Dixit is a picture-based game where one player is trying to get just a couple people to guess their picture. The first player says a word/phrase/sound, everyone plays a picture, and if no one or everyone guesses the first player’s picture correctly, the first player gets no points. This is a simple and colorful game that if you enjoy making obscure references only 1 other person at the table will get, you will love this game.
A betting game for camel racing. Need I say more? Players either randomly advance a stack of camels up to 5 high, place a bet, or play a tile. Slamming down that 1 in 9 bet of last place yellow getting in first, watching it actually happen, and going wild, priceless.
Starting with identical decks of cards and identical available improvements, each player must choose how to make their deck the best. This simple, streamlined, and innovative game sparked the entire “deck-building” genre magnificently. By combining a large number of potential cards per game, complete game knowledge on turn 1, and the randomness of shuffling, this game works with both diligent planners and curious improvisers.
This is a dice-rolling, resource-collecting, civilization-building game. Each turn offers choices between improving future turns and/or securing points while disasters punish the unprepared. A quick game where the dice guide the player among plentiful options instead of imposing their fickle will.
Catan is one of the most important games, if not the most important, for bringing board gaming to greater prominence in the United States. It is a streamlined game with a lot of player interaction but limited inherent player conflict. This game has been so successful and played so much that parts of the “gaming community” are starting to get a bit tired of it, even though it does what it sets out to do exceedingly well.
The goal of the game is to gather resources to build roads, settlements, cities, and developments to reach a set level of prominence before any other player.
At the start of each game, players create the game-board by randomly filling in the island of Catan with hexagon tiles representing 6 different kinds of terrain: hills, forests, mountains, fields, pastures, and desert. Then, on every tile except the desert randomly place one of the numbers ranging from 2-12. (There is no 7 and only one of each 2 and 12.) Finally, around the board are ports that specialize in trading. To randomize these, put a ship marker on each printed ship. 
To start, the first player places one of their wooden houses (settlements) on the vertex of one of the hexagon tiles. Then, that player places one of their wooden roads on one of the edges adjacent to that vertex. Each player does this once, then starting with the last player to place and going backwards, each player does it again. For example, if I have Mary, Frank, Tom, and Jane it would go: Mary->Frank->Tom->Jane->Jane->Tom->Frank->Mary.
When you place your second settlement, you collect resources from all tiles touched by that settlement. Forests produce lumber, hills produce brick, fields produce grain, pastures produce sheep, mountains produce ore, and deserts produce nothing. So if I place my second city touching a hill, pasture, and forest, I would collect brick, sheep, and lumber.
Each turn consists of 4 parts: Roll the Dice, Collect Resources -or- Activate the Robber, Trade, and Build. It may seem like a lot of text below, but it is really intuitive, and you will pick it up quickly. I promise.
At the start of each turn, the current player rolls two dice and adds the number.
Each tile with the rolled number will produce one resource for a player for each settlement they have touching it.
If a 7 is rolled, the robber is activated. Each player with 8 or more resource cards in hand must discard half, rounded down. If you have 9, you would discard 4. Then, the current player must move the robber from its current tile and place it on a different tile. While the robber is there, that tile will not produce resources when its number is rolled. In addition, the current player gets to randomly take one card from one player with a settlement (or city) touching that tile. If there are 2 or more players available, the current player picks one.
After rolling, the current player may trade their resources with any other player. For instance, if you have 2 lumber you could offer to trade 1 of your lumber for 1 of another player’s brick. Then that player or any other player could make you a counteroffer. This can last as long as the current player wants.
You can also trade with the bank at a rate of 4 of one resource for 1 of any other resource. If you have a settlement touching a 3:1 port, you can instead trade 3 of one resource for 1 of any other. There are also 2:1 ports for each resource. So if you had the sheep 2:1 port, you could trade 2 sheep for 1 of any other resource.
Once you have finished trading, you may build any number of roads, settlements, cities, and/or development cards that you can afford and legally place. (The cost of each is shown on each player’s reference sheet.)
Each player is also restricted to 5 settlements, 4 cities, and 15 roads. For instance, if you have all 5 settlement pieces out, you will not have any left to build. If you turn one into a city though, you take back the replaced settlement piece, and then you can build the settlement again somewhere else later. In addition to the limited number, there are restrictions on placement.
1. Roads can only be placed adjacent to another road you have on the board, but only 1 road can be on each edge.
2. Settlements must be adjacent to one of your roads and must be at least 2 edges away from all other settlements and cities.
3. Cities replace a settlement you control. Cities collect 2 resources from a tile they touch when that tile is rolled instead of 1.
There are multiple benefits of building, and it is the only way to gain Victory Points (VP), 10 of which are needed to win the game. Roads let you build more settlements, and the player with the longest road, at least 5 long, gets 2VP (this changes hands whenever another player’s road exceeds the length of the current holder). Settlements are worth 1VP each, cities are worth 2VP each, building them increases the amount of resources you collect, and they can give you access to ports.
Development cards are either knights, 1VP, or a one-time-use effect. Knights let you move the robber, this does not trigger discarding, but you will steal a resource. In addition, the player with the most knights, at least 3, gets 2VP (this changes hands whenever another player’s knight count exceeds the current holder). 1VP cards are the only cards that can be played the turn you build them, but they remain hidden until you have at least 10VP (including your 1VP cards). At the end of the turn you reach 10VP, reveal them all . The other cards all have interesting effects explained on the cards. Aside from the 1VP cards, only one development card may be played on your turn, but you can play it at any time on your turn.
The game ends immediately at the end of any turn when someone has 10 or more VP. That player wins the game.
This game has seen a ridiculous amount of play around the world. It is certainly one of my most played board games (due to the online version at www.playcatan.com). The reasons for this are plenty: it is a good time length, there is enough luck that even a beginner can beat a seasoned player, the variable set up makes it interesting to play repeatedly (it has good replay value), the player conflict is not too harsh and, by targeting the player with the most points on the board, you can keep it from getting personal, and it is simply fun.
Its fun to get resources and build things. There are plenty of viable strategies: diversifying the resources you touch or focusing on one resource and relying on the related port, diversifying your numbers so you are more likely to get something every turn or focusing and relying on getting a lot of resources at once, or any number of other strategies that I do not want to spoil here.
This is a game that every “gamer” knows about, but some may have played it so much they have burnt out on it. If you are looking to get into “today’s board games” this is a good introductory “euro-game” with which to begin.
ForewordTicket to Ride is one of the most popular board games in the board game hobby around the world, for good reason. This easy to learn, attractive, and well-themed game has been enjoyed by every person I introduce it to, and it is my go-to game for introducing people to the hobby.
At the start of the game, three Destination cards are dealt out to each player. Each player must keep at least two of them. Two cities are on each card, and you need to place trains on the board to connect them.
To connect these cities you need to make smaller city to city connections called routes. For example, to complete the Kansas City – Houston ticket above you would need to finish at least three routes.
The paths do not need to be short or direct. You just need to be able to trace a continuous path between the cities on your ticket.
In order to complete these short routes, you need to collect and turn in train cards of the same color. For instance, to complete the route from El Paso to Oklahoma city, you need 5 yellow cards. Each card also has a specific symbol in its corners and on the board to differentiate themselves for colorblind players. The first player to collect and then spend 5 yellows to complete this route would put 5 of their trains along that route. No other player will be able to complete that route this game.
For colorless connections such as Santa Fe to El Paso, a player could turn in any two cards of the same color. For double routes such as Denver to Kansas City, one player could claim the orange route, and a different player could claim the black route. Wild cards can be used as any color.
On a player’s turn they can either:
Take 1 face up wild card
|OR|
Take a combination of 2 face up non-wild cards and/or cards from the top of the deck.
For instance, I could take the blue train card. Another card is immediately turned face up to replace it, another white for instance. Since I cannot take the wild and do not want white or orange I draw the top card of the deck. Luckily, I pull a wild card. Cards drawn from the deck are not shown to other players
Play up to 6 train cards of one color to claim a single route. A player may only claim one route a turn. You score points based on the size of the route. Keep track of the score on the score track around the board.
For a 1-train route: 1 point For a 2-train route: 2 points For a 3-train route: 4 points For a 4-train route: 7 points For a 5-train route: 10 points For a 6-train route: 15 points
If you have completed all your destination tickets or just want more, you can draw 3 new destination tickets. You must keep at least 1 of them.
Once any player has 2 or less train pieces remaining, everyone gets one final turn (including the player with 2 or less train pieces).
For each person, check to see which of their tickets they completed. Completed tickets add the number of points shown. Uncompleted tickets subtract the number of points shown.
10 points are then awarded to the player with the longest continuous path without branching. For example, black’s longest route would be Houston to Raleigh, 14 trains. Green’s longest route would be 12 since all are connected without branches. Yellow’s is 7.
Play this game at least once.
The basic rules are very simple and fun. It feels great when the color you have been waiting for is turned face up, you get it, and then you play a critical route on your next turn. Drawing a wild from the top of the deck is a similarly awesome feeling.
Throughout the game the scores remain fairly close, and it never feels like you cannot win. Longer routes award more points and can put someone in the lead early, but if someone has completed a lot of tickets, they can shoot right past the leader at the end of the game.
The game also looks great, especially at the end with everyone’s train pieces sprawling across the board.
I cannot emphasize this enough: even if your only experiences with board games have been Monopoly, Risk, and other similar games that might not have appealed to you years ago, try Ticket to Ride. If you know someone who is into “Board Games”, there is a good chance they have a copy. This game is the tip of the iceberg of all the new great hobby board games. Even if you do not like it, you will know what people are talking about when they talk about board games today. (I sincerely expect you will like it though.)
In this game you collect resources to expand your settlements to collect more resources to expand and win. Resource trading between players, robbing politics, and card play keep everyone involved constantly. Turns are generally quick, getting your numbers rolled feels great, and trading allows expansion to happen quickly.
