Board Games

[toymachine78]

Looking to pick up a Halloweeny game to play with the kids this month. I'm eyeing Zombicide and Mansions of Madness. Anyone play these, or have any other good suggestions?

[johnnykonami]

Hey toymachine!  I am a fan of Mansions of Madness, but it is very cumbersome to setup.  If you haven't played it, one of the best of the genre and one of my very favorite games is Betrayal at the House on the Hill.  Not only is it perfect for Halloween, it's a great game all around and does a lot of things better that Mansions of Madness over complicates.  It goes like this:  You all get a character, then you go into the house.  The house opens up by drawing room tiles that you lay down, so you get a random configuration every time you play.  Rooms are marked with symbols that give you events, items, and there is a special type that gives you an omen.  Omens are items (or characters) that effect the game as well as what starts what is called "The haunt."  You have to make a haunt roll every time an omen is drawn, and once there are enough omens in play, the roll (which I think has to be less than number of omens, I forget) can cause the haunt to start.

The haunt is one of 50 random scenarios in a booklet it comes with.  I haven't even played them all myself.  One of the players is named the betrayer and then works against the other players.  I dunno how old your kids are, but they might need some coaching if thrown into this role or you might need to take the bullet and become the betrayer yourself.  I think the ages listed on it are like 10+ maybe.

Anyway, probably my number 1 game, you seriously won't be disappointed.  Mansions of Madness has really great art, great themes, but it's classic Fantasy Flight "too many pieces" insanity.  It takes way longer to setup (you pick a keeper aka dungeonmaster to setup ahead of time) and that alone makes it hard to wanna get out.  My friends and I have devoted a bunch of time to it, painted the figures and everything.  It looks really cool.  But it's a lot to chew.  Go with Betrayal without a doubt.

Edit: Here's my game shelf, just for fun:


And not up to date, but: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/jkonami

[toymachine78]

Hey toymachine!  I am a fan of Mansions of Madness, but it is very cumbersome to setup.  If you haven't played it, one of the best of the genre and one of my very favorite games is Betrayal at the House on the Hill.  Not only is it perfect for Halloween, it's a great game all around and does a lot of things better that Mansions of Madness over complicates.  It goes like this:  You all get a character, then you go into the house.  The house opens up by drawing room tiles that you lay down, so you get a random configuration every time you play.  Rooms are marked with symbols that give you events, items, and there is a special type that gives you an omen.  Omens are items (or characters) that effect the game as well as what starts what is called "The haunt."  You have to make a haunt roll every time an omen is drawn, and once there are enough omens in play, the roll (which I think has to be less than number of omens, I forget) can cause the haunt to start.

The haunt is one of 50 random scenarios in a booklet it comes with.  I haven't even played them all myself.  One of the players is named the betrayer and then works against the other players.  I dunno how old your kids are, but they might need some coaching if thrown into this role or you might need to take the bullet and become the betrayer yourself.  I think the ages listed on it are like 10+ maybe.

Anyway, probably my number 1 game, you seriously won't be disappointed.  Mansions of Madness has really great art, great themes, but it's classic Fantasy Flight "too many pieces" insanity.  It takes way longer to setup (you pick a keeper aka dungeonmaster to setup ahead of time) and that alone makes it hard to wanna get out.  My friends and I have devoted a bunch of time to it, painted the figures and everything.  It looks really cool.  But it's a lot to chew.  Go with Betrayal without a doubt.

Edit: Here's my game shelf, just for fun:


And not up to date, but: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/jkonami

Awesome! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll def check betrayal out. My kids are 14&10, so they may lose interest in anything too technical.

I see you have Pandemic too. I hear that is pretty fun.

[johnnykonami]

14 is probably pretty perfect for betrayal, 10 is good too, I think.  As far as too technical Betrayal is probably just the right level.  Not too boring, turns are usually quick, card text is light but interesting, the only problem is learning new rules for the betrayer which sometimes can be confusing.  Once it's sorted out though it's really cool.  Honestly can't recommend the game enough.

Pandemic is good, it's interesting in that you all work together to defeat the virus.  It's a co-op board game.  So is Forbidden Island, which has a sequel (Forbidden Desert I think?).  Those are good family games.  Not Horror themed though, but you can easily find it at Target or whatever.

[toymachine78]

14 is probably pretty perfect for betrayal, 10 is good too, I think.  As far as too technical Betrayal is probably just the right level.  Not too boring, turns are usually quick, card text is light but interesting, the only problem is learning new rules for the betrayer which sometimes can be confusing.  Once it's sorted out though it's really cool.  Honestly can't recommend the game enough.

Pandemic is good, it's interesting in that you all work together to defeat the virus.  It's a co-op board game.  So is Forbidden Island, which has a sequel (Forbidden Desert I think?).  Those are good family games.  Not Horror themed though, but you can easily find it at Target or whatever.

I see betrayal is a Wizards game. I have Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon. Both are are D&D board games, but looks like betrayal might use the same game play mechanics.

[toymachine78]

I couldn't decide, so I ordered both Betrayal and Zombicide. :- ) I love this time of year.

[johnnykonami]

Betrayal isn't really using any D&D mechanics, really, I think it was originally published by Avalon Hill.  It's great though either way, you won't regret it.  I wrote a little calculator to keep track of character stats on a smartphone, it's not perfect but remind me when you get it and I'll link you to it.

I love this time of year too!  I have always liked horror movies, halloween, and my birthday is coming up in a week and a half.  Let me know how Zombicide is, I haven't tried that one.  Wondering how Dead of Winter is, speaking of zombie themed games.

[toymachine78]

Betrayal isn't really using any D&D mechanics, really, I think it was originally published by Avalon Hill.  It's great though either way, you won't regret it.  I wrote a little calculator to keep track of character stats on a smartphone, it's not perfect but remind me when you get it and I'll link you to it.

I love this time of year too!  I have always liked horror movies, halloween, and my birthday is coming up in a week and a half.  Let me know how Zombicide is, I haven't tried that one.  Wondering how Dead of Winter is, speaking of zombie themed games.

I'll let you know about zombicide. I'm def attracted to mini games. Used to love Warhammer. I like painting figs too, but don't have the time for it now.

[johnnykonami]

Betrayal isn't really using any D&D mechanics, really, I think it was originally published by Avalon Hill.  It's great though either way, you won't regret it.  I wrote a little calculator to keep track of character stats on a smartphone, it's not perfect but remind me when you get it and I'll link you to it.

I love this time of year too!  I have always liked horror movies, halloween, and my birthday is coming up in a week and a half.  Let me know how Zombicide is, I haven't tried that one.  Wondering how Dead of Winter is, speaking of zombie themed games.

I'll let you know about zombicide. I'm def attracted to mini games. Used to love Warhammer. I like painting figs too, but don't have the time for it now.

You might wanna give Mansions a shot then, it's got some great figures.  You may not even think it's as complicated as I do.  I never painted them before, but my main game group is my girlfriend, myself and our two friends who also like board games.  The two of them are both pretty artsy, and my gf has a knack for design too.  Last summer all four of us painted all the creatures in the base MoM set, it was a lot of fun.  My favorite is one of the Shoggoths which looks gray/green on the outside but if you look inside it's purple and pink with a love note from my gf.  Gotta paint the Call of the Wild figs.. Not decided on the other expansions yet, it's just hard to rally a game of this one.  I love the theme, but it's just too hardcore for us as far as devoting time to it at our ages.

[Gentlegamer]

I used to love playing a good board game, but all my friends went away.

Now I have no one to play Talisman with.

[deadly_duck]

I've only heard good things about Betrayal and I can't wait to try it out. Eldritch Horror is my favorite, but it probably isn't a good fit. You could also try a horror themed Munchkin game. It's not a board game, but its fun and easy to play.

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[johnnykonami]

I used to love playing a good board game, but all my friends went away.

Now I have no one to play Talisman with.

I never played the real thing, but I did pick up the Steam version of Talisman on the Cheap last Xmas sale.  Still haven't really played it yet though.  I hear ya on getting a group together, we usually only do it when our out of state friends come in to visit, so a couple times a year at most.  I have 1 local friend who likes playing board games but the rest of our friends are not as into it.  If anyone is near MD and wants to try to setup a board game night, lemme know!

I've only heard good things about Betrayal and I can't wait to try it out. Eldritch Horror is my favorite, but it probably isn't a good fit. You could also try a horror themed Munchkin game. It's not a board game, but its fun and easy to play.

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I was pretty interested in Eldritch Horror, and the Arkham Horror games too.  Problem is always the same though for my group, the games with tons of pieces like these end up being so cumbersome and hard to deal with.  I think Mansions of Madness is my last game I will buy of that variety.  I would change my mind if I had a more dedicated group, though.  Our favorite kind of game is definitely something you can play using a deck of cards, like Munchkin, for instance.

We're kinda sick of Munchkin but it's a good easy game to play with friends or family.  I have regular, cthulu, and vampire munchkin sitting on my shelf, there's a ton of other varieties and themes.  On that note, I forgot to add in Fluxx - Fluxx is easy and fun too, you might already know about it.  But you can get Zombie Fluxx (We have this, Regular Fluxx, and Star Fluxx), Cthulu Fluxx, and I'm sure others.  It's just a card game where the rules keep changing and you have to usually match up two of the keeper cards for a win.  It's cheap and probably a good one for those of you with kids.

Hmmm.. There's also Lord of the Fries.  It's a zombie themed restaurant style game where you try to fill recipes.  It's just a card game too, fairly easy setup and quick, too.

[roflmao]

My son and I have been playing Risk: Plants vs Zombies edition lately. It's appropriate for the season, though totally different than what's been mentioned already.



The other side of the board is a map reminiscent of a traditional Risk board game, and it's also pretty fun.  The board pictured above plays much like the video game.

A fun little diversion game is the free print and play Zombie in my Pocket: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/33468/zombie-my-pocket

I don't have a "shelfie" to show off because our games are spread out all over the house, but here's my BGG link: https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/zwallop