It's All Fun And Games Blogfest!

Hells to the yeah I signed up for this blogfest! (hosted by the ever awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh)

I mean, it's a blogfest where you pick your favorite 3 games. Do you know how many board games we play in my house??

Let me give you some idea.

Here is our game closet (that's right. A whole room for games):

And here are the games we haven't put away in the game closet yet:



I'd say, on average, we probably buy a new board game every 3-4 months or so. Our newest addition was Dominant Species, which was fun but would be even more fun if we had more than 3 people to play with (hint hint, MOM...)




Anyway, as you can imagine, it was hard to pick 3 favs. Part of me wanted to choose Monopoly, cuz we play that a lot (also, I typically win) but, meh. Also, I know the rules say ANY games, but there is absolutely NO WAY I could include card games, and domino games and video games all in one pile. There's literally no possibility I could choose out of such a huge list. So instead, here are my top choices of BOARD GAMES in no particular order:


RISK

For obvious reasons, risk is a lot of fun. I mean, who doesn't like making secret alliances with your siblings, only to brutally betray them later (before they betray you of course)?

capturing south america is a key strategy

AGRICOLA

Agricola is a perfect example of our favorite type of games, one with a lot of little pieces (and also, preferably with enough little plastic bags for easy storage). In Agricola, one has a certain number of turns to be successful at a life of farming. Whether that means raising a large family (as long as you can feed them) or a large herd of cattle or sheep, or by planting a massive hoard of crops, it's up to you as long as you don't starve or forget to pay your taxes.

aww, a cute little fenced in pasture with a barn. No sheep, though. Must have been eaten...

CARCASSONE

Carcassone is awesome, because you create the board as you play, which means every game is different. You flip over a tile, which contains a picture of either a road, a city piece or a field (or any combination of the above) and decide if you want to claim any of them. Build an empire-spanning road, a massive city or be content to farm, but just remember the bigger your roads/fields/cities, the more points, but only if you can complete them, so try and keep your greed in check.

I claim this city in the name of the allmighty Sarah!

I also chose 2 honorable mentions.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS board game

Is an honorable mention because it remains, to this day, a board game we have never won without cheating. To be fair, the game thrives on players who can balance meeting their own needs while serving the greater good of the whole team. And remember what I said about betrayal and junk up at RISK? Yeah... that comes into play here, which is why we can't ever get that damn One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom before Sauron destroys our asses.
It's full of tension and fun.

ohh, Merry. Chances are you gonna die...

ARKHUM HORROR

Do you like Cthulu? Of course you like Cthulu, who the hell don't?
Arkhum Horror is like a combination of Agricola (lots of little pieces) and LOTR (lots of tension and trying to balance your own safety vs saving everyone else too). This game actually requires a hefty amount of setup, but if you can get past that, then you're off, trying to solve the mystery of the old ones while simultaneously trying to keep your sanity and prevent yourself from being lost in space and time or devoured. If you can do all that, then maybe you'll be able to survive when you face off against a randomly selected Elder God.
Full of terror, and depending on the Elder God you have to fight, sometimes damn unwinable, but still a lot of fun.

oh shit. I've just gone insane. Damn.

So there you have it! It's good times for all.

What are some of your favorite board games?