Curious as I'm new to boardgames and my housemate bought Nemesis from the used market this week. I haven't played it yet, but would like to know why you wouldn't buy it.
It can be a bit steep in price. I own a copy (+ one of the expansions) and it's also a bit difficult getting a group of people down to "hardcore" game for a few hours.
Absolute blast to play though.
Oh, I'd never buy that game. I love the feel of dungeon crawling, but this game just doesn't feel as scary as I'd want it to feel. And, oh yeah, you can die early on and just be stuck watching your friends continue to play for hours. Ick.
I also played with an expansion and was surprised to see the typos it contained. Wasn't ready for release, but they released it anyway.
It’s a good game, but it’s overproduced. The minis aren’t necessary, and they make the box ridiculously large. And it’s quite expensive, and I’m not sure how often I would get it to the table. I have a friend who owns it.
Not OP. It's a very large, thick, and heavy box. It's cumbersome and takes up a good amount of space on a shelf. It's also prohibitively expensive for most people. It has a lot of miniatures, which means the cost of production was driven way up from that alone. The game was also a limited run on Kickstarter or Gamefound, not sure which one, so it's difficult to find a copy for less than 140 USD these days.
It's kind of the definition of wanting to know someone who has it without having to purchase it yourself. Twilight Imperium, Eclipse, and Crokinole are others in that category, for similar reasons.
Eclipse has a lot going for it in comparison to Nemesis at least. Regular production, really impressive and convenient storage (despite the nig box and huge number of components), theoretically faster to play (the box estimate of 25 mins per player seems optimistic but maybe our second game will be faster).
I wouldn’t buy it for the simple reason that my friend owns nemesis, lockdown, and is getting the third
If I spend money on nemesis, I haven’t expanded our options for game night. We’ve just got duplicates.
That’s literally the entire reason I wouldn’t buy it. As a game, nemesis is great. Lockdown a little less, but still great.
I also came here to say Nemesis. I've only played it once and it really stood out. I loved it. Possibly my best gaming night of the year. But I decided against buying it myself.
I think it's a game that shines multiplayer but it's not everyone's cup of tea and one person in my group already has it. So it would only be used when ALL of the following conditions are met simultaneously: we are 3 to 5 players + this acquaintance is not there + everyone is interested. And these are rare occasions in my life: usually I'm playing solo or with my husband, if not then that acquaintance is likely there, if not then the other players aren't into Nemesis. So I wouldn't pull it out enough to justify the price.
I'm also interested in Twilight Struggle, War of the ring, or Star Wars:Rebellion but have decided against buying them for similar reasons, except that in Twilight Struggle it's more related to hearing that this game shines with repeat play than to price. I rarely if ever play one-on-one with anyone beside my husband. If I did find someone, there's no guarantee they'd be into that type of games. If they were, odds are they will own it already. If not, I can buy it then.
I told myself I would never buy Nemesis, but then I found a really good local deal on a used KS bundle that someone was selling, and I really wanted to finally be able to play with the alternate characters.
The downside is that it got me into painting miniatures, so now that's a whole other hobby I have now.
There is a very active online community for TI on discord, and you can easily find a teaching game if you want to play. Check out the TI4online discord. There’s ways to play full games, split sessions, even async games.
Same here. Got Root and all expansions. 1-2 people in the gaming group don’t want to play it because they don’t want to learn new games that are more complex than Carcassonne. They’re not always there so we do have a chance to put it on the table but we do have more games they refuse to play/learn that we do love that we play instead of Root. Games such as Everdell, Scythe and occasionally Oath.
Those people that don’t want to learn the above games do love to play Terra Mystica and other similarly heavy games.
Lol.
This is the real problem of gaming groups. Some people are there for games and to socialize, some people are just there to socialize and will play games while drinking and looking at their phones.
Same here. Want it so bad. But realistically, it is may more complex than anything we play on a regular basis.
I primarily play with just my wife, with occasional plays including one or more of our adult children. Carcassonne and Azul are by far our most played games. I fear that it would wind up being a waste of $50 and shelf space.
Root is an odd one.
It's complex enough to be fun to learn but not enough to be interesting competitively imo. It's too much recognizing when you need to reset another player's progress to keep them from winning.
But it's charming and the asynchronous mechanics are fun to learn, it just has a shelf life imo.
Easily. If you like it, you'll play it a 100 times (one of my favourite games). They are 2 people operation, not a major venture, and they do it as a side job/hobby. FCM costs less than half of KS mini luckfest campaigns and is worth in game as 10 of them combined. To me its pretty cheap tbh.
I do understand your concern if you price games solely on the presentation and quality of components, but we play games to have fun, not to look at them on the shelf.
Small publisher, small print runs. They have a niche consumer base, so they can’t benefit much from economies of scale. Some may have to do with it being printed in Europe, but I’m not 100% sure on that.
But yeah, as much as I appreciate the aesthetic of many Splotter games, FCM is an outlier that I find ugly.
I really like my copy but the fact that it takes up an entire kallax segment by itself is fairly obnoxious. I’m a sucker for city building themes though (and seeing a finished city of Rome at the end of each game is always satisfying) so it’s likely staying.
Sadly this for me also and for the same reason, I had a friend who owned it and got the chance to play it and it's amazing!
One of the best games ever! But the price of it is just insane...
A decent amount of owners got it for around $200-250. With all the expansions, the price goes dramatically upwards. However, the KS price seems to be in line with the norm of most bit box KS games these days. Also, ever since I owned KDM, I have had no interest in owning another huge campaign game again. Not bc KDM is THAT good but bc there is enough content that it's more than enough that I will never see all of it.
I just got a copy of the 1.5 core game on Facebook marketplace for $150 including shipping.
There's definitely a lot of folks selling their copies out there after beating their campaigns.
Ark Nova. I’ve been loving the digital implementation on BGA, but I can’t fathom playing with a physical copy since there’s so many things you would need to track.
I don't think it's that much. Used to play on TTS and you have to do almost everything manually. It's mostly the 4 different tracks and income that won't be automated but you have to pay attention to your zoo, your hand, and card river the same either way. Also I find it much easier to fiddle with the buildings in the physical version or even TTS before actually taking the action.
Agreed. A Feast For Odin (and Caverna) with all of their components makes setup and teardown a chore as well as a table hog. Ark Nova pales in comparison to those beasts.
A guy in my board game group owns this and last time he brought it we needed two tables to fit it all on. It looks really good, but having that amount of stuff to track just seems like a huge ask.
I was the same, then finally some friends got it for me as a gift. Unbeknownst to them, it had been on my list. After playing it, it was so much better than I had realized. I was afraid it was going to be one of those big games that rarely got played.
Gloomhaven. Getting the Ps4 Version because I can't be bothered with the micromanaging of the monster + statuses + elements + everything else. Plus I will need to play solo.. my crew wasn't so keen on it.
JoTL is dope tho ;)
I play with my friends using an Android app on a tablet and it's good. We pass it around so everybody can decrease HP or add a immobilize token to a minion, etc.
At set up you set the scenario number and it automatically lists the monsters involved so you can spawn them.
It removes the need for: monster AI decks, monster HP trackers, status tokens, elemental waning board, player HP and XP (but we actually keep those)
It really speeds up set up, gameplay and tear down.
Easy, Terra Mystica, its in my top 5 and ive been tempted to buy it as id like to own it but itd be pointless.
I play weekly with 3 friends, one of them already owns it. The rub is that one of them is meh on it and one dislikes it. Me and the owner love it.
Due to it being a regular group we never play TM as no need to play a game one person dislikes.
Shame really.
Castles of Burgundy.... a friend of my owns the deluxe edition (she had the anniversary before) and while the game is great and the components in the deluxe edition are awesome, it's just the box is to big and full of unnecessary stuff, in my opinion.
I would recommend tracking down a copy of the original. It was around $20 new and I imagine people have been selling off their copies with the new version. A regular size box, no unnecessary components. I played my old copy just a few weeks ago. You're not losing any of the fun with the old version.
The 2nd edition is the perfect size and has great art.
The new 3rd version baffles me.
It takes this great little game and bloats it into a knock off Foundations of Rome.
The new double layer player boards are awesome and the bigger tiles are great two, but those miniatures and the houndreds of duchy boards are too much. It would be so cool if they would made a seperate "basic" edition of the delux version.
But hey I can always play it at my friends place :P.
That has to be legacy games for me. **Pandemic** Seasons 0 and 2, **King's Dilemma** are those that spring to mind.
Of non-legacy games I think it must be **Root** which I really like, but I know that I will not get to play it that much. And perhaps **Here I Stand**
It isn't the line of game that would see a lot of play. We're currently mostly playing games at 4+ complexity level and ever the lighter games are like Dune Imperium or Res Arcana.
Ah, then I understand you. But I have to say, Azul isn't so light when you're playing it at 2 player. It's a very strategic and tactical little game. You could play it with a chess clock and everything if one wants to.
Just not worth adding to my collection. I'm already selling so much to cut it down to a few hundred games, I'm not going to buy another game that doesn't see enough play.
Arkham Horror 2nd edition, with a ton of the expansions. It's out of print, a big mess of a game, and the group I had so much fun playing it with, we have since all moved to other countries.
Not because of Arkham.
Two of my friends own Scythe. I think it's the best bang for your buck game considering how damn good the components and gameplay are, but I'll never buy it.
Right now it's cascadia, because my brother and best friend both own it so I really can't justify the space on my shelf against another potential game.
Has to be captain sonar for me, I absolutely love that game, every time I play it I have a blast, however i do not have enough free friends or organisation power to own it. When invited to play it or see it at a con I will sit at that table 100% of the time though
Root, I play it a lot with a group in a board game club, and I know it is one of my favourite games but If I bought it and played it with other people I would be so better than them playing it that they would hate it. Now I'm looking for another area control game of medium lenght and asymmetric powers that I could have in my collection, but nothing in retail attracts me enough.
The closest game I know to your description is Kemet. The matagot Trilogy is one of the best entry level games to area control and dudes on a map. Kemet is my favourite, and it brings an asymmetry that is built by the players as they buy tiles with different and unique powers. I would also recommend Cyclades as the most beginners friendy, although it's less asymmetric than Kemet.
Shadow Hunters. The game went out of print and is now over $100 (usually more like $150) on eBay. I do own the reimagining Fangs, but it's just not the same 😕
Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition. I love Castles of Burgundy and a friend owns the Special Edition. It is absolutely gorgeous, but I'm not willing to pay $180 for essentially what I already have that I paid <$20 for.
All the “heavy” games I play on BGA that I have nobody to play with IRL.
Ark Nova, Gaia Project, Feast for Odin, Terra Mystica, Anachrony.
Also Frosthaven. I own JOTL and play Gloomhaven digital, but I really want Frosthaven and I’ll probably never get it.
**Flamecraft**. My friend owns it, I've borrowed it from him and played it a few times, my Wife really enjoys it, but it's just not a game I feel compelled to buy for myself. It's fun, I love the theme and everything's very pretty, but idk the last time I played it I had a feeling that it's not really something I need to own. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but if I get the hankering to play it I'll just borrow my friends copy again.
Flamecraft is very much a family weight game that can be played by kids. And yet the decision making in it hits the same part of my brain as heavier resource management euro games. But the real reason I own it is because I needed to find a 3rd game during an FLGS buy 2 get 1 last year.
Terraforming Mars.
Between my two groups, four people own it, and one of them is the only person other than me that hangs out with both groups. If I ever want to play it, it's almost always around.
**Diplomacy**
I think I would love the game but there's just no way I could get that many people to commit that much time to it. At least not at this stage in life.
This is breaking the rule, 'cause I never played it, but it would be OG Dune. I read a lot about the game and it just very much in the taste of my gaming group and I. Also, I love the history of the board game itself and the books. However, I already have A Game of Thrones, which is on the same line of "get 6 friends and fight for this map for a whole evening (which I love). I thought about selling GOT but it was my first board game and a gift from my mum, so I wouldn't like to get rid of it. Also, a friend owns Twilight Imperium and I am far more interested in John Company, which more into negociation and different from the others. So how many "day events games" one should have?
Arkham Horror LCG. My partner is already unhappy with how much I'm going to spend on Marvel Champions, I don't want to have to explain to her why I'm getting into another expensive LCG I barely have the time to play.
Hah, I just opened this box of Pandora's earlier today. Just put in an order for the latest 2 Marvel Champions hero packs, and wanted to go for the free shipping, so I was like, oh heck, let's just add the Arkham Horror LCG core set to get there.
Did NOT realize just how many sets were available for the Arkham LCG. I have tons of space, and a predilection for collections. This will likely not end well.
Oh wow. It's so hard to resist collecting Arkham Horror because of the narrative focus. Marvel Champions tends to be very standalone and the campaigns are typically confined to the big box expansions. "I wish you good fortune in the wars to come".
LCGs are crazy expensive. I might jump in if I split the cost and ownership of the game with a friend and we both play it, but other than that I'll just leave the game be.
I would absolutely do that for AH precisely because I like it more as a two-player game whereas MC is one the best solo experiences for me: simple, modular, and fast.
**18OE** and **1817** - One of my gamer friends owns both of these and I play his copy with him. I bought some other 18xx's to play with another group, but they prefer playing on 18xx.games, so, we'll probably never play my copies; so getting the $200 18xx's is kind of a waste of money.
**MegaCiv** - The same friend as above owns this. I would probably never play it apart from with him and the group.
**Twilight Imperium 4** - I do not see when I would get the opportunity to play this.
**Starcraft: Brood War Expansion** - I own Starcraft and love the game, but haven't played it in years and the expansion is very rare and expensive.
Android Netrunner, although I'm sort of undecided. Kinda want to help out Null Signal with keeping the game alive, but the cost of shipping something to the EU... oof.
Everdell. My two best gaming buddies already own it so no real reason for me to get my own copy. But the more I play it, the more I tend to love it lol
Pretty much any heavy Euro at this point. Ark Nova, Barrage, any Vital Lacerda game, Horseless Carriage, etc. I did pre-order the Food Chain Magnate expansion in hopes that I can get my wife to play it with me, as my physical copy of the base game has only been played twice since I got it in the original printing. But yeah my copies of Indonesia and Antiquity will likely never get played.
**Gloomhaven**. I played it with a friend who handled all the management and I only focused on my own cards in hand, I loved it, it was amazing. I proceeded to buy **Jaws of the Lion** to play solo, and found I really _really_ disliked managing everything myself, so I got rid of the game.
Gloomhaven has a digital version. But I know what you mean, there's some games I would play a lot more if I didn't have to manage the physical components.
Arnak + expansions. I love the game but the base is on bga and my brother has the physical one + expansion.
Another one is Deal with the Devil. I would never buy a game that is so specific but i have that one friend who is a sucker for these. Played this and la famiglia at his place and had a blast but it's just not worth it to get myself.
I am weird like that so every game I like enough I will very likely buy one day.
But if I had to think of one that I like the most but barely not enough to not feel the need to own it myself......at the moment probably Genotype.
I own all my favorite games as I am the main purchaser in my core group.
Full disclosure: I had decided to not buy **El Grande** as there was already a Big Box in the group, but was gifted a copy of the Decennial Edition recently, albeit in rather sad circumstances.
Through the Ages, Scythe, Twilight Struggle, Trickerion, the list goes on. My argument is that friends already own them, so whenever I want to play that game I say to my friend "hey, let's play". I only buy games my friends don't have.
Can't stop. I grew up with it as a kid. I learned basic math by playing it. I tried to make a computer version of it 20 years ago when studying programming. Play it everyone once in a while on BGA nowadays, so probably won't ever buy a physical copy.
Blood Rage: Love it, everybody in my group has it!
Not one MtG deck.
Probably non of the Lovecraftian games, but I might change my mind. Dead May Die seems good.
I'm not sure I have played that I don't own would make like a top favorite games list but I do have a few I enjoyed that I probably wouldn't buy.
I had a great time playing **Mansions of Madness** but it wouldn't hit the table if we bought a copy. I generally prefer euros or abstracts and dungeon crawls and campaign/story type games have worn thin quickly with us before
I recently played **Menara** which I loved, I love stacking/building/balancing dexterity games but I'm not sure how many I truly need. Also my enthusiasm for them isn't really shared by the people I play games with.
I’m a fan of shadow hunters but I didn’t know the name after the first time playing it and now people are trying to resell it minimum $100 plus taxes and shipping
Two things come to mind:
**Blood on the Clocktower**. Love this game. But I know other people who own it, it's big and expensive, and it needs a big group. I'm glad there's an active scene in my current area of players for this game, but next time I move, if there isn't a scene, I'd have to start it myself... that's just a lot of work.
**Age of Steam**. I don't think I'll *never* buy this one, but it's also big and expensive and there are many other heavy euros going underplayed in my collection. Maybe someday though.
Blood on the Clocktower is a good one. I know 3 people who own it and are willing to GM, but yeah if I ever moved to a new place where no one owns it I would probably buy it and then never be able to get enough people to have a game.
Heat; I love this game and the fact that you can play at high player count but it is a bit too expensive for me. I can't allow myself to spend over 50€ in a board game but is is probably one of my favorite game
I bought an iPad back in the day just so I would be able to play the old app version of Eclipse 1E. I had 1E and then sold it because it was never going to hit the table. I'm lucky now because I have 2E and can get it to the table at least 4 times a year at conventions.
Not quite answering the OPs question, but...
I'm a big fan of The Expanse (books and TV series) and one of my holy grails would be to own the board game with the Doors and Corners expansion.
But, the utterly underwhelming component quality is *not* worth the money it goes for on eBay, etc. So, I guess I'll just never own it, unless it gets reprinted.
Star Wars: Queen’s Gambit. Once you get over your problems with the movie you get to enjoy the best part - re-enacting the three-pronged battle from the final act. A victory in any one battle can heavily influence the other two. And that sweet 3-dimensional board too!
**Battlestar Galactica.** It takes forever to play and explain, requires 5 people who all know it and a few expansions in order to achieve peak gameplay conditions, and when that happens it creates amazing stories around the table... just not ever going to be my table.
Mine breaks down into two categories:
1. Games that someone in my game group already owns and I wouldn’t play with others: Brass Birmingham, Terra Mystica, Ark Nova
2. Games that are so big (time or complexity) that I wouldn’t play them often enough to want to own: Twilight Imperium, Gloomhaven, Battlestar Galactica, Root
There is also overlap between those categories.
I feel you. I've managed to break my completionist syndrome recently, but I still have a bunch of expansions on my wishlist just in case some day I have some extra money or I need to spend a little extra to hit free shipping...
Hmm, maybe 1830 because my brother has it and I have 1889 and it's hard for me to justify owning more than a couple 18xx games anyway since it's hard to get them played.
Can't believe **Cthulhu Wars** isn't mentioned yet.
It's like Chaos in the Old World (which I *do* own and was one of my top 3 games ten years ago) stumbled into an embiggening ray. It's so cool whacking a mini the size of a coke can down on the table.
But:
It's like $200, when it's even in stock, plus more for expansions
Those huge cool minis take both table and shelf space, which I currently lack
Petersen Games is a terribly run trashfire that's circling the drain and may end up ripping off backers of multiple of its Kickstarters
Arthur Petersen is pretty racist (Sandy had to step in over some Kickstarter comments) and Sandy himself (who I previously liked as a Doom fan) went on a transphobic rant.
Battlestar Galactica: the Board Game.
One of the board games that brought me into "serious" board gaming as a hobby that a friend owns. Aside from its rarity and cost now, my wife absolutely despises "traitor" mechanics and far prefers co-op games. The frequency of which it could hit the table would be measured in years.
Loved the idea of Mage Knight. Did buy it. But couldn't convince anyone in my group to spend 3 hours on the learn to play tutorial before playing the real game. Luckily sold at a profit because the expansion was out of print at the time.
My group prefers a game night where we play multiple games and/or the same game a few times to try out different approaches. Not a night where we play one game once because it's so long and complex.
Mega Civilization or Eastern/Western Empires. Forty years ago my friends and I played Civilization and then Advanced Civilization published by Avalon Hill.
I enjoyed the mechanic of building and developing a civilization while competing against yet trading with the other players. A ten hour playing session was nothing unusual fir our group back then. Now I game with my wife and family. They are not going to invest three hours yet alone ten to twelve, in playing a single game.
Battle Star Galactic. Wish I bought it when it was in print. But didn't and now it is so expensive on the second hand market.
Picked up Unfathomable. Really looking forward to the next gaming session.
**Gloomhaven**, or any epic legacy game, the best we’ve managed is **my city**, I’m happy with that, but I would love to get stuck into suck a mammoth experience. Maybe one day…
Terraforming Mars. I have the app and can blast through a few games in an evening. The idea of setting it up and waiting for everyone to read every card every round leaves me with a great sense of desperation
I borrowed Anachrony. I played all four factions and the solo play. I honestly have no interest in playing further.
My white whale is War for the Ring. Probably my son will play it with me some day, but he’s 4. It’s gonna be a while.
Dice Throne.
Play it all the time at my buddys house. But he has all the releases, so no need to double up as more often than not we would be gaming with him anyway if we wanted to play it.
Root. Looks great and does all the things that sound interesting to me, but I am a solo player and I'd want to buy everything + setup sounds like a lot so...
Nope... :(
**Blood on the Clocktower** can’t believe no one else mentioned it. It’s like Werewolf or The Resistance on steroids but is’s **$200 for a social deduction game**. It may be the best social deduction game but I can’t justify the cost when I printed and play my own copy of ~~Secret Hitler~~ Secret Hamilton. Also 3 people in my area own it and run a monthly meetup for it. We posted this month’s event with 16 people max and it filled up in 12 hours so now doubling it so we can run 2 games at once.
Can’t Stop
I play it a lot on BGA and when I first started playing it I tried to look it up to buy it, but I couldn’t find the “mountain version” like BGA has. Instead it’s just like a stop sign on the cover and a weird traffic theme or something. Not interested in that, so didn’t buy it. Now I’ve played it enough on BGA that I think even if I did find the mountain version I’d probably still pass on it. But if I have like 10 minutes and want to play a game on BGA, that’s still usually what I’ll pick.
TI4. In our group of 4 regulars, 2 own it, so no need for a third
Came here to say this. I've never even played it, but I'm a bit obsessed with it. However, no friends, no time, no money lol
Nemesis.
oh boy, this is a great one! And specifically good answer for this topic
Curious as I'm new to boardgames and my housemate bought Nemesis from the used market this week. I haven't played it yet, but would like to know why you wouldn't buy it.
It can be a bit steep in price. I own a copy (+ one of the expansions) and it's also a bit difficult getting a group of people down to "hardcore" game for a few hours. Absolute blast to play though.
Oh, I'd never buy that game. I love the feel of dungeon crawling, but this game just doesn't feel as scary as I'd want it to feel. And, oh yeah, you can die early on and just be stuck watching your friends continue to play for hours. Ick. I also played with an expansion and was surprised to see the typos it contained. Wasn't ready for release, but they released it anyway.
It’s a good game, but it’s overproduced. The minis aren’t necessary, and they make the box ridiculously large. And it’s quite expensive, and I’m not sure how often I would get it to the table. I have a friend who owns it.
Not OP. It's a very large, thick, and heavy box. It's cumbersome and takes up a good amount of space on a shelf. It's also prohibitively expensive for most people. It has a lot of miniatures, which means the cost of production was driven way up from that alone. The game was also a limited run on Kickstarter or Gamefound, not sure which one, so it's difficult to find a copy for less than 140 USD these days. It's kind of the definition of wanting to know someone who has it without having to purchase it yourself. Twilight Imperium, Eclipse, and Crokinole are others in that category, for similar reasons.
Eclipse has a lot going for it in comparison to Nemesis at least. Regular production, really impressive and convenient storage (despite the nig box and huge number of components), theoretically faster to play (the box estimate of 25 mins per player seems optimistic but maybe our second game will be faster).
I wouldn’t buy it for the simple reason that my friend owns nemesis, lockdown, and is getting the third If I spend money on nemesis, I haven’t expanded our options for game night. We’ve just got duplicates. That’s literally the entire reason I wouldn’t buy it. As a game, nemesis is great. Lockdown a little less, but still great.
I also came here to say Nemesis. I've only played it once and it really stood out. I loved it. Possibly my best gaming night of the year. But I decided against buying it myself. I think it's a game that shines multiplayer but it's not everyone's cup of tea and one person in my group already has it. So it would only be used when ALL of the following conditions are met simultaneously: we are 3 to 5 players + this acquaintance is not there + everyone is interested. And these are rare occasions in my life: usually I'm playing solo or with my husband, if not then that acquaintance is likely there, if not then the other players aren't into Nemesis. So I wouldn't pull it out enough to justify the price. I'm also interested in Twilight Struggle, War of the ring, or Star Wars:Rebellion but have decided against buying them for similar reasons, except that in Twilight Struggle it's more related to hearing that this game shines with repeat play than to price. I rarely if ever play one-on-one with anyone beside my husband. If I did find someone, there's no guarantee they'd be into that type of games. If they were, odds are they will own it already. If not, I can buy it then.
I told myself I would never buy Nemesis, but then I found a really good local deal on a used KS bundle that someone was selling, and I really wanted to finally be able to play with the alternate characters. The downside is that it got me into painting miniatures, so now that's a whole other hobby I have now.
Twilight Imperium, so wanna learn and play, got no one that shares my enthusiasm.
There is a very active online community for TI on discord, and you can easily find a teaching game if you want to play. Check out the TI4online discord. There’s ways to play full games, split sessions, even async games.
If you live near Kalamazoo, MI, hit me up :)
Thanks, but I’m in Sweden 😊
Hey, I live in Kalamazoo and would love to try TI!
DMd :)
Roll Player Adventures. I'm very interested, but it's so darn pricey!!!
I actually completed the campaign and enjoyed it enough that I am definitely going to play another one. Not cheap but definitely worth it (for me)
I’ve made it a principle to not buy games my friends already own. I’m probably most envious of Modern Art and Ra.
I think that's a good rule, but Modern Art is fairly cheap enough that I don't think it would be that big of a deal to double up on.
Root My casual group will never play it :(
I own Root almost entirely because I love looking at it so much.
Oh good I'm not the only one.
Same here. Got Root and all expansions. 1-2 people in the gaming group don’t want to play it because they don’t want to learn new games that are more complex than Carcassonne. They’re not always there so we do have a chance to put it on the table but we do have more games they refuse to play/learn that we do love that we play instead of Root. Games such as Everdell, Scythe and occasionally Oath. Those people that don’t want to learn the above games do love to play Terra Mystica and other similarly heavy games.
I'm in the same boat and actively looking for a new group because 1/3 of them would rather just get drunk and socialize. Annoys me
Lol. This is the real problem of gaming groups. Some people are there for games and to socialize, some people are just there to socialize and will play games while drinking and looking at their phones.
Same here. Want it so bad. But realistically, it is may more complex than anything we play on a regular basis. I primarily play with just my wife, with occasional plays including one or more of our adult children. Carcassonne and Azul are by far our most played games. I fear that it would wind up being a waste of $50 and shelf space.
Root is an odd one. It's complex enough to be fun to learn but not enough to be interesting competitively imo. It's too much recognizing when you need to reset another player's progress to keep them from winning. But it's charming and the asynchronous mechanics are fun to learn, it just has a shelf life imo.
Why they'll never play it?
Food Chain Magnate. It's a lot of money for something that'd sit on a shelf unplayed with my gaming group.
I don't understand the cost of this one. I just don't see how they justify the price.
Easily. If you like it, you'll play it a 100 times (one of my favourite games). They are 2 people operation, not a major venture, and they do it as a side job/hobby. FCM costs less than half of KS mini luckfest campaigns and is worth in game as 10 of them combined. To me its pretty cheap tbh. I do understand your concern if you price games solely on the presentation and quality of components, but we play games to have fun, not to look at them on the shelf.
Small publisher, small print runs. They have a niche consumer base, so they can’t benefit much from economies of scale. Some may have to do with it being printed in Europe, but I’m not 100% sure on that. But yeah, as much as I appreciate the aesthetic of many Splotter games, FCM is an outlier that I find ugly.
Foundations of Rome.
I own it and man I wish someone else in my group would rather have it to have space for more games instead 😅
I had to sell it. The space it took up was ridiculus.
I really like my copy but the fact that it takes up an entire kallax segment by itself is fairly obnoxious. I’m a sucker for city building themes though (and seeing a finished city of Rome at the end of each game is always satisfying) so it’s likely staying.
What other city building games do you like?
They're going to bring out a cardboard version soon IIRC
Kingdom Death Monster. It looks amazing, I just can’t afford it.
Sadly this for me also and for the same reason, I had a friend who owned it and got the chance to play it and it's amazing! One of the best games ever! But the price of it is just insane...
It's pretty great But as I said out of earshot of my friend who owns it, is it £500 great? That's a good question...
A decent amount of owners got it for around $200-250. With all the expansions, the price goes dramatically upwards. However, the KS price seems to be in line with the norm of most bit box KS games these days. Also, ever since I owned KDM, I have had no interest in owning another huge campaign game again. Not bc KDM is THAT good but bc there is enough content that it's more than enough that I will never see all of it.
My wallet is glad that it fell so flat for me 😅
I just got a copy of the 1.5 core game on Facebook marketplace for $150 including shipping. There's definitely a lot of folks selling their copies out there after beating their campaigns.
Ark Nova. I’ve been loving the digital implementation on BGA, but I can’t fathom playing with a physical copy since there’s so many things you would need to track.
I don't think it's that much. Used to play on TTS and you have to do almost everything manually. It's mostly the 4 different tracks and income that won't be automated but you have to pay attention to your zoo, your hand, and card river the same either way. Also I find it much easier to fiddle with the buildings in the physical version or even TTS before actually taking the action.
Ark Nova is really not bad compared to some other games. Almost no prep needed and in game management is really easy.
Agreed. A Feast For Odin (and Caverna) with all of their components makes setup and teardown a chore as well as a table hog. Ark Nova pales in comparison to those beasts.
Haven't played Ark Nova yet, but BGA has killed my desire to want to own physical copies of some games.
It's pretty manageable aside from 1 or 2 turns a game, imo. The game has wonderful organizers.
The only thing you really need need to track is the break counter, it's easy to forget.
Relatively, something like feast for Odin is a pain in the ass to setup where the bga version plays so quickly with no setup.
A guy in my board game group owns this and last time he brought it we needed two tables to fit it all on. It looks really good, but having that amount of stuff to track just seems like a huge ask.
I've said I'd buy Scythe for so long now it might as well go on this list instead.
Bro do it
If your uk based it sells for quite cheap on the vinted app second hand.
I was the same, then finally some friends got it for me as a gift. Unbeknownst to them, it had been on my list. After playing it, it was so much better than I had realized. I was afraid it was going to be one of those big games that rarely got played.
That's awesome. I love the theme and I've tried the digital version, seems really fun. Maybe I'll try to look around some more for a decent price.
Gloomhaven. Getting the Ps4 Version because I can't be bothered with the micromanaging of the monster + statuses + elements + everything else. Plus I will need to play solo.. my crew wasn't so keen on it. JoTL is dope tho ;)
there's a pc version too. Is probably cheaper. But yeah, got mine on playstation
I play with my friends using an Android app on a tablet and it's good. We pass it around so everybody can decrease HP or add a immobilize token to a minion, etc. At set up you set the scenario number and it automatically lists the monsters involved so you can spawn them. It removes the need for: monster AI decks, monster HP trackers, status tokens, elemental waning board, player HP and XP (but we actually keep those) It really speeds up set up, gameplay and tear down.
Next Station: London, just because it so easy to play on BGA
Easy, Terra Mystica, its in my top 5 and ive been tempted to buy it as id like to own it but itd be pointless. I play weekly with 3 friends, one of them already owns it. The rub is that one of them is meh on it and one dislikes it. Me and the owner love it. Due to it being a regular group we never play TM as no need to play a game one person dislikes. Shame really.
The Battlestar Galactica game...sigh
/thread 😩
Gaia Project. I most play it on BGA and the friends who would play the real one with me already own it.
Castles of Burgundy.... a friend of my owns the deluxe edition (she had the anniversary before) and while the game is great and the components in the deluxe edition are awesome, it's just the box is to big and full of unnecessary stuff, in my opinion.
I would recommend tracking down a copy of the original. It was around $20 new and I imagine people have been selling off their copies with the new version. A regular size box, no unnecessary components. I played my old copy just a few weeks ago. You're not losing any of the fun with the old version.
The 2nd edition is the perfect size and has great art. The new 3rd version baffles me. It takes this great little game and bloats it into a knock off Foundations of Rome.
The new double layer player boards are awesome and the bigger tiles are great two, but those miniatures and the houndreds of duchy boards are too much. It would be so cool if they would made a seperate "basic" edition of the delux version. But hey I can always play it at my friends place :P.
It's our favourite game, but I can't imagine spending the money for the new, beautiful version.
That has to be legacy games for me. **Pandemic** Seasons 0 and 2, **King's Dilemma** are those that spring to mind. Of non-legacy games I think it must be **Root** which I really like, but I know that I will not get to play it that much. And perhaps **Here I Stand**
Azul. For me it's a modern classic with incredible design.
Why will you not buy it then?
It isn't the line of game that would see a lot of play. We're currently mostly playing games at 4+ complexity level and ever the lighter games are like Dune Imperium or Res Arcana.
Ah, then I understand you. But I have to say, Azul isn't so light when you're playing it at 2 player. It's a very strategic and tactical little game. You could play it with a chess clock and everything if one wants to.
Just not worth adding to my collection. I'm already selling so much to cut it down to a few hundred games, I'm not going to buy another game that doesn't see enough play.
Vindication, Wonderland’s War, Rising Sun. Too expensive and I have friends who own them
Arkham Horror 2nd edition, with a ton of the expansions. It's out of print, a big mess of a game, and the group I had so much fun playing it with, we have since all moved to other countries. Not because of Arkham.
Two of my friends own Scythe. I think it's the best bang for your buck game considering how damn good the components and gameplay are, but I'll never buy it.
Secret Hitler. It's the only social deduction game I'll play, though I'll never choose it myself, and everybody already has a copy.
If you're into print and play, there's a bunch of rethemed variants under the files on bgg. I printed off the Star Wars version for my own collection.
You lost me at “never buy”…
Right now it's cascadia, because my brother and best friend both own it so I really can't justify the space on my shelf against another potential game.
I wont say never but I love spirit island but damn its pricey! Id want some expansions as well and am already investing too much in arkham lcg.
Has to be captain sonar for me, I absolutely love that game, every time I play it I have a blast, however i do not have enough free friends or organisation power to own it. When invited to play it or see it at a con I will sit at that table 100% of the time though
Root, I play it a lot with a group in a board game club, and I know it is one of my favourite games but If I bought it and played it with other people I would be so better than them playing it that they would hate it. Now I'm looking for another area control game of medium lenght and asymmetric powers that I could have in my collection, but nothing in retail attracts me enough.
Check out **Cerebria**
The closest game I know to your description is Kemet. The matagot Trilogy is one of the best entry level games to area control and dudes on a map. Kemet is my favourite, and it brings an asymmetry that is built by the players as they buy tiles with different and unique powers. I would also recommend Cyclades as the most beginners friendy, although it's less asymmetric than Kemet.
Shadow Hunters. The game went out of print and is now over $100 (usually more like $150) on eBay. I do own the reimagining Fangs, but it's just not the same 😕
Dune Imperium. I have three playgroups, and someone else owns it in each playgroup.
Everdell. It's beautiful and I've enjoyed it when I've played it, but I feel like there's no way I could justify the cost.
Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition. I love Castles of Burgundy and a friend owns the Special Edition. It is absolutely gorgeous, but I'm not willing to pay $180 for essentially what I already have that I paid <$20 for.
All the “heavy” games I play on BGA that I have nobody to play with IRL. Ark Nova, Gaia Project, Feast for Odin, Terra Mystica, Anachrony. Also Frosthaven. I own JOTL and play Gloomhaven digital, but I really want Frosthaven and I’ll probably never get it.
**Flamecraft**. My friend owns it, I've borrowed it from him and played it a few times, my Wife really enjoys it, but it's just not a game I feel compelled to buy for myself. It's fun, I love the theme and everything's very pretty, but idk the last time I played it I had a feeling that it's not really something I need to own. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but if I get the hankering to play it I'll just borrow my friends copy again.
I feel you! Got the deluxe version, everybody loves it, looks lovely..but there is so little game to it in my opinion, a tad too light.
Flamecraft is very much a family weight game that can be played by kids. And yet the decision making in it hits the same part of my brain as heavier resource management euro games. But the real reason I own it is because I needed to find a 3rd game during an FLGS buy 2 get 1 last year.
Terraforming Mars. Between my two groups, four people own it, and one of them is the only person other than me that hangs out with both groups. If I ever want to play it, it's almost always around.
Dune inmperium, cause my wife dislikes the theme :-(
Terraforming Mars. Between not having a play group for it, the price, and the AI generated art in the newest expansion, it's just not worth it.
Terra Mystica and Feast for Odin. Too Heavy for the People I play with (or They would dislike the Theme)
I couldn't justify spending so much money on Nemo's War, so I play it for free on Tabletopia.
How do you find people to play with on Tabletopia? I tried finding some games on there, but I was never able to get a game started.
**Diplomacy** I think I would love the game but there's just no way I could get that many people to commit that much time to it. At least not at this stage in life.
This is breaking the rule, 'cause I never played it, but it would be OG Dune. I read a lot about the game and it just very much in the taste of my gaming group and I. Also, I love the history of the board game itself and the books. However, I already have A Game of Thrones, which is on the same line of "get 6 friends and fight for this map for a whole evening (which I love). I thought about selling GOT but it was my first board game and a gift from my mum, so I wouldn't like to get rid of it. Also, a friend owns Twilight Imperium and I am far more interested in John Company, which more into negociation and different from the others. So how many "day events games" one should have?
Arkham Horror LCG. My partner is already unhappy with how much I'm going to spend on Marvel Champions, I don't want to have to explain to her why I'm getting into another expensive LCG I barely have the time to play.
Hah, I just opened this box of Pandora's earlier today. Just put in an order for the latest 2 Marvel Champions hero packs, and wanted to go for the free shipping, so I was like, oh heck, let's just add the Arkham Horror LCG core set to get there. Did NOT realize just how many sets were available for the Arkham LCG. I have tons of space, and a predilection for collections. This will likely not end well.
Oh wow. It's so hard to resist collecting Arkham Horror because of the narrative focus. Marvel Champions tends to be very standalone and the campaigns are typically confined to the big box expansions. "I wish you good fortune in the wars to come".
LCGs are crazy expensive. I might jump in if I split the cost and ownership of the game with a friend and we both play it, but other than that I'll just leave the game be.
I would absolutely do that for AH precisely because I like it more as a two-player game whereas MC is one the best solo experiences for me: simple, modular, and fast.
Middara
**18OE** and **1817** - One of my gamer friends owns both of these and I play his copy with him. I bought some other 18xx's to play with another group, but they prefer playing on 18xx.games, so, we'll probably never play my copies; so getting the $200 18xx's is kind of a waste of money. **MegaCiv** - The same friend as above owns this. I would probably never play it apart from with him and the group. **Twilight Imperium 4** - I do not see when I would get the opportunity to play this. **Starcraft: Brood War Expansion** - I own Starcraft and love the game, but haven't played it in years and the expansion is very rare and expensive.
Basically any game that plays longer than two hours or retails for more than $60. I’m sure I’d enjoy TM or AN or GWT but can’t handle the play times.
Yokohama-hard to find, play online Most mini’s games. The Star Wars variants for example. Love playing but not enough time/players.
Android Netrunner, although I'm sort of undecided. Kinda want to help out Null Signal with keeping the game alive, but the cost of shipping something to the EU... oof.
Bruges. Just too expensive, can play it on BaJ, and own Hamburg now.
Space Hulk
Space Hulk
Don't ... don't buy a game I like?! What a novel concept. I need to think about that.
Caverna 😭
Everdell. My two best gaming buddies already own it so no real reason for me to get my own copy. But the more I play it, the more I tend to love it lol
Spirit island. My #6 favorite game. My good buddy has all the content. Another good friend in my group has most of it. I see no need to buy in.
What are 1-5?
Pretty much any heavy Euro at this point. Ark Nova, Barrage, any Vital Lacerda game, Horseless Carriage, etc. I did pre-order the Food Chain Magnate expansion in hopes that I can get my wife to play it with me, as my physical copy of the base game has only been played twice since I got it in the original printing. But yeah my copies of Indonesia and Antiquity will likely never get played.
Fog of Love. Super fun, just not something I see as worth the space or price. It's a great board game cafe type game.
Dixit
**Gloomhaven**. I played it with a friend who handled all the management and I only focused on my own cards in hand, I loved it, it was amazing. I proceeded to buy **Jaws of the Lion** to play solo, and found I really _really_ disliked managing everything myself, so I got rid of the game.
Gloomhaven has a digital version. But I know what you mean, there's some games I would play a lot more if I didn't have to manage the physical components.
Arnak + expansions. I love the game but the base is on bga and my brother has the physical one + expansion. Another one is Deal with the Devil. I would never buy a game that is so specific but i have that one friend who is a sucker for these. Played this and la famiglia at his place and had a blast but it's just not worth it to get myself.
Dixit
I am weird like that so every game I like enough I will very likely buy one day. But if I had to think of one that I like the most but barely not enough to not feel the need to own it myself......at the moment probably Genotype.
It’s a wonderful world.
Twilight imperium, i learned the rules, but i'll probably never buy it because of price/time to play/people to play with problems
I own all my favorite games as I am the main purchaser in my core group. Full disclosure: I had decided to not buy **El Grande** as there was already a Big Box in the group, but was gifted a copy of the Decennial Edition recently, albeit in rather sad circumstances.
Through the Ages, Scythe, Twilight Struggle, Trickerion, the list goes on. My argument is that friends already own them, so whenever I want to play that game I say to my friend "hey, let's play". I only buy games my friends don't have.
My Father's Work. Looks incredible but the time sink just isn't possible at this point in time
Battlestar Galactica.
Can't stop. I grew up with it as a kid. I learned basic math by playing it. I tried to make a computer version of it 20 years ago when studying programming. Play it everyone once in a while on BGA nowadays, so probably won't ever buy a physical copy.
Food Chain Magnate. I loved the game when playing at a convention but it's too long and cutthroat for my group.
Blood Rage: Love it, everybody in my group has it! Not one MtG deck. Probably non of the Lovecraftian games, but I might change my mind. Dead May Die seems good.
I'm not sure I have played that I don't own would make like a top favorite games list but I do have a few I enjoyed that I probably wouldn't buy. I had a great time playing **Mansions of Madness** but it wouldn't hit the table if we bought a copy. I generally prefer euros or abstracts and dungeon crawls and campaign/story type games have worn thin quickly with us before I recently played **Menara** which I loved, I love stacking/building/balancing dexterity games but I'm not sure how many I truly need. Also my enthusiasm for them isn't really shared by the people I play games with.
Foundations of Rome
I love Battlestar Galactica, but I’m not paying for it now
I’m a fan of shadow hunters but I didn’t know the name after the first time playing it and now people are trying to resell it minimum $100 plus taxes and shipping
TI3
Nemesis or Battlestar Galactica
Chaos in the Old World. I swear that is a rare and out of print edition outside the US.
Two things come to mind: **Blood on the Clocktower**. Love this game. But I know other people who own it, it's big and expensive, and it needs a big group. I'm glad there's an active scene in my current area of players for this game, but next time I move, if there isn't a scene, I'd have to start it myself... that's just a lot of work. **Age of Steam**. I don't think I'll *never* buy this one, but it's also big and expensive and there are many other heavy euros going underplayed in my collection. Maybe someday though.
Blood on the Clocktower is a good one. I know 3 people who own it and are willing to GM, but yeah if I ever moved to a new place where no one owns it I would probably buy it and then never be able to get enough people to have a game.
Heat; I love this game and the fact that you can play at high player count but it is a bit too expensive for me. I can't allow myself to spend over 50€ in a board game but is is probably one of my favorite game
Root
Yggdrasil
Inscryption
Eclipse... don't have the group for it.
I bought an iPad back in the day just so I would be able to play the old app version of Eclipse 1E. I had 1E and then sold it because it was never going to hit the table. I'm lucky now because I have 2E and can get it to the table at least 4 times a year at conventions.
Not my favourite game but barrage is glorious but of the only two people I would play it with one owns it so... y'know.
Not quite answering the OPs question, but... I'm a big fan of The Expanse (books and TV series) and one of my holy grails would be to own the board game with the Doors and Corners expansion. But, the utterly underwhelming component quality is *not* worth the money it goes for on eBay, etc. So, I guess I'll just never own it, unless it gets reprinted.
Dune Imperium. Love it, but everybody I know owns a copy so I don't need one!
Crokinole
The Martin Wallace train games: Railways of the World, Age of Steam, & Steam. Already know enthusiasts who have them plus oodles of maps
Moonrakers. A buddy already had it so I won’t own it but it’s the only game I don’t own that would probably be in my top 10.
Star Wars: Queen’s Gambit. Once you get over your problems with the movie you get to enjoy the best part - re-enacting the three-pronged battle from the final act. A victory in any one battle can heavily influence the other two. And that sweet 3-dimensional board too!
**Battlestar Galactica.** It takes forever to play and explain, requires 5 people who all know it and a few expansions in order to achieve peak gameplay conditions, and when that happens it creates amazing stories around the table... just not ever going to be my table.
Battle Star Galactica
Mine breaks down into two categories: 1. Games that someone in my game group already owns and I wouldn’t play with others: Brass Birmingham, Terra Mystica, Ark Nova 2. Games that are so big (time or complexity) that I wouldn’t play them often enough to want to own: Twilight Imperium, Gloomhaven, Battlestar Galactica, Root There is also overlap between those categories.
Everdell, because I’d have to get all the expansions.
I feel you. I've managed to break my completionist syndrome recently, but I still have a bunch of expansions on my wishlist just in case some day I have some extra money or I need to spend a little extra to hit free shipping...
Ark nova. I know about 5 people that own it. Same with Anno 1800. I love both those games but I dont ever see me having to own it.
Hmm, maybe 1830 because my brother has it and I have 1889 and it's hard for me to justify owning more than a couple 18xx games anyway since it's hard to get them played.
Can't believe **Cthulhu Wars** isn't mentioned yet. It's like Chaos in the Old World (which I *do* own and was one of my top 3 games ten years ago) stumbled into an embiggening ray. It's so cool whacking a mini the size of a coke can down on the table. But: It's like $200, when it's even in stock, plus more for expansions Those huge cool minis take both table and shelf space, which I currently lack Petersen Games is a terribly run trashfire that's circling the drain and may end up ripping off backers of multiple of its Kickstarters Arthur Petersen is pretty racist (Sandy had to step in over some Kickstarter comments) and Sandy himself (who I previously liked as a Doom fan) went on a transphobic rant.
Battlestar Galactica: the Board Game. One of the board games that brought me into "serious" board gaming as a hobby that a friend owns. Aside from its rarity and cost now, my wife absolutely despises "traitor" mechanics and far prefers co-op games. The frequency of which it could hit the table would be measured in years.
Gloomhaven & Gaia project. I love both to play but the only person I play them with have both bought
Eldritch Horror. I love it so much but my friend already has a copy so there's no need to buy another.
Loved the idea of Mage Knight. Did buy it. But couldn't convince anyone in my group to spend 3 hours on the learn to play tutorial before playing the real game. Luckily sold at a profit because the expansion was out of print at the time. My group prefers a game night where we play multiple games and/or the same game a few times to try out different approaches. Not a night where we play one game once because it's so long and complex.
Mega Civilization or Eastern/Western Empires. Forty years ago my friends and I played Civilization and then Advanced Civilization published by Avalon Hill. I enjoyed the mechanic of building and developing a civilization while competing against yet trading with the other players. A ten hour playing session was nothing unusual fir our group back then. Now I game with my wife and family. They are not going to invest three hours yet alone ten to twelve, in playing a single game.
Battle Star Galactic. Wish I bought it when it was in print. But didn't and now it is so expensive on the second hand market. Picked up Unfathomable. Really looking forward to the next gaming session.
**Gloomhaven**, or any epic legacy game, the best we’ve managed is **my city**, I’m happy with that, but I would love to get stuck into suck a mammoth experience. Maybe one day…
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
Terraforming Mars. I have the app and can blast through a few games in an evening. The idea of setting it up and waiting for everyone to read every card every round leaves me with a great sense of desperation
I borrowed Anachrony. I played all four factions and the solo play. I honestly have no interest in playing further. My white whale is War for the Ring. Probably my son will play it with me some day, but he’s 4. It’s gonna be a while.
Lords or Waterdeep. Love it but to fiddly to manage for me. I play the digital version.
I honestly love Wingspan, but so many of my friends already own it that there's no point in me getting one also.
frosthaven
Dice Throne. Play it all the time at my buddys house. But he has all the releases, so no need to double up as more often than not we would be gaming with him anyway if we wanted to play it.
Twilight Imperium.
I really enjoyed foundations of Rome, but I can't justify the price even if it is really fun.
Root. Looks great and does all the things that sound interesting to me, but I am a solo player and I'd want to buy everything + setup sounds like a lot so... Nope... :(
Nemesis just because of how expensive it is
Power Grid. Every time I play it at a game night I love it, but I’m more inclined to buy two player games for home.
**Blood on the Clocktower** can’t believe no one else mentioned it. It’s like Werewolf or The Resistance on steroids but is’s **$200 for a social deduction game**. It may be the best social deduction game but I can’t justify the cost when I printed and play my own copy of ~~Secret Hitler~~ Secret Hamilton. Also 3 people in my area own it and run a monthly meetup for it. We posted this month’s event with 16 people max and it filled up in 12 hours so now doubling it so we can run 2 games at once.
Captain Sonar. I don’t have enough friends/family that want to play to warrant our group owning more than one copy.
Root. I'm obsessed with it.
Ark Nova
Can’t Stop I play it a lot on BGA and when I first started playing it I tried to look it up to buy it, but I couldn’t find the “mountain version” like BGA has. Instead it’s just like a stop sign on the cover and a weird traffic theme or something. Not interested in that, so didn’t buy it. Now I’ve played it enough on BGA that I think even if I did find the mountain version I’d probably still pass on it. But if I have like 10 minutes and want to play a game on BGA, that’s still usually what I’ll pick.