{"id":78130,"date":"2015-07-05T04:58:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-05T02:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=78130"},"modified":"2015-10-30T11:14:34","modified_gmt":"2015-10-30T09:14:34","slug":"a-gamers-guide-to-board-games-part-1-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/78130-a-gamers-guide-to-board-games-part-1-strategy","title":{"rendered":"A Gamer’s guide to Board Games \u2013 Part 1: Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you\u2019ve read our article on why you need to check out board games<\/a>, and if I\u2019ve done my job correctly, you\u2019re eager to get to the table.<\/p>\n

Except when you go to your friendly local games store, you\u2019re faced with a massive selection of games and no idea where to begin.<\/p>\n

No worries, because over the next few weeks we\u2019ll be bringing you our guide to choosing board games based on the kind of video games you like.<\/p>\n

First up, we look at the strategy games genre.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll make a bold prediction here: if you\u2019re a fan of strategy games, you are a born board gamer.<\/p>\n

Forget dice-based games like Monopoly<\/em> where the actual strategy is minimal \u2013 modern board games emphasise skill and strategy over luck.<\/p>\n

I came, I saw, I conquered<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Civilization:<\/a>

Civilization: The Board Game<\/p><\/div>\n

Fans of 4X strategy games are spoiled for choice when it comes to board games that capture the experience of spreading your influence across the world.<\/p>\n

The obvious choice for 4X lovers is Civilization: The Board Game,<\/em> an excellent adaptation that recreates everything we loved about the Sid Meier<\/em> classic.<\/p>\n

The other big guns in this category you\u2019ll find are Nations<\/em> and Imperial Settlers<\/em>, which offer different takes on the same kind of gameplay.<\/p>\n

If you can find a copy, go for Through the Ages<\/em>, widely regarded as one of the best board games out there.<\/p>\n

If you find the above a bit too involved as an introduction to board gaming, try 7 Wonders<\/em>. The game offers a much quicker and less rules-intensive way to build a civilisation.<\/p>\n

And that only covers the Civ-likes. There\u2019s a whole universe out there of expansive 4X board games set in space, the most prominent being Twilight Imperium<\/em> and Eclipse<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you were one of those dirty hipsters who preferred Colonization<\/em> to Civ<\/em>, check out Archipelago<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Ticket<\/a>

Ticket to Ride<\/p><\/div>\n

Sims for days<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Board games allow you to play in many of the same sandboxes as video games \u2013 alien worlds, high fantasy realms and post-apocalyptic wastelands.<\/p>\n

There are, however, plenty of games out there that forego the clich\u00e9d settings in favour of simulators that would make the most nostalgic MicroProse and Maxis fan excited.<\/p>\n

Pick your favourite simulator from back in the day. Got it? Good. Was it Dungeon Keeper<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Check out Dungeon Petz<\/em> or Dungeon Lords<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Maybe you preferred flinging people from rollercoasters and cleaning up theme parks. No problem, Steam Park<\/em> fills that niche nicely.<\/p>\n

Into Transport<\/em> or Railroad Tycoon<\/em>? From Ticket to Ride<\/em> to Age of Steam<\/em>, train games are practically their own board game genre.<\/p>\n

And if Sim City<\/em> was more your jam, there are games out there to both give you the pleasure of building a city (Machi Koro<\/em>, Suburbia<\/em>) to destroying it (Terror in Meeple City<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Nor are your favourite ’90s titles the only simulation board games you can find.<\/p>\n

Developers, particularly the Europeans, love to come up with settings that seem dry or strange in theory but turn out fun in practice. Manage power stations with Power Grid<\/em>, build zen gardens and wrangle pandas with Takenoko<\/em>, and fight diseases with Pandemic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"XCOM:<\/a>

XCOM: The Board Game<\/p><\/div>\n

Time is of the essence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Real Time Strategy harder niche to fill as most board games are turn-based, but that doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t good choices out there that use real time mechanics to ramp up the tension.<\/p>\n

Take Space Alert<\/em>, in which you must generate resources and position your recruits in anticipation of attacks, all taking place within seven minutes.<\/p>\n

XCOM: The Board Game<\/em> is a must for fans of the computer game, bringing all of the panic of stamping out alien invasions to the table top.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re more into the wargame nature of RTS, you\u2019ve got a plethora of turn-based combat games out there to choose from.<\/p>\n

Into swords, sandals and giant scorpions? Then you\u2019ll love Kemet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a History Channel buff, you can\u2019t go wrong with the WW2 skirmisher, Memoir \u201944<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Smallworld<\/em> is ideal for gamers who like the challenge of optimising their gameplay for different factions.<\/p>\n

Finally, for a wargame that offers a campaign experience, try get your hands on Risk: Legacy<\/em>, which lets you radically alter the landscape of the board across 15 games.<\/p>\n

Who needs set missions when you can create your very own unique game as it goes?<\/p>\n

More opinion pieces worth a read<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Why we love gaming so much<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking good old-timer: games that have aged well Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking good old-timer: games that have aged well Part 1<\/a><\/p>\n

A dicey proposition: why video gamers should also get into board games<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strategy board games are perhaps the best place to start for any video gamer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":78132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_enabled":true,"_sma_x_custom_text":"","_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[8577,14624,725,3180,14156,14622,14620,14180,14192,14190,14618],"class_list":["post-78130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-board-games","tag-civilization-the-board-game","tag-column","tag-feature","tag-opinion-piece","tag-risk-legacy","tag-smallworld","tag-takenoko","tag-ticket-to-ride","tag-twilight-imperium","tag-xcom-the-board-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/228"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78140,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78130\/revisions\/78140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}