old – not often, daughter 6 years old – almost daily!)….

Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza – a fun little card game where lighting fast reactions are required. its a good crack.

Sleeping Queens – a good one for the young ones, as it uses some basic maths to change cards up. A quick and fairly fun game (as long as you dont play 8 rounds in a row!).

Men at work – a steady hand is a must. its pretty tough, but can be adapted for younger players. My eldest seemed bloody good at it. Build as high as you can to win!

OK Play – a simple ‘connect 5’ game that is fun and requires you to plan ahead. Enjoyed by all ages.

I quite liked Quacks of Quedlinburg but prefer The Taverns of Tiefenthal.

A similar deck building game by the same designer.

Both look great.

A great coop game is Burgle Bros.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172081/burgle-bros

Can someone link to the Port Royal and Carcassonne versions that are the ones to buy for a newbie family please.

On Carcassonne,

The short answer is that it doesn’t really matter. It’s language-independent aside from the rule book which is readily available online. There have been (IIRC) three printings which are identical aside from the artwork. To the best of my knowledge, all standard UK editions have come with The River mini-expansion which isn’t exactly earth-shattering.

That said, there are some points to consider. The ‘old’ and ‘new’ printings are compatible with all expansions but will look a bit odd during play due to the different art styles. This is likely a non-issue unless you’re buying second-hand. There is an anniversary edition with clipped corners to the tiles which will cause compatibility issues (and just looks weird), I’d avoid this. The “Big Box” is not misnamed, there’s a lot of game in there but the ratio of air to cardboard is quite astonishing.

There are many expansions, a lot of which are diminishing returns. The one you really want is the first one, Inns & Cathedrals. It gives you a load of extra tiles and you can readily ignore the (minimal) new rule changes if you just want to play a bigger version of the base game. There’s little reason to ever play without it. The second one to consider is the second one, Traders & Builders. This is a much bigger change to the game, it’s one to look for when you decide that Carcassonne is just too simple for you. Beyond that, meh, they’re broadly novelties IME.

The Big Box has been released multiple times in multiple territories, with varying expansions (though oddly The River is often missing). Mine is German I think. If you want everything that’s actually of any interest and never have to worry about expansions again, this is what I’d go for.

There are several standalone spin-off titles. From what I’ve played, they bring little new to the table beyond a reskin. The Castle is a fun two-player specific title for instance, but there’s no reason you couldn’t play regular Carc as a 2p (and I think it’s out of print anyway). The winter one might be nice to play at Christmas.

TL;DR, you want either the common base game or the Big Box, avoid any oddities. As ever, jump on boardgameprices.co.uk for the best deals. Ebay is also worth a look, though counterfeits are rife. If you don’t mind second-hand, it crops up semi-regularly on the Facebook group.

cougar – sent you a friend request on BGA. Happy to play some games!

Got you.

I’ve mostly been enjoying Heat at the moment, basic rules admittedly.

Is this on-topic?

Anyone tried Hive? Its not strictly a board game as it involves laying tiles  but its very good, deceptively simple and gets very tactical when you get into it.

Gubs, card game, has a nice random element that can knock you back score-wise and reverse fortunes very quickly

Schotten Totten is also good fun.

As someone earlier mentioned, Seven Wonders is very good (I keep losing to my wife once she worked out my core tactic that I would aim for science victories)

I like the look of Hive as an indestructible pub game.

Cheers to whoever suggested the Port Royal big box above, got it and really easy to pick up by just playing it.

Need ideas for a family game for Christmas.

We like Port Royale, Carcassonne, Azul, Ticket to Ride, Small Worlds etc. Budget around £30.

Something without extensive rules would be ideal as I have teenagers that a) have no attention span and b) fight like gerbils when they get bored.

Any thoughts?

A recent suggestion here was Betrayal at Baldurs Gate. Not played it yet but the folks who recommended it say it goes vry well with all ages

If you like Small World, Game carries Small World of Warcraft for something stupid like £15-£20.

What player count is “family”?

I’ll bring down Quacks of Queadlinburg on Friday. You’re more than welcome to borrow it.

I’ve somewhat altered my opinion.
It’s bloody marvellous, if you’re happy to accept luck as part of a good game.

Not sure if it counts as a board game but does anyone play Warhammer 40k and can recommend some idiots’ guides to the ultra basics?

I’ve bought it as a left-field xmas present for someone who wanted something “crafty” that they hadn’t tried before and suspect I’ll take possession of it again on boxing day.

That or they’ll develop a crippling Warhammer addiction and spend my inheritance on little plastic soldiers.

That or they’ll develop a crippling Warhammer addiction and spend my inheritance on little plastic soldiers.

Put the minatures down and step away from the table. 🙂

The base game is quite good fun, but it’s a gateway drug. Honestly.
If you must, Bloodbowl is genuinely excellent, but Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion is a nicer way to waste time.

Hell, even D&D is better value as a beginner.

It’s a money pit. And it’s not THAT good to play.

Sleeping Gods costs £80, is a marvellous game and will last you for a good few years.

Just say no!

War Krieg

I have been tasked with getting a fun board game for Christmas – will need to be availabke on Amazon and suitable for 14-70 year olds – all pretty much up for anything though.

Any suggestions for fun games? I’ll read through thread but could probably do with ordering tonight!

As a casual party game I really like Just One.   One person is the guesser and everyone else gets the same word e.g. “Bike” and has to write a one word clue (but duplicates cancel out).  Then the next person is the guesser.    There’s a way to score it but nobody really cares about that.

+1 Just One

And Apples to Apples

But my favourite recommendation requires nothing more than some pens, pieces of paper and a hat type receptacle for the Three Hats Game

Cheers – Just One is ordered!

We played Cryptic Killers Murder of a Millionaire over 3 evenings last Xmas and it was bloody good. Best suited to teens and older. Lots of working together as you collate your evidence etc. Was going to get another for this Xmas but opted for Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Baker Street Irregulars for the number of cases and longevity.
Also getting Beat That! for a bit of messing around.
More or Less and Shot in the Dark are good for 30-60 mins because anyone can play, it doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong, and it gets you thinking about a few things.
FTR, Jaws of The Lion hasn’t been played since we got to scenario 12 earlier in the year. It was getting a bit repetitive but the app (I mentioned in a couple of posts before) makes stat management an absolute breeze.

Also, Sequence is still great for 2 or 3 pairs playing against each other. The best thing is that you can’t confer with your partner, so you both end up making decisions that pee the other one off. You have to play it to understand it.

Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza – a fun little card game where lighting fast reactions are required. its a good crack.

Currently our family favourite.

Impressed by my daughter who made a Life of Buddha board game for her RE homework, its actually quite palyable.

Just One is great. Have a look at Telestrations also, it’s sort of Pictionary meets Chinese Whispers and can be hilarious.

How many players will there be?

I buy my wife a board game every Christmas – This year it is Kingdomino.

Last year was Azul and the year before was Forbidden Desert. Can’t remember the other ones. It’s great to play games in the dead spot between Christmas and New Year and great building up quite the collection for when my daughter is a bit older.

Just remembered that we received Carcassonne and Catan  from family last Christmas too but haven’t got round to playing those yet.

Played Just One last night…what a great game! Cheers for the recommendation 

Just remembered that we received Carcassonne and Catan from family last Christmas too but haven’t got round to playing those yet.

NB: Catan is 3+ players.

<Adagio With Strings intensifies> This just arrived, I kickstarted it about 9 months ago I think…

https://cf.geekdo-images.com/XK4OcCx0tv84Mg8XuCGDuw__imagepagezoom/img/3zz43WL9i46cbZeW11C9l3FeCFk=/fit-in/1200×900/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic7052255.jpg

Plus an expansion box. No idea if I’ll ever actually play it, I just needed the little Homeworld spaceships.