Bits 2 - 5 Pillars

Many subjects have fundamental ideas that everything builds upon.  Boardgaming has many pillars, but I submit that there are 5 major pillars: Alhambra, Carcassonne, Dominion, Settlers of Catan, and Ticket to Ride.

I'm aware that this list is missing a war-game, a dice game, and a cooperative game.  If you want those, I'd suggest Memoir '44, King of Tokyo, and Pandemic respectively.

Each of these games brings a little something different to the table.  They introduce core concepts that other games build upon, but they are also good games in their own right.

Alhambra - A bit of set collection, understanding where you can score points, even if it isn't first place, and a reward for spacial thinking and planning ahead.

Carcassonne - Very light worker placement, multiple ways to score points, short vs long term investments, as well as learning when to work with other players on a feature and when to cut your losses.

Dominion - Deck building, learning how to maximize potential and minimize "dead" hands, teaches players when to go for more stuff, and when to switch to victory points.

Catan - How to manage resources, trading with other players and the board.

Ticket to Ride - Emphasis on route planning, adapting to unexpected changes (blocking), and balancing what you have versus what you might get.

So there you go, the 5 pillars of boardgames.  Agree or disagree?  Leave a comment.

My Top 50 Games (as of Jan. 1 2014) Part 5 10-1

Welcome back to my top 50 games list as of the start of 2014.  My top 10 has 6 of the same games as last year.  Even then, 4 games make their debut in my top 10.  I'd wager that there won't be another year with more than 4 new games in my top 10.  I played a lot of amazing games for the first time in 2013, and I think the amount of new games on this list reflects that.


#10 Article 27  New

Article 27 is a pure negotiation game.  Everyone is trying to get their way, but most of the time, no two players want exactly the same thing.  Each round is 5 minutes of chaotic negotiation, but oh my, what a fun 5 minutes.  I really enjoy Article 27 because the game plays quickly, but it packs a big punch in that timeframe.

#9 Star Wars: X-Wing  Down 4

X-Wing drops for a couple of reasons.  The main one is further down on this list, but the second is really the lack of support from FFG.  Production is constantly delayed, and they don't communicate with the fans.  Their tournament support is a bit lacking in comparison to another company.  The other big reason is that I want missions and/or a campaign.  Dogfights are fun in X-Wing, but they aren't everything that I want to experience in the game.  The game is still a lot of fun, but others are more fun.

#8 Incan Gold  Up 1


Incan Gold gets a bump because I played it a lot in 2013, and I really enjoyed every play of it.  It's a really fun push your luck game that I rarely win.  I usually run at the same time as someone else, run too early, or run far too late.  Still, the game is quick, and has a lot of laughs and good tension throughout.

#7 For Sale  Up 3

For Sale moves up because it's become a game I can play with anyone.  It's not a super deep game, but there are still important choices to make every turn.  It plays blazingly quick, around 20 minutes, which is the perfect filler for me.

#6 7 Wonders  Down 3


7 Wonders moved down simply because I'm playing it less.  The game is still a lot of fun, but I feel like I'm missing something when I play it.  There's still a lot to the game that I haven't delved into, so I need to get it back to the table for that.  It's a good design in my mind, with a lot of ways to win.  Adding in Leaders and Cities has given me a lot of variety, and I'd be happy with the game exactly as it is.  Of course, more wonders add variety, and another expansion might give me that little something I'm missing, so I'm not really sure.  Anyways, I enjoy 7 Wonders.  It's one of my go to games for a larger gaming crowd.

#5 King of Tokyo  New

King of Tokyo is a great dice chucking game.  I'm a sucker for any game where I get to roll lots of dice and use them to do something.  What better thing to do with your dice results than rampage Tokyo and attack the other monsters?  The game does suffer from player elimination, especially if you go out early, you can be waiting around for awhile.  Even then, KoT is a fun game to watch, so I don't mind that too much, but others might.

#4 Ticket to Ride Down 2

Ticket didn't really move down in my opinion, it's just that #2 and 3 jumped over it.  Ticket to Ride is a really fun, yet simple train game.  The game is fairly simple, with only 3 choices on each turn, but how players utilize those choices makes a huge difference in their game.

#3 Resistance: Avalon  New

I picked this up on a whim.  I played normal Resistance, and wasn't a big fan, but after watching a play through of this online, I thought it just might work.  Turns out I was right, and 50 plays in 2013 later, it's #3 on my list.  I mainly play it on Friday nights with a larger group, and we get really into the game.  We play at least 3 times every meeting, which has led to some discoveries of tells.  It has turned us all into better liars, which probably isn't the best thing in the world, but we've all promised to use those powers for good, not evil.

#2 Star Trek: Attack Wing  New


This is the aforementioned game that knocked X-Wing down.  Yes, the model quality is worse than X-Wing by a wide margin, but that pales to the enriched gameplay and missions that exist in the game. The tournament support has been fantastic, and more amazing things are coming this year.  I came into the game with a lot of skepticism, thinking it would essentially be X-Wing in Star Trek colors, but boy was I wrong.  The gameplay is so much deeper, with a lot more options in squad building and actual game play.

#1 Cosmic Encounter No Change

Cosmic holds on to the #1 spot, though it almost lost it to Star Trek.  Cosmic is a game I love every time I play it, and there is never a bad game of Cosmic.  I know it isn't a game for everyone, but for those people who enjoy a bit of chaos, and having to work together, but find the opportune moment to make a power play, this is the game for you.




What did I learn in 2013?
The biggest thing I learned is that there are great games coming out all the time.  My personal gaming tastes are changing all the time, and just about any game could find it's way onto my list.  My top 5 games have almost nothing in common as far as mechanics go.  I like them all for completely different reasons.  To me, that's a great testament to my desire for variety.  Stay tuned for this list next year.  I'm sure many things will change again.

My Sister's Top 25 games of all time as of January 2014 Part 3 #5-1

Welcome to my long-awaited top 5 games! Hope you have enjoyed my top 25 games list and make sure to check out and play these games!


#5 Wits and Wagers

I like Wits and Wagers. It is fun to bet on how well you or your other players can answer trivia questions. The greatest part of the game is that all of the answers are numbers! You do not have to know any trivia to win this game. A few or a lot of people can play at one time, which makes it versatile and a fun, not too difficult game to play.


#4 Dixit

Dixit is a great game to play with people you know. It is also a good way to get to know people, too. During each round, a player tells a story about one of the picture cards they have in their hand. The other players put in one of their cards, then all of the players vote on which card is the storyteller's. It is fun and a way to get your creative side working. This is a great game substitution for Apples to Apples, and once you play Dixit, you will likely never want to play Apples again. The artwork on the cards is amazing and there are truly an infinite amount of stories ready to be told.


#3 Shadows Over Camelot

Even though I am not a fan of co-op games, I really like Shadows Over Camelot. It is fun to become a knight of the round table and defeat evil. Watch out for possible traitors, while searching for the grail, excalibur, and trying to defeat the Saxons. Each knight can pick their own powers and be useful on certain quests, but it all depends on the cards. It is fun to play and watch how the group of knights work together. Be sure to set aside 2 hours to play this game, but once everyone is an experienced knight, evil will be quickly defeated and the good knights victorious!


#2 Formula D

This car racing game is awesome! Each player is in the game until the end. The game does take some skill, but if you can roll the dice well, you will succeed. Just be careful to not make too many risky moves, otherwise you will crash and burn. Try and cross the finish line before your competitors, and feel like you are a professional race car driver.


#1 Ticket to Ride

Yes, Ticket to Ride is my favorite game to play! I have played the U.S. map the most, so I like it the best. Europe is fun and so is Nordic Countries. At the beginning of a game of Ticket, I plan out how I want to connect my trains to each city. Someone usually tends to mess it up, however, since there are only so many route options. So, even if I cannot win, it is also fun to try and score lots of points, or even better to put my trains where I know someone needs to go and stop them in their tracks. Ticket can be stressful, but the point of playing board games is to have fun. I could probably play Ticket all night and not be board, unless the same person kept winning. I see myself playing this game for years. I also do not see myself making this game less than my #1 game.

Top 7 games to play with 3 players

3 is perhaps the most awkward number in gaming and life in general.  Two people can usually agree on something, but once a third is in the mix, things get clouded.  Plus the major problem with most 3 player games is that person A goes after person B. Then person B retaliates to person A, leaving person C in a better position.

This is not a comprehensive list, as other good games work well with 3 aren't here.  Some that I know are Small World, Quarriors, Citadels, and Acquire.  

#7 Tiki Topple

Yes, I am going here. Tiki Topple is best as a 3 in my opinion.  Everyone gets to use their toast cards, and the round can't end until everyone has done so.  Unlike a 4 player game where 1 player could use neither of their toast cards and have the round end.  2 is ok for Tiki, but there are too many leftovers and not enough dynamics.  3 is a good balance of control and making the best of what happens.

#6 Pandemic

2 player Pandemic can be a little too easy sometimes since cards are more concentrated. 4 can be a little hard since everything is spread out. But 3 is a good balance of the two.  Pandemic is a good challenge at any player level, but a 3 player game gives you the right mix of voices to contribute but not too many cooks in the kitchen.

#5 Settlers of Catan

Now, I learned Catan with 5 and 6, played a lot of games at school with 4, and all of those were good, but there's a nice elegance to 3 player Catan.  Trading is straightforward, you have a pretty good idea of what your opponents can and will do, and the biggest advantage, you get your turn frequently.  Now, 3 player Catan does lose some of the dynamics, I'm thinking of resource variety, special building with 5 and 6,,, but the map is fairly open, and everyone will have good places.

#4 Pizza Theory

Here's a new game to me, I just got it in mid March, but the first time I broke it out, I played it 7 times.  The game is specifically designed for 3 players, and it does a great job at giving players strategies to pursue that depend on others, but there are no means of direct retaliation.  For kicks, it's also a game all about pizza, which is an unusual theme.

#3 Ticket to Ride (Ideally Nordic or Switzerland)

Ticket to Ride is a classic game with any player count really.  It works well as a 3, since blocking isn't too horrible, but to eliminate blocking as a huge play, go for a map where 3 is an extended route set, like Nordic or Switzerland, rather than one where 2 and 3 have the same options like US, Europe, Marklin.
3 players keeps the game moving, there's very little down time, and a lot easier to go where you want than in a 5 player game.

#2 Eminent Domain

Em-Do doesn't suffer from the A v B so C wins, which moves it up the list.  The 3 player game feels long enough to be fun without being so long.  The 4 player game feels short, and the 2 feels long, so 3 with either one or two piles works well.  I personally like 2 piles just to get tech moving a little bit, but one less player taking cards does prolong the game.  I suppose it depends on the strategies at play, since running out the victory tokens seems to happen more often than two piles in my extended 3 player games.

#1 Dominion

3 player Dominion has a few advantages over 2 player Dominion.  There are 12 of each victory card instead of 8, yet still 4 per player.  Some attack cards become more useful, Pirate Ship, Thief.  Other cards become more intriguing.  The choices are a little deeper, and the strategies aren't as straight forward as 2 player, specifically in the endgame.  Best of all, Dominion has very little of the A v B so C wins dynamic.

The main point of this list, don't be afraid of games with 3.  Sure, not everything works, but some games can be fun, or even their best at 3 players.  If you have a group of 3, try pulling these games out, and see where they get you.  

Keystone Games

Many people enjoy playing board games, but the main question is how to start a collection of games.  Sure, it's "easy" to go out and buy 20 different games, but that costs a lot of money.  A lot of people are very careful with how they spend their money these days, so I want to take a look at games that give you a lot of bang-for-your-buck, and that give you a good variety of games.

The goal here is to give you some ideas for games that give you different play experiences, work for a good player range, and don't cost all that much money.  Consider this the starter set of games. It can be expanded, games can be interchanged, but these are good ones to start with, and games that will give you a good collection.

Now, not every category is relevant to every person, nor is this list comprehensive, but I feel it's a good place to start.

The Short Family Friendly Game
We need a game or two that is short enough to play while dinner is close to ready, or a game before bed on a weekday.  Some good suggestions: Incan Gold, Can't Stop, No Thanks!, High Society.
For this, I recommend Tiki Topple.  The production quality here is excellent, and the game plays in under 30 minutes, typically closer to 20 minutes, but can be made shorter or longer by changing the point total to win.  For more on Tiki Topple read my spiel on it in the  Top 42 list.

Party Game
Every gamer needs a good game they can pull out with a large group of people and have a good time playing.  It shouldn't be too long, and certainly not complex, but it should be something to get people talking.
Here, I offer a few suggestions.  Apples to Apples is a good one to get people talking.  Werewolf or Mafia is great with a group of people who know each other, also great for a large group.  Tumblin' Dice is a lot of fun, but it's rather expensive, so it loses out on the Bang-for-your-buck aspect.  Wits and Wagers works well for a more intellectual gathering.  All of that being said, if you have to own just one party game, Say Anything gives you the best bang for your buck.  It's ~$20, you can find it in most Targets and Toys 'R Us, as well as various online stores, and it was designed to get people talking about the questions.  It's a great way to get to know other people in a fun and creative way.

Co-operative game
I think that a lot of people view boardgames as only competitive endeavors, but there are dozens of games where players are required to work as a team in order to achieve victory.  I own several of these games, and I enjoy the ones I have for the most part, but the best one in terms of Bang-for-your-buck is Forbidden Island.  It's the cheapest co-op game I own, but it's also on the same level of fun as the rest.
Some other co-op games that would be good for a collection, Pandemic, Space Hulk:Death Angel the card game, Defenders of the Realm.

Team game/co-op with a Traitor
Sometimes you don't just want to work together as a team, winning and losing together, so here's a category for you.  For me, three games really stand out for this category: Shadows Over Camelot, Battlestar Galactica, and The Resistance.  This category boils down to what you want out of the traitor mechanic.  The Resistance is the shortest game, and you're trying to figure out who's against you, so they can't hurt your ability to win.  I don't own the Resistance, but it seems like a good time.  Shadows Over Camelot is a great theme implementation. The game boils down to finding the one traitor, if there even is one, and deciding when to win certain quests, and what can be lost.  Battlestar is pure theme, with some decent mechanics.  It's probably the most balanced of the games with traitors, but there's still a lot of luck. My advice would be to get The Resistance.  It has a good player range, and it's the cheapest game of the three here.

Dexterity Game
Here's a category where even the best strategy can be mitigated by how well you can do some physical task.  The best known game in this genre is either Crokinole or Pitch Car, but both of these get fairly expensive.  So let's take a look at some less expensive dexterity games.  Catacombs blends flicking with strategy, but even then it's a bit expensive.  Pitch Car Mini is another good option, still pricy, but feasible. Ultimately this category comes down to 2 games for me - Bisikle/Roadsters and Sorry Sliders/Sorry Sliders 2.  Roadsters has the better quality components, but Sorry Sliders 2 just seems more fun. There's a lot more you can do in terms of hazards and track arrangement with what comes in the box.
Therefore, the pick for dexterity game is Sorry Sliders 1 or 2.

Random Skills Game
This is for those games that involve some kind of skill that isn't normally seen in games, but that people use in life sometimes.  These typically aren't high strategy games, but they have their place on our gaming shelves.  Two games come to mind for me: Dixit and Aargh!Tect.  Dixit is a game about telling a concise story as a clue so that at least one, but not all, players can figure out which card is yours.  You also have to figure out other players' clues when you aren't giving them.  This isn't all that abnormal, but the story-telling aspect isn't seen often.  Aargh!Tect is unlike any other game I've ever seen.  There are two teams competing to arrange pieces to form the building that the manager has. The manager has to give directions to the builders, but the manager has an inflatable club, and can only use caveman language and certain motions. When players get it right they get 1 tap from the club, but when they get it wrong, it's 2 taps.
If cost wasn't an issue, Aargh!Tect would be my choice based on the experience alone.  You grow to fear the club coming down on you, but it's all in good fun.  Dixit is the cheaper option, and probably better for some groups, so it's really up to you.

2 Player Only Game
There are a lot of 2 player games on the market, and many of them are good games.  These aren't my forte  since I rarely play only 2 player games, but I have a few I like, and some others I know enough about to recommend.  I have four 2-player games that I play every so often: Memoir '44, Mr. Jack, 1960:The Making of the President, and Twilight Struggle.  All three games have good parts and drawbacks for me.  If you like political games, either 1960 or Twilight Struggle is a good call depending on if you want to focus on US Politics or Global Events of the Cold War.  Mr. Jack is good if you're looking for a deduction game, but it lacks great replayability in my mind.  Memoir '44 is a good WWII game with pretty good mechanics, and a ton of expansions.  From what I've heard, Lost Cities the card game is a great two-player game.  It's been described as a great couples game.  So even though I haven't played Lost Cities, I'm going to recommend it as the 2 player game to own.

Introduction Game
There are three big games when it comes to intro style games, and I don't think you can go wrong with any of the three.  Those three are of course Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride.  They're all good games, but if I had to pick one that works to teach people about hobby boardgames, I'd have to choose Ticket to Ride.  Your mileage may vary of course,  but the variety of Ticket maps gives players more options.

Advanced - non brain-burning Game
I suppose we can call this category the next step games.  There's a lot of games that could fit in here, but I'll give you a few of my favorites.  Small World and 7 Wonders both fit here.  Yes, I know a lot of people say 7 Wonders could be an intro game, but I really think it's a next level game.  Kingsburg would also be a good fit, though it has a fair amount of dice, it also has strategy.  Any of these games would work well depending on your predilections, but my choice here is Cosmic Encounter.

Brain Drain Game

Here's a category for those times when you want to sit down and play a game for 2+ hours and really get into it.  I know these kind of games aren't for everyone, but sometimes it's nice to have a complicated game to play.  I've personally only played one of these, Agricola, and I enjoyed it. So Agricola is my recommendation.  Personally, I'd rather play a variety of games than one brain-burner, but Agricola is still a good one to have around.  Some other games that fit the category here: Puerto Rico, Brass, Le Havre, Caylus, Twilight Imperium III. None of these games are cheap, but Agricola is reasonably priced and has a lot of replayability in the box.

Card Game

This isn't for your traditional deck of cards game, but rather for a game that is all, or essentially all cards.  This includes the better CCGs, like Magic and Pokemon, Living Card Games such as Call of Cthulhu, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, as well as deck-building games like Ascension, A Few Acres of Snow, Thunderstone, and my personal pick Dominion.  The base game is very reasonably priced, and has 3,268,760 differ possible card sets.  I'd say that's good variety.  

Dice Game

The last thing that every collection needs is a dice game.  There are many games that use dice, but this is for a game that makes dice the main or only portion of the game.  There are a lot of good games that are basically just dice, LCR and Liar's Dice come to mind; but the best dice game I've played is Roll Through the Ages. It's fairly inexpensive and has a lot of variety and strategies to it.

Recap

Here's the list of my recommendations

• Tiki Topple
• Say Anything
• Forbidden Island
• The Resistance: Avalon
• Sorry Sliders 1 or 2
• Dixit
• Lost Cities
• Ticket to Ride
• Cosmic Encounter
• Agricoa
• Dominion
• Roll Through the Ages 

If you wanted to start a game collection, or boil a collection down to 12 games, I think this list would give you a good variety of themes, styles, and player range (2-10).

Is this comprehensive? By no means.  I don't even own 3 of the games, though I've played 2 of them.  

I suppose my main point here is, when you're looking for new games, variety is key.  Expansions to what you own are great, and take up less shelf space, so that gives you more of the same type of play experience.

Sorry for the short novel on building a collection, but I feel it's a necessary thing to have.

Top 42 Final Part (3-1)

Well, not bad for a 3 week journey, especially compared to the 3 month journey that was the Dice Tower top 100.  It's been fun working through the list, and I hope to have fun doing it again next year.

For those who know me well, the top 3 are no surprise.  I will say that the top 2 are likely to be fixed for years to come, but Fleet Captains is the one I can see taking over #2, and maybe someday #1.
As always, my list is my own, and I know it doesn't appeal to everyone, but you should know my work well enough by now to know that I am fair in my assessments, and that these games are truly great ones which I fully believe I'll be playing in 5 years and longer.

#3 Ticket to Ride
For more details on Ticket, check out my review.  Ticket to Ride is a great family game.  It's my go-to game for my immediate and extended family, it gets played about every other time at my gaming family, and it's a lot of fun.  I love working out the best route, then reworking it as I get blocked off.  It can be frustrating at times, but winning or losing this doesn't really bother me, so long as we all had a good time.  I've played every official map in existence so far except for India, but that's going to happen soon.  I've even tried Dice and Alvin and Dexter.  The only thing I haven't played bearing the Ticket name is the card game, but what's the point in that?  Sure there's luck in Ticket, but the game is very strategic, and perfect for the time length.  Like I said in my review, I'm a sucker for trains, I had birthday parties at the train museum, I own a Lionel train set.  Ticket is a great fit with that theme, and a classic that every hobby gamer should either own or at least have the ability to play occasionally.

#2 Dominion

Here's a game I haven't talked about much on the blog.  I've spent more hours playing Dominion than just about all my other games combined.  Now, that has to do with playing on BSW and now Isotropic, and those sites account for ~3000 plays.  I'm also organizing a tournament online for friends, so if you're interested send me an e-mail at bitsofboardgames@gmail.com and let me know.  For those of you who don't know Dominion, it's a card game where all players start with a basic deck which they use to buy better money and action cards to help them buy better victory cards.  Some games are short, ~15 minutes, some are long ~1.5 hours (that's my longest, not a usual thing) but most games are fun.  The random set-up of possible action cards make the game different, and I like to think that 1 different card can change the way a specific game would play out.  Dominion started the whole "deck building" fad, and with the expansions still coming it doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon.  It's a great blend of strategy and luck; luck from shuffling, strategy from purchases, but strategy usually wins out. I'm always happy to teach this online, just look for me on dominion.isotropic.org I play under the SN mathguy89.

#1 Cosmic Encounter

Big shock here for people who know me, or anyone who read the Cosmic review I wrote really early on.  For me, this is what a boardgame should be.  There's great player interaction, loads of variety, controlled chaos, the ability for players to mess with each other, and memorable games.  I can't deny that it takes awhile to learn Cosmic.  You'll spend the first game just learning all the phases and what everyone can actually do.  The next few you'll finally see the powers interact, and realize that you shouldn't invite everyone to ally all the time.  Then, one time, it will click.  You'll see the game come together, powers, flares, other variants, and it will make sense.  You may not win that game, you may take 50 games before you win one, but eventually you will realize that Cosmic isn't so much about winning as it is having a good time conquering the galaxy with friends and foes alike.

I'm currently in a forum game on BGG, and while it looks like I have no shot at winning, I'm still having fun and it was a great way to test out two new powers before they're printed.  This is the game I look forward to playing. This is the game I read news articles about to find any hint of new expansions.  This is the game I'm helping to develop the fan expansion set. For all those reasons, I can't put any game ahead of Cosmic, and I don't actually know of a game that could beat it when I really think long and hard.  Sure, I play other games more often, but I've had a Cosmic only game day multiple times, and that doesn't happen with other games.

Wrap-up
First, it was a lot of fun making this list.
Second, it was a lot of work making this list.
I hope you've enjoyed reading my explanations and little talks about why each game is where it is.  I can already tell that there's going to be movement next year, since I'm really just getting into the swing of my main gaming time.

Comment as to what you liked, what you didn't like, etc about this list.
Also feel free to post your own top 3-5 games as a comment here.

Top 7 Games to Play with your Significant Other

As Valentines Day approaches(it's next Tuesday as of the date of posting), our thoughts naturally turn to candlelight dinners, chocolate, and the one we love. Well, not so much in my case, but there is hope for the future.  Consider this my top 7 games I'd like to play with my wife someday.  I'm going to go with games that play well as 2 player, but not necessarily games that only play 2 player.

First off, some honorable mentions, but ones that didn't make it due to lack of a widely appealing theme, or me not knowing the game enough - Small World, Eminent Domain and Lost Cities.

#7 Mr. Jack
Mr. Jack is a back and forth puzzle and deduction game.   It's also a 2 player only game, so the game is balanced for that.  With game time around an hour, this isn't a brain burner, and it's pretty fun to pull out every so often.

#6 Carcassonne
Carc works really well as a 2 player game.  It's a simple matter of outscoring one opponent, and using tiles to either help yourself, or make life harder on your opponent.  If you take that to an extreme, you end up in trouble, but the occasional block should be fine.

#5 10 Days in _____ 
This is a full series of games in different locations.  I've yet to play it myself, but everything I've seen and read about it makes it fit this list perfectly.  It's all about planning a travel route in a manner similar to Rack-O.  You're dealt an opening set, but you have to draw new tiles to make adjacent countries connect, or use cars and airplanes to travel to non-adjacent countries.  It looks like a lot of fun, and who knows, you might just plan your next vacation this way.

#4 Agricola
Repeat after me, "This is not a weeknight game"  Now, some may disagree with me, but after a long day of work, I don't know anyone who wants to sit down and play a 1-2 hour game.  True, 2 player is the fastest way to play the game, but still, there's a lot of planning to this game, and every move has to matter. With that kind of cause and effect, it feels too much like work, and not the best way to relax on a weeknight.  That being said, it does make an excellent Friday night or Saturday game.  Lots of back and forth, tons of options, and you have the ability to take what you need and perhaps block your opponent from what they need.

#3 Dominion
This takes #3 in my book because it's has a lot of variety, and is quick to play.  If you or your partner don't care for the attack cards, don't play with them.  Don't like a certain card, change it out.  The goal is to make it fun for both players.  If you find that one of you wins all the time, try starting with 2 estates and a curse instead of 3 estates.  Dominion is all about cards and coming up with a good strategy.  There isn't a ton of thought required once you know the game and all the cards, but that can take awhile.  Still, for a 20-40 minute two player game, it's hard to go wrong.

#2 Ticket to Ride
I'm specifically thinking Nordic Countries since the board artwork is great, but any Ticket map would probably work well.  Depending on the map and the tickets, TtR can be a mostly friendly game or a brutal block-fest.  I think both ways can be fun, and as long as your sig-other remembers that this is just a game, I think it's a great game to play with 2 or more people.

#1 Forbidden Island
I excluded Pandemic since they are similar games as noted in my review of the two.  Forbidden Island is a great 2-player game.  The theme makes it accessible, and there's nothing better than teamwork for a relationship.  It's relatively quick, which makes it easy to play on a weeknight after dinner, and it doesn't require too much thought, which makes it the perfect game to play with your significant other.

I hope this list inspires you to sit down and play more games with your significant other.  It's a great way to bond, and a lot cheaper than dinner out and a movie!

Ticket to Ride Review

Designed by Alan R. Moon, published in the US by Days of Wonder.

I’m going to talk mainly about the US version, but I’ll bring in some of the differences between versions.

Components

A station from Europe with trains from all versions

The components in TtR aren’t amazing, but they do a great job for what the game needs. The cards are of good quality, the wood score tokens (plastic in Marklin) are nice, but easily roll around.  The best component are the plastic trains. They have a bit of sculpting on them, and while they are all the same save color, they still are an enjoyable visual aspect.  The boards are also well designed, especially the Nordic map with a winter motif.

8/10

The Nordic Countries Board

Game Mechanics

Ticket is a very basic game in terms of what you can do on your turn.  You have the choice to draw two train cards into your hand, play a set of train cards from you hand to the board to claim a connection between two cities, or draw more route tickets.  This goes on until one player has 2 of fewer trains remaining in their stash, then everyone gets one final turn.  At that point you add up points from trains on the board and your completed tickets, subtracting for any tickets you didn’t complete and the high score wins.

8/10

Player Interaction

On the surface TtR doesn’t offer a lot of interaction, but as you dig deeper you start to see how players build their routes, and then you can block them, or at least re-route them a bit, costing them trains, turns and cards.  You also gain a sense of what routes to build early, and which ones can wait based on what other players are doing.  If this blocking sounds a bit mean, I suggest the Europe edition which gives players 3 stations, allowing them to borrow someone else’s connection to use as their own.

5/10

The Twist

There are double routes, but the second part is only open in a 4 or 5 player game, which makes a 3 player game rather tight.

Showing an open double route, blue occupying one part of a double and blue and black using both parts of one.

TtR is fun because when you’re done you can actually see the route you built over the board.  This gives everyone, especially young children something to appreciate afterwards even if they don’t win.  I play the game where you don’t score trains as you place them on the board, but rather at the end which enhances the late tension.  Besides that, there isn’t really a twist.

Learning Curve

Ticket is probably one of the easier games for anyone to sit down and play.  It may take a turn or two for some to understand, but I’ve seen new players pick it up and play well in their first game.

Learning Curve - Short

Why I like this game

There’s a lot to like about TtR.  It’s simple and plays in an hour or less.  With the expansion (1910 for US, 1912 for Europe) there’s a lot of replayability and variety in the tickets.  New players can easily understand what’s going on and can keep up with experienced players.  There’s also enough depth for experienced players to enjoy over and over again.

Why I don't like this game

The game can take a bit long at the beginning, because everyone is just drawing cards.  There is a dice expansion which allows players to start placing routes on the board right away, but that has it’s own drawbacks.  Other players can conspire to block you, or you may find yourself unable to complete a ticket, but that doesn’t happen all the time. 

Overall

It’s hard to find a lot that I don’t like about Ticket to Ride.  The US is great for getting into the game, Europe adds some complexity, but also is a nicer way to play, Nordic takes the complexity of Europe and gets rid of the stations, and Marklin adds a lot to the game, turning it into more of a gamer’s game, but something that is more than TtR needed.  Ticket to Ride is a game that is more than the sum of it's parts, which is fortunately a good thing.

Scores

US - 9/10 - geography familiarity

Europe - 9/10 - niceness

Nordic - 9/10 - heritage

Marklin - 8/10 - additional complexity knocks it down

If I had to take one, I'd take Europe, and if you give me a 2nd, I'll take Nordic, but that's not to say that the US is a bad version.

Will you like this game?

If you like boardgames at all, you’ll probably enjoy this in some version.  I can’t promise that, because I do have friends that don’t like it.  It’s not a deep game, and I think the fun for me lies in trains and simple mechanics.  There is an elegance to Ticket to Ride that I’ve not seen elsewhere.

A Good Moment with the Game

One of my favorite moments of Ticket to Ride was a 5 player that was tight all the way through.  When we counted up the scores, another player and I were tied.  We searched the rulebook for the tie-breaker, and were tied for that.  So that left us in a pure tie, which normally I dislike, but this time, with 5 players and 2 of us tied several points ahead of the others, it actually worked.

Final Thought

As a child, I had a huge obsession with trains. It started with Thomas the Tank Engine, though I always preferred James since he was red.  It then grew to include Lionel trains, as well as trips to the Santa Barbara Train Museum.  So that made the theme of this game work perfectly for me.  

Ticket isn’t that deep, but it is fun for what it is. I find it best with 2 or 4 players, since most of the time 3/5 feels too crowded for the routes that are open.

Want to buy Ticket to Ride and support BoBG?

Gaming History pt 2

When I last left my history in gaming we were at Christmas 2007 and Ticket to Ride Marklin. (thats the German map for anyone wondering).  Enter January 2008 and my return to Westmont College.  One of my section mates brought back his Catan set and we started looking for anyone who knew or was willing to learn.  We found a couple of players, and eventually had a core group consisting of 4.  We played just about every weekend, sometimes twice for the next 4 months.  We mostly played Cities and Knights, but every once in awhile we'd add Seafarers in or just play the base game for a change.
After that I think we were all a bit burnt out on Catan, and even with a summer off, we still didn't play much in the years that followed.

That summer I ordered Ticket to Ride US for myself and that was the beginning of what my parents and friends continue to roll their eyes over.  Not that TtR was a bad game, in fact it is probably my sister's favorite game, and one of mine as well.  That next semester at school, so we're now in the fall of 2008 game play slowed down as school was more intense, but we managed games of Carc and Catan every so often.  Then I finally saw that FFG was reprinting Cosmic Encounter and things were never the same.

When I came back to school in January a friend of a friend came by my room and asked if I'd like to play Starfarers of Catan.  I had never heard of this, but he said it was similar to Catan and that I would enjoy it.  So I went with him, learned the game, and ended up winning my first time which didn't please this friend. That was the start of a beautiful friendship, because after that game I said "I have this game called Cosmic Encounter, would you like to learn sometime?" That next weekend I had a few people playing, and he came and watched.  When we were done, he asked if we could play another game with him in it this time.  We agreed, and he became a mainstay at the table which lead to 75 plays of the game and many happy and frustrating hours.  I gained much more than a friend through that, as his then girlfriend, now wife also played, as well as another couple.

Gaming to me is more than playing a game; it's about making lifelong friendships and having a good time with people that I might not have otherwise known had it not been for boardgames.

So to all the people I've met through games, thanks for all the great times, and sorry for the hat throws.


Plans for the future
I plan on introducing you to my "gaming family" at some point in the near future, and that will probably be the last of my history series.  I'll give more of my history with an individual game as I work through my reviews.  On that note, I plan to review 1 or 2 games a week, so stick with me as I work through those.  I have a review queue at this point, so I'll be posting the top 5 or so as a poll for you all to vote on, and I'll take the top one(s) and get those done first.

As always, I'm open to any comments, questions, snide remarks, etc.  Just comment below and I'll get back to you.