Couldn't find anywhere more appropriate to post this question so I guess here is suitable.

About once a month I get together with some friends and we game. Usually either Runebound or Descent, sometimes Dominion if the group is to small that day. So you can see that almost any game by FF will work. I'm also thinking about Conquest of Nerrath (the D&D board game).

So I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good new game to throw in the mix? Fantasy Flight brand or other wise. These can include deck building games like Dominion, expansions to Runebound or another game all together.

I understand that Arkham Horror is good? I'm also looking at Thunderstone and Twilight Emperium. But feel free to suggest many others!

How many players in your group, and how long a game do you guys usually like?

You also mentioned different genres, it is very difficult to suggest games, because frankly, there are lots of awsome games out there.

As far as players, there are at most 5, but usually only 4. We typically have 6 hours at most. The games I have we all know well so there is very little time spent on rules.

And for genres, it depends on what kind of genre.

As for genre meaning "theme", were completely open. Sci-fi, Fantasy, whatever. For Sci-fi i'm really eyeing Twilight Emperium. In fantasy I'm thinking the Sands of Al-whatever expansion for Runebound.

As for genre meaning "type" of game, deck building is...okay. Dungeon delving (like Descent) is probably our favorite. But we like games like Risk and Runebound as well (whatever type of game it can be considered). My players also like San Juan and Catan. I don't, but if there are games similar but just different enough I'm open to it.

Well, let's start with the games you already mentioned, shall we?

Ninjaman65 said:

The various big box expansions to Runebound all provide significantly different experiences from the base game in the way of victory conditions and atmosphere, but all of them are still the same sort of "adventure" genre. They all have the same "storytelling" feel of the base game, they just feel like they're telling very different stories, if you catch my drift. Sands is easily the fan favourite among them, but really they're all good in they're own ways. If you enjoy playing the base Runebound and just want a bit of new scenery to keep things exciting, any of these exapnsions should do you justice.

Arkham Horror is a fantastic "theme" game. It really draws you in to the sanity-defying horror of Lovecraft's creations. I expect it would be a huge hit based one what you've told us of your desires in a new board game. The expansions don't vary as much in feel as the Runebound ones do, but they do a great job of providing more Arkham and more Horror, if that's what you want. I would actually suggest sicking to the base game as long as you can and only picking up expansions when your group is ready to raise the challenge level; that way you can milk the franchise for as much entertainment as possible.

Haven't played Thunderstone myself, so I can't help you with that one.

Twilight Imperium is the big daddy of sci-fi conquest games (unless you're old school enough to have played stuff like Fed & Empire, but I digress.) It is a truly huge game and an equally huge experience, even before you start mixing in expansions. There's really only one drawback (in my personal opinion, of course) and that's that you say you'll generally only be playing with 4 or 5 people. TI3 can certainly play 4-5 people, but in my opinion it is a game that's meant to be played with as many as possible, despite how incredibly long that makes a game take to finish. =P The base game seats 6, the first expansion takes that up to 8. I try to fill as many seats as I can when I pull this one out. Half the fun is the politicking and comeraderie as players struggle for dominance, and for that, the more is truly the merrier.

A slightly more compact, faster playing version of TI can be found in Runewars. It's a fantasy theme instead of sci-fi, and it tops out at 4 players (which may be a problem when you have 5), but otherwise it's really sleek and plays quite nicely with 3 or 4.

Another fun sort-of-wargame is Smallworld, which officially supports up to 5 players, but it's a soft cap that can be pushed if you have a couple extra people. Silly artwork and easy rules combine to form a surprisingly addictive gaming experience.

On the card game side, you might want to look up Race for the Galaxy. It's sci-fi with a couple interesting mechanics that make it memorable to me. Not really a war game since you don't directly fight other players (barring expansions anyway.) Just an quick and easy "earns as many points as you can" game.

Citadels is also good. Building a medieval city with a variety of leaders that swap hands every turn. Not sure where it falls on the spectrum between Descent and Catan.

Thanks! I keep all those games in mind.

I actually emailed a list of games to my group and several of them expressed interest in Twilight Imperium. They also expressed interest in Descent/Runebound expansions so I think were headed in the right direction!

If you like Sci-fi, I highly recommend you also have a look at Eclipse.
It is a new game, released this year, has that 4x feel, and plays quite fast, taking into consideration the amount of things going on (30 mins per player, so on a 4 player game we are talking about 2 hours)

Of course not as epic as TI3, but it does scratch the right itches, in under a fraction of TI3 play time.

TI3 still reigns supreme as the epic space game and if your group likes deep, long tactical sci-fi, go ahead and get it!

Area control, i really like Chaos in the Old World. It plays excellent with 4 players, since each of the 4 chaos powers antagonize another, in a perfect balance. There is an expansion to add a fifth player, so your group would still be able to play together.
The game plays around 4 hours, sometimes less, and it is great.

Watch the Downtime Town video review about it:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=135&efcid=1&efidt=189088
Very entertaining and I must say, it was this video that sold me the idea of getting the game, and I am glad I did.

Deck building: I am not a fan of deckbuilding games, but again, FFG made a very nice one which I am enjoying to play: Rune Age
It is for 1-4 players (can be played solo), and has 4 different play modes, from confrontational to cooperative. Very nice, very fast, easy to learn.

Arkham Horror: I really want to have it one day, but it does have a negative side: play time
If you like the idea of a Lovecraftian horror cooperative game, look at Elder Sign.
Again Elder sign is like an Arkham Horror lite. I love it! Play it solo or with friends.

Look for videos on the games above. FFG has videos up for Elder Sign, Rune Age.
Dont forget to watch downtime town´s chaos in the old world
And on Eclipse, you can look for Drakkenstrike´s video on youtube, and also read some reviews in boardgame geek.

I hope my list is useful, I like the above games very much...

Hi!

I agree with almost everything said by my fellow forumites (except for the AH time issue: ok, it's long, but Descent lasts much more, at least, in my experience. Never ever had an Arkham game lasting more than 3 hours), but let me add to the mix some extra thoughts: you could possibly consider

a) A Game of Thrones: if you like politics, diplomacy and warfare, this can be a great game. No dice are rolled: it's all based on the players' skill and strategy. Starding positions are fixed, and there is no bad luck that can influence the game (some events - card driven - can certainly influence the game in a randomic way, but they interest all players in the same way, so really, no way you can say "how unlucky I've been"). Everytime I play it, I feel like I'm playing chess. As for TI, the more you are, the better the experience is, buuuut it works rather well even if you're only 4.

b) Mansions of Madness: similar to Arkham for the mitology and the characters and the monsters and some of the item, but also similar to Descent for the modular dungeons (haunted mansions or similar) you have to explore, plus a lots of cards with flavour text to enhance the experience. IIRC, Mansions won a prize this year on the BGG as best game (for theme, I think). It comes with gorgeous minis, so if you're into some sort of 3D a la Descent, you'll probably appreciate this one as well. And games are pretty tense (all the Scenarios I've been through so far were rather well balanced) and not too much long (3 hours max)

c) Gears of War: it's an excellent cooperative sci-fi boardgame similar to the now (sadly) dismissed Doom (the ancestor of Descent, as far as gae mechanics are concerned), with some better rules (cover factor finally considered above all) and scenarios are intense, without being too oppressive.

Great suggestions julia, I love all 3 games!

As I said on my first post... so many great games! And all the above suggestions are awsome...

Mestre dos Magos said:

Thanx! The only big issues with games is time... sigh... I still have to start my Road to Legend campaign..

Oh I hear ya!

I have been delaying a road to legend campaign for a long time now!

So many great games, so little time!