by Benn Roe » Sat Feb 02, 2019 1:34 am
I own a board game shop, actually, and I'm a big gamer in general. Right now I'm really digging Spirit Island and Photosynthesis. The former is sort of a reverse Catan, in that it's a cooperative game where everyone plays a nature spirit and you all work together to protect your island from colonizers. Mind you, it's a little rulesier than Catan and doesn't play anything like it, but thematically it's an interesting mirror. Photosynthesis is a really fun game where you try to grow trees better than everyone else by trying to better capitalize on exposure to light and soil fertility. It's better than it sounds, and really beautiful.
Other games you guys might want to check out are Carcassonne, Citadels, and Splendor. They're some of my go-tos that are still easy enough to teach to muggles. Again, none of them are super exciting thematically, but they're all super fun games. I like Smash Up a lot too, but it can be a little frustratingly unbalanced at times.
Man, there's too many great games out there. For heavier stuff, the Battlestar Galactica game is a phenomenal semi-coop game, and Dead of Winter's another great one (with a zombie apocalypse theme, no less). For deck-builders, check out Star Realms and Mystic Vale. Tokaido's really fun, Scythe is great, Power Grid, Robo Rally, etc., etc. I could go on all day.
Former Bands: Lazy Gaga, Kadis-kot, Pyramids, In First Person, the Holy Fucking Spirit, Take Down Your Art, A Petal Fallen