What board game are you playing - chat thread

MrsJacket, I'm so sorry about your games! That's an awful thing to have your games taken that way. At least your new games collection will be all yours and noone can touch it this time. I think the carcassonne big box was £45 (not the usual 70) because I bought the German version off Amazon and just printed off the English rules at home ha ha. It's a firm favourite here now with everyone. You each take it in turns to choose a tile and place it next to another that's already been laid therefore the game board is continuously created and expanded by everyone. You place your little mini people (meeple) on the tiles where there are unclaimed features like roads and bits of city. When features are completed you gain points for how big they are. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like, creating more strategy with moves that block other players etc.

I would love to go to a games expo! I'm quite new to board games but already finding myself quite the geek

Thanks for your replies. I do trawl charity shops etc but haven't managed to find anything yet. Likewise with eBay etc, its difficult to search for games if you don't know which ones are worth looking out for.
I do use board game geek - I find the overall ranking, photos and comments useful to gauge whether a game is going to suit us.
We'll keep looking

ImSorry - I have a few card games I'd be happy to post to you for free. I have 2 copies of Nuts so you can play with more people. I doubt I'll ever really play any of them. Check your local Toys R Us as they're closing down so everything is sadly reduced.

You have LCG's like GoT / Call of Cthulhu which are good as there's a fixed amount of cards, unlike CCG's where 1 card can be worth £100, it's a lottery as to what you get.

Dominion I think it's called is a good card game, in a box, the idea is you collect card combos that get you bronze / silver / gold if I recall right.

Ticket to Ride is a good game for younger players. They have many versions of it.

Catan is a strategy game.

You have MB games, so from Monopoly to Cluedo to Pop up Pirate to Frustration. These you'd possibly find quite cheap.

In October I think, there's a big event in Getmany. In August over the Bank Hols you have a UK Games Expo. Parking is crazy money from what I remember, but you get to join lots of games, if you stay at the hotel you can game till whenever.

It would be good to have a gaming calendar maybe, if events that are taking place.

Do any of you use Board Game Geek?

Back to ImSorry

It depends what you're into / what you want to get into. CCG's are fun but costly & if playing at an event it's not really done for fun. They have the lovely name card crack, as a decent deck will set you back £300 at least.

LCG's are the same if played tournament style, people will have wagered on whether the Starks are better than Lannisters etc. CoC was fun, with GoT & CoC you have a base set then buy expansions. You're guaranteed to get specific cards.

I once went to a Gaming Day that had a Second Hand stall, but the games were competitively priced. As in before the age of the Internet, if you went into a charity shop, that big box of Carcassonne there would be say £5 as no one would really know what it was. I don't know if All charity shops go via eBay for pricing, but I might take a look and see how they fair.

JustBeNice - guesses are if you got it from my ex it was unopened, as he wasn't into 'geeky shit' as he called it.

I've got 2 or 3 boxes of Story Cubes, they survived the cull. I saw Beetle, I remember that but can't remember how it was played. Also have Nuts & the one where you have to make a story, other players can change it.

Nuts is good for children and adults. You obviously have to collect the most Nuts, but people can grab your Nuts and all that kind of silly innuendo.

Catan, SmallWorld, Ticket to Ride & Carcassonne all get my votes for a 👍🏻 I actually had the Big Box, it cost £70 I think.

Where about are you based?

JustbeNice - you have good taste. Almost feel like sobbing my ex sold all my 'stupid' games as he found out they were worth money. I've got a first edition of a game that survived, but have never got round to playing.

A firm favourite is 'A Fistful of Penguins' also on clearing through stuff found a game suitable for 3+ where you match things I think, free to a good home. I'll sort postage.

Does anyone go to clubs or regional events? Does anyone know of any popular events coming up?

There's the annual Games Expo in B'ham, I got a game similar to chess / noughts and crosses, from there, I'm missing a piece. I emailed the business card inside the box, it guessing it didn't take off as the email bounced back.

The irony, can't remember if I posted this before, but a big games compendium was donated to school, you guessed it, DD now bloomin' plays it at the lunchtime games club and wants one. 🤯 DS has ironically taken up chess, a game included inside said compendium.

I dread to think how much it cost to buy as it was decent quality. A chess set is going to set me back £10 and the Compendium a lot more. OK not breaking the bank, but what timing!

Can anyone explain Carcassonne to me please, as I've played it but never really understood it. ✍🏻

My games cupboard is now full! Must refrain from buying more games 😂

Hello Imsorry, I pick up games all the time in charity shops, got the cranium cadoo, cranium wow, taboo, scatergories, balderdash, articulate and charades for kids recently just to name a few. Some of the more modern euro games like catan, carcassonne and lords of waterdeep I've picked up on eBay second hand. Just make sure the seller states the game is complete. Also, you could try facebook market place, I've picked loads of quality second hand games from there 👍

We're had a "vintage" boardgame weekend - got 'Air Charter' and 'Squatters' out of the loft. Made a nice change from monopoly (hate it), monopoly card game (much better), TTR Europe (DS gets board after an hour) and Carcassonne (OK).
I've got lots of new games on my wish list but due to having a tight budget can anyone recommend any old ones that I might pick up cheap in a charity shop/online? We are usually 2 adults and ds (9). Thank you!

Ooo thank you cranky, I've seen Lords and it's certainly on my list (which is ever growing now!). Ds2 and I played a game of catan today as soon as it arrived and it's awesome! Definately will improve even more with practise!

I was looking for a local game cafe/meet up near me (Luton) but having no luck so it's looks like the dc will be subjected to my games a little longer...

Hi Just, like you I've bought lots of new games from the recommendations on this thread

Including Lords of Waterdeep which you might enjoy for a longer game, but it's not really suitable for a 5 year old. But your dd might be able to join in with you on Port Royale, its short and easy to learn and we really enjoy it, ds14, DH and I have all been playing a lot over half term.

Hello! I'm aware that this is a zombie thread but I've enjoyed reading it so much! I've recently got into board games, after many years of playing baby games and because of the recommendations I've bought way too many
Ds13, ds12, dd5 and I (dh occasionally), like to play... Labyrinth, carcassonne, risk, Othello and axis. We've got TtR, dixit and catan to play.. Can't wait til they arrive...
Anymore recommendations for these age groups please?

Happy Christmas everyone

We've added a few new games to our collection this Christmas - Isle of Skye, Institute of Magical Arts and 7 Wonders Duel.

So far we've played a few games of 7 Wonders Duel and altho we're still getting to grips with strategies I think it's a keeper. We haven't played the others yet, but we have played a lot of games of Port Royal and laughed a lot playing Camel Cup. And we finally learnt and played Patchwork which has been lurking in the cupboard for a while. It's quite short and sweet, we've enjoyed it so far.

Would love to hear about everyone else's new games once they've played them - interested in the Camel Cup expansion if that's any good, also Century Spice Road since we enjoy Splendour and the Deep Sea Adventure game for when the 3 of us can play together. Always good to get recommendations from someone who's played!

We played our first game of Lords of Waterdeep this evening (DS got it for his 12th birthday last weekend). Wow! What a wonderful game! A new favourite for us both, so intuitive and fun! Thank you to those of you on this thread who have recommended it (chillywhippet and crankyagnes I think).

I have also added Century Spice Road to my wishlist. It is supposed to be similar to Splendor but is described as slightly more "fluid" and "breezy" than the latter, which sounds good to me. Like Splendor, it plays 2-4 (or possibly 2-5?).

Also, I am giving DH Hanamikoji for Christmas. It is supposed to be a fantastically tense and quick 2-player, so I am hoping that it will work as an occasional alternative to Battle Line which we play most evenings. I also have my eyes on Pinata for the same purpose, but it seems to be between prints at the moment. I love researching board games :-)

OK well it was a relatively new one called Dice Forge! You have to gradually improve your dice (like Lego dice with removable faces) to get more resources and buy cards etc. It's brilliant!

I'm getting a game for my birthday tomorrow. DH let slip but I don't know what one it is... excited!

Labyrinth reduced to £10 something on Amazon today, so I've finally remembered to order it!

Some unforeseen additions to our collections seem to be on their way... (I can't really help myself this time of year):

Lords of Waterdeep (I think DS will love this!)
Ra (I am hoping that this will provide the same addictive flavour as Battle Line, same designer)

Also, I am planning to bring out Finca that I bought years ago but that we have never played. I just hope the family won't be overwhelmed by all these new games!

Only played colt express once but really liked it.

Played a new game today, Sequence Num6ers, great for a little mental maths although not sure of the longevity really. Will be used with my pupils as well as my DCs though

Desperatelyseekingcaffeine, yes, King of Tokyo is great fun, already in our collection though!

Agree king of Tokyo is fab, I found the rules really confusing when I first looked but it's worth sticking to.

Exploding kittens on Amazon lightning deal today £15. I've not got it myself. DH has chosen Harry Potter scrabble for our Christmas game - he was looking at some strategy games but they'd be too complex for DD, I'm hoping that the HP element will draw her into playing word games more! I also got Sequence Numbers on lightning deal, I keep hearing great things about Sequence on a home ed group page, and the number one appeals as I am a maths tutor

DS is really loving go nuts for donuts. I really need to play it with 4 or 5 people though as the cards get more varied!

Vikjul how about King of Tokyo? Rules are quite easy to pick up, plays in about 30-45 minutes but involves enough strategy to interest adults too. My 4 year old enjoys it, needs some help with reading the cards and some strategy but we would play it happily as adults!

Vikjul we have exploding kittens and DD9 really enjoys it, she also appreciates the graphics and jokes on the cards, which I admit I have tended to ignore. Three of us can get straight into it and it isn't a long game. Plus as it's about the luck of the draw as well as a bit of strategic thinking, anyone can win.

I have little spatial awareness so I will probably fail at Labyrinth but I think that's definitely going on the list, thanks.

Has anyone played any of these and if so would you recommend it as a family game (DC 9 and almost 12)?

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