I am thinking about starting a new (expensive) hobby. I am going to board games night in next two weeks to see if that's something that could be my thing.

I really like the designes, rules, settings, they are nothing like board games that I played as a kid. But they are also (quite) expensive.

So I'm asking - what is your experience with board games? Do you play them? How often? Is it hard to find "playmates"? Do you play with anybody, or you have friends you play with from time to time? What are your favourite games?

btw. I am thinking about starting with Zombies!!!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2471/zombies

and Carcassone Big Box (this includes several expansions)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne

Are they good starting titles? Would you recommend something else? I am asking here, because it's interesting how people who play video games see board games. I think they can really be much more exciting than video games. What you guys think?

Here is a good one!

Unfortunatly I don't think most Europeans will understand the joke unless they are really big Oliver Stone fans.

Scot Free

Yes, occasionally chess.

I used to play at my university board game club. Carcassone sees a lot of play, it's one of the most played games in the club along with Settlers of Catan. Zombies!!!, on the other hand, was played heavily the first weeks but I haven't seen anyone play it in at least a year. I think it has less replay value.

I recently played hotel with my sister, which I used to love as a kid (not as much as Risk, but close. Buildings were pretty). I actually didn't enjoy it that much, I was horrified at how luck based it was and how any and all of (arguable) skills amounted to nothing. Plus, I'm a backpacker anyway, I would rather sleep on a bench or a 24/7 internet cafe than getting close to one of those hotels.

But you're probably about other kind of board games. Never tried them, but I did see some boxes on a box a friend brought me to once, they looked interesting.


PS: Yes, I did lose to my little sister on that game, but that's not why I'm bitching. Not the only reason, anyway.

Hmmm... I played Settlers of Catan a few times, I think it's just not my thing. And I don't like the artwork, especially on terrain tiles.

Yeah, I've read somewhere that Zombies!!! can get boring after some time, but that's ok, because there are like 12 expansions!!! :P

If you try and find a (full) second hand set, they're normally a LOT cheaper. I mostly play chess, as I sold my other ones a while ago, but they were all quite fun.

I used to have fun playing board and card games and Yahtzee! with my daughters but then they grew up and went off to college and left old dad all alone.... :(

Zombies!!! is pretty good. I could see it getting repetitive if you play it a lot but I only play it every few months or so.

It really depends on what sorts of things you like. Personally, Carc bores me to tears. I can understand why people like it and what makes it a good game, but it does absolutely nothing for me.

If you're looking at a zombie game, check out Last Night on Earth. It's a little more expensive, but not too bad in that regard, and it's a much better game than Zombies is (at least in my opinion). If you have an appreciation of cheezy Horror B Movies, they absolutely nailed that whole vibe. If you like Trivial Pursuit, maybe take a look at Wits & Wagers. It's not at all expensive and has the same trivia engine, only it plays a lot faster and people get to lay bets.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/20100/wits-wagers

Used to play all the time but found it harder to make the time as I've gotten older - ironically now 'm helping produce a new tabletop rpg with the guy that did this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k_-694_9yY

I've no doubt you'll be able to find plenty of local players as the internet has really helped to popularise it with the current generatiosn - along with things like game conversions of things like W40k.

Damn, this is two times more expensive than Zombies!!! here in Poland... So rather not a starting title, I wouldn't drop 200 PLN (around 50 EUR) before I really know board games are my thing ;-)

Especially, that with average Polish salaries, it would probably be either board game or video games for some time.
Did it happen with video games for you, too?

Because playing some less complex 1vs1 board games or 3 player games takes around 30-45 mins tops. It's not that long.

Unless you want to play some games like Twilight Imperium that can go for hours.

I'm talking from newbie perspective, but I think if you have people around, finding some folks to play 2-3 hours during a weekend shouldn't be hard, and playing with your wife/husband/kids for 1 hour once a few days shouldn't be hard too...

At least you now have more time to play with yourself. :)


On topic, if there are more chess players, maybe sometime we could do some matches for fun as plenty free multiplayer chessboards are available.

Or even a tournament!

Hey! Are you insinuating... never mind!