It's a popular game and there are many iterations of it. But what does it fail at doing? Well, for one thing, it can take HOURS. I mean the whole setting up, rolling dice and placing armies is time-consuming. Next, the player who has the advantage, pretty much keeps it until the end of the game. There's no dramatic change of play. Finally, it absolutely sucks for someone to get eliminated because now they do nothing but watch.
But there's better games. There's games that involve bluffing, betting, auctioning and even cooperating. Try busting out a board game once in a while and get people together that you know or people who you'd like to get closer with.
So you're interested in board games? Well, before you go and buy Axis & Allies, or some new version of Risk, you have to understand a factor that makes board games different from video games. You need to find opponents. It's not as easy as clicking on battle.net. So depending on who you can play with, your games should be bought accordingly. Chances are, you might not have a group of hardcore gamers willing to spend 4 hours or so... so I suggest lighter games that will draw people into the hobby.
Ticket to Ride is the first game of choice. It's simple to play, DOES NOT TAKE FOREVER like monopoly and nobody gets eliminated. Sure its about trains and collecting points, but it's a really fun game. You can even get girls to play it. Each player has a route they have to connect, say Los Angeles to Chicago. You collect train cards to build trains on the board and get points for it. Most points at the end wins.
Pandemic is another great introductory game that has a great theme; the world is being overrun with disease and it's up to you to find the cures. The twist is that EVERYBODY IS ON THE SAME TEAM. That's right, it's cooperative. Every turn, you'll take steps to heal sick areas, yet new ones will slowly arrive. You will be racing with your team to get the cures. It's cool because the theme is cool, the game is cooperative and it's pretty simple to play. You each get a unique powers to use as well.
Shadows over Camelot is probably the most popular game I have. It's another cooperative game and it can fit SEVEN players. This time, evil forces threaten Camelot and it's up to you and your fellow knights to defeat them. In the game, you'll be doing quests by yourself or with teammates. Each knight also has their own unique power to help the team. However, a traitor can appear in the game and cause havoc. It's a great looking game and one I highly recommend to anyone who has any interest in Blizzard games.
I think everyone should give board games a chance. They offer different experiences than what you get from staring at a screen and shaking a controller.
Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Mar 21 2008, 10:04 am by Revelade.
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