Antike

I can't imagine random people reading this, let alone people I know, but I should put it on the record that I'm a big freak for board games. I have an account at boardgamegeek.com that sees regular usage, and I own probably a couple hundred games. One that has been seeing a lot of attention lately with my regular gaming group is Antike.

My group is a sub-group of a gathering of people weekly on Friday evenings to play games until the wee hours of the morning. What makes us a sub-group, is that we play more conflict oriented games, some light war games, and we play them often. Our little group has much different tastes than the other regulars, who play strictly Euro-games, usually of the lighter variety. We don't shrink from games with playing times 3 or more hours, and usually the games are pretty good, just long.

Antike breaks this mold with us, being playable in just under 2 hours, if not 90 minutes flat. Turns move quickly, and it hasn't been determined if there is a definite single strategy to play and win. People move in different ways however suits their style, and at least 3 distinct ways of winning have emerged. It's a light civilization game, where no randomness (other than the people you are playing with) can be seen.

If you play boardgames, check out this one. If you like Risk, or Axis and Allies, you should cut your teeth on a really good game!