OK. I need some help deciding on a couple of family games. Looking at games that are good for age range from 8-just over the hill. Here's some options I've been looking at and I'm pretty sure I made the FLGS guy scratch his head as I spent 2 hours yesterday looking at the boxes, sitting and looking at my phone, back to the boxes, back to the phone....I have played none of these games, but I need some family games that are a step up from Chutes and Ladders and can help get me out of playing Monopoly. Maybe you guys have some other recommendations?
Carcassonne (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne)
Ticket to Ride (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride)
Smallworld (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692/small-world)
King of Tokyo (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-tokyo)
Takenoko (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70919/takenoko)
Mice and Mystics (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/124708/mice-and-mystics)
Ticket to Ride is a great family game. Easy to learn, quick to play, but always changing and different. Very random, if you're not into that, but I enjoy it much.
Formula De (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173/formula-de) is another good one, if you like racing games. I love the system with gear shifting, which is really easy...you start by rolling a 4-sided die to move, then shift up to a 6-sided, up again to an 8-sided, and so on, all the way up to a 30-sided die. But you have to manage your speed because if you go too fast through a turn, you're hosed.
The original Munchkin (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1927/munchkin) from 2001 is a fun co-op type game, but also with backstabby elements. Might be too much for an 8-year-old but maybe not; they'd probably delight in making mom or dad squirm. Essentially it's a dungeon crawl, and you can help the other players or make their lives difficult.
The Adventurers: Pyramid of Horus (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/98315/adventurers-pyramid-horus) is a fun game that Brant recommended. Kids will like it a lot - my daughter has always liked this game. It's a treasure run with danger increasing every turn; the best part is that a piece of the ceiling falls every turn, potentially sealing off the tomb and trapping players left inside.
I might think of some more, but those are our top go-to games right now.
EDIT: oops, forgot about Forbidden Island (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65244/forbidden-island). Great game where an island is falling apart around you and players are cooperating to gather artefacts before they disappear. Each player controls a character with a special ability, and the more the merrier, because everyone helps each other in this one.
I honestly enjoy co-op games much more than competitive ones.
I did look at both Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. I also think the idea of a co-op game is appealing for family fun too.
Quote from: Bison on July 23, 2015, 08:41:46 AM
I did look at both Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. I also think the idea of a co-op game is appealing for family fun too.
I picked up
Forbidden Island on a scratch & dent sale for almost nothing. Haven't played yet, but there isn't much to it.
From what I've gathered
Ticket To Ride is probably the most popular one for family and introducing people who think boardgames are all monopoly 'n shit to the good stuff.
I suffer from Monopoly anxiety. I cannot think of many other games I dread more to hear requested to be played than Monopoly, which is a lie because 99.9% of "party games" fall into realm of dread too.
Forbidden Island first, Forbidden Desert later, as it adds some new mechanics
For the Carcassonne series, start with My First Carcassonne (aka Kids of Carcassonne) and then work your way into either the basic Carc with no expansions, or Hunters & Gatherers, before you start adding expansions to Carc.
Ditto Ticket to Ride - the base game is fantastic as a starter for new players. Don't start jumping in with Europe / Switzerland / Asia at first.
My recommendation is start with the base game, then get the Swiss game next b/c it plays well with a small number
I'd steer clear of Smallworld, the Adventurers games, and M&M to start with until they've got a better grounding in the other games. Adventurers in particular has about 4 different game mechanics on a single board that make for a fun adventure, but can be a lot to learn for a first foray into euro-style gaming.
The adventures games?
But, but Smallworld looks and sounds so awesome!
Quote from: Bison on July 23, 2015, 09:06:43 AM
The adventures games?
He's referring to "The Adventurers" game I mentioned. I'd still recommend it - it's not that difficult to get into.
Oh I see. Clearly I need to read more carefully. :)
Well the flgs had a 25% of deal on games today. Must have been my lucky day. Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, and Smallworld all now waiting to be broken out and played.
Takenoko is actually pretty good, and kids will love the Panda mini.
Depending on how cool the kids are with competition of a more vicious variety, maybe check out Survive : Escape From Atlantis. You assemble an island in the center of the board out of tiles, then populate it with the survivors of the players. On each player's turn, they get 3 movement points, with the goal being getting the most survivors to the islands in the 4 corners of the board. After that, you take one of the board tiles and flip it, starting with the beach tiles, then the jungle ones, and finally the mountains (they grow in thickness, so the island gets kind of a 3D effect once it's built). Those tiles will put sharks and whales on the board to join the sea monsters that begin the game in place, as well as empty boats and whirlpools. Some allow a player to keep them to use on a later turn, getting extra movement or defense against a shark or whale. Finally, the player rolls the creature die. If a whale comes up, any whale on the board can be moved up to 1-3 spaces...if they move into a space with a boat that has passengers, they smash the boat and cast the people into the water. If a shark comes up, any shark on the board moves 1-2 spaces...if they move into a space with swimmers, they eat them. If a sea monster comes up, any sea monster can move 1 space, annihilating anything they encounter. One of the mountain tiles has a picture of a volcano on the back. When it's flipped, the game ends. Count up the point values everyone's survivors who reached corner island have on their bases...highest total wins (or you can just go with the person who saved the most of their people).
That's literally every rule of the game. There are also a few mini-expansions that expand it to 5-6 players, add dolphins and dive dice that totally randomize creature movement, or add giant squid to the game. I've played this with friends, with my nieces and nephews, and with other family, and everyone loves it. It might be my single favorite board game ever.
Quote from: Arctic Blast on July 24, 2015, 01:04:46 AM
Takenoko is actually pretty good, and kids will love the Panda mini.
This one is on the short list. I watched some how to play it videos on youtube and it seems like something that they'd enjoy.
Well I've been instructed to put the following material on the shortlist of next family game purchases.
Ticket to Ride 1910 expansion
Small World Be Not Afraid and Grand Dames. Apparently there are just not enough girl races to beat me down with in the game.
King of Tokyo
I'm also putting Marco Polo and Castles of Burgundy on the list.
When I was investigating Ticket To Ride, the saw the 1910 expansion repeatedly recommended with the original game purchase.
My other half (whatever her relation is to me at the moment) just will not play "strategy" games but she likes card games (Uno, hearts, spades, etc) so the challenge was to find something that she would play, my 16yr old would play and that I wouldn't be absolutely bored with. I can't do too much luck and their *must* be some strategy involved.
We tried Catan. Bored us all to tears.
Tried Carcassone. I was ok with it, but the son and Tanya didn't care for it.
Tried Pandemic and I thought it was ok. My 16yr old really dug it. Tanya was "meh".
Might try Ticket to Ride as I think that would be something she'd like but I'm looking for a decently priced used copy I think first just to be sure because it may bore me to tears.
Also, not a Eurogame/Ameritrash game by any stretch and it's also not Monopoly but we all do enjoy Rummikub which a set is dirt cheap. FWIW.
Maybe Dominions or Splendor would be a good option.
Splendor is on my shortlist for the family gaming shelf.
Quote from: Nefaro on August 02, 2015, 05:42:00 PM
When I was investigating Ticket To Ride, the saw the 1910 expansion repeatedly recommended with the original game purchase.
It adds a bunch of additional destination tickets which I can see being beneficial because there are only a few that go certain places so you "know" if an opponent starts to take certain railroads. It also adds a couple of other ways to play the game like only routes to/from big city to big city. Also it replaces the original card decks with larger cards. I don't find the mini cards annoying, but I can see how some might like a more traditional standard sized card.
With my girls and wife we have had a few family favorites over the past few years.
Ticket to Ride
Smash Up with its expansions
Dominion and expansions
Run Fight or Die
Kung Fu Fighting
Incan Gold
Catan
Hey! That's my Fish (seems like a nice friendly game, but goes cutthroat really fast)
I've actually looked at Smash Up a few times.
The only problem with Smash Up as a family game is that you're constantly doing number crunching. The situation at each of the base cards is in a constant state of flux because every single card manipulates the rules and card values. If you're going to be playing with younger kids, they might get frustrated. Hell, I sometimes get frustrated with it.
Hey! That's My Fish is a great family game that's surprisingly cutthroat and really simple. If that looks interesting, you might also want to check out Battle Sheep. It isn't any more complicated, and the pieces are nice and weighty bakelite with an art style that kids will like.
Quote from: GJK on August 02, 2015, 08:23:23 PM
My other half (whatever her relation is to me at the moment) just will not play "strategy" games but she likes card games (Uno, hearts, spades, etc) so the challenge was to find something that she would play, my 16yr old would play and that I wouldn't be absolutely bored with. I can't do too much luck and their *must* be some strategy involved.
I think most of us hardcore games completely understand the divide.
Perhaps you can find one that fits her style, is simple to learn, but still has some newer mechanics that could hold your attention better than those old creaky things..
I'd recommend Paperback (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/141572/paperback), as an example. It's like a Scrabble card game, but it's a deck-builder. So instead of randomly drawing letter tiles you actually 'purchase' cards from the public offer and add them to your own personal deck, therefore actively choosing what letters you will get in your future draws along with the occasional extra 'boost' ability of a few. At least it requires more advanced planning than most of the oldies. I think the normal rules are approximately four small pages long, plus some optionals, so there's nothing to it.
If cards are her hook, maybe some of the easier deck-builders would fly between all three of you? The Paperback suggestion was just the first easy one that sprung to mind which also doesn't really have much of a theme or anything too scary/fancy.
Quote from: Arctic Blast on August 02, 2015, 10:20:53 PM
The only problem with Smash Up as a family game is that you're constantly doing number crunching. The situation at each of the base cards is in a constant state of flux because every single card manipulates the rules and card values. If you're going to be playing with younger kids, they might get frustrated. Hell, I sometimes get frustrated with it.
I've given a little thought to this downside. I may try using poker chips or tokens (one color per player) to keep track of the totals at each base and adjust as each change happens. Simple quick-look to see who has the tallest stack. Or just use scratch paper, which might be easier. Smash Up still looks like a lot of family-level fun, I just haven't got it to the table yet (amongst others).
Cap Darwin mentioned Run, Fight, or Die. I did play that once. Fun & fairly easy game but I'm on the fence about it's group play. It seemed like it was just each person rolling dice and doing their own solo thing, one at a time. There may be a little gameplay interaction but we didn't see any that I recall. Like three people playing their own dice game. :-\ I also have Ancient Terrible Things, another dice game albeit a bit meatier, but I fear it may end up being the same to some extent. I know it
does have numerous stuff you can use on other players, though.
Quote from: Nefaro on August 02, 2015, 11:38:59 PM
Quote from: GJK on August 02, 2015, 08:23:23 PM
My other half (whatever her relation is to me at the moment) just will not play "strategy" games but she likes card games (Uno, hearts, spades, etc) so the challenge was to find something that she would play, my 16yr old would play and that I wouldn't be absolutely bored with. I can't do too much luck and their *must* be some strategy involved.
I think most of us hardcore games completely understand the divide.
Perhaps you can find one that fits her style, is simple to learn, but still has some newer mechanics that could hold your attention better than those old creaky things..
My decision to move toward family friendly games was simple. I could either sit and stare at my collection of ASL, Combat Commander, and Panzer every day or I could actually play games. I have hopes that eventually I'll get the oldest interested in playing C&C Ancients or perhaps even Panzer or C&C, but in the mean time I get to play a board game now everyday. I'm looking at getting GMT's Manoeuvre as an entry level wargame.
Manoeuvre is an excellent starter wargame, especially if the players are already familiar w/ Chess, because the grid map is so similar.
Other decent starter wargames (some of which are a little harder to find)
Tank on Tank from LNLP
Hold The Line from Worthington
Dogfight from Bucephalus Games
Bison, check out some of the Table Top videos. Much of what they play are casual, "family friendly" games. The playthroughs will give you a decent feel for the games and the videos are usually pretty entertaining. Will Wheaton is a knowledgeable gamer and he gets some cool guests to game with him.
http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/ (http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/)
Quote from: Bison on August 03, 2015, 12:27:22 PM
My decision to move toward family friendly games was simple. I could either sit and stare at my collection of ASL, Combat Commander, and Panzer every day or I could actually play games. I have hopes that eventually I'll get the oldest interested in playing C&C Ancients or perhaps even Panzer or C&C, but in the mean time I get to play a board game now everyday. I'm looking at getting GMT's Manoeuvre as an entry level wargame.
I have never played it, but I got the impression that the WW2 game, which uses the C&C game mechanics, is a bit easier draw for the newbies. I suppose since it has actual minis and, therefore, looks better? In that case the civil war one,
Battle Cry may be the easiest despite the varied terrain.
Memoir 44 is the WW2 version of the C&C system. It's on the shortlist, but I want to intentionally expose them to a wargame without minis.
Quote from: mirth on August 03, 2015, 02:15:14 PM
Bison, check out some of the Table Top videos. Much of what they play are casual, "family friendly" games. The playthroughs will give you a decent feel for the games and the videos are usually pretty entertaining. Will Wheaton is a knowledgeable gamer and he gets some cool guests to game with him.
http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/ (http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/)
I've got mixed feelings about the tabletop program. I don't really want to get off topic here but go to the 4:56 mark and just watch. I wanted to reach through my monitor and slap Will upside the head.
I've seen this happen on a few episodes now. It's irritating. If you find something that offensive Will don't play the game. It's easy.
Quote from: Bison on August 03, 2015, 05:34:22 PM
I've got mixed feelings about the tabletop program. I don't really want to get off topic here but go to the 4:56 mark and just watch. I wanted to reach through my monitor and slap Will upside the head.
I've seen this happen on a few episodes now. It's irritating. If you find something that offensive Will don't play the game. It's easy.
I've only watched a few with games I actually want to play. Most of them are Euros or Family games. So I haven't seen most of the episodes.
But I definitely agree about stopping the game to moralize about some components. It's a goddamn game with historical themes. Which, to me, means that people bitching about pieces/cards representing slaves hundreds or thousands of years ago are attempting to whitewash away the realities of human civilization's past, and historical reality in general.
Dunno about you guys, but I haven't owned any slaves. So I also don't want to hear people preach about how offended they are when they see some historical reference to them. Yes, we already know it was bad so STFU.
There were some other recent game reviews I've seen, regarding games in a historical setting, where the writer made huge complaints about the inclusion of slaves and similar things. These PC indoctrinated jackanapes give me the impression they don't think anyone else knows such things were cruel instituations and that we'd all start doing it all over again if Mister Crusader didn't run around bitching about getting all mention of them removed. ::)
Sorry for the rant. The PC wannabe-brainwasher crowd gets my blood up sometimes. :knuppel2:
I'm pretty offended that there are white, black, yellow, and red pieces in games. I'm basically offended by all of the potential racial undertones. Is what I was expecting to hear come out of his mouth next. Sad really that we cannot even have historically thematic games, even those with a very thin veneer of historical context, without it becoming a political issue. And Five Tribes is not a historical or political game beyond it's thin historical theme.
Anyway, I found another let's play that didn't annoy me within 5 minutes and I'm not sure I see the excitement that Five Tribes has generated on BBG.
Five Tribes is...okay. The problem is that you can't really plan your moves ahead of time because the board state is constantly shifting. If you play with anyone who takes a while to process a turn, this simple game will bog down into a never-ending death march. The cool part is that there are a ton of different things to go after for points. The bad part is that you may witness the passing of an actual epoch of time before the game is over.
Incidentally, there was such a hissy fit over the slave cards that they've been replaced in the reprints by Fakir cards. I'm amazed that nobody complained at all about the fact that one of the tribes are assassins who 'kill' other pawns.
Not surprising I guess.
Quote from: Arctic Blast on August 03, 2015, 10:34:33 PM
I'm amazed that nobody complained at all about the fact that one of the tribes are assassins who 'kill' other pawns.
And then there is the cherry picking such people do, as noted here.
:tickedoff:
I've played Five Tribes 3 times with my lunch game group, and I thinks that's enough times to know I don't like it. Doesn't do it for me. Kind of like Seasons - a bunch of neat concepts in a box, but not really a good game that's tied together from end-to-end.
Well King of Tokyo is in cue for the next game to have a place on the family gaming shelf. It fits a need we have for a game that involves a lot of dice rolling.
I try to take Table Top with a grain of salt. I'm not terribly interested in most of the games they play and yeah Wil Wheaton can be an overly PC knob sometimes. Generally I find most of the episodes entertaining and I don't mind learning about games I wouldn't typically play myself (turns out the casual/Eurogame style is kinda popular :P).
I also think the show is good for the hobby in general. There's a tie-in with Target and you can frequently find games played on TT in-stock at Target. It's nice to see a major retailer carrying boardgames outside of the usual mix of Monopoly, Yahtzee, etc.
I just watched the TT playthrough of Legendary. Seriously considering picking it up to play with my kids.
I understand where you're coming from Mirth the episodes can be informative. I just find Will to be a bit smarmy too and to be honest I'd rather watch a video of some random guy with poor camera work but excited about the game.
On topic: I'm also considering Legendary Marvel and the Dark City expansion. It looks like it'd be fun both solo and co-op with the kids. Plus it has Captain America, which basically acknowledges it's going to be awesome.
Wil Wheaton's far less annoying now than he was as Wesley Crusher, so I tend to give him a pass. Some of his guests on Table Top are pretty cool.
Guardians Expansion for Marvel Legendary. I'm sold.
http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Legendary-Guardians-Galaxy-Board/dp/B00O80XXRK/ref=pd_bxgy_21_text_y
Quote from: Bison on August 05, 2015, 06:38:32 PM
Well King of Tokyo is in cue for the next game to have a place on the family gaming shelf. It fits a need we have for a game that involves a lot of dice rolling.
We enjoyed King of Tokyo numerous times. It's a good "designer" family game, although I felt that it often ended a bit
too quickly.
I've since picked up other dice games for the same purpose, but have only played one once (Run, Fight, or Die) and have yet to try the others with the wide age ranges (Bang! Dice Game, Ancient Terrible Things).
Quote from: mirthI just watched the TT playthrough of Legendary. Seriously considering picking it up to play with my kids.
Marvel Legendary is fairly easy for some of the under 10s to play. It's also an enjoyable light solitaire game for when you don't want to keep track of too much fidgetry. Just keep in mind that most of the gameplay doesn't involve direct confrontation between players, which can be good or bad depending on who you play it with, so you're collecting points for the win. The
Alien one is co-op, but is a bit more mechanically involved.
Whenever I give my boardgame addicted 8-year old nephew a choice of which game he wants to play, it's almost always the FFG reprint of
Dungeonquest. I had actually played my 80s version with a large group of family members, including his parents, a few years ago and they all seemed to enjoy even that old one. (Must be due to few decisions and a lot of luck being involved, for the less hardcore gamers.) Occasionally the kids wants to play the old
Star Wars Minis stuff from WotC or the remake of
Conquest Of The Empire. I also keep getting requests for Queen Games'
Shogun, but I'm not sure if he can handle all the pre-turn hidden card placement/planning well just yet. If that kid had his way, he'd be at my game table every day.
Well I just bit on the Legendary core set and the Guardians expansion. The kids are big into Marvel superheroes right now, so I'm sure they'll dig the game.
^ Excellent!