Board Games for Everyone

Boardgamegeek.com - Why it's one of the coolest boardgame site around.

The website, www.boardgamegeek.com, is a free online gaming community that focuses mainly on war games, strategy games and empire building games. Forum contributors say some of their favorite games include Agricola and Through the Ages: a Story of Civilization and Dominion, to name but two. Newcomers can register to the site to write their own game reviews, upload images and chat with other game enthusiasts. Visitors can read reviews, strategy tips, find opponents to play against and even buy games they can't find in stores. For the ultimate gamer, a community is an invaluable resource.
##
Are you addicted to a strategy board game? Are you looking for new games? Do you wish to gain game hints or become the trusted opinion in your area of boardgame expertise? Online communities are a great way for individuals to connect with other board game enthusiasts. You can share reviews, ratings and advice. You can find players to battle, contests to enter or conventions to attend. The largest and most respected site of this kind is www.boardgamegeek.com, which has more than 250,000 active members.
##
At www.boardgamegeek.com, which is the largest online board game community, you'll find everything from the Monopoly board game to Agricola. You'll find card games, dice games, tile-laying games, dungeon crawls, puzzle board games, strategy games, party games, fantasy games and war games. Users can submit their opinions, reviews and game wish lists, while also reading what others have to say. An online game community is a great way to develop your interests and buy games that might otherwise be near-impossible to find in stores. Whether you're already hooked on a particular board game or you're looking for a new one, the BGG site is an excellent resource.
##
In January of 2000, board game lovers Scott Alden and Derk Solko created the website www.boardgamegeek.com as a resource for boardgame news, articles, tips, session reports and ratings. The site was an overwhelming success, with 250,000 active members discussing 30,000 different games and regularly contributing to the site. Members can find online board games, games to buy, bulletin board topics of interest and reviews on new or existing games they may not be familiar with. The site is free to join and users who post content can earn "GeekGold," which is a form of virtual currency that enables them to purchase avatars, badges and other items for their community page.

One reason why gamers come to www.boardgamegeek.com is to find new a strategy board game to buy. As of December 2008, the top-ranked game was Agricola. The average playing time for this game is 2 hours with 3-4 players. Agricola players start out as a farmer with a wife and from there, they must build a life for themselves. Using cards and double-sided tokens, players will try to build a house, grow crops during different harvest seasons, feed the children, raise livestock and survive. The countless strategies that may be employed in this game are what truly make it fun. The top game of 2007 (and #2 game on the 2008 list) was Puerto Rico. This 90-minute game is best played with four players, who act as colonial Puerto Rican plantation owners who must grow indigo, corn, tobacco, coffee and sugar better than their competition.
##
The site, www.boardgamegeek.com, is a great place for parents to check for their annual "Board Game Gift Guide." At a glance, parents will see a photo of the game pieces, the price, the number of players, the time it takes to play, the ages and where to buy it. They can also find links to reviews. For Christmas 2008, they recommended Incan Gold, TransAmerica, TransEuropa, The aMAZEing Labyrinth, Hey That's My Fish, Qwirkle, Blokus and Zooloretto. For party games, they recommended Apples to Apples, Pit, Time's Up, Wits & Wagers and Balderdash. Some of BGG's favorite two-player games include Lost Cities, Hive and Memoir 44. The "stocking stuffer" category mentions card board games like No Thanks, Pick Picnic, Circus Flohcati and Loot. Then there's that ever-hard-to-please teenage demographic. For this discerning audience, try Pandemic, Taluva, The Settlers of Cartan, Cartagena, Ticket To Ride, Carcassonne, Ingenious, Scotland Yard or Heroscape. By contrast, young children might love Go Away Monster, Sorry Sliders, Gulo Gulo, Cranium Cariboo, Cranium Hullabaloo and Make N' Break.
##
Click on www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_2008, if you want to find new games to buy. Here you can see photos and read quick descriptions of some top games. Whether you're looking for children's games, card games or adult games, you'll find them all here. Another place to look is www.boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamecategory, where you can click on the type of game you prefer and search the top-rated products by clicking the "Hot" tab. Registered users can also peruse "Geek Lists," where readers talk about their favorite games or their wants. The forums have a number of boardgame insights if you're patient enough to read through. Additionally, members who add games to their Collection or lists and rate them will also receive Personal Recommendations of similar games they might enjoy.

Another reason to visit www.boardgamegeek.com is to buy games. The BGG Marketplace works very much like eBay, where individual sellers offer up games for sale. Many of the games on the site may be hard to find, out of print or from other countries, which makes shopping here practical. Prices of some games are as low as $3 for near-new games. There are some expensive games that cost as much as $100,000 (for a rare complete collection of vintage Magic: The Gathering cards). Most games are very reasonably priced, however, and there is also a BGG Trade section where players can get rid of the old and buy the new to make their dollars stretch.
##
Often, boardgamegeek.com runs special contests by sponsored game companies. For instance, in June, R&R Games offered a free copy of their new "Masters of Venice" game if users answered a series of brief questions. Also, Thoughthammer was giving away one $100 gift certificate, two $50 gift certificates, seven $25 gift certificates and Game Ink t-shirts to players who could beat their Mega Meeple online board game. If waiting every few months for another contest doesn't sound appealing to you, then consider visiting the BGG Marketplace or Trade Center to wheel and deal to buy games.
##
As with any virtual community, there are ways to connect with like minds on www.boardgamegeek.com. Users can read what others write in the forums. They can peruse "GeekLists" to find users with similar gaming interests. They can add "GeekBuddies" to see their friends' recent posts, reviews, ratings and comments. Members will receive "GeekGold" awards as they post new content to earn cool avatars and virtual currency for the community. The bottom line is that an online board games community is the best way to get all your gaming questions answered, seek new strategy hints, find new opponents, expand your game collection and flex your own expertise on this subject matter.

Related topics about boardgamegeek

Message Boards
Avid board game players can go online and tap into a number of helpful resources to improve their playing skills, learn about classic board games news and chat with others about their boardgame hobby. Message boards can become a marketplace for finding new games or pieces as well. Whether your love is chess, checkers and backgammon or Upwords, Cranium and Scattergories, you will learn a lot and enjoy your time spent on these addictive sites.

Strategy Games
Strategy games come in many different varieties. Some are abstract, like Stratego or backgammon, which do not have random elements of luck and do not try to simulate reality. Simulation type games like Abalone or Strat-o-matic Baseball are attempting to simulate a real-world situation.