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Matttimeo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
765
I do love Smallworld but I always run into this problem with it where the first turn can be real intimidating for new players. Picking your first race where you are unfamiliar with all the abilities and how they interplay is a lot of information you have to take in all at once, especially since a strong/weak start in that game can carry you to victory/defeat. That said, once we get past that hump I generally find everyone enjoys it in the end.

I've just checked and I've stocked up nearly 40 hours of local playtime on Smallworld on steam. Good times.
 

robotzombie

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,871
I implore you to check out Blood Rage. It might just be my favorite strategic board game of all time.

I've never experienced a game that was able to do away with random nonsense so well, and so greatly rewarded strategies and both long and short term decision making. Not only is there no real bullshit to deal with, but there are a ton of great, viable strategies to allow you to win, and you can even change your plans throughout to accommodate for board changes and other players' actions. Your strategy is based around a hand of cards you choose yourself through a draft. No one card is so great that luck becomes a factor in terms of whatever cards you are handed first and have a choice to take, so it really comes down to your understanding of the game in choosing (and using) a hand that will help you win.
 

Deleted member 24118

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 29, 2017
4,920
Smallworld is fine, though not as good as Risk imo. My main problem is that it's too lightweight for most of my nerd friends, and the theme is too nerdy for most of my lightweight friends. Compared directly to Risk it's much faster but much less strategic.

Risk: Legacy is the GOAT conquest game, although it's one-time use. Risk: 2210AD is probably the best if that turns you off.
 

Deleted member 10737

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
49,774
i wanted to shit talk risk and call it one of the worst but it seems like it has some fans here so i won't call it shit, which is what it is
my absolute favorite is cosmic encounter, there's randomness involved which makes it interesting and fresh anytime you play, and the possibilities of different powers being played together are endless
other games that are favorites among me and my friends:
power grid, terra mystica, lords of waterdeep, catan
 

fuzzyset

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,556
I implore you to check out Blood Rage. It might just be my favorite strategic board game of all time.

I've never experienced a game that was able to do away with random nonsense so well, and so greatly rewarded strategies and both long and short term decision making. Not only is there no real bullshit to deal with, but there are a ton of great, viable strategies to allow you to win, and you can even change your plans throughout to accommodate for board changes and other players' actions. Your strategy is based around a hand of cards you choose yourself through a draft. No one card is so great that luck becomes a factor in terms of whatever cards you are handed first and have a choice to take, so it really comes down to your understanding of the game in choosing (and using) a hand that will help you win.

Blood Rage is such a great game. I was put off by the theme / art (which I thought was demonic, I've since grown to like the Nordic theme), but the game itself is great. I do play a lot of 'modern' board games, but I found Blood Rage to be fairly rules-light for the depth of the game.

OP, if you have a local game store nearby, see if they have a demo library. Every store here in Austin has a large library of games you can try / play for free in the store (the one I frequent serves drinks and is a great place to be in addition to being a store).
 

RabidDwarf76

Member
Oct 27, 2017
315
pic1431241.jpg

kemet-09.jpg


Kemet is my Risk killer. Dice are replace with a hand of attack/defend cards. When we go into combat we each pick two cards from our hand. One to play and the other to discard. You keep you choices secret until you are ready to reveal them. It makes combat more strategic and a bit like poker. "Has he already used his power three attack card yet?" " Oh, I know he only has his level 2 defense card left and level 2 attach cards left. I'm going to fuck up his word!"

The game also plays much faster than Risk and has no player elimination. You can finish a game in 90 minutes. The game is a race to 8 or 10 victory points which are gain by taking temple and holding it for a turn or winning fights offensively. There are also power up tiles you can buy and monsters to recruit to help your armies.

Here's the Dice Tower's review:

 

GiJose

Member
Oct 25, 2017
403
I'd highly recommend Inis. It's a territory control game with tons of player interaction and room for strategy. No dice rolls, but just a bit of randomness from some decks of cards to keep thing interesting. A big plus is that it usually finishes in under an hour. Also it has lots of gorgeous art.

The one disadvantage is it only plays 4 players, but it plays well with 2-4 so it's fairly flexible.

yes yes yes and yes

only game I've come across that plays equally as well with 2, 3, and 4 players, though I find myself missing the 4 player cards flexibility sometimes. even my wife who refuses to play most board games asks to play
 

shnurgleton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,864
Boston
Catan is overrated.

You want to play:
Power grid
Tammany Hall
Scythe
Aztlan
Blood Rage
Kemet

There is also another game which is almost exactly like risk, but uses a rock, paper, scissors system. 'Balance of Power' I don't know if its in print anymore. And its alright.

Also check out Risk Legacy. I hate Risk, but Risk Legacy is awesome.

Power Grid is AWESOME. Like ticket to ride except with resource management
 

witchedwiz

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
361
Inis? Eclipse? Kemet? Heck I prefer Cthulhu wars to risiko even... but there is a lot of other games frankly...
But, if I have to name one that swim the same ponds and just exceeds risiko in every single aspect..... twilight imperium..
If you have time and dedicated people, a TI game is risiko++++++ on steroids..
Imho :)
 

RabidDwarf76

Member
Oct 27, 2017
315
Inis? Eclipse? Kemet? Heck I prefer Cthulhu wars to risiko even... but there is a lot of other games frankly...
But, if I have to name one that swim the same ponds and just exceeds risiko in every single aspect..... twilight imperium..
If you have time and dedicated people, a TI game is risiko++++++ on steroids..
Imho :)
Twilight Imperium is an outstanding game but that is the deepest end of the board gaming pool. You need a whole day to get that beast played. I've done it and it was a glorious six hours. It actually only felt like three hours which is a testament to the games quality.
 

jakoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,112
quantum-game-in-progress.jpg


If you like Risk, I recommend a game like Quantum.

It has similar victory conditions with regards to expansion/domination, however I feel as though the risks you take with regards to battle are a bit more calculated, while still having that fun element of a "saving throw" dice roll that, with a little luck, can allow you to change the tide of battle.
 
Last edited:
Oct 25, 2017
9,053
"Most" is my answer. I don't like risk.

The common "Gateway" games for getting into the wide world of modern board games:
  • Settlers of Catan (I don't like it, but it is like an American game but not as bad)
  • Dominion
  • Carcassone
  • 7 Wonders
  • Stone Age
  • Pandemic (Co-Op)
  • Splendor
  • Ticket To Ride
  • Betrayal at Baldur's Gate (slightly more on-topic theme for RE than the original House on the Hill)
  • Forbidden Island/Dessert (Co-Op)
Terra Mystica and Scythe are fucking great games, but also way more complicated than Risk and not as combat focused. Both goddamn amazing games, though.

I like the BGG Top 100 recommendation, but, hell, extend it to top 300 and you'll probably be good. However, that list skews super complicated and super long compared to something like Risk.
 
Last edited:

RabidDwarf76

Member
Oct 27, 2017
315
"Most" is my answer. I don't like risk.

The common "Gateway" games for getting into the wide world of modern board games:
  • Settlers of Catan (I don't like it, but it is like an American game but not as bad)
  • Dominion
  • Carcassone
  • 7 Wonders
  • Stone Age
  • Pandemic (Co-Op)
  • Splendor
  • Ticket To Ride
  • Betrayal at House on the Hill
  • Forbidden Island/Dessert (Co-Op)
Terra Mystica and Scythe are fucking great games, but also way more complicated than Risk and not as combat focused. Both goddamn amazing games, though.

I like the BGG Top 100 recommendation, but, hell, extend it to top 300 and you'll probably be good. However, that list skews super complicated and super long compared to something like Risk.
Excellent list!
 

StrapOnFetus

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,355
TX
Motherfuking talisman, it's an awesome RPG board game. You pretty much pick a character from a choice of 20 their different abilities you get gold skills All That Jazz. And you move around the board leveling up your character eventually you make your way to the middle called Middle Earth or some shit like that. Then when your characters finally leveld up. You make your way into the final part of the board. Yet to Shout a certain spell. All the while fighting the most powerful enemies that can f*** you up an instant. The goal of the game is to acquire the Kings crown or something like that. Gabe is truly awesome and legendary.
 

Legacy

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,704
If you want Risk without dice rolls then you want Game of Thrones.

Combat is decided by what units you have on the board plus a card from your hand that you play against a card from your opponent's hand. Each card can only be used once and the hands are not random (each House has their own set). You can also make alliances (or break them) with players. The only other twist is that the players have to sort of cooperate at points to prevent Wildlings from invading (but you can just tell everyone that you'll contribute and then don't). It's fantastic with the full complement of players.

pic1134206_lg.jpg

I second this, can't rate the game highly enough. Had it for about 4+ years now I think and I always play with my brothers whenever we get the chance. Great game
 
Oct 25, 2017
9,053
The number of recommendations in this thread are overwhelming.

"Better than Risk" is like a giant, ocean sized list. There are hundreds of board games that come out per year, and I think most pass Risk pretty easily.

https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame

The Top 100 is mostly golden, but check the game's "weight" and aim for <3.5, preferably under 3.0, if you're coming from mostly traditional games.

I want scythe so badly but I just can't justify the price because I just don't have the friend group that would play it more than once.

Yeah, it is hard to get out. There's a pileup of long games like that. You really need a hardcore group to appreciate a game like that, or go to a lot of game meetups.

If you're in a big city, you can do gaming Meetups pretty much any day of the week.
 

mclem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,460
There's a ton of options; I'm only recently getting into serious boardgaming (after a brief smattering of Catan back in university) and there's a vast myriad of choice out there.

However, if you're only on the outskirts right now, it's probably unwise to point you directly at something like Twilight Imperium, great though the game (apparently) is! When I went on holiday with my family last year (consisting of two grandparents in their sixties, my sister in her forties, and two nieces both under ten) I did quite a lot of investigation into what games I could find that would hit with such an audience who weren't experienced gamers; some were successful, others were not. They included:

Ticket to Ride: A predictable answer, but it was a massive, massive hit amongst the adults. Didn't quite try it with the kids; might regret that slightly in hindsight!
Kingdomino: A nice simple game with a decent overlay of strategy in terms of how turn order changes between turns. Queendomino is now out and pitched at gamers looking for more complex systems, that might be worth a look?
Incan Gold: A huge hit with everyone; it's a pure press-your-luck title but the tension works well.
Sushi Go: This made me realise one error of judgement; the children didn't quite get their heads around the scoring options; this was probably my fault, and a gentler lead-in might have helped, but they ended up with a bit too much to consider at any given time. Didn't really work.
Hey! That's My Fish!: Worked rather better; I perhaps should have explored the 'collect tiles' rather than the 'collect fish' variant (to encourage them to think more about territory control, but they seemed to enjoy it enough.
For Sale: The kids liked this a lot, and really took to the auction idea. They might have been a bit overly cagey as far as spending is concerned, but tended to play quite well. Family as a whole liked it too.

One thing I did notice in the context of this exploration was that the audience I was aiming for did seem to prefer games with simple individual decisions; For Sale's Bid/Pass in the first phase and card selection in the second; Incan Gold's Stay/Go. That might not suit you, necessarily, given you're looking from a Risk standpoint of having lots of choice at any given time.
 
Oct 26, 2017
3,896
I'm not a big fan of dice-based boardgames, so stuff that doesn't use them are right up my alley.

Smallworld and Scythe are both similar to risk, but use static point systems to determine battles. Smallworld is considerably easier to explain and has a shorter expected playtime as well, so that's a great one if you're playing with newcomers.

Scythe is a bit more complex and you can expect games to last for quite a few hours, especially when you're in a big group with a lot of people who are playing it for the first time. But again a great game where it is quite possible to win without ever actually engaging in direct combat with other players.

I've also been playing a lot of Mageknight recently, which I guess I would describe as a hex-based map exploration game where the player's actions are entirely dictated by an action-card deck. It's also a lot of fun, easy to understand but quite difficult to actually beat.

Lastly there's Twilight Imperium, but that's really in it's own category and I wouldn't recommend buying it unless you have a really dedicated group of boardgamer friends.
 

Goldenroad

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,475
"Most" is my answer. I don't like risk.

The common "Gateway" games for getting into the wide world of modern board games:
  • Settlers of Catan (I don't like it, but it is like an American game but not as bad)
  • Dominion
  • Carcassone
  • 7 Wonders
  • Stone Age
  • Pandemic (Co-Op)
  • Splendor
  • Ticket To Ride
  • Betrayal at Baldur's Gate (slightly more on-topic theme for RE than the original House on the Hill)
  • Forbidden Island/Dessert (Co-Op)
Terra Mystica and Scythe are fucking great games, but also way more complicated than Risk and not as combat focused. Both goddamn amazing games, though.

I like the BGG Top 100 recommendation, but, hell, extend it to top 300 and you'll probably be good. However, that list skews super complicated and super long compared to something like Risk.

I forgot Splendor on my list. Great pick. My g/f loves Terra Mystica, but I'm just not crazy about the way it plays with two players. I feel like you never have to build next to the other player and it kind of ruins the dynamics. Great for more than two players though, except by the the time you're done explaining the game, everyone's ready to go home. lol.
Forbidden Island, I own, but I just don't get what people love about it. It's just too simple. It's like a stripped down version of Hey, That's My Fish, and that's a pretty simple game to begin with.
 

yogurt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,852
Settlers of Catan was my favorite for a while, and was what got me into Euro-style strategy board games. While I don't play it much any more, it does serve as a great bridge from stuff like Risk into better board games.

Other favorites are:
  • Simple mechanics, deep strategy: Carcassonne. Love, love, love this game. Also get the Inns & Cathedrals expansion.
  • 2 Player Strategy: Hive Pocket. Sort of analogous to chess, but each match only takes ~20 minutes.
  • Social Deduction: One Night Ultimate Werewolf and the Resistance. ONUW is shorter and more chaotic, while the Resistance is longer (~30-45 minutes per session) and more strategic.
  • Co-op: Pandemic. This was the game my friends and I moved to after Catan, and is where I really got into the hobby.
  • Deeper / heavier games: Power Grid and Agricola are both fantastic strategic games with little-to-no luck based mechanics. They take about 2 hours to play each, but will probably take double that on your first couple play throughs as you try to figure them out. Check Boardgamegeek.com or YouTube for set-up and beginner's guides that can help you figure them out - the instruction manuals aren't great.
 

Dodongo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,462
Risk Legacy was amazing, but I never got a big enough group to play it consistently, and people had to drop in/out.

It ended up getting really imbalanced because of that.
 

Bo Neslek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,794
Canada's Ear
Now, OP, if you wanted to go hard core, you could do a deep dive on Volko Ruhnke's COIN series. I've heard the newest one is pretty accessible.

mclem Sushi Go is great fun. I just coach them along a bit.