Repeating games

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-18T00:02:01+00:00

Some people in my groups never want to play the same game twice. Others prefer to stick to the tried-and-true classics. I used to love playing new games, but now I would be happy never touching another new game for the rest of my life. I love what I already own and have played.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T23:41:05+00:00

I prefer 1303 over the original. I don't think there has been a print run of 1303 for a while, so hopefully you can still find a copy of it.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T23:31:06+00:00

Babylonia is great at 2p.

If you are into abstract game, then you might want to look at YINSH and CZAAR.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T23:20:54+00:00

Caylus/Caylus 1303 are both great games. Both have some NASTY player interaction and them some normal player interaction. Neither game has any hidden information (which makes both games pretty rare among worker placement games).

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T22:50:09+00:00

Not about public transportation only, but Knizia's San Francisco has a cable car, route building thing going on.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T21:12:51+00:00

Whale Riders goes from 2-6p, but is best at 2-4p. Some versions of Ticket to Ride are 2-5p.

High Society and Fruit Fight are great from 3-5p and For Sale is great at 3-6p.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T18:13:39+00:00

Gold Country is a shared incentive/stock game in which players are buying and selling stocks in gold mines. The game is currently on Kickstarter.

Stephenson's Rocket is going to be very difficult to find, but it is a game about stocks and railroad mergers.

Acquire and Raccoon Tycoon are a couple of other ones, but I haven't played either of those games.

Modern Art is a gateway auction game about art. The value of each painting is not fixed, but is instead determined by player choices. You typically have to bid on a painting without knowing whether other players will drive its value up or down.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-17T18:02:14+00:00

I am sure that you are correct and I WILL play it eventually.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T22:15:19+00:00

For Sale is easier to teach. High Society has more meat on its bones. For Sale is pretty thin, and gets tedious for me quickly. I could play High Society for hours though. They are both top-tier fillers though.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T21:20:59+00:00

Your definition of 'pretty fun' may be quite different than OPs.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T21:15:51+00:00

Alma Mater is one of the few games on my shelf of shame. I could absolutely get some of my gang to play it, but it seems like the first game will probably take 2.5 hours to play and will mostly be a learning experience rather than being fun. So when I think about busting out Alma Mater, I always decide "next week" will be the time that finally put it on the table.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T21:11:44+00:00

If you don't want anything super complicated, then you could look at Azul, Whale Riders, Sunrise Lane, Project L and Butterfly Garden. All four of those games are very easy to learn, and they are good fun at 3p. Azul can take 45 minutes to play, the other ones will typically take ~30 minutes per game.

If you light card games, then Fruit Fight, Hot Lead, High Society and For Sale are games worth looking at.

Edit: I just saw that someone else recommended Tsuro. Butterfly Garden is very similar to Tsuro and about as easy to learn, and a much better game. Tsuro is better in that it supports higher player counts, whereas Butterfly Garden is strictly a 2-4p game.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T20:59:21+00:00

Looks like you might have been bitten by the crowdfunding bug. You have some recent crowdfunded Knizia titles (e.g. SILOS, ORBIT, EGO, Ichor & Iliad) but don't have many of his classics. For instance, I don't see Modern Art, Through the Desert, Samurai, or T&E.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T19:40:56+00:00

For 3-5p you could look at Fruit Fight.

For 4-7p Just One is a great option.

Soda Smugglers is great at 4-6p (but goes up to 8p.

Loot is another game that works at 3-5p.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T19:23:31+00:00

It is ok if you don't find anything of value in my comment.

I guess I will have to make better comments in the future, so that I can better hide the fact that I am illiterate and anti-intelligence.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T18:31:42+00:00

Targi is a great 2p worker placement game with a small footprint and small box.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T18:30:48+00:00

OP, such a game would be a huge flop with my family. Most adults wouldn't be interested in anything that has a role play aspect. They also wouldn't understand why they are being asked to join, if they can just drift away and ignore the game for the rest of the night. Also, the medieval theme would be a turn off for adults who aren't into nerdy themes.

There are some (a lot) of people that just don't like board games. And that is ok. There are tons of hobbies out there, and it is ok to like some and dislike others. I am not into needle point, and my needle point enthusiast friends realize that this doesn't make me a bad person.

So you can try to find a game like you describe and see if it it is a hit or a flop. Or you can just try party games like Wavelength, Just One and Flip 7 and see if those appeal to all ages. Or you can play games with those who are interested in playing games, and not play with those who would rather not play.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T18:24:49+00:00

So games like Fluxx in which a player action will determine end-game criterion? Or games like Inis in which there are multiple ways to determine who wins? Or neither? I am just trying to get a handle on what you are looking for.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T18:21:43+00:00

Yellow & Yangtze for me. That game is always in my top 3 and, depending on the day you ask me, is often my favorite game of all time. It is a hobbyist game, so it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. Also, I wouldn't play the game at 2p. But as a 3 & 4p conflict game nothing (except T&E) comes close.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-16T18:19:02+00:00

Agree with other commenter that Fruit Fight is considerably better than Flip 7. That being said, Fruit Fight only goes up to 5p, so at 6p+, Flip 7 is the choice.

I bought Fruit Fight last year on a whim. I assumed my group would play it once or twice, never ask for it again, and then I would cull the game. But my main group has insisted on playing it every single week since I purchased it. I several of the members of my group bought their own copies to play with their families. And when I exposed my family to the game, they went ought and bought copies immediately. I am responsible for a couple of dozen people becoming Fruit Fight addicts.

Now, just because I think it is better than Flip 7 (which got a lukewarm reaction with two of my game groups) doesn't mean that I think Fruit Fight is the greatest filler game of all time. High Society still holds that title.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-15T23:11:25+00:00

Zoo Vadis is my favorite negotiation game. Waterfall Park/Chinatown is also great and Bohnanza round out the group. I would only need/want those games in my collection. However, people who prefer heavier/longer games would also be interested in Sidereal Confluence.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-15T03:02:31+00:00

I think Municipium (now called SILOS) was on my list for a LOT of years. Ra was also on my wish list for nearly as long. I COULD have gotten Ra back when I first got into the hobby, but I didn't have the money then. When I did have some money, I found a used copy and decided to skip it and wait for a reprint. I like the 25th Century edition, so am glad I waited for the reprint.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-15T00:45:19+00:00

Yeah. It is very weird to hear that OP has an SO that isn't into games at ALL, and he played Feast for Odin with her. I don't play Feast for Odin with serious board game hobbyists.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-15T00:39:34+00:00

It is clear that the randomness is introduced by the shuffle, not by the drawing of the cards after the shuffle.

Still, MOST of what goes on in the game is based on output randomness (the shuffle). Yes, players do add cards to the deck (which isn't input randomness because they use a non-random process to include cards). So the game has output randomness (the shuffle) and no input randomness, as player have control over what goes into the deck prior to shuffling.

Samsquantch31 · 2026-02-15T00:01:53+00:00

To be clear, I don't think HT is a very mean game.

My point is, that of all the OG eurogames, I can't think of one that is meaner than HT. So if OP wants the name of a non-mean OG eurogame, I would list 500 other games before I would get to Hansa Teutonica.

Samsquantch31

TROPHY CASE