What games should I have?

[Steve]

I second this, Chaos in the old world is one of my favorites. Gets a huge plus from a fast setup. The aesthetics might be a problem for people who mind the grimdark Warhammer chaos stuff.

There are people who mind the grim dark Warhammer Chaos stuff?

It's not exactly family game material.

 

[Gragt]

Nonsense. I always get the box out after dinner and one of my sons claims that when he's a grown-up he wants to be just like Nurgle.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Arkham Horror. Games can be long, though.

 

[Dickie]

Arkham Horror. Games can be long, though.

I keep this game in a tacklebox with each deck in a different slot to make setup faster. Without that, you better get another game to play while people set up Arkham Horror.

I've had great luck introducing people to board games starting with Castle Panic, especially with the Wizard's Tower expansion. It's not the most complex game there is, but it's quite fun.

 

[Minttunator]

A few of my favourite board games - these are all fairly popular, so they should be easy to find at your FLGS:

Can't go wrong with the classics: Chess, Go
Fairly simple introductory games, fun at parties: Dominion, Ticket to Ride
Medium complexity, some more strategy/thinking involved: Power Grid, Caylus
Complex/hardcore, games typically take 6+ hours: (Age of) Steam, Game of Thrones

 

[Galdred]

Don't go too heavy on the German school of peaceful board gaming. A Board gamer that has fallen to the dark side of non violent optimization game is very hard to get back to the light side of conflict themed games :

I'd suggest (games with a star were GF approved, so they might work in a family setting):
- Nexus Ops (one of the most focused dudes on a map game)
* Summoner Wars (excellent 1v1 tactical game with a strong focus on hand management)
* Chaos in the Old World (it sucks with 3 players. Don't do this! Very good with 4+ , though)
- Descent v2 for Dungeon crawling (many players seem to highly consider Level 7-Omega Protocol, but I have not tried it myself).
* BattleStar Galactica : My prefered coop game by a large margin. Loyalists vs traitors done right. It plays better with 5 IMO
* Android : Netrunner (very good 2 players LCG)
- Game of Thrones (the problem I have with this one is that all games look the same after the 20th. That said, it's still a solid number of playthroughs!)
- Eclipse? (this one is an hybrid between a German and Ameritrash game. I found it cool at first, but I find it somewhat lacks subtlety).

My prefered ones are Starcraft (out of print, and FFG does not hold the licence anymore) and Descent V1 + Road To Legend + about 30 pages of houserules (but Descent v2 is a good substitute). They are both out of print, which is very sad for Starcraft

 

[Cosmic Misogynerd]

Sorry if I hijack this fine thread but. Any single-player board game that my Codex bros could recommend? I already own Arkham Horror and Elder Sign, but I would like to expand my options. I play alone those games while crying (my girlfriend doesn't like board games, and neither my RL friends).

If possible, something dungeon-crawlerish. I was tempted on getting Descent or Talisman, but I need another person to play them.

Spoiler

 

[Cosmic Misogynerd]

Also, single player PnP pliz.

 

[Cosmic Misogynerd]

Spoiler

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Has anyone here played Relic?

 

[ColCol]

Sorry if I hijack this fine thread but. Any single-player board game that my Codex bros could recommend? I already own Arkham Horror and Elder Sign, but I would like to expand my options. I play alone those games while crying (my girlfriend doesn't like board games, and neither my RL friends).

If possible, something dungeon-crawlerish. I was tempted on getting Descent or Talisman, but I need another person to play them.

Spoiler

I heard the recent pathfinder adventure card game can be played solitaire style. Also, this video should discuss some single player games.


http://paullicino.tumblr.com/post/14638020425/shut-up-sit-down-episode-7-the-christmas-climax

 

[Dickie]

Sorry if I hijack this fine thread but. Any single-player board game that my Codex bros could recommend? I already own Arkham Horror and Elder Sign, but I would like to expand my options. I play alone those games while crying (my girlfriend doesn't like board games, and neither my RL friends).

If possible, something dungeon-crawlerish. I was tempted on getting Descent or Talisman, but I need another person to play them.

Spoiler

Have you posted in the recommendations forum at Board Game Geek? Just make sure you point out that you don't mean games that haven't been printed in 30 years that you can only get for $200 on ebay.

For suggestions, I'd say Thunderbolt Apache Leader is quite a good solitaire game, but it's not a dungeon crawler. It's my current favorite game. I would forget about Talisman completely. I don't think there are any great solitaire dungeon crawlers yet. The only ones I can even think of are Mice and Mystics or the D&D adventure games like Wrath of Ashardalon. I found Mice and Mystics terrible, but the D&D games are pretty good. Space Hulk: Death Angel gives you the feeling of leading your guys through a perilous dungeon and watching them die horribly. If you want the feeling of watching your guy get better and better over time, check out Mage Knight Board Game.

 

[Cosmic Misogynerd]

Thanks for your suggestions bros.

 

[Galdred]

You can play Mage Knights : The board game solo. It is pretty epic, and very puzzly, if you are into RPG Puzzles with a touch of deckbuilding. It might be a bit complex (2h to play solo, +1h per extra player), but I had god fun with it.

 

[Dickie]

Thanks for your suggestions bros.

I meant to tell you to also check out "A Lonesome Gamer plays" videos on Youtube to get an idea of how lots of games play solo.

http://www.youtube.com/user/callasmar/videos?flow=grid&view=1

 

[Don Peste]

I've bought Arkham Horror (English) for 34€ http://www.amazon.es/gp/aw/d/1589942108 (I don't know about international shipping)

 

[Telengard]

Also, single player PnP pliz.

A game I used to solo a lot - Outdoor Survival (intended for 1-4 players). It's old, but cheap.
I also enjoyed Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective for a while. Not quite so cheap.

Also Always alone... the definitive list of single player games.

Some of the Lone Wolf solo game books are available free
Now I shall be a little lulzy: Singe Player Pathfinder.