As far as these "reviews" go, here's the grain of salt with which they must be taken: I'm a baby boomer (yes, old as dirt) with a job, a family, and many other enthusiasms and interests beyond games. Further, the people I game with (the same bastards I've been gaming with since high school) also have jobs, families, etc. And yet we somehow still manage to get together once a month for a full day of gaming (and food, and alcohol and billiards, and whatever else we can manage). The upshot being that we're no longer youngsters with infinite amounts of time to waste on whatever game might blow across our collective transoms. Consequently, we're just not that interested in two-player games, games with thick rulebooks and steep learning curves, or games that take more than six hours to complete. No offense if you like those kinds of games, but they're probably not going to get a nice write-up here.
I've received numerous requests over the years to apply some sort of rating system to this list, so here it is:
An awesome game - one that we totally love and play repeatedly | |
A good game, a game that we like, but a game that we don't play all that often | |
An OK game - no strenuous or specific complaints, but apparantly there are better options | |
A game that sucks and should be expunged from the universe | |
A game that we've looked at, but (for whatever reason) never got around to trying out |
Note, these ratings are relative to my main (hard core) gaming group, so the family/kiddie games have to really rock to get anything above an "indifferent" rating.
Gumshoe | Sleuth Publications Ltd | |||||
Khet | Innovention Toys | |||||
Black Monday | Salagames | |||||
Executive Decision | 3M | |||||
Cargo Noir | Days of Wonder | |||||
Kingsburg | Fantasy Flight Games | |||||
221B Baker Street | John N. Hansen Co | |||||
Sleuth | 3M | |||||
Gammarauders | TSR | |||||
Dominion | Rio Grande Games | |||||
Tales of the Arabian Nights | Z-Man Games | |||||
Venture | 3M | |||||
Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal | Avalon Hill | |||||
Guitar Hero III | Nintendo | |||||
Consulting Detective | Sleuth Publications Ltd | |||||
Caylus | Rio Grande Games/Ystari Games | |||||
Miskatonic Madness | Richard Launius | |||||
Bootleggers | Eagle Games | |||||
Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge | Avalon Hill | |||||
Risk 2210 A.D. | Avalon Hill/Hasbro | |||||
New Dungeon! | TSR | |||||
Memoir '44 | Days of Wonder | |||||
Star Hop | Teaching Concepts, Inc | |||||
Rail Baron | Avalon Hill | |||||
Filthy Rich | Wizards of the Coast | |||||
Lie, Cheat & Steal | Reiss Games | |||||
The Settlers of Catan | Mayfair Games | |||||
Scotland Yard | Milton Bradley | |||||
Arkham Horror | Fantasy Flight Games | |||||
Monsters Menace America | Avalon Hill | |||||
The Game of Life (Simpsons Edition) | Milton Bradley | |||||
Operation (Shrek Edition) | Milton Bradley | |||||
Robo Rally | Wizards of the Coast | |||||
Doom: The Boardgame | Id/Fantasy Flight Games | |||||
Stratego | Milton Bradley/Hasbro | |||||
Civilization III PC CD-ROM | Atari, Inc | via network) |
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Supremacy | Supremacy Games, Inc | |||||
Cranium Cadoo For Kids | Cranium, Inc | |||||
Cosmic Encounter | Mayfair | |||||
Magic: The Gathering PC CD-ROM | Microprose | |||||
Battleship | Milton Bradley | |||||
Risk II PC CD-ROM | Microprose | |||||
Axis & Allies Iron Blitz PC CD-ROM | Microprose | |||||
Axis & Allies Europe | Avalon Hill | |||||
Ticket To Ride | Days of Wonder | |||||
Destination Mars | Discovery Kids | |||||
Axis & Allies PC CD-ROM | Microprose | |||||
Doom 3 PC CD-ROM | Id | |||||
Axis & Allies Pacific | Avalon Hill | |||||
Runebound | Fantasy Flight Games | |||||
Axis & Allies D-Day | Avalon Hill | |||||
Power Grid | Rio Grande Games | |||||
Star Wars Epic Duels | Milton Bradley | |||||
Organized Crime | Iron Crown Enterprises | |||||
Risk - LOTR Trilogy Edition | Parker Bros | |||||
Dante's Inferno | Twilight Creations Inc. | |||||
Illuminati | Steve Jackson Games | |||||
Dicemaster | Iron Crown Enterprises | |||||
Moonstar | Avalon Hill | |||||
The Official Dealer McDope Dealing Game |
Last Gasp | |||||
Feudal | 3M Bookshelf Games | |||||
Empire Builder | Mayfair Games | |||||
4000 AD | Waddington's | |||||
Titan | Avalon Hill | |||||
Ploy | 3M Bookshelf Games | |||||
A Game of Thrones | Fantasy Flight Games | |||||
Nuclear War | Flying Buffalo | |||||
Talisman | Games Workshop | |||||
Zylatron - Battle for the Galaxy | Games People Play | |||||
Wizard's Quest | Avalon Hill | |||||
Dungeonquest | Games Workshop | |||||
Elric, Battle at the End of Time | Chaosium, Inc | |||||
Cults Across America | Atlas Games | |||||
Shogun | Milton Bradley | |||||
Spammers | Atlas Games (Trident, Inc) | |||||
Hacker | Steve Jackson Games | |||||
Warrior Knights | Games Workshop Ltd | |||||
Tigris & Euphrates | Mayfair Games | |||||
Titan: The Arena | Avalon Hill | |||||
Pirateer | Mendocino Game Co. | |||||
Conquest of the Empire | Milton Bradley | |||||
Entdecker | Mayfair | |||||
Chez Geek | Steve Jackson Games | |||||
Noble House | Fasa Corp | |||||
Asteroid | Game Designers' Workshop | |||||
Space Crusade | Milton Bradley/Hasbro | |||||
Zombies!!! | Journeyman Press | |||||
Starbase Jeff | Cheapass Games | |||||
Dune | Avalon Hill | |||||
The Quest of the Philosopher's Stone | The Games Gang, Ltd | |||||
Pokemon Monopoly | Parker Bros/Hasbro | |||||
Uno | Int'l Games, Inc | |||||
Lionheart | Parker Bros/Hasbro | |||||
Starlord | Gamma Two Games Ltd | |||||
Twilight Imperium | Fantasy Flight Games | |||||
Dragonlance | TSR | |||||
Puerto Rico | Rio Grande Games | |||||
Stratego Legends | Avalon Hill/Hasbro | |||||
Orbit War | Steve Jackson Games | |||||
Pokemon Master Trainer | Milton Bradley/Hasbro | |||||
The Game of Nations | Waddington's | |||||
Acquire | Avalon Hill | |||||
Magic: The Gathering | Wizards of the Coast | |||||
Fortress America | Milton Bradley | |||||
El Grande | Rio Grande Games | |||||
Assassin | Avalon Hill | |||||
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain | Games Workshop | |||||
Lord of the Rings | Hasbro | |||||
Airlines | Avalanche Press | |||||
Berzerk | Milton Bradley | |||||
Arkham Horror | Chaosium, Inc. | |||||
Balderdash | Parker Bros | |||||
Sequence | Jax Ltd | |||||
Kings & Things | West End Games | |||||
HeroQuest | Milton Bradley | |||||
Dark Tower | Milton Bradley | |||||
Edge City | Imagineering Design | |||||
The Omega Virus | Milton Bradley | |||||
The Amazing Magic Robot | ??? | |||||
Dungeon! | TSR | |||||
Dungeon Dice | Parker Brothers | |||||
The Starfarers of Catan | Mayfair | |||||
Monopoly Junior | Hasbro |
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