I’m just curious what games keep you coming back, but I’ll go first (in no particular order)
Twilight Imperium - excellent for when you want to give your brain a real workout and enjoy some cutthroat strategy.
Munchkin - It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but it’s a blast with friends
Red Dragon Inn - Not dissimilar to Munchkin for the high quality evening with friends potential. Expansions are endless, but almost always worth the change of pace. Does suffer from a little power creep between the OG box and the stuff released after it.
Xia Legends of a drift system - Best played on Tabletop Sim, but this sci-fi game about being a starship captain creates some great stories with friends.
Space Base - You might be seeing a bit of a theme here, but really they’re just really good games. Space Base is a pretty refined worker placement game, and it doesn’t take 9 hours like some of the games on this list.
Sheriff of Nottingham - Social deduction, pettiness, and silly voices, what’s not to love?
The King’s Dilemma - Okay this one is a bit of a cheaty one, it’s a legacy game but with the right crew who like to get in character it’s a fantastic experience.
Alright, your turn!
For no reason at all other than I love the birds on the cards, Wingspan has to be my favorite
Yeah, the mechanics of it always seem to trip people up, but it is probably the most aesthetically pleasing game I own. Even the manual is printed on quality paper. 😍
I just recently bought and played it and it’s a really good game.
late to the party here. we have some big board game fans in our office, and we have started the tradition of a weekly game of The Resistance. it’s been a lot of fun!
Hey Smorks, thanks for the server! The more the merrier! Resistance is definitely one of those games I’d consider both team building and trust issue inducing, so I’m sure it’s a fun office pick :P
Pandemic, Forbidden Island, Betrayal at house on the Hill… there are so many!
We live in a golden age
Betrayal was my intro into proper board games vs monopoly and ludo and chess. And it thoroughly blew me away with how complex and flavourful board games could be.
Now I have half a Kallax chock full of board games and It continues encroaching on the book territory.
Wingspan, The Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Puerto Rico, most of the Azul variants, also Patchwork and Splendor for 2p games.
Our main group likes playing coop games. Some of our favs are Pandemic, Fuji Koro, Sanctum, Until Daylight, and Betrayal at House on the Hill (which we nicknamed spooky house).
Betrayal at the House on the Hill is one of my favourite games. I like that the game is different every time and how the objectives to finishing a game can be completely different.
Love that game - high replay value, easy to pick up, and can build some solid tension!
Going through my collection:
Catan: mostly due to a wide appeal+familiarity. I’m the source of getting my social group into gaming, so I have to have some games that they’ll have access to elsewhere/are already familiar with.
Sushi Go Party!: An easy intro to drafting games and has incredibly cute artwork. Usually the game I pick for board-gaming curious friends.
Skull king: Everyone loves a good trick taking game and the themeing+rock-paper-scissors of the non-suit cards really amps up the fun.
Cockroach Poker: A game that’s just as fun sober and otherwise. Incredibly portable and easy to get folks onboarded.
Coup: If you want to test the fabric holding the friend group together, and also have some incredible spicy back-stabby fun.
Betrayal at house on the hill: My introducion to modern board games and also the game I pick for the TTRPG curious among my friends. Exploring a haunted house with lots of flavour and dice rolling is always fun.
- Illuminati is the most fun
- Agricola is a whole world
- Betrayal at House on Hill is the most engrossing
Wingspan, Tiny Epic Galaxies, Dune Imperium, Tiny Epic Pirates, Firefly, Fluxx, Love Letter, Dominion, Tsuro, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Let’s Summon Demons, Carcassonne.
My favorite game is probably Splendor. I just recently bought the expansions for it (Cities, Trading Post, The Orient, and Strongholds) and all of them provide a really interesting change of pace that doesn’t take away from the core mechanics.
We’re still novices in our household, but a few that we’ve enjoyed so far:
- The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
Trick-taking cooperative card game with a bunch of different gameplay variations in the missions. The brilliant wrinkle is that you can’t speak with each other during gameplay.
- The Quest for El Dorado
A deck-builder race game that’s really approachable for those new to deck-builders. Winning is in finding the balance between deck management and board positioning.
- Happy Pigs
A euro-like game of economy management as you all raise pigs, breed them, and prepare them for selling to market. The strategy is in anticipating what your opponents will do, since players must share turn actions between them.