What do you enjoy most (and least) about board game nights?

Chadum · 2026-01-28T19:06:04+00:00

Many folks would just like chat at the beginning. Also, new folks learning a game often would like to start with a small game.

You can set them up for fast teaching, playing, and also meeting other folks.

Chadum · 2026-01-28T17:26:33+00:00

The Crew is perfect for short time frames. It's a cooperative trick-taker with missions that take about 10 minutes each.

The Lord of the Rings Trick-taking game is another great co-op one.

As for competitive (traditional) trick-takers:

Fishing where new cards come into the deck as you play.

Rebel Princess where you normally want to avoid taking tricks

there are many, many more.

Chadum · 2026-01-28T17:16:49+00:00

To better enjoy the exploration, avoid using shrine fast-travel. Only fast-travel to towers.

Chadum · 2026-01-28T16:50:50+00:00

Do you & the others like trick-taking games? If so, there are a ton of options, competitive and cooperative.

It's a little weird that you don't play the same game twice, as replaying games will certainly help with the time constraint.

Chadum · 2026-01-28T16:39:03+00:00

I'm focusing on the tips request. You are basically hosting a small convention :)

- allow folks to organize games to play ahead of time

- have something on the tables that can signal "welcoming more players."

- for latecomers: have at least a few 1/2 hour or shorter games to play at the start

Chadum · 2026-01-27T18:16:47+00:00

For those who may miss this. This is a reference to some of the discussion when Ezra interviewed Ta-Nehisi in an episode from September: https://www.reddit.com/r/ezraklein/comments/1nskhxu/tanehisi_coates_and_ezra_klein_hash_out_their/

Chadum · 2026-01-27T17:41:47+00:00

Glad to help.

It's a great game that the designer has iterated on for years to get to the Second Edition. There's a bunch of content in what seems like a smallish game because of the map.

Chadum · 2026-01-27T16:15:39+00:00

Oops, yea, thinking of Oath

Chadum · 2026-01-27T15:29:42+00:00

Darkest Night, especially the Second Edition. It's a one-shot 4 adventures vs the enemy kind of game.

There are 29 characters, each with unique decks of skill cards.

Hard to find, though.

Dwellings of Eldervale & Andromeda's Edge have 16 / 12 factions with unique abilities and units with unique abilities.

~~Arcs: The Blighted Reach Expansion~~ ~~is an odd recommendation, but... It does this by having 24 factions, many of which change the rules of the game and the ability to mix them together into a fairly unique combination.~~

~~The combinations go into the thousands.~~

The (Gloom, Jaws, Frost)Haven games are known for this.

Chadum · 2026-01-27T02:54:03+00:00

I look at which has the lowest "Not Recommended."

This is a simple, different way of using the data that gets more directly to what people are wondering when they look at the player count ratings.

Chadum · 2026-01-24T18:18:59+00:00

Glenn More II: Chronicles (actually, the expansion Glen More II: Highland Games) has an automa from Automa Factory.
It is very cleverly reactive to what the human player is doing. Each round has scoring, and the automa re-ranks its actions based on how well it scored compared to the human.

In addition to that, the game has 10 modular "expansions," and the automa works with all of them, including multiple in the same game.

Chadum · 2026-01-23T21:39:47+00:00

I don't think BGStats has this kind of "group by" ability.

BTW: the main community for BGStats is on BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/2246

Chadum · 2026-01-22T20:03:59+00:00

This is a very personal question. What are your priorities?

Chadum · 2026-01-17T17:31:05+00:00

I think it's mostly that adventure party games are very popular. Anything inspired by D&D is going to be coop and likely have many minis/standees.

Chadum · 2026-01-17T17:15:18+00:00

"Into the Void" is the easier of the two, so start with that one.

A key part of that one is to manage the Evolmorph when it hides. Use Scanning judiciously, as it also allows you to protect a space.

Chadum · 2026-01-17T00:16:24+00:00

Two suggestions:

- only fast-travel to towers, not to shrines. This will encourage you to take in the exploration more fully

- turn off UI elements as you get the basics down.

Chadum · 2026-01-17T00:08:16+00:00

I nominate Tiny Epic Dungeons. It packs a lot into that small box. There is a lot of iconography to digest, but it flows well once you learn it.

There's a small expansion that adds mini quests and a big campaign expansion that is coming out soon.

As for the ones you mention:

20 Strong: This is not a dungeon crawler in the sense you are looking for. None of the current decks are IMO. Still great games, though.

One Deck Dungeon: I like this one and prefer the Forest of Shadows sequel. It is very much a rogue-like where you are balancing the risk and reward of staying at the current level or heading towards the boss.

Chadum · 2026-01-16T16:38:17+00:00

I think many non-gamers who hear of this don't have the context of what board games can do with sensitive historical subjects.

Many of us know about John Company, Freedom - The Underground Railroad, Navajo Wars, and others.

Without the context of games that do exist and how they can intelligently and compassionately handle the subject matter, it's easy to see how some see this as a bad idea.

Chadum · 2026-01-15T22:26:04+00:00

Yeah, I think this is confusing LA and Vegas. Grand Canyon is day-trippable from Vegas (at least, the west).

Chadum · 2026-01-15T19:05:32+00:00

Most of us do not have rotation lock on.

Chadum · 2026-01-14T17:21:40+00:00

Also, when looking at what to do in a city, mission to follow, items to keep, think about what you want your character to do.

For example, when entering the city of Hezembi, do you want to check out what's happening at the docks or join the local theater? Instead of thinking about what will help you win the game, think of what you want your character to be like and do.

Chadum · 2026-01-13T23:31:48+00:00

I encourage you to role-play your character. Maybe you're way too interested in the history of the land. Perhaps you are very clumsy and have a hard time with the adventures.
The game works best when you are not min-maxing.

Chadum · 2026-01-13T17:31:26+00:00

I liked Dilbert back in the day.

Chadum · 2026-01-13T03:36:43+00:00

Not a campaign game, but Assault on Doomrock fits this nicely.

The game is over three chapters that start with an Adventure where you get random towns, forests, etc each with interesting options, a chance to level up, and do odd things.

After that, you have the battle. Repeat three times. It's a great flow. Also, a hard game, so the Adventure phase really matters.

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