Top 10 boardgames, revised, with lost comments.

It seems to be list-updating time for me, and mental_floss’s rundown of Games magazine’s category winners for new games in 2009 prompted me to finally write this up and post it. Here’s my updated top ten, after which you’ll find the user comments from the original top ten that were lost in the database corruption that happened last December.

Quick notes: I hate Scrabble. I’ve never played Agricola. I dropped Risk, Acquire, and Monopoly from the list.

10. Babel. We bought this game on a trip to Austria in 2003, which meant getting the German rules, which meant I had to translate them … so who knows if we really played it correctly. But it was fun. It’s a fairly simple two-person game where each player is trying to build temples using five “tribes” at his disposal, but at the same time that you’re building, you’re using those tribes to try to slow down your opponent’s building or knock down his temples entirely. Our favorite move was the “Wanderung,” where you can make one of your opponent’s tribes wander off.

9. Taboo. Different type of game entirely from the others here – this is a “party game,” and maybe the only one I really liked. For those of you old enough to remember the TV game show Password, Taboo takes that general format (one person gives clues, the rest of his team has to guess the keyword), but adds the twist that there are five words the clue-giver can’t say. The challenge of trying to describe something without saying the five most obvious words is what makes Taboo fun. Our friend Pete was a whiz at giving clues because he had an endless supply of bad pop songs and commercial jingles on which to rely.

8. Diplomacy. Described by one friend of mine as “Risk for grownups,” Diplomacy requires seven players, but removes the luck element entirely after the initial setup. Players represent the seven “great powers” of Europe, set in 1900 (although there are endless variations), and must scheme, ally, attack, and backstab their way towards control of at least half of the map. The rules are incredibly simple, and there are a few thriving online communities of “Diplo” players, although playing online means that the normal etiquette of live play (such as “don’t stab the guy you just allied with thirty seconds ago”) goes out the window.

7. Wise and Otherwise Board Game. I guess this is part party game, but it’s more clever than most games in that genre. On each turn, one player becomes the “reader” and reads the first half of an incredibly obscure (but real) proverb. The other players have to fabricate plausible or funny second halves, while the reader writes down the real conclusion to the proverb, after which, all players must guess which conclusion is the correct one. You get points for getting it right, and for fooling other players, while the biggest bonus goes to the reader who reads all the completions so convincingly that no one gets the right answer. It’s like Balderdash, but the opportunities for silly answers are greater, and the problem with Balderdash is that you can often guess the definitions by looking at word roots.

6. San Juan. Full review. The card game/two-person adjunct to the board game Puerto Rico (which I haven’t played), San Juan is a hard game to explain but easy and quick to play. Using only cards, each player builds a small settlement of various types of buildings, producing goods using them to build faster and better structures. There’s some luck involved, as in all card games, but the deck is big enough and diverse enough that you’re unlikely to be buried by bad luck; you’re just forced to consider different strategies.

5. Metro. Another German board game – Germany seems to be where all the good games are designed these days – Metro is almost comically simple. Players compete to build the longest subway lines on a grid that represents the city of Paris. There are different types of tiles, some of which include straight tracks, while others include all manner of twists. You can extend your own tracks on your turn, or you can use a tile to screw someone else. The game ends when all tiles are played; the player with the longest total track lengths across all of his lines wins.

4. Carcassonne. Full review. A boardgame without a board, Carcassonne is very easy to play (although learning how to maximize your score takes time) and emphasizes on-the-fly thinking over long-term planning. You draw one land tile each turn and build roads, cities, and farms by adding each tile to the table, creating a different map every time. You can play a solitary style or use an aggressive approach to grab some points from your opponents.

3. Orient Express. This is the only game on this list that is out of print, although the designers have told me they’re considering a reissue. Orient Express takes those logic puzzles you saw on the LSAT or in GAMES magazine and turns it into a murder mystery: You have to walk around the two train cars, interviewing suspects and crew members, searching cabins, and – when possible – sending telegrams for background info on the suspects. You must come up with a suspect and a motive to solve the crime, although you may also glean clues about the weapon or other factors. The original game itself comes with 10 cases., and there are at least 30 expansion cases available through the publisher’s website.

2. Ticket to Ride. Full review. An outstanding marriage between two styles – the German strategy board game and the American family game. You start Ticket to Ride with 45 train cars and several routes each connecting two U.S. cities; you get points for completing these routes and for connecting any two cities on the map, but other players are also trying to cross the map and you can end up blocked out of a specific city pair or unable to complete a route entirely. We play the U.S. version with the 1910 expansion; the Europe version is also excellent but I wouldn’t recommend the Swiss expansion.

1. Settlers of Catan. It’s not the simplest game on the list, but it’s the smartest, and it’s simple and quick enough to teach someone by playing a game with them, after which they’ll probably be hooked. Three or four players compete to settle the island of Catan, which involves tough decisions about placing settlements, trading for resources, developing units or towns, and overall strategy. There’s not much confrontation, and players are never eliminated. The first player to reach 10 “victory points” – achieved through a combination of building towns or cities, building the longest road, raising the largest army, or special one-point cards – wins. The game was such a success that there are multiple add-ons, including 5-6 player expansion, as well as a very good two-person card game (since the board game requires three players).

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To the comments from the original post. First up, Drew:

I’ve got a soft spot for Axis and Allies, though it does suffer from three major problems, in my book.

1) The games are just too long. There’s no real way around that, they’re just really long.
2) Each player’s turn can be awfully long, and since four other players take a long turn before you go again, players can lose interest during that time.
3) The die rolling element is too powerful, leading to too many situations where luck beats out skill.

That said, I still can’t get enough of the game, and I’ve played the hell out of it. We’ve even modified some of the technologies (heavy bombers is completely unfair) and added a second level of tech on top of the first (adding paratroopers and the like).

It sounds like you’ve got pretty good taste in games, Keith; have you ever tried any of the Looney Labs games, such as Chrononauts or Flux? Your mileage may vary on their replayability, but they’re clever games with interesting premises, and since they’re basically just large decks of cards, they’re very portable, which can be a nice feature.

Ronaldo:

What about Hungry Hungry Hippos?

Craige:

One game I would add is Ubi – by the makers of Trivial Pursuit. It was a geography based trivia game but with the addition of “red herring” answers.

malcolm:

I’d have to say Trivial Pursuit is my favorite board game, but I am admittedly a sucker for trivia.

Bobar:

Isn’t there an online version of Settlers? Thanks for the list. I’ll have to explore some of these.

Seth:

Aw, no Sorry!? And I agree Beyond Balderdash is far superior to the original, even though I love the original.

Grant:

I used to play Settlers of Catan. Great game. I also really used to like this game called Empire Builder, which was about the nineteenth century railroad boom. Excellent game.

I love Scrabble, though. Fantastic game. You’ll never convince me otherwise.

Brian:

What’s the qualification to be called a board game? I was reading that 1-liner on TBL and a lot of the favorites being mentioned don’t even use boards. Connect 4, Crossfire. Am I splitting hairs here? Go ahead, you can tell me I am.

Grant K:

Scrabble is great so long as you expand the rules to include other categories, i.e. foreign languages, common abbreviations, ghetto slang, but otherwise it just comes down to who gets stuck with 5 i’s and 2 w’s.
Other ideas: Clue has to be a top ten. Apples to Apples can be fun, especially once the arguing starts. Chess, Checkers, Checkers of the Chinese variety?

Axis and Allies should only be played in bomb shelters when you have days and days to kill.

Bob:

Chess and Beyond Balderdash are the 2 best.

will betheboy:

I’m with you on the Scrabble thing but that is probably because my wife always beats me so thoroughly.

Nick:

I’ll throw Sequence in there. It can be learned quickly, it involves a bit of strategy, but you can also play and still have conversations. The games are relatively quick and you can play with as few as two players.

My wife and I played a lot of Sequence while we awaited the birth of our first child.

Chris:

What about Cosmic Encounter?
As for Axis and Allies being too long, the game is essentially over after about 4 rounds. It may not be official, but after that you’re just in the mop-up time. Just declare a winner and start again.

James:

10. Candyland
09. Chutes and Ladders
08. Risk
07. Checkers
06. Parcheesi
05. Trump: The Game
04. Monopoly
03. Life
02. Scrabble
01. Chess

Douglas:

You posting a top 10 board games on your personal blog is like a hanging curve to Big Papi — you just know he’s going to crush it.

I love board games. I used to hate board games because Life, Monopoly and Sorry! just stopped doing it for me. I should have known I wasn’t going to like regular luck based board games when I was addicted to Acquire growing up and my sister refused to play. But then in college, I met a bunch of people who played games I had never heard of before and they were all AWESOME! I’ll put down a top 10 of games not on your list, Keith, in order of ones you need to try sooner rather than later.

Honorable Mentions: Anything on boardgamegeek.com’s top 50 list, Munchkin, Blockus, Rumis, Bohnanza, and of course, Rock’em Sock’em Robots.

10. Cointoss between Ticket to Ride and Modern Art – Ticket to Ride is probably a better game, but Modern Art has the wildcard of auctioning off art which can get pretty ridiculous after a few beers. Actually, Modern Art rates a 10/10 when everyone’s had a few and you have two REALLY competitive people who will risk losing the game just to win one auction.

9. Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights – This would rate much higher on my list, except that you already have played Settlers and I wanted the list to be unique from the games you mentioned. Nevertheless, this expansion is *necessary* in my opinion. Gameplay is the same as Settlers, but much more balanced (regular Catan the development cards are a little over powered). Worth the investment.

8. Tigris & Euphrates – The game’s rules are the big downer here. It’s really hard to understand the rules at first (which is why I recommend playing online to learn since it won’t let you make illegal moves) but once you get going, the game is pretty addictive. Play at: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/tigris/

7. Citadels – This is a game that I love and everyone else seems to hate because the rules take getting used to. More or less you have a set of occupations (assassin, thief, merchant…) that change every turn. Every occupation has a skill and you use those skills to make money to build parts of your city. Whoever has the best city at the end of the game wins.

6. San Juan – Card game version of Puerto Rico. Same complexity, fewer ways to win, much simpler, overall a great game.

5. Ninja Burger – This is the only game that’s less strategy based and more fun based. The premise is that you’re a ninja attempting to deliver burgers in spite of the numerous obstacles to do so. The game is hilarious (though I’m not sure it’s in print any more). A good substitute is any game by Steven Jackson.

4. Carcassonne – Tile laying game where you try to get the most points by building cities, roads, monasteries and farms. This is by far the best 2 player game I have ever played and expands very well up to 4 people. It’s the perfect balance of game simplicity and strategy complexity. Play online at games.asobrain.com (you can play Settlers of Catan there too!)

3. Princes of Florence – It’s hard to pin this game down into a category. It’s more or less a resource game where you spend your resources trying to build buildings and masterpieces of the renaissance. It’s a great game because of the tremendous number of strategies that can be used to win. The downside is that it really plays best as a 4 player game.

2. Power Grid – The point of the game is to be able to power the most cities on the last turn of the game. The premise is really simple, but the strategy is crazy! You can build stations in cities at a rapid rate at the cost of your power plants, or you can buy up the power plants on the cheap and hope to buy up the cities later. I’ve seen a lot of different strategies work on this game and usually, it comes down to the last turn. This game is a little more flawed than the other ones in terms of balance (going last is a huge advantage), but overall the fun of the game combined with its ability to be played 7 players is huge.

1. Puerto Rico – Play it and you’ll understand. Great game with huge replay value. The game works well with 3, 4, and 5 players, though the strategy of each is quite different. One big bonus is that the game is turn based so you can go grab a beer and not frustrate someone else who is playing. Also, you can play online pr-game.com

Anyways, I wish I knew more people who would play these games with me… I own half of them and can hardly drag my friends to play anything other than Scattegories, Taboo or Catchphrase.

Phew! That was a hell of a comment. Hope someone uses it!

Ryan V.:

Gotta love Monopoly. When I was a kid, my brother and I played a game that lasted over three days. Granted, we walked away and came back several times, but that was epic, nonetheless!

I’ll have to second the Trivial Pursuit vote, though I’m not a huge fan of the specialized versions (they’re either waaaaaay too easy or ridiculously difficult).

A favorite party game of mine (though it’s not a board game, so I’m cheating there) is Apples to Apples. It’s an absolutely hilarious game (provided the right personalities are playing…) and great with a large group of people.

Doug:

Cool (and unsurprising) to see you venturing into the Euro-style of boardgames.

If you like the others on your list, I think you’d like all of your “heard great things” list too. Carcassonne is the lightest/quickest and Agricola is the “hot new thing” in the boardgame world. But it’s actually good, so that’s OK, and it has differeing complexity levels to help bring new players along.

Douglas above has some other excellent suggestions in his list.

There’s a downloadable (free) single player v. computer version of Metro out there somewhere. You could probably find it through BoardGameGeek.com.

Zach:

Diplomacy #5? C’mon now, you know it’s #1.
Also, there’s an online version of Settlers on XBox Live Arcade.

Bob in Philly:

Has anyone ever played Scotland Yard or Clue:The Great Museum Caper? Both games are similar to each other but different from any other games I have played. They both require one player to be a “thief” and move around the board without the others knowing where they are. The other players are required to work together as police to try to capture the thief. There are certain ways for the police to find out where the thief is located during a certain turn. Museum Caper is slightly better because it gives the thief and opportunity to steal paintings and try to escape the museum when satisfied with the number of paintings stolen. In Scotland Yard, the thief is simply trying to avoid being caught.

Aaron:

For a quick 2 player game, you can’t go wrong with the simplicity of Othello (or Reversi). It’s so easy to learn the basic concept. But with so many different strategies & tactics it doesn’t get repetative to play many games consecutively.

Joe:

Keith, no love for Trivial Pursuit? I’m too young to remember its debut, but I’ve been told it was very difficult to find. I’d also argue that it has aged better than most other games still out there today from the past 20 or so years, right up there with classics such as chess, checkers, Monopoly, etc.
Even games like Risk are far too boring for today’s youth to pick up and play.

Tom A.:

Thank you Keith for having Settlers at the top of your list. In college this was by far my dorm’s favorite game.

As for Risk, you are absolutely right about it being outdated. I might recommend that you give Risk 2210, an updated version they came out with four or five years ago, a try. It still has the dice, but at the same time they add in much more strategy that negates a lot of the luck problems. Its a bit complex to learn, but well worth it when you play it.

Scott:

Can we call cribbage a board game. I know it’s really a card game, but its got a board. I’ve been playing since I was four and haven’t stopped yet. Great game. Also, Apple to Apples is great with a group.

Andrew:

There’s a game like clue called 221B Baker Street where you actually have to think to solve the mystery based on actual clues – that’s pretty good.
I was also a big fan of Stratego as a lad.

Bob:

What about “Trouble”? Actually, jk, but in all seriousness, I love the sound it made when you pressed down on the bubble to pop the dice!
Does Trivial Pursuit count as a board game? I’m surprised not to see even one mention of it (outside of the comments).

Daniel:

I’ll throw my couple cents in:
1. Settlers is fantastic. The Cities and Knights add on is a lot of fun, but probably triples the learning curve, so don’t do it with new players. I got addicted to this game in college.

2. Beyond Balderdash is fun if you don’t want to do only the word definitions. It also includes obscure movies, people, acronyms (which are my favorite), and obscure laws.

3. I like Diplomacy, but I’ve found it hard to get enough people who are into that kind of thing. I have about 3 friends who enjoy it (and the couple games we have gotten together have been enjoyable), but our wives generally don’t like all the eventual backstabbing, so it winds up being a guy’s night.

4. I echo the Carcassonne and Puerto Rico sentiments. Both are very fun.

5. One last recommendation – Citadels is a very fun game. It’s another one of those that change every turn (similar to Puerto Rico) based on the roles people pick.
Oh, and I don’t enjoy Apples to Apples at all. It was fun the first time, but it got really old after that.
A couple of good party games (which it seems you’re not as into, but these are better than most) – Catch Phrase and Buzzword.
@Bob from Philly – I have played Scotland Yard a couple times. I thought it was decent, but it’s not fun for a lot of people who don’t want to think in mathematical terms all the time (“ok he was here, and he used this, so he could be here, here or here, and I can go there or there and you can go…etc.).

TC:

Apples to Apples, I think, is only fun in groups where you don’t necessarily know the other players well.
Love Scrabble. Will never be convinced otherwise. However, I will concede that many a game has broken up in fits over what is, and what isn’t, an acceptable word (see Spaced, for examples). I’m a big fan of the Two Language Scrabble. Everyone has to agree on the second language, though, which can be tricky, depending on who remembers the most high school French, or whatever.

Settlers of Catan, for me, was also a German game, as my friends and I started playing it about 10 years ago when a buddy brought it back from Germany as “Die Siedler Von Catan”, or something like that. Blisteringly excellent game, both for the simplicity of the gameplay, and the complexity of the strategy.

Chess: good for all the same reasons as Settlers of Catan (that is, easy setup, elaborate gameplay). Especially enjoyable if you can find a regular game. Senior year of high school I played a friend every day and I’ve not enjoyed chess quite as much before or since.

Used to play a lot of Monopoly. Sort of loathe the game now. Most people don’t seem to play by the rules, and there is an unaccepatable amount of luck involved.

Axis and Allies was given to me as a Christmas gift because I loved Risk. I abhor the game. Too complex to setup, to understand, too long to play. I like my games to last 30 minutes to 2 hours. Not the rest of my natural life.

rfs:

Not a single mention of Strat-O-Matic?

(I’ve never played it.)
Ryan V.:

Re: Apples to Apples

This one can definitely go either way. If you’re playing with a relatively stuffy group of people (and by this, I mean people who always look for the most literal card to play), yeah, it’s not that great. The people I’ve played with tend to be a bit… ridiculous. And the best part of the game is the commentary as the person decides each winner. That’s a must. After all, you need to explain just why it is that “Charging Rhino” most fits with “Cuddly.”

And I think it’s better played with people you know semi-well. That way you can play to their personality. I’d say there’s strategery involved, but most of the times I’ve played have involved a decent amount of beer, so strategy goes out the window…

If anything, this thread has reinforced just how long it’s been since I’ve played any type of board game. Guess it’s time to try out some new ones…

Daniel:

@ Ryan V – The ridiculous thing only takes you so far with Apples to Apples, in my experience. The commentary is necessary for it to be really fun, and not everyone likes to engage in that kind of stuff.

You’re right in that with a good group of people this can be a really fun game, but even then, if it’s the same group of people, you wind up playing the same cards for them each time. There’s only so many times that playing John Wayne or George Patton for my Dad is fun.

I know there are plenty of people who enjoy this game A LOT, so I’m probably in the minority.

Grant H.:

Apples to Apples is best when you’re drinking with people with twisted senses of humor. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
I mean, it’s a decent enough game sober. But it’s a pretty transcendent party game.

wickethewok:

Settlers is awesome! My friend also has the 5-6 player expansion, but we usually don’t have 5+ people who want to play Settlers. Also, I was surprised to find that the two-player card game is a lot trickier, though I’ve only played that a couple times.

Preston:

I first played Diplomacy in boarding school – great setting for it. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to find enough people and time for a good game since. I’m teaching two sections of World History this year, though, so I’m planning on starting up some games in my classes when we hit the appropriate point – a quick turn at the start of each class period, I figure.
I have never played a game of Apples to Apples that wasn’t hilarious, but I probably play once or twice a year (family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas, generally) – I think playing infrequently keeps it fresh.

Shaun P.:

Its not a board game, but there is (was?) a computer game version of Axis and Allies: exactly like the original, but without the hour-long setup (and the pain of keeping track of all the pieces, or somehow fitting 18 tanks in the tiny spots for Germany or the UK). You could even play over the ‘Net with other people – or at least that was true the last time I played about 6 years ago. It revitalized my love of that game. Sadly I don’t think they ever made a computer version of Fortress America.

And while it was mentioned in the KlawChat, I’m surprised no one here has brought up the wonderful “Kill Dr Lucky” series from CheapA$$ games. Addictive and funny, definitely requires strategy and luck (and some good old fashioned back-stabbing of allies) – and best of all, cheap.

ajd:

Keith, I hear you about Scrabble. My wife and I play it occasionally and I enjoy it when we do, but otherwise it is really an excuse for someone to exercise their ability to strategically place an “g” in a key location and come up with 50 points. No thanks.
Has anyone else played a game called Shogun? It was made by the same people who did Axis and Allies, Conquest of the Empire, and Fortress America. I once played Shogun — the goal is to conquer Japan in the Warring States period — while on a dig in Italy on a rainy off day: although there were a great number of rules, and both the set-up and actual game play took hours, the game (along with a few beers) was a very good way to pass a rainy, sleepy day with some friends.

The esteemed Richard Dansky:

There is indeed an online version of Catan; you can find PC servers at places like http://www.jsettlers.com. The game is also available for download through XBox Live! Arcade.
Game-wise, I find Hey, That’s My Fish to be highly enjoyable, accessible, and quick. Also, it’s got cute penguins, so you really can’t go wrong there.

On a more general note, I’d recommend Green Ronin Publishing’s book Hobby Games: The 100 Best, edited by the estimable James Lowder. It’s a collection of essays by 100 game designers, each talking about their favorite game. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll note that I have a piece in there (on Settlers, actually), but I’d praise the book even if you tore out my essay like it was the gannet in Olsen’s Standard Book of British Birds.

Kolbe:

For all you settler fans..
www.asobrain.com

you can play online for free and it keeps rankings or not

It’s really a terrific online version

I usually get about 10 games in a month. Games take about 40 minutes if u like 17pt Cities and Knights

My SN, Sheep R Cheap
Feel free to say hello, I can always appreciate a Klaw fan

In case anyone cares
I love
Diplomacy

I Hate
Apples to Apples

john k:

I second (or third?) Scotland Yard. Excellent game.

Sriram:

Love Apples to Apples, but it is really better as a party game or (as I found) a timekiller. It’s good with a silly bunch, and when you are not really that concerned about results i.e. getting competitive.

Dave:

I know a lot of people get hung up on Strat-O-Matic, but I spent years playing Statis Pro Baseball with my brother. It’s a pretty easy game to play once you get into it, and it replicates actual baseball play quite well. The ten great teams edition is excellent and mixing up teams is a fun way of playing. We used to get player cards for an entire year in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Half of Christmas was spent breaking apart all the player cards then starting to play games. You can still find these on eBay and the like.

Marco:

I enjoy Catan, but I think initial position too often determines the outcome.

PhillR:

Diplomacy is by far the greatest board game ever made. The challenge of getting a game going does nothing to diminish that.
We throw diplomacy parties with some of our friends. It takes a dedicated host, but set it up such that you have 7 teams (mb 2 players a team in some cases) and a bunch of additional guests. Let the negotiation periods run long and have a master of ceremonies expedite quick order and resolution phases. Done right diplomacy can mesh well into a larger cocktail party.

Good god is it fun.

Windier E. Megatons:

Taboo is awesome. And I agree with CLaw on Yahtzee, as well. Friends of mine and I played that *religiously* in college.

Jeff:

Thirded on Yahtzee. I grew up with that game – we played it ALL THE TIME on vacations. We always had a hard time finding new scoresheets. We had a whole series of inside family jokes about (misspelled) made-up names we would give ourselves on the sheets.

Justin Zeth:

Monopoly is fantastic IF YOU PLAY BY ITS OFFICIAL RULES. Monopoly was designed to be a strategy game with a luck element, particularly with the auctioning of any unowned property a person declines to buy upon landing.
Instead, the common house rules (most notably the elimination of the auctioning and turning Free Parking into Free Money) turn it into primarily a luck game. Roll the dice, buy whatever you land on if someone else doesn’t already own it, see who wins. Bo-ring.

Chess is indeed the greatest board game ever conceived, but I assume the premise we’re working with is that we’re considering games that allow for at least four players.

Tim Daloisio:

Risk, Diplomacy, and Settlers on the same list..that’s my kind of list. I couldn’t agree more! Another favorite along those lines were Supremacy and Fortress America.

Rory:

I definitely need to try Settlers.

My top 3:

1)Chess
2)Stratego (Original)
3)Monopoly

Monopoly is actually a very quick game when played by people who know what they’re doing. If you play with the premise that everyone pays rent honestly then a 4 player game can take less than 30 min. All the house rules that add money to the game are what make it take hours. After a few games most people should know most of the rents and much of the down time is removed. It is also best played as a 4 player game. In most games every player has a chance to win if they deal well.

One great alternate rule for Monopoly is to force a silent auction for EVERY property that is landed on. This takes the early round luck out of the game. We normally allowed the person who actually landed on the property to match the high bidder plus 50 dollars if they wanted.

Apples to Apples is a nice game if everyone is hanging out drinking, but I can’t play it too often. I’d rather play A**hole if were looking for a card game to drink with.

Stratego is simply fantastic. The bluffing and varied setups keep it from ever getting boring.

I’d also like to say that Magic: The Gathering is a ton of fun as long as the players all have similar quality of cards.

David C., with a great way to end this megapost:

I’m a big fan of your writing, both baseball and otherwise. Recently I ordered Metro on your recommendation from the favorite games post, and it is great! It’s very easy to play, but requires very complex thinking (and strategery!) and no two games ever unfold the same, so it will stand the test of time. Great call, Klaw!