Beyond Candyland
May 2, 2010Okay, I admit I stole that title from the PAX panel about board games, but it’s only because I am the absolute worst at coming up with titles.
I decided to take this week’s entry to talk about board games. I always enjoyed playing games as a kid, and going off to college didn’t change that. My roommates and I my freshman and sophomore years loved taking the bus to Target every so often and picking up some ridiculous board game to play for the evening. I vividly remember one game of Mouse Trap in which the trap failed 17 times in (I think) 9 different ways. That goes on record as the longest I have ever played that game at about 1.5-2 hours. We had similar experiences with LIFE, Candyland (seriously, you were not allowed to have a cookie until you finished the game), and other childhood favorites.
The summer after my junior year, though, I started playing weird games. This was the summer of my extreme transition to nerd culture. The first “nerd game” I was introduced to was Munchkin. It’s essentially a card game version of an RPG, but extremely simplified. If you run into a monster, as long as you’re at a higher level than the monster with all your equipment and bonuses, you beat it. First to level 10 wins. It is extremely fun, mostly because it’s all about screwing over your friends as much as possible. After that, I was introduced to Shadow Hunters (one of my personal favorites), Fluxx, Hex Hex Next, and so many more. I started getting my other friends to start buying more of these games, and now each of us has quite the collection.
It's fun, because it combines Clue with trying to kill everyone 
I really enjoy these games because they’re so different than your typical “board game.” They involve more strategy and thought than just moving your piece around a board and hoping for the best. A lot of them involve collecting “victory points” for various achievements. You’ll have to plan out whether you want to just try for the most rewarding tasks or do as many of the smaller ones as possible before the game ends. In Munchkin and Killer Bunnies, you have to use cards sparingly and effectively if you want to have any hope of winning. And most of all, my friends and I enjoy the games so much because everyone else is enjoying them as well. I wouldn’t have half as much fun if they didn’t love them just as much as I do.
I won’t bore you with my reviews of all my favorite games in this entry. If you really want to see more of the games I’m talking about, this is my profile at Board Game Geek. It’s a work in progress, but I listed many of the games I own and have played, along with ratings and a few comments. I’m still trying new games when I can, so I update my profile every so often, too.
P.S. I’m thinking I might start ending posts with music I’m listening to at the time, so I leave you with the ridiculousness of Jonathan Coulton, one day late. (You’re awesome, JoCo)
