Board Games!

[petroleumjelly]

Arkham Horror is just "Things Happen to You: The Board Game" where there isn't really any strategy or tactics and it's basically like a roleplaying adventure where the game decides if you live or die.

Not true, actually. It's a combination of risk management, strategy, and luck. There are plenty of things you can do to try to win. I think I have something like a 60%-70% win rate with just the base game at this point.

cow is pretty much on the money. If you look at things individually (monsters, gates, items, encounters, etc.) it looks random, or perhaps more apt,

chaotic

. Playing Arkham Horror well is about managing the chaos -- this involves both long-term planning (strategy) and short-term planning / reactions to situations as they come up (tactics). From the sounds of it, you just haven't played enough games to get a good handle on the game.

[petroleumjelly]

I

don't

think Betrayal is a good gateway game. It has a lot of ticky-tacky rules that even veteran players forget. And if a new person ends up being the betrayer, they can end up being hopelessly confused, but not wanting to ask questions for fear of giving away what they are supposed to do.

[petroleumjelly]

Does anybody have any strategy tips Hog Holler?

[petroleumjelly]

Guess I'm finally picking up 7 Wonders! I told myself if it weren't so expensive I would get it, so I guess now I don't have any excuse.

Now I can watch it gather dust on top of all my other board games! Whoo!

[petroleumjelly]

7 Wonders is some good stuff, and there's a ton of content that adds depth and additional strategy. Cities is good, Leaders is slightly better, and BGG has fan-made expansions that seem snazzy.

Ya, I've played it a good bit (with the Leaders expansion as well); easy to teach, easy to learn, easy to play, lots of replayability. Just lamenting the lack of boardgaming I get to do.