Board Games

[Ataraxis]

Anyone else like to play board games with any degree of frequency? Personally, I play at least one every couple weeks. Usually it's The Settlers of Catan, but every now and then we try out something new. This weekend it was Arkham Horror, which seems pretty rad, but we don't have a good grasp on the rules just yet.

[Mom]

You need to play balderdash with 4-5 friends. I guarantee it'll be best game ever.

[Wong]

+1 for Balderdash

 

I also highly recommend A Game of Thrones, 2nd Edition.

http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-The-Board-Second-Edition/dp/1589947207/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_1

 

It is a great game with three, five, or six people. Four players is doable, but the Baratheons gets a huge advantage. We normally give the Baratheons to new players if we have four players. Very complex game. Lots of backstabbing. I will give more details tomorrow. Here is a in-depth overview:

[Ataraxis]

Balderdash sounds pretty fun. I could never see my group of friends playing by the rules (no one would want to aim for the correct definition, ever), but I don't think it'd matter. It'd be fun.

 

Another game where we kind of do the same thing is Apples to Apples. Great times.

[Ethos]

Damn. The only game mentioned that I recognize is Apples to Apples. My girl is all about that game. What's balderdash about?

[Mom]

You take turns reading a card that names something, and gives its true definition. Each player has to write what they think the definition means, and players move an x amount of spaces on the board depending upon how many players guess that their definition is the right one. All the topics are ridiculous and if you have the right friends then all the definitions will be ridiculous too. Add in some beers and you'll be laughing snot out of your nose.

 

The game of things is like this too and I even like it better, but it's not specifically a board game.

[Ataraxis]

All the topics are ridiculous and if you have the right friends then all the definitions will be ridiculous too. Add in some beers and you'll be laughing snot out of your nose.

 

I'm glad you described it that way, because that's what we'd end up doing. Damn the points and to hell with 'winning.'

[Wong]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KAGwNtI26w

 

That's pretty much how my friends plays Balderbash too. That's also how we play Apples to Apples. We try to get the most ridiculous answers. I also recommend Card Against Humanity. My buddy pulled a gem a couple months ago:

http://i.imgur.com/BhhC3.jpg

 

If your friends like Improv, Whose Line Is It Anyways awesome.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Honest Frank

[Ataraxis]

It's...it's beautiful. It speaks to my soul.

 

"Cards Against Humanity.

A free party game for horrible people."

 

That describes me and those I associate with to a T!

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

if u like card game n rpg n like to troll ur friends munchkin is a pretty good card game for that

[Shirtless Crackhead]

Drinking games are good ones, I like picking hot news issue keywords and playing house rules type games with them.

[supplice.]

friend brought over arkham horror, it was ok.

i like more simpler ones like pandemic

 

i really want to buy Risk Legacy, the concept seems awesome.

you literally keep changing the board and pieces every game you play, upgrading new pieces and literally throwing out units that you dont need anymore.

 

i can always play classic boards games like monopoly, life, etc.

[Wong]

Dude, Risk Legacy is amazing. If you have a playgroup of hardcore Risk players, you should definitely try 15-game experience. You'd be surprised how much impact the board state has from game to game. I don't recommend buying it if you do not have a regular playgroup though.

 

+1 for Munchkin. So good.

[Wong]

Cards Against Humanity are back on stock for $25:

http://www.amazon.com/Cards-Against-Humanity-LLC/dp/B004S8F7QM/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1363978469&sr=1-1&keywords=card+against+humanity

[Shirtless Crackhead]

That Walking Dead game looks pretty dumb.

 

Oh wait, wrong thread.

 

This Game of Thrones game thou, tell me more about it.

[Mom]

Game of Thrones and risk. What more could a man ask for?

[Shirtless Crackhead]

That and some waffles.

 

Maybe a cute girl with a valerian colon.

[Wong]

What aspect of the game would you like to know? As you can expect from a Game of Thrones game, there are a lot of backstabs/betrayal throughout. A couple of times, I would completely screw over my allies after they fight a major battle against the enemy, and win the game that turn. Never let our guard down. Fun times.

[Shirtless Crackhead]

How long does a game usually take?

 

And what are the bonuses or whatever each house gets?

[Wong]

Our shortest game was two hours with three players. I won by turn 5 (10 turns max). Our longest game was eight hours with six players. We usually play 3,6 players exactly, because the game is most balanced that way, and it is really balanced. 4 player favors the Baratheons, so we usually let the new players be that house. This is because of the way the maps are set up so that Baratheons are left alone for the first two turns while the other three houses are under immediate conflict.

 

Assuming there are three players, there are three bonus tokens that each house gets. However, you can quickly lose your powers due to a specific card, I will talk more about that later. What you need to know is that there are three influence (skill) tracks. The first track is the Iron Throne Track. Your placement in the Iron Throne Track determines the order which you can take your turn. The highest person goes first, the lowest goes last. The second track is the Fiefdoms track. When you have a tie in combat against the enemy, and you are higher in the Fiefdoms track, you win that tie. The third track is the King's Court Track. The position of the King's Court Track determines the number of special token (attack, defense, support, raid, etc) you can use per turn. These special tokens are much better than there normal token counterparts. Now for the three starting houses.

 

1. House Baratheon, first in the Iron Throne Track, gets the Iron Throne token. The player holding this token decides the outcome of all ties that occur in the game, except for combat, and ties determining the winner of the game. This token is very powerful if you are a player that likes to play politics.

2. House Stark, first in the Fiefdoms Track, gets the Valyrian Steel Blade Token. The player holding the Valrian Steel Blade Token may, once per round, use the token to grant himself a +1 combat bonus. This can be important because all you need is a tie to win against the opponent, making this a very good token for aggressive players.

3. House Lannister, first in the King's Court Track, gets the Messenger Raven Token. It can do one of two functions per round. First, after everyone reveals all the moves for that turn, you can replace one of your moves with another move. This is very important when you thought you were safe from an ally, but your ally turns on you, that you can replace one of your tokens with a defense token, for example. Or if you see that a player has left a castle unguarded, you can change one of your orders to attack. If you decide that you do not want to change any orders for that turn, you can use its second ability. You can look on the top of the Wildling deck. This gives you information on how much you want to bid when a Wilding attacks (I can talk more about this next time). Being first in the King's Court Track and having the Messenger Raven Token is great if you want more control of the field.

 

Now let's talk about one card: Clash of Kings

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/agot-bg-2nd-ed/westeros-card-fan.png

This is the card where we can bid on the influence tracks, and it is placed completely random in a deck of other cards. This is where the Iron Throne Token shine. One, my buddy started as the Baratheon, and on round two, no one had any anything to bid on the influence tracks, including himself. Since he controls the Iron Throne, he declared himself the winner and we had to play politics of where he gets to place us in the influence tracks. He pretty much rofl-stomped us for the first five turns before we all turned on him.

 

My personal preference is that Starks, because I like going aggressive in the beginning and I like the strategic placement of the Starks, but I bid heavily on the King's Court at the mid game for more control of the field. I don't care to play politics, the the Iron Throne is really strong. My friend Nick use it to good effect.