What is your best game?

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

2. And why are you so good at it?

3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

The Great Khan Game. I know that game like the back of my hand; every nuance, every statistic. I almost always win, and when I play it is usually with every other player teaming up against me.

1. At the moment, I am undefeated at Battlestar Galactica, 3-0, though that could just be a statistical anomaly. I am also very successful when playing Acquire and Mall of Horror (boardgames), Divine Right (wargame), and Shadowfist (ccg).

2. Before I got heavily involved in gaming, I played a lot of poker (on Boy Scout campouts, of all places). We just played for candy and pocket change, but I learned a lot about bluffing, trash talk, tells, and instinct at an early age. So when I play Battlestar Galactica with my friends, I feel like I can read some of them like an open book. The only time that I was really fooled was when this computer programmer in our group played his first game and was also a Cylon. Then again, he's hard to read anyway due to his general calm and polite manner.

All the other games that I'm really good at were games that I played heavily at some point in my life. All of the nuances of these games have become almost instinctive to me, and that often makes all the difference.

3. My favorite game is Arkham Horror, and I don't mind losing to the game, except when really poor play by others costs us the game. Within a few months of acquiring the base game, we were winning 90% of the time, because we had gradually worked out the winning strategy. Since then, the addition of the various expansions has increased the difficulty. With all the expansions up until Kingsport, we were losing about 2/3 of the time. Now we're back to winning almost 50% of the time. It's just a very challenging game, and the combination of a few bad choices and a few bad die rolls can make you lose.

1) I've never really given it any thought before, but I appear to be the univeral loser. I can't think of any game thatn I win more than any other, except maybe Arkham Horror. My posse and I are owning that so often that the expansions are becoming a necessity.

2) Practice. We know which gates to shut, when to fight monsters and when to avoid them, when to sacrifice and when to keep. It all comes down to experience, and consistently running from Shoggoths.

3) Because I am very, very bad at Fury of Dracula.

1. I have the reputation of being the Crayon Train Game king although of late that hasn't been the case. When I was growing up, it was Risk.

2. I have no idea why I'm so good at them. I do like to play them but I'm not the most efficient when it comes to laying rail and my rail networks tend to span the board (using too much money).

3. My favorites are wargames.

I lose at a lot of games. I have a long undefeated streak at Railroad Tycoon, though.

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

San Juan. Its definitely not my favorite game. I don't even like it beyond the fact I've won 14 out of 14 games.


2. And why are you so good at it?

The choices are completely obvious every turn and there's no way for anyone to stop me.


3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

Because its DOOM: The Board Game and I like to play as a marine.

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

Race for the Galaxy. I win everytime when the owner of the game is not paticipating. He and I won equally often though. I have to note though that I never played this game with just two players yet.


2. And why are you so good at it?

The same reasons Mad Dog mentioned apply. It's also one of the few euros I "like", so I manage to stay awake throughout the whole game.


3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

I play wargames against a human player just as I play them solitaire, i.e. I play fast and take risks, so I also make a lot of mistakes.

Winning an AT game can never be reduced to playing skill solely, you also need luck on your side and at least not get piled upon by your opponents.

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

I have never lost a game of Knizia's Samurai.

2. And why are you so good at it?

Not sure, just seemed to have grokked it.

3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

My favorite game is Through the Ages. I win more than I lose, but I have lost a couple times. But I play a mean game.

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

Wow, this is embarrassing. I have never lost a game of PRINCES OF FLORENCE. Seriously, I am like the absolute master of the game. Of course, I haven't played it in three years and will likely never play it again, so consider me retired, undefeated.

2. And why are you so good at it?

I have no fucking clue. For some reason, I just really grasp the opportunity cost/investment potential thing in it more than I do in other games.

3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

DUNE is my all time favorite, and I do tend to win that a lot but it's usually in an alliance with other folks. Current favorite BSG I never win because I somehow have managed to never be a Cylon.

Michael Barnes wrote:

DUNE is my all time favorite, and I do tend to win that a lot but it's usually in an alliance with other folks. Current favorite BSG I never win because I somehow have managed to never be a Cylon.

Have yet to beat it as a non-cylon. Came really close!

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

I will fucking rock your socks in Boggle.

2. And why are you so good at it?

Because it's the only game that marries my pointlessly huge vocabulary with spatial recognition.

3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

BECAUSE I CAN'T ROLL FOR SHIT AGAINST YIG. This is well covered ground . I did finally beat that scaly bitch, though, with my brother-in-law's additional juju.

1. What is your best game, the game that you win the most? Not your favorite game, but the game where you consistently kick ass.

NFL VCR Quarterback, circa 1986.

2. And why are you so good at it?

There is no reason. The game was 100% luck. Still, I never lost, literally.

3. Also, if your best game isn't your favorite game, why aren't you winning your favorite game more often?

Because my favorite game is only 95% luck.

I guess I'm pretty good at Electric Football...

One day I'm going to release a line of classic Eurogames redone along the lines of Electric Football.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Michael Barnes wrote:

I guess I'm pretty good at Electric Football...

One day I'm going to release a line of classic Eurogames redone along the lines of Electric Football.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

At least it would add a 'B' in front of all those ZZZZZ's that are usually found in Euros --- me and my 3rd grade humor are hear all week