So a few people have been playing games since Christmas, and unfortunately these are not good games, Monopoly and Cranium are bad games, very bad games. Ideally they should never be played.
So I have compiled a short list if some good basic games, any of these are great games, and far better to play than Monopoly. You can buy them from
Travelling Man in Newcastle or
Beanie Girl Store in Stockton, as well as from various online stores such as
Northumbria Games and
OG Games.
Most of these would be considered designer board games and I have tried to limit myself to games which have a
TableTop episode, but I wanted to make sure that I covered some of the fun and reasonably easy to at games, also I had to own them cause I can't talk about games I don't own can I!
Anyway to my friends who still think Monopoly is the height of board games, take a look at some if these, and if you want to try them, let me know and I will set up a game night.
Brilliant game full of strategy and tactical thinking with a little luck, you can only take one action per turn, what do you do, it's so light hearted but so deep at the same time. Be one of a group of travellers attempting to traverse as many railroots in early 20th century America, or if you prefer you could buy the European, German or Nordic version.
An incredible cooperative game where you get to cure a set of nasty plagues and work to cure them before they get out of control and doom the world. Requires a lot of team work as more often than not the game will beat you.
A personal favourite of mine, a tile placement game where you build up the countryside and cities of medieval Carcassonne. Can be brilliant fun and allows for some brilliant strategy, and has lots of expansions to allow you to grow the game from simple brilliant fun, into a fiendishly complex game.
The ultimate gateway game of resource management, often described as German monopoly, but it's easier to understand, has a good mix of luck and strategy and keeps players in the game right to the end with a chance of winning. About as mainstream as this list gets, also Wood for Sheep!!!
Set in Imperial Japan, and it has a Panda. You act to satisfy the demands of three characters a gardener trying to grow bamboo, a panda trying to eat said bamboo and the emperor who wants his garden all pretty like. Sounds complex but is really simple, luck plays a big part but it's sweet and beautiful.
A reimplementation of Pandemic, cooperative, simple, easy to learn easy to play, great artwork, some great components and it comes in a tin. The island is constantly changing and the game us still quite quick and everyone stays involved. Also quite cheap.
Just 16 cards and a few red cubes but what a game! It's all about getting as close to the princess as possible, and it's not a game if luck as it appears to be, but rather one if deduction. It's charming, it's cheap and has more strategy than it initially appears to have.
A beautiful and creative game with some lovely bunny pieces, brilliant for kids. It's about interpreting images and trying to give a little clue so others can guess what you are thinking, but you don't want everybody to know! Simply put this is the most beautiful board game I have ever played, the Germans should be worried, the French did good!
I am a big fan, if you have enjoyed any kind of fantasy based RPG then you will on the floor howling in laughter, if you are a fantasy virgin, you are still gonna love this game. There is a lot of luck involved but overall it's a lovely silly game and one of my all time favourites because it is just so much fun, also I often get to be the biggest Munchkin!
A fun little game where you get to grow and trade beans to earn money, unusual in that you cannot under any circumstances rearrange your hand. It's a great game with lots if variety and the designer really knows his stuff, as one would expect from the mind of the guy who designed Agricola and Le Harve. The final score is always close and you are always in with a chance right until the games end. Just be careful not to overplay it.
