Primarily because my family entered the right age phase, I've become quite a tabletop gamer. I always loved games and puzzles, board games, etc. as a youngster, but never really got into "the life" as an adult.

Now I'm pretty into it. I think we're living in the golden age of tabletop games -- they've taken the lessons of the classics, and engineered games that remove the irritants, the flaws, the problems with length, etc.

Plus the game designers do Kickstarter campaigns and things like that, and so there's all sorts of great game launches (and bad ones)? There are youtube reviews and play-throughs for every game. And a few years back, Nagoo pointed out shows like Wil Wheaton's Tabletop. Very enjoyable to watch.

I love beautiful artwork and themes. I love pieces and craftsmanship.

Compared to the gamer world at large, I'm very noobish. What are your favorite tabletop games?

A good family game, I think, released in the last decade is Ticket to Ride.
Fairly straightforward, card-matching and train-track claiming game.

Uno and Skip-Bo are great for large groups.
Sequence is for 2-3 players, and great fun.
Whoonu plays the best with 4-6 players, but is out of print until mid December.
Settlers of Catan is our current favorite for groups of 3-5, and has different versions and can be expanded.

Who's up for a game?

When I used to do game night with my ex and her brother, we really liked Apples to Apples. It's cards, not a board game, but it's still a lot of fun.

We have this one and really like it. I think it's an essential for family game night types of things.

In terms of atmosphere (not gameplay) I put it in the Catan category -- easy to pick up and just let happen. Receive resources, make combinations, do something with them to lay stuff down.

This has been a confirmed fact for some time.

We played a game of Tabago tonight. Good game...which also requires logical thought to play.

I looked it up and it won a bunch of 2014 awards for "Best Adult Game." Is there something more you need to tell us about this experience?

I don't know why it would be called "adult"; maybe too complex for young kids?
It is similar in some ways to Settlers of Catan, but requires more logic to play well, and there are several strategy components to keep in mind simultaneously.

I'd mention Warhammer 40,000....but I don't want to force Li'l Jay to paint all those figurines.

I tend to glean all I need to know about 40K at my comic shop. It's a 50/50 store when it comes to that. And I enjoy the atmosphere that provides.

I must have mentioned this book before. It (in a minor way) transformed my life when I discovered it in c.1987 or so. Dozens of fascinating strategy games, some as challenging as Chess, but much easier to learn.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0171490150/?tag=imwan-21

There's a print replica edition of that book available on Kindle in the States:



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VMN2HZU/?tag=imwan-20

Yeah, I bought two copies of it (one for me and one for my friend) about two years ago from AmazWAN

Actually, I bought the print copy, not the Kindle one

I have to say -- for those of you with a past flirtation or openness to games, the era of Youtube reviews and walk-throughs has made it a much more accessible and enjoyable hobby. I encourage you to look for videos from channels like Dice Tower, Watch it Played, Boardgamegeek TV, Geek & Sundry, rahdo, and others.

Yeah. This is my favourite game from that collection but there are at least a dozen fantastic games in it

All the games in the book can be played by using chess board, poker chips, draughts, dominoes (one of my favourites is the domino bead game, modelled after an idea from Herman Hesse!)paper and pencil, and playing cards, and all are strategy games that require thought and contemplation to play.

Man, I loved that book!

I like this game, Lines of Action. I hadn't seen it before. Also, it's easily played with existing equipment (probably) like a chess/checker board and pieces, Othello or Reversi set, etc. I've never played Reversi or Othello, either, but they look pretty good, too. I had Go here, but since it's far more complex than Chess, and I lacked any RL opponents, or a decent free computer opponent that I knew about, I never tried to get too far into it. Clearly, it was well beyond my ability to attain any formidable skill. But I did enjoy the anime that had Go players in it - quite good, even without knowing the game too well. Maybe it's all on YouTube.

Hikaru no Go (about 75, twenty minute episodes if you ever want to get into it). Here's the first episode on YouTube.



Anyway, they are simple rules for Lines of Action. The only real downside is it's another two-player game, and while great, it's not a party game or whole family game.

I liked Hikaru No Go (read the manga). Those same creators made the popular manga Bakuman, which is about two boys getting into the manga business.