Power Grid is probably my favorite game of its era, if not period, for those reasons and more. Every group I’ve ever played it with likes it (overall) and it plays well with 5-6 players, which is great since my groups tend to skew larger than 3-4. I’ve always been a humanities kid through and through, but I like the tension the math creates: seeing if you miscalculated or overbid on a power plant or bought resources for the next round when the game is ending in the current round.
I’m slowly getting into board games with my kids but they’re so much more expensive than video games… It is fascinating to see the development of the few board games I remember from my childhood vs today.
For the most part, it seems like we’ve benefitted from relegating the really complex systems to computer games, and leaving modern board games with mechanics that are faster and respect the players’ time.
It’s also really fascinating to me to observe how new editions of board games come out nowadays. They’re essentially patches or sequels, changing several mechanics and fixing balance issues, and yet only a small percentage of the playing population will ever see those changes!
There are plenty of true hex-and-counter successors to Avalon Hill games, to the point where you could probably find an an example of a “better game” for most popular Avalon Hill designs of the 1960s-70s, most designed since 2008, or at least 2000. The best game about the Pacific war was designed in 2005. The best game about the Eastern Front was designed in 2013. The best game ever was designed in 2014, and you can even watch an hour-long video about it by some guy. Games like D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, and stuff like SPI’s Drive on Stalingrad have been “obsoleted” by (respectively): Mark Simonitch’s Normandy ‘44, Mark Simonitch’s Ardennes ‘44, and Mark Simonitch’s Stalingrad ‘42. The game catastrophe known as France, 1940 and “designed” by Jim Dunnigan has been completely eclipsed by Mark Simonitch’s France ‘40. There are excellent hex-and-counter games about the Algerian War of Independence and the French Indochina War — stuff that was butchered previously from a game design standpoint.
Computer wargame design is at a dead end, and has been for decades.
But Advanced Squad Leader is just fine.
Outdoor Survival? Serious question. I really want a complex game with this theme.
I would argue that any survival game, whether or not it includes zombies, is better than Outdoor Survival. That 1972 design does NOT hold up.
I love Memoir '44, and I’ve never played Squad Leader, but I know this cannot be true.
Yeah the less said about this statement, the better.
Combat Commander might be a “better alternative” to Squad Leader, although I hate it. But many people love it.
Oh, look: designed in 2006.
Why do you think this is?
I have played Outdoor Survival (one of my brothers owned it.)
Brooski is right. :)
I would almost suggest the base game of Robinson Crusoe scratches that itch for me a bit.
Board games require that everyone know the rules, or at least that it’s theoretically possible to learn the rules.
Computer games do not. And, in fact, it’s easier to conceal terrible game design when you make the rules unlearnable.
Me too. My dad had a copy when I was a kid. I don’t remember much of it, but it did fire up my young imagination about being in the wilderness.
This is a pretty good suggestion for the survival theming. I’d appreciate a game that incorporated some of the actual tradecraft of backcountry hiking, backpacking, and rescue though.
Thanks! This was very informative.
My opinion? I think the computer wargame audience is focused on a hyper-quantitative design philosophy that feeds data into a giant black box and creates a virtual world that is immune to game-like analysis. Or at least is resistant to abstraction. This creates a sort of verisimilitude for the players, who can immerse themselves in all sorts of minutiae without ever reaching the bottom of the well.
I wrote about this 15 years ago on this site but that link is now broken. The piece is still preserved as n my own site, though:
I pretty much still stand by that, 15 years later.
And because I replied to this thanks to Mark_Crump’s tag, I hadn’t read the rest of the thread. Great choices in there. I just ran into my copy of Car Wars from junior high when I was looking for something in a closet. Regarding the old wargames mentioned, I loved Luftwaffe and Richthofen’s War when I was a kid. We played them incessantly. Sadly, I tried it about ten (?) years ago and realized RW is all about just spinning your plane around as fast as possible. We also loved Starship Troopers because someone got to draw tunnels for the arachnids. I can’t remember which was more fun: drawing the tunnels or being the one trying to find them. So nerve-wracking, especially when you’re twelve.
Also, for Knizia bidding games, the best one is Modern Art. 1996! It’s certainly better than that titty game Tom likes, what is it called? Oh, High Society.
BGG has Modern Art as 1992. And since titty game High Society is 1996, I’m pretty sure it obsoletes Modern Art.
Alternatively, living the bon vivant’s life of luxury and decadence is thematically more fun than staring at abstract paintings to figure out who would ever buy such a thing and for how much.
-Tom, who’s never actually played Modern Art
Oh hell yeah!
That is another one that almost made my list. Played the shit out of that one also.
RW was quickly obsoleted by S. Craig Taylor’s Wings.
Heh, I also played the heck out of Richtofen’s War and Luftwaffe when I was a kid. I loved those circular counters in Luftwaffe more than the game itself. How come more wargames don’t use circular counters? I think Kingmaker had 'em. Can’t think of any others offhand.
@Brooski, I agree that the best games force us to make tough decisions, not to solve puzzles with one solution. But I’m also guilty of enjoying what you call “projects” – big simulation-like things. For a time I was addicted to War in the Pacific/AE. Even now I still think it’s fun to give orders to every last little ship in the entire Pacific, even the PT boats, even though most of those orders aren’t crucial to the outcome.
Personally, I think my current obsession, World in Flames, is shot through with tough decisions that are not puzzles, and I think it’s more game than simulation. But I play it with as much chrome as I can – almost every optional rule.
Following up from Spock on World In Flames, I can say that I played not one, not two, but three full games of Empires In Arms back in the day with all major powers run by an actual person, playing in person (in the gaming space at FBN in downtown St. Chuck).
Sadly, more than 25 years ago I sold my original 1st edition copy – along with most of my boardgames, which were in great shape and would now fetch a nice price on the collector market.