From PC to Board Games
 

It has been awhile since I have been on this site has I don't tend to play PC games very much anymore. The only PC games on my machine right now are the BG trilogy and the Knights of the old Republic RPGs. I may have kept NWN on but lost all my keys when I moved. Play some Wii titles but mainly entertain myself with board games these days.

Here are a few of my favourites from my collection.

1. Cyclades
2. Defenders of the Realm
3. Cosmic Encounters
4. Zombies!!!
5. Citadels

Anyone else play board games.

Defenders of the Realm is a cooperative game based in a fantasy setting and is my most played board game due to the fact it can be played solo. The goal is to defeat 4 generals of the dark lord whose armies (demons, undead, orcs, dragonkin) are marching on Monarch City. There is only one way to win but several ways to lose. In this game you can choose to be a paladin, cleric, rogue, ranger, wizard, sorceress, dwarf, or eagle rider. The artwork is by Larry Elmore and many of you may be familiar with since most of you may have created a NPC for Baldur's Gate using his artwork at some point. The game plays by heroes having special abilities, and a number of action points to use that also count as there hit points. With the action points they can perform various task.

There are three decks of cards in the game.
1. Hero cards are used for special movement, fighting generals, healing the land and creating gates/portals to move around easier.

2. Quest cards are just that quest that the hero can do to get equipment, or better save the realm. A hero takes on one quest and gets another upon completion.

3. Darkness spreads - The meat of the game. This deck controls the general movement and the minion placement throughout the game.

All I can say is the game is fantastic, and if you get a chance to play try it. You may want to try it first as it is kind of pricey.

To this game I have added the following expansions.

1. Barbarian hero
2. The dragon expansion, which makes the game even better. This expansion adds 3 dragon generals that may also be used as agents of the dark lord, reward cards, global effects, 4 new minions (imps, zealots, fire elementals, dragon mages), fire tokens, a point system, blessings, and I am sure I have left some things.
3. Hero Expansion #1 - This expansion adds 4 new characters. Chaos Wizard, Assassin, Adventurer, Captain of the guard and a new miniature for the paladin. The paladin now looks like he is riding a warhorse and not a miniature pony.

The game says for 13 and up. But I have played it with my six year old and we had a blast, and he learned some important basic skills.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

I play alot of board and card games these days too. Recently played the updated Civilization game. Very in-depth... another is quirky a co-op game called Forbidden Island. Fast paced and all-ages.

I have heard Zombies!!! is good. I used to read the box at Newbury Comics. I'll hafta bug my game-hoarder friend to play that one with me sometime.

Oh yeah Ninja vs Ninja is a blast. Chess-like but with a random element. Plus, Ninjas, duh.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Fantasy Flights, Civilization and Forbidden Island are on my wish list. The fog of war for civilization looks to be an interesting concept.

Zombies!!! is a very simple game. The basic play is lay a tile to the board, place zombies, move, fight zombies along the way, and play cards to screw with other players or help yourself. A very simple, easy to learn game that anyone can learn to play. It is a very thematic game so feels like you’re in a cheesy B zombie movie. Value and component wise it is also very good. With this game I recommend picking up an extra bag of zombies, and Expansion 6. For the sewers and subway tiles.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

My brother has Citadels, if its the same game... Sort of a card game, right? You select a character card that gives you certain perks and balances, the goal being to build up your citadel. something like that anyway. It's been years since I played it.

We also used to play Titan, and Blackbeard. Both of which were ok with two players, but would have been better with more.

Also on the list were Risk, Stratego, and some kind of fantasy version of stratego complete with unique hero tokens artifacts, etc.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Yes, that is Citadels 2 to 8 players can play.

Here are two other games I own
6. Settlers of Catan
7. Carcassonne

If you enjoy risk I recommend the:
Dungeons & Dragons: Conquest of Nerath Board Game

I don't own it yet but looks good.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

1. Descent
2. Game of Thrones/Clash Kings (Haven't tried Storm Swords yet)
3. Settlers of Catan, w/ expansions
4. Arkham Asylum
5. There's this really great space combat game, the name escapes me.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Two card-based games we play regularly are Race For The Galaxy and Dominion.

Race for the Galaxy has a great over-all mechanic and is nicely themed.

Dominion is an entirely different kind of card game. It has seemingly endless replayability.

These games bring nice mental challenge, superb social elements, and are both fairly short. Designed to be played in under an hour it's easy to fill an evening or afternoon with multiple games.

Checkem out!!!

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Twilight Imperium is a long space combat game that is really fun. If that is it I have played all those games on your list Timber Loftis, except for Descent. All really good games.

I am going to FallCon this year in October and will be playing Alien Frontiers. Looks like a good game although I have yet to see it in a game store.

And Race for the Galaxy is also good Chewbacca. Have not tried Dominion but hear alot about it.

Another game that is fun, easy to learn and only takes a hour to play is Small World.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

While we are on this topic, does anyone know if there are D&D board games? Especially any that can be played solo?

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Yeah there's been some mention of them here lately. They are catching on a bit. Not sure about solo play though.

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/...d.php?t=102086

Look on Amazon in the list below for more. I hear the Ravenloft one is awesome pawsum.

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Drago...5153027&sr=1-2

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Yes! I have played Ravenloft solo. A solo scenario is included amongst the dozen or so other adventures.

I have also played D&D solo, though it's more like playtesting than playing. Using the 4th edition combat manager freeware along with the $10 per month WOTC online tools makes this a fun endeavor in my book and a great way to learn/test combat ideas.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Did they ever get that online thing up and running? Almost like a virtual table where you can play PnP but over the web? I remember fans bitching like crazy about it being vaporware.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

From what I hear it was resurrected from vaporware status and is currently in a sort of mediocre BETA limbo.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

Wonder if it's any good. Potentially it could bring tabletop D&D into the next century. Online D&D sessions that are not video games. Connect people who used to game with friends that have since moved off, or bring those together who can't make the trip.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

That's the one I was talking about.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

This month for my gaming group we only had 3 players so we played a game of Small World, which I one by 3 or for coins. I think the Merchant Ratmen combination won it for me. No one seemed to want them and they were the only one left when it came time to change my Race. They earned some big points at the end of the game.

We also played two games of Race for the Galaxy. I won two of those games. My strategy was a simple one of build as much and as fast as I could. I ignored the extra victory point tokens on the table. The second game I ended up with the colony ship twice, which gave me some big points from a few planets.

We ended early so Glory to Rome didn't hit the table.

Very lucky night for me in terms of wins.

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

We've been playing alot of Race for the Galaxy too. My gaming buddy went on an 11 game winning streak. He is lucky I love to play, win or lose. :D

I just found a free computer port of the game which includes the original art with permission:

http://keldon.net/rftg/

Re: From PC to Board Games
 

A friend of mine got me into board games in a big way a few years back. I've got Arkham Horror plus an expansion of two. Great game but takes such a long time to play, and you usually loose in the end anyway!
I've tried race for the galaxy too, interesting game, love how quick it is so that you cna play a few hands whilst waiting for other people to finish a longer game (I tend to play at games clubs when i do get the chance.
I've tried Game of Thrones and Starcraft and both are great games, but once again take forever to play.
Anyone got any suggestions of shorter (maybe 2-4 hours all in) games that are still fun?

Also, I haven't visit this forum in 6 years. Currently its saying "you last visited 12-31-1969" but I have the feeling its wrong o.o