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.
Clue.
What’s your motive for liking it?
It’s complex yet very simple. Can be played by a small or large group easily. Teaches logic, reasoning, and deduction over “outscoring” your opponent. Being the dealer doesn’t give you any advantages if you play it right. And because of all the various permutations of the cards, it’s always a new game each time vs a number of set scenarios/strategies.
Single favourite is hard to pick.
Casual: I agree, Ludo is GOAT.
Invested: Catan… Maybe Scrabble
Dumb fun: Mad magazine game
Mancala, if that counts.
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.
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!
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it!
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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.
Ayy, I was going to mention this one. Crazy fun game.
Have you played the Legacy version of the game? I have and I would recommend it.
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.
Heroquest.
After being hyped up by the commercial, I was severely disappointed in the broadsword.
Browed Sowed
Ticket to Ride. Building out your rail network is so satisfying.
I wanted to like the game, but one game where the other players adopted the ‘backstabbing’ style ruined it for me.
Ahhh Ticket to Rage. My wife’s family is not allowed to play that anymore.
It is definitely high up there for me.
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).
Pictionary
My wife and I really like Agricola. It’s a farming-based people-placing game created in Germany for 2-4 players (with the base game), but there is an expansion for 5-6 players. We do play with a decent amount of house rules, though.
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
I’ve had the most fun with Burgle Bros
Labyrinth - if you’ve never played it, all the players are moving around a maze collecting items on cards they draw from a deck. Whoever collects them all first wins. You can move as far as you want each turn, but the catch is you first change the maze (the whole board being made of movable tiles), then move your totem. It encouraged complicated spacial reasoning and leaves room for sabotage of other players. Any number of players can play; you can even solitaire it if you want.
I mean talisman. Especially when multiple expansions are in play. junta was just so fun and hilarious. diplomacy in a take forever and sorta want to kill yourself if you even play till an actual duo wins type of way.
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.
