What's playing at your table?

[Gretyl]

My tabletop desires have been waxing of late. Over the past year or two, I've picked up:

• Fluxx + Zombie expansion
• Chrononauts
• Citadels
• CLR
• Gloom
• Red Dragon Inn
• Shadows Over Camelot
• Tikal

Thanks to friends, I've also had the opportunity to play the Early American expansion of Chrononauts, Power Grid and Pandemic. I think BoardGameGeek has seriously made me into a better gamer.

I've also been meaning to get my hands on the Merlin's Company expansion for SOC and wanna try my hand at Last Night On Earth, Munchkin, Dominion and/or Arkham Horror. Anyone tried those?

What do you play?

[Gretyl]

Om nom nom, I think I really wanna try Dominion!

[Little Bobby Tables]

Arkham Horror is wonderful. I have played it three times now and have thoroughly enjoyed it each time. It really helps to have a crowd that gets into the setting. It does have a prodigious set-up time because it has lots of pieces. I wasn't as much of a fan of last night on earth, though it may have been the scenario we were playing (it was very lopsided against the humans). Various other things we've been playing lately are Tsuro, Stone Age, Agricola, Jamaica, Carcassonne, and the varietals of Ticket to Ride. All good stuff.

[Little Bobby Tables]

Forgot to mention Aquaretto. Also a fun, relatively quick game. And the odd round of Guillotine.

[Talenos]

Does Arkham Horror take longer to setup than Axis and Allies? I loved that game but it took almost as much time to setup and tear down than it did to play.

[Dragmire]

Citadels was alright when I played with Daoist and Gretyl and a few others.

Fluxx is one of my favorites of all time though.

At our table is mostly just a deck of cards and lots of Pitch.

[Little Bobby Tables]

Does Arkham Horror take longer to setup than Axis and Allies? I loved that game but it took almost as much time to setup and tear down than it did to play.

I've only seen A&A being played and haven't played it myself, but I think Arkham would be a little shorter to set up. It all depends on how many expansions you play with.

[Fuzzy]

played much zombies!!! recently. lots of fun.

[Little Bobby Tables]

the one game of zombies!!! I played devolved into screw your neighbor and we never finished. we just threw our hands up after a while.

[LucasPukus]

1.5 hours, to be specific. Will not play again, unless coerced.

Arkham Horror is pretty fun, but if you draw a really, really craptastic character, like the nun, THROW IT BACK! It's not worth playing with a character that weak, unless you want to go to the asylum every other turn.

I want to play Bang! and more Ticket to Ride: Europe or US versions.

Have played Casino, the afore mentioned Jamaica (pretty easy) Aquaretto, Zooretto, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and one round of Agricola.

How'd you like Tikal, Gretyl?

[Gretyl]

Tikal's okay, though setting up the exploration tiles is cumbersome. You gotta shuffle each of the sets of tiles separately, but the game plays out interestingly with different numbers of players. The auction variant's slightly more lively & strategic than the "base"/vanilla/n00b mechanics, though I haven't played it enough to decide if I like it.

[Reagraham Lincool]

Hopefully, this soon.

[LucasPukus]

That looks funny.

Forgot to mention Trailer Park Wars and Redneck Life (has a more creative title than that). Amusing, but not worth more than 1 round, each.

This is an easier game, but ever changing-Blockus. Finally got to play the triagon version over Christmas and it was also a good time.

[Little Bobby Tables]

I really want to try this: http://boardgamegeek.com/game/24396

But I don't know if the price tag warrants picking it up.

[Fuzzy]

the one game of zombies!!! I played devolved into screw your neighbor and we never finished. we just threw our hands up after a while.

that's unfortunate. i've had several really fun games playing it. i've played the mall expansion and just yesterday the circus expansion (zombie clowns!). my friend also ordered the military expansion so i look forward to playing that as well.

last night we played a good game of pepper followed by 3 games of euchre. what i really need though is a cribbage partner.

[LucasPukus]

Oh, how I miss the euchre.

[Fuzzy]

no kidding. there was no limeade last night however.

[LucasPukus]

We've been buying the "simply limeade" stuff, which is better than the concentrate. Maybe your boy flenker knows how to play it?

[Fuzzy]

my boy flenker?

[Little Bobby Tables]

i love cribbage. too bad we aren't in the same city.

[Isosceles Lock]

wait wait wait now, whose boy am I?

I did enjoy Carcassonne and Tsuro. And I will also probably never play Zombies! again, especially since I think I would have had a chance to win until that ass kept piling the zombies on me.

I'm kind of itching for a game of Settlers, I haven't played it in quite some time now. And I'm always up for a game of cribbage, but that's another one that's been a little while, so I'd probably need a refresher.

edit: and yes, I do know how to play euchre, and love it. We need to play sometime. We'll have our own game night with cards and alcohol.

[G.O.A.T.]

last night we played a good game of pepper followed by 3 games of euchre. what i really need though is a cribbage partner.

This is the first sentence in this thread that didn't sound like foreign language to me. It's funny how localized euchre is as a card game. The people I've met in KC that know how to play (or even heard of it) were not originally from this area. All the locals don't have a clue.

[Sean II]

Back when yahoo had the free ladder system I was in the top 50 on the cribbage ladder. I even beat the #1 at one point.

Bring it, suckahs.

[Fuzzy]

last night we played a good game of pepper followed by 3 games of euchre. what i really need though is a cribbage partner.

This is the first sentence in this thread that didn't sound like foreign language to me. It's funny how localized euchre is as a card game. The people I've met in KC that know how to play (or even heard of it) were not originally from this area. All the locals don't have a clue.

euchre is regional and pepper is even more so.

[G.O.A.T.]

euchre is regional and pepper is even more so.

Damn germans and their awesome card games.

[LucasPukus]

Well, if you know some euchre players, you're definitely invited to the OP on Thursdays to play. Or any other night, for that matter.

[mr. donnie]

i have unfortunately fallen under the control of MTG.

is all hope lost for me...anyways gotta go finish some labwork so i can go play magic with some peeps

[Reagraham Lincool]

i have unfortunately fallen under the control of MTG.

is all hope lost for me...anyways gotta go finish some labwork so i can go play magic with some peeps

MtG addiction is like herpes. It comes and goes but it's never really gone for good.

[MarkK]

herpes is an addiction? I've never heard someone say, "Man, I'm jonesing for some herpes" or "I gotta get me some herp"

[Reagraham Lincool]

What?

[nippletwister]

I haven't played MtG in years. The boxes and boxes of cards are up there in the linen closet, but I sure haven't touched them.

[MarkK]

I played 4th ed, and then 6th, and judgement block, but I haven't touched them in years... I was thinking of starting WoW TCG, but have nobody to play with

[nippletwister]

I pretty much quit at Tempest. Got into (Unglued?...is that it?) when it was released. Nothing since then.

[Reagraham Lincool]

Mirrodin was interesting enough to get me (and all my friends that used to play) back into it for a while. Then there was that stupid Kamigawa block and we got out of it again.

[Cody]

I pretty much quit at Tempest. Got into (Unglued?...is that it?) when it was released. Nothing since then.

ditto. I played from Revised until around here, then quit and haven't looked back. Anyone want a bunch of cards that are sitting in my dresser in my mom's house and are probably just slowly rotting?

[nippletwister]

Aren't pretty much all the cards from way back them more or less worthless from being old editions and not allowable at official games anyway?

I actually used to play with douches who only allowed the most recent editions, citing official rules.

[Reagraham Lincool]

Aren't pretty much all the cards from way back them more or less worthless from being old editions and not allowable at official games anyway?

I actually used to play with douches who only allowed the most recent editions, citing official rules.

Standard is the format defined by the current block, the last completed block, and the most recent core set.

But the thing is there are often a lot of cards that get carried forward.

The old cards are by no means worthless though. There's other kinds of games:

Extended is the format where all Magic blocks and core sets issued during the last seven years are legal. Prior to March 1, 2008, Extended format rotation system was different and more complicated: three Magic blocks rotated out every three years.

Vintage and Legacy are considered eternal formats because the card pool never rotates. This means that all the sets that are currently legal will continue to be legal and any new sets will automatically be included in the legal card pool. The only banned cards in Vintage are cards using the ante mechanic and very few cards, which are considered not to be compliant with the nature of the game. Because of the expense in acquiring the old cards to play competitive Vintage, most Vintage tournaments held are unsanctioned and where players are permitted to proxy a certain number of cards,[23] which is not normally permitted in sanctioned tournaments.[24] Legacy differs from Vintage in that it has a longer list of banned cards than Vintage, no restricted list exists though. In 2004, Legacy was revitalized by separating the banned list from Vintage and banning many old, powerful, and extremely expensive cards. The result is that Legacy has a lower power level than Vintage and is considerably more affordable. The DCI has attempted to promote the format with the addition of occasional Legacy Grand Prix events.

And of course if you're playing with friends that aren't douches, even those restrictions won't apply.

If you're interested in seeing what your cards are worth, check eBay or cardshark.

[LucasPukus]

Just played "Android." It's by the same writers as Arkham Horror. I'd like to play this one again, because we only had time for the first few turns and the rules were not entirely explained for testing suspects. I played with the biorobot guy and he looks pretty evil when he kills his robot master. Man, in my life I never thought I'd say something like that.

[Gretyl]

That game sounds annoying for a 4-ish hour long game. :\

[LucasPukus]

Yeah, it's weird to play something that takes so long to learn and set up, but once you figure it out, it's a lot easier. Our problem was playing with an entire set that didn't know what they were doing/

[Little Bobby Tables]

Yeah, I want to try this one again. There is a steep learning curve. I blame the explainer of the rules for some of our troubles. I won mostly by accident, because none of us except the owner of the game fully understood how the evidence against the suspects worked until we were counting it at the end.

[Tas]

Daoist and I have been doing a lot of games at our place recently, but we keep on coming back to Munchkin and Betrayal at House on the Hill. Munchkin's a blast, especially if you can snag the expansions, and Betrayal is just a really fun game. It's out of print, though, which just sucks. Also heard from a lot of people that the Battlestar Galactica board game's a really good one - some elements of Werewolf, along with the action, since at least one player is a Cylon, attempting to sabotage the rest.

[LucasPukus]

Yeah, i've been wanting to play the BSG board game for awhile. I think that half way through the game you draw again to see if you're cylon or not.

[mrchonkie]

i played the monty python fluxx, it was my first time playing fluxx, and its a hoot. well made cards.

[Isosceles Lock]

played Stone Age for the first time tonight, with LP and LBT. I thought it was pretty great, might be my current favorite

[Little Bobby Tables]

Yeah, I really enjoy the hell out of Stone Age. Definitely going to pick that up when I have the scratch

[Gretyl]

This Stone Age? How's it use dice-rolling as a mechanic?

[Little Bobby Tables]

That's the one.

You start with five people and assign them activities per turn. the dice are used for getting resources. among other activities, you can assign your people to go looking for certain resources (food, wood, clay, stone, gold). food is needed each turn to feed your clan, and the others are used to buy victory points in various ways. you roll a number of dice equal to the number of people assigned to a resource, and then divide the total by the divisor for that resource (food=2, wood=3, clay=4, stone=5, gold=6), round down, and get that many of the resource. the harder the resource is to get (bigger divisor), the more value/usefulness it has in buying victory points.

I like Stone Age mostly because it has a combination of the mechanics of Settlers and Agricola that I really like, but it's faster-moving than either of them, and the rules are simpler. i don't always gravitate towards the games with simpler rules, but I think Stone Age and Agricola have pretty similar mechanics (though no luck of the die in Agricola), and Stone Age just seems more fun because there's less sitting around and waiting, and the game can be explained in 10 minutes or so to someone who's never played a similar game.

[Tas]

Update on the Battlestar Galactica board game - this one is a blast, especially if you're a fan of the show. Lots of potential duplicity, and a good chunk of action. Plus the flavor of the show is pulled off excellently - we were a touch frightened when we pulled the "33" scenario card. Only wish we would've had a better chance to play out the bluffing aspect - we got spammed with a bunch of raiders, and the civilian fleet was torn to shreds before the Cylon got a chance to truly mess with us.

[walk around and drink]

Daoist and I have been doing a lot of games at our place recently, but we keep on coming back to Munchkin and Betrayal at House on the Hill. Munchkin's a blast, especially if you can snag the expansions, and Betrayal is just a really fun game. It's out of print, though, which just sucks. Also heard from a lot of people that the Battlestar Galactica board game's a really good one - some elements of Werewolf, along with the action, since at least one player is a Cylon, attempting to sabotage the rest.

Hmm. My wife and I were given Betrayal at House on the Hill as a gift a few years ago and haven't played it. We opened it when friends were over, spent about five minutes looking at the rules/setup and gave up.

[Tas]

It's actually incredibly simple once you get the rules down. All the little cardboard bits can be a bit daunting, but you don't need that many of them in the game. It helps to sort them out and keep them in small baggies. And when you get into how things work, the game moves like a breeze.

[LucasPukus]

Played Ra, RAJ and BSG last night. I got cylon during the sleeper phase and of course the cylons won. The people playing said they've never played a game where the humans won. I was helo, so it was boring waiting for the 6 players to play twice before I got to play, but I could still participate in the challenges. I must say that I'm not a big fan of the collaborative games like Arkham horror or BSG board game.
Raj was pretty fun though, very simple. RA was more complicated and I had to leave half way through, but I think it will be a good time.

[daoist]

Daoist and I have been doing a lot of games at our place recently, but we keep on coming back to Munchkin and Betrayal at House on the Hill. Munchkin's a blast, especially if you can snag the expansions, and Betrayal is just a really fun game. It's out of print, though, which just sucks. Also heard from a lot of people that the Battlestar Galactica board game's a really good one - some elements of Werewolf, along with the action, since at least one player is a Cylon, attempting to sabotage the rest.

Hmm. My wife and I were given Betrayal at House on the Hill as a gift a few years ago and haven't played it. We opened it when friends were over, spent about five minutes looking at the rules/setup and gave up.

I'd happily take it off your hands

[Gretyl]

About this time last week, we got the Merlin's Company expansion to Shadows Over Camelot. It adds travel cards that trigger whenever you move to a new quest, new special white & black cards and generally makes the game harder all around.

W00t!

[LucasPukus]

If anyone is looking for a cute game for little kids (probably 4-7), Gulu Gulu is pretty cute. Played with some little kids tonight and they loved it.

[Zapruder]

I like MtG, A&A, Samurai Swords, Civilization, canasta, Uno, Monopoly, Heroquest, and...uh...lots of other stuff.

[Gretyl]

On Tuesday night, we played the 6-epidemic difficulty version of Pandemic w/4 players and won.

Our roles were Ops Expert > Scientist > Researcher > Medic, in that play order. A few things conspired in our favor: we removed every outbreak threat before it hit (sometimes just barely before) for maybe the first 3 epidemics, got Resilient Population, One Quiet Night, Airlift & Forecast into our hands and used them to dodge the next 4 outbreaks and won the game with 4 cards left in the drawpile. The kicker? Our 6th epidemic was on the bottom of the deck.

[Little Bobby Tables]

this week I played Hanging Gardens and Age of Steam this week. Age of Steam may be the most player-hating game I've ever played, but it was still pretty fun.

[Gretyl]

What about it is player-hating?

[Little Bobby Tables]

There seem to be far more ways to lose money than make money, and when you go broke, you go out. I was out on the second turn because I just didn't have a way to get any money.

[Gretyl]

I "like" games that have incomplete, ill-defined rules. This is often the case with "quirky" party games from Target.

[LucasPukus]

One cool thing about this game store is that they really take the time to educate people about the more complex games than the above listed "quirky" party games. They go to senior centers and local churches for game nights and teach kids, so soon the whole metro will reject "CRANIUM" and try pandemic.

[Gretyl]

And from there, they'll play Shadows Over Camelot...

... and before 2012, we will live in a world where people are shouting "TRAITOR!" in gridlock traffic and the majority of listeners will agree.

[Gretyl]

^^ to BSGify that, just replace "TRAITOR!" with "CYLON!"

[Scosemon the Magnificent]

We play Munchkin every day at lunch at work. It's the most fun when you're ganking the other players ruthlessly than when you're actually winning.