[Patrick]

I'd have to say that my top 3 are:

1. Twilight Imperium

I've only played this game 3 times, but that's only because it takes 8 hours to play. This is a game of negotiation, alliances, combat, and intense strategy. With so many unique factions to play, every game you play will be very unique. I started playing this just before the pandemic hit, and unfortunately haven't had much of an opportunity to play since then. Hopefully next year is better and provides more opportunities for this truly epic game to hit our table!

2. Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven is an absolutely fantastic co-op dungeon crawler legacy board game. If you're not familiar, legacy games are games that evolve over time as you play them. My wife and I played at least 150 hours of this game over the course of months. The box weighs nearly 20 pounds, just to give you an idea of the amount of stuff that's inside the box. There are numerous characters for you to play, dungeons to explore, bosses to fight, and secrets to unlock. A board game organizer such as the one from The Broken Token will save you a ton of time during the setup process. Without an organizer, setup can take up to 30 minutes. With an organizer, each session can setup in around 10 minutes. There are also Gloomhaven related apps you can use to manage combat, just search on your favorite app store.

3. Terraforming Mars

In Terraforming Mars, your goal is to terraform the planet Mars to make it habitable for human settlement. This means increasing the oxygen in the atmosphere, creating oceans, and raising the temperature. Throughout the game you pay to collect and complete various projects (cards) and have the opportunity to create many interesting synergies between the projects you've created. Your goal, as with most games, is to get the most points. One thing I really love is the fact that this game does not take longer to play when you have more players. Once you've terraformed the planet, the game ends. I'm not a fan of most of the expansions, but definitely check out Terraforming Mars Prelude which is a fantastic expansion. It helps kick-start the game to get it moving faster, and provides each player with unique opportunities to improve their situation at the start of the game.

So, what are your top 3?

 

[liang]

Last of Us
God of War
Skyrim

 

[CaptainTurbo]

Risk & Monopoly, if I have to have a third, probably Battleships.

 

[AcousticMoose]

Risk & Monopoly, if I have to have a third, probably Battleships.

I used to play these all the time! But in the last few years when board games really got popular again there's just too many new games to play. It's not often I get to play the classics any more

 

[Patrick]

@AcousticMoose Sadly not many of the classics stand up to the test of time (imo). So many new game mechanics in modern games have taken board gaming to a whole new level. There is definitely a lack of simplicity in modern games, but I feel that the fun factor has gone up many orders of magnitude.

 

[AcousticMoose]

True, I agree that the newer games seem to be more enjoyable, without some of the annoying or boring parts that older games had.

 

[AcousticMoose]

@Patrick sounds like you really enjoy the long and involved games!! Have you played Axis and Allies or the Game of Thrones board games? Both of those take forever... I've only played each of them once or twice.

My top three would probably be:

Colt Express:
Everybody plays western bandits who are all robbing the same train. Each player tries to rob the most money from the passengers. The gameplay involves planning out your characters actions in advance, (move left/right, punch, shoot, try to rob someone). Then once everyone has planned their moves, the actions get executed in order. The fun is trying to plan your moves in advance, and then watching the chaos when things don't go as planned during the execution phase.

Sheriff Of Nottingham:
One player is the sheriff of Nottingham, the other players are merchants trying to bring good into the market at Nottingham. You have the option to either bring in legal good or contraband, and the Sheriff has the option of either checking your bag or letting you pass without checking your bag. It's a bluffing style game, but pretty different from a lot of the other bluffing games I've played. This game may be higher on my list then it should be, because when I play it everyone really plays up their medieval characters, which is a lot of fun. Not sure what it would be like if you played it normally.

Code Names:
A simple concept, but a really fun game!!

 

[lan]

Call me boring and old, but Monopoly is still a classic!

 

[Crazy88]

I don't play enough boards games of different varieties to warrant a top 3 but here are 3 that I do enjoy:

Azul

You take turns collecting groups of pattern tiles to lay out on your board. You compete with other players for certain layouts that yield the most points. Pretty chill game, until near the end where your actions will affect other players.

Horrified

This is a co-op game where you and your friends aim to defeat the monsters that are terrorizing the village. I like the flexibility in that you can play on your own or up to 5 players. You can also select the number of monsters you want on the board, and the monsters each have varying degrees of difficulty to defeat. Typically not a short game by default, but the speed can be dictated by how many monsters you add to the board. Requires a lot of communication and planning. Great production value too!

Sushi Go Party!

It has a board, but it's mostly a card game. This one is good for its many different game variations. You can play 2 player without the board, or get a group and make things interesting. You pass your group of cards but not before choosing one for yourself in order to make a sushi meal or combo that rewards you with the highest points, but others may or may not be aiming for the same dish! Plenty of curveballs along the way depending on the game variant you choose.

 

[Crazy88]

Call me boring and old, but Monopoly is still a classic!

+1 for the classics. I was tempted to add Scrabble as a bonus choice

 

[Patrick]

@AcousticMoose I did play the Game of Thrones board game with 6 players. It took probably 6 hours to play, and I wouldn't say it was worth it sadly. Sheriff Of Nottingham is definitely a fun game to play. Sometimes I just never lie, and it frustrates people so much. It's a viable strategy to win occasionally.

@Crazy88 Azul is definitely a great game to play when you're looking for something quick and easy. Great choice! Of course Codenames is always a classic.

 

[AcousticMoose]

Sushi Go Party!
It has a board, but it's mostly a card game. This one is good for its many different game variations. You can play 2 player without the board, or get a group and make things interesting. You pass your group of cards but not before choosing one for yourself in order to make a sushi meal or combo that rewards you with the highest points, but others may or may not be aiming for the same dish! Plenty of curveballs along the way depending on the game variant you choose.

Sushi Go Party is really fun for a card game! One of my favorites to play casually with larger groups

 

[AcousticMoose]

Sometimes I just never lie, and it frustrates people so much. It's a viable strategy to win occasionally.

Haha yeah if you aren't known to always tell the truth that would be pretty funny

 

[CaptainTurbo]

Call me boring and old, but Monopoly is still a classic! View attachment 1190

I'd prefer to call you a legend, nothing wrong with Monopoly at all. Sometimes the older stuff just simply gets it right.