Game Quickies - 1/3

300: The Board Game  —  Quality is all over the map, but game-play is aces. There's luck in both the dice and card draw, but you play the game for the narrative you'll create.


4th Corner  —  A light tile-based maze game where the correct strategy isn't simply hoping that you're the one to place the exit.


Abalone  —  A nice little two-player abstract that seems to slip right from the opening moves to the endgame.  Use the daisy and pillar set-ups to mix things up a bit.


Ark of the Covenant  —  A very solid tile-laying game which tweaks Carcassonne just enough to make it even better than the game that spawned it (excluding expansions).


Ave Caesar  —  The no-final-6 and ramming variants give it just enough of an edge to keep things interesting.  Really needs 4+ chariots (and quick turns).


Backgammon  —  One of the classics.  What you can do is dependent upon the dice roll, but it's not simply a dice-rolling game.


Battleship Express  —  A very nice Yahtzee variant that is even better with simultaneous damage and going from Admiral to Captain to Davy Jones' locker.


Battletech  —  For me, more than the sum of its parts, though if i hadn't gotten interested in the game back with 2nd edition, the current incarnation's pro-miniature stance would keep me away.


Blokus  —  A good-looking, easy-to-learn, surprisingly cutthroat abstract with shades of Tetris.  We prefer 15x15 and 17x18 for two- and three-players, respectively.


Bolide  —  It's vector racing with rules, charts, and mounted courses (though the box can't hold all the expansions). The English rules deserve to be written better, but http://www.bolide.it/ has a FAQ and question form at least.


Bottle Topps  —  It's in the same category as Jenga, but offers more choices to place your piece in exchange for the "remove it first" aspect.


California  —  It's casual fare, but the decisions aren't as cut-and-dry as they appear at first blush.  It loses something with only two players.


Can't Stop  —  A simple dice-rolling push-your-luck game with just enough strategy that it doesn't overextend its welcome.


Carcassonne  —  The base game stands on its own, but one of its strengths is that the gameplay can be tailored by adding an expansion or two (or five).


Chess  —  Really needs players of similar level.  Every gamer should have at least a passing familiarity of tournament and blitz style.


China  —  It's probably as quick-playing as an area majority game can be while still being more than simply having the majority in a given area.


Clue: The Great Museum Caper  —  Don't let the Clue name put you off: this is a very thematic game of cat-and-mouse. Just make sure you're using the correct rules.


Crokinole  —  Somewhere between marbles and shuffleboard, it's easy to pick up, yet rewards skill.  Oh to have had this during my VG Days...