What a great thread! My sons and I are anxious to jump into War of the Ring, but I'm also looking for suggestions that the whole family can play. There are 5 of us, but so many games are 4 players max. Youngest is 9, but she does well playing games above her age. 7 Wonders is a hit in our house, but we need something new.

If you need War of the Ring help, just ask. It's a phenomenal design, but there is a lot of rules overhead and that first play can be rough!

AgLaw02 said:

---

What a great thread! My sons and I are anxious to jump into War of the Ring, but I'm also looking for suggestions that the whole family can play. There are 5 of us, but so many games are 4 players max. Youngest is 9, but she does well playing games above her age. 7 Wonders is a hit in our house, but we need something new.

---

War of the Ring is a great game...but you may not want to finish it in one sitting. It will take you a couple of games to get all the rules right.

For a fun family game, try Quacks if Quedlinburg...it has a nice blend of strategy and randomness which will level the playing field.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162110258/darkest-dungeon-the-board-game/description

I'm very excited about this one...

ttt

Can you guys recommend some neat horror games? I've played Arkham, mysterium, atmosfear, betrayl, escape the dear castle, **** like that. I really like retro games and vhs board games.

Horror is not really my thing but Mansions of Madness 2nd edition may fit. Really fun cooperative game. App assisted, stand alone scenarios, varying lengths and some get rather lengthy.

Depends on how serious you like your horror, it I have heard good thinks about Abomination and Horrified. I think Nemesis has been well regarded and is basically Aliens the board game.

There is a podcast and YouTube channel called The Secret Cabal and they are all big fans of horror movies. Every year around Halloween they will generally focus on games in that space.

My wife and my friends really enjoy the aforementioned Mansions of Madness 2nd edition.

And I also love the Secret Cabal's insubordinate nonsense!

Thanks Fleff!

"Terraforming Mars" is a great game. Plays differently every time.

Anyone play anything new over Christmas?

Got to try out Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Fantastic game. Played a single match and within 3 minutes had a copy on the way to my own house.

Also played Cosmic Encounters. Also very fun but definitely need a more heavier crunchy game loving group of people. I played with casual gamers and though we enjoyed it a lot, they lost interest after the first round and went back to Betrayal.

Good stuff all around.

Y'all?

Nothing crunchy, got Codenames and Pandemic: HotZone, which is basically a shrunk down pandemic(3 diseases, only North America map, supposedly plays in a half hour). Hoping that can be a good gateway to get friends into pandemic with that shorter play time

If no one has played it, I do enjoy Arkham Horror the Card Game. It can be single player or up to 4 people. They have several cycles out. A cycle consists of the main expansion to start and then 6 mythos packs (or scenarios). You can change the difficulty based on the contains of the chaos bag (skill altering coins) which makes for great re-playability.

Before kids (2 and a half, 18 months, and one on the way), I played this every Friday night with a couple buddies. Not as easy to get together now, but it's a great game. I love the ongoing story in each campaign and how your decisions and performance affect the rest of the scenarios. We still aren't great at deck building. We also play Mansions of Madness on occasion for a change of pace to do a whole story in one sitting.

Picked up The Crew card game. Cheap and fantastic. Basically a cooperative trick taking game. My family with teenagers absolutely loved it.

My wife and I have gotten into board games a lot during the Pandemic. We are having a lot of fun with Pandemic since it's a cooperative game. I recently picked up Forbidden Desert which is a great one as well. Always down for good 2 player game recommendations that don't break the bank.

Looking at a few others to pick up and was wondering if anyone had tried them:

Pandemic Fall of Rome
Aeons End
Beyond Baker Street (apparently just like Hanabi with a Sherlock Holmes theme)

Also thinking about the following for later on down the road:

Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion
Flashpoint Fire Rescue
Spirit Island

Anyone played any of these?

We've also had a lot of fun with Concordia, Century Golem Edition, and Azul but those aren't coop. I like 7 Wonders Duel and Terraforming Mars as well but my wife isn't as big a fan of those.

Apollo

AggieDub14 said:

---

My wife and I have gotten into board games a lot during the Pandemic. We are having a lot of fun with Pandemic since it's a cooperative game. I recently picked up Forbidden Desert which is a great one as well. Always down for good 2 player game recommendations that don't break the bank.

Looking at a few others to pick up and was wondering if anyone had tried them:

Pandemic Fall of Rome
Aeons End
Beyond Baker Street (apparently just like Hanabi with a Sherlock Holmes theme)

Also thinking about the following for later on down the road:

Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion
Flashpoint Fire Rescue
Spirit Island

Anyone played any of these?

We've also had a lot of fun with Concordia, Century Golem Edition, and Azul but those aren't coop. I like 7 Wonders Duel and Terraforming Mars as well but my wife isn't as big a fan of those.

---

Pandemic FoR is just a reskinned version of the original. Getting my history-averse wife to play that one would be tough when we could just play Pandemic. If you want an interesting twist on Pandemic, try Pandemic Legacy. It's the same game, but changes each time you play it.

Small Wonder is one the wife and I had a lot of fun with as well.

Cosmic Encouter Duel is a pretty good heads up game that involves a lot of bluffing and strategy coupled with a silly alien theme.

One of my favorite games I've played recently...

Also looking for recommendations for any good 2 player board games. Wife and I have been playing a lot of Patchwork, Kingdomino, and Ticket to Ride (all of which are on the lighter side, but I'd definitely recommend them) lately and looking for some new games.

Fall of Rome, Flash Point, and Spirit Island are all twists on the pandemic system in my mind. They are all good, but so similar. Spirit Island my favorite cooperative game in that escalation/mitigation puzzle type game.

Pandemic Legacy Season 1 is a very good story version and experience worth having. I hated season 2.

The other games you mentioned would be all worthwhile journeys into new styles of coop games. And while I haven't played Jaws of the Lion yet, Gloomhaven is an amazing game.

Dan 07 said:

---

Also looking for recommendations for any good 2 player board games. Wife and I have been playing a lot of Patchwork, Kingdomino, and Ticket to Ride (all of which are on the lighter side, but I'd definitely recommend them) lately and looking for some new games.

---

7 Wonders Duel is a good one. Concordia is one of our favorites and can be played with more.

tamuangry said:

---

AgLaw02 said:

---

What a great thread! My sons and I are anxious to jump into War of the Ring, but I'm also looking for suggestions that the whole family can play. There are 5 of us, but so many games are 4 players max. Youngest is 9, but she does well playing games above her age. 7 Wonders is a hit in our house, but we need something new.

---

War of the Ring is a great game...but you may not want to finish it in one sitting. It will take you a couple of games to get all the rules right.

For a fun family game, try Quacks if Quedlinburg...it has a nice blend of strategy and randomness which will level the playing field.

---

We've played several games of War of the Ring, and my sons still ask for more. The first couple games went slowly and we had to reference the rule book frequently, but it wasn't overwhelming. I can't get over how thematic it is. It's very well designed.

My family also got Wingspan for Christmas, and we all enjoy it. It's a good game for up to 5 people. Everyone competes for the high score, but each player is somewhat independent, so you aren't working against each other. That helps the younger ones enjoy it. My 9 year old has finished last each game, but she enjoys it and does just fine.

Quacks has been an instant winner for us. Its easy to pick up, get to collect prizes after each round, and hopefully watch your friends potions blow up. The Youtube channel Shut Up & Sit Down calls it the Mario Kart of board games and whoever is in last place does get a special advantage similar to blue shells.

Wingspan is amazing but I will preface that by saying Im a huge bird fan and would enjoy the game if I just got to read the fun facts on the 170 North American bird cards

Played The Chameleon over Christmas break which is similar to Codenames but with a bit of bluffing added it so in my mind it completely replaces Codenames.

Hoping to find a used game of Sheriff of Nottingham, King of Toyko, or Hive Pocket at Half Price Books in the next year.

Beyond Baker Street is an instant hit with my wife and I. Limited communication co-op game. Sherlock Holmes theme. You give clues to your partner(s) about the cards they have. You can't look at your own cards but have to play them just right to achieve 4 objectives. It takes some thinking. Very different mechanics from other co-op games we have.

Dead of Winter actually makes for a GREAT co-op, 2-player game. Several scenarios to play, some very short, some really long. That and Pandemic are the two my wife and I play most often. We own Flash Point, but haven't ever gotten into it as much as these other two, but I suspect once our boys get a little older, it'll make for a great family game.

Dude Perfect is dropping a Game Night Stereotypes video tonight.

I am a big fan of the Dice Tower YouTube channel and while I don't watch it as often as I use to, I still love their top ten videos and top 100 games of all time series.

They just released the top 100 and while most of the games I have heard of, Tom had a brand new game in his top 20 called Adventure Tactics. It releases to the masses next week. It is a game he plays with two of his younger kids that he somewhat compares to Gloomhaven, although much simpler. Obviously it caught my attention and thought I would share so others could check it out.

Goldie Wilson said:

---

Also looking for recommendations for any good 2 player board games. Wife and I have been playing a lot of Patchwork, Kingdomino, and Ticket to Ride (all of which are on the lighter side, but I'd definitely recommend them) lately and looking for some new games.

---

If you're looking to get something that's still Euro and a bit meatier, give Agricola a shot. Lots of interesting choices to make.

I'm a bigger fan of Uwe's Le Havre, but Agricola is typically better regarded.

tallgrant said:

---

Goldie Wilson said:

---

Also looking for recommendations for any good 2 player board games. Wife and I have been playing a lot of Patchwork, Kingdomino, and Ticket to Ride (all of which are on the lighter side, but I'd definitely recommend them) lately and looking for some new games.

---

If you're looking to get something that's still Euro and a bit meatier, give Agricola a shot. Lots of interesting choices to make.

I'm a bigger fan of Uwe's Le Havre, but Agricola is typically better regarded.

---

One of my friends once described the feeling after playing Agricola as the same as if you just took a really hard math test, and I agree. I get why it's a great game, and that it was way ahead of its time, but I've literally never had fun for an instant while playing it.

Pman17 said:

---

Dude Perfect is dropping a Game Night Stereotypes video tonight.

---

Link fail.

Quote:

---

I've literally never had fun for an instant while playing it.

---

Best possible endorsement on BGG. What a review!

Probably a fun question to ask after all the Gamestop stock madness- are there any other 18XX players here?

Ooh I'm interested too. I've always wanted to play but I just don't live in an area where I can get enough people to jump in with me.

Also, was wondering about a CCG/TCG/LCG/whatever that I could play casually on the cheap with a kid. I'm assuming that's Pokmon's wheelhouse, but also know there's the discontinued Transformers game. Any ideas?

I played the transformers game with my kids. It is a very basic but decent CCG. I enjoyed it but burned out after we did a tournament over thanksgiving in 2019.

Depending on the kid's age I think Marvel LCG is really good.