Board Games - What is hitting your table?

[Bixby]

Awful Green Things From Outer Space is a fun 2 player game.  It's never the same game twice!

Chrononauts is another favorite of mine.  I purchased Alhambra some time ago, but we haven't broken it out yet.  I'm hoping to get a new game for Christmas!

I have never played AGTFOS. Is this the magazine version or the commercial version of the game?
Played Chrononauts once, enjoyed it. Need to play it again now that I know what is going on.

Alhambra is a game my wife requests quite a bit. She also wins quite a bit. Coincidence???

[Scott]

I'm reading this thread too, though I read it cautiously because you guys get me hooked on games that have lots of expansions.

Mexican Train Dominos was very popular at our house a few years ago. When we were first introduced to it, we played every night for 2 or 3 weeks. That we don't play it anymore is more a problem of having others around to play with as our schedules have become more full.

I played Alhambra once and enjoyed it, though fortunately not enough to feel the urge to buy it because I think it has several expansions as well. The idea of each player building on their own was both appealing and unappealing at the same time. I find with tile-laying games I don't feel that other players are crowding me, whereas with a fixed-size game like Catan I feel constricted, so in the case of Catan I prefer the card game where each player builds on their own.

[joshgambit]

Awful Green Things From Outer Space is a fun 2 player game.  It's never the same game twice!

Chrononauts is another favorite of mine.  I purchased Alhambra some time ago, but we haven't broken it out yet.  I'm hoping to get a new game for Christmas!

I have never played AGTFOS. Is this the magazine version or the commercial version of the game?

Played Chrononauts once, enjoyed it. Need to play it again now that I know what is going on.

Alhambra is a game my wife requests quite a bit. She also wins quite a bit. Coincidence???

I have the newest commercial version (2011) and the pocket pack edition (1988).  It's a fun, wacky game.  IMHO, the green things win most of the time.  That's why we play 2 games & switch sides.  We take the points at the end and add them up to see who the winner is.

I need to break out Alhambra...

[Bixby]

I was lucky enough to buy the Big Box version of Alhambra that has all of the expansions included. Tom Vasel (The Dice Tower) did a great series of videso on the game and the expansions. Each expansion consists of a number of mini expansions and he highlights each one very well. Here is the link on SaskGames that summarizes info and links to videos...

http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=396.0

[CKorfmann]

I was lucky enough to buy the Big Box version of Alhambra that has all of the expansions included. Tom Vasel (The Dice Tower) did a great series of videso on the game and the expansions. Each expansion consists of a number of mini expansions and he highlights each one very well. Here is the link on SaskGames that summarizes info and links to videos...

http://forums.saskgames.com/index.php?topic=396.0

Alhambra looks interesting, but I think I'd like to try Glen More first.  Do you agree with Tom's module rankings for the most part Bixby?

[Bixby]

We have not played all of the expansions. Ones that I have played along with an approximate ranking...

• 10/10 - Currency Exchange Cards
• 10/10 - The Change
• 10/10 - The Diamonds
• 08/10 - Worker's Huts
• 08/10 - The Characters
• 07/10 - City Gates
• 07/10 - The Camps
• 05/10 - The Bonus Cards

[Bixby]

Instead of my usual post, here is a Geeklist account of our BGG.CON 2011 experience...

Click Here

[CKorfmann]

Instead of my usual post, here is a Geeklist account of our BGG.CON 2011 experience...

Click Here

Nice, well done!  I'm going to have to attend this some time for sure!

[Bixby]

This weekend saw us play:

Two games of That's Life which is a quick game, easy to teach, and accommodates up to 6 players. After that, we got in 1 four player game of Crokinole (played in teams. Sequence then hit the table and five games were played by four of us. I finished the evening by teaching Elk Fest and playing a quick game. 

I rarely play Video Games, but Skyrim has drawn me in, so I have been logging a few hours here and there on the xBox. Great game.

[Carcatronn]

I rarely play Video Games, but Skyrim has drawn me in, so I have been logging a few hours here and there on the xBox. Great game.

I watched my cousins play this over the weekend, definitely a jawdropper.. I wish I had enough time left in my day for this!

[Bixby]

This week I have been playing some Cribbage on and off with my mom. She is here for an extended visit and this is a family favourite.

I played two games of Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel (Kursk) this week. I was the Germans in both games. Both games were Firefight #6 Sneak Attack. I REALLY like this game and want to play this much more. This is my third play and they have all been this scenario. I am goinf=g over the rules to make sure I understand them completely before getting into the more involved scenarios with some of the additional rules. I am getting rid of Squad Leader as COH will now be my go-to game for WWII Squad level skirmishes.

[Bixby]

This weekend, my wife and I hosted the 2nd Annual WSOP November Nine Blind Bid Poker Grindfest. It was a full day of food, friends, poker, and laughs. This is a great format for a poker tournament and will only get more popular every year. Lots of fun. Neither of us placed in the money, but we had lots of fun.

At the end of the evening of Poker, we played RockBand for a couple of hours and finished the evening with Crokinole and some Loopin' Louie. A damn fine weekend.

[Skull One]

I finally sat down and order a few new games for the family (Father, Mother, Myself, wife, daughter and future son-in-law) to try.  Played all of them over the last two week save one.

Railways of the World - Wife and I liked it so much that I ordered every expansion for it.
7 Wonders - Everyone in the family enjoyed this.
Small World - Ended up ordering every expansion for it.  Even my Mother wanted to play it.
Elder Sign - Wife loves this.
Forbidden Island - Daughter and I love it.
Airlines Europe - Daughter, myself and wife love it.  Hopefully Moon will do more maps.
Kingdom Builder - Me, daughter and wife only played one game but we all want to play again.  We like that the game is a random setup.
Carcassonne Dice Game - We had to up the score because the games were ending too fast.  Will be designing house rules to give more options.


Didn't get to play Lord Of The Rings: The Card Game.  Hopefully next weekend.

[Bixby]

Wow. That is a great line up of games. I hear you about Railways of the World. Fantastic game. My wife loves that game quite a bit. We have all of the expansions, but have only played Eastern USA to date. I think we are ready to move into some of the other maps. The game is like a fine fine and we are savoring the flavour of each map before moving onto another.

[Skull One]

We played the Maps in this order: Mexico, Eastern, Europe, Western, England & Whales and Through Time.

I think each map is more than unique enough to justify its existence.  And each map forced us to come up with new strategies.  Especially Through Time.  I think my favorite is Western with Through Time a very very close second.  Western actually forced my mother to start Urbanizing stuff along my route so I couldn't do 6 and 7 length hauls.  I was actually shocked the first time she did it.  Cut my scoring potential almost in half.