General

Here are some games we played over the holidays that were enjoyable and good family games:

7 Wonders (been years since we've played this and brought it out at the request of a friend...played just the base game and forgot how simple the game is, but lots of trade-off decision making...it's a card drafting game and a step-up from Sushi Go)
Cubitos (dice pool building game where you're racing around a board...a lot of people compare it to Quacks)
Flamecraft (resource gathering / combo-ing game)
Just One (simple word game but scales nicely and good for the non-board game crowd)
Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest
Marvel Remix (very fast game and easy to teach)

Excellent.

On Tiny Towns: you are playing as it was intended. The cards can be used for multiplayer, it's just frustrating when NO one needs any of the random cards. Tiny Towns is one of the few games that I do like to play solo on occasion because the game is really fast to play and has some good tactile feel mixed with great brainburn for the small amount of time spent. If you have a table: you can even leave it up and come back to it (with proper cat precautions of course...some reason, my cat LOVED to jump onto the game table and bat a SINGLE CUBE off the table and under something...heh heh)

There is a group that they do a solo challenge and have for a few months. It is a high score challenge and MAN are they hard to get some of those score. They have them for base game and then some with expansions (again: I don't think you need the expansions other than more building types, but the base game is just LOADED).

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2980830/tiny-town...
(this is for Dec, but has links to all the other ones)

My family really likes Barenpark: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/219513/barenpa...

It's essentially like Tetris played on a flat board, trying to get pieces you can fit together to fill up your boards the fastest and get extra points.

If you're looking for a chill option with relatively little competitive angle, you can check out Super Mega Lucky Box: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/341530/super-m...

Super easy to learn and plays really fast so good when you're just trying to kill a little time and don't want to get into a heated match of something.

One of my favorite cooperative games I didn’t see mentioned is Shadows Over Camelot. The game is biased toward losing, which makes working together that much more important. While you get used to the game (and to make it less complex for now), you could leave out the traitor mechanic.

I also enjoy Arkham Horror, just know that game can be a time sink. There was a time when I was with some people that had ALL the expansions- that was a day (and table space) killer. Setup alone on that monstrosity took about an hour… Even the base game can take a couple hours depending on how things are going.

dunno001 wrote:

Shadows Over Camelot is one of my favorite games. I only omitted it because it's WAY out of print right now and too expensive. And at 4...it's meh because the traitor (IMO) is the best part of the game and it's not as fun when there are only 3 people to observe. There was rumors that it was going to get re-released as some kind of modern theme like "Shadows Over Brooklyn" or something like that. But at 5-8: this game is so freaking great.

I just checked and I'm really sad: I have not played that game since Dec 21, 2019.

SublimeFan wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions! I added all of these to my list. I'm most intrigued by Marvel United. Obviously because of Marvel, but I also like that it's cooperative. It says 14+ which makes me a bit nervous, but Tiny Towns said the same and it's pretty easy.

Just a heads up, the 14+ you see on a lot of board games is a catchall for companies who don't want to do the (very expensive) testing of their products to ensure they are physically safe for children before they can put a lower age on it. As long as your kids are old enough to not eat or lick game components you are probably ok.

It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the complexity of the game (though it could mean that as well).

Marvel United is very easy. And there is a TON of expansion material if you want to mix things up.

Sun wrote:

These all look pretty good. I'm especially excited about Just One, Marvel Remix, and Libertalia!

rayzor6 wrote:

That's pretty cool! Those are indeed some high scores. I think my highest so far is 36 or 39, but we've only played like 3 rounds. I may have to try out the solo challenge in the future.

EB wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions! I typically prefer games where you can use as much strategy/skill as possible to gain an edge, but I think my family would enjoy SMLB, so I put it on the list.

dunno001 wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll be honest, I watched a video for Shadows Over Camelot and it just did not appeal to me. Arkham Horror looks fun, but the 2-3 hour playtime (according to the video I watched) kills it for me. About an hour is probably our max, maybe an hour and a half.

benstylus wrote:

That's good to know, thanks!

Now that I have a bit more experience with these types of board games, I decided to again look up each one that's been recommended to me to see what stands out. These are the games I'm currently most interested in getting, roughly in order:

Marvel United
King of Tokyo: Power Up expansion
Tiny Towns: Fortune expansion
Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 expansion
No Thanks!
Just One
Marvel: Remix
Blokus
Fluxx
Clank! A Deck Building Adventure!
Carcassonne
Glux
Azul
Potion Explosion
Santorini
Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest
Space Base
Stone Age
Sequence
Small World
Cubitos
Mille Bornes

I'm considering the following:

Barenpark
7 Wonders
Dice Forge
Dice City
Century Spice Road
Sheriff of Nottingham
Flamecraft
Camel Up
Splendor
Wingspan
Lords of Waterdeep
Concordia
Castles of Burgundy
Viticulture
Super Mega Lucky Box
For Sale
Pit
Sushi Go Party!

Based on the "Weight" index on BGG, our sweet spot right now seems to be anywhere from 1.0-2.3. Most of the games I've seen that go much above that look either too long or too complex for us to enjoy, at least right now. I'm sure this will change as my kids get older. They're both very smart and could learn any game, I just don't think they'd enjoy the longer or more complex ones very much right now.

Check out Horrified, it's a lot of fun.

sa330206 wrote:

Will do

Am I missing something about Splendor? It has a pretty high rating on BGG, and I just watched a video of top 20 family games and the guy ranked it number 2. But based on the videos I've watched of how it plays, it looks incredibly basic and boring to me. Is it more fun than it looks?

I'm noticing there are a TON of games that are very similar to each other. Gain resources (often by rolling dice), use those resources to purchase and/or build things, get special powers from cards or whatever matches the theme of the game, whoever gets the most points/money by the end wins. I looked at so many games today that were basically this, and it's very difficult to tell them apart enough from the outside to know which ones we would like the most. I really don't know how much I even want to own multiple copies of basically the same game. I kind of just want the 1 or 2 best games like this and call it good. I'm finding the games that stand out the most to me are more unique. The people of BGG seem to love these games, they're almost always rated very highly.

Scott wrote:

Splendor is very good. It is pure engine builder. You are racing to get 15 points with the bonus "noble" tiles and the cards. You can reserve up to 3 cards and get a wild color chip in the process. Once you get a card of a color; that card now acts as a permanent 'blue' for example towards paying for other cards in the higher rows.

It is a balance of efficiency on how you will get to the 15 points. This is my wife's favorite game.

There have been MANY games that have come out in the 10 years now that this has been around. They always label it as the "Splendor Killer", but even the good ones don't ever 'kill' it. It's a pure engine builder and there is many games with more bells and whistles, but it's elegance is what keeps it around.

Scott wrote:

I understand where you are coming from, but it is VERY rare that two games of the same genre feel identical. To compare, this is like saying that every superhero movie is basically the same.

While there are some exceptions to this...there is fewer than you'd imagine. And for the ones in the same genre...if you enjoy it...the differences ARE similar to a movie genre rather than being almost the same movie.

As always, I'll be happy to offer my two cents on any games that you are considering. :)

sa330206 wrote:

I can second this. Replayability is great. Each monster has a different method of being defeated, and your play group plays to beat three monsters each game, so gameplay is varied each time.

Sorry, I missed this topic for so long. Board games and pinball are my major hobbies. I also have twins around the age of your kids. A lot of the games I would suggest have already been mentioned. Two of my suggestions that you already picked up are Ticket To Ride and Sushi Party...you absolutely do NOT need to upgrade Sushi Party Go. It adds to the game, but sometimes that just creates a longer learning curve and setup.

7 Wonders / 7 Wonders Duel - It's perhaps just a tad more complicated then Sushi Go with a similar card passing mechanic. If you're enjoying this game I'd highly suggest trying out 7 Wonder. The duel version is for two player and is one my wife's favorite games.

Pandemic - A bit like Ticket to Ride at this point, where it's becoming mainstream. I do know that several people don't like it right away, but I often find they are screwing up some rule or not putting in enough Epidemic cards.

Sheriff of Nottingham - I think you're kids will really enjoy this one. It's a game where each player tries to smuggle items into town and the sheriff has gets to guess if they are lying or telling the truth. Much more luck then skill, but still fun.

One Night Warewolf - This is another party game that my kids absolutely love. It's best with around 6-8 players, though. I do prefer the One Night variation, since everyone can play. Maybe my kids just like lying. That seems to be a theme with the games they like.

I'm just going to rapid fire though your list...

Marvel United - Own it haven't played it yet.
King of Tokyo: Power Up expansion - Own it haven't played it yet. I don't like the original quite a much as you seem to. We play it, but it's rarely our go to game.
Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 expansion - Own it almost never use it.
No Thanks! - It's okay. Zero theme is probably the biggest detractor.
Blokus - It's okay. Same as No Thanks! the lack of a theme keep us from playing it more.
Fluxx - Not a fan.
Carcassonne - It an older game, but it's still a lot of fun.
Azul - I'd put it way above Blokus if you are looking for an abstract game.
Potion Explosion - I need to check this one out.
Santorini - I own it and like it, but don't play it a lot. I think it's three players max.
Sequence - You can probably find it at a Goodwill. It's okay.
Small World - Probably an upgrade to risk, but my family isn't a fan.
7 Wonders - One of my favorites, but I like card drafting games a lot.
Sheriff of Nottingham - Decent party game for the family.
Camel Up - Pretty fun. The few games I played were predictable, but I hear that's not always the case.
Splendor - Pretty fun.
Wingspan - I hear good things.
For Sale - At one point I built my own version using Simpson's assets from an app. It okay.
Pit - In the right group. Pit is a lot of fun. If your group is quiet the effect of the stock market is totally lost.
Sushi Go Party! - If you have the original, you don't need it.

Yeah...this last post reminded me:

Fluxx is horrible. I remember when I bought it, I thought the idea was very clever. However, it's just not a fun game. The only notion is that the only rule at the start is 'play a card, draw a card' and then the rules change during the game depending what is played. It ends up being this random blob of cards played that keep changing the rules and not in a fun way.

NOW you have to have FIVE keepers to WIN!

NOW you have to have the cookies and milk to WIN!

Or OH LOOK! I drew the one card out of the 10 possible winning criteria needed! I win!

After the initial game, you realize that it's not strategic and it's completely random. The themed ones are even worse. I played a Monty Python one and the dude wouldn't stop putting crap out because he thought it was funny. That was in 2014 and I still remember the hell! :D

For a great random card game: get 6 Nimmit instead :)

My family and I have been enjoying Scrabble and the family edition of Cards Against Humanity.

Here are 3 card games that my friends often came back to (easy to pick up yet fun to play).

Bohnanza - Collect and trade with each other for sets of matching bean cards, The trading aspect of this game made it fun.

Set - Very simple game where you put cards out then whoever sees a set first calls it and scores. Certain people are very good at it (often not the people who are good at other games).

Family Business - Mafia game where the goal is to wipe out all the other gang's people. The edginess of attacking each other made it brutal fun.

Bohnanza is a great negotiation game. Great for families.

rayzor6 wrote:

Ok, I watched a different video and it looks much better than I originally thought. Since I had SO many games I was researching yesterday, I was mostly using the quick 3-4 minute overview videos. But I guess the 3-minute video for Splendor didn't do it justice. After watching a more in-depth explanation, I'm much more interested in this one. It's near the top of my want list now.

rayzor6 wrote:

I'm sure they're different enough. I just don't think I'm a big enough fan of that type of game to want to play a ton of them. Using your superhero movie analogy, I would be the casual fan who just wants to see the biggest/best ones, not every single one like the diehard fans. But, I'm having trouble deciding which ones those would be, and these games aren't cheap so it's not like I can just try every one!

incubus421 wrote:

I checked this one out and it looks pretty good. I especially like that it's co-op. I put it on the list!

lpeters82 wrote:

I'm warming up to this one a bit more, but I'm still unsure. I do like the card-passing mechanic, but it's way more complicated than Sushi Go. I'm definitely open to getting this one some day, but there are a lot of other games ahead of it right now. I like the sound of 7 Wonders Duel. I'm keeping an eye out for good 2-player games that just my wife and I can play.


This looks good, especially since it's co-op. I added it to my list.


My kids would probably enjoy these two, but yeah, the lying aspect doesn't really appeal to me. Not because I don't want to lie, it's just a game. I'm just not a fan of bluffing in games (I hate Poker!).



Thanks for the feedback! I know several of those are pretty basic/simple. Now that we have a few more advanced games, picking up some more simple ones is sounding more appealing to me. We don't always have 60-120 minutes to sit down for a long board game, but could squeeze in a quick card game or something. Also, more simple games would be good for when we have company.

rayzor6 wrote:

Hmm...I'm still somewhat interested in this, but I moved it further down my list. I typically hate randomness, and prefer games that are more skill/strategy based. But, this just seemed like a fun little party game to not be taken seriously.

citizen_zane wrote:

I haven't tried Scrabble with them because I hated it when I was a kid lol. Maybe they would enjoy it though, I'll give it a shot.

I totally forgot we played Cards against Humanity a while back and they liked it. It was some kids version or something that they for released for free, I think during covid lockdown. You just printed the cards out yourself.

bill wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions! Set looks pretty hard, I'm pretty sure I would suck at that game lol.

Scott wrote:

Some of my favorite 2 player games that should still be relatively available


Summoner Wars (2nd Edition) - a decade old classic revamped just a year or so ago. It's a dueling game with various factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. And they don't all conform to the standard generic fantasy tropes! Comes in a Master Set to get 6 factions at once for the best value, or try a starter set for 2 factions. Individual factions (completely different from the ones in the sets) are also available to expand the game more if you like it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ESi7bZ2xcM0


Onitama - kind of like chess, except you have 5 cards in the game with the moves you can do. You have two, your opponent has two, and there is one in the middle. When you play a card, you swap it with the one in the middle, so your opponent will get that card at the end of their next turn.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IFRewjcngwU


Carcassonne - plays up to 5 but the more players, the less you can plan and strategize so i prefer it at 2.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R1qh-lhxy9s


Patchwork - it's a puzzly game about using Tetris-like pieces to create the best quilt. There have been a number of themes too, so pick the one you like best.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hvBGjKLhbAU


Battlecon: Trials of Indines - its a 2d fighting game in card form. There are several Battlecon sets, all of them are good. Trials is a good jumping in point due to the $40 price tag and a good spread of simple and complex characters. If you like it, you can look into getting some of the other sets like Devastation of Indines (with 30+ characters!) or Wanderers of Indines. Note that the series got a new "4.0" edition a couple years ago with some balance tweaks, more streamlined rules, and a better board, so that's the one you would want. I don't believe two of the sets (Fate of Indines or War of Indines) have been reprinted with the 4.0 improvements yet.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jTFY_NjIQzc
(Video is for Devastation but it's the same rule set)

I totally get that you don't want to jump into a HUGE collection. Board Game Arena is a great way to play the game online and see if you like it. Splendor is on there. I'm rayzor6 there too and I'm a premium member. It's free to join and play, but you can't create any games with the gold meeple on them...someone else has to. I could do that with Splendor and we could play by turn so you can see how it plays. I would gladly just play so you can see the game, ask questions, etc. as I loathe the "here...let me show you how to play and then barely explain and grind you into the dirt". I'm not that good at Splendor anyway! :D

7 Wonders Duel keeps surprising me honestly. I know it's good, then time goes past, then I play it again and I'm like "holy carp, this game is fantastic!". It's not complicated and IS two player only, but it's just a great system with multiple fronts that keep you on your toes.

Ben mentioned some good ones above. Onitama is a great one. You might not be a fan of abstracts. I know many people will play an abstract (like chess, othello, etc) ONE time and be done. And that's ok. But the real strength of modern abstracts is that you get some REALLY great decisions in a short amount of time and with low rules overhead.

Battlecon is one of my favorite games and I have nearly everything for it. That said: it's too much and I was dumb for doing that. Any one of those 4.0 sets would give you TONS of play. It emulates a fighting video game and does so very well. It uses cards and tokens and there is no luck or randomness. The system is pretty easy but all the fighters feel different with just 3 stats, their tokens that they can use and their special cards. You basically pick a blue base card (same as all other players except one special one)and a red style card (unique to you) face down, then compare. You see who goes first in a round and then move and hit if possible. It's open information so you KNOW exactly what your opponent can do and can react accordingly.

The beauty...the real stuff is exactly how different the fighters are. There is one that is a brother and sister pair of werewolves and you are the human sister and your werewolf sibling is on the board. You are trying to get your opponent between you to execute powerful moves. There is an iron man like woman that has these powerful armor attachments, but if she gets hit: they break and you lose a little bit of your powers until you repair them. There is a woman that brings stinging insects to the board that when you go past them: you get hit. There is a guy with traps that lays them out and once you trigger one, they get revealed and you get damaged. There are almost 100 different fighters. But you can play the same one 10 times and STILL learn about how to play them effectively (which is why just one set is good. I always say that Devastation is the best investment with 30, but Trials is good!)

Ben, did you get the big box kickstarter? That is where they redid the ones from Fate and War.

I did, but that was just the cards and it was only ever available through the KS. They still had quite a bit of stock of the older boxes at that time so they didn't want to reprint them. I think War is sold out now, but no idea if it will get a 4.0 reprint or not.

Yeah..that whole KS was my first foray into disappointment with Lvl 99...who really went above and beyond for quality before that. I was REALLY upset that they didn't send new counters/tokens with the ones that had name changes and were content at just tell you to use the old ones. Or even like Adjenna (I think) is missing a petrification token and they are like "well if you need that one, that means it the end of the game, so we didn't print it"

rayzor6 wrote:

Part of the issue was they completely changed the scope of the project. Instead of just printing tweaked/balanced cards, they revamped the entire system (a much more time consuming/expensive process) and then reprinted every card (Also much more expensive).

So I think they were really struggling financially with this KS (and they had mentioned previously they underpriced some of their previous KS stuff as well). They shed a number of employees shortly after this was (mostly) fulfilled. I just got the Grand Chronicle (the last remaining bit from the KS) a week or two ago.

Yeah...and I think I differ from many people on this front (and I know it's a slippery slope) but in these times of shipping woes and supply chain issues: I think there needs to be more give and take between the creator and the backers. I know this is often said but not really meant...but I mean it: I would have offered more money AFTER the KS was completed to get the same quality I was used to. I would honestly pay NOW to get that still! But for me and this saddens me: I don't trust any Lvl 99 KS to really be good. I think that Brad Talton does a great job and I trust in the fact that if you don't like something: he WILL give you a full refund. But I'm a big fan of their games: Battlecon, Agent the Consortium and Millennium Blades especially. Argent was the last KS that didn't disappoint.

Scott wrote:


I had printed those same cards during the Covid lockdowns. I eventually bought the set when it was physically released, as well as the additional box of cards that they later released. I asked for Scrabble for Christmas and we played a game. I'm not sure how much they enjoyed it because I mopped the floor with them, so I don't know how many more times they will be willing to sit down and play it with me again before they get sick and tired of being slaughtered. That's what happened with Boggle. I think we played that maybe half a dozen times before they lost interest in it. At least they still enjoy playing Cards Against Humanity.

Also, no gaming collection is complete without at least one copy of Kill Dr. Lucky.

It's kind of like Clue, but instead of solving a murder you are trying to commit one. So it's an unofficial prequel maybe?

There are a ton of different versions of it. The current version is the 24 3/4ths anniversary edition. It has had a few rules tweaks over the years and this is the only version with the current rules etc in the box (though I'm sure the rules are available online as well)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&lo...

I think the best looking version is the one from Paizo from a few years back.
https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147423345/Kill-Doct...

Or you could kick it extra old school and get the black and white clipart in a zip lock bag first edition
https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147439344/Kill-Doct...

If you want even cheaper still, grab the free pdf of that version and print it yourself. (The $5 add to cart button is a suggested donation if you like it, but it is free to download, just scroll down a bit)
https://crabfragmentlabs.com/shop/p/kill-doctor-lu...