A Board Game Appreciation (and Recommendation) Post

Many people have set New Year’s Resolutions, or for those who do not like to call them resolutions, New Year’s Goals. I’ve never been the type to make resolutions, but I do promise myself to continue trying new things as the year goes on and to do more of what I enjoy. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, 2018 was a very busy year, so busy in fact that I had very little time to do the little things I enjoy; like playing board games.

Board games are a pastime that I thoroughly enjoy, and it has become a staple at almost every hangout with my friends. My collection of games has grown immensely and anyone who has been over to my house can tell you for certain that there is definitely something for every type of gamer. Over the last several years, there has been a real resurgence in the popularity of board games; board game cafes are popping up in many areas and group party games like Cards Against Humanity seem to be beloved by all, even those who may not own any other games on their shelves. I really appreciate these board game cafes because they allow people to become reacquainted with some old favourites, or even try something new without having to outright buy the game themselves. These cafes have presented many fun new games that I’ve since added to my own collection and because of these cafes, it has become easier for me to pinpoint the kind of board game I thoroughly enjoy playing.

For me, board games are a wonderful way to not only pass the time, but test your whits, work on your strategy, escape to new worlds, or simply just unwind and have fun. I enjoy all levels of board and card games whether they are party style, team-based, strategy, cooperative, negotiation, guessing games, trivia, or word games. With so much variety and style of gameplay, how could you not enjoy playing games? It is very easy to get lost in all the choices, and it can even be overwhelming to branch away from the standard games we all grew up playing like Monopoly, Scrabble, Guess Who, and Yahtzee. This is why I think those board game cafes are very important!

While the New Year is only 5 days in, I can say with much joy that I have been able to partake in quite a few games board (and card) games already. Games like Catan, Blokus, Fluxx, Exploding Kittens, SET, Powergrid, King of Tokyo, and Sheriff of Nottingham, just to name a few. I could truly write a separate blog entry on each of the games I play the most often, and why you should really give them a chance if you haven’t already, but I thought that since I am just beginning to explain the joy of playing board games, that I will provide just a short list of games that are interesting and fun to play. So here we go…

Settlers of Catan
Yep. Anyone who knows me knows how much I really love this game. For those who don’t know, Catan is a multi-player game (anywhere from 3-6 players) where players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop settlements and cities, while trading and acquiring resources. Players gain points as their settlements grow; the first to reach a set number of points, typically 10, wins. Catan became an instant favourite for me, and the added bonus of so many different expansion sets really adds a variety of new elements to the basic gameplay. Some of the expansions allow for settlements to take place across the sea, while others have you battling pirates or traitors, and even having to work together with your enemies to build up your armies of knights and fight off the pirates trying to take over your settlements. It is difficult to become bored with Catan, simply because there are so many variants that change up the outcome of the game. There is even an option where you can combine some of the expansions together and make an intense board consisting of a 42″ x 33″ playing space (pictured below). Now, some of you might be thinking that Catan is simply too long of a game and you don’t want to be playing for hours on end. Honestly, you are partially right. I’ve played so many games of Catan, I’ve seen the game be as quick as 25 minutes, or as long as 5 hours and 20 minutes. It all depends on the variants, the number of players, and how quickly the players take their turns. I highly recommend it though, at least give it a chance.

OrganATTACK!
For anyone unfamiliar with The Awkward Yeti- Heart & Brain Comics, google them right now! Nick Seluk created the most hilarious, heartwarming comic about the organs in our bodies and how they react and interact with each other during a day-to-day experience. Thanks to Kickstarter, he was able to create a quick-play card game based off of our organs. OrganATTACK is all about trying to remove your opponents’ organs before they remove yours. The last person to still have at least one organ is the winner! Players use related afflictions to attack their opponents (for example, playing Gallstones on Gallbladder). Apart from how sweet the drawings are, this game is loads of fun mostly because of how simple it is to learn and how quickly you become hooked. OrganATTACK is an instant favourite because each hand you are dealt is different, and the draw pile is full of various action cards that can totally turn the game around, including a poison card which instantly kills one of your organs! Seriously give it a chance, I promise you’ll be laughing and have a great time playing.

Ticket to Ride
Like Catan, Ticket to Ride became an instant favourite in my board game collection. The objective is to build train routes to various cities and ultimately collect the most number of points based off of the routes and cities you connected. Each player starts the game off with a minimum of two destination tickets and you can acquire more if you choose, but you won’t know the other destinations your opponents are trying to connect; most routes only have one path so you have to plan accordingly. You are able to create a train route once you’ve collected the appropriate number of cards in the appropriate colour (i.e. 4 yellow cards). Ticket to Ride also has different versions that introduce new twists, but mostly just give you a brand new board to build on (i.e. Europe or Germany or New York City). Playtime runs about one hour, but you’ll be surprised how fast that hour will go by when you’re focused on connecting your train routes from Seatle to El Palso.

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Dutch Blitz
I was introduced to this game from a Reddit Gift Exchange that I participated in back in 2017. I gifted this game to someone and their feedback on it was so positive that I thought to try it out myself.
The objective of Dutch Blitz is to score points by playing as many cards as possible on Dutch Piles, and by emptying the Blitz Pile as quickly as possible. This is done by playing cards from the Blitz Pile, Post Piles, and Wood Pile on the Dutch piles. It may sound confusing, and at first, I was a little confused, but once you look closer at the instruction sheet and see how the piles are set up, it is very easy. Dutch Blitz is an absolute hoot to play! The cool thing about this family-friendly fast-paced game is that all players are playing their cards at the same time. The quick pacing of the gameplay coupled with the fact that you can have up to 8 players at a time, makes the game a whole lot of fun. Each round lasts anywhere from 3-7 minutes depending on the skill level or intensity level of those you are playing with; many times I’ve played this game with friends it has gotten to the point where everyone stands up in anticipation of seeing where they can play their cards. I honestly think this game is great for all ages and all intensity levels. Also, it is very inexpensive on Amazon – my copy plus the expansion pack cost me only $10.00.

As I said above, I could go on and on listing games that I thoroughly enjoy playing, but I am confident that these four have been a good start. I chose these four not only because they are my favourites, but also because of the style of play; I thought that discussing two longer paced more strategy based games and then two short-play quicker games would be a good way to get a conversation going about the variety of games that exist. My goal for 2019 is to continue trying new board and card games, while also taking more time to play those that I really enjoy playing and have a lot of fun doing so. Yes, this includes old school favourites like Monopoly, Clue, and Risk- we still play these in my house!

What are some of your favourite board games or card games?