Building a boardgame collection.

Avi

Originally posted as an episode idea.

Assume I don't own any boardgames and am setting out to build a collection of say 30 titles. What would you suggest as a good collection that covers a few different play times, weights and genres. Personally, I don't really go in for anything super long, my limit is about about 2 hours (So I didn't really get into Twilight Imperium or Die Macher).

cheers,
Avi

Avi

ThatGent said:

Love Letter, Hanabi, and Cards Against Humanity are good party games that are quick to learn and get casual people excited.

Boss Monster and Hive are good for people that want a light game with more decision making.

Kemet is Risk done well for dudes-on-a-map style play. Eclipse also a great economy/war staple.

Rococo, Trajan, Tzolkin, and Terra Mystica are great economy and time management passive aggression simulators. Trajan has Rome, Tzokin has corn, Terra Mystica has witches dive bombing forests with tiny houses, and Rococo's got fancy dress parties. All of them are fantastic.

Hitman Hart

Are we assuming that the official board game of Geeknights, Puerto Rico, is assuming to be an automatic? I admit that I only play Euro style games at PAX and Anime Boston, but any game that Rym and Scott can play multiple times a day for a whole summer and still love is probably worth having in your collection.

Cremlian

While Puerto Rico is a good game, you have to also factor in they were all poor that summer :-p

ThatGent

Considering the updates, Hansa Teutonica and a brief mention of Ginkgopolis.
I would argue Ginkgopolis, it has a tendency towards an incredibly uneven start point which can snowball from there.

Hansa Teutonica is absolutely fantastic, both it and the eastern expansion.

Starfox

Avi said:

build a collection of say 30 titles

Gonna be mad expensive. Also would take forever to play that many games. Maybe buy one or two, figure out what you liked/disliked about those, buy one or two more, rinse and repeat.

pence

Unless you really want to collect, only get games that will hit the table, and cull the dead weight. What gets played is entirely dependent on who you're playing with. If you want an onramp for eurogames, Carcassonne > Settlers of Catan. Magic players, feel free to substitute Dominion > 7 Wonders (because San Juan is out of print). If you're already onboard with eurogames, try to avoid buying the shiny new games and see how people feel in a year (or play someone else's copy).

Everyone is obligated to own Ticket to Ride in some form or another. I don't know why, it's just a law of the universe.

Coldguy

The best way thatI get games are based on the following:

How many people will play with me at a given time?

What games do they own? (Don't duplicate that)

What types of games hit the table?

Can I easily teach this game?

Will people have fun with it?

Wyatt

Coldguy said:

The best way thatI get games are based on the following:

How many people will play with me at a given time?

What games do they own? (Don't duplicate that)

What types of games hit the table?

Can I easily teach this game?

Will people have fun with it?

How long do they take?

Never underestimate the draw for a quick, easy, and fun short game. EX: Spot it!

Cremlian

If you want to COLLECT games you need a copy of Dune:-p

HMTKSteve

Cover your basics:

Party game: Apples to Apples/Cards Against Humanity - same game, different audiences.

Two player: Carcassonne or Lost Cities.

Four to six player: Settlers.

Dice Fest: Risk (Legacy).

Six or more players: Formula D.

In the end what you buy is based on what your friends are willing to play. I have a bookshelf full of Avalon Hill war games from the 70's that I want to play but I have no one near me willing to give them a go. I would buy a copy of Squad Leader but I know it will never get played, just like my kickstarter copy of Ogre.

This thread is like asking what sort of clothes to buy. We can offer some basics like shoes, socks, underwear, etc but it is up to you to decide what style of clothes works best for you.

Avi

Thanks for the advice. I actually have around 20 games or so already but I find that we only play a key few. However, I seem to have a similar taste to Scott and Rym and hopefully the forum crowd (or maybe we all agree that Puerto Rico and Tigris and Euphrates are just amazingly great games and that Settlers of Catan was a lot of fun but gets dull once you are experienced at it).

Of my group of friends only one other friend and myself seem to be the ones actually getting the games so we just coordinate what we purchase.

Here is what I am currently thinking of rounding my library to:

Casual games:
Love letter
Hanabi
Hive

Quick, light games:
Citadels
The Resistance: Avalon
7 Wonders

Party games:
Dixit
Wits and wagers
Space alert

Gateway games:
Ticket to ride
Lost cities

Railway game:
Steam

War game:
Memoir '44
Kemet

Auction/Bidding game:
Ra
Goa

Worker placement game:
Agricola
Hansa Teutonica

Area control game:
El Grande
Dominant Species

Role selection:
Puerto Rico
Village
In the year of the dragon

Tile placement:
Tigris and euphrates
Castles of burgundy

Cooperative game:
Pandemic
Sentinels of the multiverse

Economy game:
Terra Mystica
Tzolk'in

Hand management game:
Glory to rome
Trajan


So, what do you think?
Have I included any lemons that are just broken games or games that you hate for some unforgivable crime?
Is there anything missing from that list that you couldn't go without? (Obviously, Netrunner is missing but I wasn't sure it really counts as the same kind of thing)

Cheers,
Avi

Matt

I would swap out Citadels with Bohnanza. Also maybe consider something like Space Cadets or Space Cadets: Dice Duel rather than your current co-op selections.

Otherwise you've put together a pretty solid list there. I've played all but 6 of them, so I can 80% vouch for your selections.

Coldguy

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmzjoZ_yr0VPdDhFd1AwcE9BSjJLY1p5dVlGeFBGckE&usp=docslist_api

My Incomplete list of games is listed above if you want to take a gander.

pence

Hansa Teutonica and Glory to Rome are out of print, but they're solid picks. I wouldn't call Hansa worker placement, though... I'd move it next to Terra Mystica, and add Caylus so Agricola isn't lonely. I'd also replace Citadels with Fairy Tale in the quick/light game category, since it just got a reprint and is actually quick. (Apparently we're not fans of Citadels, here...)

Coldguy: You should be like me, and further categorize your games by whether anyone you know wants to play it, and then rank those subcategorizations by how much you yourself want to play them.

Coldguy

pence said:

Coldguy: You should be like me, and further categorize your games by whether anyone you know wants to play it, and then rank those subcategorizations by how much you yourself want to play them.

What do you think I am, some sort of organizational nut?

Cremlian

I want to play a game that you really want to play but no one wants to play with you.

pence

Cremlian said:

I want to play a game that you really want to play but no one wants to play with you.

You know I'm always down for Cosmic Encounter and Dungeon Lords.

ThatGent

You can still get Hansa Teutonica from German Amazon for a fairly reasonable price and with decent English instructions.

If you're worried about shelf space, you can swap 7 Wonders for Fairy Tale.
For really large parties, you can always bring Two Rooms and a Boom. The print and play version is free.

Avi

My friend Andy has both Glory to Rome and Hansa Teutonica. We haven't played hansa yet but after that review it's on the top of my list.

I don't know why they can't reprint a less ugly version of Glory to Rome.

I'll have to check out Fairy tale and Space cadets.

Matt

Avi said:

I don't know why they can't reprint a less ugly version of Glory to Rome.

This is a long, painful story. The only part worth your time is the funny part in the middle where the publisher yells at all of his Kickstarter backers and tells them it's their fault he doesn't have a house anymore.

Jack Draigo

Tiddlywinks.

Neocloud

For fast, easy games:
Hanabi,
Love Letter,
Dungeon Roll
Zeus on the Loose

Gateway games
Tsuro
Burrows

Worker Placement:
Kingsburg,
Lords of Waterdeep,
Village

4x/territory control:
Small World,
Eclipse

Party game:
Dixit,
Cards against humanity for older (and bluer) groups,
Channel A for anime fans.

Card drafting:
7 wonders (and with expansions you can play 8),
Uchronia (which works like Glory to Rome, but with Dinosaurs)

Deck builders:
Dominion (although it is pricey to own it all, but you can get the base cards set and any expansion), Paperback - combines deck building with scrabble,
I personally like the DC deck builder and it's cousin, the Street Fighter deck builder,
Trains

Matt

pence said:

Everyone is obligated to own Ticket to Ride in some form or another. I don't know why, it's just a law of the universe.

And if they don't own Ticket to Ride, they should grab the 10th Anniversary Edition that is releasing today.

Avi said:

I'll have to check out Fairy tale and Space cadets.

Space Cadets is a real-time co-op where everyone has different jobs operating a starship. It's pure co-op that goes up to 8 players. Space Cadets: Dice Duel is the same game split in half, 4 people vs 4 people, and the different starship jobs have all becomes some variation on Yahtzee.

ThatGent

Trains is dominion with more interactivity.

Avi

I forgot about tsuro, that's a good suggestion if I can find it.

I'm a bit over dominion, what do people think of trains?

ThatGent

Guild Hall is another fun hand management game.

pence

Trains has 30 "kingdom cards" in the box and you play with 8 of them every game. Dominion's greatest strength is that there are 200+ unique kingdom cards and you only play with 10 of them every game. Of course, that's after you add all the expansions.

Dominion is (still) my favorite deckbuilder, so take this with a grain of salt. As a 2 player game, I'll pick Dominion every time. As a 4 player game, it's a wash.

Neocloud

I thought trains was an interesting take on a deck builder. You build train stations and tracks, gaining waste to your hand (non VP dead cards). You get points by having stations, and there are a few cards that you can buy that give VP as well. Mostly, you are building your tracks and getting better ways to do it. I think I would be willing to buy it at some point, but other things have jumped off the shelf into my hands in the mean time.

Avi

I was talking to a friend the other day and he had a few recommendations but I don't trust this friends judgement on boardgames (actually on many things, he just isn't that discerning).
Can anyone vouch for:
Cyclades
Chaos in the old world
Commands & Colors: Ancients

Cheers

ThatGent

Kemet is the better version of cyclades.
Chaos is war hammer excess and fluff.
I'm going to guess that your friend exclusively plays dudes on a map style games.