Our Favorite Games - Part 1

Recently I asked the folk of the GCOM West Yahoo! group to send me a list of their favorite games. I didn’t put any restrictions on the request, asking that people list any number of games and add any commentary they liked. The list wasn’t limited to absolute favorites but any games that currently caught their fancy.

I received fifteen responses. Because of the size, I will break the results into multiple posts and post them over the next few days. Here’s the first batch.

Leslie Barkley
Goodness, pick out a favorite game, or even 5....

• Blue Moon City I love for the play and the art
• Qwirkle for it's quick learning to play and the depth it can develop as you play
• Dominion for the play
• Pegs and Jokers for the play
• Werewolf for the community play
  

Doug Hoylman
These are a few of my favorite games:

• Settlers of Catan
  
• Puerto Rico
• RoboRally
• Dominion

However, the games I'd prefer that people bring to sessions are new ones and ones we don't play very often.

Scott Percival
I think of games in terms of categories, so I'll pick one from each category.

• Age of Steam: Well Rounded Brain Burner. Its got many of my favorite game mechanics: role-selection, auctions, route-building, economics; lots of player interactions. My favorite part is the (typically) tight competition and endgame tension. Even though I find it exhausting, losing a close game is a joyous occasion, winning a close game is nirvana.
  

• Bamboleo: Geeky Dexterity. If I had my way I'd alternate brain burners with dexterity games. The physical activity loosens me up and refreshes me. The engineer in me loves to calculate the mass distribution on the plate to see which piece to take. I don't care who "wins" as much as I want to see how far we can get: I view it as a cooperative game.
  

• Advanced Squad Leader: wargamer's wargame. Strategy and Tactics, Oh My! I don't care for Memoir '44, I want a wargame where I can fully develop and implement my own unique strategy and tactics.
  

• Tichu: Favorite Slippers. Like an old pair of slippers you love because they fit so well. It was challenging at first, but I've played so often that the "Tichu Pathways" in my brain have fully developed so I don't have to think about it anymore. Kind of like running down stairs: if you had to think about it you would be in serious trouble, but if you let your subconscious take over it is a breeze. I can play even when I'm so tired I can't think straight. A light game, but a pleasant way to spend time with your friends.
  

• Go: Deep Abstract. Simple rules yet complex game play. Kind of like fractal definition. Calls very loudly to the geometry geek in me.
  

Laura Reinhold

• any of the versions of Ticket to Ride
• Amun-Re
• Bohnanza (Laura said: “the Bean Farming card game (can't remember the name)”. Amongst gamers, the bean game is good enough. :-)
• Agricola
• Guitar Hero :-)
• Vegas Showdown
• Carcassonne
  

Bryan Snyder

• Iron Dragon - Rail Game. I like rail games in general but the empire builder type games offer some good route vs money planning with a minimum of conflict. (Oh, there is game screwage. Just not as much as a lot of other games). It is a good relaxing game that still works the brain a bit. The randomness of the destination cards and event cards makes each game a bit different

• Descent: Journeys in the Dark - Brings me back to my old AD&D days. We got a great group which makes it even better.

• Axis and Allies - Even though I have been on the losing side most of the time, I like the cooperative aspect of the game. You have a good mix of strategizing, money management, and the fate of the dice rolls.

• Can't Stop - Quick fun game of risking another dies roll for the win or losing it all

• Dominion - I like the whole idea of starting with a few cards and building your deck up.

That's it for the first batch. There's certainly a wide variety of games represented, from dice games to card games, from abstract games to wargames. There are already three mentions of Dominion.

Please discuss or ask any questions in the Comments below.