Ask HN: boardgames or (and not) card games?

I don't make much distinction between board and card games. I'm not as well versed in the standard-deck-of-playing-cards games, but my gaming group frequently convenes for Spades (Bridge's not quite as smart younger sibling).<p>A lot more of this question might be finding games that chellenge you in the right way, and which go well with your gaming group.<p>Personally, I dislike most of the Catan games, and most games with dice involved. On the other hand, if Caylus, Brass, Tigris and Euphrates, or Dominion hit the table, I'm set.<p>All of those games provide multiple avenues to victory and multiple methods of player interaction. Additionally, they require a high amount of intellectual work (not quite so much with Dominion) and a healthy balance between strategy and tactics. Finally, all of those games reward experience, and make for extremely satisfying matches when matched up with someone of equivalent skill, with little to no randomness that can't be balanced out somewhere. Finally, I like that while there are certain modes of thinking which carry over sometimes, by and large each game requires a different type of problem-solving (Caylus's manipulation of resources and linearity; Brass's manipulation of networks and income; Dominion's manipulation of probability and the transitions from opening to mid-game to end-game; and so on).<p>(Side note: you might enjoy Dominion, as it hits the sweet spot between board and card game, and does not rely on "theme" a single bit).<p>As a more general note: both card and board games (as broad as those categories are) can provide a lot of enjoyment, or not very much. I think it's a matter of fairly assessing one's motivations for playing (both in general and on a given day) and the tolerances/temperances of the gaming group.

I used to love Chess, but haven't played it much since I became hooked on Go. I find Go interesting both as a player and as a programmer because of the depth of strategy and the challenges of making a computer play well.<p>Bridge is also interesting, but tends to be played mostly by old people. I never knew card games involved much strategy until I tried Bridge. The partnership aspect of it has its rewards and challenges. I disliked learning all of the bidding conventions and the seemingly arbitrary rules surrounding bidding. I prefer games where luck is minimized and there is a wide range of skill levels between beginners and experts.

I seem to be hearing from a few of you that you might not be as familiar with that sort of card game as I had assumed. Which makes sense; the days that every family spent most of its free time in card play are long gone. And if War and Poker were the only examples I'd ever seen of a card game, I'm sure I'd have totally lost interest as well. Maybe what's needed is a little education. I think there's a lot of people who would find a lot of different games awfully compelling, especially once we get past Poker (Stud and Hold 'Em Poker don't actually, you'll notice, contain any card play; you don't <i>do</i> anything with the cards, you just issue a series of bets about the hand you've been dealt).

Texas Hold'em is a logical and difficult game. So is Chess. I enjoy both games.<p>War is pretty simplistic. So is Chutes and Ladders (simplistic meaning less choice and more dependent on luck. There is also less need for strategy. Of course, chess has virtually no luck variable, unless you include the randomness of the opponent's choice.)<p>It really depends on the game and the people playing it.

Card games is a rather broad umbrella term. Do you mean card games like Poker, or Magic: The Gathering? Or something experimental like Rejection Therapy?<p>Just trying to figure out what your after. I never play Poker (I find it boring, and I don't gamble) but I'm fascinated by social experiments like Rejection Therapy.

I know this will be a strange demand, but I would like to hear about board or card games which one can play alone and are freely available. By freely available I mean I can download it and just print the boards and cards to play.