Board games you own and would recommend

[smetzger]

Ticket to Ride - build railroad routes accross America to gain points. Easy to learn, hard to master.

Carcassonne - tile based build medeival walled cities and surrounding country side. Again easy to learn but hard to master. Very easy to play, the scoring at the end is the only complex part.

 

[CoatRackOfDoom]

I'll definitely concur on several of these - my own collection includes my current faves: Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne.

I also very much enjoy Apples to Apples, when I'm playing with people who don't dig the strategy and tactics (though strategy really is part of it, for me)

By the by, does anyone know where I can get a PDF of the Settlers of Catan , travel edition rules? I bought the game in Austria while on vacation, and it didn't include an English translation...

 

[Nifft]

I also very much enjoy Apples to Apples, when I'm playing with people who don't dig the strategy and tactics (though strategy really is part of it, for me)

It's a great game... but it's hardly a board game!

Cheers, -- N

 

[radferth]

I recommend Runebound, if you have a few hours to kill, and want to play a cross between D&D and Candyland.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Some of my favorites are:

Arkham Horror
Fury of Dracula
Blokus
Ticket to Ride: Europe
Lord of the Rings + Friends & Foes
Bonaparte at Marengo
Shipwrecked

My kids also enjoy Zombie Fluxx and Figaro.

I also like games like:
Flying Colors
Three Battles of Manassas
ASL
A Victory Lost

But I don't know of any other players near me (and I don't enjoy online or PBeM play).

 

[Committed Hero]

Fury of Dracula is fun, like Scotland Yard with a better system of hidden movement. And vampires.

War of the Ring is awesome for 2 players. You feel like you're in the books - but you can change them.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Space Hulk - I was thrilled to discover that my mother still had my old Space Hulk boxed set and it was still in pristine condition. Probably my absolute fave of all time.

 

[Nebulous]

Gotta agree on Arkham Horror being a great game. The co-op aspect is a lot of fun and while we've probably played 20+ games, I've never had one go the same way twice. I'm also a fan of the fact that it's difficult to win at (even more so with the various expansion packs).

Descent seems like a lot of fun, but my problem with it is the time it takes to play a game. Our experience is 5 - 6 hours to play it out.

Agreed, Arkham Horror is one of the classics of all time. Descent is good, but it takes too long to play IMO, and really, 4e D&D is the same thing now but only better.

 

[knightofround]

Risk 2210 is my favorite boardgame by far. All the other version of risk eventually get stale or stupid, but there's so many different ways you can play 2210 that it never gets boring. Other boardgames its easy to figure out the "win" strategy and it becomes stale after that. However, with 2210's deliniation of land, naval, and space territories, as well as an expertly designed resource scheme really make it stand out. It does a great job of balancing luck vs. tactics.

Civilization/Age of Empires board games didn't cut it for me, even though I love the computer games. Not enough action. War of the ring was kinda meh, but I really enjoyed Lord of the Rings Risk with the expansion added. The original LotR-risk sucked by itself, but the addition of the south makes the game much more balanced and interesting. Settlers was good for awhile, but eventually got old. Puerto Rico always seemed kinda stale to me. Axis and Allies...cool idea but poorly pulled off.

 

[Asmor]

Risk 2210 is my favorite boardgame by far.

Risk 2210 is definitely way better than plain ol' Risk, though not saying much. I've got a friend who's obsessed with it, though (your name's not Skye, is it?)

All the other version of risk eventually get stale or stupid

I've heard good things about Godstorm, but never tried it.

but there's so many different ways you can play 2210 that it never gets boring. Other boardgames its easy to figure out the "win" strategy and it becomes stale after that.

Wow, man, you really need to try some new board games... It sounds to me like your board game experience is limited to the Toys 'r Us games section. Not saying there's anything wrong with Risk 2210 (well, there is, but I'm not saying it ), but from that comment it sounds to me like you're missing out on a whole world of board games.

I suspect that you might enjoy the Starcraft boardgame. It's expensive, but worth it, and more importantly from what you've said I think it's up your alley. Let me know if you're interested in trying something a bit different, though, because if you're looking for well-balanced games with low luck, high strategy, and many avenues of victory, there's a lot of euros that would fulfill those criteria.