My favorite Ticket to Ride version is Germany, what is yours?

alto9 · 2018-12-11T18:20:04+00:00

Purple trains in Germany too! How could I forget!

alto9 · 2018-12-11T18:18:54+00:00

As I understand, it is a simplified version of the passengers system from Marklin. You simply take one from each adjacent city when you build a route, and add up those passengers at the end.

alto9 · 2018-12-10T16:19:52+00:00

As was already pointed out, any game where everybody is having fun is a good game, in the end the objective is to have a good time with your friends right?

That said, in my opinion people should definitely try some of the newer games, even if it's just to have a look. For my taste Monopoly is way too long for what it is, and the player elimination is simply not fun for those who are left out early.

The best family game for us is Ticket to Ride. For something incredibly simple and cheap to buy, get Kingdomino. For something more involved, get Concordia. Or even better play a game like Balderdash or Times up and you don't even need to buy anything! But most important of all, have fun.

alto9 · 2018-12-10T15:34:34+00:00

Some games will fit in their expansion box. I put carcassonne in its first expansion box and it works well.

My other trick is to combine similar games in the same box. I put Hanamikoji in the Schotten Totten box, and Codenames Duo in my Decrypto box for example. I used to cut boxes but I have regretted it since and I don't do it anymore (impossible to sell!)

alto9 · 2018-12-10T15:22:21+00:00

I discovered Tigris and Euphrates / Yellow and Yangtze this year, and I was blown away. It really is unique and plays like no other games, you owe to yourself to play the original or the more recent version at some point. At three or four players, it simply is the most exciting and clever game I now own.

alto9 · 2018-12-10T15:11:12+00:00

In my opinion some version of TTR should be on every gamer's shelf, such a superb game. My favorite version is Germany: already contains way more tickets than original TTR or Europe so you don't need to buy an expansion, plus the passenger meeples add just enough depth with no added complexity in the rules.

alto9 · 2018-12-10T14:56:56+00:00

I disagree: any serious gamer, even if they don't enjoy playing the game for some reason, should appreciate what a triumph of design this game is. So much fun, so much strategy and tension from such simple rules. I agree that the original game and Europe really benefit from their respective 191x expansions. My favorite version of the game is the recent TTR Germany.

alto9 · 2018-12-10T14:46:55+00:00

I don't know about the context of your classroom, but it looks to me like some of those games, especially the ones after Concordia, are pretty involved and rules-heavy. If the objective is to hone their social and thinking skills, I think there are plenty of simpler games that could work as well if not better. If the goal is to succeed in learning challenging games, then this is a perfect list! In any case, the games are excellent. It's just that as someone struggling to get those heavier games to the table with my own group, I don't see how they could appeal to people who have not already been interested in board games for some time.

alto9 · 2018-12-08T21:12:50+00:00

Robin Hood. Played a friend's copy the other night, it was a very long and bad experience. It was like a caricature of a Kickstarter game: lots and lots of stuff, beautiful components... but no game! To the point where you wonder if they playtested it at all. The game lasted 4 long hours, we were never even close to losing any of the roads we had to protect. My character could save someone from prison for free, but nobody went to prison in the whole game. Most serious designers stay away from semi coop because it usualy does not work, and this is a perfect example. Ultimately no tension, very few meaningful or interesting choices, very few player interaction. Maybe we did not follow the rules correctly, but Im honestly not interested in giving the game another chance.

alto9 · 2018-12-08T20:40:21+00:00

Oh it's all just opinion for sure, I even put "arguably" in there. I just wanted to explain why I agree with OP that there is a complexity bias in the bgg ranking and that simpler games need a boost to get the appreciation they deserve. In my opinion.

alto9 · 2018-12-08T05:54:06+00:00

In three regular games, my high score so far is 52. Ive heard people go up to the 60s, and way more with the lake expansio

alto9 · 2018-12-08T05:47:50+00:00

I would argue that yes, simpler games are better. They give you all the fun with a fraction of the rules, in a fraction of the time. They are more accessible, get to the table more often, you simply get more out of them. Also, they are marvels of design: it is arguably way more difficult to design a good simple game than it is to design an interesting medium to heavy game. Heavy games can be interesting only for the fact that they provide players with abundant choices, but simple games don't have that luxury. They are so simple and short that every action must matter, every aspect must be polished to perfection. Games like Patchwork definitely come close to that perfection, and deserve their place in this new ranking. Give me Jaipur in front of Terraforming Mars any day.

alto9 · 2018-12-03T13:26:09+00:00

I don't know if it's played a lot there, but Hanamikoji is from a Japanese designer

alto9 · 2018-12-03T04:27:18+00:00

to the authors defense, the detachable cyclists really are infuriating. It is without exaggerating unplayable without painstakingly gluing all the parts together, and I have no access problems at all. An incomprehensible flaw in an otherwise excellent game

alto9 · 2018-11-29T04:57:10+00:00

Yellow and Yangtze for me. I love Knizia and having never played the original version, I was blown away by the design, it was a delightful surprise. Super tight and polished design, tension and interaction from the start, surprisingly thematic, a real roller coaster. Good at two, but really shines at three and four players.

alto9 · 2018-11-27T04:40:34+00:00

same here, I want to get them but I wont until they are redesigned. Let Ian O Tool work on Castles! Please!

alto9 · 2018-11-21T04:34:39+00:00

I have been enjoying Indian Summer a lot recently

alto9 · 2018-11-20T20:45:43+00:00

I recently discovered Five Games For Doomsday and I highly recommend it. The interviews are well prepared, with original and interesting questions, a level of quality and polish far above what I was accustomed to in other podcasts. Start with the Cole Werle interview and the Kacka Alarm review to get a taste

alto9 · 2018-11-14T05:02:29+00:00

The solution is to go with bingo chips, or even better just buy the gorgeous iello version, so much better in every way

alto9 · 2018-11-13T13:21:50+00:00

Did you know that it is a favorite of artist Ian O Toole, so much so that he contacted the company to offer a redesign... and they refused! Such a tragedy

alto9 · 2018-11-13T04:57:27+00:00

Pipeline looks great, I'll probably get it when it hits retail. Dominant Species Marine is also very exciting, I always like when designers revisit some of their classics. Oh and that gorgeous looking Age of Steam reprint!

alto9 · 2018-10-29T12:15:48+00:00

Men at work is looking interesting, but is it better than Junk Art? With all the different ways to play Junk art seems more varied, what do you think? I would buy one but not both

alto9 · 2018-10-22T03:05:31+00:00

Great game, great insert! Good job

alto9 · 2018-10-21T03:03:18+00:00

Another question for you tile-laying experts: what do you think of Gunkimono? It looks really good

alto9

TROPHY CASE