Mine is Ludo: A solid 2 to 4 Player board game.
Fun Fact: It causes a war in Hindu Mythology.
Second is Chess because dev abandoned their game.
Go. It’s nobody knows how many thousands of years old, it’s easy as pie and difficult like crazy. The game can’t end in a draw. It’s easy to balance strong and weak players so they can compete with full effort. The equipment is trivial to make with common, cheap household items. Computers got competitive against humans just a couple of years ago (compare to chess where they beat humans in 1997 and ever since).
Great board game for 3+ people. Best with a full crew. You and your mates explore a mansion. As you explore a new room you place a tile and something can happen.
It’s meant to have a lot of replayability as each time you play there’s a booklet full of potential end games that you can trigger. Such as the mansion is burning down and you need to escape.
Ayy, I was going to mention this one. Crazy fun game.
I love the idea of that game. But in practice, I hate it.
Exploring the house is fun. And then the haunt usually ends up with a lopsided win. I can’t remember a time where the haunt didn’t feel like a forgone conclusion once revealed. Basically, I’ve never felt like I had any way to impact the outcome outside of potentially just throwing it.
Edit: in my mind, it’s less of a game and more of an experience or story generator.
Have you played the Legacy version of the game? I have and I would recommend it.
My absolute favourite is Spirit Island. A co-op game where you work together defending your island and kicking out explorers and settlers. Expanding your presence and getting new powers along the way. Every game with new combinations.
When we got the game we played this more than once every week for over a year. With each game taking 1-3hours with our playstyle. Sometimes longer with four players (but that’s partly because of not actively playing the game then). We play less now only because of moving with the renovation taking too much time.
I love Spirit Island so much.
though usually unless folks are also as into complicated stuff as I am I end up playing horizons of Spirit Island for a simplified experience
Wingspan is really great plus it has stunning visuals too!
Ticket to Ride. Building out your rail network is so satisfying.
Ahhh Ticket to Rage. My wife’s family is not allowed to play that anymore.
Why not? Does a proverbial train crash through the event?
It is definitely high up there for me.
This is mine too. I don’t really like board games, but Ticket to Ride really clicked with me and I had a blast playing it. Will get it for myself but damn it’s expensive (I guess that’s a problem with board games in general, and I do see the value of the investment).
I wanted to like the game, but one game where the other players adopted the ‘backstabbing’ style ruined it for me.
Mancala, if that counts.
Clue.
What’s your motive for liking it?
It’s complex yet very simple. Can be played by a small or large group easily. Teaches logic, reasoning, and deduction over “outscoring” your opponent. Being the dealer doesn’t give you any advantages if you play it right. And because of all the various permutations of the cards, it’s always a new game each time vs a number of set scenarios/strategies.
Single favourite is hard to pick.
Casual: I agree, Ludo is GOAT.
Invested: Catan… Maybe Scrabble
Dumb fun: Mad magazine game
Power Grid
Which map?
I mostly play US. Don’t have any expansion maps myself. Any recommendations?
The China map is interesting as it changes the power plant drawing order.
Call to Adventure, Wingspan/Wyrmspan, most of the Tiny Epic series, Coup are all solid contenders.
I like the Red Raven games but I don’t really look forward to playing them because of all the set up and tear down lol, I would love them as digital products with automation.
I absolutely love Wingspan. Should I also get Wyrmspan, or would I be better off getting the last expansion or two I’m missing from Wingspan? We also love the Tiny Epic series, but we couldn’t really get our group into Coup unfortunately
I like Wyrmspan because it shakes up the mechanics, but to be perfectly honest I just love dragons more than birds so the art alone practically sold me on it lol
My partner and I prefer dragons as well. I don’t mean to keep bothering you but I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind
1.) Are they all different dragons with little trivia tidbits like the birds?
2.) Do you know if it plays well at two players? We really appreciated the Asia expansion for catering to that specifically
No bother at all! They are all different dragons with wonderful original art, but the cards don’t have trivia. There is a “dragons facts sheet” thing that’s included just as flavour.
Might not be the best person to answer the latter, as my partner and I played an absolute crap ton of Wingspan just the two of us and thought it played fine enough, even without the Asia expansion.
We enjoyed the original as well, we just super enjoyed that they focused on it. I’m kind of sad no trivia on the cards. I know I’ll end up with the game eventually. Love their stuff. Scythe and Viticulture are also in our library
I’ve got the digital version of scythe but haven’t gotten around to trying it.
It’s good when you want something real meaty and strategic
Heroquest.
After being hyped up by the commercial, I was severely disappointed in the broadsword.
Browed Sowed
Solo: Mage Knight
2 player: Star Trek Fleet Captains
4 player: Shadows of Brimstone
Stupid-fun dice chucker for 4 or 5: Project Elite
I just looked up Mage Knight based on your comment. This looks awesome, I’m ordering a copy right now. So, Thanks.
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it!
Also, I recommend watching Ricky Royal’s play-through on YouTube. His channel is “Box of Delights”. The play-through is from several years ago but is very well done.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Right now, it is Azul.
I’ve heard good things. Would it be easy for friends to pick up quickly?
I’ve found it rather easy to teach new players.
I really enjoy Root, but it can end up taking a little while to get through.
Cameroon. It’s like a mix of air hockey and pool.
I wish I had an actual board still… I only have it via 52 Clubhouse Games on switch. I find it much more fun when you’re actually flicking the pieces with your finger.
