Mine is Ludo: A solid 2 to 4 Player board game.
Fun Fact: It causes a war in Hindu Mythology.
Second is Chess because dev abandoned their game.
Wingspan is really great plus it has stunning visuals too!
Have you tried Wyrmspan? It’s an improved version with Dragons. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/410201/wyrmspan
What makes you say it’s improved over Wingspan? I own both. I like them both separately but I disagree with saying it’s an improved version. For context, I own all of the expansions to Wingspan, play it at least a few times a week with my wife, and it would be my answer to OPs question hands down.
Wyrmspan doesn’t have any expansions so are you saying it’s better than the base game of Wingspan? I could definitely see that argument since there is more strategic diversity in the base game than base Wingspan. However if you include the expansions I think Wingspan mops the floor with Wyrmspan.
Single favourite is hard to pick.
Casual: I agree, Ludo is GOAT.
Invested: Catan… Maybe Scrabble
Dumb fun: Mad magazine game
Solo: Mage Knight
2 player: Star Trek Fleet Captains
4 player: Shadows of Brimstone
Stupid-fun dice chucker for 4 or 5: Project Elite
I just looked up Mage Knight based on your comment. This looks awesome, I’m ordering a copy right now. So, Thanks.
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it!
Also, I recommend watching Ricky Royal’s play-through on YouTube. His channel is “Box of Delights”. The play-through is from several years ago but is very well done.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Mancala, if that counts.
Heroquest.
After being hyped up by the commercial, I was severely disappointed in the broadsword.
Browed Sowed
Great board game for 3+ people. Best with a full crew. You and your mates explore a mansion. As you explore a new room you place a tile and something can happen.
It’s meant to have a lot of replayability as each time you play there’s a booklet full of potential end games that you can trigger. Such as the mansion is burning down and you need to escape.
Have you played the Legacy version of the game? I have and I would recommend it.
Ayy, I was going to mention this one. Crazy fun game.
I love the idea of that game. But in practice, I hate it.
Exploring the house is fun. And then the haunt usually ends up with a lopsided win. I can’t remember a time where the haunt didn’t feel like a forgone conclusion once revealed. Basically, I’ve never felt like I had any way to impact the outcome outside of potentially just throwing it.
Edit: in my mind, it’s less of a game and more of an experience or story generator.
Call to Adventure, Wingspan/Wyrmspan, most of the Tiny Epic series, Coup are all solid contenders.
I like the Red Raven games but I don’t really look forward to playing them because of all the set up and tear down lol, I would love them as digital products with automation.
I absolutely love Wingspan. Should I also get Wyrmspan, or would I be better off getting the last expansion or two I’m missing from Wingspan? We also love the Tiny Epic series, but we couldn’t really get our group into Coup unfortunately
I like Wyrmspan because it shakes up the mechanics, but to be perfectly honest I just love dragons more than birds so the art alone practically sold me on it lol
My partner and I prefer dragons as well. I don’t mean to keep bothering you but I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind
1.) Are they all different dragons with little trivia tidbits like the birds?
2.) Do you know if it plays well at two players? We really appreciated the Asia expansion for catering to that specifically
No bother at all! They are all different dragons with wonderful original art, but the cards don’t have trivia. There is a “dragons facts sheet” thing that’s included just as flavour.
Might not be the best person to answer the latter, as my partner and I played an absolute crap ton of Wingspan just the two of us and thought it played fine enough, even without the Asia expansion.
We enjoyed the original as well, we just super enjoyed that they focused on it. I’m kind of sad no trivia on the cards. I know I’ll end up with the game eventually. Love their stuff. Scythe and Viticulture are also in our library
I’ve got the digital version of scythe but haven’t gotten around to trying it.
Ticket to Ride. Building out your rail network is so satisfying.
It is definitely high up there for me.
Ahhh Ticket to Rage. My wife’s family is not allowed to play that anymore.
This is mine too. I don’t really like board games, but Ticket to Ride really clicked with me and I had a blast playing it. Will get it for myself but damn it’s expensive (I guess that’s a problem with board games in general, and I do see the value of the investment).
I wanted to like the game, but one game where the other players adopted the ‘backstabbing’ style ruined it for me.
I’ve had the most fun with Burgle Bros
My absolute favourite is Spirit Island. A co-op game where you work together defending your island and kicking out explorers and settlers. Expanding your presence and getting new powers along the way. Every game with new combinations.
When we got the game we played this more than once every week for over a year. With each game taking 1-3hours with our playstyle. Sometimes longer with four players (but that’s partly because of not actively playing the game then). We play less now only because of moving with the renovation taking too much time.
I love Spirit Island so much.
though usually unless folks are also as into complicated stuff as I am I end up playing horizons of Spirit Island for a simplified experience
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Power Grid
Which map?
I mostly play US. Don’t have any expansion maps myself. Any recommendations?
The China map is interesting as it changes the power plant drawing order.
I really enjoy Root, but it can end up taking a little while to get through.
Backgammon
I treat Chinese checkers with the same reverence and over-seriousness that chess players have towards chess. I’m not especially good at it, but I really enjoy it.
