To whom it may concern; Board games.

[o.pwuaioc]

Risk, Clue = Ameritrash? Both are fun games. Monopoly is a truly terrible game, though...

The trouble with Monopoly is that the game is over well before it's over.

Definitely agreed. Honestly, I never equated Monopoly with board games. When I think of board games, Monopoly is perhaps the furthest from my mind. Maybe though because Monopoly is geared towards kids. Likewise, I don't think of Old Maid when someone mentions card games.

[crux]

Firstly, I hoped my disclaimer made it clear that ameritrash shouldn't be taken as inherently negative, even if it sounds like it. It's an accepted moniker at this point, but isn't reflective of either the locale or the quality of the games within its particular division. There are experienced board gamers that are bigger fans of ameritrash than euros, as fastbilly himself professed.

Secondly, as another disclaimer: I agree that to a family that is either ignorant of alternatives or indifferent, Monopoly can teach basic algebra and strategy. That being disclaimed, there are a myriad of other family games of vastly higher quality that can do a much better job at teaching the same skills. Literally hundreds. I don't blame Monopoly for this; it was created in 1933. It's wasn't even the best board game in 1933, but it certainly had a great theme and was easy to learn. By today's standards, however, it caters far too much on luck and requires far too little strategy.

Risk also falls prey to the luck monster. It has a fair amount of strategy, to be fair, but the dice play far too heavy a role. I'm not even against dice as a general rule; unpredictability can spice up a game. But dice can literally turn the tides of war in Risk with no strategy involved. Worse, the game is long, with too little diversity to justify its length. I like Clue a fair amount more than Monopoly or Risk, but it's an extremely simple game. The theme is top notch though, so I don't (severely) blame anyone for taking it out now and again.

[BoringSupreez]

Risk, Clue = Ameritrash? Both are fun games. Monopoly is a truly terrible game, though...

The trouble with Monopoly is that the game is over well before it's over.

Definitely agreed. Honestly, I never equated Monopoly with board games. When I think of board games, Monopoly is perhaps the furthest from my mind. Maybe though because Monopoly is geared towards kids. Likewise, I don't think of Old Maid when someone mentions card games.

Or think of Farmville when someone mentions videogames.

[o.pwuaioc]

Risk also falls prey to the luck monster. It has a fair amount of strategy, to be fair, but the dice play far too heavy a role. I'm not even against dice as a general rule; unpredictability can spice up a game. But dice can literally turn the tides of war in Risk with no strategy involved. Worse, the game is long, with too little diversity to justify its length. I like Clue a fair amount more than Monopoly or Risk, but it's an extremely simple game. The theme is top notch though, so I don't (severely) blame anyone for taking it out now and again.

Sometimes, war is a roll of the dice. That's why I like it so much. Although I've since moved on to computerized versions (like Lux) to minimize the luck factor. Still plays a part, but now it's tons of skill.

Or think of Farmville when someone mentions videogames.

Heaven forbid such a thing.

[Czernobog]

I have that Myst board game, but I haven't tried it yet. I know at least in some portion it involves racing another player to complete a jigsaw puzzle.

[Hobie-wan]

Bonkers bitches!

[Erik_Twice]

I would say that Risk has two big issues

1) Too much variance in combat
2) First Player advantage.

A certain amount of variance adds more decisions to the game, leading to a choice between getting something for sure or getting more but without as much control. Chaos in the Old World's combat uses dice for this reason. Unfortunatedly, Risk has too much variance for this effect.

Monopoly makes me a sad panda

[fastbilly1]

If anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd be really grateful. It still drives me crazy that I never conquered mine. It seemed like it had a million pieces!

Odds are those are the Clue/Cluedo mystery puzzles.

I use to view Ameritrash as a derogatory term. Especially after I started calling Euros, Eurocrap and got lectured at a couple times. But that is what the fandom calls them, and it really doesnt bother me anymore. Ameritrash typically means three things:
1. Dice or some other random luck factor
2. Pieces that specifically denote a character or character type - typically plastic molds
3. A heavy theme that is tied to the mechanics and pieces
Now there are lots of definitions of Ameritrash, even the BGG wiki states the definition is hazy. But the best way to tell is are their figures and dice? If so, odds are its an ameritrash game. So games like Heroquest, Axis and Allies, Spacehulk, Nexus Ops, Memoir 44, and World of Warcraft the boardgame are all Ameritrash.

For those that like Risk or A&A, I highly suggest trying Memoir 44:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10630/memoir-44
It is a WW2 "simulation" that is very newbie friendly and very very good. It is one of my favorite games of all time. It takes individual battles from WW2, breaks them down on a 7x13 hex grid divided into 3 sections, and lets you battle using both a hand of cards and dice. It is a super light wargame, so more like A&A than ASL, but it is alot of fun and you can play five or six games in a night. When I was unemployed a couple years ago, and a friend was in college at night, we played Axis and Allies but used Memoir 44 for the actual battles. We had a blast.

You could also try Attack:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6752/attack
Its like A&A but with a better economy system and can be finished in an evening. Sadly I have owned it for over a year and it hasnt hit the table, mostly because of Nexus Ops (which gets a reprint this Christmas, along with Rex [which is just Dune] and Wiz-War!!!).

Edit:
Ohyeah Crux I played Tichu for the first time last night. Its like bridge with wild cards. For the price I am willing to buy it. That and we went from -62 points to 647 in three rounds (after I remembered that not all face cards are point cards).

[pakopako]

Not a big fan of risk; Stratego was a lot better.

If I wanted global conquest, I'd try Advanced Civilization. Or, more recently, Seven Wonders (though due to the duality of civilizations, they are NOT balanced). While I love a lot of European games (St.Petersburg, Puerto Rico, Catan), I am still unsure of the term "Ameritrash". Much like game consoles, each region has their own shovelware, but thankfully crap usually doesn't get exported. (Scattergories, the Red Dragon Inn, Quiddler, Set... these are all American-created, no?)

I would also lump card games (Dominion, Chez Geek, Munchkin, FLUXX) into "board game" territory.

Honestly, I play multi-player board games more than I do multi-player video games. I'm a bit saddened by that.

[AmishSamurai]

Not a big fan of risk; Stratego was a lot better.

If I wanted global conquest, I'd try Advanced Civilization. Or, more recently, Seven Wonders (though due to the duality of civilizations, they are NOT balanced). While I love a lot of European games (St.Petersburg, Puerto Rico, Catan), I am still unsure of the term "Ameritrash". Much like game consoles, each region has their own shovelware, but thankfully crap usually doesn't get exported. (Scattergories, the Red Dragon Inn, Quiddler, Set... these are all American-created, no?)

I would also lump card games (Dominion, Chez Geek, Munchkin, FLUXX) into "board game" territory.

Honestly, I play multi-player board games more than I do multi-player video games. I'm a bit saddened by that.

I'd use the term Amero-game or something of the like rather than Ameritrash. The term is just too loaded and biased for my tastes.