Settlers of Catan...

[wacki]

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and it's very reasonable to assume that no good games have been developed in, say, the last 20 years.

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http://www.axisandallies.org/

[astroglide]

axis and allies is apparently 21 years old. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] but i was being sarcastic in reference to alobar's assertion that non-huge games aren't popular because they aren't good. the games that everybody knows about (monopoly, uno, skip-bo, rook, clue, sorry, etc etc) are usually ancient. they were once obscure too, but were purchased and made popular before tv and video games went nuts.

general gamer opinion is that axis & allies is a superior game to risk as far as mainstream war games go. for hardcore war gamers there is an INSANE library of games from which to choose. the most common complaints leveled against risk are the dominance of australia on the standard map and excessive dice.

[jen]

Funny... a Mormons' Settlers! I'll have to try some of the other games you mentioned (if those are better).

After Settlers, I bought and tried playing Carcassonne (another award-winning German game) with my parents. Not the same caliber as Settlers, IMO. But it's good for them (less antagonistic, good for two), and my parents seem to be hooked.

[wacki]

how the [censored] do you know so much about gaming?

[astroglide]

what can i say, i am a gaymer.

commodore 64 games -> atari games -> nintendo games -> street fighter 2/mortal kombat -> magic: the gathering -> quake 3: arena -> poker -> warcraft 3 -> designer board/card games. many of those i played or play seriously. played sf2 hardcore and gambled on it, played magic hardcore and gambled on it (got ranked and invited to the pro tours but i couldn't afford to travel), played q3 hardcore (still play occasinoally), got into war3 as a first rts and play that on a fairly decent level (still play occasionally). designer board/card games are my newest and most active hobby.

i'm pretty competitive and i've always used some form of gaming as my outlet for it.

[smiely]

I've never played the actual Settlers board game, nor the expansions. But, for those who don't know, there's an online version that's been around for at least 4 years now (well, I started playing 4 years ago, anyway). It's java-based, kinda slow, but free, and you can play with other people or with bots.

[astroglide]

trial version of msn's settlers games

[BoxTree]

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played magic hardcore and gambled on it (got ranked and invited to the pro tours but i couldn't afford to travel)

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Finkel is another Magic-player-turned-poker-player. If you know Finkel, you wouldn't be surprised to hear how well he's done at poker.

Link.

I never played in any Pro Tours, but a couple of my friends did. I'm a bit envious of their PT appearances in Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and Germany, but I beat Finkel in a HU ALIce match, so I have that small victory to enjoy. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] (BrowsePost NO GOOD against NecroHorror -- at least in that format.)

Back to board games...

Diplomacy >> Risk
Settlers >> Diplomacy

Clue is fine, too much luck.

Risk is excellent if you use variants that balance Australia and control some of the randomness of the dice.

In a room with the right seven people, Diplomacy is the best game ever created. But it's nearly impossible to find the right seven people, and one bad egg spoils the whole game. But most games of Diplomacy are excellent.

Settlers (with expansions) offers so many options at so many different points that it still stands at #1 on my list. The dice almost never seem to have any drastic effect on the result of the game. The game just seems to balance itself really well (except the blue cards just seem to suck too much).

Chess is too academic for me. I just don't have the patience to memorize hundreds and hundreds of "standard" plays. Backgammon is awesome (5-point matches are best).

Scrabble is fine, but it's annoying when you play against people who use words like "BRR" and "BRRR" (both are legal in Scrabble). That's not Scrabble. That's, "Look at me! I've memorized all of the two, three, and four-letter words that are legal in Scrabble!" Great.

[Bulldog]

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there are much better board games than settlers

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I'm listening....

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Carcasonne (with expansions). Good for two, great for three or four.

[Paluka]

Puerto Rico is my favorite game. It rules. Ticket to Ride is extremely fun. boardgamegeek.com was a great suggestion.