Thread by @madnavin

A thread on #BoardGames – a hobby/rabbit hole which I have been falling deeper and deeper into over the last 18 months. Always had an interest and played the introductory ones (aka gateway) like Catan, Pandemic, Splendor & Ticket to Ride. Read on for a sneak peek (1/n)

The themes span Space, Sci-Fi, Ice Age, Ancient Roman/Incan era, Vikings,industrial revolution and of course, modern geo-politcs. You would be amazed at how each of these can come to life on a table-top with people going absolutely gaga over it. (2/n)

The mechanics in which they play out are also varied - you can play a game where you are building your own strategy to maximise outcomes (engine building) or there are ones where you are fighting for control with other gamers (conflict/area control) (3/n)

If you are looking to have fun as a group – play one with very high level of player interaction to make sure you can make or break others games and of course the divisive (amongst board games) genre of social deception that could make enemies out of your friends (4/n)

You also have role-playing games where as a group of explorers you try to save the world, investigators or solve mysteries or trying to outsmart Sherlock Holmes. For those looking for simpler ones – pattern identification games that test your Tetris skills on a board are fun(5/n)

Added benefit being that most of them involve complex strategies, beautiful art/minis, are mostly well-researched and of course, keeps you away from the digital screens that we are addicted to for a good 2-3 hours once you get involved in it. (6/n)

Some of the games I have enjoyed playing – #Gloomhaven by @Cephalofair (highest rated board game now), play as a team of explorers on campaigns fighting monsters, finding gold and retiring your characters to bring in new ones. Plays over 90+ unique maps/scenarios! (7/n)

TerraformingMars, where each player plays as a corporation trying to (obviously!) Terraform Mars by increasing levels of Oxygen, exploring water or generating energy and become the most successful one at it (8/n).

Teotihuacan – play in the ancient Mexican city as you try and produce resources, pray to the Gods, build technologies and make Pyramids as you progress into new eras. Best part – you don’t roll dice, but use them as your workers! (9/n)

DominantSpecies – Play as different species (insects, reptiles, arachnids etc) trying to survive the onset of Ice Age, adapt to the evolving earth, kill some of the others around you, migrate to newer territories and of course survive! (10/n)

Wingspan – Play as bird enthusiasts who are looking to attract birds into your aviary by feeding them different food types, lay eggs to help you grow your flock and use their abilities to gain points. Beautiful game – 183 unique cards, a kick-ass dice tower and cute eggs. (11/n)

Gallerist - Play as Curators of museums as you discover artists, pay to market them, attract visitors to your museum by displaying works of art. A creator (Vital Lacerda & Ian O’Toole) who has really amazing components and mechanics that leave you really satisfied (13/n)

Meeple Circus - Super super fun game that tests your dexterity! Play as circus masters trying to perform acts using meeples to earn the applause of audience. Add special invitees to your act and do fun things like balancing tokens with an eye closed to gain more points (14/n)

All the Oink/Saashi & Saashi Games - Small box games that are characteristic of Japan. Minimal components, crazy fun, easy to play and store. Play as artists (fake ones), coffee makers, families in front of elevators, investigators and so much more (15/n)

Recent times have seen a significant interest spike amongst young (or old as in my case) adults enjoying this hobby – obviously the diversity of games pique your curiosity. Also, lots of celebrities and popular individuals seem to be playing games nowadays (16/n).

For eg. @dkhos plays Gloomhaven! (

https://twitter.com/dkhos/status/1096793157906268160?s=20

) . Recently @GeorgeTakei put out a video on history of board games (

https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1165659348804263937?s=20

) (17/n)

India is slowly becoming a hotbed, not just for players, but also for designers. You would have likely seen posts about @shaasnthegame by many popular celebrities – plays out the politics of elections across ages. Raised $300k+ on kickstarter, likely largely from USA (18/n)

What’s also interesting is that designers are looking at board games as ways to raise awareness or educate the society on specific issues, interesting read about a few ideas in India here. forbesindia.com/article/work-i… (19/n)

Bangalore is an amazing place to be as a board gamer. We have public/community hosted events at least 5 out 7 days a week. I host one of them with @reroll_blr..Amazing energy levels with 30+ people every day + made loads of friends (@karthikb351, @ipunjit @mithunbalraj. (20/n)

You can pick your games – pick those that play well in 2 players, 4 players or as a large group. Trust me that you will find at least a few that you would rather spend time on than watching that next series that Netflix is recommending that you watch. (21/n)

Can go on, have played almost 100 games just this year & own 130+ games , most of which have come in the last 12 months. No little thanks to @IshiraBhattach who has pulled me along as she has gone on a playing (& buying) spree! Go on, try them out.Hit me up for recos. Fin.

P.S: No, the first image is not my collection! It is all of the games @ReRollBLR has. Our game collection is here : boardgamegeek.com/collection/use…

@ReRollBLR Adding - list of events in Bangalore that I know of:
@ReRollBLR hosts in HSR on Wednesdays, Indiranagar on Thursdays. #MeeplesofBangalore in Marathalli on Sundays (instagram.com/meeplesofbanga…). VictoryPoint in Koramangla on Tuesdays/Saturdays (instagram.com/vp_boardgames/)