I’m a gamer, always have been. Problem is for a large number of years that’s really just consisted of the video variety. That’s a huge mistake on my part, to not enjoy the video game’s analog brethren… the board game. There’s actually a vibrant and intense board game world out there that’s been pushed to the sidelines by game players such as ourselves for too long. Recently I’ve been wading back into the board game waters and I’ve decided to bring the noteworthy stuff to my fellow gamers.

In this semi-regular column I’ll be doing my best to introduce some of the cooler games out there. We’ll also be taking detours into comically terrible games from the past as well.

Of all the games we own this is easily my wife’s favorite. Why? Cause she always beats me at it. It’s not for lack of trying on my part, I just always seem to get thrown on the defensive and by the time I know what’s happening my Queen is nearly surrounded. But I’m getting ahead of myself; perhaps I should start by explaining how the game works.
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I’m a gamer, always have been. Problem is for a large number of years that’s really just consisted of the video variety. That’s a huge mistake on my part, to not enjoy the video game’s analog brethren… the board game. There’s actually a vibrant and intense board game world out there that’s been pushed to the sidelines by game players such as ourselves for too long. Recently I’ve been wading back into the board game waters and I’ve decided to bring the noteworthy stuff to my fellow gamers. Board games have come a long way, there’s a lot more than Monopoly knock-offs out there.

In this semi-regular column I’ll be doing my best to introduce some of the cooler games out there, both video game related and not. We’ll also be taking detours into comically terrible games from the past as well.

For my first game to discuss I figure I’d start with the game that brought me back to board games, Ticket To Ride. It took a weird path to get my attention too. First it was a celebrated board game (where I never heard of it), then became an Xbox Live Arcade game where it first came to my attention. After buying and loving it I bought the board game version. Ashes to ashes I suppose. (more…)