I didn’t realise it had become ‘popular’ enough to become the source of a board game

Caused some debate on Mumsnet as well

I wonder if ‘they’ really did try to ban it (I also wonder who are ‘they’?)

I can’t find any decent reviews so I think I will give it a miss for now. Back to Google in my quest to buy a new board game for the weekend

I might be able to help if you’re looking for a board game. What sort of stuff do you like / have you played?

Son (9) is just getting into Star Wars so I was looking for something related as he and I have a lads night in on Saturday. That said I am open to suggestions.

We are playing everything from Cluedo to Space Hulk. Sources of games are; my loft, charity shops and friends as well as the more traditional shops hence the wide variety

More than happy to take suggestions 🙂

If he likes spacey stuff generally, there’s a Star Trek themed edition of Settlers of Catan. Catan is one of the classic ‘gateway games’ for people coming from the bland but ubiquitous games we all know into the world of modern gaming.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Trek-Settlers-Catan-Board/dp/B008MWWEJI

Might be a bit complex / long for a nine year old though. There’s a junior version – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catan-Junior-MFG3025-Board-Game/dp/B007N0KZ64/ – with simplified rules and shorter playing time. Might be worth a punt with a view to getting the big game later if he really likes it.

Carcassonne is another gateway game which is probably simpler than Catan. The rules are easy to learn, and there’s a bunch of expansions (of varying value) if you get on with it. It’s a nice tactile game with tile laying to build your empire and funky little wooden pieces (“meeple”).

Struggling to think of any space-y games that’d be suitable for younger audiences, offhand. There’s a Star Wars miniatures game, but it’s relatively heavyweight and is one of those ‘collectible’ types which can wind up costing you a fortune, so probably not the best idea.

Incidentally, if you have Space Hulk, you might want to stop playing it and look at what it’s changing hands for on eBay. Might have changed now, but last time I looked a good condition set would go for a couple of hundred quid.

Caused some debate on Mumsnet as well

Jeez they spout some real bollocks on there. Chav = Working class, therefore = offensive! Idiots.

Check out ‘Atmosfear’ for something a little different!

My kids, a similar age, love Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride. Both are good gateway games a la Catan.

If he likes wargaming, he’ll love crossbows and catapults. You actually fire the shots and knock down the castles make of plastic bricks.

Had this when I was a kid and it was a favourite with all my mates.

(It even had a rulebook, not sure if I ever opened it… 😆 )

Cheers Cougar – Wish I had asked this a couple of weeks ago as I bought Settlers of Catan, but have decided it a bit tough for him at the moment. I did not realise there was a junior version. Carcassonne was also in my hands while I made my decision. Seems like my impulse buy was exactly the opposite of what I should have bought 😳

Space Hulk, Space Crusade, Dreadnaught expansion, Necromunda and Blood Bowl all in relatively good condition….. I was shocked at the value of some of them on e-bay when I started getting them out again!

Power has been fun, but the lad can get frustrated as he is only just starting to understand the concept of ‘strategy’ (same with Space hulk/Crusade, but to a lesser extent)

Haven’t thought of Atmosphere. I thought it was a VHS based game and even walked past one in a charity shop a few weeks ago 🙁

Incidentally, if you have Space Hulk, you might want to stop playing it and look at what it’s changing hands for on eBay. Might have changed now, but last time I looked a good condition set would go for a couple of hundred quid.

and

Space Hulk, Space Crusade, Dreadnaught expansion, Necromunda and Blood Bowl all in relatively good condition….. I was shocked at the value of some of them on e-bay when I started getting them out again

**Loads eBay and plots trip to raid parent’s loft**

Chav = Working class

i hate this. the two terms are not mutually inclusive.

working class = a position in society determined by income, vocation and cultural identity.
chav = a way of life determined by personal attitudes.

i’m working class but i’m no one’s **** chav.

Hasn’t it always been?

Wish I had asked this a couple of weeks ago as I bought Settlers of Catan, but have decided it a bit tough for him at the moment.

Don’t quote me on this, but I think from memory Catan recommends 10+. It’s something like that anyway.

My kids, a similar age, love Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride.

Ticket To Ride is a good shout. There’s a few variants now, but I’d probably recommend the original USA edition.

a) it’s compatible with all the expansions (unlike the ‘special’ Märklin edition).

b) it’s got the simplest rules; Europe and Merkin both add extra stuff.

c) it comes with undersized cards compared to the other sets, so will perhaps be better for smaller hands.

You are right Catan is 10+, but he is very nearly 10. More importantly has been playing board games for years (unlike many of his peers) so I thought it would be OK. No great stress though as I will just wait for him to mature a bit 🙂

Ticket to ride also sounds interesting. Small cards are not an issue though, he is wearing clothes for a 13-14 yr old 😆

PS – just checked and atmosphere is available as a DVD game and looks worth a go, but is three player minimum so not for this weekend

Suddently remembered some website about ‘build your own games’. Might look into that as we can build and play something Star Wars themed 🙂

Have you tried?

I’ve found the big stumbling block with Catan for people coming from traditional games is the trading aspect. You have to deal with other players to advance your hand, which is an alien mechanism to people used to taking their turn and then sitting around for several minutes. Once you’ve got your head round that, it’s actually a pretty simple game rules-wise, and helps keep the attention of wandering minds when it’s not their turn.

The other gotcha is that you can severely ruin your chances with poor choice of initial settlement placement. The way around that is to use the predefined starter board in the rule book which gives you a balanced setup. Don’t move away from this until you’ve a few games under your belt and understand what you’re doing.

Might not be up your lad’s street yet, but I’d suggest having a go with your better half and a mate or two, if you can. If nothing else, it’ll be easier to teach if you understand it yourself. (You could have a dry run with two players at a push, but keep in mind that it doesn’t scale particularly well as a game with just two and you’ll probably end up wondering what the point is.)

In terms of complexity, I’d say Carcassonne < Ticket to Ride (USA) < Settlers, and for years Settlers was the de facto gateway game for people new to modern games. At its core, Carcassonne is basically competitive jigsaw-making with a bit of adding up.

Forbidden Island is great and very suitable for that age and up. Co-operative too. Same designer as Pandemic but a bit simpler.

Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride already mentioned.

Bohnanza is a card game that’s worth a look, simple to play but challenging for all ages.

I’ve been eyeing up the new Star Wars miniatures game – I think it’s simple enough for a 9 year old (especially if the theme keeps their interest anyway) but as said, it could get really expensive fast.

There’s been Star Wars themed versions of various games, Risk, Stratego, etc and at that age they can probably pick them up OK.

I find Catan heavy going at times 😀

That reminds me, I really must get another copy of Bohnanza. My copy went with an ex-girlfriend, which was a mixed blessing.

My understanding of the Star Wars Miniatures game was that it was particularly heavyweight, but I may be misremembering. I’ll look it up on BGG later.

Of course, what am I thinking; if you want a “seconds to teach / learn, lifetime to master” game, the canonical answer there is Backgammon. Print out some Empire and Alliance logos to stick onto the pieces and you’ve got yourself a themed set.

“seconds to teach / learn, lifetime to master”

Wasn’t that Othello’s tagline?

Hey, and it has a light side and a dark side.