for our 15th episode, we decided to not do a normal one game review like we usually do. There are a ton of games that have collected dust, and generally been forgotten by the gaming community, that we felt deserved another moment in the sun.
We decided to highlight our favorite childhood and retro style games in a large 11 game group review.
These are all games that we grew up with, or found later on that still hold their luster. We realize that some of them aren't THAT OLD and that some of them have been reprinted into newer shinier boxes, but still, we love them.
Enjoy the review, and enjoy this geeklist giving a little more information as to why we love these games. The games will be listed in the order that they were reviewed in the video. We welcome you to comment and share if you have any experiences with these games as well.
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We love Pit. The more the merrier. I remember playing this with the grandparents and they had the great old Metal Orange bell. The games were never as loud then as they are now though. We get ridiculous with this game.
It's really old; 1903 according to BGG, and yet it's still being sold and played.
you trade cards face down and cannot tell anyone else what your trading, just how many cards you have, and you try to get another who has the same number of cards to give to you.
Essentially a rummy game with spunk, you're trying to get an all matching hand and ring the bell.
Please enjoy this video of our gaming group playing as a supplement:
There are a couple other versions of this; Bausack (pretty much the same game), and I remember my grandmother having a copy called Blockhead that we never actually played the game, we just made towers with the blocks.
I mean, honestly, who doesn't like making things with blocks?
This is a great dexterity game and a great little auctioning mechanism all rolled into one. You essentially are trying to make a tower with the craziest shaped pieces of wood imaginable.
But you jsut don't take the piece. If it's a good one, you have to bid for it auction style, and if it's a terribly unstable piece you have to spend to not get stuck with it.
you only have 5 "beans" to use until you are then at the mercy of the person next to you.
I love this game. the only complaint I have is that it ends too soon. Not by the game's design mind you though. It's because we're all idiots and think we can be daredevils and place stupid pieces.
We do the same thing with Villa Paletti,and never get higher than the third level
I think it's so you have to make really tough decisions.
tha's what I like about it. I agree the beans never really get used to bid FOR something, but the fact that you don't ahve very many for a "bid Against" actions makes deciding which pieces to take an agonizing decision sometimes.
Also remade as Escape from Atlantis, this is a wonderful game of making difficult decisions,
You're saving villagers from an ever-shrinking island in the middle of the board. There are boats that anyone can move and use, and there are sharks that eat people trying to swim and Whales that tip over the boats.
I absolutely think this is a gem. There are so many things going on and you constant;y have to decide if your turn is better spent hindering your opponents, or helping your own tokens.
the winner is the person with the most points at the end from the people that made it to safety. The catch is that each pawn has a different number under it that you're not allowed to look at after initial placement. Therefore you need to keep safe (and remember the location) the most valuable people.
If you can find it, play it. you won't regret it. I've never tried Escape from ATlantis so I don't know how similar it is or not.
What game isn't made better with a old, barely functioning computer? I can't think of one.
My parent's have had this ever since I was a kid and I decided to steal it when I moved out. I figured I was doing them a favor by clearing out their closet.
Essentially it's a deduction game with a twist. you know the starting building that a crime took place, but the only clues you have are the sounds the computer makes. Every action (opening a door, going through a window, walking on a sidewalk) has a different noise, and using these clues you must find where the most likely place the thief is, and get your detective to him and collect your bounty.
Nothing too deep, but pretty darn amazing for when it came out. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I still like it and everyone loves to play with the overgrown calculator that is the "Electronic Crime Scanner"
another deduction game for your approval. I actually found this at a goodwill store about a year ago, and I'm really glad I did
With the co-op games being really popular lately, this is a great game that has some of the same feel.
I've heard it's a lot like Mr. Jack, but I've never played that. If it is, I might have to get that game as well.
One person is "Mr.X" and is running around London trying to elude the police. He uses the Taxis (short Range), Buses (medium Range) and Subway (Long rang) transportation. All that the detectives know is what kind of transportation he used each turn, and need to use logic and strategy to find his current location.
It's an all versus one game. Some people hate playing as Mr. X, and some will want to be him every time. A really fun game that you have to be sneaky about. Neither side can give too much info about their tactics.
Huge box, cool miniatures, and a computer that mercilessly calls you stupid and taunts you. Now that's what I call a game.
A space station has been taken over by a computer virus, and you ahev to collect the keycards, and weapons to stop him.
The computer is great. It uses codes and sounds to alert players as to what is in each room of the game. As the game progresses you can receive a robot scout to help you retrieve things and will have to do "Battle" with the game and with other players.
I really love that this game has a built in timing mechanism. Depending on which difficulty level you decide to play with, the game end is determined by a straight time counter.
Cheesy, Campy, and Oh So Fun. you'll be saying "Which Room!!!!" four hours (if not days) after.
i know this one's probably really obscure, but it's an absolutely amazing board that you play on.
I LOVE this game, it has three plastic discs with randomly drilled holes in them underneath the board. you spin them and get a different board every time you play.
There's a cool Plastic oil Derrick that you place on the holes on top of the board. Depending on how many of the discs that the derrick goes through tells you how much you have to pay for the well, or if the well is dry.
you can also buy more property, and if you're evil (like me) you can build piplines to your neighbors and steal their oil as well.
I really wish someone would remake this game. I'm lucky I stole my Grandma's copy, but it's really hard to find otherwise.
Obscure? Didn't all game geeks who are now pushing 50 years old play this one as a kid? It's only those young whippersnappers who think this is obscure.
Yeah, I know you can get new copies, and that you really can just play with cups and dice, but C'mon the pink and teal components just make it better
Not to mention the faces of the people on the cover of the box.
Made "Re-famous" by Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, this is a staple in our house. A great filler that's almost as fun to watch as it is to play. WE pull this out every time we're waiting for a couple people to start a different game.
you can lie, cheat, and bluff your way to victory, or be the one outing the Liars. It's up to you. It gets loud, and people get crazy while playing this. More fun than I usually have with a dice rolling game.
You're building a haunted house as you play. Okay, stop there, you've already hooked me.
That was literally what I told Tim, as he was explaingin this game for the first time. As you can probably tell, I'm kind of a sucker for cool boards, and the idea of building the very environment that you then are going to play in just tickles me to death.
This is one of the best themed games I've ever played. Tim's played enough times to do most of the scenarios, and he'll concede that they all aren't winners, but the ones that are, become so much fun.
Tons of pieces, usually the players get into the game and assume the identities of their characters, and great bits make this one of our Gamesoverboard pics for retro gaming.
I know that there are very few who have ever heard of this game, and even fewer probably that think it should be included in this list of good old games.
BUT, we LOVE it. we used to play over and over again. We played so much, at one point we almost ahd all of the Blue Books Memorized
Basically, you have a car lot used cars in front of you and you're trying to make as much money out of them as possible. You can sell them to the bank at your blue book value OR you can sell them to the other people in the game.
You get to set the price, but if your opponents think you're ripping them off they can "look under the hood" and check your blue book. If you're asking too much you have to give them a discount on their initial offer, but if they offend you by questioning your ethics ans you were being fair they owe you money for the disgrace.
Everybody's blue books have different amounts for each car so one that's amazing for you might be junk to someone else.
A great bluffing, and maximization of your investment game. If you see it at Goodwill or around it's a great little game
And the fact that there's an octogenarian driving a Corvette on the inside makes it even better in my opinion.
Ah, a wonderful game I played to death as a kid and, yes, we started knowing the car values in each blue book (much like the values in Masterpiece). I finally got another copy as an adult (years and years ago) and I've dutifully lugged it to a few conventions, but it's never been played.
I nearly peed myself when I found a complete copy in good condition for $25 at an antique store.
TJ and I both had copies when we were kids and we don't know what ever happened to them. I had been looking for one ever since, but they are so expensive now.
Best use of a 3-D board I've ever seen. It's simply my favorite game of all time. I know that there;s not too much strategy, I know that the gameplay is really simple, BUT all the arguments against it go out the window when you roll a 1 and get to fireball one of your opponents, or get to knock them off the bridge.
I play deeper games, and long games. Hell, I even love Die Macher, but sometimes fellow gamers, you just need to turn off the cerebellum and have fun.
that's what this game is, Pure Thematic fun.
Well, that's the last one we got for this review. Please feel free to comment on individual games, and we love to hear comments about our videos and reviews as well
