‘Robo-Rally’ is classic for the programmer in everyone (always entertaining watching a room full of adults rotating their hands and heads around trying to figure out their next move).

‘Agricola’ is almost ubiquitous as the ‘top’ modern boardgame, a farm/family building game – though it can be fairly hard and takes some serious thought… you start off thinking it’s easy and by halfway through you realize your kids are going to starve at the end of the next season.

I also recommend ‘Dominion’ – a great strategy cardgame/world-building game that’s very high speed and, depending on the deck, can be a solitaire or competitive game.

Another vote goes out for ‘Pandemic’ – the coop aspect is great, and it can be very hard to win (there is an expansion where someone plays a hidden terrorist who triggers outbreaks :) )

Finally, the eternal classic ‘Risk’ is infinitely playable (the 2210AD version with mechs and moonbases is brilliant).

I’d pick Ticket To Ride over Catan as an introduction to the eurogames, though. No dice, great theme, and it just works brilliantly. No fights over MY DAMNED LUMBER HEX NEVER COMING UP.

And Monopoly… worst boardgame ever. You know who’s going to win within the first 10% of the game, and it’s almost impossible for there to be a sudden reversal.

Some other current favorites from my family:

Zooloretto – Video Review

Formula D – Video Review

Cosmic Encounter – Video Review

Forbidden Island – Video Review

Vineta – Board Game Geek Page

Top Secret Spies – Board Game Geek Page

San Juan – Video Review

Dominion – Video Review

Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age – Video Review

Zombies!!! – Video Review

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers – Video Review

http://www.sjgames.com/spanc/

IMHO Carcassonne, which several other Boing-ers have mentioned, is an excellent companion recommendation. Relatively new board game players might also enjoy Acquire; I’ve introduced several non-gamers to that one with great success. They might also like Puerto Rico, which is just a bit more complex. The nice thing about all these aforementioned games is that they introduce gamers to new types of play, new mechanics, etc. Once you discover what you/they like, you can try similarly styled games.

I am a big fan of Railroad Tycoon,Cosmic Encounter, and Agricola. Once you begin to explore all of the board game possibilities out there beyond Hasboro and Milton Bradley, you’ll find that board games can be very entertaining indeed.

And I’d play Blokus with you, Anon.

- Kingsburg
- Zombies!
- Munchkin
- Apples to Apples (okay, it’s a card game)

For me, the most interesting aspect of recent developments has been the gradual realisation that board and video games can not only co-exist happily, but also each do things that the other can’t, and are learning from each other as they go.

AKA Cattlers of Satan

Cowboy porn FTW.

We figured out maximal play styles for Settlers of Catan awhile back, and now my board game group is heavy into Twilight Imperium. It’s the logical next step from Settlers of Catan. To laypersons I describe it as Space Risk on crack. It’s a hex layout like Settlers in that it’s different everytime, with added elements of exploration, politics, and fleet management.

The main and major drawback is that it takes six to eight hours to complete a game. (If all players are veterans, you can finish an epic game in six hours; if half or more of the players are playing for the first time, don’t expect to finish in under eight.)

But oh em gee, is it ever fun.

What version?

Have you seen the re-release of the “red box”. Man – talk about a wave of nostalgia.

Both have that ideal boardgame tenet of being able to make moves specifically to screw over your fellow players. No boardgame is complete without!

Likewise “Metro”.

Quite like The House on the Hill, too, but you really need some horror-fans to play with in order to really enjoy the genre traditions that the game delivers.

I’ve played all those games, and this one is by far, the best. a 4 hour game flies by like it lasted 30 min, the role playing and differents strategies you can use to play this game are infinite.

If you like a challenging, fun and engaging game, TRY BATTLESTAR GALACTICA NOW

Nobody ever wants to play Blokus with me. :(