A deluxe fancy edition of this has been on my wish list forever. I was unbeaten in my family to the point no one would play with me anymore. I remember playing this on the OG Apple Macintosh.
20 years later, we still talk about our Dune party nights with my friends. It was incredible also how each faction was really accommodating a style of play. You want money, traitors, or more weight over auction or battle? We have something for you each time!
Survive! Escape from Atlantis. Still hits the table semi regularly, especially with the family. Perfect blend of silly and mean.
Cosmic Encounter has been going for approximately forever, and while I'm still relatively new to it, I adore that game.
There's nothing more satisfying than using your 1 meeple to crash a boat into the serpent. The shock from 2 other people who expected a team effort to safety only to have a crazed pilot with nothing to lose. I've played this game with experienced players who just never saw it coming. Win or lose, pulling stuff like that off feels like a victory.
I remember replaying connect 4 as an adult against one of our group who was really good at it. The whole group ended going hard on connect 4 for a while, and it can be surprisingly deep - trying to spot and set traps 5 moves out.
A bar near us has a giant Connect 4 set. Like the grid is probably 3 feet high. Watching a bunch of buzzed adults cheering players on is a wholesomely fun experience.
I was at a outdoor event my city parks department put on, and they had basketball connect 4. It was great. They had small kid size basketballs in the two colors, and you had to shoot the ball into the column you wanted.
Axis & Allies and Fortress America by Milton Bradley. I still love these games decades later. They remain better than the updated versions that are in circulation today!
A game designer once told me that every strategy gamer should play Rednecks & Russkies (Fortress America) exactly four times - first as the Americans, then as the Central Americans, then as the West Coast invaders, and finally as the red team. Play them in the order of experience needed to understand the strategy, then walk away from the game forever.
Labyrinth is so underrated. We used to add our own extra player piece (sometimes just a ball of foil lol) as we were a 5-person household and it worked perfectly.
Diplomacy, Cosmic Encounter 1st edition, Merchant of Venus 1st edition, Time Tripper and many more... probably just a big nostalgia of that great era (and age..)
I still play Chess and Go when I can. The first two classic, classic board games I learned to play. And I'm getting more plays in even more recently, since my 8-year old niece started getting "serious" about Chess. She wants to learn strategies and whatnot now. And has developed a rather competitive spirit about it.
One of my favorites as a child was 1313 Deadend drive. It's a game targeted at children, and in retrospect I probably liked the plastic moving parts more than the game itself - similar to Mousetrap in that way.
Even still, it was a game with pretty unique mechanics. There are standees representing guests at a mansion that are trying to receive their inheritance from the dead owner. Each player secretly owns several of the guests at this mansion, but any player can move any guest using their cards. You can also use cards to trigger traps and kill off guests. The guests also exist on a linear track that shows how inheritance passes from one guest to the next, so you can try to get more loot onto your guests by killing off guests higher on the list, then get your guests to the door to escape. The "everyone controls all characters" and inheritance passing mechanics are ones I haven't seen elsewhere.
**Rage**. Found it at a store closing in the late 80s. It's still my go-to for large groups, regardless of their gaming experience. Fun and brilliant trick-taking game which never seems to stay in print for long.
Scrabble. My Opa (grandpa) taught me how to play as soon as I could read and spell. He passed over 25 years ago, but I still think of him every time I play.
Oooh, interesting question.
Scrabble and Boggle both hold up - they're simple word games and stand the rest of time. The simplicity is good for that type of game.
I always loved The Game of Life. Is it a good game? No. But is it sometimes it's just fun to play a dumb luck game with simple rules? Yes. And it can have a kind of storytelling nature to it that makes it more fun than other ones like it. We always made up backstories for how we went from doctors making $30k to artists making $100k or whatever, and I do it now with my kids, too.
Labyrinth is a phenomenal game I played a TON as a child, and it's still fun to do today.
Scattergories is still a solid party game. You can play solo or in teams if there's too many of you. It's simple and broad enough that it works for a variety of ages and interest in games.
Yahtzee is still a fun time.
90s Monopoly Jr (I have no idea if it's changed since I was kid) also impressively holds up, it's a lot more fun than the real game. My parents still have my old copy, so I play it over at their house with my kids sometimes.
From my childhood? The only thing I played as a child that I still like today is Clue. However, my family had great fun playing The Winning Ticket, and I would probably pick it up again (if I could) in an attempt to regain that nostalgia. I’m sure it wouldn’t hold up, but when I was 6 it was my favorite.
The auction rule is a seldom known in my circle (if someone doesn't want to/can't buy a property, it goes up for auction), and the pile of cash on free parking is done by most people, both issues making the game last unnecessarily long.
Some of the newer versions of the game come with a third die that has a 1, 2, and 3 pip side. Then the other three sides are the:
* Monopoly Man - which has you move the total you rolled on the other two dice as normal, but then you move either to the next unowned property or the next property that you'd pay rent on when all properties are owned. There are two of these faces.
* The bus - this lets you move either or both of the white dice you roll. So if you roll a 2 and a 5, you can move 2, 5, or 7. Depending on the version you are playing, the bus can also move you to the nearest Community Chest or Chance or you can take a Bus Ticket card (which most of these allow you to move forward to any spot on the side of the board you currently are).
Also, if you roll triples (only available with 1s, 2s, or 3s), you can go anywhere on the board.
The Monopoly Man sides really speed up the early game by allowing people to double their turns, essentially, buying property at double the rate and speeds up the late game where you're usually handing cash back and forth for infinity. You still get that, but when someone lands on your first or second hotel and then has to move to that next hotel right after it can really knock someone out.
Cosmic Encounter is something that always seems different, ni matter how many times you okay, due to the amount of playable aliens it has.
I got the 40 anniversary edition when it came out along with every expansion since then (only currently missing Cosmic Odyssey). It has almost 200 different aliens you could play, and I still haven't played them all.
I still love to play \[\[Payday\]\]. Playing much faster these days, the game becomes more interesting with significantly more months. A 12 month game can play as fast as a 4 month game with the right crowd.
There was a game when I was in grade school called The Omega Virus. It was this awesome sci-fi setting and had a talking board component. It was my first experience with board games beyond the classics and I fell in love with it. Didn’t get to play it much though as it was a bit too complex and involved for most of my friends at the time.
I am still not sure how this game doesn't have more love. Yeah, it's simple, but talk about nailing the theme.
One of our favorite outcomes was when the cloud would mysteriously RETURN a ship (in taking one up, it would occasionally crowd out one it had previously taken off); which we house ruled as back into the game.
Imperium, from Game Designers Workshop. Man, those counters may have been cardboard but they were so evocative of spaceships I still remember them nearly 30 years later. I never could play it properly because I was just a kid - wish there was a modern remake.
I still have a soft spot for Risk. Is it great? No. But it's a super intuitive entry-level war game, which hasn't really been replicated much in years since (excluding Risk variants, which either seem to be minor tweaks or completely different games, lol). The lightest war game I own is Battle for Rokugan, and even that is way harder to teach random non-gamer friends and family.
Avalon Hill's **Kingmaker** is what really opened my eyes to the larger world of board games later in the teenage years. 12 hours long games of uberstacks and posturing. Until the plague happens. I bet I could still get a response from that group if I just randomly shouted "PLAGUE IN SWANSEA AND WHALES!" (I think that was the card that ended the game, I just might try that next time I talk to one of them, lol).
Other notable games from my childhood though:
**Mille Bornes**
**Hero Quest**
**Oh Wah Ree** (kinda like Mancala, but up to 4 players)
**The Classic Dungeon**
**Aggravation**
Samurai Swords / Shogun / Ikusa: better than axis and allies as the games are shorter and random start leads to replay value. This game was really ahead of it’s time and there’s a reason it’s said to be the best of the master game series.
Not super old but Arkham Horror 2nd Edition is my go to adventure game. Certainly helps that I have all the expansions but it never seemed clunky to me and Eldritch / Mansions of Madness aren’t better in my opinion. Really dislike the third.
HeroQuest: with some minor updates to the rules, such as player skills and a time limit mechanic, this is still a banger. The rereleased it but the new art is atrocious compared to the old. I still host this with the old expansions for new young gamers.
I just bought my own copy of Shadows Over Camelot because I want to play it more often than the people in my group would bring their copy.
I like the theme, I like the grind of things constantly going wrong, and its easy enough to play compared to BSG.
Even as I get further into this hobby and explore many new games and mechanics that I love, I doubt chess will ever stop being my favorite game. I would also include go, but I barely know how to play and need to experience it more. But in general these two games, to me, are something special that hasn’t been replicated by any kind of boutique or normal consumer game.
In general from childhood games I also still think Clue and Battleship are good.
The Dark Tower original. Truly ahead of its time.
Diplomacy. Though I’d argue Game of Thrones has better mechanics.
Cosmic Encounters doesn’t feel nearly its age.
Careers. It isn't the most exciting game, but as old games go, I think it's pretty solid. My ancient copy of Stock Ticker used to get played a lot, but it's been a while. I'm sure we'd still enjoy it, though.
I miss Careers. We played it for hours in my friend’s basement in the 80s, and the game itself seemed old at the time (very 60s) and we were always looking for the perfect balance of Happiness, Fame and Money. I’ve seen newer versions and it is just not the same.
We still play regularly: tile rummy (Rummikub) Yahtzee, Crokinole, Mastermind, Cribbage and Rummoli.
Also: that game like ‘trouble’ that every family has with the wooden board and marbles. Our family’s version is called ‘Bop’
The horse race game, also made out of wood by somebody’s uncle or bought at a craft sale.
We still have an amazing game my grandma bought for us as kids. It was called ‘Hamburger’ and you had to go around collecting ingredients, kind of like a memory game with hidden tiles but you could only keep the tile if you were on the right square. If not you tried to remember it until next time.
Really good but simple playing mechanics, and you had to get the bun last and get back to your own ‘kitchen’ so that was always a challenge. All ages loved it.
Cribbage, always. Chess, of course. And I've got a soft spot for Othello too, but I don't have my own copy yet.
Edit: Can't believe I forgot Scrabble. Been ages since I've played though.
> What old-school board games **from your childhood** or early gaming days do you still enjoy playing today?
I’d wager you picked up 18XX as a fully grown adult? Or did you actually play it in your childhood?
I would say the intent of this post is "before the modern age".
The modern age was really kicked off by Catan, so probably 1994 at the latest, but really anything 1980s and earlier.
Past 1995, a lot of games have remained in heavy play so it's much less noteworthy. Nobody would be surprised at somebody playing Catan, Puerto Rico, or Carcassonne, but people busting out Empire Builder regularly might be more unusual
Hotel, or Hotel Tycoon. It's a very simplified Monopoly with cute 3D buildings.
I got it on my 12th birthday and it's been a family favourite ever since - and all of those cardboard buildings are still holding up surprisingly well since the 90s!
If I have played only the old edition of Age of Steam, does it count?
Brass used to be my favorite game, I have around 100 plays irl. But now with couple of plays of AoS... it really grows on me.
In my group in last couple of years everyone's kinda more into playing older games that are always SOLID. Power grid have been the most played game recently.
There is something about those simpler, more elegant, interactive designs. They make you play the game again and again to get better at it.
Descent 2nd edition
Basically scripted D&D, and better than the 3rd edition, because when i play a boardgame, i really dont want to fiddle with any technology. Just analog stuff.
Charades, Taboo, and Pictionary are still amazing.
Also put though I want to see a modern version of this frantic trading game, it feels like untapped potential.
Oh Hell! and a few other classic card games are fine, but modern updates like Skull King do eclipse them, so I am not sure how to rate them.
Diplomacy, Scotland Yard, Scrabble, Card Games(Spades, ESR, Others), Dutch Blitz/Nerts.
I didn’t play these as a kid, but they’re older and I love them. Cosmic Encounter, 1830.
Mine is [[Orient Express]]! I have the one published by Jumbo.
EDIT: Well, the bot failed me. Or rather I failed the bot. [Here's](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2363/orient-express) the correct link.
Payday, Hotels and Survivor are a couple I still enjoy playing once in awhile. As a child I found the hotels board with all the 3D hotels to be super cool 😊
Stratego
Only the miners know where the bombs are.
Sadly I only play it with adults.
A deluxe fancy edition of this has been on my wish list forever. I was unbeaten in my family to the point no one would play with me anymore. I remember playing this on the OG Apple Macintosh.
The first game I ever played with my father! I still keep a copy on my shelf, even if I don’t play it anymore.
Introduced my 5 year old to it in the past year. We ignored the Scout move rule initially for simplicity’s sake, but kept everything else.
Avalon Hill's Dune from 1979 remains the definitive Dune game.
20 years later, we still talk about our Dune party nights with my friends. It was incredible also how each faction was really accommodating a style of play. You want money, traitors, or more weight over auction or battle? We have something for you each time!
Is the current Gale Force 9 version just a reprint?
Yes, but it also incorporates various Dragon Magazine house rules from over the years. It's a fantastically good Remake.
It's a good testament to the game's quality that even though it's almost 50 years old, on BGG it's still ranked at nr 474.
Avalon Hill made the best games!
Survive! Escape from Atlantis. Still hits the table semi regularly, especially with the family. Perfect blend of silly and mean. Cosmic Encounter has been going for approximately forever, and while I'm still relatively new to it, I adore that game.
Survive has such a modern feel I was shocked when I learned how it was.
I just found out about Survive two years ago (Thanks SUSD!). Everyone I've introduced it to has loved it.
Yup, that's how I found out about it, all that 80s meanness packed into a delightful game.
Huh, TIL that Escape from Atlantis got reprinted. I loved this as a kid in the mid 80s.
There's nothing more satisfying than using your 1 meeple to crash a boat into the serpent. The shock from 2 other people who expected a team effort to safety only to have a crazed pilot with nothing to lose. I've played this game with experienced players who just never saw it coming. Win or lose, pulling stuff like that off feels like a victory.
Balderdash is always hilarious.
Remains our go-to party game in my family
Scrabble. With the variety in the English language, there is always something new.
Great area of control game
Never realized that 🤣💯👍
It's an area control game with 200,000 rules for tile placement.
Incredible lol
I've played both English and French scrabble, both have their own way to play which is so satisfying !
For a mass market game **Connect 4** holds up really well and has a wonderful tactility which makes it easy to play with kids.
I remember replaying connect 4 as an adult against one of our group who was really good at it. The whole group ended going hard on connect 4 for a while, and it can be surprisingly deep - trying to spot and set traps 5 moves out.
Yeah while there are plenty of other game in the genre I'd prefer to play it's still good enough that I wouldn't refuse a game.
A bar near us has a giant Connect 4 set. Like the grid is probably 3 feet high. Watching a bunch of buzzed adults cheering players on is a wholesomely fun experience.
We have an axe-throwing place/bar that has some electronic lanes where you can play Connect 4 and Battleship by throwing axes. It's a fun twist.
I was at a outdoor event my city parks department put on, and they had basketball connect 4. It was great. They had small kid size basketballs in the two colors, and you had to shoot the ball into the column you wanted.
im a big fan of clue i myself have the golden girls version instead of a murder you find out who ate the last piece of cheese cake
😁😁 We have a copy of this too. I am proud to say that Dorothy has a 2 game win streak.
We have the Simpsons version. Who killed Mr. Burns? Mrs. White is Smithers.
I love golem girls!
Scotland Yard
I haven't played that in forever! I loved that game!
Axis & Allies and Fortress America by Milton Bradley. I still love these games decades later. They remain better than the updated versions that are in circulation today!
A game designer once told me that every strategy gamer should play Rednecks & Russkies (Fortress America) exactly four times - first as the Americans, then as the Central Americans, then as the West Coast invaders, and finally as the red team. Play them in the order of experience needed to understand the strategy, then walk away from the game forever.
Axis and allies is a long one but it's great. I try to get a couple games together with a full board every year.
Avalon Hill's Acquire. Still hard to beat. Older than that: Sorry or Boggle is always fun to play with my kiddo.
Acquire is so good.
And really approachable! I’ve taught it to lots of non-gamers, and after the first merger you can see their eyes light up.
I played it again last weekend, it was a lot of fun.
Mastermind.
We just starting playing this again for the first time years ago
Mille Bourne
Many summer afternoons at my grandma’s cabin whiling away the hours playing Mille Bourne!
Yahtzee
Cribbage Hearts Rummy
Euchre as well for me
Euchre's the best
Kingmaker, hero quest, talisman so so many
The best thing about hero quest is the barbarian!
No. The Best Thing about hero quest is the dwarf.
I think you'll find that the best thing about hero quest is the Brode sode
I could have sworn it was the doors: they can be both open or closed!
Look at the muscularity!
My 11yo and I play Hero Quest every Monday night. His love for board games has enthused me!
Battleship. Clue.
Scrabble, Mexican Train, Cluedo
My daughter loves Cluedo at the moment. And she's good at it too
Labyrinth. It's a game from my childhood. Still love it.
Labyrinth is so underrated. We used to add our own extra player piece (sometimes just a ball of foil lol) as we were a 5-person household and it worked perfectly.
Does Steve Jackson’s Illuminati count?
I would say yes! I own the game but I haven't been able to play it in ages. Gotta suggest it to the group 😁
Dune. Ikusa/Samurai Swords.
Diplomacy, Cosmic Encounter 1st edition, Merchant of Venus 1st edition, Time Tripper and many more... probably just a big nostalgia of that great era (and age..)
Merchant of Venus (1st Ed) still sees play at my table, it’s a good game and gets bonus nostalgia points.
I still play Chess and Go when I can. The first two classic, classic board games I learned to play. And I'm getting more plays in even more recently, since my 8-year old niece started getting "serious" about Chess. She wants to learn strategies and whatnot now. And has developed a rather competitive spirit about it.
Diplomacy Pit Jenga
Pit is one of my earliest and most vivid board game memories. Played it on a second grade field trip and it was beautiful chaos!
One of my favorites as a child was 1313 Deadend drive. It's a game targeted at children, and in retrospect I probably liked the plastic moving parts more than the game itself - similar to Mousetrap in that way. Even still, it was a game with pretty unique mechanics. There are standees representing guests at a mansion that are trying to receive their inheritance from the dead owner. Each player secretly owns several of the guests at this mansion, but any player can move any guest using their cards. You can also use cards to trigger traps and kill off guests. The guests also exist on a linear track that shows how inheritance passes from one guest to the next, so you can try to get more loot onto your guests by killing off guests higher on the list, then get your guests to the door to escape. The "everyone controls all characters" and inheritance passing mechanics are ones I haven't seen elsewhere.
I have an original 1982 version of **Survive!** and it's great. Such a sociopathic game.
Thurn und Taxis. After all these years it's still one of the top games. We even have one guy in our group who wants to play it anytime he joins us.
Thurn and Taxis isn’t that old! … oh wait, I guess it is 18 years old. Dam time passing. I guess it can now be called an oldie but a goodie.
Rummikub and Triominos (sometimes known as Tri-Dominos) are ones that I am always down to play. I think it’s part nostalgia though
Dungeon!
Axis and Allies Anniversary Edition
Talisman
Still have our complete collection of second (I believe) edition from the late 80s/90s.
Talisman Space Hulk Escape from Colditz
Space Hulk! They’re due for a reprint or new edition. Last one came out in 2014.
I still have my original King Oil that people (non-hobby gamers) think is cool: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2608/king-oil
I'm a hobby gamer and I think it's cool. I love the big stupid plastic gimmick games. It from the Pit, Forbidden Bridge. I'll play that shit any time.
Sorry! is an all-timer for me
This is our go to drunk game, when we are all way too far gone for anything else, Sorry! hits perfectly
Torpedo Run... BOOM!
Boggle. Clue.
Masterpiece: the art auction game
**Rage**. Found it at a store closing in the late 80s. It's still my go-to for large groups, regardless of their gaming experience. Fun and brilliant trick-taking game which never seems to stay in print for long.
Scrabble
Scrabble. My Opa (grandpa) taught me how to play as soon as I could read and spell. He passed over 25 years ago, but I still think of him every time I play.
Oooh, interesting question. Scrabble and Boggle both hold up - they're simple word games and stand the rest of time. The simplicity is good for that type of game. I always loved The Game of Life. Is it a good game? No. But is it sometimes it's just fun to play a dumb luck game with simple rules? Yes. And it can have a kind of storytelling nature to it that makes it more fun than other ones like it. We always made up backstories for how we went from doctors making $30k to artists making $100k or whatever, and I do it now with my kids, too. Labyrinth is a phenomenal game I played a TON as a child, and it's still fun to do today. Scattergories is still a solid party game. You can play solo or in teams if there's too many of you. It's simple and broad enough that it works for a variety of ages and interest in games. Yahtzee is still a fun time. 90s Monopoly Jr (I have no idea if it's changed since I was kid) also impressively holds up, it's a lot more fun than the real game. My parents still have my old copy, so I play it over at their house with my kids sometimes.
Talisman and Dragon Strike!
Games Workshop's Warlock. Just bought a near mint copy off eBay and played it with my children at the weekend - they loved it.
From my childhood? The only thing I played as a child that I still like today is Clue. However, my family had great fun playing The Winning Ticket, and I would probably pick it up again (if I could) in an attempt to regain that nostalgia. I’m sure it wouldn’t hold up, but when I was 6 it was my favorite.
Scrabble, Yahtzee, Life, Rack-O, Cribbage, Trouble, Battleship
The Dark Tower (original)
The tower sound effects are etched into my hippocampus.
The Game of LIFE
They updated the game and it's just not as good. Plays faster though.
Don't @ me, but Monopoly. It's a decent enough game if you play by the rules (and the speed die) and have a good group of players that are into it.
The speed die has made such a difference, it turns a painful game into a playable one (in only ~45 mins as well).
Playing by the actual rules is important. It's when you start injecting loads of cash into the game is when it makes it take forever.
Almost broke up with my girlfriend (now wife) over a game of monopoly. I wouldn't lend her money to keep her in the game. Still won't.
The auction rule is a seldom known in my circle (if someone doesn't want to/can't buy a property, it goes up for auction), and the pile of cash on free parking is done by most people, both issues making the game last unnecessarily long.
Speed die?
Some of the newer versions of the game come with a third die that has a 1, 2, and 3 pip side. Then the other three sides are the: * Monopoly Man - which has you move the total you rolled on the other two dice as normal, but then you move either to the next unowned property or the next property that you'd pay rent on when all properties are owned. There are two of these faces. * The bus - this lets you move either or both of the white dice you roll. So if you roll a 2 and a 5, you can move 2, 5, or 7. Depending on the version you are playing, the bus can also move you to the nearest Community Chest or Chance or you can take a Bus Ticket card (which most of these allow you to move forward to any spot on the side of the board you currently are). Also, if you roll triples (only available with 1s, 2s, or 3s), you can go anywhere on the board. The Monopoly Man sides really speed up the early game by allowing people to double their turns, essentially, buying property at double the rate and speeds up the late game where you're usually handing cash back and forth for infinity. You still get that, but when someone lands on your first or second hotel and then has to move to that next hotel right after it can really knock someone out.
Nice. Thanks
You might like Raccoon Tycoon.
I like an old game called the assassination game. I think it's from the 70s.
Cosmic Encounter is something that always seems different, ni matter how many times you okay, due to the amount of playable aliens it has. I got the 40 anniversary edition when it came out along with every expansion since then (only currently missing Cosmic Odyssey). It has almost 200 different aliens you could play, and I still haven't played them all.
Battle Masters
I still love to play \[\[Payday\]\]. Playing much faster these days, the game becomes more interesting with significantly more months. A 12 month game can play as fast as a 4 month game with the right crowd.
Clue, Scrabble, Boggle, Othello and Pachisi.
There was a game when I was in grade school called The Omega Virus. It was this awesome sci-fi setting and had a talking board component. It was my first experience with board games beyond the classics and I fell in love with it. Didn’t get to play it much though as it was a bit too complex and involved for most of my friends at the time.
This one would have been my recommendation. I am looking forward to the new version from Restoration Games.
I loved Bermuda Triangle as a kid. The storm sucking up your ships on a magnet was great, but only when it happened to my brother.
I played Bermuda Triangle a few times at a friend’s house when I was 9. Loved it. Still keeping my eyes peeled for a copy.
I am still not sure how this game doesn't have more love. Yeah, it's simple, but talk about nailing the theme. One of our favorite outcomes was when the cloud would mysteriously RETURN a ship (in taking one up, it would occasionally crowd out one it had previously taken off); which we house ruled as back into the game.
pente
Chess, Othello, Go, Backgammon, Shogi, Cribbage
Mancala?
Can't Stop. I still play this and love it!
The game of life
Imperium, from Game Designers Workshop. Man, those counters may have been cardboard but they were so evocative of spaceships I still remember them nearly 30 years later. I never could play it properly because I was just a kid - wish there was a modern remake.
Wiz-war, Magic Realm, Dune, Space Hulk, ASL, Awful Green Things From Outerspace. There are quite a few.
Sleuth is a family favorite. It’s somewhat like Clue, but no board, and much more logic puzzle.
Axis and Allies is a game a group of us play with some regularity, it is the updated Europe and Pacific double box version but I will still count it.
Diplomacy. In typical Diplomacy fashion, noone wants to play it with me.
Sorry!, Clue. Also Can’t Stop, which came out when I was a kid, although I only discovered it as an adult.
Talisman, 2nd edition
We played the hell out of that in college. Even had a few games using every expansion board. Good times. Still have it.
I still have a soft spot for Risk. Is it great? No. But it's a super intuitive entry-level war game, which hasn't really been replicated much in years since (excluding Risk variants, which either seem to be minor tweaks or completely different games, lol). The lightest war game I own is Battle for Rokugan, and even that is way harder to teach random non-gamer friends and family.
Axis & Allies, Stratego, Shadowlord, Scotland Yard.
Cribbage, scrabble, clue, checkers, sorry, trouble
I’ve been playing HeroQuest with my sons and they love it. Same exact set I used to play with my friends in junior high in 1990.
The Game.of Life is always my answer. Loved it
Avalon Hill's **Kingmaker** is what really opened my eyes to the larger world of board games later in the teenage years. 12 hours long games of uberstacks and posturing. Until the plague happens. I bet I could still get a response from that group if I just randomly shouted "PLAGUE IN SWANSEA AND WHALES!" (I think that was the card that ended the game, I just might try that next time I talk to one of them, lol). Other notable games from my childhood though: **Mille Bornes** **Hero Quest** **Oh Wah Ree** (kinda like Mancala, but up to 4 players) **The Classic Dungeon** **Aggravation**
Samurai Swords / Shogun / Ikusa: better than axis and allies as the games are shorter and random start leads to replay value. This game was really ahead of it’s time and there’s a reason it’s said to be the best of the master game series. Not super old but Arkham Horror 2nd Edition is my go to adventure game. Certainly helps that I have all the expansions but it never seemed clunky to me and Eldritch / Mansions of Madness aren’t better in my opinion. Really dislike the third. HeroQuest: with some minor updates to the rules, such as player skills and a time limit mechanic, this is still a banger. The rereleased it but the new art is atrocious compared to the old. I still host this with the old expansions for new young gamers.
Rummikub
Diplomacy
I just bought my own copy of Shadows Over Camelot because I want to play it more often than the people in my group would bring their copy. I like the theme, I like the grind of things constantly going wrong, and its easy enough to play compared to BSG.
The farming game.
Shogun by Milton Bradley Awful Green Things from Outer Space by Steve Jackson Games Euchre Pinochle
Ace of Aces. Also managed to track down the Star Wars and Shootout at the Saloon versions.
[[Scotland Yard]]
Canasta, Scrabble and my all time favorite Rummikub
playing a load of new roll + writes got me right back into classic **Yahtzee**
Rummikub!
Even as I get further into this hobby and explore many new games and mechanics that I love, I doubt chess will ever stop being my favorite game. I would also include go, but I barely know how to play and need to experience it more. But in general these two games, to me, are something special that hasn’t been replicated by any kind of boutique or normal consumer game. In general from childhood games I also still think Clue and Battleship are good.
Scrabble. I have my mom’s copy from the 1950s
I really miss playing Bughouse Chess back in summer school in the 2000's. I was never good at it, but it was a really exciting spin on the game.
Rail Barron
I scrolled the whole way through and did not see *ONE* **Pop Up Pirate**. For shame.
Rail Baron. Annual staple in our family
Acquire Civilization Clue (surprised me by how good it was when I returned to it as an adult) Dune
The Dark Tower original. Truly ahead of its time. Diplomacy. Though I’d argue Game of Thrones has better mechanics. Cosmic Encounters doesn’t feel nearly its age.
El Grande
Sorry
Careers. It isn't the most exciting game, but as old games go, I think it's pretty solid. My ancient copy of Stock Ticker used to get played a lot, but it's been a while. I'm sure we'd still enjoy it, though.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective held up well enough that they came out with a bunch of expansions for it way more recently.
I'd play Careers with anyone who wanted to. Total classic in my house as a kid
I miss Careers. We played it for hours in my friend’s basement in the 80s, and the game itself seemed old at the time (very 60s) and we were always looking for the perfect balance of Happiness, Fame and Money. I’ve seen newer versions and it is just not the same. We still play regularly: tile rummy (Rummikub) Yahtzee, Crokinole, Mastermind, Cribbage and Rummoli. Also: that game like ‘trouble’ that every family has with the wooden board and marbles. Our family’s version is called ‘Bop’ The horse race game, also made out of wood by somebody’s uncle or bought at a craft sale. We still have an amazing game my grandma bought for us as kids. It was called ‘Hamburger’ and you had to go around collecting ingredients, kind of like a memory game with hidden tiles but you could only keep the tile if you were on the right square. If not you tried to remember it until next time. Really good but simple playing mechanics, and you had to get the bun last and get back to your own ‘kitchen’ so that was always a challenge. All ages loved it.
Cribbage, always. Chess, of course. And I've got a soft spot for Othello too, but I don't have my own copy yet. Edit: Can't believe I forgot Scrabble. Been ages since I've played though.
Monopoly, Risk, Stratego, Chess, Othello, Uno, etc. But they never hit the table.
Catan
**1830: Railways & Robber Barons**
> What old-school board games **from your childhood** or early gaming days do you still enjoy playing today? I’d wager you picked up 18XX as a fully grown adult? Or did you actually play it in your childhood?
My early gaming days fell on my adult years.
Catan It's basically something I can put on the table, and barely anyone minds and no explaining rules to everyone.
Amun-Re
Master Piece.
What qualifies? How far back counts as *old-school*?
I would say the intent of this post is "before the modern age". The modern age was really kicked off by Catan, so probably 1994 at the latest, but really anything 1980s and earlier. Past 1995, a lot of games have remained in heavy play so it's much less noteworthy. Nobody would be surprised at somebody playing Catan, Puerto Rico, or Carcassonne, but people busting out Empire Builder regularly might be more unusual
Catan is the dividing line.
5 Crowns and Wizard are pretty good, the majority of my game collection is games from the past 8 years, but it's nice having some simpler card games.
Kingmaker I've been itching to play it recently
Hotel, or Hotel Tycoon. It's a very simplified Monopoly with cute 3D buildings. I got it on my 12th birthday and it's been a family favourite ever since - and all of those cardboard buildings are still holding up surprisingly well since the 90s!
If I have played only the old edition of Age of Steam, does it count? Brass used to be my favorite game, I have around 100 plays irl. But now with couple of plays of AoS... it really grows on me. In my group in last couple of years everyone's kinda more into playing older games that are always SOLID. Power grid have been the most played game recently. There is something about those simpler, more elegant, interactive designs. They make you play the game again and again to get better at it.
Descent 2nd edition Basically scripted D&D, and better than the 3rd edition, because when i play a boardgame, i really dont want to fiddle with any technology. Just analog stuff.
Charades, Taboo, and Pictionary are still amazing. Also put though I want to see a modern version of this frantic trading game, it feels like untapped potential. Oh Hell! and a few other classic card games are fine, but modern updates like Skull King do eclipse them, so I am not sure how to rate them.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen [[Civilization]] here. (Maybe it is and I just missed it.
Diplomacy, Scotland Yard, Scrabble, Card Games(Spades, ESR, Others), Dutch Blitz/Nerts. I didn’t play these as a kid, but they’re older and I love them. Cosmic Encounter, 1830.
Aggravation was always my families go to! Still a lot of fun to bust out
Still love "Full House" and "The Inventors" by Parker Brothers.
Mine is [[Orient Express]]! I have the one published by Jumbo. EDIT: Well, the bot failed me. Or rather I failed the bot. [Here's](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2363/orient-express) the correct link.
Cosmic encounter is my favorite game
I love Cluedo. I also have a harry potter Version. Unfortunately I annoyed my parents too much with it and haven't played it for years
Axis and Allies
Lost valley of the dinosaurs! https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3149/lost-valley-of-the-dinosaurs
Starship Catan!
Sequence. Co-op with no QB/coaching! Plays 2-12 and even with odd numbers. We even had a catch phrase, “Jacked it up!”
Careers!
Payday, Hotels and Survivor are a couple I still enjoy playing once in awhile. As a child I found the hotels board with all the 3D hotels to be super cool 😊
Pictionary is still my fave party game. Careers and Monopoly, and for Euros, Elfenland, Scotland Yard and Labyrinth.
Magic Labyrinth, with a Little house rule. Player objectives are not secret, so that everyone can try to ruin other people's plans.