Board Game Suggestions

It's more of a tabletop game rather than board game, but x-wing is a lot of fun, especially Extended/Epic where you go 2v2

If you have a dedicated group that meets up often (which it seems like you do), then I'd recommend going all in for some Gloomhaven. Think of it like a cooperative board game version of Zelda. It's a campaign of 90-100 different scenarios that are played in an order that is dependent on the direction that your group decides to take. Each scenario is similar to a Zelda dungeon where you don't know what is in a room until you open that room up. There are monsters to fight, treasure chests to loot, and sometimes a boss to defeat at the end.

As you progress through scenarios, your character will upgrade it's characteristics, have more gold to spend, and at some point you'll reach character retirement where you'll then select a new character to play with.

We've probably invested close to 50 hours and aren't close to being finished, but it never gets old, dull, or repetitive, especially after you get through 5 or so scenarios.

Star Wars Rebellion

quote:

---

Have it, but have not started my play through yet. I'm pumped though.

---

If I were you, I'd go ahead and get a shite ton of card sleeves and research for a good Gloomhaven dedicated organization setup. There is so much shite inside the game box that you really need a way to keep it all in order.

quote:

---

Really just looking for some general suggestions and I'd do my research. We've played something from each category and enjoyed them all. Gloomhaven has been mentioned by the group but we've yet to take the plunge.

---

Gloomhaven is a massive, campaign game. Be ready to take a long time to complete it.

Pandemic is great, and if you have a solid core of players Pandemic Legacy Season 1 as a persistent campaign game is a lot of fun too.

My personal favorites are:

Dead of Winter - Cooperative with a potential betrayer mechanic as well as hidden goal for each player that may or may not interfere with other player goals

Viticulture - Fun game about making wine. Really good with the expansion and at least 4 players.

Terraforming Mars (You've played this one)

High Frontier - Game about the exploration of the Solar System logically

Mansions of Madness 2nd Ed (build a board game where players are directed through the scenario through an app - really good on a tablet because there will be puzzles on the app for the players to solve)

Lords of Waterdeep - Worker placement game in a fantasy setting

Eldritch Horror - Cthuluh setting where players work to beat the scenario. Cards dictate the random scenarios.


Games I have not played but heard good things about:
Dominion
Agricola
T.I.M.E. Stories


A good place for ideas:

Boardgame Geek

Gloomhaven and Pandemic Legacy: Season One are the only games that rate higher than Terraforming Mars. Both are games where the map changes as you play. It does mean that there are limits to how many times you can play, but...

Pandemic Legacy: Season One will have a minimum of 12, max of 24 sessions.

Gloomhaven: About 75 scenarios. Estimates I've seen is if you have the max 4 players for each session, you'll get about 150 hours of game time.

I had no idea we had board gamers on here. Horrified is a great co op. If you've played and liked Pandemic I'd highly recommend. I've recently played Architects of the West Kingdom and really liked it. It's a new take on worker placement. The Networks was another I played recently. It's a cool card drafting game where you each run your own TV network. I'd also vouch for Dead of Winter that was mentioned above me. Others on my shelf waiting to be played are Clank!, Champions of Midgard, Spector Ops and Orleans.

Here are some that I have enjoyed over the years.

Co-Ops - Defenders of the Realm, Aeon's End, Ghost Stories/Last Bastion

Semi Co-Op - Dead of Winter, Nemesis

Competitive - Arcadia Quest, Blood Rage, Champions of Midgard, Vast/Root series of games.

Puzzle/Story - T.I.M.E. Stories, Chronicles of Crime,

Party/Quick - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Sheriff of Nottingham, Cockroach Poker, Skull, Captain Sonar (Really only is best if you have 8)

Hidden Movement - Specter Ops, Fury of Dracula, Star Wars: Rebellion

quote:

---

I've been growing fond of Betrayal at the House on the Hill because it's produce some scenarios that made some electric endings, which is funny when talking about board games. Terraforming Mars mobile app changed the way I play that game now. So money.

---

They have a Betrayal Legacy game. Before getting something as massive as Gloomhaven or another long campaign game I would recommend giving this one a shot. You love the game already and this will get your gaming groups toes wet with a campaign type game as it is played over multiple games.

If your group can come up with regular meetups to get this one done then maybe getting one of the longer campaign games will work with your group.

One thing I'd like to mention. I learned pretty quickly not to blindly trust the rankings on Board Game Geeks. It's a great resource but I found it was much better to figure out which specific game mechanics you enjoy. Gloomhaven might be considered the best game currently on their list but it's a pretty hefty investment only to find out you hate dungeon crawlers/campaigns.