Favorite Games

[formulanone]

I'm actually terrible at Uno, but the kids love it. We play either the "one card draw" method, or we have a randomizer which spits out between 0-4 cards at a button press.

We've found most rounds go on a little too long for "keep drawing until you can play something" version (which I don't recall in the rules but seems to be the most popular).

I'm a real stickler about going by the original rules (or at least the very first revision of them).  Draw only one card.  No stacking action cards.  There does exist one ambiguity in the original rules:  If you play a Wild Draw Four illegally, and another player calls you out on it and makes you draw cards, does your Wild Draw Four still stand?  In our house rules, the answer is yes, but I'm not opposed if you say it shouldn't stand.

I only learned about the Challenge rule last year, when we got the randomizer. We've always just kept the announced color going, to preserve sanity (after all, if they'd been caught bluffing, it doesn't really matter so much).

When we used to play for points 30-35 years ago, I thought I was pretty good; but few folks want to break out a scoring pad, they just want to get onto the next game.

I also like dominos.  My favorite dominos game is Chicken Foot.

We play that one too; we use scoring (each dot [pip] is a point and you want the fewest number overall) but I wonder if the dynamic changes much by taking away the scoring, and just go for absolute wins. Everyone is very patient while we tally up the scores, but nobody seems to care much if we want to try it for Uno. Playing all 13 rounds with a Double-12 set takes about 5 hours, so it's usually spread out over two weekends.

So far, I have yet to get a "chicken foot" or "chicken leg" right out of the box.

I also like the basic game, best played with 3-4 and a double-six set with spinner pins on a table that isn't fancy.

[kphoger]

I also like dominos.  My favorite dominos game is Chicken Foot.

We play that one too; we use scoring (each dot [pip] is a point and you want the fewest number overall) but I wonder if the dynamic changes much by taking away the scoring, and just go for absolute wins. Playing all 13 rounds takes about 5 hours, so it's usually spread out over two weekends.

Oh, you forgot one key part of the scoring:  a double-blank is 50 points.

[Scott5114]

For instance, I've found I really don't like card games that involve a hand-size limit. This enforces a use-it-or-lose-it sort of play style on the players, and having to choose a card or action I have to discard, or forcing me to play a card at a suboptimal time, stresses me out. I'd much rather play a game where I can hang onto that until the right time to play it presents itself.

What about a game like Magic, where there's a limit of 7 (unless a card changes it), but it's rare to go above that number (and if you do, you probably have some unusable cards in your hand)?

That's better, but it still bothers me, because there's a chance that the unusable cards will become usable in latter stages of the hand, and I will be wishing I had been able to keep them.

I have never really been into MTG or other CCGs because much of being good at the game involves being either lucky or rich enough to get the right cards to add to your deck.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I have never really been into MTG or other CCGs because much of being good at the game involves being either lucky or rich enough to get the right cards to add to your deck.

Yeah. Deck building seems to be half of the fun for people who enjoy playing those kinds of games.

[Scott5114]

I have never really been into MTG or other CCGs because much of being good at the game involves being either lucky or rich enough to get the right cards to add to your deck.

Yeah. Deck building seems to be half of the fun for people who enjoy playing those kinds of games.

Right, and I don't mind that. Building a deck that accomplishes whatever strategy you want could be really fun (and is why I like deck-builders like Dominion). The problem I have with CCGs is that you can't go on the Wizards of the Coast website and say, order 20 swamps, 5 of [insert monster here], and a couple [insert action card here]. Instead, you have to buy foil-wrapped booster packs with a couple dozen cards in them and hope a card that you want is in there. So if there's a rare card that makes your deck good you either have to buy hundreds of those packs and hope you get lucky, or go on eBay and pay an inflated price for it. And some of the very best cards have limited print runs, cause that makes WOTC more money.

[hotdogPi]

And some of the very best cards have limited print runs, cause that makes WOTC more money.

The best cards (specifically the Power Nine) have limited print runs because they're in the first set ever made, and they weren't expecting the game to be a huge hit, nor did they know those cards were extremely powerful, having nothing to compare it to. After the first set, they stopped printing them.

[Scott5114]

Have they really only taken 9 cards out of print in the whole time the game's been running? I thought it was far more frequent than that.

[hotdogPi]

Have they really only taken 9 cards out of print in the whole time the game's been running? I thought it was far more frequent than that.

Only about half of cards get reprinted. Sometimes it's because rules changes make them complicated, sometimes it's because they doesn't fit flavor purposes for the newer sets, quite often it's because they're not powerful enough (many of the earlier cards are bad because they were afraid of printing cards that were as powerful as the Power Nine and therefore would have to be banned in most formats), and sometimes they just haven't gotten to it yet.

Older cards can be used in some formats, but not others.

[webny99]

Dutch Blitz.

Definitely the fastest game I've ever played. That makes it a lot of fun.

As for the loudest game I've ever played, well, that would have to be Pit.

[OCGuy81]

Cards Against Humanity especially if all involved parties have had some drinks

[kphoger]

As for the loudest game I've ever played, well, that would have to be Pit.

We don't even use the Bear or Bull card at all.  Just the commodity cards, a bell, and a lot of yelling.

Pit is the only indoor game during which I've seen someone body-block a clergyman.

[webny99]

As for the loudest game I've ever played, well, that would have to be Pit.

We don't even use the Bear or Bull card at all.  Just the commodity cards, a bell, and a lot of yelling.

Oh, the Bear and Bull cards are part of what makes it IMO. It takes the game to another level of excitement and frenzy (although you might not need that if you've got participants body-blocking each other even without those cards).

[thspfc]

I like Monopoly. Sure, it sucks when the dice don't roll the way you want them to. But there's more skill involved than people like to believe.

[kevinb1994]

I like Monopoly. Sure, it sucks when the dice don't roll the way you want them to. But there's more skill involved than people like to believe.

Yes and I've been to A.C. so I know which streets were the inspiration behind the names on the board itself.

[tolbs17]

I enjoy Monopoly, Sorry! Or the LIFE game. Brings back memories...

[Roadgeekteen]

I'm not really into board games but I like monopoly.

[tolbs17]

I'm not really into board games but I like monopoly.

Same here. I used to play them when I was younger.

[ilpt4u]

No love for Spades around here, ehh?

I don't play it a lot, but its a fun game when you have a foursome that knows how to play

Euchre has been mentioned - thats a fun and quick game

Hearts is good fun, also

[dlsterner]

No love for Contract Bridge?

I've been a semi-serious player for 20-25 years.  I used to play a lot at organized tournaments (the "Duplicate" variation of Bridge) in the eastern US - at least until COVID-19 put a stop to gatherings like that.

A good part of my "Travel Mapping" route list came from travel to and from these tournaments LOL.

And as a kid, my family had an entire closet of board games - some classics (Monopoly, Life, Sorry), some a bit more obscure (Dealer's Choice, Masterpiece), some of the "Bookshelf" games (Acquire, Bazaar), and dozens whose names escape me right now.

[Mr_Northside]

Haven't played actual Monopoly in years...  Though I was introduced to Monopoly DEAL!, and have enjoyed many a game of that over the last few years.

I haven't really done any games since Covid shut everything down (Usually at least once a week I'd get together with some friends at a local brewpub for some games prior). 

[Scott5114]

I like Monopoly. Sure, it sucks when the dice don't roll the way you want them to. But there's more skill involved than people like to believe.

The dice not rolling the way that you want them to isn't the problem. The problem is that when you have two dice, probability dictates that the results fall on a bell curve, so that the result of a game is preordained if someone figures out the most frequently-visited spaces (jail) and sets up 7 spaces away from them (the oranges).

This mathematical phenomenon is why the number 7 is a key number in craps (it is the most likely outcome of rolling 2d6, followed by 6 and 8, then 5 and 9, and so on).

[hotdogPi]

1d12 won't help. It still follows a bell curve; the only difference is that it's over multiple turns instead of one.

[ilpt4u]

I like Monopoly. Sure, it sucks when the dice don't roll the way you want them to. But there's more skill involved than people like to believe.

The dice not rolling the way that you want them to isn't the problem. The problem is that when you have two dice, probability dictates that the results fall on a bell curve, so that the result of a game is preordained if someone figures out the most frequently-visited spaces (jail) and sets up 7 spaces away from them (the oranges).

This mathematical phenomenon is why the number 7 is a key number in craps (it is the most likely outcome of rolling 2d6, followed by 6 and 8, then 5 and 9, and so on).

Settlers of Catan figured out the 2d6 7 needs dealt with, hence why it is the "Robber"  throw in that game

[Scott5114]

1d12 won't help. It still follows a bell curve; the only difference is that it's over multiple turns instead of one.

Why would a fair 1d12 follow a bell curve? The only reason 2d6 follows a bell curve is because there are more ways to make 7 with 2d6 than there are any other number:

(Apologies for the quick and dirty book scan, but I couldn't find anything on the Internet that displays what I'm talking about this artfully.)

On a d12, though, there is only one way to make any number, so each number should theoretically come up 1/12 of the time. Unless I'm missing something on the math here.

The only weird thing would be the result of making 1 a valid throw. I don't know what the implications of that would be, if any.

Settlers of Catan figured out the 2d6 7 needs dealt with, hence why it is the "Robber"  throw in that game

Right, and it is also why the 6 and 8 tokens are printed in red. (Each of the tokens also displays a number of dots showing the relative likelihood of being thrown.)

[hotdogPi]

Over two turns, it would be 2d12. Over three turns, it would be 3d12.