Gaming/ Board Games

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Chess hahah, really though, Kung Fu fighting, En Garde are both really fun games.

[Sjofn]

Used to play lots of boardgames, most of which have already been mentioned here.

There's a LOTR boardgame that's great - the players play cooperatively against Sauron (effectively an NPC) and it becomes a game of judging when to use cards and getting through sticky situations. Great fun if everyone's drinking, but then most games are 

Oh, I love that game! It creates the sense of "aw shit, we are so fucked" really well. 

I'd also like to echo the Carcassonne recommendation. There's a two-player only version too, if I remember right?

[Ingmar]

Unfortunately I think the co-op Lord of the Rings is out of print.

Everyone tells me that Lost Cities is a good 2 player game, but I haven't actually played it yet. Ditto for Memoir '44 and its related games. If you're looking for giant games that take an hour to set up, War of the Ring is also a good 2 player one.

[Numtini]

I'd also like to echo the Carcassonne recommendation. There's a two-player only version too, if I remember right?

Yes, you can play it with two players. Our favorite game at the moment!

We have Lost Cities and this thread reminded me I need to pull it out and work out the rules. Just wondering if there are any other good ones floating around.

[naum]

Apples to Apples a big hit in our family, it goes good with beer & wine…

Settlers of Catan, though I was not aware there was an expansion for 5-6 players… …I did buy an expansion to make it a 2 player game, but could have just DLed those rules and it really doesn't translate to a 2 player game… (often we have 6)…

Civilization, the board game - time consuming, rules slightly bugged (think they've fixed that in a PDF update), but haven't played Mrs. Naum got very angry with me after I broke a treaty with her…

Agricola, have a copy, have not played, hear it's the bees knees of board strategy games… …for 1-5 players, another one of the German euro-gamer genre…

[Druzil]

Stratego is pretty fun for 2 players.  Plus it's pretty cheap and comes in lots of flavors (like Star Wars, etc.) that usually add a little twist to some of the pieces, or it can be played normally.

[Tarami]

Cooperative games often work very well for two players. I can recommend Red November (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36946). A game about saving a gnomish submarine. A race against the clock, while staying sufficiently drunk to cope with it all. Fast (< 10 minutes) to set up and fast to play (< 60 minutes).

Lost Cities which you mentioned is kinda fun too, but very abstract (flimsily thin theme.) For some reason women seem to enjoy it more than men; not sure why that is. It's a pretty light hand/risk management game.

[apocrypha]

Unfortunately I think the co-op Lord of the Rings is out of print.

Ah damn, sorry, I didn't notice that when I linked it.

[Arnold]

Chess hahah, really though, Kung Fu fighting, En Garde are both really fun games.

Why the laugh?  Chess should be #1 on the list of two player board games.

We used to play Diplomacy in high school.  With 5 or 6 people it's lots of fun.  The turns can take forever, but that's because of all the negotiating and backstabbing that goes on.

[Cheddar]

Supremacy - if you like Risk, this is a world domination game where you either rule the economy or nuke the other players

Oh man, I was trying to remember the name of this game yesterday.  I owe you a beer!!!

[Ingmar]

Chess hahah, really though, Kung Fu fighting, En Garde are both really fun games.

Why the laugh?  Chess should be #1 on the list of two player board games.

We used to play Diplomacy in high school.  With 5 or 6 people it's lots of fun.  The turns can take forever, but that's because of all the negotiating and backstabbing that goes on.

Diplomacy really needs a hard limit on negotiation phases to be playable. 10-15 minutes tops. I also think the game suffers balance-wise without the full slate of 7 players.

[Druzil]

We used to play diplomacy by email.  Everyone maintains their own copy of the board and emails their turns by a set time every day (or three) to the designated GM (or whatever you want to call them, the person that runs the turns).  The GM then runs the turns and sends out the results.  That way everyone can do their diplomacy/backstabbing by email on their own time.

It works pretty well but usually there's a few people that end up quitting as it drags on then the game flops.

[Ingmar]

Yeah I used to play PBEM Dip back in college, the actual number of games that completed was very low compared to the number that started.

[Arnold]

Chess hahah, really though, Kung Fu fighting, En Garde are both really fun games.

Why the laugh?  Chess should be #1 on the list of two player board games.

We used to play Diplomacy in high school.  With 5 or 6 people it's lots of fun.  The turns can take forever, but that's because of all the negotiating and backstabbing that goes on.

Diplomacy really needs a hard limit on negotiation phases to be playable. 10-15 minutes tops. I also think the game suffers balance-wise without the full slate of 7 players.

I seem to remember our negotiation times topping out around 15 mins.  We never set a hard limit; they just normally ran 10-15 mins.

Of course, it seemed like we had the same people playing the same countries every time, so the first couple turns were almost a given and went real quick.

[WayAbvPar]

Holy fucking necro! I thought I would drop in and offer my two cents only to discover I had already done so. In 2007. WTF.

That being said; I may try to rally some folks up for a board game night. Something entertaining to do while guzzling booze as fast as possible, and it is interactive enough that the wives can't complain. As much.

[apocrypha]

Lol I like how none of the rest of us noticed it was a two year necro.

It's just like a PBEM Diplomacy game 

[proudft]

A Ven-Tyr
A Rom-Ven
F Nap-Ion

 

[IainC]

A Ven-Tyr
A Rom-Ven
F Nap-Ion

 

You should have PMed it to someone else to post for you if you were doing it right.

[Ingmar]

A Ven-Tyr
A Rom-Ven
F Nap-Ion

 

Stabbing Austria on turn 1? Are you mad?

[proudft]

Crazy like a fox!

Now you've reminded me of the freak squad I played a live game with at Origins one year.  Thank god the other normal guy won.  I was glad to get knocked out after Mr. Leaky Pus-Eye, I tell you what.  Moral victory.


On the cooperative subject, Shadows over Camelot is another good one, with the added twist that one of your buddies might be a TRAITOR.   I never trusted that King Arthur, personally.  http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15062