Gamers - recommendations

[danaeris]

My favourite games are:
Settlers, Alhambra, Ra
Guillotine
Once Upon a Time
I also really enjoyed Arkham Horror and Betrayal at House on a Hill

Any recommendations for other games worth buying?

Comments

[aster13.livejournal.com]

It's all terribly dependant on what you like, really...

Ones I personally like include:

Apples to apples
Zombie Fluxx
Puerto Rico
Pompeii
Aquarius
Mag Blast

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

Puerto Rico. Bacchus's Banquet.

Not a specific recommendation, but

[darthsunshine.livejournal.com]

I just recently learned about boardgamegeek.com. Apologies if it's old information for regular gamers (I just recently started board-gaming for the first time in many years). The advanced game search on the site looks seriously cool for finding exactly the characteristics you like in a game.

[etherial.livejournal.com]

Power Grid would probably fit in well with that list.

[professor-booty.livejournal.com]

Apples to Apples
Carcassone
TransAmerica

[professor-booty.livejournal.com]

Also...

Lost Cities

[laura47.livejournal.com]

it has nothing to do with your listed likes, but down here we are OBSESSED with "Race For The Galaxy". It'sspreading all over. we play ~daily at cathedral and boddy. It is SO GOOD. rax and i geek out about it all the time.

[epicureanangel.livejournal.com]

I second Carcassone, Ticket to Ride and Boardgamegeek.com

[gentlescholar.livejournal.com]

San Juan is a card game version of Puerto Rico, simpler and more streamlined and compact and fun, generally. Race for the Galaxy is a more complex and arcane San Juan In Space.
I like Puerto Rico but it's much easier to get players for San Juan.

Also, I'm a raving fan of Pandemic, it's different because it is a cooperative game--you are all teamed up to save the world.

I don't know if you'd like Thurn and Taxis, it's a build paths by collecting cards and score points for long paths sort of game.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Amun Re -- another auction game with an ancient theme, but a bit heavier than Ra.

Maybe Modern Art -- quite a pure auction game.

If you like the trading part of Settlers, Traders of Genoa has even more horsetrading.

Puerto Rico is a classic game, very good, and well worth a look.

The Princes of Florence has a bit of the positional building of Alhambra with the auctions of Ra, and a bit of other stuff, too.

Liking Arkham Horror and Betrayal means Pandemic might be another good choice for cooperative games.

Medici is yet another good auction game.

On the lighter side, TransAmerica or TransEuropa (they're the same game on slightly different maps) might be good choices, as might Tsuro. Both are quick and fun.

Thurn and Taxis & Ticket to Ride are both good card-based route-building games.

What games do you not like?

And, as someone else mentioned, www.boardgamegeek.com is an awesome reference for game information, with good ratings and reviews of many, many, many games.

[truthspeaker.livejournal.com]

Games I tend to associate with the others on that list are Carcassonne and Ticket To Ride (similar complexity and playing time but different dynamics). Looking at my list of games, I'd add St. Petersburg. (This is my "if you like X, you probably would like Y.)

I'm a big fan of boardgamegeek.com. Based on your preferences, I'd look at the weight/complexity and stay in the mid-range. You probably want something less random than Fluxxx and less serious than Die Macher (a 4-hour game about German politics -- extremely good but with ~15 phases per turn).

As for the other set of games (Arkham Horror and Betrayal), I'm guessing you're more into story-driven games than cooperative for the sake of being cooperative, but I don't know that many other story-driven games (maybe Prophecy as a Czech attempt to write their own version of Talisman and actually play-balance the thing). That said, Pandemic might appeal to you as a cooperative game that can be played in 30 minutes where a group of characters have to plan together to stop epidemics from getting out of control. It involves thinking without having too many rules. Another recommendation that might be risky is Vanished Planet -- it's like cooperative settlers, but I personally feel it is a little bland.

Finally, I think Apples to Apples would work for times when you want a light party game as part of being social...

Ticket to ride and St Petersburg

[admiralthrawn.livejournal.com]

I'll second those two suggestions as being similar to the ones on your list.

I'll also add that you can sometimes find the "historical variants" of settlers in game stores, which provide a very interesting different game while still using the core of the settlers mechanics. They're sadly a lot more rare than the basic game and the two common expansions that I didn't like as much (knights & cities and seafarers).