What's your favorite all-time board game?

Answer 1

I've played a lot of boardgames, including Monopoly, Risk, Life, and Clue. For a long time, I thought Monopoly was the best game ever for getting families together...then I discovered by accident that there was a quiet boardgame revolution going on started in 1995 by the German import called "Settlers of Catan." That led me to a website called "Boardgamegeek.com" where I discovered literally thousands of new games designed to be fun for all ages with interesting choices and great, high quality parts. Now my favorite game is an adventure game called "Fury of Dracula", in which one person plays Dracula and the others are Hunters working together to track him down and put him to rest. It's got elements of Hide and Seek, Deduction, Combat, Mystery and Adventure. Here are links to both Fury of Dracula and Settlers of Catan. I hope you check them out and discover many more wonderful boardgames along the way!

Answer 2

My favorite was Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, but the 6-hour play time really brings it down. It can't really be my favorite game if I can never find time to play it!
Shadows Over Camelot is my favorite game as far as being consistently fun. No matter what crowd I'm with, or how many players, Shadows Over Camelot is a success. It has a few flaws, but it's great fun overall.
I just discovered Duell yesterday, which has become my favorite 2-player game. A simple, yet rewarding game of fencing.
But I've been rambling, so let me come up with a definite answer. Carcassonne. I have all the expansions, so I can easily customize the game - it can be fast or slow, cutthroat or peaceful, a 2-player strategy game or a 6-player grand expansion. A solid game with lots of meaningful choices.

I find it interesting, both on this question and a previous one, that people feel strongly about their choices - people love Monopoly, Risk, Candyland, and Life! As you may have seen from these last few replies, though, there are lots and lots of other games out there - games that don't end up on the shelves at Target, because their print runs are too small. And a lot of these games are better than the usual games in every way - more colorful, more thoughtful, more choices, and more fun. If you consider yourself enthusiastic about board games, you really owe it to yourself to look up your local game store and discover that there's more stuff out there. And I'm not talking about Toys R' Us! There are specialty game stores in your community, you just have to find them.

Answer 3

Lordy, ask a tough question....

Current favorites are, in no particular order:

#1: Formula Dé
#2: Settlers of Catan, The
#3: Go
#4: Quoridor
#5: Guillotine
#6: Entdecker
#7: War of the Ring
#8: Acquire
#9: Bang!
#10: Thud


Of course there are about 50 more games in my personal collection that I enjoy playing and at least that many more in my roommates collection, plus whatever new stuff is coming out this week...or next......so really, to pick just one? Kinda tough. And I'll second the motions about Power Grid being good as well as the lovely little introductory game of Settlers of Catan....and there is just so much more. (Hint: Don't shop at Wal-Mart or Toys-r-Us for your games, try finding a local hobby gaming store. The sort that sells Magic: The Gathing or >gasp< Dungeons and Dragons ought to be just about right.) Also, please check out the links everyone has been posting, you would not believe how much more than Monopoly or Clue there is.

Answer 4

Gosh, there are so many. You have the old stand-bys Settlers of Catan, Lost Cities and Tikal. The sentimental favorites, like Fortress America and History of the World are worthy. Or do I pick some of my new favorites: Vinci, Shadows over Camalot, Power Grid and Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation are all good contenders.

I mean I love getting the whole family together for a night of Catan and Carcassonne like the old days, but you can't beat hanging out with your buddies while playing a raucous session of Power Grid. So I guess right now, I would have to say Power Grid is the best.

Answer 5

Top 10 Games

1. Pitchcar
1. Crokinole
3. die Haendler
3. Ubongo
3. Ra
6. Ticket to Ride
6. Acquire
6. Through the Desert
6. Lost Cities
6. Caylus

Preferred Games for # of players

2 - Hive, Lost Cities, Backgammon, Magic: the Gathering, Phoenix
3 - Big City, Alhambra, Settlers of Catan, Buyword
4 - Crokinole, Samurai, Acquire, die Haendler, Ubongo, Blokus, Rumis
5 - Ra, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, For Sale, Power Grid
6 - Mississippi Queen, Galopp Royal, Diamant
7 - Bang, Category 5
8 - Pitchcar

Answer 6

This does tend to change over time, but I'll have to point to Settlers of Catan, Amun Re, and Power Grid as strong front runners. But there are many others. A Game of Thrones (the boardgame, not the CCG) should probably be mentioned as well. Oh, and Ticket to Ride. And, um, Lost Cities, and Princes of Florence I guess, and Tikal is pretty darn good and lots of fun. Did someone mention Puerto Rico? Oh, and Car Wars, definitely.

Answer 7

The Game of Life. As a kid, it was my favourite. All those events that could happen to you, good or bad, and you got to drive your car around the board. Through in money, a 3-D game board and a spinner instead of dice, you couldn't ask for more! Mouse trap was a close second, but The Game of Life was the best, in my books.

Answer 8

So many good games its hard to pick a favorite. The ones that have been getting the most table time recently have been Lost Cities, Carcassonne with 3 or 4 expansions, and Ticket to Ride Eurpoe.

Answer 9

1. Hive
2. WeiQi
3. Puerto Rico
4. Durch Die Wüste
5. XiangQi
6. Quoridor
7. Chess
8. Acquire
9. Tafl
10. Legend of the Ancients

Answer 10

Memoir 44 or Pitchcar

Memoir 44 a really cool looking, easy to play WW 2 game made by Days of Wonder http://www.daysofwonder.com.

Pitchar is a flicking racing game. Everybody has a disk, and you flick the "car" around a slot-car type track, with lots of curves & straights. Lots of fun for all ages (my 4 yr old can play).

As has been suggested, check out boardgamegeek.com, it has info on these, and LOTS more games.