Cooperative Games

Jhaelen said:

I'm not sure if it's at the root of your dislike for cooperative games, but the most common argument against them is that a dominant player can turn them practically into a solo game by telling everyone else what they should do for 'the common good'.

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That's not a problem of coop games that is a problem of the people playing the game. I've seen it happen and I tell those people they can either not be bosses or they don't get invited to game night. I do the same for anyone that behaves rudely. I have found that one benefit of being an adult is not having to put up with that crap in gaming anymore.

Crothian said:

That's not a problem of coop games that is a problem of the people playing the game.

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I agree. This is no more the game's fault than it is a competitive game's fault that some people don't lose (or oftem more problematically, win) graciously, and ruin the experience for others.

Any game is ruined if you play it with people who behave like jerks.

Elder Sign is nifty. It's... I don't know if "complicated" is the right word--detailed? Characters actually have hit points. Two different kinds of 'em.
If you've got role players, though, it should be fine. It does technically have player elimination that you said you don't like, but if it comes up the game is almost certainly almost over (and you're losing).
First the investigators try to make sure the Ancient Once stays sealed away by locating the Elder Signs. It's all but impossible to lose here (if an investigator is slain, the player just draws a new one), and if you collect enough you win. If you fail you get a chance to fight and kill it, but it's pretty hopeless and you've probably lost.
Each Ancient One has a different power that changes how the game is played even before they awaken. And some of 'em awaken quicker.

Legendary, the Mavel Deckbuilding Game has both cooperative and competitive elements. It's pricey, though, and I don't think I recommend it quite as highly. Unless the group's into Marvel, of course.
The players' goal as a group is to thwart the villainous mastermind's (Magneto, Red Skull, Dr. Doom, or Loki) plot and defeat him. They win if they beat him up. They lose if the plot's "Evil Wins" condition comes up. They thwart the villain, but fail to capture him, if the villain deck runs out without either happening.
Players also collect Victory Points for everything to accomplish, so trying to one-up each other is a secondary goal. There are cards that can either help or hinder the other players--help them when the team is losing, hinder them when you're winning and it's all about the VP.

I've picked up Flash Point recently, but haven't played it as much yet.

I do also recommend Pandemic.

Most of the pure co-ops have already been mentioned. Sentinels of the Multiverse, Robinson Crusoe, Arkham Horror, Pathfinder: Adventure Card Game, Pandemic. So here's three more and some special cases.

Forbidden Island - the Gateway to cop-op games. Its light and quick but I like it. I haven't played its successor Forbidden Desert yet but its supposed to be good.

Space Hulk - Death Angel - the thematic co-op in a tiny box. Despite the awful name, this is actually pretty fun, and more solo-able than most of them. Space Marines vs aliens, but will be too luck-based for some as a bad die roll can kill you (and unlike every other game on this list, if you lose both of your characters, you're eliminated)

Mice & Mystics - mouses with swords dungeon-crawl with pretty artwork and minis, and a full storybook. Doesn't require a DM, but the enemy collection supposedly makes it a bit samey as you play through. I haven't gotten far enough into it yet to decide.

Sentinel Tactics is an all vs one(or two) miniatures game that anyone who loves the Sentinels of the Multiverse card game really needs to play once it hits retail release. Even through just one session, it convinced me they nailed the same feel.

Mansions and Madness is the all vs one "mansion-crawl" version of Arkham Horror. I like it for the video-gamey mini-game puzzle locks, and wiring locks and what not.

Dead of Winter is a meta co-op where everyone has their own secret objective, one of which MIGHT be a traitor. So while there is a "group goal" that all the good guys will need to achieve, you can still have some winners and some losers depending on private objectives. It tries follows in the footsteps (and shorten the playtime) of Battlestar Galactica which itself was a big step up from Shadows Over Camelot.

I have not had a chance to play it yet, but Shadowrun Crossfire is looking like a fun coop game.

hollyjanet said:

SPAM!

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Reported.

The Pathfinder CCG is probably the co-op that sees the most playtime at my game nights. I have the Legendary Encounters Alien game, and I've heard a lot of good stuff about it, but we haven't had a chance to play it yet. I also have Dead of Winter on order, and I'm SUPER excited about playing that one.

Crothian said:

That's not a problem of coop games that is a problem of the people playing the game.

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Not completely true. While a 'obnoxious tactician' type person can exacerbate the issue, many co-op games have base difficulty levels where the most fun action is often not the most advantageous action.

Scorpio616 said:

Not completely true. While a 'obnoxious tactician' type person can exacerbate the issue, many co-op games have base difficulty levels where the most fun action is often not the most advantageous action.

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That is going to depend highly on the people playing and not the game. What is a fun move is not game dependent but people dependent.

Some of the fun of co-op games, (with the right group of players) is replaying the game trying to better your first performance. We have repeated the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game a couple of times now. We are always open to trying a new strategy. Some work better than others. Cathie's classic quote during a particularly risky exploration was, "Let's do it. What could possibly go wrong?" We did it, and everything did. After a complete disaster, and a tough loss, we started setting up a new game right away. We ribbed Cathie a bit about her decision (Which sounded like a good idea to the rest of us at the time) and her reply was, "I had a double whammy... I had a blonde moment and a senior moment at the same time!" We did a replay that evening, and we beat the game. There was much celebration and rejoicing, but the memory we will all take with us is making the brave but foolhardy move, and the massive disaster that followed. We have now played most of the Runelords expansions, and we just bought the Skull and Shackles version. I am sure we will end up enjoying that one too.