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It’s been awhile but I am back with another marvelous Top 5 List. I was sitting around the other day thinking about all the great board games I used to play. I would like to play some of these games more often than I do but unfortunately none of my friends or family seem all that interested in playing these types of games anymore. Which kind of bums me out since a lot of these games can be started with out much prep time and they are a nice change of pace from what we usually do. So at any rate, I realized I should  rank my favorite board games and put them in some sort of list so others will know how much I like them. Why? I don’t know but here it is anyway. So have fun.      

5. Chess. I really suck at this game. No joke. I am truly horrible. I walk right into traps and end up messing myself up, but despite that I can’t help but really like to play. I like the fact that this game relies on pure skill. There is no luck involved. You have to simply out play your opponent. Your strategies have to be better. ”Don’t move until you see it.”  

4. Scene It. My younger sister introduced me to this movie trivia game, and since we like to watch a lot of movies this game was right up our ally. This is a great group game when you have a bunch of friends over. This game not only comes with trivia cards but also comes with a dvd with a ton of different mini games and trivia questions that you get to play throughout the game. This game is also very good for nerdy trash talking.   

3. Sorry. This game was one I liked to play when I was younger. It was easy to play and pick up and I believe this game was the start of my trash talking career. It was just so much fun yelling out “SORRY!” to your friend as you forced his little game piece back…or forward?…or did you make them lose a turn? Well what ever it did it was bad ass!   

2. Scrabble. I really don’t know why I like this game I can’t spell to save my life and my vocabulary is that of a 4th grader (which you can easily tell from reading any of my posts). But my one strength is that I am pretty good at squeezing out a lot of points by strategically placing my letters or words in high scoring places. I always loved it when I would beat my older sister. She would use these crazy words but get no points for them because she put them in crappy spots. I would end up beating her by simply putting a words like ‘zoo’ or ‘ax’ on a triple word or triple letter space.   

1. Axis & Allies. This game has been around a while and it is a board game based on the Second World War. This game is sort of a cross between Monopoly and Risk but cooler than both.  It’s a game for 5 people. Three people are on one team taking on the role of the Allied powers (The United States, The United Kingdom, and Russia) and the other two take on the role of the Axis powers (Germany and Japan) during World War 2. Each player starts the game with a series of territories already under their control and a bunch of different units (infantry, tanks, fighters, bombers, AA guns, battleships, submarines, aircraft carriers, and transport ships, and industrial complexes) they get to use to try and expand their territory. You earn money based on what territories you control at a given time and use that money to buy additional units or to increase the power of your already existing units. The ultimate goal is to try and take 2 of the opposing teams capitals. The first team to do this wins the war. This game can be a little complex at times and is very strategic. A couple years ago they released a revised addition of this game with a bigger board and they completely reworked all of the territories. They also altered the strength of certain units and they added 2 new units, artillery cannons and destroyers. They also added what they call “national advantages” which are optional rules. Each country gets six completely different and unique powers to use during the game. One example of this is the “Russian Winter”. Once during the game Russia can declare a severe winter. Until the start of their next turn, all russian infantry defend on a 3 instead of a 2. Anybody who has played the original game knows how awesome that can be for Russia since they can easily get stuck on the defensive for a good majority of the game. I haven’t picked up this new version of the game yet mainly do to the fact that none of my friends seem all that interested in playing anymore, but after reading some of the improvements they have made to the game I will probably pick one up anyway.

So there you have it. Read, discuss, criticize. You know you want to.