Play Board Games - Notre Dame

2007-08-29T18:44:00.000+01:00

The players take on the roles of the heads of influential families in Paris at the end of the 14th century.

Good game this one and definitely worth a closer look and probably one of my favourites of this year.

Falls into the Puerto Rico & Caylus (so that can't be bad!) camp where the options are numerous but limited per turn. We played it with 4 and 5 but I can't see any problem with 3 either. The game also accommodates 2 with a small change to the card trading rule.

Lots of tough decisions as you decide where to place your cubes in your borough, move your carriage around to pick up useful messages and avoid the rats (which set you back if you encourage too many into your borough)

Plays in under an hour, is fairly easy game to teach and those I've shown have wanted to play again.

My rating 8/10

My name is Bill Dove and I’ve been a collector of board games for over 40 years. I also run The Games Player where these games, and many more, can be found.

Play Board Games

2007-08-27T01:03:00.000+01:00

Turn off the TV everyone and Play Board Games.

When it comes to spending a challenging, fun and entertaining few hours, there is very little that can beat board games without actually leaving the comfort of your own home.

To be able to sit down with your friends and family and play board games is both socially fun and is often educational too.

The range and variety of board games available now is staggering. Gone are the days when you were restricted to just Monopoly, Cluedo, Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble (all great games of course). Today there is enormous choice and I will briefly give you a few great starters just to get you going.

In fact here are my top 5:

Settlers of Catan – Number of Players 3 to 4. Probably the game that heralded a new era of board games and now a modern day classic. Fairly simple to play, players build road, towns and cities on a hexagonal tiles and compete for the best development, longest road.

Ticket to Ride – Number of Players 2 to 6. Easy to play railway building games but with lots of strategies. Connect cities across the USA for high scoring routes. Colourful board and great little trains.

Ingenious - Number of Players 2 to 4. Very abstract game but you will play this one time and time again. Players place tiles to create lines of hexagonal colours. Takes only 30 minutes to play and everyone I’ve shown this game to has enjoyed it.

Carcassonne - Number of Players 2 to 5. Very popular and easy to play tile laying game. Players create farms, castles and roads and get their pieces to occupy them. Plays just as well with 2 as with 5. Loads of expansions are also available.

Puerto Rico - Number of Players 3 to 5. Probably the toughest to learn out of these 5 but well worth the effort. The players are plantation growing up to five different types of crops: Corn, Indigo, Coffee, Sugar and Tobacco. They must try to run their business more efficiently than their close competitors; growing crops, storing them efficiently and, at the right time, ship their goods back to Europe for maximum benefit.

These are just a very small example of the great games that are out there just waiting for you to try and enjoy.

So play board games everyone. It may just bring back the art of conversation and a few evenings in with your family.

My name is Bill Dove and I’ve been a collector of board games for over 40 years. I also run The Games Player where these games, and many more, can be found.