Want to purchase some board games, looking for opinions

[NemoXX7]

Hello!

TL; DR: Recommend me some boardgames similar/ better to the list I made below.

I have been really enjoying board games lately, with my most recent play being Wingspan. Have played Catan base game and some other popular titles.

I want to look at expanding my own collection and at the board game stores I have been to, everything looks like it will be amazing but the art can be deceiving as it says nothing about what the actual gameplay is like.
The only game so far that I can say I would not be interested in is Root, as this only seems fun to play with a group of experienced players.

I have shortlisted some games which I think look like a good time based on actual gameplay, if anybody has played any of these I would be interested to get opinions or recommendations:

Mycelia - Not the same as the game shown on BGG

Mycelia

Each player starts with the same set of cards in Mycelia, improving their deck with better cards over the course of play as they race to clear their playing field of dewdrops first. In this deck-building game, you need the support of mysterious forest dwellers to improve your deck, develop new...

tabletopguru.co.za

Everdell

Everdell: Essentials Edition

Within the charming valley of Everdell, beneath the boughs of towering trees, among meandering streams and mossy hollows, a civilization of forest critters is thriving and expanding. From Everfrost to Bellsong, many a year have come and gone, but the time has come for new territories to be...

levelupstore.co.za

Everdell: Farshore

EVERDELL: FARSHORE ESSENTIALS EDITION

Farshore will send you on an epic seafaring adventure to explore and build in the rugged country north of Everdell Valley. Study the winds to sail your ship in search of valuable riches, compete for lucrative island locations before high tide rises, and be the first to claim valuable maps that...

levelupstore.co.za

Parks - 2nd edition is 10x more beautiful than the 1st ed.

PEGASUS Parks 2. Edition Strategy Board Game | DistriNode SA

Parks 2. Edition: a strategy board game for 1-5 players, 40-70 min playtime, ages 10+. Buy online in South Africa from DistriNode.

distrinode.co.za

Sounds Fishy: Pocket Edition

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.

www.takealot.com

Wingspan

Buy Wingspan board game | Timeless Board Games

Buy Wingspan from Timeless Board Games | Price : R1550.00 | Availability: In stock - Purchase now and get super fast delivery!

www.timelessboardgames.co.za

Timber Town

Timber Town

In Timber Town you are a beaver architect, constructing a new town on the riverbank using buildings sent drifting down the river. Timber Town is a "river drafting" game where players grab tiles from an ever changing board. Players place their tiles in their towns into the same column from which...

levelupstore.co.za

Cascadia

Kosmos Cascadia Card Game | DistriNode SA

Kosmos Cascadia, Card Game, 10 yr(s), 30 min. Buy online at DistriNode South Africa – nationwide delivery, official warranty.

distrinode.co.za

LEGO Monkey Palace

Lego - Monkey Palace

Monkey Palace is a jungle-themed game of light strategy that incorporates both collaborative and competitive elements. Players must strategically work together to construct the Monkey Palace while competing for the highest brick income and points, all under the watchful gaze of the Monkey. The...

bigbangshop.co.za

Nestlings

Nestlings

In Nestlings, players assume the role of various birds competing to gain priority across four vastly different biomes - Savannah, Alpine, Freshwater, and Desert. Each round, roll and assign your dice to the four unique biomes, including the wild grasslands. Gain priority and reap the benefits of...

levelupstore.co.za

Edit: I have tried to link to stores I have actually visited, or I have purchased from before and are trustworthy. The only store in the list I am not familiar with is DistriNode.

 

[PandaAttack1]

How many people do you usually have in your group? 4? 6?

Timber Town is great. I did not enjoy Monkey Palace that much, but many people love it.

I would add 'ticket to ride' to your list. Easy to learn, and enough randomness that day one players can also win.

 

[PandaAttack1]

ps. The knockoffs on Temu is great to try out some of the more expensive games before investing the 2k+ price tags.

Sometimes the names are a bit obscured though. For instance 'Secret Hitler' is found as 'Political board game', though it is a 1-to-1 clone of the original. Quality is horrible, but we enjoyed playing enough that we are considering buying the original.

 

[NemoXX7]

How many people do you usually have in your group? 4? 6?

Timber Town is great. I did not enjoy Monkey Palace that much, but many people love it.

I would add 'ticket to ride' to your list. Easy to learn, and enough randomness that day one players can also win.

We are mostly a group of 3-4, sometimes just 2 of us.

Will look into Ticket to Ride, I see a lot of different versions, not sure yet if they are different standalone games or expansions

 

[NemoXX7]

ps. The knockoffs on Temu is great to try out some of the more expensive games before investing the 2k+ price tags.

Sometimes the names are a bit obscured though. For instance 'Secret Hitler' is found as 'Political board game', though it is a 1-to-1 clone of the original. Quality is horrible, but we enjoyed playing enough that we are considering buying the original.

I have actually looked at some of the Catan expansions on Temu! I really want the Seafarers expansion but in 5th edition, now since the 6th edition has come out the older format has become difficult to find

 

[FrostBytz1]

Poker (ik it's card game) but there's money to be made from it

 

[UncharteredAccountant]

Dune Imperium if you want something less complex, or the sequel Dune Imperiun Uprising if you want something more complex. Both are great games but I prefer uprising for the added flexibility of spies and that sandworms actually play a part.
Its a worker placement deck builder so its a medium to heavy complexity game, but I believe its easy to learn after a few rounds but will be hard to master.

Check out Shut Up and Sit Down on Youtube, they do some great board game reviews, as well as Tim Chuon, Actualol, Dice Tower, Shelfside and many others

 

[UncharteredAccountant]

Check out boardgamegeek.com

 

[el3venth]

Check out bgbsa.co.za

Pretty much the Carbonite of boardgames in South Africa.
Such great bargains.

Our big hits at the moment are Wyrmspam, Everdell, Splendour, and Azul.
When playing with kids (8 and 11) they love Mice and Mystics, Kingdom Rush, Hogwarts Battles, and Ticket to Ride.

 

[NemoXX7]

Update: I ended up grabbing Mycelia from Tabletop Guru

Mycelia

Each player starts with the same set of cards in Mycelia, improving their deck with better cards over the course of play as they race to clear their playing field of dewdrops first. In this deck-building game, you need the support of mysterious forest dwellers to improve your deck, develop new...

tabletopguru.co.za

What an awesome time! It is a mushroom themed deck builder with stunning art. I was even able to play it in single player mode to get used to the turns.

 

[RedPipe]

Can't believe nobody mentioned Monopoly.

It's educational aswell.

 

[DistriNode]

Owner of DistriNode here — I saw Parks 2nd Edition from our store mentioned above. It’s in stock at our European distributor; delivery is about two weeks door to door, and Pay on Delivery is available if you’d rather pay when it’s in your hands. If anyone here ordered from us and is still waiting for anything, DM me the order number or email hello@distrinode.co.za and you’ll have an answer the same day.

 

[UncharteredAccountant]

Can't believe nobody mentioned Monopoly.

It's educational aswell.

Shit game bro

 

[RedPipe]

Shit game bro

Why do you say that?

 

[UncharteredAccountant]

Why do you say that?

Monopoly is honestly such a kak game 😂. There's very little actual strategy involved. You spend half the game rolling dice and hoping you land on the right properties, and once someone gets a decent monopoly and starts putting houses and hotels down, the game is basically over. The problem is that it then takes another 2 hours for everyone else to slowly go bankrupt.

There's almost no way to make a comeback, the player who's winning just keeps getting richer, and everyone else sits there waiting to lose. Half the time people aren't even enjoying themselves, they're just too stubborn to quit.

There are so many brilliant board games out there that actually give you meaningful decisions, proper strategy and a chance to turn things around. Yet somehow we keep coming back to Monopoly, a game that takes 4 hours to ruin friendships and teach you why the housing market is screwed 😂

 

[UncharteredAccountant]

You're better off with something like Catan, but there are even better games

 

[NemoXX7]

Can't believe nobody mentioned Monopoly.

It's educational aswell.

If you like Monopoly you should try Root or Disney Villainous, which features asynchronous gameplay and allows you to go mad with aggressive strategy and sabotaging other players

 

[RedPipe]

Monopoly is honestly such a kak game 😂. There's very little actual strategy involved. You spend half the game rolling dice and hoping you land on the right properties, and once someone gets a decent monopoly and starts putting houses and hotels down, the game is basically over. The problem is that it then takes another 2 hours for everyone else to slowly go bankrupt.

If you play it according to the rules where the property's can be auctioned and players can do trades for property's it's easy to get a set. A bit of chance and a lot of negotiation.

Also do you put money on the free parking? That prolongs the game alot.

There's almost no way to make a comeback, the player who's winning just keeps getting richer, and everyone else sits there waiting to lose.

That's the definition of a monopoly...

 

[Toxxyc]

There's very little actual strategy involved. You spend half your life rolling dice and hoping you land on the right opportunities, and once someone gets a decent monopoly and starts putting houses and hotels down, the game is basically over. The problem is that it then takes another 2 decades for everyone else to slowly go bankrupt.

I changed only a few words. Suddenly makes you think.

 

[RedPipe]

Just to add

Monopoly teaches:

- That the value of something isn't equal to the original purchase price and timing can be everything:

In one game I bought one the the cheap rubbish brown properties for something like R800 from another player, way over the R60 original price. Since no one else had a set and was not able to negotiate with the other players to get a set my brown set was the only one with improvements on.

The hotels I put on them wasn't earning alot at 250 and 450 but it wore down the other players cash reserves, after a few rounds when they eventually managed to get a set they didn't have the cash to build a lot of houses.
If they had gotten a set earlier they how have won because their properties have much more income then the shitty brown ones.




- That the value of something can change during the course of time:

For example the utilities are great to have in the beginning because you can get upto R120 if you own both and the player throws 12, very nice when other rents are still only around R10-20. Then later in the game their value changes to basicly be free parking for yourself not to land on R500+ rents.

- Debt can be be good:

You'll have a player with a set and a few other properties, he doesn't have enough cash to build alot of houses on the set. So instead of mortgaging his single almost worthless properties that only brings in R10 rent to get cash to buy houses he'll just continue playing asis because "loans and debt is evil"

- You got to be willing to loose money to make money:

Like in the previous examples you got to loose R10 rent to build more houses that will net R200-700. Or "loose" R800 by overpaying for a R60 property.

- What to do when the shit hits the fan:

When you have a big expense what do you do to raise cash. Do you sell your income generating assets or do sell or mortgage almost worthless properties. You'll see a person removing his houses on a set to generate cash to pay another player, thereby cutting off his own throat by removing his own income.