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Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruin
The Original (1980) Games 100 - 25 years ago
Stephen Roney
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California
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I have seen some questions asking about old Games 100 lists, so I thought I would post this.

In the Nov/Dec 1980 issue of Games Magazine, they published their first "Games 100" list. They said they limited their selections to "proprietary, commercially produced games", specifically explaining why "chess" was not included. However, some other games that we would today feel belong in that category manage to show up.

If there is a comment other than the rules summary, I have included it. The list was presented in alphabetical order, so I am doing the same. I have listed the publisher, price, entry level, playing time and game type (chance, strategy, action) as listed in the magazine. Note that their use of strategy is pretty loose, and really means skill. And the easy/medium/difficult is supposed to be entry difficulty, not difficulty of the game.

I have selected pictures that are as similar to the picture in the magazine as possible.

This list is less than 100 entries long, because electronic games and game systems (like the Atari 2600), as well as puzzles (like Rubik's Cube) are among the 100 games. There was originally no entry for Quintessence, so it appears out of order on the list.

The other entries in the Games 100:
Astro (Kosmos International, $50) - electronic astrologer
Baseball 3 (Extex, $45) - handheld electronic simulation
Bank Shot (Parker, $50) - Electronic billiards
Boffers (New Games Foundation, $14) - foam swords
Brain Baffler (Mattel, $60) - Electronic word game
Capsela 700 Series (Play-Jour,$45) - construction set
Checker Challenger (Fidelity Electronics,$160)
Electronic Boxing (Bambino, $40)
Electronic Space Invader (Extex,$45)
Fore Par Table Golf (World Wide Games, $99) - carroms-like golf game
Football II (Mattel, $30)
Frisbee and Master Frisbee (Wham-O,$4&$6)
Gunfighter (Bandai, $35) - electronic gunfight
Head to Head Hockey (Coleco, $40) - Electronic Hockey
Microvision (Milton Bradley, $50) - handheld cartridge based electronic game
Odyssey 2 (Magnavox, $180) - video game system (TV)
Omar II (Tryom, Inc, $80) computer backgammon opponent
Rubik's Cube (Ideal, $10)
Sensory Chess Challenger (Fidelity Electronics, $150)
Skyro (Parker, $5) - flying ring
Split Second (Parker, $50) - handheld computer game (8 games)
Tomytronic Electronic Tennis (Tomy, $35)
Track Ball (Wham-O,$10) - "laccrosse-like racquets"
Video Computer System (Atari, $180) - the Atari 2600 VCS
Weird Wands (Weird Products, $5) - Dexterity game
Wildfire (Parker, $50) - handheld pinball
Wizard (Waddington's House of Games, $50) - four electronic games
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1. Board Game: Nevo [Average Rating:5.76 Unranked]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Invicta, $15, Easy, 20 minutes, strategy

"Despite the title and Omar Sharif's picture on the box, this is a purely abstract game that requires no knowledge of arithmetic"
 
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Michel Boucher
Canada
Ottawa
Ontario
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Omar needed the money to finance his bridge games so he could spend his spare time playing Scrabble. That is also the reason he continued acting even after he discovered he didn't have to work.
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 12:00 am
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2. Board Game: 221B Baker Street: The Master Detective Game [Average Rating:5.83 Overall Rank:3053]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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John Hansen, $11, medium, one hour, chance/strategy

"More than in any other mystery game, players are made to feel like real detectives"
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David Staley
United States
Akron
Ohio
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My wife and I just played this for the first time the other night. I think it would be better with more than two people, but solving the case was pretty fun.
 
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  • Posted Sun Feb 5, 2006 11:55 pm
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TJ
United States
Richmond
Virginia
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Still a classic, and one of our family's favorites. Great family game, relaxing but always a sense of tension and desire to "be on top of it". A must have for the library.
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 7:59 pm
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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It is more fun with more than two. This is one of the few games my wife will actually play. Probably because she wins a lot...
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 8:17 pm
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Jason Gruetzmacher
Canada
Brampton
ON
I never even knew this was a board game until I found the 'geek. I thought it was just an Atari 400 game, and an enjoyable one at that
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 8:20 pm
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3. Board Game: 4000 A.D. [Average Rating:5.42 Overall Rank:6615]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Waddington's House of Games, $13, medium, 30 minutes, strategy
 
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marc lecours
Canada
ottawa
ontario
it used to take us more than a half hour to play this. I remember that the game involved pretty heavy thinking. It had a few innovations:
1. no dice for combat. Very euro. The bigger fleet won.
2. The map represented a 3 dimendional slice of the galaxy. In other words there were two levels.
3. The movement system was very different. When a starfleet took off into hyperspace, you did not know where it was going, all you knew was how many turns it had been in space and thus how far it was from its take off point. The same system has been used in war of the ring to show the movement of the fellowship. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the designers of war of the ring had 4000 AD as a kid.

I did not like the game a lot because it was too heavy for me as a kid. Once 4 or 5 fleets were in hyperspace, there was no way to figure out all the permutations. Then when the fleets would land the battles would be bloody ....but only for one side.
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 1:58 am
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Very true - once you reached the 'tipping point' it was 'all over but the shouting' - and there was a lot of that after the fleet landed and blasted the opponent into oblivion!

---Russ
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:00 am
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4. Board Game: Acquire [Average Rating:7.43 Overall Rank:99]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Avalon Hill, $15, medium, 90 minutes, chance/strategy

"Acquire is the classic game of getting in on the ground floor"
"A delicate sense of timing is important, but greed and a lust for power also help."
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David G. Cox Esq.
Australia
Lighthouse Beach (Port Macquarie)
NSW
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chance? now way!

this is a game where you count, calculate and keep track of what is going on - chance is not a large factor.
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 12:13 pm
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Scott A. Reed
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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Yes, Scrofula, it sucks.
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I just wasted 100 :gg: on this.
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Chance comes in with the tile draws -- you never know if you're going to get the tile you need to make the big merger.
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  • Posted Wed Feb 8, 2006 1:50 am
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Rodney Loyd
United States
Louisville
Kentucky
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I've played this game since I was a kid (I'm 45 now) and it is still a great game! Definitely in my top 10 all time. Second to Monopoly, I've played this game more than any other. I used to cry when I lost this one, now I just tear up. meeple
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  • Posted Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:39 pm
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5. Board Game: The Awful Green Things From Outer Space [Average Rating:6.50 Overall Rank:928]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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TSR Hobbies, $10, difficult, one hour, chance/strategy

"Losing a game to awful green things from outer space invariably makes the crew want to play again"
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I am sure that it was from reading about it in this issue of Games that prompted me to buy it back then. I only wish I still had it. soblue
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 12:20 am
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Only played it a few times, but I have to admit I remember those snowy winter evenings playing this. Back when TV was three channels tops and I only had 50 2-hour video tapes, games like this that passed the time with lots of laughs were a welcome event! The random factor of never knowing if your chosen weapon would kill or stimulate the awful green things led to hilarious results - especially for those of us that grew up with "The Blob" and "The Thing" and all the rest of those movies!

---Russ
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:05 am
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Willy Christensen
Germany
24161 Altenholz
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Tom Wham at his best
the new bord is in the image section of tagtfos

A cyberbord version is available as well
 
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  • Posted Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:14 pm
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Michael Garrett
United States
Omaha
Nebraska
Purity of Essence.
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It's pretty easy to get ahold of Drew.
 
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  • Posted Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:11 am
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Kooky fun. Still kooky, still fun.
 
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  • Posted Wed May 23, 2007 2:31 am
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6. Board Game: Blockade [Average Rating:6.39 Overall Rank:3382]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Lakeside, $7, easy, 45 minutes, strategy

"The challenge is to trap the opponent in a maze without getting into the same predicament yourself."

Listed as "Blockade"
 
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David Staley
United States
Akron
Ohio
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This is actually a pretty fun game. When I first set it up I remember thinking, 'what's the challenge', but it can get tricky as the play goes along.
 
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  • Posted Sun Feb 5, 2006 11:53 pm
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Jim Pulles
Canada
Regina
Saskatchewan
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Why is this game listed as an alternate title for Cul-de-Sac and also as its own entry?

Inquiring minds want to know.
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 8:42 am
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Stephen Roney
United States
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California
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Quote:
Why is this game listed as an alternate title for Cul-de-Sac and also as its own entry?

Inquiring minds want to know


Upon further review, I now question whether I entered this right. The picture is clearly right for the Games 100 entry, but the description for the Blockade entry does not match Cul-De-Sac. The picture was already in the Blockade entry, but the date was 1985 and Lakeside was not the publisher. Lakeside (and more pictures of this version) are in the Cul-De-Sac entry.

Any thoughts? Anyone have the Sackson game?
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 3:05 pm
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Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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I have submitted a retraction to my earlier correction to Blockade and changed the entry to Cul De Sac
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 3:10 pm
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Great game. Perhaps better than Quoridor, but not as nicely made.
 
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  • Posted Wed Apr 5, 2006 2:21 am
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7. Board Game: Boggle [Average Rating:6.24 Overall Rank:1273]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Parker, $6, easly, 5 minutes, strategy
 
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marc lecours
Canada
ottawa
ontario
pretty good game. i still play it a lot on the internet.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 1:59 am
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Randy Cox
United States
Clemson
South Carolina
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Yes, a very good game. And I love these prices.
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 1:51 pm
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Janet Linsey
United States
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Unspecified
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I like this game. I played it with my sister growing up, but rarely play now because my husband hates it despite the fact that he virtually always beats me even though I am more of a "word" person. I am hoping my 10-yr old son will begin to like it so I have more opportunities to play.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 5:07 pm
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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Always enjoyed playing Boggle. Played it with our kids and many years later with our grandkids.

A couple of weeks ago, my granddaughter received a hand-held electronic version when she finished in 2nd place in the Spelling Bee at her school. Second place was rather good, since she is in the 4th grade and was competing with 5th and 6th graders. In fact, she is the first 4th grader from that school to ever move up to the next competition level. Only two competitors moved up, and the winner is in 6th grade. We are very proud of her, and I think playing Boggle (and Bookworm on the PC) helped her. {Okay, that's enough grandpa bragging for now....}

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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 1:04 am
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8. Board Game: Can't Stop [Average Rating:6.85 Overall Rank:386]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Parker, $9, medium, 15 minutes, chance/strategy

"Can't Stop is a gambler's dream"
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Just call me Erik
United States
Waldorf
Maryland
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I used to play this with my Grandma when i was little. Still have no idea how to play (it's been years since i've even seen the board in person)
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 5:33 pm
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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Great fun. We still play this occasionally.
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 12:57 am
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Jim Cobb
United States
Alpharetta
Georgia
visit rollordont.com for a free computer game with a challenging AI player!
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Erik, there's a computer version available. You can certainly learn how to play using it, and a game only takes about three or four minutes. I think the computer player is pretty decent. Maybe it will give you as good a challenge as your grandma. :o)

http://www.rollordont.com
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 9, 2006 12:34 pm
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This is the type of game that makes you grind your teeth, sweat, then grab your head and groan when you blow the dice roll...and then beg to play again whether you win or lose!
 
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  • Posted Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:31 am
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9. Board Game: Careers [Average Rating:5.71 Overall Rank:3976]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Parker, $8, easly, 1 hour, chance/strategy

"classic family game"
 
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Randy Cox
United States
Clemson
South Carolina
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This is a great family game. I hope my two young 'uns now will want to play in a few years.
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 1:52 pm
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Janet Linsey
United States
Unspecified
Unspecified
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I got this at a thrift store and gave it to my 10-yr old son for Xmas. He likes it, not to the point of obsession (that's usually reserved for train games...) but coming off the shelf fairly regularly.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 5:15 pm
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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This is one I played and played as a teenager in the '60s. Fitting place on the original top 100!
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 8:20 pm
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Greg Todd
United Kingdom
Nottingham
Notts
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This is fun. One of the old roll and move games that's still playable. A a hundred times better than the dreaded M. game.
 
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  • Posted Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:07 am
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10. Board Game: Clue [Average Rating:5.60 Overall Rank:5616]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Parker,. $9, medium, 1 hour, chance/strategy

"Clue is still THE classic detective game"
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Yeah - I'll agree, in the 1970's, it was.

---Russ
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:07 am
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In 2006, it still is.
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  • Posted Wed Apr 5, 2006 2:20 am
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Flying Arrow
United States

Pennsylvania
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It may not be as popular anymore, but it definitely is the classic.
 
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  • Posted Wed May 24, 2006 12:42 am
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swandive78 wrote:
In 2006, it still is.


And now, in 2007, again, it still is.
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  • Posted Wed May 23, 2007 2:34 am
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11. Board Game: Compulsion [Average Rating:5.67 Unranked]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Edventure, Inc, $14.95, difficult, 90 minutes, chance/strategy

no picture in the database
 
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12. Board Game: Conquest [Average Rating:6.29 Overall Rank:2245]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Conquest, $35, medium, 2 hours, strategy

"A cross between chess and wargames"
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Mark Kittel
United States
Albany
New York
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I remember wanting this one badly... I never did get it.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 2:08 pm
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Olivier REIX
France
Grenoble
Unspecified
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I _think_ I saw a new edition of this one on a small booth in Essen last year. Or at least it looked a lot like this one !
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 2:15 pm
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Roland Goslar
Germany
Kronberg
Unspecified
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The designer, Benge, sits every year in his Essen booth selling conquest.
Roland
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 3:12 pm
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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I have this one, and unfortunately, it's neither chess nor a wargame. There's neither the elegance of chess nor anything like a simulation; you just take turns eating big chunks out of each other until someone makes a big mistake, or the game goes on forever.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 8:23 pm
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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I remember seeing this one on the list going 'what is that?' As I recall it was one of the few (if only) one of the 100 I had never heard of, and the teaser sounded great. But I never saw it anywhere!

(Of course, I was in Nebraska. And shopped in Iowa. Go figure!)

---Russ
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:12 am
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Dominik K.
Germany
Unspecified
mb
The designer Donald Benge is a kind of living legend for some fans of diceless turn based games. He is over 70 years old, but still visits every year Essen to personally introduce interested gamers to his game.

The newest edition "Grand Conquest" can be played by up to 4 players and features nice metal figures (if you can afford them ). He is constantly improving his game by introducing new elements, recently he introduced e.g. drawbridges.

Not so well known but nonetheless a nice challenge are his strategic brain-twisters collected in a booklet. These quizzes are similar to chess challenges where you need to accomplish a certain goal within a given number of turns. He even offered prize money for the first person to solve the most difficult challenge (not sure if it is solved yet).
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  • Posted Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:08 am
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13. Board Game: Cosmic Encounter [Average Rating:6.99 Overall Rank:361]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Eon Products, $12 (expansion kits are $4 each), medium, 90 minutes, chance/strategy
 
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David Reed
United States
College Station
Texas
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Seeing the prices on this one (and expansions) really hurt! Oh well, I had a roommate who had them all... why would I need to buy it myself?
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 4:31 pm
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The listing from the Games 100 doesn't do this game justice.
 
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  • Posted Wed May 23, 2007 2:36 am
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14. Board Game: Counterstrike [Average Rating:7.12 Unranked]
 
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Essex Game Co, $50, medium, 30 minutes, chance/strategy

"An excellent gambling game"
 
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John (Jay) Gettel
United States
Brighton
Michigan
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This game was $50 in 1980?
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 9:33 am
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15. Board Game: Diplomacy [Average Rating:7.12 Overall Rank:245]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Avalon Hill, $15, medium, 4 hours, strategy

"granddaddy of role-playing wargames"
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It's not easy being green
United States
Manchester
Connecticut
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One of our groups favorite expressions. "Supporting to Stay is an act of aggression."
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 7:39 pm
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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But I cannot buy _this_ tag line! Yes, D&D was white-hot when this list came out (I was a charter GAMES magazine subscriber) but this tag shocked me then, and amazes me yet today.

---Russ
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:10 am
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A legitimate tag-line. Role-playing wargames, not RPGs. If you don't understand the tag-line, you probably didn't play it.
 
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  • Posted Wed Apr 5, 2006 2:25 am
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Willy Christensen
Germany
24161 Altenholz
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"granddaddy of war game" for Diplomacy

is really true -
at last for us in Europa.
back in the eighties we, the first german wargamers gatered for our annual pilgrimage to Walter Luc Haas at Basel/Switzerland.

with his Dippy-zine 'Bumm' and reviews in 'Europa'
he sure started the wargames boom over here.
 
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  • Posted Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:23 pm
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16. Board Game: Electronic Detective [Average Rating:6.13 Overall Rank:4872]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Ideal, $40, difficult, 45 minutes, strategy

"It is not electronic Clue, but then you can't play Clue solitaire"
 
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David Staley
United States
Akron
Ohio
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One of my favorites as a kid! I played this thing all the time. Often role-playing the detective. Yeah, I was a geek back then!
blush
 
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  • Posted Sun Feb 5, 2006 11:56 pm
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Preston Fuller
United States
Ashland
New Hampshire
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Yes, I loved that electronic funeral dirge. I played this all the time as a kid in the early 80s.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 8:11 pm
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17. Board Game: Epaminondas [Average Rating:7.18 Overall Rank:2416]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Robert Abbott, $18, easy, 45 minutes, strategy

The pieces and layout in this picture exactly match the picture in the magazine.
 
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Canada
Victoria
British Columbia
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Given the halftone artifacts and image dimensions, I'd say that is the picture from the magazine. Though I no longer have my copy to compare.

 
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  • Posted Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:24 pm
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18. Board Game: Facts in Five [Average Rating:6.04 Overall Rank:2322]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Avalon Hill, $13, medium, 10 minutes, strategy

"True, you can devise your own trivia games, but you won't come up with something as well put together as Facts in Five"
 
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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One of my favorite old AH games. I wrote a review of this game to earn my first GeekGold on BGG.
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 1:07 am
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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Oops, my memory ain't what it used to be. It wasn't my first GeekGold or even my first review. Oh, well......

shake
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 1:09 am
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Paul B.
United States
Frostburg
Maryland
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Top of the trivia-type games for me. The reason is because it isn't just a matter of getting lucky with the question matching what you know. By picking categories that you know better than others, or a category that you hope nobody knows (because you can't pick any good choices for yourself), you can remove that chance factor substantially. Think I need to pull this one out this week!
 
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  • Posted Wed Feb 8, 2006 5:07 am
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19. Board Game: Feudal [Average Rating:5.92 Overall Rank:2543]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Avalon Hill, $15, medium, 90 minutes, strategy
2 
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Daniel Leitl
United States
Park Falls
Wisconsin
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I just found this at my parents house just this past year. It had been sitting there for the last 12 years or so.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 11:10 pm
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Russ Brown
United States
Brookfield
Wisconsin
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I remember a game of this with 12 boards and tripple armies - drove me nuts. gulp
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 2:25 pm
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Richard Cole
United States
Temperance
Michigan
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cool!robot
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 1, 2008 10:33 pm
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Richard Cole
United States
Temperance
Michigan
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on MY list of top ten games (still working on it), and i would rank it about 3. robot
 
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  • Edited Sat Feb 2, 2008 6:41 am
  • Posted Fri Feb 1, 2008 10:36 pm
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20. Board Game: Football Strategy [Average Rating:6.27 Overall Rank:2174]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Avalon Hill, $13, medium, 1 hour, chance/strategy

"most Monday morning quarterbacks we know choose it as their gridiron"
 
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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I liked other Football games better, but none ever had as big a following.
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:17 am
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Jesse Morrow
United States
Unspecified
Massachusetts
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Just picked this up off ebay. soo, disappointed.
 
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  • Posted Sun Mar 5, 2006 3:34 am
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21. Board Game: The Generals [Average Rating:6.12 Overall Rank:3758]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Ideal, $35, easy, 1 hour, strategy

"Game of the Generals"
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Byron Ward
United States
Apple Valley
California
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Married in August, this was my new wife's Christmas present to me (1980).
2 
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  • Posted Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:13 pm
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22. Board Game: Go [Average Rating:7.77 Overall Rank:40]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Milton Bradley, $10, medium, 1 hour, strategy

"Thought by many games to be the finest pure strategy game ever invented, this game of territorial capture is still not well known outside the Far East."
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Joshua Miller
United States
Holland
Michigan
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Interesting that they broke their "proprietary" rule for Go, but did not include Chess. What gives? Both are commercially produced, but neither is proprietary.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 3:51 am
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Byron Ward
United States
Apple Valley
California
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I agree. They either should have eliminated this or included chess, but nobody's perfect. Even boardgamegeek has dozens of entries for pastimes that are not board games (e.g. poker).
 
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  • Posted Sat Mar 4, 2006 6:21 am
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Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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They had electronic chess and checkers games, but those are not in the database. Their entry for Go, for that matter was a particular edition.
 
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  • Posted Sat Mar 4, 2006 4:27 pm
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Canada
Victoria
British Columbia
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At the time they published the list (and possibly still), their readership would have been bored by the inclusion of Chess or Checkers, but might easily have never heard of Go (I hadn't, albeit I was twelve years old). The problem is that the "proprietary" rule was poorly chosen - who cares? The journalistic question is whether each entry was worthy of consideration for a typical Games reader at the time.

That said, I read this list backwards and forwards until I knew it by heart but still took nearly twenty years more to get round to Go.

 
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  • Posted Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:35 pm
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23. Board Game: Grass [Average Rating:5.96 Overall Rank:2537]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Euro, $10, medium, 30 minutes, chance/strategy

"the card game that Cheech and Chong have been waiting for"
 
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MacGilleEathain
Scotland
Miyazaki, Japan (sometimes)
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The cardgame for which Cheech & Chong wrote the rules -- while stoned. You'd have to be stoned yourself to rate this game so HIGHly.
1 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 5:19 am
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Mike Banks
United States
Camp Hill
Pennsylvania
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Quote:
The cardgame for which Cheech & Chong wrote the rules -- while stoned. You'd have to be stoned yourself to rate this game so HIGHly.


Beg pardon??? The rules are pretty darn straight forward -- and the game itself has a lot of strategic & tactical choices to make. The "Open Negotiation" policy alone is enough to keep you on your toes. (Obviously, this doesn't work well with two players.)

This has been a vicious, cut-throat favorite in our group for over 20 years!

devil

1 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 5:37 pm
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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I owned this once. Clever packaging.....
 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 1:11 am
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Jesse Acosta
United States
Spokane
Washington
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Yes, I tried smoking the bag too... oh wait.. I dont think I should have said that. blush
1 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 7:43 am
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Fun game, dude. Essentially Milles Bournes re-themed.
1 
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  • Edited Wed May 23, 2007 2:38 am
  • Posted Wed Apr 5, 2006 2:26 am
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Vaughn Sandor
United States
Eastlake
Ohio
The BBC series is far better than the excellent NBC one. Now go watch it.
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This is not me but I have been known to dance like David Brent on occasion.
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Probably the first large group card game I ever played.

I still have the deck though it's hard to find the right crowd to play with now.
 
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  • Posted Sun Nov 5, 2006 6:15 pm
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24. Board Game: Isolation [Average Rating:5.66 Overall Rank:5361]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Lakeside, $7, easy, 10 minutes, strategy
1 
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Captain Fox
United States
Southwestern
Michigan
Fox by Miss Turtle Artist attended Starfleet academy by Jess and furthermore, I think tipping in GeekQuestions should be fixed.
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I played this a lot back then. I loved unique games, never found too many at that time, tho.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 12:26 pm
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Eric Mowrer
United States
Gresham
Oregon
Ami. Geek.
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Just picked this up at a garage sale. Limited replayability, but the price was right at $1.50.
 
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  • Posted Mon Feb 6, 2006 6:04 pm
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25. Board Game: Junta [Average Rating:6.91 Overall Rank:414]
Stephen Roney
United States
Ladera Ranch
California
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Creative Wargames Workshop, $12.95, difficult, 4 hours, chance/strategy
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Tom Madden
United States
Saint Louis
Missouri
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I still have this edition, although it is much the worse for wear. We played the heck out of this! "Well, friends, it's another very lean year..." The sound of revolvers coming to the table.
1 
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  • Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006 10:46 am
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Oh Tom - that's great! I can SEE the situation! Nice touch!

---Russ
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:18 am
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Greg Todd
United Kingdom
Nottingham
Notts
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enricodandolo wrote:
I still have this edition, although it is much the worse for wear. We played the heck out of this! "Well, friends, it's another very lean year..." The sound of revolvers coming to the table.


Where does the "it's been a lean year" come from? Or it is just universal Junta language? It was our phrase too.
 
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  • Posted Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:24 am
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29 comments [Hide]
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David Staley
United States
Akron
Ohio
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Great list! I'm going to enjoy going through this!

 
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  • Posted Sun Feb 5, 2006 11:51 pm
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Eric wrote:
Wow...I'm really surprised at how many wargames there are on the list. I used to subscribe to Games and don't remember it featuring wargames to the extent this list does.


The magazine never did - at least, not back then. That's why I was so pleased and surprised to have so many make a showing in the top 100 list! Finally, it seemed like we wargamers were about to get our just recognition! Then the twin engines of destruction known as D&D and computer gaming sucked the oxygen out of the room and left us gasping like the guttering candle wargaming really represented. powered the greater enlightenment that was to come, he said brightly! soblue
 
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  • Posted Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:58 am
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Scott Slomiany
United States
Unspecified
Unspecified
designer
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Wow. How strange. I just got done blogging about original Games 100 list (with scans of the list!).

For those who are interested:

http://meeplespeak.blogspot.com/2007/02/games-100-1980-editi...

http://meeplespeak.blogspot.com/2007/02/games-100-1980-editi...

http://meeplespeak.blogspot.com/2007/02/games-100-1980-editi...

http://meeplespeak.blogspot.com/2007/02/games-100-1980-editi...
 
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  • Posted Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:46 pm
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Chuck Carroll
United States
Fishers
Indiana
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I think Fore-Par Table Golf was re-released as Bumper Golf; see my comment for that item on my 1982 Games 100 Geeklist.
 
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  • Posted Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:58 pm
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Shanya Almafeta
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
designer
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Now that VGG's out, you can start adding some of the electronic games back to the geeklist...
 
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  • Edited Sat Oct 2, 2010 6:36 am
  • Posted Sat Oct 2, 2010 6:34 am
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