Even with all the video games, e-devices, and smart phones that could keep me entertained for virtually forever, I still love sitting down with friends and playing some board games, and I wish I could do it more often. Want to start your own monthly board game night (I promise it will be a bigger hit than you think it will be)? Start with these games. Note: This list is based off board games I have played. I don’t want to lead you wrong by listing popular games I haven’t played. I have integrity!
Play this.
1.) Settlers of Catan – Since 1995, Catan has sold over 15 million copies, for good reason; it’s fun, competitive, but when you lose, it doesn’t really feel like losing. It has the perfect combination of luck, skill, and negotiation. In The Settlers of Catan, you are the leader of a group of settlers building a civilization on a newly discovered island. You gain control of various resources by building settlements and cities, and use those resources to build cities, roads, or buy development cards.
The game has a couple of unique play mechanics, however. One is that negotiation is key. You’ll never have enough cards to build what you want without trading with the other players. The second is that you can change the board game every time, so resources, and the numbers rolled to get them are different each time. It keeps the re-playability very high. I beg you to check this game out if you haven’t.
2.) A Game of Thrones – Based on the popular book/television series, A Game of Thrones reminds me a lot of Settlers of Catan, but with more driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentation of their women included.
You take on the role of one of the great houses of Westoros, and you must do your best to sweep through the lands, conquering, raiding, all that good stuff. In the end, of course, only the most ruthless player wins. It can be a grueling and AWESOME 3 hours of gaming. If you want Game of Thrones, but don’t have time to play the board game, a card game is also available.
3.) Scrabble – Scrabble is awesome, especially for you word lovers; I like it, even though I’m not great at it. The concept is simple. Use your randomly chosen letters to build words off each other and score them for points. It’s awesome. And if you love Scrabble as much as I do, you should check out this documentary.
4.) Risk -Risk is massive and varied and just a ton of fun. And everyone has their own way of conquering the world. I have a friend that likes to slowly surround his enemies countries and then going in for the kill. I have another friend that builds a massive horde and sweeps around the board like Genghis Kahn. There are tons of game variations including Halo, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars.
Plus, as Tears for Fears said, “Everybody wants to rule the world.”
Play these games, and you’re sure to have a big hit of a game night. What games do you guys recommend?
I have never played the first two. Catan looks interesting.
I don’t really care for risk. Too much luck involved for my taste. I love Stratego, but that only takes 2 players so I guess not the best for a game night.
I never understood why Settlers of Catan is so popular, it’s not really that good. It’s too random and starting positions can give you huge advantages or huge difficulties.
Risk is even worse, not only is i completely random, it takes ages to play. If you want to play for a few hours try something more advanced and more rewarding like the newest Sid meiers civilization or Arkham Horror.
A few other great games are Ticket to Ride, Ascension, Dominion and Betrayal at House on The Hill.
I agree about risk, but I love me some Catan. Starting positions can be kind of a determinant, but I think different strategies minimize and maximize odds of success. I have more than a few friends who prefer to buy a lot of resource cards and try to get the longest road.
Along the lines of Scrabble, Bananagrams is also an awesome game for word lovers. And it is way more high-energy. Along the lines of fruit-named games, Apples to Apples is also fun for large groups of people you know.
Quelf is outrageously funnya! we just got sample cards w another board game and are already online buying the full game!