Anyone still play board games?

[klewis]

Nowadays I rarely play board games. As a child, I didn't play much either. The game I played most was probably Monopoly. But growing up, I was never really into board games. Recently I've been exposed to them more from family gatherings.

I noticed though that board games can be a whole lot of fun when there is a gathering between friends or family. It's a nice alternative from video games, card games, or movies. It's a real good icebreaker that virtually appeals to all ages, gender, and walks of life.

So I was just curious if anyone else still play board games. If so does anyone have any recommendations for any fun board games especially unique less known ones? Stuff like Taboo, Cranium and Settlers are pretty fun with the adult crowd. Any recommendations or comments on board games?

Slightly off topic but what about D&D and other roleplay type games? I never played that genre and really have no clue about them. But I was just curious if others have played it and their experiences with it.

[Maulers]

I'm not sure if backgammon really qualifies as a board game, but we love to play. I also still love Risk.

[Tyler]

Not sure if it's a "board" game but my family has been pretty into Boggle lately.

[John]

You know, I've been secretly wanting to ask if anyone here played D&D but I was afraid of being called out as a nerd. Not sure why that would worry me... my nerdiness has already been exposed on multiple occasions (like expressing my admiration for "Battlestar Galactica" case mods). Anyway, now that Kevin broke the ice...

Man, when I was a kid I loved D&D. I haven't played in years, but pretty much all my love for the creative side of things we do here in the PEBA was born from my roleplaying experiences with that game. Recently Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition was released, and it got me longing to try the game once again. The problem is I'm long removed from knowing anybody who plays the game, plus of course buying all the books is an expensive affair.

Then I read about the plans for D&D Insider. This sounds like the coolest thing to me (okay, "coolest" probably wasn't the best choice of words considering we're talking about D&D, but still...). D&D Insider is a monthly service that starts from as low as $5/month for a year-long commitment. What you get for that right now includes access to every D&D rulebook and magazine ever made, plus some handy online utilities like an encounter and monster builder plus an ability generator. Nice, but probably not enough for me to fork over the cash.

But what's really got me interested is where they're going with this. By the end of this month they'll release an online character builder. Later in the year D&D Insider will be updated with both an online dungeon creator as well as a Character Visulaizer. But the real pièce de résistance will be the virtual game table where you can play out your games online as if you were playing on a tabletop. With VOIP and IM, it could be an incredibly fun experience. At least if you can find a few like-minded geeks to join you.

Out of curiosity... if/when the virtual game table feature gets added to D&D Insider, is there anyone here who would have interest in purchasing the service and starting up a campaign? And if you're not interested, you can still participate in the fun by hurling shouts of, "NERD!" at me.

[Reg]

i never played d & d as a kid, mostly becuase I was cool.....errr..and the fact that I lived a few miles outside of town and most of my tiime was spent with my kid brother, not neighborhood kids....

but I have played many computer games based upon the D & D rules, baldurs gate and spin offs, as well as neverwinter nights, and read a few books based upon the universe of D & D....so I guess I can't yell at you too badly for being a nerd.....and I might interested, but who knows....

[John]

Baldur's Gate and it's sequel Shadows of Amn were probably the last D&D-related things I played. I loved the heck out of those games; to this day they probably rank right up at the top of my favorite games list.

So anyone else want to fess up to being a closet D&D nerd?

[klewis]

Haha wow that was a whole lot of D&D information (probably more than I will ever receive in my lifetime).

Yeah I never played D&D ever before either. I think I've only met one person who plays it. He had like a weekly gathering where people would host D&D games.

Haha John is probably gonna slap me for this but excuse my ignorance... how comparable would you say D&D is to say WoW (World of Warcraft)? I think the closest thing I played to D&D is maybe the board game HeroQuest when I was a kid. I played a game called Shadowrun on the SNES before too. I think that started out as a D&D type of game?

Speaking of which, can someone enlighten me on "tabletop" games? I'm sure I can wiki it but I wouldn't mind seeing an explanation on here. I remember seeing on the OOTP boards about old days of tabletop baseball games.

I'm kinda relatively still young so I kinda missed out on the old days where people used to make up all kinds of games based on cards, dice and other things. I'm old enough to know what paper football is though lol.

[John]

D&D is basically the spiritual predecessor to pretty much every roleplaying game, tabletop and computer alike. Without D&D there likely wouldn't be a WoW. The games you mentioned (HeroQuest and Shadowrun) absolutely take inspiration from D&D.

"Tabletop" games are basically just that: games you play around a table. Different kinds of tabletop games utilize different kinds of tools. The old tabletop baseball games you read about over at the OOTP forums used player cards in addition to dice. There are a number of card-based tabletop games (for instance, Magic: The Gathering). D&D involves dice, rulebooks and often a playing grid of some sort plus miniatures to simulate the battlefield. Other tabletop games use a game board (like chess or Life) and possibly other props (like Monopoly's fake money).

In determining what kind of tabletop game you might like, you might want to ask yourself how much you enjoy creating a scene in your mind. Most tabletop games require you to use your imagination to a large extent. The most basic kinds of games - chess and checkers - can be enjoyed by just about anyone. As you move to progressively more complicated games, more and more imagination is required.

I'd say this: If you're the kind of person who really digs the fiction of the PEBA, you'd be an excellent candidate to enjoy playing a game like D&D. Both involve the joy of creativity and the suspension of disbelief. And for all the joking I'm making about being a nerd, there's really nothing any more nerdy about playing D&D than there is writing fiction for the PEBA. It's basically the same endeavor in a different genre. Instead of imagining we're slaying dragons, we're imagining we're beating the Sandgnats (and in most cases it's just that: imagining).

[Alan Ehlers]

D&D is basically the spiritual predecessor to pretty much every roleplaying game, tabletop and computer alike. Without D&D there likely wouldn't be a WoW. The games you mentioned (HeroQuest and Shadowrun) absolutely take inspiration from D&D.

NERD LOL, I might have to give you a swirlie John

Actually I played Risk and Strat-o-matic board games, along with Chess ( does that qualify)

[klewis]

Speaking of nerdiness, what about those who play fantasy football or baseball?! You know what would be the ultimate definition of a nerd? If someone started a fantasy baseball league using PEBA as their starting league.

[James Bowman]

I played quite a bit of Hero Quest as a child as well, but never got into anything else resembling D&D. I am however, a Star Wars Geek, and I believe the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series is based off the same kind of thing (I also think it was made by the same company that made Baldur's Gate).

I also played a lot of Battleship, Risk too when I was younger. I still play quite a bit of strategy games on the pc today (SimCity, Age of Empires and Total War in particular).

Has anyone every played Balderdash? It's the ultimate game of BS, and is a ton of fun to play with family and friends that you haven't seen in a long time, and perhaps don't know too well anymore.

[James Bowman]

Speaking of nerdiness, what about those who play fantasy football or baseball?! You know what would be the ultimate definition of a nerd? If someone started a fantasy baseball league using PEBA as their starting league.

Haha, I can't deny that this thought actually crossed my mind.

[John]

You know what would be the ultimate definition of a nerd? If someone started a fantasy baseball league using PEBA as their starting league.

Funny that you should mention that...

[John]

I played quite a bit of Hero Quest as a child as well, but never got into anything else resembling D&D. I am however, a Star Wars Geek, and I believe the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series is based off the same kind of thing (I also think it was made by the same company that made Baldur's Gate).

I also played a lot of Battleship, Risk too when I was younger. I still play quite a bit of strategy games on the pc today (SimCity, Age of Empires and Total War in particular).

Has anyone every played Balderdash? It's the ultimate game of BS, and is a ton of fun to play with family and friends that you haven't seen in a long time, and perhaps don't know too well anymore.

Balderdash is hella fun when you've got a group of people together. I'm all about any game that inspires creativity, so that one's right up my alley. Of course we've already talked about our shared love of Age of Empires and Total War. And yes, SW:KotOR is very much a D&D descendant despite the sci-fi setting. If you like that, you'd probably dig D&D as well.

I'm just going to keep talking up D&D until a few of you cave in and decide to give it a look.

[Maulers]

I played quite a bit of Hero Quest as a child as well, but never got into anything else resembling D&D. I am however, a Star Wars Geek, and I believe the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series is based off the same kind of thing (I also think it was made by the same company that made Baldur's Gate).

I also played a lot of Battleship, Risk too when I was younger. I still play quite a bit of strategy games on the pc today (SimCity, Age of Empires and Total War in particular).

Has anyone every played Balderdash? It's the ultimate game of BS, and is a ton of fun to play with family and friends that you haven't seen in a long time, and perhaps don't know too well anymore.

Balderdash is hella fun when you've got a group of people together. I'm all about any game that inspires creativity, so that one's right up my alley. Of course we've already talked about our shared love of Age of Empires and Total War. And yes, SW:KotOR is very much a D&D descendant despite the sci-fi setting. If you like that, you'd probably dig D&D as well.

I'm just going to keep talking up D&D until a few of you cave in and decide to give it a look.

Oh, I've given it a look alright. Horrified, I shut my eyes.