Carcassonne Central

This year most of my gift giving is with board games.  I'm staying with a very good friend of mine for a day or so after Christmas and he has three boys.  A year or so ago, we went on vacation together and the loved Carcassonne, so I got them the base game.  I gave my wife Dixit 1 & 2 for her birthday in October and she really loves it so I got #3 (Odyssey) for her this year. 

Some of the gifts I bought have made me a little jealous since they are games that I really want too, but I guess I'll have to wait a little longer.  At least I'll get to play them a little bit.  My mom loves card and party games so I got her Wits & Wagers.  I got Forbidden Island for my sister's kids, and Seven Dragons (with promo) for my other sister. 

I'm hoping Santa is nice to me this year.  I often get party type games from various family members so I made snuck a list in with that for my kids and wife.  Formula D, The Resistance, Hive Carbon, Ticket to Ride, and Pandemic: On the Brink.  We shall see. 

I'm debating on getting a game to be PLAYED with my young nephew over the holidays to get his head out of his DS video game. I'm thinking it will fair better if I build it up as an awesome game that he'll only get to play when I'm around, to try to get some momentum on the death grips of his DS addiction. (I fear it will only be buried in the closet after our holiday play in favor of his new 7-8 vid games). He's 11, I'm thinking Robo Rally might be considered cool enough? ( I'm relatively new to gaming myself and haven't played it or many other games......BUT I MYSELF THINK IT WOULD BE FUN! ) Any thoughts?

Me too, bought my brother Pandemic: On the Brink (sorry CK) and Pandemic: Threat Level 6; my sister  Munchkins Zombies and Zombies!!! 2 game expansion. I am hoping to get Settlers of Catan: 15th anniversary wood edition, and the 2011 Catan ornament... But those are way over priced so outlook not good lol

My first question would be what kind of games does he like?  Board games come in all flavors these days, so I'd pay attention to the kind of video games he likes to play and perhaps try to match the themes of his favorites.  I'll bet if he can get his parents and reletives to play with him too, than it won't be too hard to get him to put the DS down.  There are much more experienced gamers on this site like Bixby and Joff who might be able to answer your question a little better.

I have introduced my nephews to many games. Here are some that resonated with the boys. I will give these a rating of 1-5...

Guillotine - {* {* {* Light Filler Game with an irreverent theme.
Small World - {* {* {* {* Great introductory conflict game. Cute and easy to play.
RoboRally - {* {* {* Good Player Interaction

I am going to introduce them to Downfall of Pompeii this Christmas, I believe it will be {* {* {* {*


It really depends on the person, but I think that lots of player interaction coupled with conflict or "take that" is the key to games boys that age. Have fun and good luck...
 

I bought Carcassonne for my brothers (since they love playing it when they're over), Sabotage, Halli Galli.

For my partner I bought Dominion and Dominion: Hinterlands.

And he bought ALL of the small world expansions (leaders, cursed, grand dames, necromancer, be not afraid, tunnels and legends)
and Carcassonne: Katharer....the original one with the magazine.

Only a week to go....can't wait.

Ok, where did he get Die Katharer?? Please tell.    hel

I'm thinking Ebay.... ;D

Unfortunately thats the problem..........buying Ds games easy one stop shopping...........having him into his games, out of their hair.......both considered good things by the 'fam'. Its sad but the reality.

Thanks Bixby, I'll head to Board Game Geek and check out your suggestions.

Well, when I hear people talking about games for kids, the ones that always seem to come up are Castle Panic and Forbidden Island.  I bought Forbidden Island for my sister's kids this year and when I played it, I thought it might be a little too difficult for the younger ones, but it might be just fine for an 11-year-old.  Every kid that age that I've played Carcassonne with has loved it, especially the dragon expansion. 

You might consider checking out Tom Vasel's top 100 games of all time.   (http://www.dicetower.com/top_100.html) This year he did his 100 and that of this daughter who appears to be no more than 11 or 12.  He also did those of "the people" by voting.  If you look at his daughter's list, that might give you some ideas.

I ended up giving my extra copies of Crop Circles and The School to my cousin who also plays Carcassonne.

It would be nice if my family bought me some Dominion expansions for Christmas, but they haven't bought me a present in a LONG time.

I want the Dominion Big Box! Looks like it comes with all the promo cards, time to get into this game I think

It MAY come with Envoy and Black Market. It doesn't come with Stash, Walled Village, or Governor. My copy did not come with the first two promos and when I contacted RGG, they said something to the effect of its is based on the distributors discretion and is not included within the box. From some of the posts I read back then on Amazon.com, when copies did come with the promos, they were taped on top of the box. Either way, the Big Box is a good deal if you don't have the expansions and you get the box for a good price.