Posted October 13, 2012 The other day I realized that while splitscreen gaming is quite fun and cool, to me, it's nowhere near as engaging and as entertaining as spending an evening with some friends and some board games. Also, I obviously mean REAL board games, none of that Monopoly, Risk and Trivial Pursuit shit... No. The good stuff, you know? Catan and upwards, like Puerto Rico, Agricola, Power Grid, Twilight Struggle... propper meaty strategy games, you know? A good board game + some friends + a couple of beers (and some peanuts) = a perfect night at home. But of course... that's me! How 'bout you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Board Games, never been a fan of splitscreen games..or many multiplayer ones. Although me being paranoid beers may have to sit well away from the game...no messes >> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Split-screen gaming is, to me, a 2-player thing, partly due to how much of teh screen you sacrifice. But games tend to exert time-related pressure on you, and require most of your non-trivial attention and thus the co-op sesh is about the game. Board games allow much more freedom in focus; split-screen with beers is fine but throwing food into the mix is difficult! Trying to chat shit, catch up with mates, it's not as easy with your eyes glued to teh screen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 The other day I realized that while splitscreen gaming is quite fun and cool, to me, it's nowhere near as engaging and as entertaining as spending an evening with some friends and some board games. Also, I obviously mean REAL board games, none of that Monopoly, Risk and Trivial Pursuit shit... No. The good stuff, you know? Catan and upwards, like Puerto Rico, Agricola, Power Grid, Twilight Struggle... propper meaty strategy games, you know? A good board game + some friends + a couple of beers (and some peanuts) = a perfect night at home. But of course... that's me! How 'bout you? FUCK YOOOOOOOU. I love Monopoly. I'm a massive fan of splitscreen, every since my younger gaming days/being a teenager/even before then. Having 2/3 other mates around and destroying them at Goldeneye or MarioKart was immense. Saying that, I do also like board games. I'm a huge fan of Chess, and I've got a nice little collection of boards at my place. A marble set that I bought from Saudi Arabia years and years ago (love it so much), a handmade wooden set that I was given as a gift from my family (sentimental value) and a glass set, as well as a few others. Both are good and quite sociable. Trauma Centre is a surprisingly good game in this context, as you're constantly talking and communicating. At least, that's how I play it. Serious business. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Like chess? Tell me you have a chess.com account so I can show you my moves? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Like chess? Tell me you have a chess.com account so I can show you my moves? Online/Computer Chess does nothing for me. For me, it's a physical game. I need to see the board in front of me, from all angles. I can't process the information unless it's physically there before my eyes. Next time we're in the same place, we'll play. Come to Bournemouth! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 (Risk has no strategy? I can't say I've ever ENJOYED a game of risk but I'll definitely say there is a fair amount of strategy.) Me and Rummy have been dragging friends into board gaming over the last year and a half (I say dragging... they LOVE it too just we instigated). But I also love a bit of digital multiplayer. Bit of brawl... 4 swords adventures (actually have to organise a session of that soon). I suppose the biggest difference (as jay kinda mentioned) is the downtime in boardgames. It can only ever be one persons turn in a lot of boardgames so your focus can wander. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Like chess? Tell me you have a chess.com account so I can show you my moves? Online/Computer Chess does nothing for me. For me' date=' it's a physical game. I need to see the board in front of me, from all angles. I can't process the information unless it's physically there before my eyes. Next time we're in the same place, we'll play. Come to Bournemouth![/quote'] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 I love both. Split-screen is awesome when you're playing games like Mario Kart or Mario Party or Viva Pinata: Party Animals. However, you can't beat board games like Monopoly or Checkers or what have you. I do particularly enjoy playing Jenga with my mates though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Also, I obviously mean REAL board games, none of that Monopoly, Risk and Trivial Pursuit shit... No. The good stuff, you know? Catan and upwards, like Puerto Rico, Agricola, Power Grid, Twilight Struggle... propper meaty strategy games, you know? Bullshit. The best games are simple party games. Boggle, Scattergories, Articulate, Scribble, "Who said that?" etc. Games that are going to get you arguing and shout and laughing within 2 minutes. Not something you're going to have to spend hours for on one game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Bullshit. The best games are simple party games. Boggle, Scattergories, Articulate, Scribble, "Who said that?" etc. Games that are going to get you arguing and shout and laughing within 2 minutes. Not something you're going to have to spend hours for on one game. Balderdash is another great one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Balderdash is another great one. Yeah all those sorts of games. Those are the board games that are akin to splitscreen gaming. You can't compare something like Catan to Mario Kart, it's more like coop gaming. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 FUCK YOOOOOOOU. I love Monopoly. I'm a massive fan of splitscreen, every since my younger gaming days/being a teenager/even before then. Having 2/3 other mates around and destroying them at Goldeneye or MarioKart was immense. Saying that, I do also like board games. I'm a huge fan of Chess, and I've got a nice little collection of boards at my place. A marble set that I bought from Saudi Arabia years and years ago (love it so much), a handmade wooden set that I was given as a gift from my family (sentimental value) and a glass set, as well as a few others. Both are good and quite sociable. Trauma Centre is a surprisingly good game in this context, as you're constantly talking and communicating. At least, that's how I play it. Serious business. I "kinda" love Monopoly too, as it was my first board game... but it's way too random and skill is absolutely irrelevant when compared to the luck factor... An easy way to gauge this is: if it has dice, it most likely will suck (there are exceptions of course... like Catan). And don't get me wrong, I love splitscreen too! But when compared to Board Games, it's just a fraction of the fun, personally. Which doesn't mean an SSBB themed night isn't one of the most awesome things on earth! (Risk has no strategy? I can't say I've ever ENJOYED a game of risk but I'll definitely say there is a fair amount of strategy.) Me and Rummy have been dragging friends into board gaming over the last year and a half (I say dragging... they LOVE it too just we instigated). But I also love a bit of digital multiplayer. Bit of brawl... 4 swords adventures (actually have to organise a session of that soon). I suppose the biggest difference (as jay kinda mentioned) is the downtime in boardgames. It can only ever be one persons turn in a lot of boardgames so your focus can wander. Risk has 1 and only 1 strategy. Why do you think the board gaming community repudiates it? It's a transparent game whose strategizing ends as soon as you figure out there's only 1 way to win. From that moment on, it's literally a matter of pure dumb luck (dice). Bullshit. The best games are simple party games. Boggle, Scattergories, Articulate, Scribble, "Who said that?" etc. Games that are going to get you arguing and shout and laughing within 2 minutes. Not something you're going to have to spend hours for on one game. Hours? The only game longer than 30 minutes on that tiny little list I did was Twilight Struggle (granted though, that one takes over 4 hours, sometimes )... Also, party games are a completely different breed of thing. What you're doing there is like comparing The Big Bang Theory with Band of Brothers. Completely different things with different purposes which effectively cannot be compared. Party games are something that happens incidentally while with friends, "propper" games are something you meet specifically to engage with. Also, I'm fairly certain you are severely underexposed to the world of "real" board gaming, otherwise you wouldn't be saying that... It's easy to gauge, really... take a look at this. Do you know any of the games on the first 2 pages? 'coz if not this is like discussing music with a 7 year old, in the sense that you have no idea of what else is out there except S Club 7. If that's the case I suggest you do try out some of board gaming's best, just so you'll know what you're missing out on. ^^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Risk is awesome. How is there only one strategy? It's all about making truces and deciding to honour them or not. My sister owned me and my brother because she played dumb and we caused each other heavy death tolls, then she swept through most the Western world and won the game. Sneaky. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Also, party games are a completely different breed of thing. What you're doing there is like comparing The Big Bang Theory with Band of Brothers. Completely different things with different purposes which effectively cannot be compared. Party games are something that happens incidentally while with friends, "propper" games are something you meet specifically to engage with. So you completely missed the part where I said you're comparing strategy games to splitscreen multiplayer, which "are a completely different breed of thing". Also, I'm fairly certain you are severely underexposed to the world of "real" board gaming, otherwise you wouldn't be saying that... It's easy to gauge, really... take a look at this. Do you know any of the games on the first 2 pages? 'coz if not this is like discussing music with a 7 year old, in the sense that you have no idea of what else is out there except S Club 7. If that's the case I suggest you do try out some of board gaming's best, just so you'll know what you're missing out on. ^^ Ah, OW's trademark, elitist high-horse. I wondered when you would show up. We haven't seen you in a while. 13 posts, that's a new record isn't it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 For anyone into/looking to get into tabletop games, I'd highly recommend watching Wil Wheaton's webseries thing on youtube called TableTop. It's funny, I've been thinking similar things myself recently. I barely video game anymore, spending the majority of my gaming time doing table-top stuff with friends(as Marcamillian mentioned); had a game of Catan just 2 days ago for the first time in ages! We don't brawl like we used to, though I do still enjoy it. Board games can be a little more relaxed and allow for teh socialising and just chilling etc(sort of how marc said how jay said about downtime, but I'm putting it as a plus point here). They can allow for much more personal interaction too, which, if you're all cool, can be quite fun. A good board game + some friends + a couple of beers (and some peanuts)/pizza/other assorted foods = a perfect night at home. But of course... that's me! Absolutely! @Oxigen_Waste, what games do you tend to play/have in the collection? I know of the ones you mentioned, but haven't really played any of them other than Catan(one of our first, courtesy of @Marcamillian). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 For anyone into/looking to get into tabletop games, I'd highly recommend watching Wil Wheaton's webseries thing on youtube called TableTop. Yes! It's a great series. Plus it's a good fix if you rarely have the opportunity to play board games yourself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Risk is awesome. How is there only one strategy? It's all about making truces and deciding to honour them or not. My sister owned me and my brother because she played dumb and we caused each other heavy death tolls, then she swept through most the Western world and won the game. Sneaky. I agree that it's awesome I still play it with my kid brothers sometimes, but the fun factor kinda disappears once you realize there's 1 way of playing which trumps all others. Which is why it completely disappeared from tournament play, lol. Basically you pile every single soldier you have in 1 root country that's in a continent's extreme (usually argentina, south africa or australia) and just build up whilst closing ranks and massively solidfying your 2 or 3 border countries. From then on it's all up to the dice, and there's no skill factor involved at all. So you completely missed the part where I said you're comparing strategy games to splitscreen multiplayer, which "are a completely different breed of thing". Ah, OW's trademark, elitist high-horse. I wondered when you would show up. We haven't seen you in a while. 13 posts, that's a new record isn't it? No, you posted that after I started writing my post so I did not see it at all. And also, that comparison makes no sense as I am not nor have I ever been comparing splitscreen with board games, I'm simply asking which is more to any of you. Also, it wasn't elitism, at all, I have a soft spot for all the games you mentioned, I was merely pointing out that they were a different breed of gaming and not what I was inquiring about, as when it comes to those type of games I much preffer splitscreen. Hence me saying I wasn't talking about Monopoly and derivatives but instead these other meatier games, when asking my question. The tiny rant (if you can even call it that) after was basically me asking you if you are familiarized with the medium at all when you make the decision that simple party games are what's best? In other words, do you know what you're talking about when you say something like that or is it merely a case of "these are the ones I know, so fuck the rest"(7 year old reasoning, hence the 7 year old thing). And I must ask... do you? Or was it just easier to dismiss my reasoning as elitism? Absolutely! @Oxigen_Waste, what games do you tend to play/have in the collection? I know of the ones you mentioned, but haven't really played any of them other than Catan(one of our first, courtesy of @Marcamillian). I mostly play Catan (usually when initiating new recruits to the art of european board gaming), Puerto Rico, Agricola, Le Havre, Tirgris & Euphrates, Power Grid, Caylus, Ticket To Ride, Small World, Twilight Struggle, Ora Et Labora and Paths Of Glory. Occasionally Die Macher and Carcassonne. I own Catan, Ticket To Ride, Puerto Rico, Power Grid and Twilight Struggle. I meet every thursday with a group of friends at this all night food place that has these very nice closed rooms and we just play to our hearts content, with each of us bringing his own games, and then deciding which we want to play when we get there, usually by voting, and there's at least 2 or 3 different games happening at any given time since there's usually more than 10 people there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 I agree that it's awesome I still play it with my kid brothers sometimes, but the fun factor kinda disappears once you realize there's 1 way of playing which trumps all others. Which is why it completely disappeared from tournament play, lol. Basically you pile every single soldier you have in 1 root country that's in a continent's extreme (usually argentina, south africa or australia) and just build up whilst closing ranks and massively solidfying your 2 or 3 border countries. From then on it's all up to the dice, and there's no skill factor involved at all. Noted. Mwahahahaaa!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Noted. Mwahahahaaa!! Also, run the fuck away from Asia. You can't hold it until you have everything else basically, lol... The best place to start is without a doubt Argentina. Then just absorb your way through North America and you only need to have troops in 3 countries to defend half the world and prevent everyone else from having a continent: Eastern Siberia (via alaska), Western Africa (via Brazil) and Iceland (via Greenland). That way you have 2 continents, 10 extra men at the beginning of every turn and nobody else has a continent because you're occupying every single one of them except Australia (which only gives 2 extra men every turn anyway). Basically, where you start and the dice are what decide the outcome at high level games. Not skill. But it's still fun and I do still play it at family occasions sometimes (initating people to european gaming is kinda hard, as nobody wants to lolol). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Alaska was my downfall last time. My brother just would not let me have it. At any cost. And then my sister arrived. Was like a scene from Ender's Game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Ah, i've played Ticket to Ride! I wouldn't call it 'meaty' though.... Have you played Dominion? Seems like it would be right up your street @Oxigen_Waste. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Ah, i've played Ticket to Ride! I wouldn't call it 'meaty' though.... Have you played Dominion? Seems like it would be right up your street @Oxigen_Waste. I have played it, yes, and it is indeed awesome. Best card game excluding Magic. We had to stop playing it though because the guy who owned it moved to France and buying the game plus all the expansions is kinda expensive so nobody has stepped up and bought it yet, but I'm thinking I will, as soon as I land a job. And yeah Ticket To Ride isn't that meaty. It's a transition game, just like Catan. It's one of those games that's fun and which you can pretty much play with anyone and yet it's still interesting! We usually play it as a gateway game along with Catan whenever we have someone new join us, because they're easy to get into. ^^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 Online/Computer Chess does nothing for me. For me, it's a physical game. I need to see the board in front of me, from all angles. I can't process the information unless it's physically there before my eyes. Next time we're in the same place, we'll play. Come to Bournemouth! I agree - chess in the flesh is a different game altogether - I do tend to win more games on the board than on teh line. Still, consider joining chess.com. It is an incredible resource for fans of the game, and there are many different ways to play the game -- 3 days per move up to 5 secs per move. And, I am taking you up on that. I'm back in the uk around xmas, and I'll be in bournemouth at some point, as yet decided. I'd be happy to show you how to use a chess board :P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) No, you posted that after I started writing my post so I did not see it at all. Fair enough. And also, that comparison makes no sense as I am not nor have I ever been comparing splitscreen with board games, I'm simply asking which is more to any of you. But if they aren't a fair comparison, then you can't really ask which people prefer, as they both have their separate purposes. Kind of like asking, "which do you prefer, chocolate or pasta?" Hence why I equated it to party games, as that's (at least the way I see it) a fair comparison. Also, it wasn't elitism, at all, I have a soft spot for all the games you mentioned, I was merely pointing out that they were a different breed of gaming and not what I was inquiring about, as when it comes to those type of games I much preffer splitscreen. Hence me saying I wasn't talking about Monopoly and derivatives but instead these other meatier games, when asking my question. The tiny rant (if you can even call it that) after was basically me asking you if you are familiarized with the medium at all when you make the decision that simple party games are what's best? In other words, do you know what you're talking about when you say something like that or is it merely a case of "these are the ones I know, so fuck the rest"(7 year old reasoning, hence the 7 year old thing). And I must ask... do you? Or was it just easier to dismiss my reasoning as elitism? Well the way you said made it sound like you were assuming that I either didn't like those games and/or didn't know them, which I do (well I've never played any of the few that you said, but I have played a few from that list that you linked, and a few others that I'd put in a similar category, such as D&D and Hero Quest). So it didn't come across as, "do you have a knowledge of the games that I mentioned or are you just dismissing them automatically?", and sounded more like, "I bet you don't even know any of the games that I know, your knowledge is inferior to mine, and therefore your opinion invalid". Also the way you phrased your initial post, "Also, I obviously mean REAL board games, none of that Monopoly, Risk and Trivial Pursuit shit... No. The good stuff", reeks of elitism, as if you're implying that any game that doesn't require hard concentration and dedicated strategy is for morons. I was just trying to point out that some of the best games are simple party games. Though one kind of game that I do hate are "crank the handle" games. Basically games like monopoly which are pretty much decided after the first few rounds, and then (bar some extreme luck or teaming up) you just spend ages to keep rolling the dice until the inevitable finally comes. Card games can be the worst for this, such as seven of diamonds/sevens/crazy sevens/whatever, where the game is almost decided after the deal. Then again, some strategy games can have elements that give people a huge advantage. Take citadels for example. If you get School of Magic fairly early on, you have a massive advantage. Edited October 13, 2012 by MoogleViper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
