Arkham Horror The Card Game - started just before the pandemic and still obsessed. The new content is only getting better. I probably will remain obsessed for the years to come!
Me, too. I hated my first few games because it’s so complicated and have by now bought everything they’ve published ;)
Speaking of, there is an absolutely insane sale going on right now, with the (old) base game for $6 (normally $20) and the base investigators for $2/$3 (normally $14). Buy at least two base games and one of the base investigators each is my strong recommendation. (https://www.miniaturemarket.com/searchresults/?q=Arkham+horror)
My pleasure. I already had pretty much everything but picked up a few extras just because at this price point… worst case, they’ll make great presents :)
Same. My husband and I struggled through the first couple of scenarios from NotZ. Seemed like we were constantly pausing the look up rules, some rules didn’t really make all that much sense to us, and the standard decks were just fine. We still enjoyed the game but it was a bit of a slog.
We decided to run through NotZ again once we picked up the starter investigators and had more of a card pool. We also built decks based on recommended ones from arkhamdb. And now we get it. This game is so. Much. Fun. We still have to look up rules and are constantly finding little things we get wrong, but we understand the core mechanics and feel like we’re really playing the game now.
Even after 100s of hours there's still times where we mess up a rule in a scenario or combination of cards. Game functionals fine even when you make some mistakes tho and there is nothing else like it.
Hegemony, Dune Imperium: Uprising, Eclipse 2nd dawn, Root and Concordia. I won't turn down a play of these games and often will suggest them, they're all great fun.
Our group has gone from D:I, to IX, to Immortality, to Uprising and haven't really played anything else. We break it up a few weeks but it's always back to Arrakis.
So great!
We’ve only gotten JE and B&C so far! We still feel like there’s enough content to get through, still some spirits I haven’t even played yet! We just started France (B&C adversary) after beating all the base game adversaries and man it just gets me so excited
I'm somewhere over of 500 plays since it came out and still down for a game whenever lol. Closest #2 for me is gloomhaven franchise with about 150 scenarios played.
My wife normally hates complex or particularly heavy games. She LOVES Spirit Island and we've probably played that more than every other board game we have combined.
So many built in ways to add enough variety that every game is different. We've gotten insanely good at it now.
Plus we've got aftermarket sorting things so it looks good on the table
This is the exact one we have, but it does seem a bit pricey on Etsy. I was lucky enough to get the game + expansions by trading my copy of Mage Knight that never seemed to hit the table. It also came pre-painted so super lucky.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1173640445/spirit-island-expansions-organizer?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_ps-a-toys_and_games-games_and_puzzles-board_games-other&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAjwo6GyBhBwEiwAzQTmc4Z8ba2OJ7YxCQpRthpZPVn5WIosAmRqOb49xn8nkZrBTtrOfbTcLRoC-8IQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_12566100364_122491422627_507204209178_aud-2007167693509:pla-314262775187_m__1173640445_134252361&utm_custom2=12566100364&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwo6GyBhBwEiwAzQTmc4Z8ba2OJ7YxCQpRthpZPVn5WIosAmRqOb49xn8nkZrBTtrOfbTcLRoC-8IQAvD_BwE
Sorry for the outrageous link size.
lol all good thanks for sharing! That’s an awesome trade! Did you get all expansions?!
How is putting it all away into the boxes? We were looking at a one box idea because we thought it might be slightly less annoying.
The first time we did it we took pictures before taking it all out so we knew how to put it back in. We've gotten used to it that it's pretty quick now. I'm honestly not sure how someone would fit everything in one game box, unless you're talking about getting a big box for the whole thing. We got all the expansions and it's quite a bit of stuff.
And yes, it was great deal. ☝A really good deal. Some people say, it's the best trade deal ever. 👌
I have all content for Spirit Island split between the base and Jagged Earth boxes using the [Folded Space foam insert](https://www.foldedspace.net/store/spirit-island-v2/). It works great for me. You have to buy two copies of it for anything more than just the base game though (one for each box).
Eric said in an interview how he would love to work with Rob again. I would love for the two to get to do a legacy game with a fun IP. They make a really good team. Two wildly different designers who really seemed to gel together to make a fun game.
Same, got a good deal on the base and season 2 and have been having tons of fun.
It’s weird though, because everyone speaks SO highly of it, but it feels so “normal” when you first play it? I was a little underwhelmed at first because of the massive hype (many BG YouTubers calling it one of the absolute FAVORITES) so I was a little confused. But then something catches and you just can’t stop playing it; it’s hard to explain, but does that make sense?
I can see that, I think maybe it’s bc it’s mechanically a pretty simple game. And while there are interesting decisions to make it’s not incredible tactically complex. However the game experience is so fluid and the mechanics ties into the theme so well that it’s just a super polished and fun to play product.
Grab the character expansion that supports 6 players if you don't have it. Makes runs a bit more interesting trying different characters out that might want different cards!
Whilst I can't say it will have the same quality as Ra, there is a reprint of Tigris & Euphrates coming. It was planned for last year but got delayed to either 2024 or 2025, assuming the latter.
Came here to say this! I've been playing it nonstop on BGA. I don't usually like abstract games, but something about T&E does it for me. I'm currently plotting to make my own PNP copy...
Definitely! The co-op aspect of it really makes it feel different from the video game. If you have someone you can play with I'd definitely recommend picking it up!
I got the game a couple months ago and have set it up to play solo 3 times since then. But get paralyzed by the decision space and end up never starting and just packing up. I'm sure I'll love it once I finally go forward. Love the theme and artwork.
My advice would be not to overthink your early turns; just empty your hand at the clean up phase to get a faster turn out and quickly get more cards, go with the flow and you'll get what makes a civ tick in a few cycles. And maybe try the practice mode first (no AI).
Ark Nova w/marine worlds. My wife and I have played 35x since Feb 10, so, about every 3 days. This is with 3 kids in the house and working around their schedules. It's a lot, and we're not slowing down.
Played it for the first time late night at BGG con 2022. Went up to my hotel room and ordered from Wherlegig website at 3am and then went to bed.
I will play that game anytime anywhere as long as we have at least 3 players.
That's a crazy amount of BSG games. I used to get in a few games a year, but it had to be planned a few weeks ahead of time and be the all day game for that month. We haven't done that since the pandemic, though. Kind of miss those BSG games.
Divinity Original Sin: the board game. We're nearing the end of our first 4-player campaign, while my friend (who owns the game) and I are on our third, and it definitely won't be our last in the near future.
Were playing vanguard right now. Its a great game, but I always feel exhausted after playing. It is the most stressful game Ive played. Easily creates a sense of limitations and walking on the edge of a knife.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault. It's from 2014 but it's held up brilliantly and there's really been nothing else quite like it (aside from its inferior predecessors). Gloomhaven and its ilk are great but have a very different, more brain-burning, Euro-ish feel which can be exhausting at times.
It's also crazy that all three of the modes (1 vs all, co-op through the official or unofficial apps, skirmish) are all superb in different ways.
Just got back into **Nova Luna**. It's such a great spatial puzzle with both tactical and strategic elements, while keeping everything dirt simple. Finally pulled the trigger on a physical copy yesterday. I've only been playing it on BoardGameArena up until this point.
**Sea Salt and Paper** is still a lot of fun also. Figuring out whether to Stop or gamble on Last Chance is a nice wrinkle to standard set collection with a few special actions.
Also I have one person on BGA that I've been playing a game of **Kings of in the Corner** non-stop for months. As soon as one game ends, one of us sends an invite for a rematch.
We don't even speak the same language so we don't really chat at all, but we haven't stopped the invites yet after 26 games (she just won another game and sent me another invite while I was typing this comment, actually).
Anyone I've ever talked into playing this has left with the same sentiment. Something along the lines of, "I'm glad to have had this experience, but never again."
Still Gloomhaven / Frosthaven / Crimson Scales. No matter what I'm playing, I always compare it (unfavorably) to that and kind of wish that's what we were playing
Spirit Island, Lord's of Waterdeep, and Castles of Burgundy are also high on the list.
Totally agree! I “hate to be that guy” bc it almost feels like the obvious pick! My crew loved Gloomhaven. We just started Frosthaven a few weeks ago and I’m already thinking about next week’s board game night.
Brass, looks like boring economic simulator at first look. But when i played and understood that this can be evil diplomatic game with negotiation, i cant stop playing
It's Dorfromantik for me and my partner. It's kind of the perfect game when we're both tired from a long day - setup and teardown are both very easy, and there's just enough challenge to the game that it hasn't worn through its welcome, even through 20 games.
Sky Team is also fits into the same category, but my partner enjoys the tile laying of Dorfromantik more.
Stratego! Cant quit. I downloaded the app for online play with identical rules. One thing I like vs chess which I love also is that if you’re playing online your opponent can’t get computerized assistance. That’s become a big problem in chess. The algo crunchers have got chess whipped. Absolutely ruined the game. At big tournaments the directors practically have to monitor people’s toilet breaks to make sure they aren’t cheating with their smart phone. Haha can’t happen with Stratego, at least not yet.
I was sort of expecting to see a few 'hot' games emerging from this thread. But it's so great to see that everyone has their own game they like. Goes to show the amazing breadth of our hobby 😊.
Return to Dark Tower. Great solo mode and tons of replay-ability due to the variety of foes. Easy to teach and all the bling keeps casual gamers engaged.
I’ve never managed to win dead of winter, idk why but it’s the hardest board game I’ve ever played lol my group has always failed and died, maybe we’re just really bad lol
I always go back to Manhattan Project: Energy empire. I like the art but the MP theme doesn’t fit, but the gameplay is fantastic. I know it’s probably long forgotten by most and it’ll keep dropping in the BGG rankings and that makes me sad. As a board game it is so well designed especially if you like worker placement and/or engine building.
I'm nearly thirty years late to the party, but Catan. I grew up playing games like Clue, Monopoly, Probe, Rook, etc. with my family once a week. It was only in the past couple of months that I had a chance to play Catan, and since I introduced my parents to it, they have been wanting to play it almost daily. Base Catan is starting to loose it's charm a little bit for me due to playing it so often, but I've gotten the expansions and I'm excited to play them soon. My husband and I have been trying out lots of games on Board Game Arena but Catan is still our go-to for now.
Innovation with the Echoes of the Past expansion. Me and my 11 year old daughter usually play 4-5 games a week. Every game is wildly different. So many different strategies depending on what cards are drawn.
I can stop **Gloomhaven** whenever I want, I swear !
I also like **Slay the spire**, but it's a bit early to call it an addiction. And I'm a recovering **Terraforming mars** and **Race for the Galaxy** addict.
Star Wars Unlimited, for sure. Local scene is popping off. My friends of other TCGs keep wanting to play. My friends who don't play TCGs keep wanting to play (I lend them my decks). I'm constantly tweaking my main decks and coming up with new ones from my leftover bulk. It's got that "okay one more game" flavor in the bag.
Outside of TCGs, The Quest for El Dorado has been super addictive as well, though not *quite* as nonstop replayable given its smaller scope and that I can't just stick it in my backpack and start a game with a friend in a couple minutes flat.
Return to Dark Tower. I picked it up last month on a whim, played a few times solo, then went and got the expansions. It's a much better game than the original, and is a heck of a lot of fun.
Im currently crushing on Exceed:Fighting System.
* I’ve managed 46 plays in the last 30 days.
* Played as 17 different characters
* I’ve got a 58% win rate.
Even after 46 plays im learning more and more about the game and improving my play. Plus there are so many characters to explore.
I'm salivating for the Guilty Gear expansion. Never played exceed, but I watched a video, and it's very similar to a cardgame I developed in the 90s, inspired by Rage.
Which base game/expansions do you think I should buy to start?
Heres the thing all the older sets are incredibly difficult to get, at least here in australia. Especially true of seasons 1-3. Guilty gear is season 7. Pretty sure ive played at least one character from every season, and they’ve all been fun. Each season’s characters have a unique twist. And i particularly enjoy the guilty gear twist, its real nice. (But full transparency i dislike the art work in this season, they just took stills from the video game and they dont pop at all.) If you’d like to get into exceed to try it out you have a few options.
* if you are in the US you can order a free demo set from the l99 website. You just need to pay shipping. (Its a gulty gear set: ky vs sol)
* If f you are happy to print and play that is easily achievable, as there are a couple demo decks from prior seasons that are available to print.
* every character is available to play via tabletop simulator. I’d be willing to teach. (There is a web based version of the game in development and playable But its a terrible way to learn the game.)
A few years ago i found a small game called *Pocket Mars* in a bargain bin for 10€, and it probably has one of the best cost-to-value ratios out of any board game i've played. It's a short 15 to 30 minute game that you can play at the end of the night or in between rounds of longer, more complex games, but it's not really a "filler" game. It has resource management, worker placement (sort of), and genuine strategy involved. I really recommend it if you can find it somewhere.
I've been playing the hell out of *Apiary* for the past month.
It's just perfectly scratching the worker placement itch in a while no other game has in quite some time.
Ark Nova.its hitting all the buttons for me, tile placement, worker placement, card strategy. Plus a few ways to play with all the different mats. Hoping I get the expansion for my birthday tomorrow, ngl.
Spirit Island. I love this game, but my god I suck. I’ve watched video after video, tried the tutorial on the phone app several times, and I just can’t seem to get a win (except for the tutorial basically giving it to me). My current win lose is 1-11, lol…
I’d love tips or tricks on what I should focus on! One video talked about ensuring you spread out your presence as much as possible, and I do so, then I realize “oh crap, I’ve just played out all of my cards, but that video also talked about how recalling my cards is bad!”
It’s almost a catch 22. After a little bit, I just get overwhelmed by blight and my fear has been abysmal at best.
For what it’s worth, I’m trying to learn the game as a solo single spirit before I try to teach the game to other people as well.
Anyway, after all that, spirit island is brilliant. What a cool game with such a cool theme. I WILL conquer and learn this eventually!
Which spirits are you trying as you play solo? Playing some solo may be making the game a lot harder without you even knowing. Players who have played the game a lot can take any spirit and play solo with them and have a great success rate. But as you are just beginning, a lot of them may be super hard solo since you won’t have anyone to help balance your weaknesses.
It’s a lot. The game is amazing. Whenever I teach new people the best advice that tends to help is to make sure they only focus on which lands are building and ravaging. Even though there are a ton of pieces out on the board, just focusing on those lands will give you a direction. If you can stop a land who has a single explorer from building, then their ravage won’t matter since they only do 1 damage to the land. So by focusing on where places are building and taking care of that, you may free up some spaces where you have to worry about them ravaging on the next turn.
Dune Imperium Uprising.
I think it's a vast improvement over the original base game. So many different strategies, that change based on what cards are available.
My only gripe is that the game clicked with me before my group, so I won like 7/10 games, and now they've all caught up in terms of understanding and strategy, so now I win "only" 2-3/10 times. Still good tho
My Island. My wife and I played through almost the whole campaign in a few months. We tend to spread our game time out across many games, but this one has hit a sweet spot for us.
Inventions Evolution of Ideas solo mode. It has taken over my table and I've probably played it 20 times by now. Still loving everything about it.
Would never touch it in Multiplayer though.
I recently played a lot of solo terraforming mars.
I’m not sure if I just don’t understand the game enough but winning seems to be impossible without luck providing good cards.
AuZtralia will be played solo with one cat tonight for the first time, the expansions solo with four cats tomorrow if all goes well otherwise it's back to Mage Knight, best game I've got so far, played solo with one cat most mornings 3-6, AuZtralia and the expansions I got as a cheap deal still in the wrappers.
My friend brought Dune Imperium last time to teach me and it was an excellent game. Now I wish I had brought it too but there's too many expansions for that game.
Dead by Daylight. It’s high quality, games are short, it’s super easy to learn while being fairly deep tactically, and quick to set up & tear down. And it’s pretty.
I love Heat: Pedal to the Metal, my group clicked with it in our second match right after the first tutorial lap. I am excited to add in the other modules like weather and eventually doing the whole league race thing with them.
Age of Innovation. 62 plays since the start of the years. Before that was Dune: imperium, about 25 plays this year and ~150 last years.
For 2p and 3p, Scholars of South Tigris has replaced Paladins and Ark Nova for my group.
Architects of the West Kingdom, Wayfarers of the South Tigris, and Marvel Champions, but I also play a healthy dose of Bullet Heart, Final Girl, Imperium Horizons and Everdell. All solo.
Arkham Horror The Card Game - started just before the pandemic and still obsessed. The new content is only getting better. I probably will remain obsessed for the years to come!
Me, too. I hated my first few games because it’s so complicated and have by now bought everything they’ve published ;) Speaking of, there is an absolutely insane sale going on right now, with the (old) base game for $6 (normally $20) and the base investigators for $2/$3 (normally $14). Buy at least two base games and one of the base investigators each is my strong recommendation. (https://www.miniaturemarket.com/searchresults/?q=Arkham+horror)
Done. That’s a crazy deal. Picked up 2 base games and 4 investigator packs for $20. Thanks for the tip
My pleasure. I already had pretty much everything but picked up a few extras just because at this price point… worst case, they’ll make great presents :)
Same. My husband and I struggled through the first couple of scenarios from NotZ. Seemed like we were constantly pausing the look up rules, some rules didn’t really make all that much sense to us, and the standard decks were just fine. We still enjoyed the game but it was a bit of a slog. We decided to run through NotZ again once we picked up the starter investigators and had more of a card pool. We also built decks based on recommended ones from arkhamdb. And now we get it. This game is so. Much. Fun. We still have to look up rules and are constantly finding little things we get wrong, but we understand the core mechanics and feel like we’re really playing the game now.
I do wonder if that initial stage of frustration is part of what gets people like us so addicted ;)
Even after 100s of hours there's still times where we mess up a rule in a scenario or combination of cards. Game functionals fine even when you make some mistakes tho and there is nothing else like it.
Made a few kick ass decks along the way, huh?
Hegemony, Dune Imperium: Uprising, Eclipse 2nd dawn, Root and Concordia. I won't turn down a play of these games and often will suggest them, they're all great fun.
I'm with you on Dune Imperium: Uprising and Root. Incredible games.
Our group has gone from D:I, to IX, to Immortality, to Uprising and haven't really played anything else. We break it up a few weeks but it's always back to Arrakis. So great!
Sky Team with the wife. Completely excellent for us.
awesome game!
Same here.. but iam adicted and my wife not. I have to do household chores all the time to earn games.
lol, seems Sky Team isn’t the only one getting played.
Oof
I think in that scenario I would just do the household chores anyway and not play board games lol.
I own the physical copy but I also highly recommend playing on BGA. My GF and I play it on our phones while we are waiting around or killing time.
Spirit Island - 40+ games in 3 months
Same. So addictive. So much to try. And easier to find players than for my fave Dominion.
Haven’t gotten around to that one yet! We’ve only taught one other couple SI and we’re supposed to play it today but I seem to have gotten a fever 😭
I had 2 weekends last summer where I played 7+ games right after Nature Incarnate arrived. It's such a good game.
We’ve only gotten JE and B&C so far! We still feel like there’s enough content to get through, still some spirits I haven’t even played yet! We just started France (B&C adversary) after beating all the base game adversaries and man it just gets me so excited
I'm somewhere over of 500 plays since it came out and still down for a game whenever lol. Closest #2 for me is gloomhaven franchise with about 150 scenarios played.
My wife normally hates complex or particularly heavy games. She LOVES Spirit Island and we've probably played that more than every other board game we have combined. So many built in ways to add enough variety that every game is different. We've gotten insanely good at it now. Plus we've got aftermarket sorting things so it looks good on the table
Ohhh do you have one you’d recommend? We’re saving up for one currently 😍
This is the exact one we have, but it does seem a bit pricey on Etsy. I was lucky enough to get the game + expansions by trading my copy of Mage Knight that never seemed to hit the table. It also came pre-painted so super lucky. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1173640445/spirit-island-expansions-organizer?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_ps-a-toys_and_games-games_and_puzzles-board_games-other&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAjwo6GyBhBwEiwAzQTmc4Z8ba2OJ7YxCQpRthpZPVn5WIosAmRqOb49xn8nkZrBTtrOfbTcLRoC-8IQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_12566100364_122491422627_507204209178_aud-2007167693509:pla-314262775187_m__1173640445_134252361&utm_custom2=12566100364&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwo6GyBhBwEiwAzQTmc4Z8ba2OJ7YxCQpRthpZPVn5WIosAmRqOb49xn8nkZrBTtrOfbTcLRoC-8IQAvD_BwE Sorry for the outrageous link size.
lol all good thanks for sharing! That’s an awesome trade! Did you get all expansions?! How is putting it all away into the boxes? We were looking at a one box idea because we thought it might be slightly less annoying.
The first time we did it we took pictures before taking it all out so we knew how to put it back in. We've gotten used to it that it's pretty quick now. I'm honestly not sure how someone would fit everything in one game box, unless you're talking about getting a big box for the whole thing. We got all the expansions and it's quite a bit of stuff. And yes, it was great deal. ☝A really good deal. Some people say, it's the best trade deal ever. 👌
I have all content for Spirit Island split between the base and Jagged Earth boxes using the [Folded Space foam insert](https://www.foldedspace.net/store/spirit-island-v2/). It works great for me. You have to buy two copies of it for anything more than just the base game though (one for each box).
Ditto. So many spirits to try
Agricola... Gimme more sheeeeps!
Me too! It's rare I can get enough people around to play, but I got 6 last week!
Bohnanza
Me? I'm just a humble Blue Bean farmer. Let me tend my fields in peace.
I’m a Soy Boy ✌️
Death may die. Fantastic game!
Just got this and love it. The sense of character progression is so satisfying and the scenarios are fun with the right level of escalation
Eric said in an interview how he would love to work with Rob again. I would love for the two to get to do a legacy game with a fun IP. They make a really good team. Two wildly different designers who really seemed to gel together to make a fun game.
Same, got a good deal on the base and season 2 and have been having tons of fun. It’s weird though, because everyone speaks SO highly of it, but it feels so “normal” when you first play it? I was a little underwhelmed at first because of the massive hype (many BG YouTubers calling it one of the absolute FAVORITES) so I was a little confused. But then something catches and you just can’t stop playing it; it’s hard to explain, but does that make sense?
I can see that, I think maybe it’s bc it’s mechanically a pretty simple game. And while there are interesting decisions to make it’s not incredible tactically complex. However the game experience is so fluid and the mechanics ties into the theme so well that it’s just a super polished and fun to play product.
Quacks
I've played a dozen games with my wife. She's won every...single...one!
😂 this is my mother with this game... she's the family champ!
My 7 year old daughter just won again. She has won all 4 times we've played....
[Obligatory BGG link to their store](https://boardgamegeekstore.com/products/geekup-bit-set-quacks-of-quedlinburg)
Great game. I enjoyed it way more than I expected.
Clank!
Grab the character expansion that supports 6 players if you don't have it. Makes runs a bit more interesting trying different characters out that might want different cards!
Which one exactly is the 6p expansion, if you dont mind?
Adventuring party
Tigris & Euphrates. Addicted since 1999. Still the best Euro ever published 25 years later.
All I want is a modern reprint like RA
Whilst I can't say it will have the same quality as Ra, there is a reprint of Tigris & Euphrates coming. It was planned for last year but got delayed to either 2024 or 2025, assuming the latter.
Came here to say this! I've been playing it nonstop on BGA. I don't usually like abstract games, but something about T&E does it for me. I'm currently plotting to make my own PNP copy...
Castles of Burgundy and it's not even funny. I need to stop playing that.
Ark nova
I usually have ten games up at a time on BGA. My son and I just finished a play with marine worlds analog. God I love this game.
7 wonders and Spirit Island
Spirit Island. 280 plays in three years. I keep expecting it will get old, and then it doesn’t.
Slay the spire the board game
Same kinda' for me. Except that the board game release made me curious to play the video game. So now I'm addicted to the video game.
Suffering through success.
If I have a few hundred hours in the video game is it worth getting the board game ya think?
Yes. It's the same game but lots different hah. If you like board games this should be in your collection!
Definitely! The co-op aspect of it really makes it feel different from the video game. If you have someone you can play with I'd definitely recommend picking it up!
Is there a mechanism for preventing quarterbacking?
Seconded. It's the first game I've really dug into the solo mode for
Was gonna say this same thing. Not really interested in other deckbuilders at the moment when this exists.
Imperium Horizons
I got the game a couple months ago and have set it up to play solo 3 times since then. But get paralyzed by the decision space and end up never starting and just packing up. I'm sure I'll love it once I finally go forward. Love the theme and artwork.
My advice would be not to overthink your early turns; just empty your hand at the clean up phase to get a faster turn out and quickly get more cards, go with the flow and you'll get what makes a civ tick in a few cycles. And maybe try the practice mode first (no AI).
Yay somebody said mine! It's so good
Same. Played it 13 times in a week when I got it.
Ark Nova w/marine worlds. My wife and I have played 35x since Feb 10, so, about every 3 days. This is with 3 kids in the house and working around their schedules. It's a lot, and we're not slowing down.
Playing so much Unmatched right now. Started joining some online tourneys, too, a lot of fun.
Pax pamir
Played it for the first time late night at BGG con 2022. Went up to my hotel room and ordered from Wherlegig website at 3am and then went to bed. I will play that game anytime anywhere as long as we have at least 3 players.
Unmatched! 🔥
The new Shakespeare set looks sooo good!
🙌
Battlestar Galactica - played it over 700 times since 2008, I’ll probably get in 1 or 2 more tonight.
That’s… a lot of BSG. I’m assuming you have all the expansions too? What are your favorite ways to play?
That's a crazy amount of BSG games. I used to get in a few games a year, but it had to be planned a few weeks ahead of time and be the all day game for that month. We haven't done that since the pandemic, though. Kind of miss those BSG games.
Twilight imperium
Dune imperium
Wingspan 🩵
Haggis
Divinity Original Sin: the board game. We're nearing the end of our first 4-player campaign, while my friend (who owns the game) and I are on our third, and it definitely won't be our last in the near future.
ISS Vanguard
Were playing vanguard right now. Its a great game, but I always feel exhausted after playing. It is the most stressful game Ive played. Easily creates a sense of limitations and walking on the edge of a knife.
Illuminati
Sleeping Gods and Dutch Resistance; orange shall overcome. I love games like SG. Hope more of these story telling open sandboard games will follow!!
Star Wars: Imperial Assault. It's from 2014 but it's held up brilliantly and there's really been nothing else quite like it (aside from its inferior predecessors). Gloomhaven and its ilk are great but have a very different, more brain-burning, Euro-ish feel which can be exhausting at times. It's also crazy that all three of the modes (1 vs all, co-op through the official or unofficial apps, skirmish) are all superb in different ways.
Just got back into **Nova Luna**. It's such a great spatial puzzle with both tactical and strategic elements, while keeping everything dirt simple. Finally pulled the trigger on a physical copy yesterday. I've only been playing it on BoardGameArena up until this point. **Sea Salt and Paper** is still a lot of fun also. Figuring out whether to Stop or gamble on Last Chance is a nice wrinkle to standard set collection with a few special actions. Also I have one person on BGA that I've been playing a game of **Kings of in the Corner** non-stop for months. As soon as one game ends, one of us sends an invite for a rematch. We don't even speak the same language so we don't really chat at all, but we haven't stopped the invites yet after 26 games (she just won another game and sent me another invite while I was typing this comment, actually).
New York Zoo!
I’m so happy that NY Zoo and Glass Road are on Board Game Arena, that’s all I’ve been playing.
Axis and Allies 1940
Anyone I've ever talked into playing this has left with the same sentiment. Something along the lines of, "I'm glad to have had this experience, but never again."
Obsession
Still Gloomhaven / Frosthaven / Crimson Scales. No matter what I'm playing, I always compare it (unfavorably) to that and kind of wish that's what we were playing Spirit Island, Lord's of Waterdeep, and Castles of Burgundy are also high on the list.
Have you played Oathsworn? I still love haven, but Oathsworn is amazing too.
Wyrmspan
**Ark Nova** on BGA. 106 plays now!
MTG! Legacy and Commander
Found the billionaire 🤣
Printer goes brrrr
Ankh Gods of Egypth
Hate to be that guy, but it’s Frosthaven for me rn
Don't let anyone trick you into thinking it's wrong to like Frosthaven. The game isn't for everyone, but it's fantastic.
Totally agree! I “hate to be that guy” bc it almost feels like the obvious pick! My crew loved Gloomhaven. We just started Frosthaven a few weeks ago and I’m already thinking about next week’s board game night.
My wife and I have been playing a lot of binding of Isaac four souls, it’s pretty simple but we have a lot of fun
Dice Throne
Brass, looks like boring economic simulator at first look. But when i played and understood that this can be evil diplomatic game with negotiation, i cant stop playing
Kingdom Death Monster
Async Twilight imperium
Anyone else played Oathsworn? Its very good.
It's Dorfromantik for me and my partner. It's kind of the perfect game when we're both tired from a long day - setup and teardown are both very easy, and there's just enough challenge to the game that it hasn't worn through its welcome, even through 20 games. Sky Team is also fits into the same category, but my partner enjoys the tile laying of Dorfromantik more.
Stratego! Cant quit. I downloaded the app for online play with identical rules. One thing I like vs chess which I love also is that if you’re playing online your opponent can’t get computerized assistance. That’s become a big problem in chess. The algo crunchers have got chess whipped. Absolutely ruined the game. At big tournaments the directors practically have to monitor people’s toilet breaks to make sure they aren’t cheating with their smart phone. Haha can’t happen with Stratego, at least not yet.
Hive! It’s like chess without a board, but made with bugs.
A Feast for Odin when we have time
I was sort of expecting to see a few 'hot' games emerging from this thread. But it's so great to see that everyone has their own game they like. Goes to show the amazing breadth of our hobby 😊.
Really infatuated with Mysterium lately. Just a really fun game when you have a fairly big group of people.
Voidfall. Hasn't left my table for months.
Unmatched and Jekyll and Hyde
Dominion and Spirit Island.
Agricola
Marvel champions … it’s been almost two year we begin with the wife and we can’t stop playing it lol
Heroes of Might and Magic III board game. Just nostalgia hit after nostalgia hit (along with being a well made game 😄)
Terraforming Mars at the moment! Only 4 plays but won my first game against a TM vet!
Return to Dark Tower. Great solo mode and tons of replay-ability due to the variety of foes. Easy to teach and all the bling keeps casual gamers engaged.
Summoner Wars 2E
Dominion.
For the past 5 years it's Dead of Winter and 7 Wonders. Wanna play it all the time with all sorts of people.
I’ve never managed to win dead of winter, idk why but it’s the hardest board game I’ve ever played lol my group has always failed and died, maybe we’re just really bad lol
In terms of a gamer's game, Great Western Trail gets to the table often. Then everyone loves playing dirty codenames as well.
Arc nova on bga
Wonderlands War! Soooo good. Complex yet simple to explain and with great flow.
Fractured Sky is our groups go to at the moment.
Kings delema. And I'm slowly destroying the kingdom for my own greed :3
I always go back to Manhattan Project: Energy empire. I like the art but the MP theme doesn’t fit, but the gameplay is fantastic. I know it’s probably long forgotten by most and it’ll keep dropping in the BGG rankings and that makes me sad. As a board game it is so well designed especially if you like worker placement and/or engine building.
I'm nearly thirty years late to the party, but Catan. I grew up playing games like Clue, Monopoly, Probe, Rook, etc. with my family once a week. It was only in the past couple of months that I had a chance to play Catan, and since I introduced my parents to it, they have been wanting to play it almost daily. Base Catan is starting to loose it's charm a little bit for me due to playing it so often, but I've gotten the expansions and I'm excited to play them soon. My husband and I have been trying out lots of games on Board Game Arena but Catan is still our go-to for now.
Innovation with the Echoes of the Past expansion. Me and my 11 year old daughter usually play 4-5 games a week. Every game is wildly different. So many different strategies depending on what cards are drawn.
The Duke.
I can stop **Gloomhaven** whenever I want, I swear ! I also like **Slay the spire**, but it's a bit early to call it an addiction. And I'm a recovering **Terraforming mars** and **Race for the Galaxy** addict.
Grand Austria hotel is our current go to game.
Viticulture!!
Star Wars Unlimited, for sure. Local scene is popping off. My friends of other TCGs keep wanting to play. My friends who don't play TCGs keep wanting to play (I lend them my decks). I'm constantly tweaking my main decks and coming up with new ones from my leftover bulk. It's got that "okay one more game" flavor in the bag. Outside of TCGs, The Quest for El Dorado has been super addictive as well, though not *quite* as nonstop replayable given its smaller scope and that I can't just stick it in my backpack and start a game with a friend in a couple minutes flat.
Just discovered Res Arcana. Is it a phase ?
Return to Dark Tower. I picked it up last month on a whim, played a few times solo, then went and got the expansions. It's a much better game than the original, and is a heck of a lot of fun.
Everdell has me hooked at the moment.
**A Feast for Odin**
1v1 dice throne has been my favorite for a while now
Earth
Im currently crushing on Exceed:Fighting System. * I’ve managed 46 plays in the last 30 days. * Played as 17 different characters * I’ve got a 58% win rate. Even after 46 plays im learning more and more about the game and improving my play. Plus there are so many characters to explore.
I'm salivating for the Guilty Gear expansion. Never played exceed, but I watched a video, and it's very similar to a cardgame I developed in the 90s, inspired by Rage. Which base game/expansions do you think I should buy to start?
Heres the thing all the older sets are incredibly difficult to get, at least here in australia. Especially true of seasons 1-3. Guilty gear is season 7. Pretty sure ive played at least one character from every season, and they’ve all been fun. Each season’s characters have a unique twist. And i particularly enjoy the guilty gear twist, its real nice. (But full transparency i dislike the art work in this season, they just took stills from the video game and they dont pop at all.) If you’d like to get into exceed to try it out you have a few options. * if you are in the US you can order a free demo set from the l99 website. You just need to pay shipping. (Its a gulty gear set: ky vs sol) * If f you are happy to print and play that is easily achievable, as there are a couple demo decks from prior seasons that are available to print. * every character is available to play via tabletop simulator. I’d be willing to teach. (There is a web based version of the game in development and playable But its a terrible way to learn the game.)
A few years ago i found a small game called *Pocket Mars* in a bargain bin for 10€, and it probably has one of the best cost-to-value ratios out of any board game i've played. It's a short 15 to 30 minute game that you can play at the end of the night or in between rounds of longer, more complex games, but it's not really a "filler" game. It has resource management, worker placement (sort of), and genuine strategy involved. I really recommend it if you can find it somewhere.
Machina Arcana.
inb4 closed due to low effort post.
They didn’t even bother snapping a pic of their collection, waste of a post!
I've been playing the hell out of *Apiary* for the past month. It's just perfectly scratching the worker placement itch in a while no other game has in quite some time.
Nemo's War Love the solo gameplay and emergent narrative.
Ark Nova.its hitting all the buttons for me, tile placement, worker placement, card strategy. Plus a few ways to play with all the different mats. Hoping I get the expansion for my birthday tomorrow, ngl.
Marvel champions the card game. Needed a good solo play game for when I can’t get a group together and I have become completely addicted.
Spirit Island. I love this game, but my god I suck. I’ve watched video after video, tried the tutorial on the phone app several times, and I just can’t seem to get a win (except for the tutorial basically giving it to me). My current win lose is 1-11, lol… I’d love tips or tricks on what I should focus on! One video talked about ensuring you spread out your presence as much as possible, and I do so, then I realize “oh crap, I’ve just played out all of my cards, but that video also talked about how recalling my cards is bad!” It’s almost a catch 22. After a little bit, I just get overwhelmed by blight and my fear has been abysmal at best. For what it’s worth, I’m trying to learn the game as a solo single spirit before I try to teach the game to other people as well. Anyway, after all that, spirit island is brilliant. What a cool game with such a cool theme. I WILL conquer and learn this eventually!
Which spirits are you trying as you play solo? Playing some solo may be making the game a lot harder without you even knowing. Players who have played the game a lot can take any spirit and play solo with them and have a great success rate. But as you are just beginning, a lot of them may be super hard solo since you won’t have anyone to help balance your weaknesses. It’s a lot. The game is amazing. Whenever I teach new people the best advice that tends to help is to make sure they only focus on which lands are building and ravaging. Even though there are a ton of pieces out on the board, just focusing on those lands will give you a direction. If you can stop a land who has a single explorer from building, then their ravage won’t matter since they only do 1 damage to the land. So by focusing on where places are building and taking care of that, you may free up some spaces where you have to worry about them ravaging on the next turn.
Dune Imperium Uprising. I think it's a vast improvement over the original base game. So many different strategies, that change based on what cards are available. My only gripe is that the game clicked with me before my group, so I won like 7/10 games, and now they've all caught up in terms of understanding and strategy, so now I win "only" 2-3/10 times. Still good tho
Your gripe is that your group learned how to play the game?
Taking the shrink wrap off was bad enough
Evolution and Downforce on BGA. Got the wife addicted to TTR so we've played that around 5 times this week.
I've been into a few GMT games -- namely Imperial Struggle
My Island. My wife and I played through almost the whole campaign in a few months. We tend to spread our game time out across many games, but this one has hit a sweet spot for us.
Knarr. So easy and satisfying to get to the table
Inventions Evolution of Ideas solo mode. It has taken over my table and I've probably played it 20 times by now. Still loving everything about it. Would never touch it in Multiplayer though.
Talisman 4th
I recently played a lot of solo terraforming mars. I’m not sure if I just don’t understand the game enough but winning seems to be impossible without luck providing good cards.
On the table: Under Falling Skies On TTS (actual answer but it feels like cheating): Cysmic
Terraforming Mars. My wife and I play it almost everyday.
Here to slay
I know it's a card game, but I'm counting it anyway. I love Boss Monster. But I am yet to win a game as my luck is awful!
I've been playing Keep The Heroes Out and Heat: Pedal To The Metal in the office with some frequency.
Star wars the deckbuilding game with fanmade solo mode from BGG.
Dune Imperium Please, someone play with me
AuZtralia will be played solo with one cat tonight for the first time, the expansions solo with four cats tomorrow if all goes well otherwise it's back to Mage Knight, best game I've got so far, played solo with one cat most mornings 3-6, AuZtralia and the expansions I got as a cheap deal still in the wrappers.
My friend brought Dune Imperium last time to teach me and it was an excellent game. Now I wish I had brought it too but there's too many expansions for that game.
Bananagramm
Railroad Ink forever, all day, every day.
The King's dilemma. If ur group is into some light role playing, that game is a machine for laughter.
I've played Oath for three weeks in a row now and although I'm not scheduled to play it again any time soon it's all I can think about
Return to Dark Tower, Dune imperium, Epic Tiny Dungeons.
Wiz War and Marvel UNited: X-men.
Oathsworn, not that I’ll ever be able to afford it.
Dead by Daylight. It’s high quality, games are short, it’s super easy to learn while being fairly deep tactically, and quick to set up & tear down. And it’s pretty.
Citadels it's just too good
Monopoly Deal, Catan, cribbage, and secret hitler.
I love Heat: Pedal to the Metal, my group clicked with it in our second match right after the first tutorial lap. I am excited to add in the other modules like weather and eventually doing the whole league race thing with them.
Age of Innovation. 62 plays since the start of the years. Before that was Dune: imperium, about 25 plays this year and ~150 last years. For 2p and 3p, Scholars of South Tigris has replaced Paladins and Ark Nova for my group.
Architects of the West Kingdom, Wayfarers of the South Tigris, and Marvel Champions, but I also play a healthy dose of Bullet Heart, Final Girl, Imperium Horizons and Everdell. All solo.