Random Thought - The Tabletop Games We Own

Apropos of absolutely nothing except my own whims, I have compiled a list of all of the board games, war games, card games, and other games that Angela and I actually own and have sitting on our shelves. I don't expect anyone to care much, but I liked making the list, so you get to see it.

Board Games
Of all the categories of games that we own, this one probably has the greatest range, running from a simple counter placement game like Pente to much more intricate diplomacy and intrigue games like Lyssan. There is some slight overlap here with the category of "war games": For example, is Galactic Emperor a board game or a war game? These games run from variants on traditional board games like Uva opoly, which is basically just Monopoly set in Charlottesville, to games aimed at younger players like the Mystery at Hogwarts game, to "serious" cut throat games like Diplomacy, to cooperative games like Pandemic. The only real unifying feature of these games is that they all feature a board of some sort. It doesn't really matter, what matters is that these are by and large fun games to sit down and play with a group of friends.

Alhambra
Asara
Carcassonne
Constantinopolis
Diplomacy
Forbidden Island
Galactic Emperor
The Great Brain Robbery
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Mystery at Hogwarts Game
The Hulk Busts Loose!
Lords of Waterdeep
Lyssan
Myst
The Order of the Stick Adventure Game
Pandemic
Pente
Settlers of Catan
Smallworld: Underground
Ticket to Ride: Europe
Tsuro
UVa opoly
Warrior Knights

Card Games
Though we have fewer card games than board games, these also run a wide range. Both Babylon 5 and Illuminati: New World Order are collectible card games, and I have fairly large collections of cards from both (although many more for Babylon 5). Give Me the Brain and Lord of the Fries, on the other hand, are about as small and cheaply made as games can be (although they are both still incredibly fun). In between there are lots of fun games, and as the only unifying thing about the board game category is that they all have a board, the only thing that really unifies this category is that these games all use cards. Note that if you play Cards Against Humanity you will learn just what horrible people all of your friends are.

Babylon 5
Cards Against Humanity
Evil Baby Orphanage
Fluxx
Give Me the Brain
Groo: The Game
Illuminati New World Order
Lord of the Fries
Munchkin
Smash Up
Star Fluxx

Dice Games
We only own one game in this category, Zombie Dice. I really should get more of these, since I love dice and Angela does too.

Zombie Dice

War Games
Defining what is a "war game" is as much an art as it is a science. They are somewhat similar in many ways to some of the games in the "board games" category, but in most cases they are substantially more complicated. Most war games are also games that play best with two players, although this is not a universal rule. Ameoba Wars, for example, is best as a multiplayer game, as is Hexagony. Other games, such as War and Peace can be played with many players, but doing so means that you are all going to be investing a substantial amount of time into playing the game. That actually goes for most games that can be called war games - they take a long time to play. Basically, if you are going to set up a game of Fortress Europa, expect to spend the whole evening playing it. Some are short - G.E.V. for example, but even a "short" war game scenario is likely to take an hour or so.

Amoeba Wars
Assault: Tactical Combat in Europe 1985
Axis and Allies: Spring 1942
Fortress Europa
G.E.V.
Gunslinger
Hexagony
NATO: The Next War in Europe
Panzer Leader
Panzerkrieg
Revolt on Antares
Tobruk
War and Peace

Role-Playing Games
Although we don't own very many different role-playing games, the list here doesn't do justice to the volume of books that we have for the systems listed. we are probably most heavily invested in 3^rd edition Dungeons & Dragons, a system for which we have a couple of hundred books, but we also have several dozen GURPS books, and a number of supplements for Traveller and Rolemaster. We own more than six hundred role-playing related books, some of which are for systems we didn't even list here, because if we don't own the core rulebook for a system, we didn't list it.

1^st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
2^nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
3^rd edition Dungeons & Dragons
Blue Planet
Fantasy Wargaming
Gamma World
GURPS
Mark Miller's Traveller
The Mouse Guard Role-Playing Game
Rolemaster
Space: 1889
Twilight: 2000

Party Games
These games are basically games that you host a party and play the game. There's not much else to this category in terms of why these games are here. The only thing I find funny about these games is that you can get people to dress up and pretend to be 1920s era mobsters and molls for a "How to Host a Murder" game, and yet those same people wouldn't be caught dead playing any of the games in the role-playing game category. But when you stop and think about it, a "How to Host a Murder" game is essentially the same thing as a role-playing game. Why the distinction? I have no idea. Some people are just inexplicably weird.

How to Host a Murder: The Chicago Caper
Consulting Detective
Say Anything

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