Little known fact: there’s actually something of a Kotaku board game club lead by regular Trjn. They play board games on weekends and have a lot of fun doing so. My experience with board games runs about as deep as family games of Catan, but I am interested in getting on… board with board games and this brilliant little flowchart (via Reddit) is a great place to start.
Most flowcharts are jokes, but this is super helpful. The world of board games is, to me, about as broad and terrifying as video games are to clueless parents trying to choose a birthday present for little Johnny. This strikes me as something I would actually use.
But I’ll ask you guys and girls for some advice: is this flowchart spot on? What’s missing? And what board games would you recommend for a complete beginner?
Choosing the perfect board game [Reddit]
Comments
30 responses to “This Amazing Flowchart Will Help You Choose The Perfect Board Game”
WARHAMMER!!! (40K)
As much as I enjoy the lore and really want to play 40K, I can’t justify spending that much money on miniatures.
Also I suck at painting miniatures. D:
On the painting part – everyone sucks when they start – but the thing is that with a few tips you can create some really great minis (or even acceptable) pretty quickly. I think the idea of painting is daunting, but once you get into it, it can be as simple or as hard as you want with some great results – especially if your using quick shades.
On the cost side of things – it can be pricey. But so is console gaming and many other hobbies (initial large outlay, the regular costs for new games). The difference here is that there is no “end” to the enjoyment from any minis you pick up.
Personally i buy almost all of my stuff either on ebay or at slave to painting, which both present INCREADBLE discounts. Heck, you can get some second hand minis even cheaper then just use detol to strip it.
There are many misconceptions about the game but the tl;dr is that it can be as hard or as easy as you want, as well as as cheap or as expensive 🙂
Warhammer is in there, I’d consider the two interchangable for the purpose of this chart.
Although I suppose you could add an extra split, Fantasy or Dark Future.
Finally something useful
WHAT monopoly……F-word you……i think I’ll go play talisman and relic
That’s why *I* cheated to get to my answer! 😀
I would have gotten Cosmic Encounter if i hadn’t 😛
Cosmic encounter is still heaps better than monopoly!!!!
For “play for more than two hours” and “hardest rules ever” I would have gone with Twilight Imperium.
I played for the first time recently and we started at 10am and finished at 8pm, but none of us were bored for a second. The game even went right down to the wire in the final turn, with everyone having a chance to steal victory.
Would definitely recommend if you have 12 consecutive hours to spend with some friends.
You actually finished a game? Every time I’ve played Twilight Imperium it’s taken so long we had to abandon it.
@markserrels You should come to board games tomorrow. There shall be cake and possibly fairy bread.
Fairy Bread is a real deal maker.
I don’t know, this seems like a bunch of (admittedly funny) jokes, or at least show a lack of experience from the author. For example, Warhammer battles can take more than 2 hours depending on army size, and Go is played by quite a lot of people under 50 and doesn’t require a Mensa membership. Also, the Game of Life can be fun for parents as well, or at least in my household it was. Magic decks can also take “dozens” of hours to prepare as well if you’re the kind of person who’s really into deck building. Twister isn’t just for getting laid either, it’s great for people with no concept of personal space too!
Plus there are some real obvious choices missing (ie, they have warhammer, but not D+D?)
WE CAN REBUILD IT
WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER
*cha-cha-cha-cha-cha*
*Bionic man music*
DnD and other roleplaying games don’t really fall under the general idea of a board game. I’m actually surprised they included Warhammer and Magic as they don’t quite fit the feel of a board game either.
They have Yahtzee though which is a dice and paper game.
They have DnD and warhammer board games though
True that. I suppose whatever you (the general you, not you specifically) have fun enjoying can constitute a board game.
What no Drinking Quest? Bah!
I suspect this was secretly created by @trjn…
Do you see Hanabi on this chart? Because if I made this, it would have Hanabi on it.
You just left it off intentionally to trick people! 😛
Might I also add that I had a kick ass game of Catan last weekend. Whooped everyone. The first time I focused on building cities (or fortresses of doom as I call them). I was lucky to have control of some decent resources though and the 3:1 port trade.
It would be a very short flowchart too.
Do you want to play a game?
|
yes
|
V
Hanabi
‘Words or tiles’ should be ‘words, tiles or dice’, with King Of Tokyo at the end of the dice.
And where Risk is should branch off between hard decsisions and random zany, with decisions on Risk and Zany on Talisman.
Just… Wow…
I must be going to the wrong twister parties……
Somewhere in the childrens’ section there needs to be “Do your children need to understand the futility of life” with “Yes” pointing to Snakes & Ladders, AKA Baby’s First Lottery.
Thank goodness for the app store – can try out lots of board games and see what works, and you can’t really cheat!
I noticed this lacks that wonderful game we all learned from family guy.
“Drink the Beer”
Where is Munchkin on this flow chart?