So when many people think boardgames, they think of hours spent unhappy as everyone trudged through the end of Monopoly, or those unlucky dice rolls that ruined that game of Risk they clearly had the advantage in.

But ever since “Settlers of Catan” back in 1995, boardgames have been coming back, and fixing all they're nasty problems with games that are infinitely more engaging and entertaining.

Boardgamers are now:

-Buying land for their kingdoms http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion
-Trying to win the hand of a princess http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/129622/love-letter
-Discovering which of their friends are filthy spies http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41114/resistance
-Struggling to feed their families http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260/agricola
-Reenacting the Cold War tensions http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12333/twilight-struggle
-Having Star Wars dog-fights in personalized armadas http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/103885/star-wars-x-wing-miniatures-game
-Cooperating to stop disease from killing all humanity http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic

and a lot more!

What are your favorite modern boardgames? Which are you looking forward to? What's your favorite mechanic? Theme?

Sorry for the formatting, as I'm still a new Scratcher.

And that's embarassing! My their/they're/there is wrong. It should be their, not they're

I love these games!! Me, my brother, and my dad finished another game of Catan lately, and it's a blast. Have you heard of PeaceBowl? Interesting game. A lot of the fun has to do with understanding the translated English though XD. It's a bit like Blood Bowl. Also, Formula D racing is a really cool racing board game that I got last Christmas. Anyway, I could go on all day ranting about these games. I've started playing them when I was 4! I also played D&D with my dad all the time at 6 XD. My little brother is really fun to play games with too. He actually understands the whole concept of Catan and he's 5! XD I should stop talking about myself now, but this is just one of my favorite subjects.

mrhooper wrote:

I love these games!! Me, my brother, and my dad finished another game of Catan lately, and it's a blast. Have you heard of PeaceBowl? Interesting game. A lot of the fun has to do with understanding the translated English though XD. It's a bit like Blood Bowl. Also, Formula D racing is a really cool racing board game that I got last Christmas. Anyway, I could go on all day ranting about these games. I've started playing them when I was 4! I also played D&D with my dad all the time at 6 XD. My little brother is really fun to play games with too. He actually understands the whole concept of Catan and he's 5! XD I should stop talking about myself now, but this is just one of my favorite subjects.

Same here, for that last sentence

I find many people are intimidated by even simpler boardgames - they seem too fiddly and they have too many parts that aren't automated - but in practice my 8 year old brother has been able to play various ones designed for adults for years.

I favour skirmish-level tabletop wargames - Necromunda, Mordheim, and Gorkamorka.

Nobody plays Icehouse anymore, probably because it's a little broken as a strategy game, but it's still a really great party game.

There's a spin-off game with the same pieces called Homeworlds, which is a lot better (but totally different, lol). I like to play it and the way too complicated Gnostica with my friends. I think we're the only people on the planet that still play. Hehe.

I'm ashamed of the fact that I've never played any boardgames outside of Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble, The Game of Life and Chess.

NeilWest wrote:

I'm ashamed of the fact that I've never played any boardgames outside of Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble, The Game of Life and Chess.

Lol, no need to be. It just might not have given you the best perspective on things Cluedo is often considered the “good” classic game, and Scrabble is still popular. Chess is, obviously, not embarrassing. It's not embarrassing to have played Monopoly or Life I just don't think they're particularly great board games.

If you're “ashamed” that means you might be interested in trying some modern ones out to “remedy” that? If you know about a Local Friendly Gaming Store, I'm sure they'll have some way in which you can try before you buy, be it game nights, open tables, demos, etc. If you know certain themes, gameplay concepts, etc. you like I might be able to recommend some for you.

Flamekebab wrote:

I favour skirmish-level tabletop wargames - Necromunda, Mordheim, and Gorkamorka.

My friends used to play Warhammer 40k at the local game shop occasionally. I can't get into miniature collecting - too expensive for me and I can't paint - do those function that way or any of them complete in box?

SemolinaPilchard wrote:

My friends used to play Warhammer 40k at the local game shop occasionally. I can't get into miniature collecting - too expensive for me and I can't paint - do those function that way or any of them complete in box?

I prefer the skirmish-level ones because I don't need a whole army. My last Necromunda gang had about 15 members at its very largest (i.e. 15 individual models). I enjoy building models but rarely feel the urge to paint. Also just building the models isn't enough - I want to use them in a game. “Collecting” isn't the wrong word but it always feels odd to me as it suggests that there's a way to complete a collection.

So no, they too require models. They also incorporate a lot of elements from pen and paper RPGs meaning the models one starts the campaign with may not be the same as the ones one ends with.

SemolinaPilchard wrote:

mrhooper wrote:

I love these games!! Me, my brother, and my dad finished another game of Catan lately, and it's a blast. Have you heard of PeaceBowl? Interesting game. A lot of the fun has to do with understanding the translated English though XD. It's a bit like Blood Bowl. Also, Formula D racing is a really cool racing board game that I got last Christmas. Anyway, I could go on all day ranting about these games. I've started playing them when I was 4! I also played D&D with my dad all the time at 6 XD. My little brother is really fun to play games with too. He actually understands the whole concept of Catan and he's 5! XD I should stop talking about myself now, but this is just one of my favorite subjects.

Same here, for that last sentence

I find many people are intimidated by even simpler boardgames - they seem too fiddly and they have too many parts that aren't automated - but in practice my 8 year old brother has been able to play various ones designed for adults for years.

Yea. People think that if they have to take a few extra minutes to learn something it's overly complicated.

Anyway, I played Mille Bournes and Nexus Ops today. Both AMAZING GAMES!

I don't own any currently but I really want to acquire a simultaneous board game at some point.

For example Escape: Curse of the Temple has everybody trying to, well, escape the cursed temple but instead of it being a race against other players, you're working together to beat a 10-minute soundtrack that comes included with the game. So it has a Yahtzee mechanic at its core, but instead of the challenge coming from limiting your rerolls, the challenge is having to roll as fast as you possibly can, as well as one side locking out a dice from being used.

And then there's Space Alert which has you as a Star Trek style spaceship crew, with ten minutes where various events are happening (again based on a soundtrack). But as you decide your actions in those ten minutes.. they aren't actually happening. You're programming them to happen, in sequential order at the same time as all the other player's, so one person not understanding what's been going on could be the whole team's doom.

There's a couple more of them but those are the most enticing sounding to me. I'm leaning towards purchasing Escape at some point but I'm not sure. The one cooperative game I do have isn't simultaneous, it's Forbidden Desert. It's pretty much the only game that manages to be intensely climactic every time it's played.

(…bump)