Board Games are great

Quote: Mission146

Short Answer: There's essentially no way I should have lost, but I did. Screw that game.

Quote: Mental

24 A 4 D NR: 4.06 99.99540% but this is just for breaking in to Australia.

I think you had only a 99.92% of success in wiping out all countries on Australia. If your memory is faulty and it was only 20 attackers versus 4 defenders at the entry point, your chances fall to 99.44%. All gamblers eventually lose a contest where they are 199 to 1 favorites.

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I have a lot of respect for the Wizard, but his choice in board games is a little outdated ;) I also used to play these games a lot when I was younger, but there is a new world out there. Risk, Life, Battleship and Monopoly are almost shunned by the modern community. Boggle and Scrabble are good fun, but modern online implementations such as Words with Friends and Word Hero have almost eliminated the need\will to play the board game version. Settlers with Catan is a good 'gateway' game, but it has its own flaws.

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It's a large subculture. There's cafe's dedicated to playing of these designer games, and a entertainment industry of its own that's as complex and byzantine as the Casino world (just less dollar value). Game designers are 10 times more likely to get published in that world than in the casino game world, though... you can do your own thing via kickstarter, for instance.

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It's the exact opposite. It's like the Casino War of board games.

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Definitely some great games on that list need to make time to play more of them. I do have to recommend Dominion is an amazing deck building game. Ascension is another really good one though not on the list

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I like games with a lot of discovery in the game, which may not come from simple rules. I like games which have two or three things going on that one has to balance, and has variance from the start, less so from random elements like dice or card draws.

Like I said, it's a sub-culture that many members would look at casino 'games' as overly simple and dull.

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What is the optimal strategy for Candy Land?

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Not to play. There's no strategy in the game.

I really enjoyed Magic back in my Uni days, but moved to boardgames... games like Dominion and Blue Moon scratch the deck building/card play itch, while other have the depth of strategy. Without spending 100's on cards and having to spend hours deck building.

There's a whole bunch of new 'Living Card Games' that help avoid the rare hunt with all the fun of two player duel (Netrunner, Call of Cthluhu and WarHammer Invasion).

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Ever heard of BLOCKUS ? It isn't a board game exactly, it's kindof a TETRIS with multiple players. We played it a lot when we first got it.

Try this twist for 2 players and it really ramps-up the strategy. Each player starts from an opposite side of the square board, and the goal is to put as many of your pieces into the back row of your opponent as you can, while they try to do the same thing to you.

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You need to find players who are able to differentiate the game from reality. And you have to learn to respect and applaud the backstab. My family+relatives will play over a couple of weekends (the game can take 70+hours of play sometimes) and we all love each other still. Some (my uncle) wont touch it because he gets emotionally compromised by it and feels literally betrayed when he's backstabbed.

So you gotta have the right mindset when playing, knowing the backstab is part of the game and an intelligent strategic move. You have to be able to commend your enemy when he makes a good move, and keep the strife of the game outside of reality.
~R

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Speaking of Chutes & Ladders one of my many annoyances is there is a space on that game showing a kid walking through a puddle in bare feet. This causes him to go down a chute with the consequential space being sick. Getting your feet cold and wet will not by itself make one sick. As I've said hundreds of times, being cold does not cause you to get a cold.

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I loved Monopoly the most when I was a kid.

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I don't like games of chance. Growing up as a kid I ALWAYS preferred games of skill.

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As I was reading these books, I was flabbergasted. The game, although it used dice, wasn't a game of luck or chance at all! It contained far, FAR more skill than I ever, EVER could have hoped for or imagined! And the more I read about backgammon, the more fascinated and the more in love I became. And when I first learned that there are times when you WANT your checkers to be hit and be sent back, (to slow you down, to improve your timing for a "back game") I was hooked.

So yes, backgammon does use dice and does have an element of luck to it because of this, but overall it's a game of skill. In a match up to a certain number of points, the more skillful player might lose a game or two, but will win have a HUGE edge overall, and will more than likely win the match. And the longer the match the greater the likelihood that the stronger player will win it.

Backgammon is essentially a gambling game, and it's a GREAT gambling game, but it's also the only gambling game I know of that is just as much fun to play if there are no stakes involved at all. (Poker, for example, is boring if you're not playing for money. Everyone just stays in every hand!)

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Backgammon is a very good game. The doubling cube is important for anyone who wants to learn to play properly, and one of the most interesting aspects of the game.

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Republic of Rome, anyone?
Historical flavour, diplomacy, randomness that can be tamed, mix between collaborative and competitive gaming,...

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You seem to be obsessed that adults play board games. Let me assure you it's a past time for all, and finding time is merely a case of deciding what your priorities in life are.

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Risk would be a better game played online with random players. In real life, some people just want to gang up and take certain other people down. If you are suicidal, you can prevent any other player form winning in Risk. The battles take too long. These could be automated and resolved very quickly in an online version. Finally, I hate long games where someone can drop a die and wipe out the position.

Quote: smoothgrh

My family and I just played Chutes & Ladders for the first time in years. I was going to say to the forum members "If someone could write a simulation on the average number of turns it takes to finish this game, that would be great." But I checked first, and someone already did

Quote: Mission146

Anyway, screw games that are more than zero variance/"luck" dependent, unless I have a mathematical monetary advantage on them. Anything else is stupid and pointless if playing a really strong game can be completely nullified by, "Bad luck."

Quote: USpapergames

Seriously, it's sad if you would need to write a game simulation to determine the average turns it takes to complete the "game"; it's technically not a game but a race! The math isn't that hard ;)

Quote: USpapergames

Variance and luck aren't the same thing. That's a common misconception that many poker players think.

Quote: unJon

Wow. Seriously?

Quote: unJon

What other poker wisdom can you share with the forum from your extensive low stakes experience?

Quote: USpapergames

Variance and luck aren't the same thing. That's a common misconception that many poker players think.