Board Game recommendations

[Dire Wolf]

During lockdown we found ourselves getting bored of watching too much TV and too many films. Board games became a fun way to mix things up and ai have to be honest, I think I've become a bit of a board game geek. If anyone else has found themselves similarly occupied during lockdown here are 5 games I'd recommend.

1. Jaws. Yes a Jaws board game! It is great. For 2 to 4 players with one person taking the role of the shark and the other players playing Brady, Quint and Hooper. It plays in 2 'acts', the first part has the shark trying to kill as many swimmers as possible around Amity Island while avoiding detection as the crew try to track the shark. Part 2 is the shark trying to destroy the Orca and the crew trying to kill the shark. Fantastic game, lots of tactical thinking and teamwork involved.

2. Cards Against Humanity. Not a board game as such, but great fun. Just put aside your sensibilities and play to be as rude, shocking and funny as possible.

3. Chronicles of Crime. An app based detective game for 2 to 5 players. Solve crimes around London using an app to examine crime scenes and interrogate suspects and find clues. Excellent brain teasing game that gets very complicated the further in you go. Has plenty of expansion packs to extend the game and add replay value.

4. Game of Thrones. A 2 player deck building card game that pits the Starks against the Lannisters. The one we have is the HBO official series companion game though there are plenty of other versions based just on the books.

5. Undaunted Normandy. Another 2 player deck building game that adds simple strategy and tactics. USA v Germany in a series of 12 scenarios that gradually increase the levels of complexity and add further strategy as you go along. Really good game if you can find someone willing to play and not be put off by the thought of a geeky wargame. It's not. It's simple and really good fun.

I'm not that much of a geek, honest, I just prefer doing something that actively engages my brain rather sit stupifying passively in front of the TV!

 

[Langers]

1. Jaws. Yes a Jaws board game! It is great. For 2 to 4 players with one person taking the role of the shark and the other players playing Brady, Quint and Hooper. It plays in 2 'acts', the first part has the shark trying to kill as many swimmers as possible around Amity Island while avoiding detection as the crew try to track the shark. Part 2 is the shark trying to destroy the Orca and the crew trying to kill the shark. Fantastic game, lots of tactical thinking and teamwork involved.

I need this in my life.

We really enjoy playing Journey Through Europe with the kids. The more players, the better - really good fun and I won last time we played (Friday night). #smugmode

 

[PPB]

Out of your 5 I have only played 1 and that's Cards Against Humanity. It was fun, had a great laugh, but you have to play it with the right people. Not to be played with prudes or people who get offended :icon_lol:

 

[Dire Wolf]

I need this in my life.

We really enjoy playing Journey Through Europe with the kids. The more players, the better - really good fun and I won last time we played (Friday night). #smugmode

https://www.board-game.co.uk/produc...EBlY3oUcmM6cAV_EITcNSz7z8RRkXOuxoCuzQQAvD_BwE

 

[Dire Wolf]

Out of your 5 I have only played 1 and that's Cards Against Humanity. It was fun, had a great laugh, but you have to play it with the right people. Not to be played with prudes or people who get offended :icon_lol:

Oh God no. I'd never play this with my sister but we have played it with my partner's 74 year old mum!

 

[Jinky]

Two player:

A great game of tactics that I have been playing with the Mrs a lot. Essentially the winner is the person with the most of their colour (either black or white) turned over at the end. You have to put your pieces down to trap the other colours between yours.

There are sixty-four identical game pieces called disks (often spelled "discs"), which are light on one side and dark on the other. Players take turns placing disks on the board with their assigned color facing up. During a play, any disks of the opponent's color that are in a straight line and bounded by the disk just placed and another disk of the current player's color are turned over to the current player's color. The object of the game is to have the majority of disks turned to display your color when the last playable empty square is filled.

More than two players:

Perudo:

Perudo is an exciting game of guesswork, bluff and luck that can be played anywhere by anyone. Playing well requires an ability to deceive and also to detect your opponent's deception. Played by two to six players, each opponent begins with five dice hidden under a cup.

Each player starts having five dice and a cup, which is used for shaking the dice and concealing the dice from the other players. Players roll die in order, to determine where and in what order they sit. Highest first, then next lowest and so on. In the event of a tie between 2 players, they simply re-roll until one gains a higher score.
After deciding who starts the game (this can be done by making each player roll one die, for example), the players shake their dice in their cups, and then each player looks at their own dice, keeping their dice concealed from other players. Then, the first player makes a bid about how many dice of a certain value are showing among all players, at a minimum. Aces (dice showing a one) are wild, meaning that they count as every number. For example, a bid of "five threes" is a claim that between all players, there are at least five dice showing a three or an ace. The player challenges the next player (moving clockwise) to raise the bid or call dudo to end the round.

Raise
also known as "bid" in most versions, a player can increase the quantity of dice (e.g. from "five threes" to "six threes") or the die number (e.g. "five threes" to "five sixes") or both. If a player increases the quantity, they can choose any number e.g. a bid may increase from "five threes" to "six twos".

Bidding aces
a player who wishes to bid aces can halve the quantity of dice, rounding upwards. For instance, if the current bid is "five threes" then the next player would have to bid at least three aces. If the current bid is aces, the next player can call dudo or increase the quantity (e.g. "four aces") or bid a different number, in which case the lower bound on the quantity is one more than double the previous quantity—for instance, from "three aces", a player wishing to bid fours would have to bid "seven fours" or higher.

Call
also known as dudo, if the player calls, it means that they do not believe the previous bid was correct. All dice are then shown and, if the guess is not correct, the previous player (the player who made the bid) loses a die. If it is correct, the player who called loses a die. A player with no dice remaining is eliminated from the game.[1] After calling, a new round starts with the player that lost a die making the first bid, or (if that player was eliminated) the player to that player's left.[1]

Spot on
also known as "calza" in some versions, the player claims that the previous bidder's bid is exactly right. If the number is higher or lower, the claimant loses the round; otherwise, the bidder loses the round. A "spot-on" claim typically has a lower chance of being correct than a challenge, so a correct "spot on" call sometimes has a greater reward, such as the player regaining a previously lost die.

When a player first reaches one die (i.e. loses a round and goes from two dice to one), a Palifico round is played. During this round, the player makes an opening bid and their choice of die number cannot be changed. Aces are not wild during the round. For instance, the player who is down to one die may bid "two fours", and the next player's only options are to raise the quantity (to "three fours" or higher), or to call.
The game ends when only one player has dice remaining; that player is the winner.

 

[BillyDee]

I love Cards Against Humanity!
I have the dubious distinction of winning every game I have played... (The same is also true of Trivial Pursuit, I don't know what this says of me as a person?)

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

That Peruda box reminds me of why 100 year old people always look sad on their birthday, its because they realise that they can no longer play with Lego.

Ahem, this is a good thread for ideas for me, we're off camping the end of August and looking for some board games to take with us.

 

[machin05]

Worst Case Scenario is the greatest board game ever created.

 

[PPB]

Oh God no. I'd never play this with my sister but we have played it with my partner's 74 year old mum!

I'm the other way around, my sister would be perfect for this, my 89 year old mother, not so much :icon_lol:

 

[Dire Wolf]

Elite level Cards Against Humanity play: playing with my (adult) niece and nephew who are Jewish on their mother's side, in response to the card "What gives you uncontrollable gas?" my partner played the card "Auschwitz"! Howls of laughter followed fortunately.

 

[SLA]

Two player:

A great game of tactics that I have been playing with the Mrs a lot. Essentially the winner is the person with the most of their colour (either black or white) turned over at the end. You have to put your pieces down to trap the other colours between yours.



More than two players:

Perudo:

/QUOTE]

Wow! Haven't seen Othello for years. We used to play that loads as kids.
I like Perudo but we keep nicking the dice for other games.

2 games we play a lot with the young 'uns - Dobble and Twin It. Both high paced and really stressful when playing against younger people with better eyes and quicker reactions!

The kids have being playing Scrawl a lot with their friends. It's a bit like Pictionary but with way more penises so they refuse to play it with us.

 

[lemonjelly]

Only 2 of us here, so we've played downfall a lot, as well as connect 4. Connect 4 has been nice for breaks when I'm working. Mrs gets the tea ready, and we have half an hour to chat, pop some music on, and play a couple of games.
We've played the harry potter scrabble a few times too.
Jenga has been a good one.

Risk is my fave board game. many years ago a friend was able to do a screenshot from the pc game of the world with 7 continents and about 90 territories, rather than the standard 5/42, and printed it out onto a large board for me. We home made cards, and when a student used to have epic all night games. Can't really play risk with 2 though.

 

[BillyDee]

Risk is directly responsible for my slightly disappointing GCSE results...

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

The Chase board game is great for those with good general knowledge

 

[Dire Wolf]

Risk is directly responsible for my slightly disappointing GCSE results...

Risk is great. Many an evening spent building up massive forces on Australia before launching an assault on the whole world...

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I love risk.

That Jaws game maybe a must buy.

We have car wars here as a board game of sorts. Normally we are more RPG. D&D, Pathfinder, Traveller, Paranoia (I truly recommend that one).

Big recommendation for Toon if you can find a copy. Role playing cartoon characters is absolutely batshit and loads of fun when done properly.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Oh - plus Call of Cthulhu is one of the greatest RPGs ever made.

 

[BillyDee]

Risk is great. Many an evening spent building up massive forces on Australia before launching an assault on the whole world...

It's a bold strategy, but it can work...
(Just remember, never start a land war in Asia)

 

[Dire Wolf]

Dragging this thread up because I've been at the UK Games Expo today at the NEC. Some fantastic games on show there, I tried a quick play of a football game called Counter-Attack, a football strategy game, which seems like it could be really good fun for 2 players, worth checking out if you think you'd have someone to play it with.

The Skyrim game looks set to come out in September and if the Fallout game (same publisher) is anything to go by it will monumental.

I had to buy one game and came away with one called Azul which won Game of the Year a couple of years ago. Anyone here played it?

Out of interest, did anyone who commented earlier in the thread ever get around to buying the Jaws game? If you did I wondered what you made of it?