Favourite Game

What's your favourite game considering every possible factor and reducing it down an overall winner. Only one allowed!

I think I still have to go with The Settlers of Catan.

Combat Commander Europe. No, Pandemic. No, A Distant Plain. No, Agricola. No, Elk Fest.

I'll got with Elk Fest.

Bored tonight are you Kes?

James, I've never heard of Elk Fest, but it looks *great*!

It's a difficult question for me. I like playing a lot of different games (you might have noticed) I don't really settle on a few favourites. I guess KOT, Jamaica, Love Letter and Hanabi have had the most plays out of my collection, but that doesn't necessarily make them my favourites.

Out of all the games I have, the one I would be most upset at losing would be my set of Mahjong. I have a great deal of nostalgia for playing it with my family as a child: the bricks that look like tidy portions of lemon meringue pie; the clack of tile on tile as I build a new set of walls with my Mum, whilst my brother slacks off and plays the piano instead; the constant teasing that there's no point collecting bamboo as young Elizabeth will never *ever* throw away a bamboo birdie (they're so cute!)...

*goes all misty-eyed*

So I guess Mahjong.

I was at work. I thing you are talking about favourite physical game as oppose to favourite game. Are tiu as equally attached to all mah jong or just that set?

Playing with any set would induce the same nostalgia (though my copy's obviously the best).

It's by no means the best game, that's a whole different question. Strip it down and mechanically it's pretty ordinary. There just isn't another game that I'm attached to in quite the same way.

Twilight imperium 3rd edition

Sci-fi theme 
Deep strategy
Exploration & expansion
Technology development
And most importantly - one of the best player interaction experiences.

It's amazing how heated it can get over a cardboard hexagon.

Ok it takes forever but I don't think it has ever dragged and to me shows commitment to the hobby

So difficult to choose between games that are so different, but I think my current favourite is probably Dominion. I do enjoy the replayability that comes from playing with lots of different combinations of cards (and there are so many that I'm yet to try), it works great as a 2-player game and it's not bad to teach or have a quick game of.

However, based on playing it once, I think there's a good chance that Terra Mystica could become my new favourite game in time (again, looks to have great replayability). Does lose out on those teachability and "quick game" criteria though...

But Dominion can be spoilt... really easily...

Aneurin wrote:But Dominion can be spoilt... really easily...

Now I'm intrigued (pardon the pun   ). Would you care to elaborate...? I must admit that I haven't played Dominion with any "hard core" gamers so if there's an "always wins" strategy then I haven't found it...

Just try getting nothing but either silver or gold (the best you can afford). Then when you have a fist full of gold or your opponent starts buying provinces... Buy them all

Sadly it works more times than it doesn't.

Really hard to put my finger on a single favourite. I love so many of them and love all of those mentioned so far with the exception of the two I haven't played).

Probably, at the moment, it's Lords of Waterdeep (with the expansion).

Aneurin wrote:Just try getting nothing but either silver or gold (the best you can afford). Then when you have a fist full of gold or your opponent starts buying provinces... Buy them all

Sadly it works more times than it doesn't.

Hmmm, I've been down this route with friends in a few games. I would say that it can sometimes work if there aren't very many attack cards out there, but there are usually better strategies (or good counters) to be found.

Bunglebogs wrote:Really hard to put my finger on a single favourite. I love so many of them and love all of those mentioned so far with the exception of the two I haven't played).

Probably, at the moment, it's Lords of Waterdeep (with the expansion).

Oooh, I want to try the expansion. Consider that a request for a future week   

paulyg wrote:

Bunglebogs wrote:Really hard to put my finger on a single favourite. I love so many of them and love all of those mentioned so far with the exception of the two I haven't played).

Probably, at the moment, it's Lords of Waterdeep (with the expansion).

Oooh, I want to try the expansion. Consider that a request for a future week   

Definitely!

So far everyone's only mentioned games I've either not played or don't like. I've obviously got this hobby all wrong!

I've been thinking what game I'd pick out of the ones I'm currently playing (as opposed to nostalgic about) and I think I'd go with Kemet.

It's fast paced with a good dose of player interaction. There's a lot of depth and strategy, but it doesn't take itself at all seriously. And it looks great! It just ticks all the boxes for me.

Kemet is on my really want to play list. I played Cyclades a while ago and really liked it and was tempted to buy the C2K expansion while in the States despite not owning either game. I'll be adding them in due course and it may well become my favourite then. :-)

I've not played Cyclades, so if you get it, I'm up for it! Always happy to bring Kemet in too.

Elk Fest is indeed great. I will, however, have to change my choice to Combat Commander.

Or maybe A Distant Plain.

Difficult decision. I really like worker placement games, Agricola (shut it Anuerin!) and The Manhattan Project are right up there among my favourites. I'm also a massive fan of Eclipse, haven't played it in a little while but went through a phase of playing it a fair but earlier in the year (Kes - we need to arrange something); I love the exploration, resource gathering and ship-building which result in a crescendo of destruction (of which I'm often the victim) in the last round. On a similar theme but totally different mechanics, Race for the Galaxy is brilliant - once you understand the symbology it's a fairly quick game with massive replayability and great expansions. However, my favourite is between Ticket to Ride: Europe and Catan. Both are games that appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike which is a massive bonus as it means they get played more regularly. Catan just edges it, I like the trading, the inevitable "I've got wood", the resource collecting and building. I like that there are different ways to gain the points required to win and the expansions mean it rarely gets repetitive.

Bunglebogs wrote:Probably, at the moment, it's Lords of Waterdeep (with the expansion).

If you like LoW have you considered Yedo Paul? It's supposed to be like LoW but better in every way. I was going to get it but I was put off by the price, and the lengthy play time.

CocoaCocoabo wrote:

Bunglebogs wrote:Probably, at the moment, it's Lords of Waterdeep (with the expansion).

If you like LoW have you considered Yedo Paul? It's supposed to be like LoW but better in every way. I was going to get it but I was put off by the price, and the lengthy play time.

No, I hadn't spotted that one, but does look interesting. I'll add it to my wanted list.

SPACE ALERT.

SPACE.

ALERT.

In general I like games in which the mechanics encourage or force player interaction on the human level. If you can play effectively while ignoring everyone around the table (or treating them as a sort of game playing robot) I'm usually not interested. Space Alert is a game where the entire core skill requirement is communication, and it is beautiful.

TwoDaemon wrote:SPACE ALERT.

SPACE.

ALERT.

In general I like games in which the mechanics encourage or force player interaction on the human level. If you can play effectively while ignoring everyone around the table (or treating them as a sort of game playing robot) I'm usually not interested. Space Alert is a game where the entire core skill requirement is communication, and it is beautiful.

Twilight Imperium then

Still need to play space alert

Kes wrote:Still need to play space alert

As do I

As for my favourite game? I have no idea at all -that changes by mood and day in all honesty! Over the past year I've been introduced to entirely too many new games that I've really enjoyed but not necessarily played enough to get a true feeling of it.

Resistance (or Avalon) is probably my most *played* game but as for favorite? probably not...

I think I would probably go with Battlestar Galactica, although I haven't played that in far too long.