more like bored games kwim
November 18, 2024 8:34 AM Subscribe
Let's talk board games! What do you like that's new? What do you like that's old? What games get better if you start selectively ignoring the rules? Or ignore that suggestion, and treat this post as a #freethread! Link unrelated.
My wife used to collect board games -- we had a freaking wall of them, of various ages and types and so forth. Our only problem was never having enough time to play them.
When our kids were little, we'd subject them to weird old board games. The funnest one was the Happy Days game -- made during the later days when it was really the Fonzie show -- because the rules were relatively easy, and there was a 'punishment' card or move called "HEY NERD", which everyone was required to say, derision dripping from your voice, "HEY NERD" to rub in the punishment. He had started a column at BoingBoing, reviewing some games, but it came at a time when other projects were making it hard to find time to write.
She's putting the boardgames out for sale, and we are finding time to play them to ensure all the pieces are there. There is a Voltron board game that I hate with all my heart: although it was complete, we played it several times and determined that it was not possible to win.
Film student update: So, the film I had been making with the friend/professor premiered Friday, but that's not today's story -- we planned to show it with two other films with similar themes, and one was Stan Brakhage's Eyes. This is a notoriously difficult film to find; we rented a 16mm print through a rental house in New York, who I won't embarrass here, they're already embarrassed enough as my story will show.
The print arrived, and the film was magenta: this is what happens when prints are stored improperly, the color layers degrade and only the pink/magenta pigment is left. I originally though the film was in black-and-white when I cleaned and examined the print.
So, four days before the showing, I began trying to track down another copy -- and see if there's a digital one I could get quickly. But, as I said, I couldn't find anywhere else to rent it.
I saw UCLA had a showing of it in 2021 -- billed as a 'restored version'. So I emailed their film school library and asked if they had the restored version as a digital copy. They replied in a matter of hours that they got their copies from the Academy, and I should talk to them.
So, that's the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists -- after digging around their website and not finding information, I found a help-request form with their archives listed as an option, so, sure, I'm down to three days until showing, let's see if they get back to me.
Again -- in a matter of hours -- someone with an @oscars.com email address emails me. They say I should check California Rental Place for a print, and they would also forward my message on to the Brakhage estate to see if they can help.
The California Rental Place was helpful, but did not have a digital print, only 16mm; they also recommended I contact the Brackhage estate and gave me their email address; Now we're down to two days until showing and I asked if they could fedex me a 16mm print and it could still make our showing, but they said that they couldn't , it's usually a week or two turnaround. I thanked them for their help.
Not long after I got another email...from Stan Brakhage's wife. She was very apologetic about the poor quality of the print and said she would make sure the New York Rental place has a good copy, and offered me a free rental of it for a future screening. She said that there are no digital copies. She also heavily implied she didn't want the bad print shown (we did show it though).
Shortly thereafter, the New York rental place emailed me and offered a refund -- I mean, it makes sense, the prints come from Brakhage's estate, and they appear to have a very tight control on the use of the work, which is awesome.
The moral of my story is that I need to talk to archivists early, because their job is to help find info. Like, who'd think some random college student emailing UCLA or, heck, the AMPAS and getting not only quick assistance but action on their part to help? It was very heartening all the people put into motion to try and help.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:53 AM on November 18, 2024 [11 favorites]
When our kids were little, we'd subject them to weird old board games. The funnest one was the Happy Days game -- made during the later days when it was really the Fonzie show -- because the rules were relatively easy, and there was a 'punishment' card or move called "HEY NERD", which everyone was required to say, derision dripping from your voice, "HEY NERD" to rub in the punishment. He had started a column at BoingBoing, reviewing some games, but it came at a time when other projects were making it hard to find time to write.
She's putting the boardgames out for sale, and we are finding time to play them to ensure all the pieces are there. There is a Voltron board game that I hate with all my heart: although it was complete, we played it several times and determined that it was not possible to win.
Film student update: So, the film I had been making with the friend/professor premiered Friday, but that's not today's story -- we planned to show it with two other films with similar themes, and one was Stan Brakhage's Eyes. This is a notoriously difficult film to find; we rented a 16mm print through a rental house in New York, who I won't embarrass here, they're already embarrassed enough as my story will show.
The print arrived, and the film was magenta: this is what happens when prints are stored improperly, the color layers degrade and only the pink/magenta pigment is left. I originally though the film was in black-and-white when I cleaned and examined the print.
So, four days before the showing, I began trying to track down another copy -- and see if there's a digital one I could get quickly. But, as I said, I couldn't find anywhere else to rent it.
I saw UCLA had a showing of it in 2021 -- billed as a 'restored version'. So I emailed their film school library and asked if they had the restored version as a digital copy. They replied in a matter of hours that they got their copies from the Academy, and I should talk to them.
So, that's the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists -- after digging around their website and not finding information, I found a help-request form with their archives listed as an option, so, sure, I'm down to three days until showing, let's see if they get back to me.
Again -- in a matter of hours -- someone with an @oscars.com email address emails me. They say I should check California Rental Place for a print, and they would also forward my message on to the Brakhage estate to see if they can help.
The California Rental Place was helpful, but did not have a digital print, only 16mm; they also recommended I contact the Brackhage estate and gave me their email address; Now we're down to two days until showing and I asked if they could fedex me a 16mm print and it could still make our showing, but they said that they couldn't , it's usually a week or two turnaround. I thanked them for their help.
Not long after I got another email...from Stan Brakhage's wife. She was very apologetic about the poor quality of the print and said she would make sure the New York Rental place has a good copy, and offered me a free rental of it for a future screening. She said that there are no digital copies. She also heavily implied she didn't want the bad print shown (we did show it though).
Shortly thereafter, the New York rental place emailed me and offered a refund -- I mean, it makes sense, the prints come from Brakhage's estate, and they appear to have a very tight control on the use of the work, which is awesome.
The moral of my story is that I need to talk to archivists early, because their job is to help find info. Like, who'd think some random college student emailing UCLA or, heck, the AMPAS and getting not only quick assistance but action on their part to help? It was very heartening all the people put into motion to try and help.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:53 AM on November 18, 2024 [11 favorites]
DAE play Hero quest as a kid? Weirdly primed me for a whole lifetime of RPGs.
posted by constraint at 8:57 AM on November 18, 2024 [7 favorites]
posted by constraint at 8:57 AM on November 18, 2024 [7 favorites]
Mom was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and readmitted on Sunday. This is fine, everything is fine.
I have an interview coming up for a job I'd be really good at. I've never been unemployed this long and this is the third or fourth time I've gotten this far only to be told no thanks. So, fingers crossed.
posted by cooker girl at 8:58 AM on November 18, 2024 [11 favorites]
I have an interview coming up for a job I'd be really good at. I've never been unemployed this long and this is the third or fourth time I've gotten this far only to be told no thanks. So, fingers crossed.
posted by cooker girl at 8:58 AM on November 18, 2024 [11 favorites]
I’d love to play something like gloomhaven but it’s just too overwhelming for our little bilingual household. We have a very casual thing going on with carcasonne, where we play supportive 1v1 games and help each other find spaces for tiles - the few times we’ve played with other people they seem much angrier and more determined to follow the rules, which led to us abandoning playing with other people in favour of snacks and suggestions.
posted by The River Ivel at 9:02 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by The River Ivel at 9:02 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
I love changing up the rules for games, it's way more interesting. I had a friend I used to play Scrabble with in the late 1980s, and his main goal, much more important than winning, was to have at the end a board full of what he called "tasty words." Therefore, when you played at his house you were allowed to browse the dictionary looking for words that fit your letters. It was so much fun, but I've found it hard to get anybody else to do it -- they get all horrified at the very idea, I guess you can't show off how smart you are if you play that way.
posted by JanetLand at 9:03 AM on November 18, 2024 [6 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 9:03 AM on November 18, 2024 [6 favorites]
Shepherd is currently very Going Through It, professionally and personally. I can't share the former but the latter is just "hey your parents are getting old and now it begins". He's super stressed and has been driving 3 hours nearly every weekend to try and help them adjust to a new normal. (His dad broke his hip in August, was in rehab until last week, and to say that MIL is not coping well is an understatement.)
My own stuff is fine. I like my job a lot---med admin for a psychiatric clinic that specializes in adults and kids with ID & ASD--and hope my contract is renewed in the new year. I turn 48 next week and will be in Toronto on the 30th getting the first round of my Over the Garden Wall sleeve started. (This is my delayed 5 year sobriety gift to myself.)
posted by Kitteh at 9:04 AM on November 18, 2024 [7 favorites]
My own stuff is fine. I like my job a lot---med admin for a psychiatric clinic that specializes in adults and kids with ID & ASD--and hope my contract is renewed in the new year. I turn 48 next week and will be in Toronto on the 30th getting the first round of my Over the Garden Wall sleeve started. (This is my delayed 5 year sobriety gift to myself.)
posted by Kitteh at 9:04 AM on November 18, 2024 [7 favorites]
We play Scrabble with open dictionaries. We also let anyone take a blank that's been played on the board if they replace it with the appropriate letter from their rack. We reduced the bingo bonus to 25 because we get a lot of bingos.
But what revolutionized the game the most was dividing the tiles up into two bags: one with all the consonents, and one with all the vowels (and the two blanks). Whenever you draw tiles, you can draw from whichever bag you like (as long as it has tiles left). This means no more racks with four Is, two Es, and an O. You can still draw a bad rack, but nobody draws a TERRIBLE rack. (Until the end of the game when the Vowel Dump happens--there are always more vowels left than consonents, so you have to strategize a bit when the consonent bag runs out to not play too many letters.)
posted by rikschell at 9:09 AM on November 18, 2024 [8 favorites]
But what revolutionized the game the most was dividing the tiles up into two bags: one with all the consonents, and one with all the vowels (and the two blanks). Whenever you draw tiles, you can draw from whichever bag you like (as long as it has tiles left). This means no more racks with four Is, two Es, and an O. You can still draw a bad rack, but nobody draws a TERRIBLE rack. (Until the end of the game when the Vowel Dump happens--there are always more vowels left than consonents, so you have to strategize a bit when the consonent bag runs out to not play too many letters.)
posted by rikschell at 9:09 AM on November 18, 2024 [8 favorites]
Consulting Detective was great for shut-ins like me. I usually cheated but it was so fun going through old Times articles and grabbing clues from the Baker Street Irregulars.
posted by hairless ape at 9:12 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by hairless ape at 9:12 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
I really enjoy board games, but life has surrounded me with people who don’t. That’s fair! My parents, who have done everything they can for me, valiantly pretended to enjoy them when I was little, because I was an only child. I appreciate that. Now I do actually have a lot of friends who enjoy them, but we don’t live near enough to each other to get regular plays in.
I am the only person I know who doesn’t hate Monopoly. I’m not gonna tell you it’s the greatest game, but I have a good time when I play it. Do other players? Wellll … in my defense, I am extremely generous and not at all business-minded IRL.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:13 AM on November 18, 2024
I am the only person I know who doesn’t hate Monopoly. I’m not gonna tell you it’s the greatest game, but I have a good time when I play it. Do other players? Wellll … in my defense, I am extremely generous and not at all business-minded IRL.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:13 AM on November 18, 2024
I played Hero Quest as a kid, then tried and failed to start D&D from scratch, then was never in the right place or time to do TTRPGs until 20+ years later. Unfortunately most of us have small kids and no time but it's been really fun when we get to play - we are doing DCSSRPG, which has the bonus of extra weird dice.
I got Heroes of Cerulea, a simple zelda-like TTRPG to play with my kiddo. It's going ok so far, but it's both a little simple for my taste and also a little slow paced for his liking. We'll get there.
I have really enjoyed Beacon Patrol recently. It's sort of a co-op version of Carcassonne. I have this idea to someday use the tiles from that and Carcossonne together to make a TTRPG that is mostly procedurally generated on the fly.
And since we're talking games, I also have been enjoying UFO50 a lot, and also picked up Shogun Showdown, featured here on the blue recently.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:13 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
I got Heroes of Cerulea, a simple zelda-like TTRPG to play with my kiddo. It's going ok so far, but it's both a little simple for my taste and also a little slow paced for his liking. We'll get there.
I have really enjoyed Beacon Patrol recently. It's sort of a co-op version of Carcassonne. I have this idea to someday use the tiles from that and Carcossonne together to make a TTRPG that is mostly procedurally generated on the fly.
And since we're talking games, I also have been enjoying UFO50 a lot, and also picked up Shogun Showdown, featured here on the blue recently.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:13 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
Oh board games. Yeah. We are a board game family. Terraforming Mars, Wingspan, Code Names, Scythe, Point Salad, and Parks are current faves.
posted by cooker girl at 9:15 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 9:15 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
My friend recently discovered Martian Chess. I beat her consistently for about the first 8 games, but something clicked in her brain about strategy and now I think I'll never win again.
Now she's interested in playing Homeworlds, another game from the same creator (Looney Labs) and it's strategy and I expect to just be crushed.
What I did enjoy about it was getting to 3D print pieces, boards & storage for the games.
Other than that... I'm in a choir and we sang yesterday at the UU church's Transgender Day of Remembrance service. It was moving. Very difficult to get up & sing after the reading of the names.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 9:18 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
Now she's interested in playing Homeworlds, another game from the same creator (Looney Labs) and it's strategy and I expect to just be crushed.
What I did enjoy about it was getting to 3D print pieces, boards & storage for the games.
Other than that... I'm in a choir and we sang yesterday at the UU church's Transgender Day of Remembrance service. It was moving. Very difficult to get up & sing after the reading of the names.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 9:18 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
Countess Elena: as an only child, my parents were just not into gaming all that much either. I literally had to make up "characters" and play games by myself, like Monopoly. I also do tend to space out when it's not my turn a lot. I generally feel kind of noob-y when gaming with others because I'm just not used to doing it and feel like I have no clue.
Welp, I'm going down the depression hole again the last few weeks, GUESS WHY. I also got talked into switching where I got my prescriptions fulfilled--signing up for online mail service for 90 days at a time rather than going to CVS for a month's supply at a time, supposedly for cheaper--and the service turned out to be absolutely terrible, they gave me pushback/refused to order the meds for awhile, I gave them weeks' worth of time and ended up running out of most of them before I could get more, this crap dragged on for most of a month. I got fed up and quit 'em at the end of this week to go back to CVS. I don't know if being short on my sleep meds (I take 2 and ran out of one, then got it back, then started running out of the other and was rationing them) is part of it or not.
I also started screwing up at work all over the place and ended up crying on Friday. My boss was super sweet about it, said I'm not going to get fired and that she's unfazed at my having issues like this and struggling, but boy, did it trigger issues about my old job. I don't want to be the Problem Child again, and I have definitely pissed people off/burned them out when I have kept struggling and struggling and struggling. (I'm kind of concerned about doing this to my singing teacher as well since I also have Just Don't Seem To Be Getting It A Lot there.) Socially speaking, you can't just keep struggling and having problems without pissing people off after awhile, especially if you have to keep calling people and reaching out and "nagging" (see above meds issues) and people keep telling you the same thing over and over again and yet you keep doing it.
I also had a sad revelation about something else over the weekend (basically that I crapped up relations with someone), but I'm not in the mood to talk about that one.
I have tech week this week for Robin Hood--only 3 hours a night and we get out at 9:30 so that's already a very mellow tech week compared to everywhere else. After that one kicks off, I'll have a month-ish of break before the next show I want to audition for. That'll be weird. I think I'll just stay home and drink and watch Christmas movies, which is all I feel like doing at home now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:19 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
Welp, I'm going down the depression hole again the last few weeks, GUESS WHY. I also got talked into switching where I got my prescriptions fulfilled--signing up for online mail service for 90 days at a time rather than going to CVS for a month's supply at a time, supposedly for cheaper--and the service turned out to be absolutely terrible, they gave me pushback/refused to order the meds for awhile, I gave them weeks' worth of time and ended up running out of most of them before I could get more, this crap dragged on for most of a month. I got fed up and quit 'em at the end of this week to go back to CVS. I don't know if being short on my sleep meds (I take 2 and ran out of one, then got it back, then started running out of the other and was rationing them) is part of it or not.
I also started screwing up at work all over the place and ended up crying on Friday. My boss was super sweet about it, said I'm not going to get fired and that she's unfazed at my having issues like this and struggling, but boy, did it trigger issues about my old job. I don't want to be the Problem Child again, and I have definitely pissed people off/burned them out when I have kept struggling and struggling and struggling. (I'm kind of concerned about doing this to my singing teacher as well since I also have Just Don't Seem To Be Getting It A Lot there.) Socially speaking, you can't just keep struggling and having problems without pissing people off after awhile, especially if you have to keep calling people and reaching out and "nagging" (see above meds issues) and people keep telling you the same thing over and over again and yet you keep doing it.
I also had a sad revelation about something else over the weekend (basically that I crapped up relations with someone), but I'm not in the mood to talk about that one.
I have tech week this week for Robin Hood--only 3 hours a night and we get out at 9:30 so that's already a very mellow tech week compared to everywhere else. After that one kicks off, I'll have a month-ish of break before the next show I want to audition for. That'll be weird. I think I'll just stay home and drink and watch Christmas movies, which is all I feel like doing at home now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:19 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
My friends and I loved Axis & Allies in high school. We would dedicate entire days (and nights to it), even going so far to have multiple boards set up in different rooms so the teams could have separate planning areas. After a few years of this, we just knew the game *so well* it wasn't really fun anymore. So we started shaking things up, randomly assigning territory at the start of the game ala Risk. From there things got crazier and crazier, and the short version is now some 25+ years later we are playing a game that is almost, but not entirely, unlike Axis & Allies completely of our own design. About the only thing it shares with the original at this point are the pieces.
posted by Zargon X at 9:19 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by Zargon X at 9:19 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
I've been making my family play Last Friday which is a hidden movement game that is as close to the Friday the 13th plot as they could get it without being sued. It's a good time.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:22 AM on November 18, 2024
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:22 AM on November 18, 2024
I just got back from BoardGameGeekCon last night and came home with... too many games, mostly from the virtual flea market (though I did allow myself to buy SETI as new).
My go-to medium heavy has been Ark Nova for quite some time. On the lighter side, I've been teaching Forest Shuffle and Skyrise a lot.
posted by parliboy at 9:24 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
My go-to medium heavy has been Ark Nova for quite some time. On the lighter side, I've been teaching Forest Shuffle and Skyrise a lot.
posted by parliboy at 9:24 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Somehow I got into Axis & Allies in the 6th grade. And perhaps understandably, we didn't necessarily understand all the rules.
I don't know what exactly we got wrong, but I do remember our (agreed upon and shared) misconception allowed me to successfully defend Midway from an enormous land/air/sea attack force with a single infantry unit. My friend Steve rage quit, he didn't think anyone was doing anything wrong, he was just mad that I could roll so many good rolls in a row.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:24 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
I don't know what exactly we got wrong, but I do remember our (agreed upon and shared) misconception allowed me to successfully defend Midway from an enormous land/air/sea attack force with a single infantry unit. My friend Steve rage quit, he didn't think anyone was doing anything wrong, he was just mad that I could roll so many good rolls in a row.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:24 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
Haven't been able to play new (as in the past few years) games much due to pandemic, people moving and fewer family gatherings, but I have done some solo gaming. Final Girl/Hans. Maquis. I still have to do Under Falling Skies, Micro Macro Crime City, Turing Machine, Castellion in solo modes. I enjoyed Maquis cuz it's not *too* fiddly, Final Girl feels so fiddly for just a solo game so it's hard to want to recommend it, cuz there's just soooooooo much happening.
I used my last unemployment this past week and am terrified. I have a job I applied to that MAY be perfect for me, and I am a good candidate for, I just hope they don't have more "qualified candidates". Every. Time. But it would be categorization and it's for social services, so it would be SO GOOD. It's nearby in case I had to go to office (it's mostly remote). So many good things about it, and I think I would be great at it, I just hope I get it, but it won't start til Later December likely, after all the interviews and such; and of course assuming I can pass considering I've had 6 months of 4 applications a week with only a few bites here and there and those never panned out. I'm trying to do things in my wheelhouse. This seems the most likely so far so in terms of "fit" and "function"... I'm hoping just HOPING that maybe the reason I didn't get the others is so I can get this ("reason" lol as if there's a reason for that kind of thing).
posted by symbioid at 9:33 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
I used my last unemployment this past week and am terrified. I have a job I applied to that MAY be perfect for me, and I am a good candidate for, I just hope they don't have more "qualified candidates". Every. Time. But it would be categorization and it's for social services, so it would be SO GOOD. It's nearby in case I had to go to office (it's mostly remote). So many good things about it, and I think I would be great at it, I just hope I get it, but it won't start til Later December likely, after all the interviews and such; and of course assuming I can pass considering I've had 6 months of 4 applications a week with only a few bites here and there and those never panned out. I'm trying to do things in my wheelhouse. This seems the most likely so far so in terms of "fit" and "function"... I'm hoping just HOPING that maybe the reason I didn't get the others is so I can get this ("reason" lol as if there's a reason for that kind of thing).
posted by symbioid at 9:33 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
One year I hope to make it to BGGCon. Always sells out before I notice. But, nice haul parliboy!
I have 1706 games marked as owned on my BGG profile, but, as a thrifter, I have multiples of many, many games. I don't do kickstarter, so my "new" games have declined. Not having kids at home nor a gaming group means I am out of the "cult of the new" loop. Though I have thrifted many KS games.
(Anyone in Seattle who wants to buy some games, let me know)
The guy on the cover of the old 3M versions of Acquire totally looked like my dad. Grew up with a lot of the classics, Chess, Cribbage, Gin Rummy, Tiddly Winks, Parcheesi and such. Then found wargames. So many fun rules!
Got into Euros in like 2000. Those classic OG euros sucked me right in, and they are still the best. Tigris & Euphrates, Tikal, Ra, Through the Desert...
So many games, so little time.
posted by Windopaene at 9:47 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
I have 1706 games marked as owned on my BGG profile, but, as a thrifter, I have multiples of many, many games. I don't do kickstarter, so my "new" games have declined. Not having kids at home nor a gaming group means I am out of the "cult of the new" loop. Though I have thrifted many KS games.
(Anyone in Seattle who wants to buy some games, let me know)
The guy on the cover of the old 3M versions of Acquire totally looked like my dad. Grew up with a lot of the classics, Chess, Cribbage, Gin Rummy, Tiddly Winks, Parcheesi and such. Then found wargames. So many fun rules!
Got into Euros in like 2000. Those classic OG euros sucked me right in, and they are still the best. Tigris & Euphrates, Tikal, Ra, Through the Desert...
So many games, so little time.
posted by Windopaene at 9:47 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
my friends are real board gamers and I really love how they introduce board games to their kids.. they bring in games and play with their kids, it's just the coolest thing (I'm a non-parent, maybe this is just normal). They like to read about games and they're selective about the games they introduce to the kids (Grade 1 and 3). Any good board games for kids? I'm due to start thinking about a gift for the household.
posted by ginger.beef at 9:50 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by ginger.beef at 9:50 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
My dad sent me a couple board games when he was moving recently. I'm now the proud owner of Terminator 2: Judgment Day the board game again. I don't really remember how to play and I don't know if it has all the pieces but fuck yeah Terminator 2.
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:53 AM on November 18, 2024
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:53 AM on November 18, 2024
My group just finished a campaign of Ticket to Ride Legacy and really enjoyed it. Like many legacy games, it starts as Ticket to Ride but only in the eastern US, and after each game you expand the map and add a new mechanic for all future games. After 12 games you're done, or have your own very unique Ticket to Ride board to play the normal game.
Our favorite legacy game is still the original Pandemic Legacy, but this was lighter and fun.
Next up is probably Daybreak, another Matt Leacock game. We played the first tutorial game and it was fun but maybe too easy (or we got the rules wrong), but I'm excited to try it again.
posted by Fully Completely at 9:55 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
Our favorite legacy game is still the original Pandemic Legacy, but this was lighter and fun.
Next up is probably Daybreak, another Matt Leacock game. We played the first tutorial game and it was fun but maybe too easy (or we got the rules wrong), but I'm excited to try it again.
posted by Fully Completely at 9:55 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
I'll have a copy of Earthborne Rangers (SUSD review) at some point in the not-too-distant future. I'm looking forward to playing it with my partner.
I haven't had a group to play board games with in a while (and haven't tried to find one due to social anxiety, exhaustion, depression, and social anxiety) so it's just been the two of us. We're most of the way through My City, and that has been a pleasant one. When we've got the time and energy we break out Agricola, which I think I prefer with two players. I tend to prefer games on the indirect competition to cooperative end of things, and I feel like those are harder to find in two player games. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 9:58 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I haven't had a group to play board games with in a while (and haven't tried to find one due to social anxiety, exhaustion, depression, and social anxiety) so it's just been the two of us. We're most of the way through My City, and that has been a pleasant one. When we've got the time and energy we break out Agricola, which I think I prefer with two players. I tend to prefer games on the indirect competition to cooperative end of things, and I feel like those are harder to find in two player games. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 9:58 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I'm not a gamer, board or otherwise. Trivial Pursuit can be fun with the right group (but I haven't played it in close to 20 years), and I enjoy Pictionary though I'm not sure if that qualifies as a board game.
This weekend was the first time this year that it really felt like miserable fall weather - in the 40's, rainy, blustery wind with a bite to it. I sort of enjoyed the novelty, as if I didn't know the season's barely getting started and plenty more such weather is coming our way...I'll be thoroughly tired of it soon enough.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2024
This weekend was the first time this year that it really felt like miserable fall weather - in the 40's, rainy, blustery wind with a bite to it. I sort of enjoyed the novelty, as if I didn't know the season's barely getting started and plenty more such weather is coming our way...I'll be thoroughly tired of it soon enough.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2024
Almost all board games are good for kids!
But, I'm going to have to drop out of this thread, as I have many opinions, and will overwhelm the server with talking about them. Not a fan of "Legacy" games. Your now played game is now trash and unplayable. There I go with opinions...
posted by Windopaene at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2024
But, I'm going to have to drop out of this thread, as I have many opinions, and will overwhelm the server with talking about them. Not a fan of "Legacy" games. Your now played game is now trash and unplayable. There I go with opinions...
posted by Windopaene at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2024
Consulting Detective was great for shut-ins like me.
I still have about half of that to work through. First chapter I followed Sherlock's path halfway through but then he makes an absurd leap of logic that I didn't and wound up way off trail. And each case expands the information space by including every paper from the last, so I feel I have to go full conspiracy mode to keep up. And if I'm being honest, I'd rather spend that time solving digital crimes, or other puzzles, than try to outthink an author's sideways adventure stories logic.
posted by pwnguin at 10:03 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
I still have about half of that to work through. First chapter I followed Sherlock's path halfway through but then he makes an absurd leap of logic that I didn't and wound up way off trail. And each case expands the information space by including every paper from the last, so I feel I have to go full conspiracy mode to keep up. And if I'm being honest, I'd rather spend that time solving digital crimes, or other puzzles, than try to outthink an author's sideways adventure stories logic.
posted by pwnguin at 10:03 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
We are not really a board game family. Once in a while we play Scrabble at which we are competitive and cutthroat and usually somebody gets fed up and stalks off. My aunt was serious about Scrabble to the point of playing in the occasional tournament so it runs in the family. There were also the usual childhood games of Clue and Monopoly and Life and Candyland and Chutes & Ladder for the very small. Thank you for this thread! Now I might, actually, get one of those games for this Christmas with Three. We never branched out beyond those, though. Once, before Youtube, I bought Settlers of Catan and during a Christmas snowstorm we tried to play it but we never did figure it out and gave up.
My daughter spent the last six weeks organizing multiple fundraisers for Asheville and western North Carolina. It was called All West - from Western Oregon and Washington to Western North Carolina. She worked like a demon and this past weekend was the culmination: Friday night started with a speech before a dance recital / performance (including a stellar if brief performance by Three as a circus performer with an inflatable tiger!) at the local theater where she had a table in the lobby to collect donations and sell raffle tickets. Then it moved to a local performance space where there were poetry readings, a magic show and three bands. Saturday night she took over a local bar with two more bands and a DJ performing. Sunday we went out to a cidery (is that a word?) in Ilwaco Washington where there was one more set of musicians and a special cider drink to raise money. She did all this as a single mom with a close to full time very demanding job. I am so proud of her I could basically explode. And Beloved Asheville will be richer by about $3000 by the end of the week when all the dust has settled and everything counted up. We wish it was more but hey, that this many people from this far away cared enough to chip in is, I think, pretty impressive.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:16 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
My daughter spent the last six weeks organizing multiple fundraisers for Asheville and western North Carolina. It was called All West - from Western Oregon and Washington to Western North Carolina. She worked like a demon and this past weekend was the culmination: Friday night started with a speech before a dance recital / performance (including a stellar if brief performance by Three as a circus performer with an inflatable tiger!) at the local theater where she had a table in the lobby to collect donations and sell raffle tickets. Then it moved to a local performance space where there were poetry readings, a magic show and three bands. Saturday night she took over a local bar with two more bands and a DJ performing. Sunday we went out to a cidery (is that a word?) in Ilwaco Washington where there was one more set of musicians and a special cider drink to raise money. She did all this as a single mom with a close to full time very demanding job. I am so proud of her I could basically explode. And Beloved Asheville will be richer by about $3000 by the end of the week when all the dust has settled and everything counted up. We wish it was more but hey, that this many people from this far away cared enough to chip in is, I think, pretty impressive.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:16 AM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
I enjoyed playing Burning Banners (2024) this summer, because it's a relatively simple and fun large-scale fantasy wargame that reminds me of more complicated favorites like Dragon Pass (1980) and also games that I wish were better like Elric (1977).
But light games I've enjoyed recently include Jaws (2019), Vaalbara (2022), and Thunder Road: Vendetta (2023).
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:17 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
But light games I've enjoyed recently include Jaws (2019), Vaalbara (2022), and Thunder Road: Vendetta (2023).
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:17 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
I like thinky worker placement games but can't always get the fam to play them with me, so I picked up a copy of Flamecraft, a medium weight worker placement game with cute pastel colored dragons. There's little to no conflict and the town is literally teeming with resources so players don't get stuck for too long with nothing to do or buy. Not necessarily my cup of tea but at least we can play it together and it's not over too soon.
I can't get anyone to play Scythe with me but I discovered that it's up on Board Game Arena so that itch is getting scratched.
Now that the nights are getting colder and longer I'll be breaking out the solo games again and am looking for a few to add to the collection. Final Girl for sure but I'm also on the lookout for something obscure and heady and dense -- maybe I'll poke around and see what GMT Games has in stock.
Cascadia, Azul, Planted, Herbaceous and Splendor are always in heavy rotation.
posted by vverse23 at 10:20 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
I can't get anyone to play Scythe with me but I discovered that it's up on Board Game Arena so that itch is getting scratched.
Now that the nights are getting colder and longer I'll be breaking out the solo games again and am looking for a few to add to the collection. Final Girl for sure but I'm also on the lookout for something obscure and heady and dense -- maybe I'll poke around and see what GMT Games has in stock.
Cascadia, Azul, Planted, Herbaceous and Splendor are always in heavy rotation.
posted by vverse23 at 10:20 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
So timely! Just had our second monthly board game session yesterday and it was a blast! So nice to just be present and engaged with people for an entire afternoon, really helps keep the existential dread at bay for a bit. We had 4 couples so we pulled out Cranium and Trivial Pursuit 40th edition, went over very well though TP dragged a bit at the end, so we'll probably just do the speed version in the future.
In the past we have typically had 4-6 people and have most recently run Firefly: The Board Game and Tiny Epic Games: Pirates, which felt quite similar to Firefly, just much smaller. Scythe is also on the future to-play list along with a few more Tiny Epic games.
Would love more recommendations for games that work well for 2-4 teams of 2, as we have a mixed group, typically one in the couple is more into games than the other, so playing as teams is ideal. Most of my collection (Wingspan, Alhambra, Maharani, Catan, Ticket to Ride, Forbidden Desert, Firefly, Exploding Kittens, Pandemic) are for 3-5 individual players and playing those in teams often just slows things down. Any suggestions?
posted by platinum at 10:23 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
In the past we have typically had 4-6 people and have most recently run Firefly: The Board Game and Tiny Epic Games: Pirates, which felt quite similar to Firefly, just much smaller. Scythe is also on the future to-play list along with a few more Tiny Epic games.
Would love more recommendations for games that work well for 2-4 teams of 2, as we have a mixed group, typically one in the couple is more into games than the other, so playing as teams is ideal. Most of my collection (Wingspan, Alhambra, Maharani, Catan, Ticket to Ride, Forbidden Desert, Firefly, Exploding Kittens, Pandemic) are for 3-5 individual players and playing those in teams often just slows things down. Any suggestions?
posted by platinum at 10:23 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I just logged into Bluesky for the first time in something like 9 months (I usually stick to Mastodon) and saw that I picked up 80 followers in the past two days!! Golly. I hope they're prepared for disappointment...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:28 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:28 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
As the song says, "If it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointment."
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:30 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:30 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
I was playing some co-op King Arthur board game, where there was a chance (not a necessity) that somebody would be secretly assigned as a traitor. I was selected as the traitor, to my dismay. I would vastly prefer to be cooperative, as being competitive is not something I generally enjoy doing. I can play competitively just fine, but I often find myself holding back, unable to strike decisively when an opportunity comes, because I have some irrational fear that doing so will inspire actual animosity, as opposed to the "oh you, I'll get you next time" reactions that a good game will cultivate. Being the traitor also involved my most reviled of all game types: deception based playing.
So I simply chose to not be a traitor. I played cooperatively, ignoring my role even though I was handed some cards early on that would've put me in a good position to win as a traitor. Ultimately I "lost", but I certainly enjoyed the game a lot more than if I had tried to play the traitor.
posted by ersatzsapience at 10:34 AM on November 18, 2024 [8 favorites]
So I simply chose to not be a traitor. I played cooperatively, ignoring my role even though I was handed some cards early on that would've put me in a good position to win as a traitor. Ultimately I "lost", but I certainly enjoyed the game a lot more than if I had tried to play the traitor.
posted by ersatzsapience at 10:34 AM on November 18, 2024 [8 favorites]
A friend and I worked the evening and overnight shifts at a hotel as teenagers. We'd set up Axis & Allies in the laundry room, invite more friends, and play til dawn. Now it's mostly Board Game Arena for me (feel free to invite me to anything - same username there)
Some of my favorite gaming memories involve being the traitor. Love to drag my friends screaming into Hell!
posted by McBearclaw at 10:54 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Some of my favorite gaming memories involve being the traitor. Love to drag my friends screaming into Hell!
posted by McBearclaw at 10:54 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Among other game-y things, I'm prepping my gaming seminar for January, and trying to pick out some tabletop games to introduce students to the world.
Last time I had them play Wingspan, which really got their attention, but needed more time.
Before that I used Terraforming Mars, but it wasn't interactive enough.
I'm thinking now about splitting them into groups, one to play Ogre, one Daybreak, and one Wingspan.
posted by doctornemo at 10:55 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Last time I had them play Wingspan, which really got their attention, but needed more time.
Before that I used Terraforming Mars, but it wasn't interactive enough.
I'm thinking now about splitting them into groups, one to play Ogre, one Daybreak, and one Wingspan.
posted by doctornemo at 10:55 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Greg_Ace, I've gotten a ton of Bluesky followers recently too. I wonder why? There's been a large influx of people disgusted with Twitter, but I haven't put out many posts there. Anyway, I'm still firmly on Mastodon, but I'm willing to dual post some things. I still have my strong suspicion that Bluesky will implode along a similar timescale as Twitter and Facebook, maybe disguised a little better. They've taken in a lot of crypto money lately, which doesn't bode well. As usual, I hope that I'm wrong.
posted by JHarris at 10:58 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 10:58 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
Risk can be quite fun ...
If you put it aside and play something else.
Kamchatka - you're on my list, byotch.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:59 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
If you put it aside and play something else.
Kamchatka - you're on my list, byotch.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:59 AM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
I picked up A Feast For Odin, from the designer of Agricola, Le Havre and Bohnanza, among other games. I haven't gotten to play it though with more than one other person, and a game like that isn't at its best with only two people. What I've played has been great though. While you're going for points as with many other games of the type, what is interesting is you start out the game way in the hole, with a home board containing a grid with many -1 spaces.
Through the game, you get various treasures that you can use to cover spaces on your board, including those -1 spaces, which negates them. There's other spaces you can surround with treasures, and if you can do it on all sides you get an extra treasure of that type each round, which you can put back into covering spaces if you want. If you think you can do a good job of covering those -1 spaces, you can choose to accept additional boards, worth lots of bonus points, but with more -1 spaces to cover.
It's also a worker placement game, but with the added wrinkle that the spaces require from one to four workers. Since people can place workers at different rates, the first player to place isn't always the last one in a round.
posted by JHarris at 11:05 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Through the game, you get various treasures that you can use to cover spaces on your board, including those -1 spaces, which negates them. There's other spaces you can surround with treasures, and if you can do it on all sides you get an extra treasure of that type each round, which you can put back into covering spaces if you want. If you think you can do a good job of covering those -1 spaces, you can choose to accept additional boards, worth lots of bonus points, but with more -1 spaces to cover.
It's also a worker placement game, but with the added wrinkle that the spaces require from one to four workers. Since people can place workers at different rates, the first player to place isn't always the last one in a round.
posted by JHarris at 11:05 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
DAE play Hero quest as a kid? Weirdly primed me for a whole lifetime of RPGs.
Me too. My dad bought me a copy of Heroquest as a kid, leading to a lifetime of geek fantasy and sci fi games. Evenings around the dining table with my brothers and dad facing the Lichelord and rescuing poor unlucky Sir Ragnar. The skeletons were painted poorly, the orcs’ swords were bent and broken and the beautifully detailed card and plastic scenery quickly distorted and faded with use as we played.
And then twenty years drifting apart, barely talking as he was a quiet man who never really opened up and I was too busy working or studying or just filling time. We only really bond again when the cancer diagnosis comes and it spreads quickly; in two months he is a child again, in three months only a memory.
Trawling through his abandoned attic, bagging and sifting through a lifetime of hobbies and I see it - a battered corner of a box held together with masking tape. Piles of broken wonderful minis and notes and character sheets from every game.
Have spent a year now restoring and painting every mini, replacing every missing piece and played the first set of missions again with my current D&D group last month. It’s fantastic.
Will be playing with my brothers this Christmas.
posted by brilliantmistake at 11:11 AM on November 18, 2024 [15 favorites]
Me too. My dad bought me a copy of Heroquest as a kid, leading to a lifetime of geek fantasy and sci fi games. Evenings around the dining table with my brothers and dad facing the Lichelord and rescuing poor unlucky Sir Ragnar. The skeletons were painted poorly, the orcs’ swords were bent and broken and the beautifully detailed card and plastic scenery quickly distorted and faded with use as we played.
And then twenty years drifting apart, barely talking as he was a quiet man who never really opened up and I was too busy working or studying or just filling time. We only really bond again when the cancer diagnosis comes and it spreads quickly; in two months he is a child again, in three months only a memory.
Trawling through his abandoned attic, bagging and sifting through a lifetime of hobbies and I see it - a battered corner of a box held together with masking tape. Piles of broken wonderful minis and notes and character sheets from every game.
Have spent a year now restoring and painting every mini, replacing every missing piece and played the first set of missions again with my current D&D group last month. It’s fantastic.
Will be playing with my brothers this Christmas.
posted by brilliantmistake at 11:11 AM on November 18, 2024 [15 favorites]
JHarris, best I can tell it seems like at least a couple of MeFites have cobbled together a "starter pack" that lists other MeFites with Bluesky accounts so people can find and follow them. I vaguely recall outing myself as a Bsky-ite in some MetaTalk thread a while back. I notice a lot, maybe most, of my new minions followers haven't yest posted anything themselves so maybe they're just getting started on the site.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:24 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:24 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
My son’s scout troop does a board game camp every December, a full weekend of nothin’ but board games. A kid brought Jaws two years ago and it was a blast to play as the shark (I ate everyone!). Also where we discovered Root. Last year one dad brought an intensely complicated samurai game, it was fun but it also took 6 hours to play - by the end I went kind of nuts and took a major risk to either win outright or just lose so I could play a different game.
The big hit every year has been Secret Hitler. (More fun that playing Actual Fascists like we have been playing in real life!) You do need everyone to be in the right mood for it, it gets really fun when suspicion and doubt carries over through multiple rounds. Looking forward to the weekend …
posted by caution live frogs at 11:32 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
The big hit every year has been Secret Hitler. (More fun that playing Actual Fascists like we have been playing in real life!) You do need everyone to be in the right mood for it, it gets really fun when suspicion and doubt carries over through multiple rounds. Looking forward to the weekend …
posted by caution live frogs at 11:32 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Also. Had LASIK surgery Thursday and now for the first time since kindergarten I am glasses-free. It’s super weird to be able to just wake up and see, but glad I opted for this. Happy that at 50 I can still use the computer and (mostly) read my phone without readers (books not so much, I do need readers there!)
posted by caution live frogs at 11:37 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by caution live frogs at 11:37 AM on November 18, 2024 [4 favorites]
Haven't been gaming much the last couple-few months, but I bought Ottoman Sunset a while back, when they did a second printing. In a shocking development, I actually won my first and only play to date. I enjoy games an awful lot, but I rarely win, so I focus on the pleasure in the play itself, regardless of win or lose. I did shelve Eldritch Horror for a while, after getting trounced by maybe three different Old Ones in a row...
At one time I really enjoyed Scrabble, but that's waned some. On the one hand, there are so many word games out there, compared to pre-internet days, when that was one of only a few word games I played. On the other, I got about as good as I was likely ever to get without studying Scrabble dictionaries, memorizing odd words, etc., and I was beating every normal person I played, even with variants, handicapping myself, etc. A lovely game, though, and I've spent so many hours playing it.
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:44 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
At one time I really enjoyed Scrabble, but that's waned some. On the one hand, there are so many word games out there, compared to pre-internet days, when that was one of only a few word games I played. On the other, I got about as good as I was likely ever to get without studying Scrabble dictionaries, memorizing odd words, etc., and I was beating every normal person I played, even with variants, handicapping myself, etc. A lovely game, though, and I've spent so many hours playing it.
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:44 AM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
Greg_Ace & jharris: same here. I don't really post much on Bluesky but suddenly I have like over 100 new followers, none of whom have interacted with any post, and I made sure to put a couple up yesterday as sort of trial balloons.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:44 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:44 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
OK, you have drawn me back...
I have a friend who was somewhere, Swedish? He is from Serbia, so no idea if it was someplace like a tourist theme town like Leavenworth, or actual Sweden. He bought A Feast for Odin. Too much. Wow. Agricola X4. Bohnanza is great, but one of your kids will cheat and rearrange...
(I had child 3 playing Twilight Imperium 3 at like, 8 years old though, so that was cool)
(Not saying child 3 was cheating..., (yes they were)).
Rosenberg's games have just gone so grindy. Actually, just checked, don't know anything he has put out in a few years. Always wanted to try Glass Road, and Castles of Burgundy is pretty great.
Thrifted Jaws, have not played. Looks fun though.
And the King Arthur traitor game was probably Shadows Over Camelot...
OK, I will stop now, (for a while anyway).
posted by Windopaene at 11:49 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I have a friend who was somewhere, Swedish? He is from Serbia, so no idea if it was someplace like a tourist theme town like Leavenworth, or actual Sweden. He bought A Feast for Odin. Too much. Wow. Agricola X4. Bohnanza is great, but one of your kids will cheat and rearrange...
(I had child 3 playing Twilight Imperium 3 at like, 8 years old though, so that was cool)
(Not saying child 3 was cheating..., (yes they were)).
Rosenberg's games have just gone so grindy. Actually, just checked, don't know anything he has put out in a few years. Always wanted to try Glass Road, and Castles of Burgundy is pretty great.
Thrifted Jaws, have not played. Looks fun though.
And the King Arthur traitor game was probably Shadows Over Camelot...
OK, I will stop now, (for a while anyway).
posted by Windopaene at 11:49 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Re: bsky: I am trying to interact with metafilter posts and some of them are getting lost in the shuffle! Once the firehose dies down I think we'll figure out who is regular and who wants to follow whom.
Also, unrelated, it's my birthday and since I had just had a cancer diagnosis (resolved) this time last year, I'm really happy to be here.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 11:56 AM on November 18, 2024 [16 favorites]
Also, unrelated, it's my birthday and since I had just had a cancer diagnosis (resolved) this time last year, I'm really happy to be here.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 11:56 AM on November 18, 2024 [16 favorites]
this feels like a place where I can say: I'm trying to find a board game that will be super fun but also will appeal to a mid-40s GenX dude who has only played Monopoly and Risk. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them!
posted by corb at 12:06 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by corb at 12:06 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Cosmic Encounter is the best board game. And on a related note, Dune is the best board game which is an adaptation.
I kinda hate Scrabble, but I've played a lot of it, because I like playing games with friends, and a lot of my friends like it. Here's how to get good enough at Scrabble that you can beat any casual player: give everyone a list of two and three letter words, allow the use of an anagram solver at the table, and limit the consequences for a successful challenge to having to remove the word (and they can still play thier turn.) If you do this, Scrabble stops being a game about tasty words and anagrams (which it never was to begin with), and becomes more clearly a game about positional play and rack management. You'll get good at those skills. Then, when you find yourself playing by the official rules, you are likely to crush your casual player opponent. Best of all, you'll do it with cheap words and positional play, which they might find so frustrating that they don't suggest Scrabble again. (Doesn't work with tournament players, who will know all your tricks, and have a head full of scrabble words too.)
posted by surlyben at 12:07 PM on November 18, 2024
I kinda hate Scrabble, but I've played a lot of it, because I like playing games with friends, and a lot of my friends like it. Here's how to get good enough at Scrabble that you can beat any casual player: give everyone a list of two and three letter words, allow the use of an anagram solver at the table, and limit the consequences for a successful challenge to having to remove the word (and they can still play thier turn.) If you do this, Scrabble stops being a game about tasty words and anagrams (which it never was to begin with), and becomes more clearly a game about positional play and rack management. You'll get good at those skills. Then, when you find yourself playing by the official rules, you are likely to crush your casual player opponent. Best of all, you'll do it with cheap words and positional play, which they might find so frustrating that they don't suggest Scrabble again. (Doesn't work with tournament players, who will know all your tricks, and have a head full of scrabble words too.)
posted by surlyben at 12:07 PM on November 18, 2024
I disagree that Scrabble isn't a game about making words. Maybe at the competitive level, but for a casual player, rearranging your tiles to discover the perfect play is the real fun of it. I also like how challenges can introduce an element of deception and bluffing, but I understand that a lot of players don't enjoy that sort of play.
I like the idea of seperating the vowels and consonants into different bags though. It doesn't remove the variance, but it does cut the feel-bad turns.
posted by jy4m at 12:16 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I like the idea of seperating the vowels and consonants into different bags though. It doesn't remove the variance, but it does cut the feel-bad turns.
posted by jy4m at 12:16 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
We are drying clothes for 30 people at a laundromat. The halfway house I've been living in since the flooding wrecked my house has bedbugs so we are doing this while the old church is treated.
I started working on Friday. I take care of household stuff for 3 people who are on various types of disability. I change them, bathe them, feed them, etcetera. Not what I expected to be doing at 59 but it's a job I can get to with no vehicle.
Helene really wrecked my life. I had to change states and start all over with nothing. Tennessee wants me to prove I am not receiving benefits in North Carolina before they will give me an EBT card. I also have a problem proving residency. Everything feels like it's caving in on me.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:19 PM on November 18, 2024 [8 favorites]
I started working on Friday. I take care of household stuff for 3 people who are on various types of disability. I change them, bathe them, feed them, etcetera. Not what I expected to be doing at 59 but it's a job I can get to with no vehicle.
Helene really wrecked my life. I had to change states and start all over with nothing. Tennessee wants me to prove I am not receiving benefits in North Carolina before they will give me an EBT card. I also have a problem proving residency. Everything feels like it's caving in on me.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:19 PM on November 18, 2024 [8 favorites]
corb, classic gateway games to the New Era are Carcassonne, Catan, Dominion, Azul, Splendor, Stone Age, and Ticket to Ride. Splendor and Azul are short, simple, and abstract (almost puzzle-like). The others have a bit more narrative/setting to hang the mechanics on (which many people find appealing).
posted by rikschell at 12:35 PM on November 18, 2024 [9 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 12:35 PM on November 18, 2024 [9 favorites]
We have a toddler in the family, so we're not doing a lot of board games right now, but ordinarily we play a lot of board games. Family favorites include Mysterium, Quiddler, Shadows over Camelot, Elfenland, Dixit, Wise and Otherwise, and the Tortoise and the Hare.
posted by katmai at 12:37 PM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by katmai at 12:37 PM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
Didn't we just have a new Link Filter post? I can't find it.
posted by tofu_crouton at 1:05 PM on November 18, 2024
posted by tofu_crouton at 1:05 PM on November 18, 2024
So I signed up for a Bluesky account ages ago just to sort of reserve my name, back when you needed a code and I was still idly on X (though my last tweet interaction was dated April 2020 so like, VERY idly). I signed in today just to see what the deal was but left again without following anyone or posting anything -- I don't know who I'd bother to follow at this point or why! I think the era of the sosh meeds, Instagram aside, has really just ended for me. It's kind of nice!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:20 PM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:20 PM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
Quintet, the board game from director Robert Altman's movie of the same name
The game seems simple enough, but getting a group together to play regularly might be difficult. Because of the murder.
posted by otherchaz at 1:30 PM on November 18, 2024
The game seems simple enough, but getting a group together to play regularly might be difficult. Because of the murder.
posted by otherchaz at 1:30 PM on November 18, 2024
When someone mentions HeroQuest, I'm obligated to share this informational video about why HeroQuest is so great.
posted by jomato at 1:38 PM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by jomato at 1:38 PM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
The 1980s version of Cosmic Encounter.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 1:58 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 1:58 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I've got one of those old Cosmic Encounters.
Though the FFG version is pretty good.
posted by Windopaene at 2:14 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
Though the FFG version is pretty good.
posted by Windopaene at 2:14 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
1000% board game junkie here.
I think my alltime fave is probably still power grid. Currently I am enamoured of The Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and Museum. I am not much of a fan of word based games (decrypto, scrabble, code words) or social deduction games like secret hitler or The Resistance. Different strokes for different strokers, of course.
Oh, also: foooey on any game that requires the agency of a phone or tablet or laptop to play. if I wanted to play a video game, I'd play a video game.
eta: I'm on boardgame arena and yucata, if anyone is down for it IM me and I'll send you my ID info.
posted by hearthpig at 3:42 PM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
I think my alltime fave is probably still power grid. Currently I am enamoured of The Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and Museum. I am not much of a fan of word based games (decrypto, scrabble, code words) or social deduction games like secret hitler or The Resistance. Different strokes for different strokers, of course.
Oh, also: foooey on any game that requires the agency of a phone or tablet or laptop to play. if I wanted to play a video game, I'd play a video game.
eta: I'm on boardgame arena and yucata, if anyone is down for it IM me and I'll send you my ID info.
posted by hearthpig at 3:42 PM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
so as not to abuse the edit window a second time: also, if you like board games and live anywhere near Columbus OH, Origins is a pretty fine time. (late june 25). for that matter since we are here, what other cons have you experienced? I have never bothered with GenCon, it sounds like a peopley nightmare. I've fantasized about Essen or the one in Lucca italy, but no plan advancement as yet.
posted by hearthpig at 3:48 PM on November 18, 2024
posted by hearthpig at 3:48 PM on November 18, 2024
Flamecraft is getting a lot of play at our monthly board game days. The art is super cute, it's a very well-balanced worker placement game that rarely if ever feels like you're stuck wasting a turn, and have I mentioned that the art is super cute?
I had a copy of Pulsar 2849 sitting on the shelf for years, and I finally got around to unpacking it and learning how to play, and wow were we instantly hooked.
Grand Austria Hotel is one of my favorite 2P plays. One of very few games that feels just as complete and thinky with 2P as it does with 4.
I recently splurged on the super ultra deluxe Castles Of Burgundy. Easy to learn, plenty of room for mastery. Everyone loves it.
I had high hopes that Aftermath would get some play in our group, but story-based games have kinda fallen out of favor, so Above & Below has also been moved to the "rarely played" shelf upstairs. Sigh.
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig plays a bunch of people (7? I think?) and it's still easy to play well even when everyone's had a few drinks.
We've finally added enough people to our board gaming group that we're getting regular plays of Blood On The Clocktower. It's my new favorite social deduction game. We try not to overplay it, though, because it's not everyone's favorite.
posted by xedrik at 3:52 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I had a copy of Pulsar 2849 sitting on the shelf for years, and I finally got around to unpacking it and learning how to play, and wow were we instantly hooked.
Grand Austria Hotel is one of my favorite 2P plays. One of very few games that feels just as complete and thinky with 2P as it does with 4.
I recently splurged on the super ultra deluxe Castles Of Burgundy. Easy to learn, plenty of room for mastery. Everyone loves it.
I had high hopes that Aftermath would get some play in our group, but story-based games have kinda fallen out of favor, so Above & Below has also been moved to the "rarely played" shelf upstairs. Sigh.
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig plays a bunch of people (7? I think?) and it's still easy to play well even when everyone's had a few drinks.
We've finally added enough people to our board gaming group that we're getting regular plays of Blood On The Clocktower. It's my new favorite social deduction game. We try not to overplay it, though, because it's not everyone's favorite.
posted by xedrik at 3:52 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
This is likely preaching to the choir, but I really like https://boardgamearena.com. I use it to play with my friends in other cities on a regular basis. Advantages include score keeping and having a neutral arbiter for rules lawyers. Most of the good games are locked in the premium tier, but you only need one person at the table to have a subscription and it's pretty cheap. One game which is free (and benefits from the automatic scoring) is 'Castles of Burgundy'. A quick party game we like to play is 'Can't stop'.
posted by Prof. Danger at 4:15 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Prof. Danger at 4:15 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
My spouse likes the idea of playing board games much more than actually playing them. When Wingspan came out I thought I'd get that for them because they love birds but it wasn't in stock. I looked around the shop for anything else that might look good and saw that some people were playing Dominion and that it was reasonably highly rated so I got that. To this day the box is still unopened. I did end up getting Wingspan for them at a later date. We tried playing it once or twice and now that box also sits on the shelf.
My only hope now is that one day my kids will be bored enough to open them up, learn the rules, and start playing.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:11 PM on November 18, 2024
My only hope now is that one day my kids will be bored enough to open them up, learn the rules, and start playing.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:11 PM on November 18, 2024
As mentioned by someone upthread, look at Yucata.de. Free, games have rules enforcement, etc.
See also Vassal. One person is supposed to own the game, no rules enforcement, more wargame related, but great.
posted by Windopaene at 5:22 PM on November 18, 2024
See also Vassal. One person is supposed to own the game, no rules enforcement, more wargame related, but great.
posted by Windopaene at 5:22 PM on November 18, 2024
Also: Dominion created an entire genre of games. And is worth playing.
Played Wingspan once at a game con. Fine, pretty light. Thrifted a copy a couple of months ago. Would play again. Theme can draw people in.
posted by Windopaene at 6:42 PM on November 18, 2024
Played Wingspan once at a game con. Fine, pretty light. Thrifted a copy a couple of months ago. Would play again. Theme can draw people in.
posted by Windopaene at 6:42 PM on November 18, 2024
I'm not a board game person as an adult, but as a young child I love love loved the color palette of Candyland, and played it just so I could look at those delicious colors and textures.
Then there was A Walk Along Sesame Street --- I will never forget how happy setting it up would make me, never mind actually playing it.
Thanks for the recs for gateway board games above, it sounds like there's a lot of fun to be had!
Just looking forward to Thanksgiving Week, but the Big Strike at work is what will dominate this week. Go Labor!
posted by honey badger at 6:44 PM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
Then there was A Walk Along Sesame Street --- I will never forget how happy setting it up would make me, never mind actually playing it.
Thanks for the recs for gateway board games above, it sounds like there's a lot of fun to be had!
Just looking forward to Thanksgiving Week, but the Big Strike at work is what will dominate this week. Go Labor!
posted by honey badger at 6:44 PM on November 18, 2024 [2 favorites]
We were never big board game people, per se, but when my kids were all at home we did try to do a game night every month or so. Trivial Pursuit, Bananagrams, Apples to Apples, Yatzee, etc. It was more fun to play an easier game so that we had room to be silly and have fun with each other. I miss those nights. Maybe I can orchestrate one over Xmas break. Gets harder to get all three in the room at the same time, the older they get.
It's a dark and stormy night, rain (which we need!) spitting at the windows; the Schmoop and I are watching the Bruins shit the bed against Columbus, and I'm dreading Thursday, when we will be putting our eldest cat to sleep. Axl has been the boss of the house since not long after we built the place, but it's time. Gonna miss the big bastard. I asked my daughter to come along to the appointment, as wrangling the cat carrier would be difficult while using my cane, and asked her husband to dig a hole in the back acreage, so Axl can spend his eternity in the woods where he liked to roam as a youngun.
Gee, I'm suddenly feeling very nostalgic.
posted by cinnamonduff at 6:49 PM on November 18, 2024 [7 favorites]
It's a dark and stormy night, rain (which we need!) spitting at the windows; the Schmoop and I are watching the Bruins shit the bed against Columbus, and I'm dreading Thursday, when we will be putting our eldest cat to sleep. Axl has been the boss of the house since not long after we built the place, but it's time. Gonna miss the big bastard. I asked my daughter to come along to the appointment, as wrangling the cat carrier would be difficult while using my cane, and asked her husband to dig a hole in the back acreage, so Axl can spend his eternity in the woods where he liked to roam as a youngun.
Gee, I'm suddenly feeling very nostalgic.
posted by cinnamonduff at 6:49 PM on November 18, 2024 [7 favorites]
Aaand just after I posted that, Axl stepped on the remote and fast-forwarded the last 5 minutes of the Bruins game. He's old, he's tired, and he's sick of watching that shitty game. :)
posted by cinnamonduff at 7:02 PM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
posted by cinnamonduff at 7:02 PM on November 18, 2024 [5 favorites]
Flamecraft is getting a lot of play at our monthly board game days. The art is super cute, it's a very well-balanced worker placement game that rarely if ever feels like you're stuck wasting a turn, and have I mentioned that the art is super cute?
I bought Flamecraft after Tom Vasel on The Dice Tower channel raved about it. His take was that we needed more relaxing, non-confrontational, medium-weight worker placement games, and he wasn't wrong. Playing a game of Flamecraft is like strolling through shops in a quaint village for an hour. Won't change your life, but it's a perfectly pleasant way to spend some time together.
posted by vverse23 at 7:07 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I bought Flamecraft after Tom Vasel on The Dice Tower channel raved about it. His take was that we needed more relaxing, non-confrontational, medium-weight worker placement games, and he wasn't wrong. Playing a game of Flamecraft is like strolling through shops in a quaint village for an hour. Won't change your life, but it's a perfectly pleasant way to spend some time together.
posted by vverse23 at 7:07 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]
I am all Wingspan, all the time (which should surprise no one). I play on BGA, on my phone, on my laptop. Mostly against the AI bot on my phone, and with one friend on BGA. Anyone on BGA is welcome to hit me up at gingerbeer_sf.
I bought a game off Kickstarter from the same designer, only about mushrooms (Undergrove) and it looks very pretty but I haven't played it yet. Anyone out there tried it?
COVID put such a damper on my IRL gaming outings and BGA is not a real replacement for in person. I should schedule something.
In other news, I'm headed to New Zealand tomorrow with my mom, on a group trip with a bunch of retired people. This is a bucket list trip for her and I said I'd go with her. Since my dad died she's been in need of a travel companion. Only Air New Zealand keeps changing planes and messing up our neat reservations and comfy seats for the 13 hour flight so I've spent hours on hold today trying to get things sorted. I'm looking forward to the birds of New Zealand.
posted by gingerbeer at 7:07 PM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
I bought a game off Kickstarter from the same designer, only about mushrooms (Undergrove) and it looks very pretty but I haven't played it yet. Anyone out there tried it?
COVID put such a damper on my IRL gaming outings and BGA is not a real replacement for in person. I should schedule something.
In other news, I'm headed to New Zealand tomorrow with my mom, on a group trip with a bunch of retired people. This is a bucket list trip for her and I said I'd go with her. Since my dad died she's been in need of a travel companion. Only Air New Zealand keeps changing planes and messing up our neat reservations and comfy seats for the 13 hour flight so I've spent hours on hold today trying to get things sorted. I'm looking forward to the birds of New Zealand.
posted by gingerbeer at 7:07 PM on November 18, 2024 [3 favorites]
So I was reading this thread and thinking about Pictionary, how we used to have so much fun playing with a group, and wondering if there was a way to play it with just my husband, and I somehow ended up on the Wikihow page for Pictionary ... where I saw this helpful image:
https://www.wikihow.com/Play-Pictionary#/Image:Play-Pictionary-Step-3-Version-3.jpg
and I can't stop laughing. These people are really stressed about the pictionary! (Clockwise, left to right: worried/apprehensive; angry/aggrieved; frightened/cajoling; stone cold killer)
Anyway, we play Really Really Really Ancient Trivial Pursuit (a game we fondly call "I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass"), which is an experience unlike any other! If you don't know your Soviet states, MTV, and Gabor sisters, Ima kick your ass at RRRATP!
posted by taz at 5:51 AM on November 19, 2024 [3 favorites]
https://www.wikihow.com/Play-Pictionary#/Image:Play-Pictionary-Step-3-Version-3.jpg
and I can't stop laughing. These people are really stressed about the pictionary! (Clockwise, left to right: worried/apprehensive; angry/aggrieved; frightened/cajoling; stone cold killer)
Anyway, we play Really Really Really Ancient Trivial Pursuit (a game we fondly call "I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass"), which is an experience unlike any other! If you don't know your Soviet states, MTV, and Gabor sisters, Ima kick your ass at RRRATP!
posted by taz at 5:51 AM on November 19, 2024 [3 favorites]
We started cheating at Pictionary when I was a kid, just one game and meant as a joke, but it got to be so funny (to us) to act like we weren't cheating and just really "in sync" then we'd push the envelope and call outlandish guesses before abruptly getting the answer. We were speechless for laughing by the end, best game of Pictionary and our opponents were unimpressed. The time my dad got 'electric chair' and we were getting it.. "chair... chair.." and he excitedly scribbled a bunch of pubic hair till time ran out and chair was obscured behind a dark mass of scribbles. It's not so much the game, it's always the players.
posted by ginger.beef at 6:23 AM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by ginger.beef at 6:23 AM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
i don't like games with complex rules, because i'm there to hang with friends, not be an administrator. so also I don't like games where there's like ... a fuckton ... of setup, or lots of pieces with tiny little rules and writing on them, i mean reading is hard at this point, with the fixed focus of old lenses and severe myopia, so i can't just be reading the rules all the time or slowing people down to check tiny print on tiny cards
if it would be easier to play the shit on a computer screen having the computer do all the organizing and rules enforcement, i'm not going to want to play it in person.
i've spent my entirel damn life teaching computers how to do that shit, mostly because i hate doing it myself. i've seen some fucking games that take 45 minutes to just put all the bullshit down on the table and then you're expected to play for like six hours or something? god!
if i want 1250 pieces and to sit there for eight hours i'll get a jigsaw puzzle. at least it's pretty when you're done.
the panda game is about as complex as i can handle, where there's bamboo and pandas and water pipes or something? it's usually the first game of the evening because i get too stupid afterwards.
pandemic is tolerable if someone else moves the pieces, it's really not that complex, and because it's co-op i don't have to do all the strategy myself. ticket to ride is pushing it.
my favourites are things like dixit or apples to apples or pictionary or other games where it's all about interacting with each other.
i haven't played board games in a few years because my friend group decided they'd had enough of covid restrictions and started getting together in person again and "forgot" to invite me, i guess, because they figured i was too annoying to be around. or whatever. i dunno. it's awkward and i feel kind of bad about it because i really don't see anyone in person except my partner anymore, and the board games were an excuse to get out, but that's gone
well there it is
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:39 AM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
if it would be easier to play the shit on a computer screen having the computer do all the organizing and rules enforcement, i'm not going to want to play it in person.
i've spent my entirel damn life teaching computers how to do that shit, mostly because i hate doing it myself. i've seen some fucking games that take 45 minutes to just put all the bullshit down on the table and then you're expected to play for like six hours or something? god!
if i want 1250 pieces and to sit there for eight hours i'll get a jigsaw puzzle. at least it's pretty when you're done.
the panda game is about as complex as i can handle, where there's bamboo and pandas and water pipes or something? it's usually the first game of the evening because i get too stupid afterwards.
pandemic is tolerable if someone else moves the pieces, it's really not that complex, and because it's co-op i don't have to do all the strategy myself. ticket to ride is pushing it.
my favourites are things like dixit or apples to apples or pictionary or other games where it's all about interacting with each other.
i haven't played board games in a few years because my friend group decided they'd had enough of covid restrictions and started getting together in person again and "forgot" to invite me, i guess, because they figured i was too annoying to be around. or whatever. i dunno. it's awkward and i feel kind of bad about it because i really don't see anyone in person except my partner anymore, and the board games were an excuse to get out, but that's gone
well there it is
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:39 AM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]
I'm not much of a board-game person. Growing up I occasionally played and enjoyed the classics including Monopoly, Scrabble (maternal grandad loved it), Risk, Trouble, and other childhood staples. We had an intact working Mousetrap game for quite a while. Maybe with the right group we'd get more into boardgames. I like interesting game mechanics as long as they're not too elaborate or depend on massive backstories. So D&D is out.
Our friends at their cottage are into simple card games, especially Rummoli, and that's always a fun evening. Over winter some local friends committed to learn Mahjong, and roped us in, so we do this weekly. We are just starting our 3rd winter now.
I forgot to jump in on last week's free thread, but I thought the theme of Happy Place was a.fantastic one. I really enjoyed reading the catalog, and how many of them resonated with me. A good bike ride. A walk in the forest. At a cottage. Any new adventure with Mrs C. Preparing and enjoying a good meal with good friends. A happy place - creating one where you live, or expecting/hoping that you will again go to happy places - that's what it's all about, innit?
My personal happy place is being out in our little (19 ft) sailboat, which we've had for 17 years. I guard it jealously and only share it with people I like. I'm really fortunate that Mrs C enjoys it too, as long as conditions aren't too wild.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:02 AM on November 19, 2024
Our friends at their cottage are into simple card games, especially Rummoli, and that's always a fun evening. Over winter some local friends committed to learn Mahjong, and roped us in, so we do this weekly. We are just starting our 3rd winter now.
I forgot to jump in on last week's free thread, but I thought the theme of Happy Place was a.fantastic one. I really enjoyed reading the catalog, and how many of them resonated with me. A good bike ride. A walk in the forest. At a cottage. Any new adventure with Mrs C. Preparing and enjoying a good meal with good friends. A happy place - creating one where you live, or expecting/hoping that you will again go to happy places - that's what it's all about, innit?
My personal happy place is being out in our little (19 ft) sailboat, which we've had for 17 years. I guard it jealously and only share it with people I like. I'm really fortunate that Mrs C enjoys it too, as long as conditions aren't too wild.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:02 AM on November 19, 2024
Came here for holiday gift ideas and was not disappointed.
Our current faves are Cascadia, Wingspan, and an Azul variant I can’t remember which.
Hero Quest conjures warm fuzzies of introducing my kids to RPGs and my youngest played D&D weekly with friends until the end of middle school.
posted by simra at 7:06 AM on November 19, 2024
Our current faves are Cascadia, Wingspan, and an Azul variant I can’t remember which.
Hero Quest conjures warm fuzzies of introducing my kids to RPGs and my youngest played D&D weekly with friends until the end of middle school.
posted by simra at 7:06 AM on November 19, 2024
This post reminded me I needed to order the new 5th edition of "Talisman: The Magical Quest Game". Done & thanks! Hopefully it comes in time to enjoy over Turkey-day weekend. Anybody played it yet? I know it's been available in Europe for a couple months now.
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 7:11 AM on November 19, 2024
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 7:11 AM on November 19, 2024
I have a large board game collection, and used to love complex games with lots of rules and pieces, but not any more. It is too hard to get anyone interested in setting up and learning something complex, and I rarely have time for that kind of effort in a game. Plus cards with lots of tiny words (or, even worse, inscrutable little icons that you need to interpret) are just frustrating now with ageing eyes. When I do get tempted by a new game I first think to myself, is this going likely to be more enjoyable than playing cribbage, hearts, pinochle, or euchre, and can I explain the rules in under 15 minutes, and preferably under 10? Because everyone I play games with seems to have just about that level of patience for learning rules now -- you can literally see everyone's eyes glaze over partway through explaining the rules and that is that.
Ends up most time we would rather just play a good round of euchre or cribbage than bother to figure out most new games, but we have adopted some new games as long as they are easy to learn and quick to play.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:20 AM on November 19, 2024
Ends up most time we would rather just play a good round of euchre or cribbage than bother to figure out most new games, but we have adopted some new games as long as they are easy to learn and quick to play.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:20 AM on November 19, 2024
i haven't played board games in a few years because my friend group decided they'd had enough of covid restrictions and started getting together in person again and "forgot" to invite me, i guess, because they figured i was too annoying to be around. or whatever. i dunno. it's awkward and i feel kind of bad about it because i really don't see anyone in person except my partner anymore, and the board games were an excuse to get out, but that's gone
Just a thought, is it possible they think you won't be interested in getting together in person? I recently had a friend explicitly tell me "hey, I know I was all, 'no more humans in the meatspace EVAR a couple years ago but it turns out things change and I am ready to meatspace." I had not been inviting her because I thought she would find it offensive to be invited to an in-person hang. (And two years ago she was indeed deeply offended by such invitations.)
So now I invite her, simple as that.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:26 AM on November 19, 2024 [4 favorites]
Just a thought, is it possible they think you won't be interested in getting together in person? I recently had a friend explicitly tell me "hey, I know I was all, 'no more humans in the meatspace EVAR a couple years ago but it turns out things change and I am ready to meatspace." I had not been inviting her because I thought she would find it offensive to be invited to an in-person hang. (And two years ago she was indeed deeply offended by such invitations.)
So now I invite her, simple as that.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:26 AM on November 19, 2024 [4 favorites]
I'm still in homeless accommodation although I'm slowly grinding through the bureaucracy towards getting something more permanent.
A very nice surprise today was daughter#2 buying me a ticket to see Laurie Anderson on Thursday - someone I've wanted to see live for decades.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 11:45 AM on November 19, 2024 [8 favorites]
A very nice surprise today was daughter#2 buying me a ticket to see Laurie Anderson on Thursday - someone I've wanted to see live for decades.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 11:45 AM on November 19, 2024 [8 favorites]
Oh brilliantmistake, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. At least you have those wonderful memories. My own father is in his 80s now, and we've never really bonded over anything, and is prickly enough that it'll probably never happen.
posted by JHarris at 12:34 PM on November 19, 2024
posted by JHarris at 12:34 PM on November 19, 2024
I'm so glad that someone else mentioned "Wingspan." I played that recently and it's the most fun I have had with a board game in years. And beautiful! What a treat.
My former wife and our children are not board game people, despite my efforts, which meant we had a whole shelf of games that we never played. I have lately been adopted by some friends who are board game people, and it's a treat. (They also let me join their D&D game.)
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 10:18 AM on November 20, 2024 [3 favorites]
My former wife and our children are not board game people, despite my efforts, which meant we had a whole shelf of games that we never played. I have lately been adopted by some friends who are board game people, and it's a treat. (They also let me join their D&D game.)
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 10:18 AM on November 20, 2024 [3 favorites]
They, meaning Rio Grande but also Capstone, released a bunch of old John Bohrer games that I've bought with no one to play in person with. I really would love to get West Riding Revisited, Prairie Railroads, or SAR to the table, but I think my bet sadly is going to be online. Cube rails in particular are a favorite. I would start a meetup, but I don't think there's a critical mass in the Bay to make it feasible. You'd need a consistent group I think.
posted by Carillon at 11:31 PM on November 20, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Carillon at 11:31 PM on November 20, 2024 [1 favorite]
Playing against ultra-competitive people (who are otherwise perfectly good humans) killed any of the fun I once got out of games (board and otherwise)l. I want to be a person who likes to play board games, but I am not.
The last week has been spent dealing with kiddo's broken nose (the fact that a 5'10" classmate managed to throw an elbow high enough to break the nose of my 6'4" child is mystifying). He had a manual procedure done yesterday to set it straight, which required spending many hours in a surgery center as the procedure required general anesthesia. Kiddo charmed the socks off of everyone, which is his superpower.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:53 AM on November 21, 2024 [2 favorites]
The last week has been spent dealing with kiddo's broken nose (the fact that a 5'10" classmate managed to throw an elbow high enough to break the nose of my 6'4" child is mystifying). He had a manual procedure done yesterday to set it straight, which required spending many hours in a surgery center as the procedure required general anesthesia. Kiddo charmed the socks off of everyone, which is his superpower.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:53 AM on November 21, 2024 [2 favorites]
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posted by Going To Maine at 8:38 AM on November 18, 2024 [6 favorites]