colorichard

Originally Posted by LunarKnight

I do find it interesting the degree traditional games seem to have risen to grab hold of the geek culture that seems to be somewhat alienated as their former, virtual hobby has been absorbed by the mainstream football and shooter genres. For a while I assumed it was just me, but seeing how quickly board games are seizing Penny Arcade as well as most of my gamer friends leads me to wonder if its larger than that.

For what its worth, here's some games that have dominated my table recently:

Last Night on Earth - I really can't say enough good things about this one. We have a weekly Walking Dead/LNOE Zombie night going right now and this game is just amazing. Heroes really have to work together to survive while searching for makeshift weapons if they have any hope of driving back the undead. The fun of playing zombies is that of directing your own movie, using cliches such as suddenly locked doors and the ever popular "...this could be our last night..." to force the heroes to their doom. This game is good enough I'm learning to paint just to make it even better.

Summoner Wars - neat game by a really small publisher. It's sort of a card based minis game (though not at all collectable, you buy everything as a full deck). What's really neat is that you have a very small deck which you must both discard for 1 time resources and use to summon more units. It really makes for a lot of interesting decisions, as every character in your army must be weighed on whether you need them right now, or can afford to abandon them in order to summon more powerful characters.

Claustrophobia - A really neat game where you lead condemned prisoners through tunnels in hell. It's a fantastic game engine that just needs an expansion or two to provide a bit more variety and personality. The game does a fantastic job offering a streamlined, tense dungeon crawl experience in under an hour. The heroes have a really neat feel, rushing to get through the tunnels knowing that every unexplored tunnel is likely to erupt in a horde of little demonlings.

Games on my wishlist:

Ghost Stories - Co-op game where you need to use your kung-fu to drive off oriental spirits before they overrun a town. Apparently its extremely difficult, but extremely rewarding as a result.

Cyclades - A mix of city building and war gaming concepts in one package. In this you pay tribute to the Greek gods in order to earn their favor and build your metropolis (or use Ares to conquer someone else's). In addition, you can summon mythological creatures to aid your struggle, calling the kraken forth to devour enemy ships, or fortifying your fortress with a minotaur.