
The best board game of 2017 is a wildly entertaining romantic comedy generator - smacktoward
https://www.vox.com/2017-in-review/2017/12/17/16764344/best-board-game-2017-fog-of-love
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labster
Actually, the best board game of 2017 was Kingdomino.[0] It's a good
lightweight euro, easy to learn but decent strategy for those who want it.

Arranging dominos in a 5x5 grid is harder than it should be, when you're
trying to maximize points one domino at a time. I start off with a great plan,
but by the end: d'oh, last one won't fit!

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiel_des_Jahres#2017_awards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiel_des_Jahres#2017_awards)

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cthulhujr
This is a far better authority on tabletop gaming than Vox in the OP.

Also not super impressed with: > Fog of Love is available exclusively from
Walmart for some reason

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2muchcoffeeman
It should still be taken with a grain of salt. E.g Istanbul beat Concordia. I
have both games. Istanbul is good. But Concordia is a modern classic.

Not all of the good games in 2017 necessarily even qualify for the Spiel des
Jahres or the Kennerspiel des Jahres. E.g. Gloomhaven, 7th Continent.

~~~
labster
Right. I enjoy Istanbul, but for the most part, it seems like you just pick
one or two economic engines as soon as you see the board layout, and then work
on the one that has the least competitors on a given turn. The strategy
changes enough between turns to make it fun, but not enough to make it one of
the greats.

SdJ isn't always right, but still a better choice for best game of the year
than J. Random Blogger's pick.

~~~
tormeh
Agreed. When I started out getting a gaming collection, I read about the
winners and recommends of SdJ, and picked among those. Ended up with 7
Wonders, Codenames, Dixit and Spyfall. Got to say it gives you some
perspective on Risk and Monopoly.

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cthalupa
Also for consideration: Gloomhaven -
[https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame](https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame)

Now the top ranked board game on BGG.

~~~
EtienneK
Yup, I don't think anyone can argue against Gloomhaven being the game of 2017.
It totally dominated the BGG hotness rankings and the BGG geek rankings for
the entire year. It was also on almost every reviewer's game of the year
lists.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
It’s a legacy game. I don’t like my board games to permanently change :)

~~~
munchbunny
It does have permanent world state changes, but it's nowhere near as extreme
about it as capital L Legacy games.

It doesn't throw in rule changes the way the actual Legacy games do. Also,
anecdotally, there's about 200 hours worth of play time in a single party
running through the campaign, so the chances of anyone actually exhausting the
game are slim. There's also a replay mechanic and a random dungeon mechanic,
so you're not totally locked in.

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noelwelsh
Any recs for cooperative games suitable for kids? Have just started playing
Forbidden Island with the kids, and they love it, but Burgle Bros is a bit too
complicated for them.

~~~
fujiters
Forbidden Desert has similar game mechanics but is sufficiently different from
Forbidden Island to be worth getting as well.

~~~
wiredfool
My family has found that Forbidden Island is far more fun than Forbidden
Desert. (Obv, ymmv). We just don't feel the need to have both of them, so one
has been relocated to the grandparents house.

~~~
gmiller123456
I have both, I liked Forbidden Island more, and my GF and her son both like
Forbidden Desert more. I think the main difference is Desert involves a lot
more luck, you can't really plan ahead much because the game could change
considerably on one play. So Island would appeal to people that like to plan
ahead, and Desert would appeal more to people who like chaos and drama.

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seren
I don't want to derail the thread, but I have discovered the 7th Continent
thanks to last year discussion on HN. I ended up buying it (but I have not
received or played it yet). This is a kind of remix of "Choose Your Own
Adventure" in board game set in a early twentieth century with some fantastic
elements (inspired by Lovecraft, Poe, Verne, etc) that can be played solo or
in group.

If you were interested by the game, the 15th of January, so in less than 24
hours is the last day to pre-order it (and at this stage it probably won't be
released by any other channel, so the last chance to get the game)

[https://app.crowdox.com/projects/1926712971/the-7th-
continen...](https://app.crowdox.com/projects/1926712971/the-7th-continent-
what-goes-up-must-come-down)

~~~
quietbritishjim
While that sounds fun, buying something that can only be pre-ordered is crazy
(especially for fifty quid). What incentive is there for the seller to ensure
it's not crap? Even pre-orders for something that will be on general sale is
fairly suspect in my opinion.

~~~
cthalupa
It's fairly common in the boardgame industry, especially for boutique games
like 7th Continent, Gloomhaven, or Kingdom Death: Monster.

These games don't fit well into the general mass production/sell in your local
game store/keep stock on hand long term and sell online models. Too heavy, too
many specially cards, too weird of a form factor, etc.

The 2017 Kickstarter campaigns for all 3 of these games were actually their
second runs - previous KS had run and generated a lot of hype for the games,
and were massive hits the first time around.

A lot of the time you are betting on a designer with a past track record.
Other times you get drawn in by a concept that sounds interesting. But for
these second production runs, it's more just pre-ordering a known quantity
that doesn't lend itself to constant general availability.

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tomtimtall
Really? I Player this back when it was first sent out, and honestly the only
thing it’s got going for it is the premis. It’s not fun to play, it isn’t an
interesting game and not one of the people I played with wanted to ever play
it again.

~~~
digi_owl
Sounds like just about every romcom i have ever endured...

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arikr
For anyone wondering: It's also available for purchase on walmart.com
(seemingly with free shipping)

~~~
fredleblanc
I believe it's the first in Wal-Mart's exclusive board game line (so you can
_only_ buy it there, for now at least).

