Looking for recommendations

A few suggestions:

Red November
Dead of Winter
Camp Grizzly
Bottlecap Vikings
Raiders of the North Seas
City of Horror
Dead Man's Draw (aka Captain Carcass)
Rise of Tribes
Formula D/Formula De
Guillotine
Karuba
Black Fleet
Mechs vs. Minions
and my own Rayguns and Rocketships

Good Luck!

southernman wrote: Games in my collection for 'up to two hours'

Lighter
DC Comics Deck Building Game
Elder Sign
Robo Rally

Good Fun
Spartacus
Sons of Anarchy with an expansion to get to five players
Dungeons & Dragons series (i.e Castle Ravenloft, Legend of Drizzt)
Cosmic Encounter
Lord of the Rings (oldie but a goodie)

Hidden Traitor/Role
Dead of Winter
Homeland

One vs The Rest DM type
Descent 2nd Edition
Imperial Assault
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past

Thanks a lot for that. Are Sons of Anarchy and Homeland actually good? I always dismiss those kinds of games as I just see it as cashing in and expect them to be mediocre games. Neither of us are into SoA but we're big Homeland fans. I don't know about the rest of his group though.

Frohike wrote: Goofy

Cutthroat Caverns

Thank you, will check it out.

WadeMonnig wrote: Cyclades, In it's base form, is sort of "fighty" but not near as much as initial impressions would suggest. I've actually played a game where the winner never actually engaged in a battle the entire game. It's definitely a key part of the game but it's just one item at your disposal.

Kemet, on the other hand, is all fighty, all the time.

I'm not sure how a fighting game would go down tbh. Is Blood Rage a fighting game? They played that and thought it was just ok. Cyclades has been on my radar for a good while now though, I'm just unsure. Thanks for the info!

Shellhead wrote:

Katchoo wrote: Room 25 which looks like a fun, lighter, shorter game.

I have Room 25, and it is good game. I have only played in solitaire and co-op mode so far, and found the game difficult to beat. I look forward to playing in competitive/traitor mode, which is probably the best way to play.

Thanks, it does look good.

I got Dark Moon this morning. I've heard the rules are atrocious? so I've got some extra print out files from bgg.

I'm properly out of my comfort zone as I usually play euros so all of your help is greatly appreciated.

Scott Rogers wrote: A few suggestions:

Red November
Dead of Winter
Camp Grizzly
Bottlecap Vikings
Raiders of the North Seas
City of Horror
Dead Man's Draw (aka Captain Carcass)
Rise of Tribes
Formula D/Formula De
Guillotine
Karuba
Black Fleet
Mechs vs. Minions
and my own Rayguns and Rocketships

Good Luck!

Oh wow, missed your post. Thank you so much. That's a big chunk of games so I know what I'll be doing today Thank you!

Homeland isn't a cash-in. Though I've only played it once, I found it to be pretty well designed if you can accept the theme. I've never played Sons of Anarchy, but it's been praised by many people here. The common denominator is that both were designed by Gale Force 9 when they were pretty much hitting triples and home runs consistently with licensed games. They also made Spartacus, which is my personal favorite of theirs.

Homeland is a great game, but it may be a little too complex for what you're looking for.

As mentioned, usually if you see Gale Force 9 on a licensed game, it's at least worth looking into. Nobody handles licensed properties better than them.

Katchoo wrote:

southernman wrote: Games in my collection for 'up to two hours'

Lighter
DC Comics Deck Building Game
Elder Sign
Robo Rally

Good Fun
Spartacus
Sons of Anarchy with an expansion to get to five players
Dungeons & Dragons series (i.e Castle Ravenloft, Legend of Drizzt)
Cosmic Encounter
Lord of the Rings (oldie but a goodie)

Hidden Traitor/Role
Dead of Winter
Homeland

One vs The Rest DM type
Descent 2nd Edition
Imperial Assault
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past

Thanks a lot for that. Are Sons of Anarchy and Homeland actually good? I always dismiss those kinds of games as I just see it as cashing in and expect them to be mediocre games. Neither of us are into SoA but we're big Homeland fans. I don't know about the rest of his group though.

They're both pretty good:
SoA - an area contol, fighty (simple but fun) with worker placement mechanics (occupy the location to get the benefits)
Homeland - hidden role game that is better with five or six players, not too hard once you grasp the idea.

Both are available quite cheap (start at eBay) although the required expansion for SoA to support five doesn't seem to be around, you may need to try BGG.

Sons of Anarchy is good, but the biker drug dealers theme can make people balk. I've had more than one game start off with me arguing that they can consider the contraband to be whatever they need it to be to get the ball rolling. Which is not good.

I know it's plastic and cardboard on a table, but I think everyone has their limits as to what theme (setting) they're willing to pretend to be in. You might need 'permission' from your group before you bring it out.

Spartacus is kind of similar. It's a really good game, with a really adult setting. Do you want to play "Jupiter's Cock" in that game with your pastor?

'Know your audience' is always a good idea, especially if you want to play these games.

Hey guys, thanks again for all the comments. Unfortunately quite a few of the games recommended here are oos/oop or otherwise impossible to find, at least in the uk. I'm still mulling over Camp Grizzly but I think I'll probably pass on it since I'd need to import it. Here is what I've got for him (so far ) so you know the kind of games I'm looking at:

Pulsar 2849 (I'm worried about this being too heavy)
Clank!
Sub Terra
Mission: Red Planet
Black Orchestra
Evolution
Sentient
Dead of Winter
Dark Moon

I know it's a lot of games but he loves board gaming and it's for both xmas and his birthday. I could possibly squeeze in one more lol. I really wish that last game could be the Alien Legendary Encounters game but it's simply not good with 5... or even 4 really. Otherwise it'd be perfect.

I'm leaving SoA and Homeland as I don't know enough about his group. It's almost felt like a stab in the dark at times because sometimes my bf surprises me with what he likes and dislikes so it can be kind of a guessing game. But I'm at least semi-confident in what I've bought.

Anyway, thanks again guys. It's been super interesting hearing about all these games as most of them have been new to me. Feel free to suggest more as I'm never done lol. Cheers x

Don't worry about having every game! The TWBG games informal motto is to play the games you have, not play every game you buy once before the next one!

Gary Sax wrote: Don't worry about having every game! The TWBG games informal motto is to play the games you have, not play every game you buy once before the next one!

My bf playing with this group is fairly new. I might be wrong but I think we're the only ones with a board game collection out of them all. Most of our collection is euros and were bought for their suitability for 2 players, so I've been wanting to buy some games that suit his group rather than us 2 (if it suits both then great!). So that's basically the reason for my purchases Hopefully they'll go down well and will last them a good while.

I think Camp Grizzly is a great suggestion. Pretty light, very thematic, plays fast.

I don't want to make the claim that Cosmic Encounter is the alpha and omega of boardgaming, but it's such a fun, great game and such a good fit for some many people that I can't help but recommend it.

RobertB wrote: Sons of Anarchy is good, but the biker drug dealers theme can make people balk. I've had more than one game start off with me arguing that they can consider the contraband to be whatever they need it to be to get the ball rolling. Which is not good.

I know it's plastic and cardboard on a table, but I think everyone has their limits as to what theme (setting) they're willing to pretend to be in. You might need 'permission' from your group before you bring it out.

Spartacus is kind of similar. It's a really good game, with a really adult setting. Do you want to play "Jupiter's Cock" in that game with your pastor?

'Know your audience' is always a good idea, especially if you want to play these games.

Over here in the UK we don't have a big a religious backing to society so (apart from 'Jupiters cock') this would infrequently be an issue. I've played SoA in mixed sexes groups and have not heard any comments about drugs and firearms let alone a reticience to play.
Our societies are noticeably different in that aspect.

Erik Twice wrote: I don't want to make the claim that Cosmic Encounter is the alpha and omega of boardgaming, but it's such a fun, great game and such a good fit for some many people that I can't help but recommend it.

I brought this up with him a few days ago and he said he's played it and that it was decent/quite good. He plays in a board game cafe which has a decent stock and I don't always hear about everything they've tried. He also sometimes plays games on tabletop simulator that I don't know about, which is all a bit of a problem when it comes to gift buying!