Help me get a new board game!

[Erik_Twice]

My friends and I are looking for a new board game to play ocasionally since, as awesome as they are, we may get burned out from Munchkin and Bang! by playing them too much.

Our main problem is that we can only reliably hit three players, the forth one will change frequently and will not be into gaming much more often than not.

I have several games that I'm interested in but I'm not sure if they are the best choice.

1) Risk: Revised Edition

Risk was always a flawed game, with games that lasted hours and luck imbalancing the game (the cards and turn order). It seems like the revised edition did a great work fixing those issues and the game clocks at less than an hour. It also seems that I can add same-time rules to solve the turn order issue and make the game more fun and strategical.

2) Cosmic Encounter

After reading somewhere that this game was one of the most important influences of Magic The Gathering I knew I was onto something interesting. However I have to say that while I like what I'm reading about the game, I don't think it's without it's problems.

It seems that the game is kind of unbalanced on puporse so a player may get more powerful powers so as to get people to gang on him. How good or bad is that? I'm fine with it but it may not be well-liked by the casual player.

Also the game seems very, very heavy on Diplomacy, perhaps too much. While we love this kind of games, it may be a bit redundant with the games already mentioned.

3) Build 4 casual Magic: The Gathering decks

This is a cool, albeit slighty more expensive, option. It has the bonus of being portable and much more flexible than other games but the skill gap between two of us, seasoned players, and the others is going to be huge and may ruin the fun.

What do you think? Want to suggest a game? Portability is a huge bonus! (I'm aware 1 and 2 aren't portable). Discuss!

[jfrost]

A friend of mine once showed up with a game called Ruse & Bruise. This one: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24509/ruse-bruise

It's a rather simple but incredibly addicting card/board game. We played it for like 12 hours straight, no kidding. I highly recommend it.

By the way, it is very portable.

[J T]

Do you like games that involve player deception? If so, I recommend Inkognito.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/466/inkognito

It's a whodunit mystery kind of game that requires using logic and reasoning to determine which of you is guilty. It's just as much fun watching your friends try to lie as it is to play the game itself.

[Czernobog]

Two portable card games my friends never seem to tire of are Uno and Fluxx. Fluxx is fun because it's wacky and the rules keep changing, plus it's mostly based on luck so skill levels won't really affect the game very much. I think Uno is just an all around a fun game to whip out. I also like to bust out old VCR games like Doorways to Adventure and Flash Match whenever I can convince friends to give them a whirl. (although these are hardly portable)

[Niode]

Carcassonne. If you have a 360 download the demo, it teaches you how to play. It's basically like Sim City in board game form without the politics/tax nonsense.

Settlers of Catan: My favourite board game ever. Bit of a bitch to set up in a hurry due to the dynamic board (the board is different every time you play) again, get the demo on 360 it tells you how to play.

I know it's not a board game but it's the game that gets quite a bit of play lately round Casa de Niode, Pass The Pigs. It's sort of like a simpler version of yahtzee where the aim is to get the highest score in a turn without 'pigging out' which means your score is 0 and you pass the pigs to the next person. You basically throw pigs and the way they land gives you a certain score. Sounds crap but it's hilariously fun if you make it into a drinking game as well.

The revised edition of Risk is a pretty good game, and I've played it extensively. It slightly balances the issues with unlucky dice rolls by having an extra defence/attack die available for the completion of certain objectives. The communal objectives are a nice touch and can mean for very quick games. We would get through at least two games a night when we played it frequently at my friend's pub. You can still get trounced by just being unlucky and that has always bugged me about the game. I hate leaving things down to luck. You'll still come across the rage inducing 'lucky bastard brick wall defence' whey they seem to just roll 6s over and over.

[zombi_ryu]

I cannot recommend Thunderstone enough. Look into it if you enjoy MtG. Excellent multiplayer and equally good single player.

[gtmtnbiker]

Banannagram is a fun word game for 2 or more people.

Phase 10 is another recommendation.

[Harvey]

The new Risk is excellent and I recommend it. I hated the game before due to the length, but now that we can play in less than an hour I think it's pretty sweet.

I also recommend Gosu. This is a card game, but you mentioned M:tG so I thought it was fair game. It is perfect with 3 players but it is also good with 2 or 4 (though 4 player games can kind of go on for too long). Gosu stands for "Goblin Supremacy" and basically you try to build the best army of goblins. The rules are excellent and the art is colorful and detailed. Lots of strategy and choices in this one, and you only need the one deck to play. Probably my third favorite game after Summoner Wars (two player game) and Heroscape (recently defunct).

[Croooow!]

Settlers of Catan: My favourite board game ever. Bit of a bitch to set up in a hurry due to the dynamic board (the board is different every time you play) again, get the demo on 360 it tells you how to play.

This. I've introduced over a dozen people to Settlers of Catan and so far everyone who's played it loves it, even people who have no interest in board games.

[J T]

Yes, Settlers of Catan is great for 3+ people.

Another good one that is pretty popular is Ticket to Ride. You have to build trains across the country to connect different destinations, but your opponents might get in your way if you're not strategic about it. This gets played a lot at our house.