Cards Against Humanity stormed into my life in a big way years ago. I was the first in my social group to have a copy, so for a good few weeks, it was a game that was played all the time. Then one day not long after that, it just stopped.
I bought a number of expansions and supported many of their holiday campaigns, but the magic that first came with the game disappeared and never came back. What happened?
Early last year, I tried to start a weekly board game night at work with a few coworkers. There was a lot of interest from many coworkers, which led me to believe that this idea had a chance. Once work was over, the plan was to stick around and and play a few games in the lunch room. The first night was great, but it quickly dissolved due to lack of attendance. While I would have loved to have played more board games with my coworkers, it was clear that this wasn’t going to work out as envisioned.
Today, gaming is happening at the office again. This time, it’s different.
The likes of Monopoly, Life and Candyland define a very specific part of my childhood. These were the games that introduced me to tabletop gaming and admittedly, I had a lot of fun playing them back in the day. However, as with almost every game of this ilk, its appeal wore off as I grew up and realized that these games weren’t very good.
Now that I’ve immersed myself in the genre, it’s easy (and board game hipster of me) to simply dismiss anything coming from Hasbro or Mattel as garbage. Some of these old games that have a mainstream retail presence at stores like Walmart or Toys R Us are – and have always been – good. If you’re looking to take part in a game night with old mainstream games that you can pick up anywhere, try these!
Before hitting my teen years, I learned the hard way as a video game player to be wary of licensed products. While the allure of playing video games about Batman, The Simpsons or Home Alone (shudder) is clear, the final products were mostly terrible. Quality of the final product usually wasn’t a priority, as publishers and license holders primarily created licensed video games as a promotional tool and as a means of making a quick buck off of unsuspecting gamers. I wasn’t really following board games at the time, though I did own a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles board game that wasn’t great in hindsight.
Of late, video games and board games have diverged greatly when it comes to licensed products. With the rising costs of video game development and a savvier audience who are far less likely to put up with mediocre products with name recognition, most licensed games nowadays reside on mobile platforms as free-to-play experiences. Board games, on the other hand, are going in the other direction. Instead of cranking out garbage games for kids, more license holders and publishers are taking the time to make quality games that gamers of all ages will want to buy. Off the strength of this business strategy, everyone wins. Continue reading
When I first discovered the joys of board gaming, I felt like a kid entering a candy store for the first time. With so many games and no real concept of taste, I sampled many different flavours of board games. Some were fantastic, opening my eyes to a whole subsection of games that I enjoy today. Others were not so delicious, leaving me to shy away from titles of a similar nature. Through it all, my taste in gaming has been refined to a point where I have a good sense of who I am as a board gamer and what I like.
With higher trim level and an increased price to match, luxury editions of games aren’t meant for most. More often than not, the standard edition of a game will suit you just fine. However, a trend I’ve noticed since the release of the fancy 10th anniversary edition of Ticket to Ride is the growing number of designer games getting the tricked out treatment. As a proud owner of that particular luxury edition, I’m all for the release of other games in this manner.
Formula D is a board game that brilliantly captures the excitement of car racing. For a game where the only movement comes from rolling dice and moving your car a few spaces forward, it’s almost magical how the game can still generate the thrill of the chase. Part of that magic comes from a nifty little gear box and corresponding dice. As you switch gears, you’ll gain access to larger dice with larger values that will let you travel faster around the track. When you think about it though, it’s the corners that make the game truly shine.
Somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, our minds think of extraterrestrial worlds, space ships and out-of-this-world weapons. Board games are generally a playground for medieval fare, though I’m much more interested in games are grounded in the world of science fiction. Why mess with horses and swords when you can play with the Starship Enterprise and lightsabers? This month, let’s go to infinity and beyond with a sci-fi themed board game night!
Video games have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Can’t say the same for their analog equivalent. After growing out of the likes of Monopoly and Risk, I wrote off tabletop gaming for a long time as a pastime for children and those nerdier than I. Only relatively recently have I seen the err in my ways, thanks to fantastic tabletop games like Dominion and Ticket to Ride.
If you’re like the old me, I don’t blame you for being reluctant, dismissive or even oblivious to the modern board gaming scene. However, you’re missing out on a reemerging form of entertainment that isn’t much of a stretch from the video games you already play.
Playing board games at my family gatherings is hard. With so many cousins to account for, most of my collection can’t handle player counts to support us all. For moments like this, I turn to a few quality games that shine with many people in the same room.
In Third Person 