Actual play-on-a-table games

[Zarett]

So I don't know if there's a thread for actual tabletop games (not RPGs, although those are cool too)... have you got any that you break out when the electricity is down and your game systems don't work?

My girlfriend went to the local comic store and came home with a copy of the card game "Gloom" which is absolutely awesome. Each player picks a family of five, and the point of the game is to make them as miserable as possible (by playing cards that have terrible occurances on them) before killing them off. Once all the members of one family are dead, the game is over and all the miserability points are added up. You get to play happy things like "Lord Bassington Bassington was taken out for pancakes and won a bunch of money," or whatever on your opponent's characters to reduce their miserability points...

Another good one is the card game Give Me The Brain, where you're zombies who work at a fast food restaurant and have to perform a number of chores (your hand) before they can leave for the day (win the game). The problem is that there is only one brain to go between all the players. While some jobs are just gruntwork and don't require any thinking at all, other jobs require The Brain... but everyone's trying to get it away from you and you may DROP IT AT ANY TIME! Also lots of fun.

And then there's Kill Doctor Lucky, which used to be $7.00 for the Director's Cut edition but then they made it into a CLUE-like full game with a box and colored cards and an actual gameboard and everything. It's made by Cheapass Games and is pretty much a Pre-CLUE: all the players have a grudge against Doctor Lucky and have to kill him in his mansion with a variety of weapons.

Last but not least on my game rave is Settlers of Catan, which if you haven't played you have to shell out the $20 and at least get the travel-sized version. One of my friends went and got the $200 sculpted landscape and three-dimensional city edition in a wooden treasure chest, but I'm not quite that into it. German game, and the Germans rock. You're a settler baron guy and you have to build roads and towns and you can make sheep into bricks!

Other ones I've played and liked are Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride, Get Out, and Save Doctor Lucky... How bout you guys? I am always on the lookout for good games.

[Anid Maro]

Well, my girlfriend and I are Magic: the Gathering addicts. And I do literally mean addict, in fact we're lucky, we only have mild forms of the affliction. I have two friends who... no... it's just too horrible for words!

Other than that, I enjoy the occasional game of Risk. I never battle it out to the end though, once it gets to two people it just gets boring. So if I'm one of the last two left (usually I am), I just say we should call it a draw and start a new game.

I've played that "Apples to Apples" game a few times, it's lots of fun. Especially when everybody's drinking.

Oh, and even though you aren't looking for RPGs, I felt I should share my AD&D experience. I've played only once, and in this game my friends and I were getting our asses kicked by goblins in the dungeon. So we saved ourselves by taking our friend Rob and shoving him into the door way.

The goblins then proceeded to beat him to death, but couldn't get to the rest of us because his corpse was blocking the door way. We all appreciated his valiant action, although he didn't quite see it in the same light.

[DavePalumbo]

the card game "Gloom"

that sounds pretty good, who puts it out?

The only board game I play at all any more is Scrabble really, though occasionally we get the old Axis and Allies gang together for an extended day or two of WWII strategy gaming. I own a copy of Pictionary as well, which is only really ever brought out for special occasions. I ought to compile a list of persons who have played on my Pictionary board. I also like chess, though haven't played in ages and was never really that great at it.

My dad loved board games though, and growing up I played alot of Monopoly (though now I kind of hate it), as well as the Dune board game and the Escape from New York board game. Many others too, but those were my favorites.

[Zarett]

Hey Dave, Gloom is by Atlas Games. You can probably find it at paizo (big online game store)...

Pictionary is a lot of fun to play with friends, but unfortunately I have no artist friends around where I live and all the non-artists refuse to play Pictionary with me because ... I dunno, they're embarrassed to draw in front of someone who knows perspective(??).
You should make people sign your pictionary board... then you can auction it off on ebay someday when you're old and arthritic and can't paint anymore

Another awesome do-it-yourself card game is called 1,000 Blank White Cards, and how it goes is you have a bunch of blank cards (index cards cut in half), and each person gets five, then has to write game text and pictures on them... it's a hoot to play with artists or other silly people, because the game literally evolves as it goes. At the end of the game (whenever people get tired of playing it), you split up the deck and everyone goes home with a starter (like sourdough or whatever).

[Nero's Master]

Kill Dr. Lucky is so awesome, though it can go on forever. O_o I used to play board games all the time with my siblings, so I'll see if I can't think up of some more.

[Anid Maro]

Another awesome do-it-yourself card game is called 1,000 Blank White Cards

YES!!!

That game is awesome! I've played it a couple times with my friends. It didn't really take of like I'd hoped, but those couple of times were lots of fun.

I think one guy got locked in a closet for ten minutes or so from a card called "Sensory Depravation".

We also modified the game with the "Stomach Punch" rule. If you wrote a card with something stupid, like "You have to buy me an XBox" or anything else outside the constraints of reason, then we get to belt you one in the belly. We never got to enforce it, but it did keep some people in line.

[xxEnder]

I got a little bit into magic. I always stayed away, i thought it was for nerds, and geeks, and freaks, (i know its a stereotype, but one time in high school i really had to pee, and the bathroom door was locked during class, and i got mad and kicked it open and there was 3 kids playing magic on the bathroom floor and they looked at me like i was some assassin or something and were dead still, i just had to back out and wait till after class) and then i played my first game and i was one of them! No just kidding... but i do enjoy a game now and then, only have 2 decks though.

[seba_boi]

We only have a Scrabble and a Monopoly... Sadly, the game always end up rather quickly since there's so many of us playing... We could go all night with card games though...

[asoir]

Ahh I recently reaped £20 in texas hold em...what a game!

[Andrew]

I am always on the look to get my fix. Here are a few of my favorites.

Diplomacy - Classic game of pre-WWI Conflict. Most of the game is negotiations between the various world powers, with generalized military engagement

Riccochet Robot - Great party game 1-100 players. With 96 permutations of board and nearly infinite movement possiblities it is never the same game twice.

Zombies!!! - Romero Zombie movies brought to the table. The basic game is adequate, but the ability to stage your own plot/victory conditions makes for a lot fun.

Guillotine - cardgame of beheading in the french revolution. Cheesy french accents a must

Scabble - no explanation necessary

Chrononauts - Card game of time travel and alternative history

U.S. Patent #1 - Race to get your time machine registered as the first US Patent

Fluxx - card game of ever changing rules

Junta - Be El Presidente for life of a banana republic

Ogre - Man vs. giant cybernetic tanks

Little Green Things from Outer Space - Just like it sounds.

Strat-o-matic Baseball - Currently preparing to recreate the 1975 season.

Twixt - classic 2 player strategy game

War of 1812 - 2 player fog of war strategy game

Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich - AH WWII classic. For accuracy leaves Axis and Allies in the dust

Wake Island - 2 player WWII hex and counter game.

Andrew

[Zarett]

Hey Andrew, I've had my eye on Chrononauts for a while, but I haven't ever met anyone who's actually played it. What do you think of it? It looks interesting, but I've heard that the rules are confusing and it's got limited replayability (??)...

I've been wanting to play Risk/Diplomacy/Game of Thrones type games recently, but none of my friends have the right combination of bloodthirsty/thick skin... someone always gets offended when we play stuff like that

[Andrew]

Chrononauts is a great deal of fun, and I have no re-playability issues. I have never had any two games end out the same.

As Diplomacy goes, some people just can't take the back stabbiness of it all. They take it quite personal. Fortunately, I either play it via mail or email, or with other cut throat wargamers.

Andrew

[Deverion]

If I could find someone who still plays, I would totally start playing Magic the Gathering in my free time again, lol. I've got a couple boxes of cards somewhere in the back of my closet. (Magic cards are actually one of my biggest inspirations, alot of them have really excellent fantasy art, and the quality of the artists seems to be getting better with the latest releases.)

Since you said no RPG's, I won't mention anything D&D related I've still got some of the rulebooks and bestiary books from when I was a kid. One game I played with a friend once that was pretty fun was Settlers of Catan. Now that I think about it though, I didn't enjoy it that much, but it has fairly interesting gameplay and nearly limitless possibilities in setting up the map for conquest.

[Zarett]

Catan = kind of addictive.

I'm not hating on RPGs, cause there are a lot of funny stories that come out of late night gaming sessions... but I'm thinking there's probably already a thread for gaming stories going, or if not, they totally deserve their own...

[Braindrop]

Does Catan play well with just 2 people?

[Qitsune]

I have to agree with Catan, it rocks, I wouldn't want to play it with just 2 ppl tho.

Fluxx - card game of ever changing rules

If you want something quick with next to no rules, I suggest Flux, there is just one rule at the begining: When it's your turn, Draw a card, play a card. The card you play might contain other rules. Or the goal of the game.

I'm a big fan of Munchkins and I'm suprised it wasn't mentioned yet. There are tons of expensions (Like Munchkins-fu), it's easy to learn and lots of fun.It's like a mini-ad&d game, even sillier than the games I used to make.

Guillotine - cardgame of beheading in the french revolution. Cheesy french accents a must

I usually play it wth ppl who speak only french, does that work?

[Lohan]

i just recently started getting into some of these types of games. a bunch of my friends and i just got "conquest of the empire". it imitates the Mediterranean area during a certain time period, and you have to balance your military, position in the senate, territorial expansion, and economy all at the same time. It's really challenging and fun.
i have to get some of those zombie games next, they sound really fun.

[Angroc]

I dig Risk. Its really fun taking over the world you know?

[ChewyOlive]

well...there is always chess

[Angroc]

oh yes forgot that one