Gaming,  Geekery

Wherein I come out.

Ha! I bet that caught your attention.  I am coming out as a board gamer.  Relatively new to the hobby but if my partner and I fancy relaxing and don’t just want to watch TV we play games.
I enjoy a range of card and board games ranging from the deceptively simple ones like Carcassonne and Dodekka to the insanely complex Arkham Horror.
I’m going to list my top six games and tell you a little about why I like them.
 TTREU
Ticket to Ride Europe from Days of Wonder.   I’ve picked this one over The Original edition as it is a tiny bit more complex than US but no less fun.  With a mix of destination cards and only a limited amount of trains the idea is to claim your routes and possibly prevent others from completing theirs.  This game is my absolute favourite.  You get mini trains and gorgeous artwork.  Playing two player is fun but playing 4/5 player is where things get interesting.
pandemicPandemic – A co-operative board game from Z-man which is challenging.  You are a team of people fighting outbreaks of 4 contagious diseases. The aim of the game is to get all four diseases cured.  However, the diseases are rampant and there are lots of ways to fail.  I enjoy this game but holy cow it can be stressful.  It moves quickly and as you get better at beating the game you can up the difficulty with more epidemics plus a number of expansions to add even more uncertainty.  It is one we play a lot with mixed success.dominion
Dominion  is a deck building game from Rio Grande you start with money and a few victory points.   The aim of the game is to have the most victory points at the end of play.  What I love about Dominion is that each game is different.   There is a large set of cards from which to base the game and these can be mixed up to create games with different feels.  I like the flexibility of the game and the challenges that changing the base cards can bring.
carcassonneCarcassonne from  Z-man This is my Zen Game. A limited set of tiles are used to build and claim cities, roads, fields and monasteries.  I love this game because even though the basis is competitive.  It doesn’t always feel that way.  I love the tactile nature of the tiles and if I’m honest I could spend time just building my perfect city,powergrid
Power Grid  AKA the most German game ever is another one from Rio Grande.  The idea is that you are a power company trying to power as many cities as possible with your power stations.  You have to buy and constantly upgrade your supply in order to grow.  As the game progresses the power stations become more efficient and can power more cities for less resources.  It plays a bit like Ticket to Ride but feels a little like what Monopoly should be.
7wonSeven Wonders – my new favourite from Repos Productions.  This game is so good it kills me.  A simple concept you have to build one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.  There is trade, production of materials, science, arts, war all are covered in this.  It sounds complex but really it is easy to learn and it has a wealth of strategies that can be used.  It’s played by buying cards to further your own cause and gain victory points.  Building your wonder gives you points as does certain groupings of cards.  I love the limited span of the game hands to chose from per age and three ages.  It plays well for 7 players and scales down to three.
 

Jane Hanmer

Born in deepest darkest Shropshire. Currently living in Durrey. A reader of books, a watcher of theatre and film, a player of board games. Intersectional Feminist Pronouns: She/her

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