I do. Regularly. I like complex games most, like Arkham Horror or Battlestar Galactica. 7 Wonders is very nice also, which i indeed played at least 10 times already. ;-)

I like the coop-part in Arkham Horror, but i am a huge fan of the Cthulhu setting aswell. Battlestar Galactica is wonderful because of the coop/traitor/trust-or-no-trust mechanics. In my free time i try to make a full conversion of BSG into the Serenity/Firefly Setting, but i am not very far with this project.

Some gems which come into my mind are The Resistance, it's like Battlestar Galactica but stripped only to the friend-or-traitor-part and passionate discussions about who is whom. A nice party game is Jungle Speed, but it's dangerous. Little wounds from scratches to blood are common, but the fun is worth them.

Last birthday i got Village. This game is really really beautiful and intelligent in it's mechanics and gameplay.

I'm a fan of all games set in times of the Hanseatic League (The Patrician!!!). In board games i can recommend Hansa Teutonica. It's a game completely without luck mechanics. It's just your strategy and tactics and you have many options to get points.

What i would like to play is Twilight Imperium, but i don't know anyone who has this game.

Another game i would like to play is Space Alert. From what i gather this game seems a little to be like FTL, or at least the aspect of different rooms with different systems which are all important for the overall performance of your ship. Did anyone play this game yet? Can it be recommended? in general or for FTL lovers in particular?

Hey guys. So I went to my first board games night with friends yesterday, and it was fantastic. The games club has a large variety of games to play for free (even battlestar galactica was there! but we didn't play that yet, because single game takes around 2-3 hours in that and we didn't bring anybody who knows the rules to make it easier for us).

So, we played some more simple games, like Forbidden Island (similar to Pandemic), and it was quite fun. I know that board games / card games is something I would really, really enjoy.

So now, I must start scrapping some funds from time to time, to buy my first big game (or maybe I will buy that Forbidden Island first, because it's quite cheap and made in good quality)

I find that my profession (programmer) interferes with my enjoyment of board games a little.

Whenever the rules of a board game become even moderately complex, I keep thinking "this board game would be more fun if that part of the game was automated so that players didn't have to keep track of it".

That being said, I like to play board games once in a while, especially Carcassone (I'm a natural at that game... I win most of the time and when I lose, I'm usually a close second).

If that game was not privately owned, I would have made a web version for it in a heart beat.

What you said is true. Having to keep track on points, game events and everything is a painful job, unless you have some experienced player with you - then it runs pretty smoothly.

About Carcassonne - I just hate counting points in that fucking game :P During the play is quite simple, but in the endgame, it's frustrating. Even though if you manage, like counting cities first, than something else etc.

I can't imagine playing this with all expansions present and keeping tracks how many points for what... >.<

Yeah, the end game point counting is a bit of pain (especially when you play with a control freak), but the most complex part of it (counting the farms, resources and whatnot) take place at the end, so the pace during play is usually pretty smooth at least.

It's also a good idea to limit yourself to 2-3 expansions... they don't have to be the same ones every game.

True. And I liked the quality of the elements, it looks like a good "vacation" game that you can take away with you, without a fear that someting may break :P

I've already recommended Chaos in the Old World and I'm going to recommend it again. Probably on the expensive side, though, but we've played it so much the board has been torn into three pieces, some of the figures have been slightly damaged and some cards are showing signs of wear. We still haven't had enough of it and I can assure you that once damage begins to affect gameplay, we'll just buy another one.

EDIT: I've played CitOW once when drunk. That didn't really work out. If you're looking for something to pass the time in social events, best look elsewhere.

I've heard a lot of good things about Chaos... but you know, I need at first something - cheaper and much easier to get into at first.

When I and my closest friends will all turn to be board game geeks, we will turn into more expensive, time consuming and more complex games for sure :-)

btw. I've seen that there is 2nd edition of Pandemic coming, so it's a good moment to buy it for a dude like me.

(battlestar galactica is on my radar still... )

Congrats, man. Glad you decided to go and had fun.

Forbidden Island is a good little game. There's also a follow up, Forbidden Desert, in the works that changes things up a bit.

I also agree that sticking with smaller, less expensive games is a good way to start out. FI would be a great choice, especially since you already know that you like it. The 2nd Edition of Pandemic is actually starting to hit shelves in North America now, so it will probably appear in Europe soon...and it shouldn't be that expensive, either. Check out Flash Point : Fire Rescue if you want another co-op that fits in the same area in terms of complexity and cost :

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/100901/flash-point-fire-rescue

Another one might be the Enhanced Edition of Sentinels of the Multiverse. I'm a big fan of that one.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/123779/sentinels-of-the-multiverse-enhanced-edition

I play chess

Thank you for your advice about cooperative games :-)

Flash point is rather unavaible in my country, in fact, it wasn't ever released in Polish language (it's not that big of a problem), but rather impossible to buy. But it seems interesting, and very beautiful board and pieces :-)

When younger, and family was younger, used to play board games all of the time. A good way to have a few beers, order a pizza, and spend an evening.

Most interesting game I observed was when I was in the service and Monopoly was played with real money. People would buy in and sell out various positions, but never had the money to take part in it.

So, I think I'm starting to being sucked up for good ;-)

For now, I bought a smaller game Zombiaki (2 players game when one player commands a zombie horde and the second one is people trying to fight off)
http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/3121/zombiakiiijakgra.jpg

Bought it for simple reasons: it's cheap, it's 2 players, so I can always play with my fiancee, and it's a simple fast game with good quality and cool looking cards.

Now, I scrapped enough funds to buy Forbidden Island and Alcatraz: The scapegoat.

http://www.spiele-akademie.de/wp-content/gallery/Alcatraz---Escape-of-the-Scapegoat_10440/alcatraz-snapegoat.jpg

Again, simple, cheap, good to play with a family and with friends.

The next one will probably be Nightfall
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Nightfall-progress.jpg

and then I will have enough games to play for a longer while :-)

If anyone can find me a free trivial pursuit out there I would be most happy.

Why do you need it for free? Aren't you the successful B&B owner? :P