After writing about Fluxx yesterday, I thought I’d do a few more posts on my favorite board games. (And yes, I probably use “board games” incorrectly since some of these are tile games and others are card games.)
To get started, I’ll rip through some of the “classics” that I’ve already written about in the past:
- Settlers of Catan – This was one of the first games that opened the general US population (myself included) up to modern board games. I’ve played this hundreds of times and will happily play it again at any time. The rules are pretty simple but the board changes every game so you need to be able to employ different strategies depending on the situation. Once you get a few games under your belt, you can read my strategy guide.
- Ticket To Ride – This is probably the next game that most people played after they discovered Settlers. I like this but it’s not one of my favorites. There is a LOT of luck involved in getting the right cards, but if you play enough times, the better players will eventually win more games.
- Carcassonne – This is a tile based game. You build up a shared board with the other players and carefully place your followers to gain ownership of a road, field, city, or cloister. I actually enjoy this one a bit more on a computer/phone/Xbox because scoring can get a little tricky in person.
- Dominion – We were looking to branch out a bit from the classics listed above and this was recommended by a lot of other gamers. It’s a card game where the rules and strategy change with every game (this is a common theme in modern board games.) I enjoy this but for some reason it doesn’t get picked as often lately. I think part of the reason is because we have so many new games to try out.
All of these are solid choices. Prices range between $30 and $50 depending on the game. That might seem like a lot of money, but think about how much a group of 4 people would spend for one evening together if they went out. Even if you only play the game a couple times, you probably got your money’s worth.